Aug 26, 2016 by Alex Baker
The third round of the Premier League season gets underway this weekend and teams up and down the country will be looking to solidify their position in the table heading into next week’s international break.Here are the key matches of the upcoming weekend’s action.
Liverpool must right the ship against Spurs
It’s difficult to know what to make of Liverpool so far this season. After being dominated by Arsenal in the first half of their season opener at the Emirates, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds came storming back in the second and pasted the Gunners with four goals. Arsenal eventually pulled a couple back to settle it at 4-3. Then last weekend, Liverpool were dealt an embarrassing 2-0 loss by Burnley, a team considered relegation fodder by most.
They pasted Burton... Read More
Aug 19, 2016 by Alex Baker
Defending Premier League champions Leicester City will welcome Arsenal to the King Power Stadium on Saturday with both sides badly in need of a win after suffering losses in their respective opening day fixtures.
Much has been written about Arsenal’s inability to hold onto an early lead and contain a Liverpool side that played them off the pitch at their own park for most of the match. But perhaps more alarming, was Leicester’s opening day loss to a Hull City side without a real manager or anything close to a full strength team.
There was little for fans of either club to get excited about in either match. But whereas opening day losses are nothing new for the Gunners – they’ve lost three out of their last four – this... Read More
Aug 15, 2016 by Alex Baker
Arsenal fans can be forgiven for feeling that Sunday’s home opener against Liverpool had a sense of groundhog’s day about it. The Gunners lost, as they have in three out of their last four season openers, in this case by a score of 4-3.
The result itself wasn’t necessarily that disheartening. Arsenal were the better team in the first half and took a deserved lead before Liverpool roared back piling on the goals to make it 4-1 at one point. But rather than collapse, Arsenal kept their heads up and fought back to a respectable 4-3. Disappointing yes, but not embarrassing.
But the circumstances surrounding the result – squad depleted by injuries and the failure to address obvious deficiencies in the transfer market – are the factors that... Read More
Jul 26, 2016 by Alex Baker
Premier League heavyweights Chelsea and Liverpool will face off at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on Wednesday night as the International Champions Cup arrives in Southern California.
The ICC is in its third year now, having been instated as a successor to the World Football Challenge. The ICC leans more heavily on juggernaut-sized European clubs than the WFC did and American fans will be treated to a look at two of the biggest names in Premier League football in the midst of their preseason preparation.
Chelsea have a new manager in Antonio Conte and have been active in the transfer market, having signed N’Golo Kante’ from Leicester City and Michy Batshuayi from Marseille. Batshuayi has been included in the travelling squad along with the likes of Eden Hazard,... Read More
Aug 14, 2015 by Alex Baker
After stumbling in its season opener to West Ham United last week, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, and particularly goalkeeper Petr Cech, will have to pick up the pieces quickly if it is to live up to pundits' expectations to win the Premier League this season. While you couldn’t quite call them howlers, the former Chelsea net-minder made mistakes at the Emirates last Sunday and was directly culpable for allowing both of West Ham’s goals.
But it was more than just a case of first-day jitters from Cech that undermined the Gunners. While the North Londoners dominated possession, as you’d expect, they lacked a true cutting edge against an organized Hammers side that defended well and made the most of its chances.
To Arsenal’s credit, West Ham keeper Adrian made a number... Read More
Aug 12, 2015 by Alex Baker
The new Premier League campaign is barely a week old and already Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has launched his first conspiracy theory of the season, and it’s not referees or the English FA that the Portuguese gaffer is pointing a finger at. This time, it’s the club’s doctor.
In the wake of Chelsea’s surprising 2-2 draw with Swansea City on opening day, Mourinho has rounded on Chelsea’s first team doctor, Eva Carneiro. The Special One’s ire stems from a stoppage time incident in which the referee waved Carneiro and team physio Jon Fearn onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard. According to Mourinho, the two should have been able to somehow ascertain from the sidelines that Hazard was in no real need of attention, despite the referee waving them on.... Read More
Jun 17, 2015 by Alex Baker
With Carlos Tevez already identified as Atletico Madrid’s top transfer target this summer, Juventus, in a bit of football symmetry, have named Atleti striker Mario Mandzukic as the man they would replace the Argentine with. Mandzukic, who had a good but not great season with Atletico, is one of the players the club is reportedly looking to move on this summer.
After falling from last season’s dizzying heights of winning La Liga and making it to the Champions League final, to finish third this season, Diego Simeone is looking to rebuild an Atleti attack that suffered in the wake of Diego Costa’s departure to Chelsea.
While Mandzukic contributed a respectable 12 goals and five assists in the league this season, it was Antoine Griezmann who emerged as Atleti’s... Read More
Apr 10, 2015 by Alex Baker
It would have seemed folly to have this conversation a few short weeks ago. But with Arsenal and Manchester United in hot pursuit and Diego Costa out injured, people are starting to wonder; could Chelsea let the title slip?
It seems highly unlikely, but not impossible. It’s a pity that neither United nor Arsenal could have hit their good form a few weeks sooner. A boost of three to five points for either team would’ve potentially made this one of the most exciting Premier League title races in years. But seven points clear with a game in hand; Chelsea can afford to lose two games out of the remaining eight and still end up as Champions in May.
But the path to victory is by no means an easy or... Read More
Apr 03, 2015 by Alex Baker
Red-hot Arsenal welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday for what could prove a decisive clash between two teams vying for the top four. The Gunners are in the in-form team in the Premier League at the moment, having won nine out of their last 10 matches. With the injury crisis of earlier in the season behind it, Arsenal has come on strong in the New Year. Striker Olivier Giroud is playing confidently and has knocked in nine goals in his last nine matches.
Mesut Ozil too has hit a good run of form since returning from injury. While still criticized for his seemingly languid style, it was recently revealed that the German playmaker regularly covers more ground during a game than any of his teammates. Ozil’s return seems... Read More
Mar 05, 2015 by Alex Baker
Francis Coquelin continued to impress in midfield as Arsenal put two unanswered goals past Queens Park Rangers Wednesday. It’s easy to forget the French midfielder was on the verge of being released at the end of the season just a couple of months ago. But after another commanding performance against Everton on the weekend, during which he had his nose broken by teammate Olivier Giroud but remained on the pitch until the 89th minute, Arsene Wenger wasn’t about to drop him for the midweek trip to Loftus Road.
Wearing a protective facemask, Coquelin was at the heart of everything that worked in the center of the park for the Gunners. The 23-year-old had a perfect tackle rate of six out of six against QPR. He also made some impressive contributions... Read More
Feb 27, 2015 by Alex Baker
Already favorites to win the Premier League and advance to the last eight of the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea could lift one of the three remaining trophies available to them this season in this Sunday’s League Cup final at Wembley. Standing in their way will be a determined Tottenham Hotspur side that arguably threw away its chance to advance in the Europa League in order to save its best for this final.
And while earlier in the season Chelsea’s Diego Costa was the in-form striker in the Premier League, of late it’s been Tottenham’s homegrown goal-getter Harry Kane who’s been banging them in. Kane was on target twice the last time the two sides met, on New Year’s Day, when Spurs handed Chelsea a surprise 5-3 defeat at White... Read More
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