EPL 2017/18 - Game Week 29

We are now left with exactly ten matches to go before the curtains fall as we await the World Cup in June. Even as the World Cup becomes less exciting, it is still a soccer and a world event. Back to last week's matches, for the bottom clubs only three points separate 13th to 18th place making every win or every point count big time. At the top City led their nearest challenger by a massive 13 points. United's crucial win over Chelsea put them back into 2nd resulting with a handshake between Mourinho and Conte and a point ahead of Liverpool whose 4-1 demolition of West Ham was widely praised in the media. So marked your calendar as United host Liverpool on 10 March at SG time 2030 hours in a match which will likely decide who will be 2nd or 3rd. 

Meanwhile, Harry Kane scored his 35th goal for the season and is also leading Mohamed Salah by a goal in the top-scoring chart. More importantly, the only goal for their win meant Tottenham is 4th and now 2 points ahead of Chelsea with Arsenal in 6th with 8 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand. It is possible for the in-form Kane to hit 40 goals this season.

Burnley v Everton - The amazing thing about Burnley other than their achievements these two seasons despite their recent wretched form has been their good early season form and the others are also falling by the wayside as they remained in 7th. Everton's own yoyo form suggest that both sides are unsure of the outcome when they meet. They will probably battle to a draw. 1-1.

Leicester v Bournemouth - The Foxes haven't won for awhile. They played well last week but do did Stoke. The Cherries were able to beat Stoke in February though but needed to come from behind to hold Newcastle last week and have been scoring more goals than Leicester. They will probably cancel each other out. 2-2.

Southampton v Stoke - The Saints are barely surviving the drop zone but Stoke are in greater danger. Both are lacking inspiration. Southampton have both scored and conceded more and the Saints are more likely to pull off a win here and there than Stoke. So, a home win is the likelier outcome for me. 2-1.

Swansea v West Ham - Swansea were doing really well but tactical blunder caused them dearly and ended their good run when they crashed 1-4 at Brighton. The Hammers got hammered by the same score at Anfield. David Moyes may devise a plan for such an away game but Swansea looks good to be bale to carve out a home win here. 2-1.

Tottenham v Huddersfield - Tottenham was fortunate last week as Palace gave them a real fright but then you see the real value of Harry Kane. He did not allowed his misses to affect him and he just went on till he finally scored. Tottenham has just rocked Rochdale 6-1 in the F.A> Cup replay while Huddersfield have their own revival with a 2-1 away win over WBA. Crystal Palace did show what a solid performance nearly caused Spurs some points but with Kane's non-stop goals, Alli scoring gain and Eriksen creating all the time, Tottenham's have other weapons in Son and Lucas Moura which will prove too much for their visitors. 3-1.

Watford v WBA - The Hornets are more confident after beating Everton last week and the Baggies seemed doom to play soccer in a lower division next season. In their last two home games they lost 1-2. It could be another defeat. 2-1.

Liverpool v Newcastle - This is the game that Liverpool must ensure to win to keep pace with Manchester United. Following the 5-0 destruction of Porto in the Champions League, the Reds followed up with a highly professional performance in the 4-1 demolition of West Ham. It was not their best nor most exciting performance but it was on of the most complete and a probable sigh of what is to come. Loris Karius gave an assured and confident performance and mad a couple of very good saves. Virgil van Dijk confirmed he was what they were missing. Andrew Robertson should now cement the left back position and he was easily one of the MOTM. He was confident, hungry, aggressive, adapt in defence and attack and made many good crosses showing that you do not need to splash big money to sign a very good player.

The midfield were solid and the attack as usual imperious. Mane, Salah and Firmino are in a class of their own. Firmino is one of the if not the most complete forward. He chased and harried, at times defending deeper, won balls, created chances with assists and has been a regular goal scorer. Liverpool has proven that they could score 3 or 4 goals often even against the quality opponents. The Magpies were fantastic against United and now undefeated in four matches but they allowed Bournemouth to come back from the dead. 

If anything, Liverpool are now more unpredictable without Coutinho and seemed to have learned to overcome defensive teams but they need to be wary of Newcastle if they saw how they defended against United. At the same time Chelsea whipped them 3-0. Liverpool must seize the chance and win at Anfield. 3-0.

Brighton v Arsenal - No matter who said what, Brighton are actually better than the Gunners in terms of results of their last five matches. Brighton have DWDWW to Arsenal's LWLLL. Brighton are in a good position to get a result here. Since thier loss to Tottenham, they suffered further losses to Ostersunds and twice to City. Two successive 0-3 defeats to City have shown the gulf in class and how badly the Gunners are falling behind. Arsene Wenger was one of the best reasons for Arsenal and the EPL many years ago but Arsenal have been struggling. Their chances for a top four finish is diminishing with each match. They have to summon their courage and their best to overcome Brighton making it a very important match to win. 1-2.

Manchester City v Chelsea - Match of the week and it has consequences for the top four teams. City just need to win the title but Chelsea are fifth and 2 points behind 4th place Tottenham. If it stays the same, there will be no Champions League for Chelsea next season. With ten matches to go things can only hot up. City are not unbeatable. Even Wigan could beat them. Why can't anybody else (except Liverpool). Remember Chelsea held Barcelona and are really still a very good side. Their 1-2 loss to United at Old Trafford was rather unfortunate despite a good show. With Liverpool and Tottenham all at home and expected to win, Chelsea can't afford to drop more points. If they could play to their true level they may have a chance but a draw is the more likely. 2-2.

Crystal Palace v Manchester United - You are facing a very strong Tottenham side, you are just above relegation by goal difference and are without 12 first team players but Palace battled proudly denying their London neighbours for a long time until the 88th minute and then Harry Kane scored and Tottenham were not great that day. It happens. It was heart-breaking. Many would have felt for them. United played well against Chelsea but they were lucky. to have won. Had Morata scored early on things would have been different.

Can Crystal Palace repeat that Tottenham performance? Can they do a Newcastle? If they do and with a bit of luck they may get something here but it is a tall task. Perhaps they could surprise with a draw but United are in a good place and they are 2 points ahead of Liverpool and 4 ahead of Spurs. They will play their typical game for a result. 1-2.