EPL 2019/20 - Game Week 23

Game Week 22 kind of defines each team's season putting them in perspective. Sheffield United's 1-0 win over West Ham showed clearly that Chris Wilder should be celebrated for the way he moulded his team without stars into one that is difficult to beat and could take on any team and give them a run for their money. He could have won some best manager awards if not for Klopp. West Ham's bubble burst after a couple of wins under David Moyes. Arsenal are in unfamiliar territory in 10th after being held a goal apiece by Crystal Palace despite an early lead but their goal scorer and captain Aubameyang made a crazy career threatening tackle and saw red and shall be suspended thus deepening their crisis as Palace held on to 9th spot and a good season under Roy Hodson. Frank Lampards' Chelsea kept 4th spot and proved they could cope with their youngsters with a 3-0 trouncing of Burnley. Everton's narrow 1-0 home win over Brighton confirmed they are better than the rest but still unable to match the best while both Burnley and Brighton are just three points above relegation. 

Leicester City dropped to third as they were stunned 1-2 at home by an excellent Southampton performance where Ralph Hasenhuttl have remained undefeated in the last six matches and won five of them and deservedly rose to 12th. Ralph has been very good indeed since he took over at Southampton. Manchester United kept fifth as they bullied Norwich into submission where Marcus Rashford again was outstanding while the Canaries have deteriorated quite badly to remain last in the table. Wolves have stagnated recently and have not won in four matches. Newcastle's danger is not over. Watford without a win after so many matches has climbed up to 17th after being without defeat in six matches where they have won four times and had Bournemouth beaten 3-0 away leaving Bournemouth in dire straits. Nigel Pearson has done an excellent job.

Tottenham without the injured Harry Kane fell 0-1 to Liverpool and found themselves in 8th position. Liverpool maintained their perch at the top leading with 14 points with a game in hand. This was the fxxxing perch Sir Alex Ferguson talked about years ago where the Reds have now played 21 games and had 61 points. Liverpool have re-written another new record as their 61 points are the most ever registered after 21 games in a single season not only in the English Premier League but across Europe's top five leagues  which are the EPL, Spain's La Liga, France's Ligue 1, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A. Pep Guardilio fielded both Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus and was richly rewarded with a 6-1 win away to Aston Villa with a Aguero hattrick as he overtook Alan Shearer's goals record and helping City rise back to 2nd. Aguero has now overtaken Thierry Henry as the highest goal-scoring foreign player in the EPL history and overtaken Alan Shearer in EPL hattricks. What a player! Despite Liverpools' dominance, City is still the team to beat. The struggle for survival is getting monumental too as Bournemouth travel to Norwich and Aston Villa host Brighton. Staying up or going down has big impact on their future. 

Watford - v Tottenham - Since Nigel Pearson's appointment, Watford have performed out of their skins and he could be manager of the year and now they host the former Special One's team and the Special One has now become the Quiet One. Tottenham are still a much better team than Watford but as confidence goes, the Hornets have everything going for them while Spurs seemed to be floundering. This was evident in their last four matches where they were held by Norwich (2-2), beaten by Southampton (0-1), held by Middelsbrough (1-1) in the F.A. Cup and lost to Liverpool (0-1) before beating Boro in the returned leg. They have scored only a single goal in their previous three. Under normal circumstances or just not so long ago, it would be a Spurs win but when you look at Watford's last five matches you couldn't help but be impressed -  they had beaten Manchester United (2-0), held Sheffield United away (1-1), trounced Villa (3-0), beaten Wolves (2-1) and thrashed Bournemouth away (3-0). They are not only scoring quite a few goals but also kept a few clean sheets. I fear for Spurs. This is a match either one could win and are crucial to both. I fancy a draw. 2-2.

Arsenal v Sheffield United - How will the Gunners fare without Aubameyang who has given 14 goals this campaign against a Sheffield United side who will take no prisoners? They have played excellently but lost to both City and Liverpool and Arsenal are currently not at the City and Liverpool level. I fear for Arsenal as I feared for Spurs  and Arsenal are now in 10th. They are not as bad as the results have thrown out but they are drawing too many games. So Sheffield United have a strong chance to get at least a point here. Arsenal may just have to wait. 1-1.

Brighton v Aston Villa - Brighton should win this one as Villa look spineless. Villa's record has been astonishingly poor. Villa are not bad going forward but have conceded 43 goals shipping two less than Norwich and Brighton have scored only 25 goals. Villa could usually score a goal each match. I would hazard a draw. The Villans are in real danger of being relegated. 1-1.

Manchester City v Crystal Palace - Awesome City will win. An expected win here may not change their position much but they swill hold on to second place. They just have to keep on winning. The surprising thing is that the Eagles won here at the Etihad last season but is will be very hard to keep City quiet with Aguero, Jesus , Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne in top form and they also have Raheem Sterling and in several previous meetings City have crushed them 4-0 or 5-0 before. City are the league's top scorers with 62 goals while Palace are joint bottom three in goal-scoring with only 20. Only thing is City need to be wary that the Eagles are capable of occasionally surprising them somehow but judging by City's last few results and the way they have been playing it's quite a no brainer but Roy Hodgson could surprise. 3-1.

Norwich v Bournemouth - Both side can't win games. Bournemouth have not won a single league game since they have beaten Chelsea away in mid-December. Norwich have not won since they shocked Everton 2-0 away way back in end November. In their previous match, Norwich were crushed 4-0 by Man Utd while the Cherries lost badly at home to Watford 0-3. I do not know which is worse and getting a point each will not help them much and that is exactly what they may get. Eddie Howe is a young and cherished English coach but a manager's grip on his team is not an eternity that was why even the much touted Mauricio Pochettino suffered after a long battle of over-achievement. Bournemouth was outplayed on home turf by Watford and of course one could empathise with their injury list. Surviving the premier league season after season while at time playing some wonderful football is great but for how long should one suffer in life facing mediocrity and looking forward to the next one whereby around the same time each season the Cherries face such slump. Bournemouth seemed to lack motivation. This time they could possibly go down and they have exactly 16 matches to arrest this free fall. 2-2.

Southampton v Wolves - ... and when the Saints go marching in, even Werewolves not to mention Wolves will freeze. How good has Danny Ings been. The Liverpool old boy has done a favour for his ex team mates when he scored against Leicester and Southampton's defence limited Jamie Vardy to just an assist. Southampton are on an incredible run and if you have watched them play, I will not be surprised by a home win here. Oh yes, they have Danny Ings who currently look quite unstoppable. He could have scored a hattrick last week as he smashed a post and then the crossbar. He is in the form of his life. He could get one here. Wolves are a good side but recent form has been indifferent. 2-1.

West Ham v Everton - Both are in no Man's land. West Ham have a short revival with David Moyes but they lost  0-1 at Bramall Lane. Since the 5-2 demolition by Liverpool in their derby in early December, Everton have lost only twice to Man City and Liverpool (in the F.A. Cup). They have won 4 and drew 3. Not exactly bad. Everton should not lose here and a draw is possible if David Moyes could resolve thier issues but I would go for an Everton win. Moyes was also ex Everton manager so he knew them so well. I reckon Moyes and the Hammers could get something here. 1-1.

Newcastle v Chelsea - The Magpies put on a stout showing at the Molineux and Chelsea can be very good or not so. Newcastle applied themselves so well against Wolves so Chelsea won't be having a stroll at St. James Park this weekend. Magpies' goalie Martin Dubravka was also in superb form. Chelsea were impressive in their comfortable 3-0 win over Burnley. They were quite slick and dominating. Newcastle have four wins and a draw here in their last five meetings. A repeat performance by Chelsea like  they did against Burnley will see them secure three points but they have been frustratingly inconsistent and do not seemed to do consecutive victories. For this, I am giving Newcastle a solid chance to get a point. 1-1.

Burnley v Leicester - Burnley are not burning bright while Leicester have their own question marks after the Southampton defeat at home. The Clarets have lost all their last four matches conceding 8 goals and scored only once. The Foxes have bounced back from a 0-4 hiding by Liverpool to win their next two league matches having scored five and conceded 1 goal. Their home defeat by Southampton was a shock. Leicester should clearly come back in a strong fashion to win at Burnley otherwise it becomes a slump. Vardy should be storming back the top scorer's chart and add on to his tally of 17. 0-2.

Liverpool v Manchester United - This is the standout fixture of the week! The only team Liverpool have not beaten this season was Manchester United. They drew at Old Trafford otherwise the Reds would have 100% wins. Liverpool have 20 wins and 61 points from 21 matches, unprecedented in Europe's Top Five Leagues. United often play better against Liverpool. Its a benchmark after Sir Alex Ferguson knocked Liverpool off the fxxxing perch and now Liverpool are back on that perch. The motivation is natural and just last week they ran out 4-0 winners over lowly Norwich. What a player they have in Marcus Rashford who will be a very important player for them and England and so too the very young Mason Greenwood who is going to be a star someday with United and England as he has the goals in him too. When the Red Devils' attack is on song, they could cause all sorts of problems to any team but this is Anfield! Anthony Martial has been in fine form too. Even so, Liverpool will have to work very hard indeed and may not have it all their won way as Manchester United are expected to absorb the pressure and strike quickly on the counter. 

Salah has scored against so many teams so many times but have yet to do so in a Liverpool shirt against United. He has four goals in his last six games. That will be his motivation. United have already conceded 25 goals in 22 matches. United could not score against Arsenal and Wolves recently so there are ways to shut them. Liverpool's high defensive could be breached with their fast forwards in Daniel James, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial but Liverpool have Joe Gomez who is no sloth and is  up to speed while the majesty of Virgil Van Dijk will again be crucial if they were to keep their 7th continuous clean sheet here. If Liverpool is able to get their relentless press going and controls the midfield to peg United back they will get their win. If Marcus Rashford does not recover in time from his back injury against Wolves in the F.A. Cup that will make things worse for United as to me he is their greatest threat. Every team can have an off day but Liverpool have it in them in their DNA now to eek out wins or also win when not playing as well as they should but if they play like they did Leicester then a good win. United thrashed a poor Norwich 4-0 and won against a below form Wolves 1-0 (F.A. Cup) but this time Liverpool will take the three points. 2-0.