Week 28 – Its All Just A Big Mess

First off, apologies for missing last week. Thankfully very little happened outside of Leicester being screwed by VAR. TWICE! Also, Liverpool have started the gradual bottle of the campaign. Honestly Nigel Pearson is a legend who has done this before, Watford build this man a statue!

Might as well start with that game. What the hell did we witness? Liverpool, unbeaten in 44 Premier League games, undone by the Hornets who have looked diabolical at times until Pearson’s appointment. Sarr is the second coming of Messi based off that three-nil performance, watch Liverpool look to snatch him in the summer. The other game I need to talk about: Norwich vs Leicester. What a disgrace of a handball decision! Iheanacho’s goal ruled out for handball despite it hitting the defender’s arm first. I must give credit to Lewis, a superb strike to aide Norwich’s survival. Probably got Delia Smith shouting at her own fans again. Also, can we stop with all these key injuries! Vardy’s turned into a pensioner already, having been touted for an England call-up. He wouldn’t look amiss in that case but I’d still like rapid a Vardy back.

Other games included a bring nil-nil draw between Newcastle and Burnley. The less said the better. Crystal Palace won one-nil against Brighton. Every possibility that they will go down with the performances of the bottom three this weekend. Jordan Ayew apparently can actually score goals. Seems his Swansea days must have just been a joke with some mates. West Ham also took a revitalised Southampton side to the cleaners. Despite their capitulation at Liverpool last week, there may be a glimmer of hope under Moyes’s leadership.

Bournemouth and Chelsea played out an entertaining two-two draw. The Champions League qualification run-in couldn’t be more insecure. Leicester should be fine, but they need to stop dropping points. Chelsea have let Manchester United, Wolves and Sheffield all creep up. Lampard has a big job ahead to stem the losses. Talking of Manchester United, they drew one-one with Everton as De Gea and Pickford lost all class and embarrassed themselves to the watching world. Dean Henderson will be relishing that England call-up. On top of that, Tottenham need a striker. They lost three-two to Wolves who look every bit a top six team. Next season will be interesting.

Apparently, Corona-virus could spell the end of the Premier League early, meaning… Liverpool don’t win! They don’t need to bottle it; the Premier League and FA will do it for them!

Match Week 26 – Man City Sunk

Match week 26 has been splintered into a whole weeks’ worth of fixtures, with a couple still to come, but alas here are the roundups from those played so far. The relegation battle continued to heat up, Liverpool marched on and Manchester City decided to become the Saracens of football.

First, Goodison Park saw the possibilities under a Carlo Ancelotti revolution, with Everton running out three-one winners against Crystal Palace. Despite the amazing moment where Benteke finally scored, Palace struggled to maintain any form against the dominance of an Everton side hoping to aim high next season. Richarlison will possibly be eyeing a move to Barcelona and shone as if in anticipation of a dream move. On the same day, relegation fodder Watford and Brighton drew a match of two halves, the first belonging to Watford before Brighton’s assertive second half. Watford remain in the bottom three, whilst Brighton continue to deny their title of “Premier league Basement Boy’s.”

Sheffield marched on towards Europe, coming from behind to win two-one against Bournemouth who certainly must be set for the drop back to the championship with their form. A dismal season so far. Sheffield, aiming possibly for Europa League, could now be in contention for Champions League after Manchester City’s sponsorship regulations breaches. Now no one ever suspected this did they… ok they’ve been suspected for quite a while! Wolves and Leicester drew a bore nil-all draw save for Choudhury’s stupid red card, unlucky to be honest, and shared the spoils. Ndidi needs to return to implement more balance for Leicester to smash the remaining fixtures.

Southampton, despite their form and massively improved season, saw themselves downed by bench-player Vydra, who ran the pitch with the ball to score a sensational solo goal and secure the points for Burnley. On the same day, Liverpool saw them take a further step towards the title through Mané’s 100^th Premier League goal, beating Norwich one-nil. Norwich remain bottom and likely to return to the Championship. Liverpool now only need four more wins to secure the title, meaning an enthralling encounter at Goodison Park could see them smash their closest rivals and lift the trophy. That would be something!

Aston Villa fought hard and long but succumbed to Tottenham as they lost three-two at Villa Park. Alderweireld scored twice (one for each side) as Son stole the spoils in the 94^th minute. That same day, Arsenal awoke from their long-time slumber to smash Newcastle four-nil. Even Mesut Özil scored, that’s how bad Newcastle were. Pépé looked the talisman part that Arsenal have needed for several years but could not hide the still serious issue underlying Arsenal’s mid-table position: Defence!

Still to come, Chelsea versus Manchester United, and fresh from their European punishment Manchester City versus West Ham United.

Match Week 25 – TITLE RACE OVER!

This weeks Premier League action saw Liverpool set their title deadline, the battle for fourth place heated up, and of course more VAR controversy.

We started the weekend with Leicester versus Chelsea. A mixture of recent bad form for both clubs was the main pre-match talking point, with Leicester having dropped points recently and Chelsea’s away form looking dire. It seemed it was a day where Antonio Rudiger decided to go full Sergio Ramos and become a deadly scoring machine at the back, scoring both of Chelsea’s goals from corners. Barnes continued his hot streak, with Leicester’s second coming from Chilwell. Questions remain over whether Vardy, who hasn’t scored for a few games now, will pick up the golden boot.

In the battle for survival, Bournemouth continued their unbeaten streak, beating fellow relegation fodder Aston Villa two-one. It took two of their giants in Aké and Billing to secure victory. Special recognition for Villa’s Samatta, scoring on his Premier League debut after becoming the first Tanzanian to play in the Premier League. Liverpool now only need to win their next six matches to secure the title, beating a resolute Southampton side four-nil. It’s becoming a scary prospect that Henderson will win the PFA Player of the Year Award and lift the Premier League. How will he have been a more successful captain than Gerrard!

Newcastle drew nil-nil with Norwich in a boring affair, with neither pleased with the result in the fight for survival. The game was so boring that Mike Ashley might finally sell up. Watford led two-nil against Everton at half-time only to go on and lose three-two in the 90^th minute, Yerry Mina bagging a brace and Walcott playing like his youthful Arsenal days, all despite Fabian Delph’s red card. Crystal Palace goalie Guaita will have nightmares after his sloppy own goal gave Sheffield United a simple one-nil result at Selhurst Park. Palace may be nearing safety, but as royals do their form risks causing an unnecessary slip up!

West Ham and Brighton played out an emphatic three-all draw, Glen Murray managing to keep some relevancy by bagging Brighton’s third. West Ham have been vastly improved with the appointment of David Moyes, but at this rate they will remain relegation contenders for the rest of the season despite their best efforts. Manchester United drew nil-nil with Wolves, with new signing Fernandes making his debut in a team struggling for drive or direction. It’s a shame his promising career had to end here.

Burnley will rue not putting Arsenal to the sword in their nil-nil draw. The less said, the better! Finally, the game that effectively ended the title race saw a VAR-boosted Tottenham slay Manchester City two-nil, new signing Bergwijn scoring on debut as Manchester City whimpered and admitted defeat to Liverpool. Now for the first ever Premier League winter break!