EPL 2019/20 - Game Week 7

EPL - The Toughest League

They used to say the EPL is the best league in the world. It is probably true but for a long time I have said it is the toughest league in the world. Game Week 6 is proof all round as you look at every match. Leaders Liverpool led 2-0 away at Stamford Bridge and were stormed by Lampard's boys but held on to win and it was the Reds' first away win over a Big Six in a year. This was their 23rd unbeaten games and their 15 wins in a row. Next up will be a tough but winnable trip to Sheffield United. Manchester City roared back from the previous shock and embarrassing defeat by Norwich by tearing Watford apart 8-0. It was the first time I saw a live match where the lead was 4-0 in less than 15 minutes and 5-0 by 17 minutes. Could have been more. I thought such a thing only happens when playing PS4 at the amateur level. The weekend began with Southampton bouyant from an away win at Sheffield United but they crashed 1-3 at home to Bournemouth who themselves stunned Everton 3-1 previously.

Leicester showed how much they have progressed under Brendan Rodgers when they defeated Tottenham 2-1 after having lost 0-1 at Old Trafford, a defeat they do not deserved and when you thought Spurs have shaken off all their issues after they have crushed Crystal Palace 4-0. Not enough? Burnley, who lost 0-3 to Liverpool and rescued a point at Brighton with a last minute goal had Norwich beaten 2-0 and it made them seems stronger than Manchester City who were beaten 2-3 by Norwich just before. West Ham then dealt the killer Hammer blow on Manchester United and won by a clear 2-0. Finally ten-men Arsenal came back from the dead to win 3-2 against Aston Villa.

The Premier League is now a hilarious brawl. Like everyone is on a high after a few drinks. Explain Arsenal's back-line comedy and yet won with ten men, Manchester United's new low. How Norwich could have scored five past Manchester City (3) and Chelsea (2) and fired blanks against Burnley and West Ham. Why is Tottenham in a kind of mini crisis, how Nuno Espirito Santo and Wolves who were so good and now sunken without a win. Will he be the next casualty? Everton who look promising and now just like they were before. 

The Best FIFA Football Awards

Congratulations to all winners. Lionel Messi is to me the GOAT - Greatest Of All Time! No question. There has never been one so gifted. George Best was the incredible one and only. We are fortunate that in our lifetime, we get to watch not just Messi but also Cristiano Ronaldo. When it comes to determination, hard work and desire, Ronaldo gets my vote. He works so hard to be where he is and at 34 still one of the best and scoring many goals. Hard to choose between them. Imagine you have both in your team on each wing! Magic! However, for the season ended 2018/2019, there was no player better than Virgil Van Dijk. Period. He was colossal. He influence all around him when he plays and makes everything seems so easy. He gives confidence to all his team mates and is always imperious. What a player! What else can you say and what superlatives can you add. How he did not win the best player ward is beyond me.

EPL Game Week 7

For Game Week 7, the biggest match will be Manchester United v Arsenal. Think of the time when the rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson and Monsieur Arsene Wenger was red hot. Now the feeling between Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Unai Emery is mutual respect and understanding. 

Sheffield United v Liverpool - Sheffield United will provide a tough test as they have just gone to Everton and won 2-0, something Liverpool themselves may find hard to do but this is a winnable game for the Reds to extend to 16 wins in a row. A new week and a new record? Yes but they will have to work like hell here as they did Chelsea. Chelsea attacked Liverpool with great verve but they held on to win. Some call it luck but Liverpool is different this season. Alisson Becker was injured early on and it affected them. They have only one clean sheet after six matches. Virgil Van Dijk has not been as imperious though still very good. Also kudos to Adrian San Miguel for settling in and playing better now despite his last minute transfer. Klopp has trained Liverpool to win, ugly or otherwise. Liverpool are now playing with a very high defensive line because they have the confidence to pull it off, the introduction of VAR and the strategic advantage for them to do so and depends on VAR where in the past they could not and only rely on human judgement. They have added in their weaponry new ways to score goals. Two goals against Chelsea were exactly that - well drilled set pieces. After Sheffield United, Liverpool face three tough tests -
they host Leicester, travel to Old Trafford and host Tottenham. If they get through these matches unscathed and win all of them, they would have set another new record - beating City's 18 wins in a row. They would have established themselves as clear favourites by then. 

Sheffield United have taken eight points from six matches by scoring only seven goals. This is maximum value per goal. Chris Wilder's formula is working. Liverpool must expect them to sit back and play on the counter. Leicester went there and won 2-1, Southampton got a 1-0 win at Bramall Lane. Like I said earlier, Sheffield will make it tough but Liverpool should prevail. Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a wonder free-kick which was simply unstoppable. He shall be key to deliver those deadly crosses. Of course Andy Robertson as well. The only concern is Mane who was injured. Firmino is back to his brilliant best this season. He will play a key role to unlock the Sheffield defence. This is a great opportunity for Xherdan Shaqiri to feature but he may also have been injured. In this case, young Rhian Brewster or Adam Lallana may have a chance. Wilder has vowed that if Liverpool were to win it will be over their dead bodies. If Liverpool play well, Adrian may be picking daisies. 0-2.

Aston Villa v Burnley - Villa have led against some better teams like Tottenham and Arsenal and yet ended losers. Hosting a resilient Burnley side playing better now may be tough even at Villa Park but at some point they need results and more points. Burnley has better form and Chris Woods just had a brace last week but the home ground advantage may see Villa get at least a point. Villa may also have been encouraged by their 3-1 away win over Brighton in the EFL Cup. When teams are inconsistent it is harder to pick a winner and the game usually ends in a draw but I will pick a Villa home win.  2-1.

Bournemouth v West Ham - It is never easy to be in the Premier League. Eddie How should know. He has been around and is a great young manager. The Cherries would often start well, tail off later, earned a few big scalps but also surprised themselves with some sloppy results. That has been their combination. You would want Eddie and his team to succeed, he bloods youngsters. Half of his team maybe under 24 and a few of the oldest at 28. They came back from a 1-3 defeat by Leicester with two successive 3-1 wins over Everton and away at Southampton. Impressive! West Ham is finally looking solid under Manuel Pelligrini. They now have a sound defence, good midfielders and must have optimism to climb up the ladder when their next opponents are Bournemouth, Palace and Everton. This should be a good game as both sides play good football. A draw with goals is likely. 2-2.

Chelsea v Brighton - Frank Lampard should be applauded for playing his youngsters and they played very well against Liverpool. Except for that forgettable opening day defeat to United, they have beaten Norwich 3-2 and Wolves 5-2 on their travels. There is nothing not to like about Lampard's Chelsea for their open attacking play. Only problem has been their porous defence. Remember that year where Chelsea conceded only 15 goals not in a month but for an entire season. With their attack and such a defence they could even be champions. The Seagulls do not score a lot but they are an experienced side. Chelsea are good for two goals but have yet to get a clean sheet. a 7-1 romp over Grimsby in the EFL Cup was good practice for the weekend. 3-1.

Crystal Palace v Norwich - Palace fumbled at the last minute last week when they allowed Wolves to equalised leaving Roy Hodgson fuming for two points lost. Norwich looked ordinary and subdued at Turf Moor. Last time I told you about Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell but this time I was impressed with Emiliano Buendia. The Canaries are the 7th best scoring team (9 goals) but with the second most goals conceded (14). Palace have not been firing and so if Norwich get goals they can win. A draw is also quite likely. I pick Norwich to rebound and win. 1-2.

Tottenham v Southampton - Tottenham confirmed once again their wretched away form when they went down 1-2 at Leicester after leading from a most unusual but yet superb goal from Harry Kane. Son Heung-Min caused a bit of havoc and his flick to Kane resulted in Kane being nudged by Soyuncu. As Kane got into the box, he was already out of balance due to the nudge and staggering but somehow with great determination and improvisation he clipped the ball past Schmeichel into the top corner when he was horizontal to the ground. What a great striker! Spurs seemed easily exposed to counter attacks. Injuries may also have been an issue. Pochettino must solve the puzzle soon. Southampton area good side under Ralph Hassenhuttl but lost 1-3 to Bournemouth last week yet bounced back to win 4-0 against Portsmouth in the Cup. Spurs defeat by Leicester followed by an embarrassing knock out by Colchester in the EFL Cup by penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw. Something good must happen to Spurs soon. They have a great manager in Pochettino and excellent players like Kane, Son, Erikssen, Alli, etc. and basically a very good team that was why they have been top four for many seasons even when they have no new addition and was Champions League finalist last season. I was expecting them to be having an even better year this time. It has been a slow start but this is the time that Spurs must turn around. Spurs win. 2-0.

Wolves v Watford - Both are having a disastrous season. Wolves have reasons to believe they are going places from last season. Ditto Watford. Both have been so poor they are sitting next to each other at the bottom in respective order. In fact, Watford did not need that 0-8 record thrashing from City to know how bad they have been despite changing their manager. I was wondering how the players were feeling when 0-5 down in less than 18 minutes. While Watford finally won 2-1 against Swansea in the EFL Cup, Wolves had to beat Reading in the Cup through penalties after a 1-1 draw. They both need belief and to reset their season but Wolves have home advantage at the Molineux. 1-0.

Everton v Manchester City - Marco Silva's world came crashing down on him when his supposedly improved Everton side lost by a clear 0-2 at Goodison Park to newbie Sheffield United. With such poor form, it is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire when they host Manchester City who were so relentless when thy put 8 past a helpless Watford. While Liverpool are finding new ways to win, Everton have found new ways to lose. It is worrying they have a goal difference of 5 to 9 = -4. Of course, Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne were in top form but Kevin De Bruyne could be the player of the season if he keep up that form barring injuries. What an incredible player! He controls and makes everything. Norwich created doubts and removed the fear factor from City but City have reinstated it immediately. After another easy 3-0 away win in the Cup over Preston where Raheem Sterling returned with a goal and an assist, Everton will be put to the sword. 1-3.

Leicester v Newcastle - If the Foxes could continue in the same vein they are top six quality. In Brendan Rodgers they have a manager who knows how to liberate their creative and attacking forces. He has even built a stable backline without replacing Harry Maguire and nobody has noticed. His replacement Caglar Soyuncu has actually been quite good playing alongside veteran Jonny Evans and flanked by two good wingbacks Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chiwell. Wilfred Ndidi protects the back line and wins balls to release to their attacking midfielders Ayoze Perez, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes. Jamie Vardy completes the lineup with his goals. It has been quite awhile how well James Maddison has been performing even before Leicester signed him. What a player! Maddison always demands for the ball, takes responsibility,  sees things, creates chances and scores goals and is very good with free kicks. Even the great Paul Gascoigne has high praises for him. Last week he took the ball and ran at Spurs before he unleashed a powerful and unstoppable low shot that curled and hit the ground before the net for their winner. He should be playing for England. I mean he has just been named in the squad but what I really meant is that he should be playing. A 4-0 away win over Luton in the EFL Cup should add some swagger to Leicester. 


Newcastle have problems long ago from the owners and it transcended down. Under these circumstances, they dare not play. Stever Bruce's team were playing at home at St. James Park last week and conceded 71% possession to Brighton and I thought Brighton were Barcelona! This is a big worry for their passionate Toon Army. Newcastle have to wait for anohter match to win. Leicester win. 2-1.

Manchester United v Arsenal - Jose Mourinho is laughing again. West Ham did not get into second gear to beat a helpless, directionless, leaderless and clueless. Marcus Rashford has the talent to succeed but his confidence seems to have been affected and could be now out injured. Daniel James is bright and young but too much reliance has been placed on his young shoulders. In the modern game you need fast transition from midfield but Matic looks his age. It is not Solskjaer's fault. It goes above him too that after so many seasons, so much spent and so many changes, they have become worse. He was a stop gap measure. There must also be question about their training methods as Rashford, Martial, Shaw all suffering muscle injuries. One Man U die-hard fan I know is now opening supporting City. In life, you don't have many real fans or friends. You see, Manchester United is not an easy team to beat. So it meant that West Ham were very good last week or United has become very bad. Still when an old enemy like Liverpool, City, Tottenham, Chelsea or Arsenal come along they will  often play above themselves at least. We are no longer sure this time and they have injury problems upfront so they are less likely to hurt the Gunners porous defence and the reverse is true as Arsenal do have a very potent attack against United's slow midfield. Arsenal had a roaring 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup while United struggled against Rochdale (1-1) and only won on penalties. Though at their theatre of dreams, United may be contend with a draw. United despite their poor form are not easy to beat and most will pick a draw. I say that if Arsenal could negate their midfield and with a stronger attack they could win and that did not happen often. That was my observation of how they played the last time. 1-2.