EPL 2020/21 - Game Week 24
Manchester City now leads the table with 50 points, five ahead of second placed United with a game in hand and ten points ahead of Champions Liverpool languishing in fourth. City's 4-1 win at an empty Anfield was a statement of intent. It was Liverpool's best chance to narrow the gap and when the game was at 1-1, there was still a chance though City played on the front foot and dominated but the Reds came back later and were dominant with 56% of the ball and both having 8 shots at goal though City created more chances.
It was the uncharacteristic display and shocking errors of Alisson Becker that gave City two goals to lead 2-1 and then 3-1 with the span of three minutes. What was Alisson thinking when he attempted to pass the ball out quickly in the danger zone giving it away to City players lurking nearby which quickly led to City scoring twice? A big hoof away would suffice in those moments. Why were Liverpool players playing the ball back to Alisson in those short distances in a crowded area where City players were pressing when they could have chosen other alternatives and are partly responsible for putting Alisson under pressure?
Fabinho who stretched his leg behind and ended up tripping Raheem Sterling for the penalty belongs to a place at the halfway line and not in the penalty box. As well as Fabinho and Henderson have played as centre-backs, by instincts they are not. All teams are targetting this weakness as a result and no one did it better than City. Liverpool's confidence is at an all-time low compared to the time in the last few years when they were brimming with great confidence and authority. That so many players are lacking form and confidence all at the same time meant that they have lost their aura of invincibility and one key reason is the loss of their entire centre defenders and the many changes they have to make all over. Matip and Gomez have been injury-prone so why did they not prepare for someone there. The title is only a slim hope now but they have to pick themselves up for all the remaining games starting with Leicester in this weekend's opener and very soon the Champions League. It is obvious Liverpool needs huge improvements and start getting results immediately even to fight for a top four finish or progression in the Champions League.
Meantime, once in awhile, a player comes and raises and improves his whole team and takes the Premier League by storm. I am talking about Bruno Fernandes. He was already very good and on the books of quite a few teams but with a much higher price tag. Now he is worth all the money as he just so often scores or assist with great aplomb and makes things look so easy. If he continues this way, he could find himself winning the Player of the Year Award. We all knew how good Marcus Rashford and young Mason Greenwood can be going forward but this season, I thought Luke Shaw has finally shown his true level after suffering a series of unfortunate injuries and together with Scott McTominay who has been really good, they are consistently the best for them.
However, it was laughable to hear Roy Keane's blabber on Liverpool and Klopp giving excuses and ebing bad champions. I thought what Klopp and the players said were necessary when interviewed and read they often ended up with them saying "no excuse". I have awesome respect for Keane as a player with exception that he likes to break some legs but as a manager himself he failed in his short career at Sunderland and Ipswich. Everyone must remember that is is very easy to just talk but to be in that position to play or to manage is always a very difficult. Even as a manager or the boss in a business organization ain't easy but everyone wants to be in that position but not the responsibility, the pain and sacrifice that comes with it.
Leicester v Liverpool - Leicester fired blanks at the Molineux against Wolves and are still 3 points ahead of Liverpool. The big question for Liverpool would be if Klopp will give debuts to Ozan Kabak and or Ben Davies so that Henderson and or Fabinho could return to where they belong - midfield. The Reds need equanimity to overcome what they have been through before albeit differently. What Klopp could not match is the free flowing money of the other clubs so he can't just put 50 million or a hundred million pounds each time to solve a problem or two like City, United or Chelsea. Remember that Liverpool signed only a couple of teenagers and back up goalkeepers which is the case in point. For example, the gap between Virgil Van Dijk and the rest available will be huge. He has proven in Germany when his Borussia Dortmund not only did it but did it twice to deny Bayern Munich who has been the dominant side for a million year. He did that to deny a City side that was dominant for some years in England. So Liverpool have to do it their way through progression, a different path and a harder route.
Klopp knows his stuff. He said as much when Liverpool won the title: "When you think you have reached the pinnacle, you are already on the way down. We have been playing at the limit for six years. Every year we have to raise the level of the previous year. If you have to stretch like that, every downward deviation is emphasized." He went on to stress that backward steps or bad results damages the confidence and conviction. Is this not familiar to you especially Singaporeans? We have to be Number One everywhere - airport, seaport, competitiveness, blah blah blah but it wears you out. You will drop off a bit sometime, somehow or in the Year of the Ox, you "cow peh" then you press on again. Quite often, we are victims of our own success just like how Klopp is - expectations!
The plan for Liverpool in this match must be for Alisson Becker to be just great at goalkeeping. Stop mucking around with passes in the danger zone. Start playing with real centre-backs as centre-backs and let midfielders be midfielders. Thiago Alcantara has to improve his tackling to stop it as each time he did it he gets a yellow card. Shoot from distance more as getting through the congested middle is tough with a 10 men defence. This is the start to a new normal. Solve a single problem with one move not three or four adjustments. Anyway, football is not more important than life and it was sad that we found out the Klopp's mother has passed on in January and he could not go back due to travel band between Germany and the UK. Show him the love.
Liverpool won their last 3 meetings with Leicester and the last 3 times they have met but Leicester are undefeated in their last 3 matches against Fulham, Wolves and Brighton and are a confident and proper team and certainly a tough obstacle. Liverpool are a side used to chasing and hunting so maybe they should start here as a point to chase and hunt again. A win here is critical as they next host Everton in the Merseyside derby. Liverpool are threading on thin ice. Big respond needed. Liverpool's best chance is through Mo Salah as the talented James Justin in out injured and then if the Reds can handle Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy. 1-2.
Crystal Palace v Burnley - The Eagles' two recent wins and good show fell flat at Elland road as Leeds won 2-0 while Burnley battled a Brighton side to a draw after conceding first and before that lost 0-2 to both Chelsea and City. I suppose this will be a physical contest with few goals and may well ends a draw but I pick Burnely to win a tight game. 0-1.
Manchester City v Spurs - Another win for City here will stoke even greater belief that they will be handed the title at the end of this season. This same team suffered a 2-5 humiliation by Leicester and in November lost 0-2 to Spurs and can you believe it that was the last time they have lost a match (to Spurs) with a total of 18 wins and 3 draws in all competition. That is Pep for you. At Anfield last week, he played Phil Foden as a forward. Pep has developed many talents and have handled Foden with kid's glove. The world's best player in the U-18 World Cup win for England, Foden is a phenomenal talent and at the time I thought he really could go all the way and more and more you are getting a glimpse of him and what he can do. Mind you, he is only 20. City's 15th win in a row sets a new record! Yes, Pep has all the money to spend on players but not every manager who has money to spend build a great team that plays open attacking soccer every time and win matches and titles. They have now won ten games in a row and undefeated in 14.
Meanwhile, the Kane and Son show is back. Harry Kane whom I like to call "Hurricane" has been Spurs' sugar cane. With Son as his accomplice they can tear down any team but they need all the support and must have the ball. Kane is now Spur's second highest all time goal scorer after Jimmy Greaves and now has 209 goals in 318 games. Currently, Jose Mourinho words of the past is back haunting him. The past punches he threw has hit him like a boomerang when Everton KO them 5-4 in the F.A. Cup. He once famously said: "Four or five is a hockey score, not football. In 3 v 3 training, if the score reaches 5-4 send the players back to the dressing room as they are not defending properly. To get a result in a game of 11 v 11 is disgraceful". Ouch! But Spurs have won the last two games v City 2-0 but in their last 5 games in all competition have lost four and won only once. So potential banana skin here? Or City will romp through? Tottenham under Mourinho is defensive minded but technically strong. This can be a threat to Pep's City. City will keep the ball and Spurs will sit and strike. If Kane and Son are up to it and Mourinho master a tight ship they could get something. Most of course are betting a City win. I feel Spurs could get something here if Hojbjerg, Sissoko and Ndombele remain solid and Lamela adds a creative sprk to Kane and Son. If any team could breach City it is Spurs. 2-2.
Brighton v Aston Villa - Since losing 0-1 to City in January, the Seagulls played five matches without losing, winning three of them including Liverpool and Spurs. Graham Potter and Brighton deserved better even when they were not getting the results. Villa have been brilliant from the beginning of this season and I like to watch them but there has been a drop and they have are inconsistent in their last six matches where their record showed LWLWLW but beating Arsenal in their last match was impressive. Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish have been on song and Emiliano Martinez have been in superb form and was unbeatable against Arsenal. 1-2.
Southampton v Wolves - The Saints is another team I like to watch this season. They were as good as Villa and West Ham early on but now in wretched form having lost all four previous matches. Wolves are without in a win in six road trips and Wolves have just lost to the Saints 0-2 two days ago in the F.A. Cup. Wolves being inconsistent and Southampton's sudden lost of form suggest this could be close. If Wolves gives away free-kicks within striking distance then James Ward=Prowse will surely score. What a dead ball wizard he is. 2-1.
WBA v Manchester United - Since surprising Wolves in mid-January, the Baggies have not won in five with only a draw. United while scoring freely was let down by their defending against Everton. United are playing some really good football. I said some because they do not do it consistently but the materials are there. They are the best team playing away this season so unless Sam Allardyce could fathom a solid plan which his players could carry out, a thrashing may be on the cards. However, do note that WBA often lose to United by a small margin of 0-1 or 1-2 in their last 7 meetings. 1-2.
Arsenal v Leeds - The Gunners are threading on thin ice. Defeats at the hands or rather the fangs of Wolves (1-2) and another to Aston Villa (0-1) meant they have not won since a 0-0 draw with United. Bielsa's Leeds are like how Liverpool used to be under Klopp at the beginning with breathtaking attacking display and exciting wins and then could fall flat by getting caught at the back with their open style. The thing about the Gunners these days is that there is not a single individual who shone consistently and the team looks bland. Leeds are a breath of fresh air. Just look at Stuart Dallas who operated so well in defence or midfield with solid contribution. Jack Harrison is only 24 and he was consistently good and was at his best against Palace and you could sense an assist or a goal with him. He even crashed a left footer against the bar. Patrick Bamford has 12 goals now and he is going to get more and better. Also at 24, Brazilian winger Raphinha is exciting to watch and like Harrison, you smell a goal or assist. Did you see what he did to Gary Cahill? I don't even know what it is called. With Cahill behind, he pulled the ball back with his left foot and in a single moment used his right foot to do a back heeled nutmeg. With the Gunners just plodding along and if Leeds continue their resurgence, Arsenal will have a hard time as Dallas, Harrison and Bamford can create havoc. 1-2.
Everton v Fulham - Fulham have played 12 games without a win and managed to score only 3 in their last 6 games while Everton have won 12 times in a row at home against them. Dominic Cavert-Lewin has score a goal each 3 times in a row after returning from injury but he may not make the team due to a hamstring problem. As Fulham are draw specialist they will not crumble so easily but the Toffees will need to work real hard to break them and should do well enough to win. 2-1.
West Ham v Sheffield United - The Hammers are in sixth for a reason. They have never been this consistent for some years. 5 straight wins before the defeat to Liverpool they came back with a storming win over Aston Villa then got only a point to show at Fulham. The Blades are improving and at least have 3 wins for the season. They just lost narrowly to City (0-1) and Chelsea (1-2) and on a sequence of WLWLW. The Hammers are quite formidable these days and are good for a win. 2-1.
Chelsea v Newcastle - After a draw with Wolves, Tuchel's team have now won three in a row. That is progress and a winning path. Newcastle must have been amazed by themselves halting their continuous string of defeats and winning two of their last three and they can surprise Chelsea if they got complacent but Chelsea should prove too strong. 2-0.
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