EPL - 2018/19 Game Week 24

Last week, there has been no changes as Liverpool leads City by four points. Tottenham are five behind City, Chelsea four behind Tottenham and Arsenal three behind Chelsea. Manchester United are level with Arsenal on goal difference. The bottom three are Cardiff, Fulham and Huddersfield.

Liverpool had a scare at home by giant-killers Crystal Palace but recovered strongly to win. Like Liverpool, City had a poor first half but still cruised to a win. Tottenham too suffered a scare but won at the very last minute. Chelsea got soundly beaten by Arsenal and it was rather unusual for both their play. Manchester United are in Seventh Heaven with their seventh win. 

Huddersfield put on a good fight but still crumbled as they are short everywhere, Fulham took the game gallantly to Tottenham and lost narrowly. Finally, Caridff  were soundly spanked by Newcastle. There are fifteen matches more to go so nothing has been won or lost by any team yet. You will need everything to win the title, avoid relegation, qualify for the Champions League or just to simply improve your position. Hard work, hunger and determination must be there but others such as decision making from the beginning to every match, a bit of luck are just as important. At the end, it is all blood, sweat and tears like in our mundane world and regular jobs. Soccer is where you go to forget about everything in life for 90 minutes.

Talking about forgetting things. Will you soon forget an Argentine footballer Emiliaono Sala who sealed a big money deal moving from Nantes to Cardiff took off on a small plane and disappeared? He was just 28. What about our very own Singapore son NSman Aloysius Pang who similarly passed away in a training accident. He was also 28. What about others who are not even famous or are unknowns? We can never take things for granted. Life is lived by the minutes and every minute is precious. 

Arsenal v Cardiff - The Gunners were back to their impressive best in attack and Chelsea had no answer. This was an important win as they are level with United and a win over a solid side like Chelsea will boost their morale but Arsenal showed their inconsistent side when they crashed out to Manchester United in the FA Cup 4th round at the Etihad (1-3). Cardiff seemed to have lost their way and belief. It is a relief for Arsenal to be hosting them at the Emirates. Arsenal have defensive problems as evidenced by their inability to keep a clean sheet. So what Unai Emery has to do is to play both Alexander Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang together and most opponents will find the air hard to cope and so that they could outscore their defensive frailties. Lacazette was superb against Chelsea. They will free each other to score. Cardiff have not scored since December and that was four matches ago and they could score now since Arsenal's defence is really bad. They have signed Emiliano Sala but he was going to be the striker they never had as there was a tragic disappearance of the plan he was on. Aubameyang has been missing his goals for a win and this is time for him to catch up on the scoring chart. Will the tragic missing of Sala affect the Bluebirds' morale? 2-0.

Fulham v Brighton - I thought Fulham was impressive against Tottenham as they caused quite a few problems to Spurs but were less fortunate and got nothing for their effort. Brighton gave a good account of themselves at Old Trafford and were defeated narrowly. Fulham have lost their last three matches all at 1-2 so they are just a little short. Brighton were doing quite well but you really can't blame them for being defeated 0-1 by Liverpool at home and Manchester United 1-2 away. This could be a season defining match for Fulham. They must fight tooth and nail now  as time is not on their side.1-1.

Huddersfield v Everton - David Wagner is a hero here who brought the Terriers from relegation candidate to Championship winner to the Premier League and then kept them up last season. Even as he parted on mutual consent, he deserves better. A new appointment may temporarily boost morale but it is difficult because even if they have Messi in the team they will still struggle. Good thing here is Everton have been a mixed bag. You don't know what you gonna get from them. Their recent outings have yielded little. I would expect this to be close but with Everton should prevail in the end. 1-2.

Wolves v West Ham - Wolves played a pulsating match against Leicester last week with Diogo Jota starring with a hattrick in an incredible match. Wolves were two up but the Foxes levelled. They went to 3-2 and Leicester levelled again but Jota had other ideas and landed the killer blow in 90+3 minutes. What a game! On the contrary West Ham meekly surrendered 0-2 at Bournemouth. They got worse when they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Wimbledon (2-4). The Hammers have been erratic but both teams have the ability to do very well on their day. Both are ball playing sides with leaky defence recently. 2-2.

Manchester United v Burnley  - I predicted the score correctly as Solskjaer stated that they can't play fantasy football forever and their opponent Brighton is a very well organised team who gave them some trouble. Burnely are on an extended unbeaten run with some good wins but there is currently no hotter than the Red Devils with eight straight wins! Pogba now has 5 goals and 4 assists. They could even play king maker when they later play both City and Liverpool. Burnley have shipped 43 goals this season making them the third worst defence. This sounds like trouble for the Clarets. Not only that, the red hot form of Marcus Rashford may mean he will add a goal or two and increase his growing reputation. 3-1.

Newcastle v Manchester City - It is not often that the Magpies go around winning let alone 3-0. Was it Newcastle's new found confidence or Cardiff's wimpy performance? What plans will Rafa have for the Champions' visit to St. James Park next. City were poor by their own standards in their first half against Huddersfield but they are now back to their scoring best in the Cup plus Leroy Sane is hot. The Magpies can be stout at the back but facing an onslaught from Sane, Sterling and Aguero just to name a few will be extremely tough to keep at bay. 0-2.

Bournemouth v Chelsea - The Cherries have a good home win against West Ham after a strong of defeats which cast doubts on them. While facing a team like Chelsea is tough, there is no better time to do it then now as Chelsea are struggling somewhat. Sarri-ball has been diluted. Their League Cup penalty kicks win over Tottenham may kick-start their second half of the season. With Gonzalo Higuan on loan to Chelsea and the Cherries often choking against top teams it is a good chance for Chelsea to get full points. 1-2.

Southampton v Crystal Palace - The Saints came marching in! Ralph Hassenhuttl has performed his magic again. A solid display to get their win over Everton (2-1) was impressive. No team in the Premier League is like Crystal Palace. They went to the Etihad and won 3-2. That was three goals against the Champions and went to Anfield last week and gave a score but lost 3-4 to Liverpool. Liverpool do not concede that many goals all season. Southampton's two wins, away to Leicester and home against Everton were no flukes. Ralph Hasenhuttl has been a wonder. A draw is on the cards. 1-1.

Liverpool v Leicester - The Reds' crocked defence could be one reason as Joel Matip returns. The other was that James Milner although a reliable choice was going to be a weak link against speed demon Wilfried Zaha. Joe Gomez's absence was a big factor for when in plays with Virgil van Dijk, the Reds were impregnable. Their poor first half contributed to it and Naby Keita is struggling to get up to the mark. You could say Liverpool were lucky especially the third goal by Salah but then in life everyone gets that some of the times. The thing is like how they say it - you make your own luck. If you did not worked hard, you did not believe, you did not turned up, how is luck gonna find  you? In life as in sports, it is not just how you are when things are going your way. It is about how you recover but the Reds may have their talisman Virgil van Dijk out which certainly weakens their back line. Problem  for their visitors is that they have lost in their last three meetings (1-2, 1-2 and 2-3) plus they have just shipped four goals to Wolves the other week and Harry Maquire may be out so it is even at the back. Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 32 league games at Anfield and in their last three have scored four goals. Attacking prowess will win this game. 2-0.

Spurs v Watford - When one Harry is out the other Harry arose. Tottenham seemed like a hospital now with so many players out injured including Harry Kane out for a month. With Heung-Min Son on international duty it is now extremely challenging for Mauricio Pocchetino. Fortunately, young Harry Winks conjured a 90+3 minutes goal to win the match. A possible new injury during the Fulham match to Dele Alli meant Pocchetino may come in to play himself. Normally this is a game where Spurs could surely win but with so many injuries and a thin squad plus just being dumped out of the Cup by Palace (0-2) have cast doubts. Spurs lost their last two matches, conceded four goals and scored only once. Watford are undefeated in their last five winning three with two clean sheets. Spurs need all their experience and some cutting edge to win. Spurs need to bounce back strongly and I think they will. 1-0.