EPL 2019/20 - Game Week 9

I say golf as in life, play as it lies. Soccer may be the same. As the EPL take a break from international week, followers can take a breather too from the frantic pace. The weak can say "I am strong" and the mighty can fall. Every team could buy and trade players, managers, coaches, etc. Every team can train hard week in and week out. Older players can strut their stuff and the young ones could have  break out season. There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the sun. Well, go read for yourself Ecclesiastes 3. Also, every dog has its day. 

Last Saturday early game saw the first shock when Brighton stunned Tottenham 3-0 and an unfortunate incident when Lloris once again fumbled with another howler by the 3rd minute, fell and landed awkwardly in what seems like his arm was broken. Hope he is well but it could be nasty and a long lay off. I knew Everton would not be up to it as they lost 0-1 at Burnley and went down to 18th position. Liverpool being Liverpool repeated a bit of the Slasburg game. They dominated with 18 shots and created 15 chances but scored a beauty. If you do not convert your chances you may pay fir it later and that happened when Leicester with 2 shots scored in the 80th minute. It took a 95th minute penalty for the Reds to squeeze a win and now keep an 8 point gap for their 8th straight win this season. Meanwhile, Norwich with 57% possession are in a bad place in 19th, worse as they cruised to a massive 1-5 defeat to fellow promoted team Villa. Watford remained anchored at the bottom without a win as they held Sheffield United 0-0 at Vicarage Road.

Crystal Palace shot up above West Ham when they won there. Arsenal won by the slimmest 1-0 margin with a David Luiz goal in the 9th minute. The greatest upset was at the Etihad when Champions Manchester City slumped to a stubborn Wolves 0-2 despite 76% of the possession and are unable to close the gap with Liverpool but it is early days as last season Liverpool once had a 10 point lead. Chelsea once again as they have been doing, defied the odds with an impressive away 4-1 win over Southampton. Finally Newcastle had Manchester United beaten 1-0. This is less shocking as United have been poor away from home for quite sometime. Newcastle on the other was on fire.

At the beginning of the season, many would thought that Arsenal and Chelsea are more likely to struggle and Tottenham and United would improve. We could not be more wrong. Tottenham are now 9th and Manchester United are now 12th. Leicester was 3rd but their defeat by Liverpool sent them to 4th as Arsenal went up to 3rd and Chelsea 5th. It has been only the 8th game of the season and 30 more to go. Throw in some distraction and tough matches in the F.A. Cup, League Cup, Europa and Champions League, internationals and you really won't know what is going to happen. That is what makes life interesting.

Everton v West Ham  - Two weeks ago, Everton could not find a way past Burnley at Turf Moor and lost by 0-1. So while Burnely rose to 7th, the Toffees plummeted to 18th with 5 defeats after 8 matches. Can Marco Silva deliver at Goodison Park this time? The good thing is that the Hammers themselves were not too good as they lost 1-2 to Palace at home but at least they are in 8th. The lost of Hammers' goalie Fabianski could be a concern. It is crunch time for Everton. Even Michael Keane was dropped in favour of Tyrone Mings when England took on Bulgaria and won 6-0 away so this does not augur well for the Toffees. The Hammers are a better team these days and Pelligrini may fashion a win here but this being away at Goodison Park means its tougher. 1-1.

Bournemouth v Norwich - Bournemouth did not play too badly at the Emirates when they lost 0-1 to Arsenal and now host Norwich who seemed to be free falling after they crashed quite spectacularly at home to Villa. The Canaries have nearly 58% possession, had 21 shots to Villa's 22 and lost 1-5 sending them to second from the bottom. The Cherries are playing well and certainly look good for a home win here. Meanwhile, Teemu Pukki's hot streak from the beginning has gone cold. However, he got a brace when Iceland defeated Armenia 3-0. Callum Wilson on the other hand has been hot and nearly scored for England in his cameo. Also Tyrone Mings has a solid display for England against Bulgaria and may see himself as a regular for his country while his confidence grows. 3-2.

Aston Villa v Brighton - Villa have reason to smile a bit with a solid 5-1 win over Norwich away from home in what was their best result and must have grown in confidence but they will need more than confidence when they host Brighton at Villa Park. The Seagulls themselves got a big scalp when they trounced Tottenham in a shocked 3-0 win and rained 17 shots at their visitors where 19 year old Aaron Connolly scored twice after Maupay gave them the lead. Both have results that boosted their morale. A draw is likely. 1-1.

Chelsea v Newcastle - Chelsea are very good and Lampard has nothing to fear. His young charges showed great promise and Tammy Abraham scored again as he lobbed a high ball into the net. Mason Mount was also superb and should have scored more than one. Willan was again outstanding and Callum Hudson-Odoi like Willan contributed with another assist. Not many team goes to Southampton and walk away 4-1 winners. They have 18 goals, only behind City and Liverpool. This shall be an interesting match as Newcastle sent Manchester United crashing to 12th position with a 1-0 win at St. James Park marking Steve Bruce's first win over his old club. It was a very energised Magpies we saw who played fearlessly and with fire in the belly. Almost every player played so well. Left back Jetro Willens was brilliant and he deservedly assisted for the only goal. Allan Saint-Maximim was also outstandingly and very watchable as he tormented United with his speed and dribbling. He was the one who started the move with his run at goal. The two young Longstafff brothers were really amazing. 21 year old Sean was excellent and that is why United were targeting to sign him. His 19 year old brother Matt was equally good. You saw his technique when he scored with a brilliant shot from Willens' lay off that flew in past De Gea. If Newcastle could maintain such a performance they have no fear of anyone. Chelsea may be weakened in the middle as Ngolo Kante who was superb has been injured but Ross Barkley was outstanding in Bulgaria for England as he provided an assist and scored twice. No one doubted his ability but he has to show it more often and we need to see it regularly. I see Chelsea winning this one. They are much better than Manchester United. 2-1.

Leicester v Burnley - Leicester has come a long way back with Brendan Rodgers. There is clarity how he wanted his team to play. I thought they were very good against Liverpool. Caglar Soyuncu appeared a good defender and Harry Maguire must have some regret when he said he wanted to play for a top four club as United are now in 12th and Leicester 4th. Burnley will offer tough opposition but these are matches the Foxes must win to achieve their ambition. James Maddison's stock is soaring and he may even start for England regularly but was taken ill and missed his England chance. Jamie Vardy is still the one who could steal the show. 2-1.

Tottenham v Watford - Lloris will be out of action for the rest of the season after that freak injury. Tottenham have serious problems after they conceded 7 goals to Bayern Munich and then shipped 3 at Brighton without reply. There is something wrong with the team or did they overachieved with many lucky breaks last season and now being exposed and punished when those breaks didn't happened? Watford are propping up the table with zero win and this seems like a perfect tonic given to Tottenham to recover and earn their erm...spurs. Problem is what if Spurs still do not win this match? Harry Kane got 2 goals for England one n each game and was MOTM against Bulgaria with a goal and 3 assists and could have gotten a hattrick so I am expecting him to do the same here. As a result of their weak results, confidence may be at its lowest ebb. The Hornets are still without a win and this does not look like one they could win. Still Harry Kane and company could prove too much as they badly need a big response to rescue their season. 3-1.

Wolves v Southampton - Wolves produced their biggest moments to find them moving up to 11th from 18th. It was a massive away 2-0 win over champions City and it was the way Wolves played that was impressive. How many teams could go to City and win? Now they are on a winning streak after the early struggles. Nuno Espirito Santo was the great mastermind. Southampton has remained stagnant, have not improved and lost their last three matches. 2-1.

Crystal Palace v Manchester City - Palace got a good result at West Ham (2-1) and moved up to to a surprising 6th, level on points with Leicester and Chelsea. They have beaten City at Selhurst Park in 2015 (2-1). It was 0-0 in 2017 and last season at the Etihad, Palace stunned them 3-2 but lost at 1-3 at home. City are still too good for most teams and can easily rebound or even give a backlash but they have to remember Palace could haunt them especially after the 0-2 upset by Wolves and with Laport out, their defence have been taking a pounding. Kevin De Bruyne's absence is another worry. Kyle Walker may also be absent. If Palace caused another upset, this will have great implications on the title race but only a crazy man would bet against City. They clawed back from 10 points behind last season to win but Palace have conceded only 8 goals so far, one better than City. If City score early the floodgates may open. Raheem Sterling was outstanding for England against Bulgaria with an assist and scoring twice. He will be key here. City can't afford any more slip. Kevin De Bruyne's return will help. 1-3.

Manchester United v Liverpool - The joke after United lost 0-1 to Newcastle was so bad that they were saying Astro made an announcement that effective immediately, all Manchester United matches will be moved to the Cartoon Network to make way for more serious matches. United are not that bad that every team could beat them but now teams believe they could get a result against them. Besides, when it comes to traditional rivalry, they have a tendency to raise their game and could make their own story of being the one who stop Liverpool from equalling City's record of 18 straight wins. You will also never know if the international break is boon or bane for club teams. It depends on how United players are motivated after all they have always wanted Liverpool knocked off their fxxxxing perch. This could be a benchmark that the Red Devils needed bubt it is not a good time.

A win here is more than just equalling City's record of 18 straight wins. It is also another 3 points in the bag to maintain their 8 point lead if City also win. Though they have conceded 6 goals in 8 matches, it is still the best defensive record in the league now. The Reds have scored 20 goals by this time compared to United's 9 and are 15 points ahead. While Salah rested from his ankle injury. Mane and Firmino scored for Senegal and Brazil respectively in their friendly in Singapore. Gini Wijnaldum was even better as he continued his hot streak fro the Netherlands when he scored yet again this time with 2 goals against Belarus and you should have seen his scorcher from outside the box! He is in great form and could surely score more for the Reds but perhaps his role for club and country are different. Based on current form it is hard for United to win especially after watching them play. Maybe they could make things difficult and play for a draw. The fact is United have scored only 5 goal in their last 7 matches and only 2 in their last four. They can take consolation to have only conceded 8 goals plus Marcus Rashford scored a superb goal for England in Bulgaria. It was only last season that Jose Mourinho was sacked in his final game as manager after his United were well beaten by Liverpool. Will history repeat itself with Solskjaer at the helm? 

My take is Klopp was too cautious when they visited Old Trafford last season and despite dominating could not find a way through and drew 0-0. We can say that had they won that match they would have won the title. Liverpool have suffocated and thrashed Arsenal and Man City, they have crushed Bayern Munich and Barcelona. They are the Champions of Europe, they have insatiable appetite, strong desires, ferocious gegen-pressing, so they have to bare their teeth. Klopp's Liverpool have never won at Old Trafford. Forget about clocking 9 straight  wins for the season or 18 straight wins to equal City's record. The job here is to get the win. Period. Liverpool have faced much greater pressure. Consider the crucial win over Napoli last season to qualify, the away 3-0 win over Bayern Munich, that fantastic 4-0 trouncing of Barcelona to over a 0-3 deficit and those were much much better and stronger teams than United. Simply put, if Liverpool bring on their game, there is no stopping them even if as usual the Red Devils play better whenever against Liverpool. So Klopp will win for the first time at the Devils' den. 0-2.

Sheffield United v Arsenal - Sheffield United are the best of the newcomers and are level with Manchester United on points. They showed against Liverpool they can be a handful. The Gunners need to be at their best as this is not a beauty contest but Sheffield United could grind out results especially this will be played at home at Bramall Lane. 1-1.