EPL 2017/18 - Game Week 28

It would have been good if they had played some game over the lunar New Year. After the previous week;s excitement, mid-week European nights, the EPL is back. There have been critical changes in fortunes and positions including for those at mid-table and at the bottom. WBA are bottom, 5 points away for 19th position Stoke City. Southampton in 18th has a point more. At the top, Manchester City are the runaway leaders and champions in waiting with 72 pints, a clear 16 points away from 2nd placed Manchester United. The noisy neighbours have taken over. Liverpool climbed up to 3rd just 2 points behind and Chelsea clawed back to 4th another point behind. Tottenham is 5th just another point behind and Arsenal 6th, 7 points behind Tottenham. 

Burnley in 7th have just 36 points is just 9 points more than 17th positioned Huddersfield. So as you can see,  if any team from 17th were to win their next three games and any team from Burnley down were to lose a few, they will be exchanging places. Phew! 

Leicester City v Stoke City - The Foxes were crushed 1-5 at the Etihad last week but one man was not affected. He scored. Jamie Vary once outscored Ruud van Nistelrooy for scoring in consecutive games in a season and has now created another personal milestone. He became the only Premier player to have scored against all top six teams in a season - Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal. Not an easy feat considering the his team are not one of the big six and considered only average and if you go on to count the number of opportunities created for him, he could be the best in conversion. What a striker! Had he gone to Arsenal who knows what might have happened. Stoke played an exciting match and could have won against Brighton and moved out of the bottom three. Jese Rodriguez was brought down and reacted angrily when he was not allowed to take the spot kick where Charlie Adams shot was saved by Mat Ryan and the rebound superbly cleared by Lewis Dunk. Leicester are not at their best and on current form, a draw is possible but with home advantage, I pick Leicester to win and they have Jamie Vardy. 2-1.

Bournemouth v Newcastle - The Cherries were amazingly good n their previous two matches but was brought down to earth by Huddersfield in a crushing 1-4 defeat. Meanwhile, the Magpies not only remain unbeaten in three but just played perhaps their best match of the season when they defeated Manchester United 1-0! When I predicted the score as 1-1, I really though Newcastle could negate the Red Devils because they are still red but not as devilish. Some people were probably thinking I was mad, others might have laughed and a few may have scoffed at me. Newcastle defended stoutly and may I say heroically. In certain periods in the game they had United defending nervously. What a game! If Bournemouth play like they did Huddersfield then Newcastle could win. Their home ground advantage would be negated. Newcastle may find that it is easier to beat Manchester United than Bournemouth. 1-1.

Brighton v Swansea City - If Brighton have improved recently then Swansea have been spectacular. They won again last week 1-0 at home to Burnley. What a job Carlos Carvalhal has done! Both teams have an equal record in their last five outings. Brighton with WDWDW and Swansea with WDWWD. It may be tough for each of them to outdo the other here. 1-1.

Burnley v Southampton - Burnley have been poor for too long. Whatever happened to their form? They have lost three matches 0-1 and drew two 1-1. Turf Moor was previously quite a fortress and Burnley need to rediscover their confidence. The Saints are a very good team. If you watched them play Liverpool, they dominated possession and passed beautifully. Their form are better than their host and they are an important team for developing young talents so I hope to see Southampton start getting the results they deserved. So too Burnley. While Burnley are still in a slump, the Saints seems to be getting better. 1-1.

Liverpool v West Ham - Many lauded the Reds' professional performance last week away game against Southampton. They did not play the usual way and allowed Southampton to dominate possession at some point. Loris Karius even performed well and confidently making a couple of important saves. Virgil van Dijk was master class and even Joel Matip was not only calm but adventurous. Mane is still not at his best. He lost possession a few times but still he always seemed dangerous. Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino have become the best pairing of strike force in the league. What a joy yo watch that second goal with Firmino's cheeky back flip and Salah running forth to receive the return and shot for goal. The Hammers have their own resurgence when they have a comfortable 2-0 win over a vastly improved Watford. 

That was something positive but if you were to consider Liverpool's five-star performance in an away 5-0 rout of Porto in the Champions League last 16 with goals from the usual suspects of Firmino, Salah and the back to form Mane with his hattrick it would be Mane, Mane, Mane during the Lunar New Year literally translated to "Huat Ah!" Klopp's side are now the top scorer of the competition! Liverpool registered the joint-biggest away  win in Champions League only last enjoyed by Bayern Munich in 2009 and Real Madrid in 2014 and now have 28 goals, the highest and more than any other club. It was the heaviest home defeat by Porto in European football. No other English club has scored five goals in an away Champions League knockout match before. Manchester City held that record for just one day in their 4-0 win at Basel. ROberto Firmino had another back-heeled flick that set Salah free and the other goal by Salah from James Milner's rebounded shot from the post was sublime. Liverpool - so imperfect and so beautiful. Their attack has been simply outrageous! Who would really look forward to or enjoy playing Liverpool who have scored 99 goals now in all competitions? 

Liverpool's exit from the F.A. Cup meant that they shall be having extra rest before this match. They left Porto and went to Marbella by the sea for a break. There must be no letting up from here. Was West Ham's recent win temporal? Can Liverpool be shocked? Liverpool are in a good moment. Salah continues scoring for fun and Roberto Firmino's is becoming one of the best out there and now even Mane is scoring gain. 3-0.

WBA v Huddersfield - The Baggies conceded 9 goals in their last 3 matches. There is cause for concern. When the shocked Liverpool 3-2 in the F.A. Cup, there was hope of a big revival coming. Now WBA have even lost to 2 off-form sides Southampton and Chelsea. Huddersfield was a team they could get points from but Huddersfield have won their last 2 matches 4-1 (Birmingham in the Cup and Bournemouth). WBA seemed to have lost everything including their pants. Four of their players created hoo-ha when their taxi stop and they took over the wheels and it became Grand Theft Auto. Huddersfield must have sensed blood and rubbing their hands in glee over their opponents' distraction. 2-2.

Watford v Everton - It seemed like the Hornet's thrashing of Chelsea was a false dawn. They are hosting an Everton side that have ended their losing streak with 2 consecutive  home wins and have scored 5 goals. Recent Watford defeats came in away games where Everton have been poorer away. 1-1.

Manchester United v Chelsea - This is the Match-of-the-Week. It shall have big implication on how the table looks like after the match. The Red Devils have recently lost to Tottenham (0-2) and Newcastle (0-1) while Chelsea too have lost badly to Bournemouth (0-3) and Watford (1-4) but just recovered for a 3-0 win over WBA. Mourinho will be facing some of his former players who will want to prove a point or two to him. The bad blood between the two managers makes this match even more dramatic. Sly Mourinho alleged match-fixing by Conte knowing that Conte was cleared. It was calculated and a deliberate attempt to upset and humiliate. Which fan would go and investigate the details. Creating rumours and hurling insults and accusation would hurt anyone even till much later he has been cleared, his name would have been sullied. Maybe this is worth the ticket price if it were a boxing match. United have been called by some as they have called Lukaku - a one track bully. Their recent result became yoyo-like having lost to Tottenham (0-2) and Newcastle (0-1) away. Against Sevilla, once again they had David de Gea to thank. An average Sevilla rained 25 shots at them to United's 6. This is a team coached on how not to lose rather than playing to win. They are just doing enough. 

https://www.footbie.com/video/chelsea-vs-barcelona-1-1-highlights-goals-uefa-champions-league-20-2-2018

Chelsea seemed to have gotten over their 0-2 and 1-4 thrashing by Bournemouth and Watford and had 3-0 and 4-0 wins over WBA and Hull but those teams are not the Red Devils. In mid-week, Barcelona dominated Chelsea with 73% possession but Chelsea held them 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. They may have conceded a goal as an away goal to Barca but it was a good result. There will be immense ego at play here where a win is so important. Dare any player put a foot wrong? Conte should bring back Alvaro Morata and show he has faith in him. The one player United need to really watch is Willian. The BRazilian was outstanding against Barcelona. 2-2.

Crystal Palace v Tottenham - Crystal Palace's revival fire seemed to have been extinguished since they won 1-0 at home to Burnley but that was ages ago in 13 January. Tottenham have been growing from strength to strength - they won 2-0 against Manchester United, held Liverpool away 2-2 and beaten Arsenal 1-0 at home. Then shockingly trailed Juventus 0-2 with goals from Higuain (2nd and 9th minute), they came back from the dead with goals of course from Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen. Kane has once again proven that he could score against anyone anywhere, this time against top class opponents and Champions League finalist. This ended Juventus's 11-game winning run in all competitions. Gianluigi Buffon have not conceded a goal in 694 minutes for Juventus and Italy. Palce will have no chance here but then many may have said the same of Rochdale who went on and held Tottenham 2-2 in the F.A. Cup and they are bottom of League One. The bottom club of League One and become Rogue One. Since Arsenal, Spurs have not won and this is a London derby so who knows? 0-2. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4VmGrGGPuU (Juventus v Tottenham)

Arsenal v Manchester City - When the Gunners took on Tottenham at Wembley, Arsene Wenger surprised with a different approach. It was compact and both sides were just probing each other. Harry Kane could have a hattrick though. Kane demonstrated why he is the world's most feared and sought after striker when he scored after the break as he rose the highest to nod home. World soccer has changed so much such that there are few real strikers out there and Kane is the best. Arsenal came back with a resounding 3-0 away win over Ostersunds FK in mid-week in the Europa. So what type of Arsenal will be at the Emirates on Thursday. City were comprehensive as they battled Basel 4-0 away and became the highest scoring side in the Champions League, well at least for a day until Liverpool whacked Porto 5-0 away. Pep Guardiola's humility came true when City got dumped out of the F.A. Cup but lower division Wigan. Arsenal could learn something here. Is Pep's machinery slowing down to a trickle? Perhaps it was just a blip. If Wigan could beat City why not Arsenal? To me, the Gunners have nothing to lose, so why not have a go. 2-2.