EPL 2016/17 - Game Week 35

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 3, Man-Of-The-Match (MOTM) - Lionel Messi. What else is new? This is why he is the best player in the world. I even dare say of all time and in history! Messi not only delivered with two goals with the winning one at the death and Ramos sent off was for a bad two legged tackle. Messi was even left bloodied with blood pouring out from the mouth. That was the warrior spirit in a small frame. There is little adjectives to add. 

Back home on the FAS election, it is a sad day for Singapore soccer. At one time in the 60s, were were fourth only behind Myanmar, Iran and Japan in Asia. Now our position in FIFA ranking is a joke. We were playing friendlies with Cambodia and Timor Leste and struggled playing the rest of the Asean countries. In other words, we are in total decline while others shave improved. If the top is right, we will go places. That is the whole point. Only those with the best interest with Singapore soccer at heart should run the place. Otherwise, as Neil Humphrey has said - overthrowing themselves and replacing themselves with themselves. God Save Our Ball!

Meanwhile, the EPL's season would be over soon. I have every intention to catch as many matches on TV as is possible and then a three month hiatus. For this week, my summary as follows:

Southampton v Hull City - The Saints have a superior record against the Tigers. 4-1 in terms of wins in their last five meets with the Hull win only in June last year. Hull are just above the bottom three by two points with four remaining. Southampton are comfortably in ninth. Hull played a very good game in the 2-0 win at home to Watford. Clucas' goal in the 71st minute was of the award winning type and they won despite playing with ten men. Of course in terms of consistency the Saints are better but they looked quite abject when they crashed 0-3 to City at home even when playing well in patches two weeks ago. Last week's lay off because of the F. A Cup as their opponent Chelsea played meant the longer rest could be boon or bane. Because of what I saw of Hull, they could at least get a draw here as they fought with such tenacity. They may even get a win. 1-1.

Stoke City v West Ham - Since Mark Hughes arrived, Stoke are unbeaten against the Hammers (W3D4). In seven away trips to the Potters, West Ham won only once. Stoke are however on a bad run while West Ham's fortune have improved a bit. In their last five encounters, four ended in a draw. Both sides seemed to be lacking motivation to go up another level. Draw. 1-1.

Sunderland v Bournemouth - The Black Cats have outlived their nine lives. They have been perennial escape artists at the very last minute so how was it they have not learnt something. This time, they seemed destined to go down. Poor David Moyes and poor Jermaine Defoe and the rest. Meanwhile, the Cherries regained their swagger after two straight defeats to Tottenham and Chelsea but last week they have comprehensively thrashed Boro in style and with complete dominance. It is hard to fathom a home win even as they fight for their lives as Bournemouth appeared too good 1-2.

WBA v Leicester City  - The Baggies are wearing baggy shorts as they shipped goals and drop points in three successive defeats. The Pulis magic has stopped. Surprisingly, the Hawthorns became the Foxes favourite hunting ground - having won three out of their last four visits there with Jamie Vardy having scored each time. He also scored against Athletico Madrid showing his ability at all levels. There is no shame to bow out to Athletico Madrid at this stage as no English team has gone this far and in fact, Lecester City has done in one season what Arsenal failed to do in eight. WBA have failed to score in their last four matches. Craig Shakespeare will make Leicester great again like Trump said about his America. 0-1.

Crystal Palace v Burnley - Whenever Palace hosted Burnley for the last ten occasions, they have never lost and won four with seven clean sheets. If you read their current form, then the odds are staggeringly in favour of the home side. Except for an away defeat to Southampton in early April, they have almost shove everybody aside - 2-1 away win over Chelsea, 3-0 home thrashing of Arsenal, 2-2 home draw with Leicester and an impressive 2-1 away win at Anfield. Wow! Sam Allardyce has proven his qualities again even if you may not like him. He keeps coming back. Burnley are actually capable of good football and their record against the host was not awry and in fact quite equal just an inability to win there. Crystal Palace are in the form of their lives and they are now playing with such confidence they could beat any team. Chelsea and Liverpool playing them at home were brushed aside so what if Burnley came along? 2-1.

Manchester United v Swansea - The Red Devils are on an excellent run. They were truly highly impressive when they defeated Chelsea recently with a Mourinho masterclass. then a 2-0 away win at Burnley. Swansea came back after three successive defeats with their equally impressive 2-0 win over Stoke last week. You will also be surprised that though United won the last two encounters, Swansea won the previous three (all 2-1 including one at Old Trafford). Swansea are still in danger but they do not deserve it with the quality of their football. On paper, it is a home win say maybe 2-0 but from what I have seen of Swansea last week, they were really good. The season has been full of surprises so do not rule out Paul Clement pulling the rabbit from the hat and get Mourinho ranting again. Swansea will fight for every point to keep alive their hopes. 1-1.

Everton v Chelsea - This is a banana skin for Chelsea as Everton have won five out of seven encounters with Chelsea at Goodison Park. The match will feature two of the league's most deadly goal scorers - Everton's Lukaku and Chelsea's Diego Costa. While Lukaku and Everton drew a blank at West Ham, Chelsea repeated their performance and title credentials with another 4-2 win over the Saints. The usual suspects of Hazard and Costa (2) scored. I didn't watch this at that ungodly hour but I watched the F.A Cup win over Spurs which was splendid! It may be hard to believe Chelsea could cave in but the Toffees are in good shape and Ronald Koeman will give them a run for their money. It still looks like the visitors have the edge but I think it could be a draw because Chelsea have been conceding goals of late. 2-2.

Middlesborough v Manchester City  - Middlesborough's chances of staying up are slim if you have seen their implosion at Bournemouth last week. Their glimmer of hope rest with history at their home ground where they have lost to City only once in ten meetings and City's wins in the past have been by a slim margin. City are lying fourth with two games in hand over 3rd place Liverpool so they must win to gain ground. They were impressive in that away 3-0 thumping of Southampton but they lost the FA Cup tie to Arsenal despite taking the lead. Still City should prove too strong for their host. 0-2.

Tottenham v Arsenal - This London derby has always been close. The last five times they have met, the first two ended with a 2-1 win for each team but in their last three encounters, they ended as draw (1-1, 2-2, 1-1). Pochettino is the first Spurs manager to have achieved no defeat in five matches against the Gunners. Arsenal are in 7th and have played 31 matches with 57 points with games in hand over all their rivals. Anything less than a win would be detrimental to their plan of achieving top four and miss out on Champions League fore the first time since time immemorial but their solid performance and win over City in the FA Cup despite trailing by a goal for a great comeback win was the exact tonic ordered by the good doctor while Tottenham faltered against Chelsea (2-4) in the other FA Cup semi. Twice they came back from a goal down with two great goals but found no answer to Chelsea's second half. Harry Kane once again showed how good he is when a harmless in-swinging cross from Eriksen found Kane the nearest. Kane was first to the ball but he had to go forward, stood down a little and improvise with a glancing back header that had the entire defence beaten and the goalie stranded as the ball found the goalkeeper's lowest right corner. What a goal! Then Eriksen who by now is certainly one of the EPL's best at what he does, floated in another ball forward right over Chelsea's back line and Dele Alli ghosted in to finished with a great volley. In big matches like that, such goals would have killed off or disheartened the opponents. But to Chelsea, it was water off a ducks' back. Conte promptly sent on Hazard and Costa. Hazard collected a loose clearance and took a low left footed shot that appeared harmless but it sailed through a sea of legs into the net. Matic then got another rebound and his left footed thunderbolt went in from far into the top left corner. What a goal! This may have a psychological effect on Tottenham. 

Because of Arsenal's resilience and fightback versus City, it would mean another fight all the way in this tie. Both sides need points for different reasons. One to overtake Chelsea if they drop points and the other to find another opportunity to qualify for the champions league. They do not want to play to a draw but I think it is exactly what will happen. They have left it a little too late. In Spurs' case, they could be deserving champions if they had not dropped precious points early in the season. 2-2.

Watford v Liverpool - The Hornets have lost five of six meetings with the Reds. In ten previous encounters, Liverpool have won eight and lost twice but Watford could once again trouble the visitors like other smaller teams. Liverpool's home loss to Palace (1-2) was a match they had to win to pressure their rivals but Sam Allardyce and ex Liverpool discard Benteke have their sweet revenge. Liverpool had 70% possession in the first half and 80% in the second. Where they succeeded against Stoke and WBA, they have unwisely lost it again. All is not lost but they left themselves a mountain to climb. You know jolly well Palace will use speed, physical strength and set pieces while they sat patiently for the counter. The greatest culprit is Dejan Lovren. He had to make a bad pass that was intercepted and when Palace thread a through pass, Lovren threw himself to intercept by miss but James Milner made a last ditch tackle that save the day for a corner but resulting corner, Puncheon sent in what was a poor corner but it skipped through everyone for Benteke to convert. Liverpool have many chances but failed to score against a resolute Palace. This was despite an early lead from a great Coutinho free-kick. I knew what he could do but it was from further away and I was thinking surely Coutinho is not going for it? He did and it was a great goal! Liverpool's fate for next season's champions league rest not just in their hands but also in the hands of others. It will be a painful and anxious wait. How will you trust not only Lovren but I thought Emre Can have been over rated as well as he failed where it matter. But reports of Adam Lallana's return may bring temporary cheer. His absence together with Mane have left them exposed and weakened. A win is a must here. 1-2.