Well the FA Cup has had to up it's game this year just to compete with the unexpected marvel that has been the Capital One Cup this year. It was hard to imagine anything being able to top Bradford City's phenomenal run to Wembley this year from the fourth tier of English football but the FA Cup did spring a few surprises on fourth round weekend ...
Norwich 0-1 Luton: we've always heard about the famous giant killings of the FA Cup like Sutton v Coventry, and Hereford against Newcastle and this Luton Town victory certainly ranks up at the top with these results. There are 85 places and four divisions between these 2 sides. Just to reiterate Luton are a non-league team, and they've just beaten a Premier League side who at the moment are the 13th best side in the country. This is an amazing result and I feel a little bit sorry for Luton as their story would be given so much more limelight had Bradford not got to the League Cup final in the same week. Here are some of the stats about this result: this was the first victory for a non-league side against a team in the top division since Sutton in 1989, it was the first time in 27 years a non-league side have beaten a top flight team away from home, and it was the first time a non-league side have beaten a team in the top tier since 1949. What an achievement. This match would probably fit the definition of a smash and grab victory, which you would expect in these circumstances. Luton only had 32% possession throughout the game and had just two shots on target, but they outgunned Norwich on that stat that matters: goals. They also put in 18 more tackles over the 90 minutes than their counterparts (11 to 29). Luton were hungrier, pure and simple. The goal emphasised that as Scott Rendell bust a gut to nip in front of Norwich's defence to turn the ball home. It is a great story for a team that have had little to celebrate in recent years (similar to Bradford really). In 2005 Luton were a Championship side, but three consecutive relegations from 2006-2009 has seen them in the Conference ever since. The side took an incredible 4000 fans to Carrow Road and it would take a cold hearted man not to feel pleased for this club, they deserve their moment in the sun and long may their journey continue!
Brentford 2-2 Chelsea: one of the bigger shocks this weekend occurred at Griffin Park. Amid amazing scenes little known striker Fernando Torres actually scored! Seriously though this was another genuinely shocking result in reality when a £50m striker has to rescue the European champions from losing to a side in the third division in England. The pitch at Brentwood was definitely a leveller and with the fervent crowd packed into this historic ground this game was clearly not one that some of Chelsea's highly paid stars relished. It was clear again that it simply meant more to Brentford than to Chelsea. This was billed as the Bees against the Honeypot, and Brentford played extremely well. It is easy to see why Uwe Rosler is a highly rated manager as he seemed to get his tactics spot on in this game. He pinpointed Chelsea's lack of pace in defence with the likes of Terry and Ivanovic and geared his side up to counter attack, particularly using the pace of Harry Forrester who was always a thorn in Chelsea's side. Rosler has been linked with Championship jobs such as the vacancy at Barnsley and its not hard to see why. His star will only continue to rise if he can show such tactical nouse again in the replay at Stamford Bridge.
Millwall 2-1 Aston Villa: what a terrible week to be an Aston Villa fan. Two defeats inside of a week to lower league opposition. Their side sit just one place above the relegation zone and have now exited both domestic cup competitions within a week. This loss will arguably sting less than the Bradford one but its still a big blow and can do nothing but damage to their already brittle confidence. Worryingly for Villa this was not a game they bossed and were unlucky to lose either. They had slightly more possession than Millwall over the 90 with 51% possession but they had just 4 shots during the entire game compared to the Lions' 12. They conceded yet again from a corner to a Danny Shittu header and eventually succumbed to an 89th minute winner from John Marquis. You have to wonder what is next for Villa and its hard to see them bouncing back quickly from this week. They have a young side and really could have done with a confidence boosting win against the Londoners. Instead Paul Lambert is now left with the unenviable task of trying to pick his players up off the floor and instilling in them the grit to succeed in their relegation dogfight this season. Villa fans are beginning to call for Lambert's sacking but the question is: is there anyone that could do a better job with that group of players? We're not sure but it seems unlikely. It looks like being a pivotal week in Villa's season though either way we will find out what their character is like.
Other results: as we're sure you can appreciate it was hard to put in a mention for every shock result this week. Plaudits have to go to Oldham for their brilliant 3-2 victory over Liverpool as forward Matt Smith starred in a bullying performance that put Coates in the centre of Liverpool's defence to shame. Leeds for their 2-1 victory over Spurs and also to MK Dons for their sensational 4-2 victory away at QPR (which will be mentioned below in a bit more detail). Macclesfield Town's dream run was finally ended by Wigan in a hard-fought 0-1 victory at the Moss Rose, while Brighton ran Arsenal extremely close in an excellent cup tie that ended in a 2-3 victory to the Gunners.
We know we've harped on about it a lot but it really does seem like this year, underdogs have been spurred on by what we'd like to call the 'Bradford Effect'. Bradford have shown other lower league clubs it is possible to beat Premier League teams combined with the performance of promoted teams like Swansea and Norwich as they've stepped straight up to the Premier League has shown teams that the gap is closing. We say long may it continue!
Round up of our teams
J was at Old Trafford to see Man Utd canter to an easy 4-1 victory over a timid Fulham side in the FA Cup Fourth Round. United never looked back after a third minute Ryan Giggs penalty. There was enough time to show Sam Allardyce that contrary to his beliefs, he's not always right, and United don't always get penalties at Old Trafford for anything as Damien Duff clearly handled the ball again in the box not long after the first penalty was (rightly) awarded against Aaron Hughes for another clear handball. United controlled the game from start to finish and Fulham rarely threatened as Phil Jones in particular impressed in a dominating game at centre back as he won every header he seemed to compete in. Wayne Rooney's goal just after the break killed off the game and showcased him at his powerful best, while Chicharito's double further emphasised the depth of United's striking options. All in all this was a powerful performance from the Red Devils, and one of their better performances this season, arguably.
As mentioned above C's QPR suffered a humiliating 2-4 humbling at the hands of League One side MK Dons. Dons had just 6 shots to Rangers' 20 and had less possession of the football and still managed to show up their troubled opponents. This game showed Rangers' dearth of viable options in the side as high paid stars like Anton Ferdinand were shown up time and again. This game looks like being Ferdinand's last for Rangers before an apparent loan move to Bursaspor in Turkey and I'm sure C and many other R's fans will not be sad to see him go. Judging by 'Arry's scathing criticism of his players after the game, he might not be the only player to see the exit at Loftus Road this week. 'Arry has a lot to do before Deadline Day, you feel.
Crewe lost disappointingly to Bournemouth at the Goldsands Stadium. A Brett Pitman hat-trick saw off the Alex in a 3-1 loss. The result wasn't a huge surprise considering Bournemouth have only lost 1 game in the 18 they've played since Eddie Howe took the reigns over again, and that loss was against Wigan in the FA Cup Third Round replay. Crewe however, haven't won in 3 and could do with reversing their slump sooner rather than later.
Once you've caught your breath enjoy the round of League games this week and we'll be back soon!
C&J
Showing posts with label Aston Villa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aston Villa. Show all posts
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Monday, 31 December 2012
Weekend Review: Does football in 2012 have to end?
After an amazing year in football, we're back with another weekend review of the last games in this calendar year, as the Premier League continues to take shape...
Aston Villa 0-3 Wigan - Wigan put a further dent into Aston Villa's season to make their aggregate score over their last 3 games 0-15. Villa's win at Anfield seems like an age ago now and they have really been pulled into the relegation battle which they seemed to be relatively clear of a short time ago. The worrying thing for Aston Villa is that Wigan are hardly the most prolific team (they have scored 22 goals in their 20 league games so far this season) but managed to score 3 goals against their leaky defence. Emmerson Boyce's new nickname should surely be 'Moses' after the way the Aston Villa defence parted to allow him to score a memorable goal. We've said this before but if Wigan stay up this year a large part of that will be down to Arouna Kone, who looks so good in that team. Not to be unfair to Christian Benteke who has shown signs of real promise this season, but a comparison between the 2 strikers illustrates just how effective Kone is. Benteke had 48 touches in the game and Kone had 49 so they had similar opportunities to put a stamp on the game. With these 49 touches Kone had a pass accuracy of 94% whilst Benteke was accurate with 55% of his passes. They both had 3 shots, and Kone managed to score with one and also assisted a goal for his team. Wigan and Villa are equal on points so obviously there is a long way to go, but this game highlights how much of a contrast there is between these two teams at the moment. Villa seem to be sliding downwards, and you find it hard to see how the January transfer window will help them with Randy Lerner's purse strings growing ever tighter, while Wigan will believe that they can produce enough displays to leave at least 3 teams trailing in their wake come May.
Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle - Theo Walcott should be a striker blah blah blah. That angle on this game has been done to death, yes Theo scored a hat trick, he was clinical and looked great, but there's enough about that everywhere else. Instead it's interesting how Newcastle are aiming to knock Aston Villa off their leaky defence perch, by letting in 11 goals in their last 2 games. Last year Newcastle's defence starred and they conceded 51 goals in their run to 5th place, after 20 games they've already conceded 37 goals and you definitely have to think the Newcastle board are regretting giving Alan Pardew an 8 year contract now! The signing of Mathieu Debuchy from Lille though does seem like an astute signing, and I would be very surprised if they didn't bring in a centre back as well. Newcastle are now just 3 points off the relegation zone, and while it's hard to see the likes of QPR, Reading or Southampton overtaking them by the end of the season it is a worrying time for the Toon Army. Demba Ba is apparently in talks with Chelsea and seems set to leave the club, Newcastle have scored 26 goals in the league - Ba has exactly half of these goals. If they do sell him Papiss Cisse has a very big burden on his shoulders.
Roundup of our teams
C's QPR slumped to a dismal 0-3 home defeat to Liverpool, with all goals scored in the first 27 minutes. A crushing defeat given the fact that their 3 closest rivals before the start of the gameweek all picked up at least a point, with Wigan and Reading winning their games. C's match review will be up in the near future to review his thoughts on the game.
League leaders Man Utd cruised to a relatively straight-forward 2-0 victory against West Brom at Old Trafford to finish the year with a 7 point lead at the top. Shinji Kagawa returned to action and played 66 minutes and looked right back to his early season excellent form. United dominated possession but did allow West Brom to put in a far too high 14 shots on goal. This was only their 4th clean sheet of the season but they had 17 shots on goal and finish the year with 50 goals in 20 games. If they are to keep their lead at the top of the league it will have to be down to the attack and with Robin Van Persie in this form it looks exciting. United have 11 goals more than any other team in the league and the exciting games they've produced this year look set to continue!
Crewe won 2-1 at Oldham to bounce back after defeat from Tranmere on Boxing Day. Mark Ellis bounced back from his mistake which granted Oldham an 82nd minute equaliser to score the winner just 2 minutes later. Mathias Pogba's 11th of the season had earlier put the Alex ahead. 2012 was a fantastic year for Crewe with their 20 game unbeaten run, Wembley play off victory, and they now sit in 13th place in League One just 3 points off the play off places. The big job for Steve Davis will surely be to keep hold of Luke Murphy who is being strongly linked with a move to Stoke in the January transfer window.
Union Berlin's last game before the winter break was on December 17th in a 4-3 away loss to Braunschweig and they don't play again until 1 February. At the end of the year Union sit in an excellent 7th place in Bundesliga II in what has been a great start to the season. Here's hoping the break revitalises the team and propels them to an even better second half of the season!
What we learned this week
Aston Villa 0-3 Wigan - Wigan put a further dent into Aston Villa's season to make their aggregate score over their last 3 games 0-15. Villa's win at Anfield seems like an age ago now and they have really been pulled into the relegation battle which they seemed to be relatively clear of a short time ago. The worrying thing for Aston Villa is that Wigan are hardly the most prolific team (they have scored 22 goals in their 20 league games so far this season) but managed to score 3 goals against their leaky defence. Emmerson Boyce's new nickname should surely be 'Moses' after the way the Aston Villa defence parted to allow him to score a memorable goal. We've said this before but if Wigan stay up this year a large part of that will be down to Arouna Kone, who looks so good in that team. Not to be unfair to Christian Benteke who has shown signs of real promise this season, but a comparison between the 2 strikers illustrates just how effective Kone is. Benteke had 48 touches in the game and Kone had 49 so they had similar opportunities to put a stamp on the game. With these 49 touches Kone had a pass accuracy of 94% whilst Benteke was accurate with 55% of his passes. They both had 3 shots, and Kone managed to score with one and also assisted a goal for his team. Wigan and Villa are equal on points so obviously there is a long way to go, but this game highlights how much of a contrast there is between these two teams at the moment. Villa seem to be sliding downwards, and you find it hard to see how the January transfer window will help them with Randy Lerner's purse strings growing ever tighter, while Wigan will believe that they can produce enough displays to leave at least 3 teams trailing in their wake come May.
Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle - Theo Walcott should be a striker blah blah blah. That angle on this game has been done to death, yes Theo scored a hat trick, he was clinical and looked great, but there's enough about that everywhere else. Instead it's interesting how Newcastle are aiming to knock Aston Villa off their leaky defence perch, by letting in 11 goals in their last 2 games. Last year Newcastle's defence starred and they conceded 51 goals in their run to 5th place, after 20 games they've already conceded 37 goals and you definitely have to think the Newcastle board are regretting giving Alan Pardew an 8 year contract now! The signing of Mathieu Debuchy from Lille though does seem like an astute signing, and I would be very surprised if they didn't bring in a centre back as well. Newcastle are now just 3 points off the relegation zone, and while it's hard to see the likes of QPR, Reading or Southampton overtaking them by the end of the season it is a worrying time for the Toon Army. Demba Ba is apparently in talks with Chelsea and seems set to leave the club, Newcastle have scored 26 goals in the league - Ba has exactly half of these goals. If they do sell him Papiss Cisse has a very big burden on his shoulders.
Roundup of our teams
C's QPR slumped to a dismal 0-3 home defeat to Liverpool, with all goals scored in the first 27 minutes. A crushing defeat given the fact that their 3 closest rivals before the start of the gameweek all picked up at least a point, with Wigan and Reading winning their games. C's match review will be up in the near future to review his thoughts on the game.
League leaders Man Utd cruised to a relatively straight-forward 2-0 victory against West Brom at Old Trafford to finish the year with a 7 point lead at the top. Shinji Kagawa returned to action and played 66 minutes and looked right back to his early season excellent form. United dominated possession but did allow West Brom to put in a far too high 14 shots on goal. This was only their 4th clean sheet of the season but they had 17 shots on goal and finish the year with 50 goals in 20 games. If they are to keep their lead at the top of the league it will have to be down to the attack and with Robin Van Persie in this form it looks exciting. United have 11 goals more than any other team in the league and the exciting games they've produced this year look set to continue!
Crewe won 2-1 at Oldham to bounce back after defeat from Tranmere on Boxing Day. Mark Ellis bounced back from his mistake which granted Oldham an 82nd minute equaliser to score the winner just 2 minutes later. Mathias Pogba's 11th of the season had earlier put the Alex ahead. 2012 was a fantastic year for Crewe with their 20 game unbeaten run, Wembley play off victory, and they now sit in 13th place in League One just 3 points off the play off places. The big job for Steve Davis will surely be to keep hold of Luke Murphy who is being strongly linked with a move to Stoke in the January transfer window.
Union Berlin's last game before the winter break was on December 17th in a 4-3 away loss to Braunschweig and they don't play again until 1 February. At the end of the year Union sit in an excellent 7th place in Bundesliga II in what has been a great start to the season. Here's hoping the break revitalises the team and propels them to an even better second half of the season!
What we learned this week
- Maybe the purse strings really are extremely tight at Arsenal if they can't even afford to give their manager a coat that works.
- Cameron Jerome can score an absolute 'worldy' when he wants to.
- Frank Lampard won't be short of offers should he leave Chelsea.
- Samir Nasri is becoming a bit of a liability.
- Mick McCarthy is still loved in Wolverhampton, Stale Solbakken is not.
- When do 2 yellows not equal a red? When your name is Mick Russell.
- Championship clubs are hedging bets on new managers weaving their magic in January - Nottingham Forest, Blackburn and Barnsley all clearly felt that was their best plan of action.
- It'll be interesting to see if Edgar Davids really can save Barnet on his own.
On that note, happy new year everyone and enjoy 2013! Let's hope it brings as much excitement as 2012 if not more!
C&J
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Weekend Preview: Best League in the...UK?
After a week that confirmed what pretty much everyone has known for a while - the Premier League just isn't the best league in Europe any more - the Premier League is back and the top teams will be looking to bounce back after 4 of the country's representatives failed to win in Europe...
The big talking point this week has to be Man City's failure (yet again) in Europe. Roberto Mancini's record in Europe is coming under close scrutiny as his team look set to bow out at the group stages for the second year in a row, despite their wealth of riches, barring a miracle. Between 2004-08 Mancini got Inter to the Quarters (2004/05, 2005/06) and the last 16 (2006/07 and 2007/08) before he was sacked. This was despite winning the Serie A title three years in a row from 2006-2008. 2 years after he left Inter (with predominantly the same core as Mancini's team) won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho. Coincidence? City’s three fixtures in the Champions League them concede a total of 72 shots in contrast to 85 in their eight Premier League games this season. Yes, Man City have been drawn in the 'Group of Death' this year but they haven't even played well really. They have 1 point and they were extremely lucky to get that against Dortmund. The contrast in the two teams on Wednesday was remarkable and it has been well documented that the total cost of the Ajax starting XI on Wednesday was £2.75m while City's starting XI cost a measly £187.5m! They really should have been winning that game.
Aston Villa v Norwich - Saturday's early kick off will centre around the battle of Norwich and their former manager, Paul Lambert. There is seemingly a lot of ill-feeling between the two parties since their separation - Norwich are suing Lambert for breach of contract while Lambert is counter-suing Norwich for unfair dismissal looking for £2m! This week Norwich's chairman said Lambert walks out on every team he manages while Lambert suggested he hasn't spoken to the chairman, Alan Bowkett in three years (even when he was there). There has been a lack of spark for either team this season and neither has really got going. Both sides only have the one win in the league each from 8 games, and both have struggled for goals scoring less than 1 per game this season on average (both have 6 goals). Norwich have conceded over 2 goals per game this season on average (17 goals in 8 games), while Villa have let in 13 goals in 8 games. Norwich did win against Arsenal last time out and they will be hoping that result will kick start their season but it looks like being a relegation dogfight for both teams this year, and neither have been in good form. Norwich haven't won their last 6 away games, while Villa have failed to win in 17 of their last 18 league games. Both managers have a difficult job on their hands this season and you have to think a lot of both teams seasons depend on Darren Bent and Grant Holt respectively. Holt has 3 goals this season while Bent has 2 and they are the only players from either team who have scored more than 1 goal this season. You have to think this game could be the best opportunity for these teams to fill their boots and score a few, but it appears unlikely. I tend to think that Paul Lambert will thrive on this sort of pressure game. Having played at the likes of Dortmund and Celtic and winning multiple trophies he loves the big games and this is a huge game for his team, and I think the Lambert factor will win out for Villa.
Prediction: Villa 2-1 Norwich
Everton v Liverpool - Sunday's early kick off sees the return of the Merseyside derby. This game seems like it could be a difficult one to predict so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest there will be a lot of cards. In the last 6 games between these sides there have been 26 yellow cards and 3 reds. So expect more of the same this weekend. Everton have only beaten Liverpool once in the last 6 meetings between the two teams while Liverpool have won 4 and certainly seem to have the edge on their rivals. However, Everton go into this game 8 places and 6 points above their rivals, and have only lost once this season. They have also won 6 of their last 7 home games in the league. However, as we all know the form book goes out of the window in a derby. Liverpool have a young team and the average age of their likely first XI tomorrow is 24.5 years old, whilst Everton's is 29.4 years of age. This youth could either prove to be the undoing of Liverpool or their secret weapon. The players don't look like they have been phased by anything this season but a pressure cooker atmosphere at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby is another challenge altogether for Liverpool's players. Personally I think the game will come down to clinical finishing and Everton's 15 goals in the league versus Liverpool's 10 tells a story in itself. Liverpool need to take their chances tomorrow otherwise Everton will punish them. I'm going with the form book in this game though.
Prediction: Everton 3-1 Liverpool
Chelsea v Man Utd - Finally, the Sunday evening match is at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Manchester United. Stamford Bridge always seems to be a bogey ground for United and the Reds haven't won at Stamford Bridge in the League in the last 10 games - since April 2002, and Chelsea are the only team in the history of the Premier League who have more wins than losses against United. Funnily enough though United haven't lost in their last 5 meetings against Chelsea (including the two Champions League games from United's 2011 run to the final). This should be an excellent game though and sees 1st take on 2nd in the league. This game could go a long way to showing how serious both teams title challenges are this year. Expect goals - between them these teams have scored 40 goals in the league this year and conceded 17. United are starting games this season bizarrely and seem to be giving teams head starts every game. I think this was slightly inevitable as this season seems to be purely concentrated on attacking and scoring goals with that forward line. Chelsea's forward line is almost as impressive though and it should be a high scoring affair for that reason. United have scored at least 2 goals in their last 7 Premier League games and it seems almost certain that Chelsea will score goals as United's defence seems to be leaking goals on a huge scale this year. United's philosophy this year seems to be 'we will score one more than you'. This has never really worked before (see Newcastle in 95/96) so it is intriguing to see how long this goes on.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-2 United
This weekend QPR take on an Arsenal team who have lost their last 2 games and appear to be back in the middle of a crisis again, just weeks after being the best team since Sliced Bread FC. Rangers are still without a win in the league this season and they will be hoping this is the best time to play Arsenal. However, Mark Hughes has said he fears a backlash this weekend. Rangers avoided defeat last weekend for the first time in 4 in the league and fans will be hoping this could be the start of a turnaround in fortunes, and they will take heart from Norwich's performance against the Gunners last weekend.
Crewe beat Swindon 2-1 in midweek to record their first win in 4 in the league and they take on an in-form Yeovil team this weekend who have won their last 2 league games. Games between these two teams don't end in draws (both teams have shared 3 wins each in the last 6 games between these 2). Byron Moore got 2 in midweek for his first goals of the season and Steve Davis has challenged him to get double figures this season, so the Railwaymen will be hoping this will spur him on to have more of an impact. Yeovil are an entertaining team this season having scored 24 so far in 14 this season and conceded 21 so there should be goals and an entertaining game at Gresty Road!
Union Berlin take on SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday. Paderborn haven't won in their last 4 and Union will be hoping to build on their win over FSV Frankfurt last week. This is 11th v 10th and should be a tight affair as both teams sit on 12 points. Let's hope Union's good home form continues and they use this to their advantage!
Enjoy the weekend and we'll be back with a review of the weekend next week!
J
The big talking point this week has to be Man City's failure (yet again) in Europe. Roberto Mancini's record in Europe is coming under close scrutiny as his team look set to bow out at the group stages for the second year in a row, despite their wealth of riches, barring a miracle. Between 2004-08 Mancini got Inter to the Quarters (2004/05, 2005/06) and the last 16 (2006/07 and 2007/08) before he was sacked. This was despite winning the Serie A title three years in a row from 2006-2008. 2 years after he left Inter (with predominantly the same core as Mancini's team) won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho. Coincidence? City’s three fixtures in the Champions League them concede a total of 72 shots in contrast to 85 in their eight Premier League games this season. Yes, Man City have been drawn in the 'Group of Death' this year but they haven't even played well really. They have 1 point and they were extremely lucky to get that against Dortmund. The contrast in the two teams on Wednesday was remarkable and it has been well documented that the total cost of the Ajax starting XI on Wednesday was £2.75m while City's starting XI cost a measly £187.5m! They really should have been winning that game.
Aston Villa v Norwich - Saturday's early kick off will centre around the battle of Norwich and their former manager, Paul Lambert. There is seemingly a lot of ill-feeling between the two parties since their separation - Norwich are suing Lambert for breach of contract while Lambert is counter-suing Norwich for unfair dismissal looking for £2m! This week Norwich's chairman said Lambert walks out on every team he manages while Lambert suggested he hasn't spoken to the chairman, Alan Bowkett in three years (even when he was there). There has been a lack of spark for either team this season and neither has really got going. Both sides only have the one win in the league each from 8 games, and both have struggled for goals scoring less than 1 per game this season on average (both have 6 goals). Norwich have conceded over 2 goals per game this season on average (17 goals in 8 games), while Villa have let in 13 goals in 8 games. Norwich did win against Arsenal last time out and they will be hoping that result will kick start their season but it looks like being a relegation dogfight for both teams this year, and neither have been in good form. Norwich haven't won their last 6 away games, while Villa have failed to win in 17 of their last 18 league games. Both managers have a difficult job on their hands this season and you have to think a lot of both teams seasons depend on Darren Bent and Grant Holt respectively. Holt has 3 goals this season while Bent has 2 and they are the only players from either team who have scored more than 1 goal this season. You have to think this game could be the best opportunity for these teams to fill their boots and score a few, but it appears unlikely. I tend to think that Paul Lambert will thrive on this sort of pressure game. Having played at the likes of Dortmund and Celtic and winning multiple trophies he loves the big games and this is a huge game for his team, and I think the Lambert factor will win out for Villa.
Prediction: Villa 2-1 Norwich
Everton v Liverpool - Sunday's early kick off sees the return of the Merseyside derby. This game seems like it could be a difficult one to predict so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest there will be a lot of cards. In the last 6 games between these sides there have been 26 yellow cards and 3 reds. So expect more of the same this weekend. Everton have only beaten Liverpool once in the last 6 meetings between the two teams while Liverpool have won 4 and certainly seem to have the edge on their rivals. However, Everton go into this game 8 places and 6 points above their rivals, and have only lost once this season. They have also won 6 of their last 7 home games in the league. However, as we all know the form book goes out of the window in a derby. Liverpool have a young team and the average age of their likely first XI tomorrow is 24.5 years old, whilst Everton's is 29.4 years of age. This youth could either prove to be the undoing of Liverpool or their secret weapon. The players don't look like they have been phased by anything this season but a pressure cooker atmosphere at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby is another challenge altogether for Liverpool's players. Personally I think the game will come down to clinical finishing and Everton's 15 goals in the league versus Liverpool's 10 tells a story in itself. Liverpool need to take their chances tomorrow otherwise Everton will punish them. I'm going with the form book in this game though.
Prediction: Everton 3-1 Liverpool
Chelsea v Man Utd - Finally, the Sunday evening match is at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Manchester United. Stamford Bridge always seems to be a bogey ground for United and the Reds haven't won at Stamford Bridge in the League in the last 10 games - since April 2002, and Chelsea are the only team in the history of the Premier League who have more wins than losses against United. Funnily enough though United haven't lost in their last 5 meetings against Chelsea (including the two Champions League games from United's 2011 run to the final). This should be an excellent game though and sees 1st take on 2nd in the league. This game could go a long way to showing how serious both teams title challenges are this year. Expect goals - between them these teams have scored 40 goals in the league this year and conceded 17. United are starting games this season bizarrely and seem to be giving teams head starts every game. I think this was slightly inevitable as this season seems to be purely concentrated on attacking and scoring goals with that forward line. Chelsea's forward line is almost as impressive though and it should be a high scoring affair for that reason. United have scored at least 2 goals in their last 7 Premier League games and it seems almost certain that Chelsea will score goals as United's defence seems to be leaking goals on a huge scale this year. United's philosophy this year seems to be 'we will score one more than you'. This has never really worked before (see Newcastle in 95/96) so it is intriguing to see how long this goes on.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-2 United
This weekend QPR take on an Arsenal team who have lost their last 2 games and appear to be back in the middle of a crisis again, just weeks after being the best team since Sliced Bread FC. Rangers are still without a win in the league this season and they will be hoping this is the best time to play Arsenal. However, Mark Hughes has said he fears a backlash this weekend. Rangers avoided defeat last weekend for the first time in 4 in the league and fans will be hoping this could be the start of a turnaround in fortunes, and they will take heart from Norwich's performance against the Gunners last weekend.
Crewe beat Swindon 2-1 in midweek to record their first win in 4 in the league and they take on an in-form Yeovil team this weekend who have won their last 2 league games. Games between these two teams don't end in draws (both teams have shared 3 wins each in the last 6 games between these 2). Byron Moore got 2 in midweek for his first goals of the season and Steve Davis has challenged him to get double figures this season, so the Railwaymen will be hoping this will spur him on to have more of an impact. Yeovil are an entertaining team this season having scored 24 so far in 14 this season and conceded 21 so there should be goals and an entertaining game at Gresty Road!
Union Berlin take on SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday. Paderborn haven't won in their last 4 and Union will be hoping to build on their win over FSV Frankfurt last week. This is 11th v 10th and should be a tight affair as both teams sit on 12 points. Let's hope Union's good home form continues and they use this to their advantage!
Enjoy the weekend and we'll be back with a review of the weekend next week!
J
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Week 3 Review: Deadline Day Dust Settles
Well after the transfer deadline mayhem this was actually a pretty unremarkable week for analysis we thought, without droning on about Liverpool's travails which have been covered in far too much detail everywhere else for us to bore you with our views as well.
Aston Villa fans must be going into the international break with a newfound sense of optimism after their performance against Newcastle. After their deadline day dealings we were fearing the worst for the Villains. Their signings consisted of League One players and a 21 year old striker from the Belgian league. Villa have very little experience in their side and it says something when Stephen Ireland is one of the most senior players in your squad. The thing about young players though, as commentators love to remind us, is that they are fearless and Sunday’s result could show this. It’s about time Shay Given was dropped after his terrible Euros and start to this season, but the central defence seems too inexperienced. James Collins was sold which is strange considering Richard Dunne is still injured from the Euros. Up front, Villa look very light weight, as mentioned in previous posts, and it really does seem like they will struggle this year to score goals. But if one man can do it it’s Paul Lambert. He weaved his magic with Norwich bringing in League One players such as Elliott Bennett and Anthony Pilkington who made the step up with aplomb, and he must be hoping Jordan Bowery and Ashley Westwood do the same, and who knows maybe they will?
In the football league, Sheffield Wednesday fans finally found out that Dave Jones does not in fact walk on water and is still a horrible, bitter man and the sorest loser in football. After his first defeat as boss of Wednesday, he blamed the officials for changing the game by changing their minds about giving a penalty against his team, claiming it incensed the Crystal Palace crowd and created a feeling of injustice which spurred the Palace players on to victory! Ridiculous.
Roundup
QPR produced arguably their best half of the Premier League season away at Manchester City on Saturday evening. In spite of what the clueless Jon Champion and Chris Waddle might have made you believe, the R's did offer something to the game at the end of the first half and through most of the second half. They began playing some neat passing football after half time and were rewarded for being more daring with a goal to make it 1-1 and have City worried. Perhaps they could even have scored a second if the ball had fallen to someone other than Ryan Nelsen. Maybe City took their foot off the gas, but given how abject our football has looked this season to date, this was tons better from Rangers and gave the away support plenty of encouragement that all these signings might actually gel to form a decent team. (Note from J – as a United fan the most annoying thing of this game was that when QPR put some passing together their football was excellent, but this happened all too infrequently – one friend said to me Mark Hughes is the wrong manager for the new crop of players and I’m starting to agree).
After 2 games of this season Manchester United have already recovered more points from losing positions this season than they did throughout the whole of last season (6 v 3, thanks Opta Joe!). The signing of Robin Van Persie already looks like it is paying off and United look very confident in front of goal. He has taken no time at all to bed into the team and looks totally at home in this team, even praising Paul Scholes to the heavens yesterday. It seems like this is a match made in heaven and hopefully it will inspire Wayne Rooney and Chicharito and Welbeck to keep up with RVP as well. The defence is still looking susceptible to goals and the time may come sooner rather than later to see how Alexander Buttner can adjust to being thrown into the first team as Patrice Evra’s form continues to slip. The problem with him and Rafael as full backs is that their main strengths are both attacking rather than defending, though Rafael is improving - but he had no chance against Rickie Lambert on Sunday!
A return to winning ways for the mighty Crewe was most welcome. The Railwaymen saw off a sorry looking Coventry thanks to a scrappy looking goal from Max Clayton after he'd missed a sitter earlier in the game. Who needs Nick Powell or Ashley Westwood eh? Let’s hope the fabled academy produces someone else to step up though as there is a lot of burden on Abdul Osman and Luke Murphy at the moment!
Unfortunately, the news on Monday night wasn't quite so positive from the Alten Försterei as 1.FC Union Berlin went down 2-1 at home to city rivals Hertha BSC. Union pulled the game back to level terms but, just like the City v QPR game, parity lasted just a few minutes. On a side note, we were surprised to see that Ben Sahar has turned up at Hertha!
What we learned this week:-
- Steven Fletcher looks like exactly what Sunderland needed and is already looking like he can justify his price tag
- As expected, Andy Carroll and West Ham looks to be a match made in heaven
- Liverpool could do with another striker before the transfer window clo-... Oh.
- The Albion continue to make a mockery of J's league prediction
- Neil Warnock and El Hadji Diouf are best friends, honest!
- Paulo Di Canio will take you off after 21 minutes if he thinks you're having a bad game, whatever position you play in, and then criticise you for reacting badly when substituted even though he demanded to be substituted in a game against Bradford City in 2000!
- Finally J got the first correct score of the season with the City v QPR result – psychic I tell you!
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