It’s pretty nuts how many fixtures international footballers are having to endure at the minute. The Christmas/New Year fixture list is always pretty crazy but this year is even more so due to match postponements, Covid outbreaks and everchanging regulations. Squads are depleted, some because of the virus, others because of pure fatigue.
But fans aren’t complaining too much. We’ve been treated to some red hot festive season football with or without all of the challenges managers and their squads are facing.
City are sitting quite pretty at the top of the table, 8 points clear of Chelsea who’ve edged Liverpool after their shock defeat to an out of form Leicester City. Liverpool has a game in hand, and knowing Jurgen Klopp, his charges will come back firing.
Many pundits believe that City are almost impossible to stop at this point, even though we’ve just edged past the halfway mark of the Premier League season. Guardiola’s team is one of the few teams that haven’t been hit by Covid, and their squad depth has them better positioned to weather the manic fixture list storm better than any other team in the league. They look virtually unbeatable.
But it’s still the Premier League and there are undoubtedly a myriad of surprises awaiting us. For example, who would’ve pegged Arsenal to be just 4 points behind Chelsea at this stage in the season after a terrible start? Not us. PLUS, we’re only a few days away from the January transfer window which will undoubtedly shake things up a bit.
Chelsea need a left back replacement after Ben Chillwell had to undergo knee surgery. Striker Romelu Lukaku also just came out with the news that he isn’t too happy at Chelsea which has put Tuchel in a pretty tough position. Will they be on the hunt for a new number 9 as well? Newcastle has become the world’s richest club since the last transfer window and will be looking to bolster their club in January to avoid relegation. Rumour has it Guardiola is on the hunt for a world-class striker to lead a side that is already unstoppable without one.
It’s still all to play for after this week’s fixtures and we have a lot to talk about so let’s get into it.
Scottish Pirlo shines for United
Look, we’re being a little sarcastic with the title of “Scottish Pirlo” – Scott McTominay has an unbelievably long way to go before anybody speaks about him in the same breath as the Italian maestro, but he was really impressive in United’s 3-1 over Burnley yesterday.
McTominay scored Thursday’s opener against Burnley and impressed throughout. United manager Rangnick grilled his players after their mediocre performance against Newcastle last week said McTominay who added: “Body language is one thing and the manager has come in and said he wants to cut that out, so that is final. We have taken it on board,” said the midfielder.
A further strike from Cristiano Ronaldo plus Ben Mee’s own goal were answered only by Aaron Lennon’s strike, all goals coming before half time. This was Rangnick’s fifth game in charge and he praised his side’s attack and their bounce back ability after their poor showing on the weekend.
Still a topsy turvy team to say the least, but they’re starting to look a lot more cohesive going forward.
Welbeck wins a point for the Seagulls
As Danny Welbeck’s beautiful header sailed beyond Édo Mendy, it was difficult not to feel that we were witnessing the end of Chelsea’s title challenge. The gap to Manchester City stands at a massive eight points and Thomas Tuchel looked a defeated, yet unsurprised man when Welbeck equalised for Brighton, who would have been the victims of a gross injustice had they left Stamford Bridge with nothing to show for a splendid performance, particularly in the second half.
Unable to build on Lukaku’s first-half header, Chelsea can’t really complain after trudging to their third draw in their past four league games. Tuchel tried to foster a siege mentality afterwards, raging at being forced to play on through a Covid crisis, but the truth is that the Blues did not do enough.
The numbers favoured Brighton, who had more shots and more possession, and the only disappointment for Graham Potter was that his skilful visitors left it so late before equalising. Brighton smashed Chelsea in the second half. Bissouma made easy meat of two of the world’s best – Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in central midfield – and Chelsea looked sluggish and unenthusiastic throughout.
What does Tuchel have to do to galvanise a team that started the season with such intensity and swagger? Can he get them back to their best and can City be slowed? Our answer for now is … no.
City poised to make it 4 out of 5
We’re betting on City to make it four Premier League titles out of five come the end of the season.
After Liverpool wobbled at Leicester on Tuesday and Chelsea were depth‑charged by Danny Welbeck on Wednesday, Manchester City enter 2022 with a fourth title in five years firmly within their grasp.
Victory at Brentford (albeit by the slimmest of margins) opened the gap to eight on Chelsea and nine on Liverpool. Their chasers face each other at the weekend, with Liverpool being the likely winners should Chelsea play the way they did against Brighton.
City could not close out 2021 with a display of pyrotechnics, because Brentford were damn tough. Phil Foden’s early goal, coming from Kevin De Bruyne’s assist, gave them what they came for, a 10th successive Premier League win and their run of form doesn’t look likely to change any time soon.
Where has this Leicester been?
Brendan Rodger’s Leicester side has had a tough time of it this season, and we were expecting so much of them after a blistering 20/21.
Liverpool’s defeat against the Foxes is only their second in the league since March, which means they might be 12 points behind Pep Guardiola’s team by the time they play again. Leicester were a side short of players and time to prepare, fresh from a spanking against City and without a specialist centre-back on the pitch. Somehow, they produced an enormous collective effort.
A team without a point against sides in the top six emerged with three. A side who had let in six goals two days earlier and whose only Premier League clean sheets were against Wolves and Newcastle became the first defence since Real Madrid in April to stop Liverpool from scoring.
Hats off to the Foxes!
Bowen batters Watford
Jarrod Bowen capped a phenomenal individual display against Watford by setting up Nikola Vlasic for his first goal in claret and blue in added time in a 4-1 drubbing on Wednesday evening.
David Moyes has turned West Ham into a team that just does not know how to stop running. This group is far fitter than previous generations and there was a defiance to the way they responded after falling behind to Emmanuel Dennis’s early goal, the quality of their football too much for Watford to handle.
Bowen, an electric presence on the right, was their star man and has impressed all season long. The right-winger sparked West Ham’s fight back by creating Tomas Soucek’s equaliser midway through the first half.
Could West Ham still have hopes of playing in Europe? We think so.