EPL 2019/20 - Game Week 21

Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year! 

The first mistake you gonna make during the New Year is to write your date wrongly. 2019 instead of 2020. You probably just cannot help it since you have been dating 2019 for a long time. That is the same problem with life. We are creatures of habit. So all you need to conquer is not others but yourself. Be a master of self and you can master everything. You do not need to seek to be better than others but to better yourself. Better than you were yesterday. The same it is for your soccer team. 

When you walk through a storm, HOLD YOUR HEAD UP HIGH and DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. At the end of the storm, There's a Golden Sky and the Sweet, Silver Song of a lark. Walk On through the wind, Walk On through the rain though your dreams may be tossed and blown, WALK ON, WALK ON with hopes in your hearts and YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE! You'll Never Walk Alone! YNWA!

It is this spirit that is the embodiment of my belief. Even Bruce Lee said Walk On. At the time he suffered a severe injury to his back and lying on his bed he was told that he could never practise martial arts again. At this point he took one of his business cards and wrote - "Walk On!" and placed it where he could see to remind him everyday to move forward with his recovery. He also said "do not pray for an easy life but pray for  the strength to endure a difficult one". This is what I would wish for you for the New Year.

Game Week 19/20

What a week it was for Game Week 19 and 20! Champions Manchester City have fallen short yet again and gave another three points away as they crashed at the Molineux after leading 2-0 but ended in a 2-3 defeat to Wolves in what may have ended their title race. Carlo Ancelotti celebrated as Everton won 2-1 at Newcastle. Watford played an outstanding game to hammer Aston Villa 3-0, a very importatn win in theri fight for survival. Norwich showed that playing teams threatened by relegation won't be easy a they held Tottenham 2-2 and they led twice. Leicester recovered from the 0-4 thrashing by Liverpool with a 2-1 away win over West Ham which ended the reign of their manager Manuel Pelligrini while Manchester United had a revival with another good win away to Burnley.

The EPL is brutal. Playing non-stop after Christmas through the New Year and not forgetting playing through the winter while the rest of Europe are probably on beach vacation somewhere sunny. How then can England win the World Cup even with the most talented team? As you celebrate the New Year on 1 January 2020, there will be five matches followed by four on the 2nd and one on the 3rd January. Then the F.A. Cup for the weekend. 

League Table (Top Ten)
(P-Play, W-Win, D-Draw, L-Lose, GF-Goals For, GA-Goals Against, GD-Goal Difference)

1) Liverpool - 55 points (P19, W18, D1, L0, GF-47, GA-14, GD-33)
2) Leicester City - 42 points (P-20, W-13, D-3, L-4, GF-43, GA-19, GD-24)
3) Manchester City - 41 points (P-20, W-13, D-2, L-5, GF-53, GA-23, GD-31)
4) Chelsea - 35 points (P-20, W-11,D-2, L-7, GF-35, GA-28, GD-7)
5) Manchester United - 31 points (P-20, W-8, D-7, L-5, GF-32, GA-23, GD-9)
6) Tottenham - 30 points (P-20, W-8,D-6, L-6, GF-36, GA-29, GD- 7)
7) Wolves - 30 points (P-20, W-7,D-9,L-4, GF-29, GA-25, GD-4)
8) Sheffield United - 29 points (P-20,W-7,D-8,L-5, GF-23, GA-19, GD-4)
9) Crystal Palace - 27 points (P-20, W-7,D-6,L-7, GF-18, GA-22, GD-minus 4)
10) Everton - 25 points (P-20, W-7, D-4, L-9, GF-23, GA-30, GD-minus 7)
10) Newcastle - 25 points (P-20, W-7,D-4, L-9, GF20,GA-30, GD-minus 10)

Liverpool are runaway leaders at this point but still a long way to go as they remain undefeated not only till now this season but way back long ago. They are only behind City in goal-scoring and have the best defence once again and the best goal difference. It is their title to lose as 2nd place Leicester are 13 points behind and City have 14 points less and Liverpool has a game in hand. Leicester are having a fine season and shall continue to do well. City are still very good but they have lost five times. The rest of the traditional top six are having a very mixed season. The worst off are Arsenal who are not even in the top ten at this point but I do see them coming back in the second half of the season. Chelsea have been the best of the rest, showing promise and yet inconsistency.  Good away and less at home. Manchester United are much like Chelsea but they are good against the strong teams and poor against lesser sides. Tottenham draw close comparison to both, brilliant one week and ordinary the next. Wolves are not a surprise. They have been this good for a couple of seasons thanks to their manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Sheffield United was originally a surprise in the mix but not anymore if you have watched them every week. They are so professional and so consistently good. You have to give it tho their English manager Chris Wilder who was their former player. Ten of his players were playing in the lower division just last season. Crystal Palace, Everton and Newcastle are all surprises where they are. Palace and Newcastle started poor but climbed back up except that Everton should be higher up.

Top Scorers

AT the half-way point, these are the top scorers of the season:

1) Jamie Vardy (Leicester) - 17
2) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) - 13
3) Danny Ings (Southampton) - 12
3) Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) - 12
3) Tammy Abraham (Chelsea) - 12
6) Raheem Stirling (Manchester City) - 11
6) Harry Kane (Spurs) - 11
8) Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - 10
8) Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - 10
10) Teemu Pukki (Norwich) - 9
10) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool ) - 9
12) Raul Jimenez (Wolves) - 8
12) Domnic Calvert-Lewin - 8

VAR

Controversial and much hated? Remember, everyone was craving for VAR previously. So always be careful what you wish for. It is a good technology but soccer has lots of energy and lots of emotion. A goal was scored and you were delirious, shouting and jumping and then you wait. If it is ruled a goal, you repeat that celebration and when not you can't retract your earlier celebration. Rules are rules and VAR is VAR. 

You need to set the rules right and make them better. Wolves' equaliser at Anfield cannot be considered controversial when ruled to be offside by VAR because a Wolves' player left foot was found to be offside. Tell that to Roberto Firmino whose goal was ruled offside because his body was forward-leaning and his armpit was caught offside. Maybe it was his armpit hair. Sadio Mane's goal too was good the moment I saw it I knew it would be allowed because Adam Lallana was trying to chest the ball when the ball hits his shoulder. What should be changed is for the player to be ruled onside if any part of the body is onside and not the other way around where it is ruled offside if any part of the body is offside.

Game Week 21

Brighton v Chelsea - I have opposite impression of both teams after game week 20. Brighton were very good when they defeated Bournemouth (2-0) but Chelsea were really quite bad when they lost at home (0-2) to Southampton. the other week but gave a two-faced 2-1 winning against Arsenal at the Emirates. They were harassed and out of the game until Frank Lampard make a bold tactical switch when ht took out Emerson and sent in Jorginho and it changed the game. They took over the 2nd half and swarmed Arsenal. Brighton won't be easy to play but Chelsea have sharper attackers but their defence still sucks and Kante needs to do a better job of protection. Chelsea's young team do not have the experience of grinding out through this period and this is where Brighton may excel at. So I shall pick a draw. 2-2.

Burnley v Aston Villa - Burnley were torn asunder at home by Manchester United. The Red Devils attack were at their best especially Anthony Martial and even better was Marcus Rashford but this is Aston Villa, coming to be bullied as they have just been trounced 3-0 by Watford. Villa's season will be defined in the second half of the season. It also seems quite sure that they may lose their captain Jack Grealish especially if they do not stay up. Burnley are seasoned relegation scrappers for some time. They should be able to get a win here. 2-1. 

Newcastle v Leicester City - Newcastle fought but it was not enough as they went down 0-2 to Everton at home. This consecutive home ground offers little comfort as they host Leicester City who despite resting Jamie Vardy and several others still won 2-1 at West Ham. While Leicester have shown no signs of slowing except for the Liverpool blip, the Magpies have shown no signs of winning. Vardy returns after celebrating the arrival of his baby and will be eyeing to increase his goal tally from the current class-leading 17! While Newcastle were unlucky at Everton, Leicester are playing with such confidence and authority it is hard to fathom anything but another win unless the Magpies produce something more. 1-2.

Southampton v Tottenham - Southampton came from a goal down to hold Crystal Palace and now undefeated in three. Tottenham have to come from behind twice to deny Norwich a home win and failed to conquer the Canaries in style which they would have previously achieved. It looks like the Saints will give the Cockerels a run for their money. Son Heung-Min is a wonderful player for Spurs with his heroics for some years but of late he has become a liability with his red card sending off and subsequent suspension. Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli are scoring and Spurs need them but the Saints are better than Norwich so they will exploit the Spurs' defence and could get a draw. 2-2.

Watford v Wolves - Watford were magnificent and have now won twice and drew one in their last three matches. The 3-0 trouncing of Villa was impressive but Wolves themselves achieved an even more impressive double over champions Manchester City when they came from 0-2 down to win 3-2 at the Molineux ( they had City beaten 2-0 at the Etihad) and what they did with Liverpool at Anfield was also pretty good. Whatever Nigel Pearson and Craig Shakespeare has done it has worked for the Hornets and I could see them battling Wolves for the spoils. 1-1.

Manchester City v Everton - City missed some of their injured players and may be tired. Of course they are very good and could quickly come back in style but it is a taller task now to retain their title and they did just that when they overcame Sheffield United 2-0 at the Etihad. Kevin De Bruyne was once again Man of the Match. Everton celebrated an away win at Newcastle and have a young English striker who has added regular goals to his game and whom his manager, the highly respected and regarded Carlo Ancelotti said has the attributes to become a top striker in Europe. Jamie Redknapp believed he would be a top striker in the EPL and would play for England soon. He has 5 goals in 5  matches now and his name is Dominic Calvert-Lewin and only 22 years old. Players with three names are trending. Haha. We also have Callum Hudson-Odoi, Trent Alxander-Arnold, Kevin De Bruyne, Allan Saint Maximin, Giovani Lo Celso, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It is a huge test for Ancelotti and Evrton byt a very important one for City as they can't afford to drop any more points. CIty shall provide the stiffest test to Ancelotti and Everton yet. While it is a  must win for City, Everton may cause a few problems out there as they remain unbeaten in six games with three wins where not even Manchester United or Leicester could beat them. City may have lost 2-3 to Wolves but they have stormed back against Sheffield United with a 2-0 win. I expect the same here and Kevin De Bruyne has been playing some unbelievable football. 2-0.

Norwich v Crystal Palace - Norwich showed courage and a lot of fight when they took the game to Tottenham. They took a home point then and hope to repeat that performance and perhaps take three here. Palace had a good game at Southampton but shared the spoils. Roy Hodgson has made Palace hard to beat but they are not scoring enough. If Norwich manager Daniel Farke have a good plan, they could stop the visitors from winning. 1-1.

West Ham v Bournemouth - When Pelligrini came, the former Man City manager offered hope and promise but everything has gone downhill and was sacked after the 1-3 defeat by Leicester. Bournemouth are just a point ahead having played a game more. The Hammer's game in hand is a home tie against Liverpool postponed till some time in January. The appointment of David Moyes will mean a distinct change n plans and direction but with Moyes I do sense their defence will get better. West Ham's season must start now to rake up some points before its too late and a fortunate to be meeting a Bournemouth side suffering injuries and are off form and both side are battling the slide to oblivion - relegation. A draw is likely. 2-2. 

Arsenal v Manchester United - The Gunners have sunken to a new low and are in 12th position.  Arteta's arrival has not yielded effect but there were signs of improvements, only that familiar errors and failings are still present where they need to get rid of. It's like Arsenal snatch defeat at the jaws of victory when it should be the other way around. Manchester United seemed revitalised in their quite impressive 2-0 win at Burnley. I must say that during the fist half of their game with Chelsea, Arsenal were excellent! Question is can Arsenal's back line take the pace and pounding of Martial, Rashford and Daniel James? Mikel Arteta will be looking for his first victory as Arsenal manager. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's boys got back to back wins and look dangerous recently. Bernd Leno was shaky in Arsenal's last game and will be tested here. If Arteta could devise a plan to curb United's counter-attack at pace then they could savage something.Marcus Rashford is having a defining season and he has 16 goals with 5 assists now while Anthony Martial has 10 goals and 3 assists so both of them are United's flag-bearers. United look the better team but if the Gunners could play like they did to Chelsea in the first half, they could get something. I reckon they will play to a high scoring draw. 2-2.

Liverpool v Sheffield United - Liverpool were unplayable when they beat City 3-1 and Leicester 4-0 but against Wolves, they were not so impressive. Salah was wasteful, Firmino a bit quiet but Mane was good. Henderson played very well but Wijnaldum did not. Lallana was surprisingly good as he took his place in the first XI and provided an assist. It was good to see him going back all the way to block a cross for a corner and then winning a crushing tackle in midfield. TAA was a little flat after last week's out of the world performance mistiming his passes and crosse. Robertson look tired and was not his usual self. Van Dijk was not his imperious self and he even made an uncharacteristic error but could be due to Alisson throwing the ball to him and caught him on the wrong foot but Joe Gomez was real class and is surely back to his best prior to injury. Still the Reds dominated but was not clinical and wasted many chances. Sheffield United gave City a good game and took the lead only for VAR to rule as offside. Last time they met at Bramall Lane Liverpool won 1-0 with a goalkeeping mistake by Dean Henderson. 

Liverpool were swashbuckling and exciting with their all out attack since two seasons ago and free-scoring but defensively bad. They find it hard to break down ultra-defensive teams. Since last season  you would have seen the changes and it continued and got even better this season. The control, the patience, the belief, the late goals, the 1-0 or 2-1 wins. They look like "The Ultimate Winning Machine". Everyone is saying though with each game that they are due a defeat but no chance at Anfield. I would be very proud of Sheffield United and they will play well again but Liverpool's march towards that firs title in 30 years will be inexorable soon but it will have to continue match by match. It is a tough schedule fro the Blades who lost their first away game for the season to Man City and now could be their second defeat. Liverpool should win but then we do not know if Klopp is going to rotate players. 2-0.