EPL 2021/2022 - Game Week 9

I dislike the International breaks. It makes us miss EPL matches on weekends. Two weeks ago, I wanted to sell Lukaku to buy Vardy and then to make Mo Salah as Captain for my Fantasy Premier League (FPL) but delayed it due to the international break and later conveniently forgotten to to do that. What happened? Salah scored a magical goal and provided a superb assist, Lukaku fired blanks and Vardy scored a beauty and not only that, players not fielded or injured were not changed and all in all I missed and lost at least a good 30 points. 

What an opener it was or Game Week 8 as Liverpool buried all doubts about them and the ghost of a shocked 0-3 drubbing in 2020. My original prediction was for 2-0 or 3-1 but did not wish to appear bias and the Reds were simply too good. If that Salah pass for Mane to score was incredible, Salah's goal was almost identical to the magical one he score against City. Firmino capped his performance with a simple hattrick. Now Salah's last ten games has ten goals and four assists. Is there a better player in the world right now and he did it with two goals that were out of this world. 

How did Aston Villa self-destruct after having led Wolves 2-0 till they caved in as Wolves scored in the 80th, 85th and 95th minutes. City's 2-0 home win over Burnley was not unexpected but they have to labour for it. Norwich got another point and are yet to win. Southampton got their first win and consigned Leeds to yet another defeat. 

Leicester City are surely back as Manchester United are surely bad. What a game! Mason Greenwood as I have said before is destined to be a top player. Cutting in form the right, he beat his man and sent his rocket into the net but the early lead was all in futility as the Foxes equalized with a gem of a goal from Yuri Tielemans. Iheanacho had Maguire beaten and release the ball to Tielemans who in a single stride swiped a high curling shot over the head of De Gea. You cannot fault De Gea as he made at least 7 saves if not it would be have been a huge spanking for the Red Devils. Jamie Vardy had a superbly well taken goal to boot and mind you Ronaldo played the full match. Just watch the goals by young Mason Greenwood, then the ones from Youri Tielemans and old man Jamie Vardy!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvsA7SfxPs0 (Leicester V Man Utd.) 

Brentford are a fantastic team with a very good manager and I have mentioned often times. They didn't care if Chelsea are the European champions. The fact that Chelsea won was a credit to their great defensive qualities especially their Senegalese keeper Edouard Mendy who made so many saves to deny the Bees and when he failed Chalobah was there to save on the line. How Brentford did not win this game is beyond me. The Bees swarmed all over Chelsea and had an xG of 1.91 to their opponents' 0.27 17 shots to5 and created 7 chances to 2. If Salah is the best player in the world right now then Mendy must be the best goalie! 

The sickening pandemic is still raging and now we are so quickly into Game Week 9. Some great matches await us:

Arsenal v Aston Villa - Patrick Viera showed he has a better plan than Arteta last week and who do you think has a better win record against each other between the Gunners and the Villans? Sorry mate, Aston Villa have beaten Arsenal in the last three meetings - 1-0 twice at Villa Park and in between 3-0 at the Emirates. After three league wins, the Gunners has gone flat with two draws. Villa were bad in conceding three times after leading by two goals but if they play like the first half they were not as bad. I think they will start level but home advantage to the Gunners may not be enough. 2-2.

Chelsea v Norwich - First versus last. After what Brentford did and threw everything at the Blues and yet could not score, what chance Norwich. Lukaku's goals have dried up but will this be the one match he could boss the Canaries' defence and score maybe even more than a goal? But then it seems he and Timo Werner are out injured. Even then we are talking about the meanest defence up against the weakest strike force so there could be only one outcome. Anything more that favours the visitors will be a shock. Norwich had two draws recently both 0-0 but the opponents were Burnley and Brighton. A home win at Stamford Bridge must be expected but perhaps not a whipping. 2-0. 

Crystal Palace v Newcastle - The Eagles were again quite good when they held Arsenal 2-2 (away). It is a game like this that Crystal Palace must win. Newcastle had a perfect start last week. They were at St. James Park, Callum Wilson put them ahead within 2 minutes and for a good ten minutes looked like the players were fighting for their future. That was about all. A culling maybe coming and the only player of distinction has been Allan Saint-Maxima. How low will the Magpies get before the new owners change things? They have not a single clean sheet but they have also failed to score in only one match. Steve Bruce departed inevitably and sadly as he was tormented by some fans who failed to realize it was not Bruce's fault but the one who appointed him. I am sure Bruce did his best in those circumstances given the players he has and the budget he was given. To me, the fact that the Magpies are still in the Premier League was thanks to Steve Bruce and he gave you Allan Saint-Maximin who said that he is one of the most gentle people he knows in football and he was always caring, fair and protected his players. If anything Bruce is too nice. Graeme Jones will be in charge of the Magpies. However, Palace have not been able to turn good performances into wins somehow. Draw. 1-1.

Everton v Watford - Both sides were disappointing last week and will look forward for a win but in 16 visits to Goodison Park they have never won. So the Toffees may see their chance here especially after watching their neighbours being made minced meat last week but they are sorely missing Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison but still Everton looks the better bet unless Claudio Raineri works his magic immediately but his first task is to stop the leaking. 1-1.

Leeds v Wolves - Leeds were simply awful last week at Southampton while Wolves were magnificent as they came from 0-2 to win 3-2 away to Aston Villa and this should spur them further in their endeavours and it gets more difficult for Leeds unless they could come up with something of a special performance. Wolves are now on a roll with four wins! Leeds may also miss Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford to make things worse. At some point, Leeds should return to winning ways but not here at this moment. Probably both will find each other difficult to overcome and settle for a draw. 1-1.

Southampton v Burnley - The Saints got their first win finally last week and must seize the opportunity of another home match at the St. Mary's to build up their season for another possible win. Burnley are still looking for their first win. Goals are a problem for the Clarets as they have only scored 5 in 8 games, just better than Norwich and when they played Norwich they could not even score. When Southampton sold Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard we thought they will be worse but they are still about the same. Burnley are doing the same stuffs and remained at the same spot. They usually need a late season battle against relegation. Maybe a drab affair with a 0-0 draw or an odd goal. 0-0.

Brighton v Manchester City - The biggest test for the Seagulls who failed to beat Norwich and now host the Champions who have just dispatched Clubbe Brugge 5-1 in Belgium. You are not going to believe this - last season Brighton won this tie 3-2 and lost only 0-1 to City (away). This season Brighton are an even better team. Naturally, City will be superior but on some rare occasions could be caught. Brighton have been playing well but they need to improve their finishing. Example they dominated Arsenal with xG of 1.16 to their opponent's 0.34, had 21 shots to 8, created 18 chances to 5 and the game ended 0-0. So the Seagulls will probably come a little short. 1-2.

Brentford v Leicester City - This could be a great match. Brentford are very good to watch and they will make teams shudder when facing them. They really could have beaten Chelsea last week. What a team! The Foxes are back in form and winning and to beat Manchester United 4-2 in in that fashion was really something! Plus you can't stop Jamie Vardy can you? Now Leicester has a ready-made successor to Vardy in Zambian Patson Daka. He was rumoured to be wanted a host of clubs before he joined the Foxes. Not only did he scored against United but he scored all four goals as Leicester won 4-3 at Spartak Moscow when Leicester were two goals down. Leicester have gone down the wire with two thrilling wins and this could be yet another. A high scoring draw. 2-2.

West Ham v Spurs - David Moyes' West Ham overcame his former team at Goodison Park and that was a fine result. What do you make of Spurs? A team that could beat City and get thumped by Palace but finally Harry Kane's long awaited goal has come. The way he had the offside trap beaten was clever as he ran in diagonally and his finishing was equally good, flicking the ball over the goalie. Spurs are back to winning but this is a London derby and the Hammers are very good. Nuno Espirito Santo fielded an entire second team at Vitesse and lost 0-1 probably with this game in mind. This is not even the Europa League but the Europa Conference League which is a rung lower. On the ohter hand, West Ham had a comfortable 3-0 home win over Genk in the Europa League with half the team second stringers. This London derby could be an exciting game. Antonio, Fornals, Benrahma and Bowen could all score and the Kane and Son partnership is back. 2-2.

Manchester United v Liverpool - The collapse at the King Power Stadium was of epic proportion, a capitulation at Leicester. There was huge spending in the summer but the Red Devils seemed all lost at sea and thus their 29 away game unbeaten record has come to and end. To make things worse, the Foxes have themselves not been at their best. Even Patson Daka found time to score his first goal when he came on in the 77th minute. If not for David De Gea who must have made like seven saves, an open enquiry may be needed. They have spent lots of money only to make the team worse. They next host Atlanta, Liverpool, visit Spurs, travel to Atlanta and host City. All tough games ahead. I saw a cartoon on social media of someone holding the tail of a goat while heaving a meal with the caption of "Amartey's handling of the GOAT!" If they play like they did at Leicester and if Salah continues with what he did to City and Watford then he must be rubbing his hands with glee. United looked lost and forlorn and whenever Leicester attacked it looked like they were going to score. It must be said that the Red Devils should learn to play like Brentford. Do not blame Jadon Sancho either. He is one of the best if not the best right winger but has been placed on the wrong side to the left. All in all Manchester United is like a Maserati but with an an engine of a one litre car.

Danny Rose must have suffered his worst nightmare for sometime from Mohamed Salah. Salah was like picking roses on an evening stroll. Trent Alexander-Arnold plays a very important role for Liverpool. He is not the best defender but there is none more commanding like him operating as a right back and whipping those wicked crosses. They say attack is the best form of defence and with the way he attacks there is a lesser need to defend as keeps the opponents pegged back. Joel Matip is playing an important role alongside Van Dijk. There is more to come from VVD as people forget the serious injury which took him a season to be back. The Reds engine room is not at their best yet but the front three looks like the ones when they won the EPL title and the Champions League again but every derby with the Red Devils will never be an easy one but then you look at Liverpool's dramatic 3-2 away win at the Wanda Metripolitano Champions League match where Mo Salah yet again scored and did twice in what looked more like a semi-final match than group stage. Salah reached yet another milestone for being Liverpool's all time record goal scorer in the Champions League. The relentless goal scorer is indeed a genius. He has now scored in nine consecutive matches - another record. Even Naby Keita scored with a brilliant 20 yard volley having already scored a similar one against Palace but they have to sort out Keita. He came with great promise but have underperformed. It was wild game and with great intensity. Atheltico Madrid is a superb team that is well organised with counter attacking power and one of the most difficult teams to break down and to beat. They may not be easy on the eye but they are a very good team and have not lost a home UCL game in four years and Liverpool are the second team to score 3 goals against them there. It is games like this that makes one love football. Take a look at Mo Salah!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArGq341L144 (Watford v Liverpool)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjuTfJKU7l4 (Athletico Madrid v Liverpool)

Somehow United will raise their game against Liverpool. The humbling by Leicester will make them more determined. However, United are really just a collection of individuals and are weaker than the sum of its parts. I have said from the beginning that Ronaldo will score goals but he does not do any pressing and just wait for balls. Will it be once again for Solskjaer to save himself with a result just when he looks doomed? This has been why OGS has not been sacked. Just when you thought it is over, his team responded. They did it again at Old Trafford as they railed 0-2 to Atlanta but came back from the dead to win 3-2 and yet again Ronaldo scored the winner. That was some fighting spirit but will fighting spirit alone be enough against teams that do not give you time and space? Last season the Red Devils lost 2-4 at Old Trafford. So looking at the situation, some experts may be tipping a Liverpool win like 2-0 or 3-1 which is understandable but United do not like losing to Liverpool so it is a huge match for both that will probably be close. Even a draw may be deemed a fair result. It depends on what United turn up. Also Klopp may have to do something with his high defensive line that can be susceptible to high balls into the penalty area and these are where Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood loves. Last time they met, I pick a draw but Liverpool ran out comfortable 4-2 winners. This time a draw looks possible but I am going to pick a Liverpool won because of Mo Salah! The Reds have averaged almost three goals per game and they got two against a good City defence while United have conceded 1.25 goals a game. They will also likely to appear in their third kit for the first time. 1-2.