The EPL Weekend-Round 30

The business end of the season is here with us and results have never been as crucial.
Manchester United visited Liverpool in the weekend's big game and what a game it turned out to be. Liverpool's long unbeaten run was finally ended thanks largely to a limp first half display by the hosts.
United were absolutely dominant in the first half dominating possession and taking a fully deserved half time lead courtesy of a resurgent Juan Mata. Brendan Rogers had started with Gerard on the bench and the Reds captain red card seconds after coming on in the second half made an already difficult task even harder. Gerard has enough experience to know mistakes such as these could prove costly to the Club's ambitions. His slip last season possibly handed the title to Manchester City and he might just have cost his team a top four finish. It remains to be seen. Mata followed up his wonderful display against Spurs with an even better showing at Anfield. His second goal was superb. LVG named the same squad and played the same system and maybe finally he has found the system and squad to suit his philosophy. It is no coincidence that United's good displays have been paralleled by Carrick's performances. The midfielder has been the symbol of calmness in United's play and has enabled other members of the team to perform. The understanding between him, Fellaini and Herrera have seen United dominate midfield in recent games. Rooney had a very poor game and ended up missing a late penalty. Liverpool next play Arsenal and they will need to quickly forget this defeat and focus on that match. They will do that without Gerard and possibly Skrtel whose late stump on De Gea was missed by the ref.

Arsenal were made to work hard as they finally overcame a determined second half performance by Newcastle. Olivier Giroud divides opinions but there is no argument about his goals/minute ratio. The Frenchman has been on a red hot scoring run and scored twice to give Arsenal a two goal lead at half time. In the second half a number of the Gunners players looked tired maybe due to their recent run of games in the Champions League and FA Cup. The Magpies sensed this and were all over Arsenal in the second half with only Ospina and wayward finishing saving Arsenal. In the end Arsenal held on for three valuable points that keeps the pressure on Man City.

Man City returned to winning ways with an easy 3-0 win over West Brom aided by a second minute sending of for the Baggies. City desperately needed the win to repair their lost confidence as well as keep alive their feint hopes of retaining their title. In the end they got the job done and they will continue to hope Chelsea drop points in their remaining matches.

Chelsea put in a lacklustre performance against Hull and were lucky to come away with all three points. Not for the first time this season Chelsea lost a two goal lead although this time they went on to claim a second half winner. Th Blues look to be tiring towards the end of the season but with a 6 point advantage and a game in hand, they are well set to be crowned champions.

Team of the week,
Speroni, Smalling, Cresswell, Collins, Clyne,  Mata, Fellaini, Silva, Hazard, Kane,Giroud

Player of the week,
Mata

The EPL Weekend-Round 29

The EPL season is on the final stretch now and teams cannot afford to make any mistakes at this stage.

Manchester City endured another weekend to forget with a potentially damaging defeat and

City have all but given up hope of catching Chelsea at the top of the log with only nine games left. And to add insult to injury, even the Citizens second place is now under threat. From title contenders, City are now only a point ahead of Arsenal and two ahead of United. And with Liverpool also winning, Manchester City are right in the battle for the top four Champions league spots. Their poor run of form has coincided with a run of good form among all the other top four contenders. Since the turn of the year, and since Yaya Toure left for the African Cup of Nations, City have really struggled to perform in games. Aguero has found it difficult to find goals and even the ever green David Silva for once had a poor game against Burnley. The defence and in particular Kompany have been really poor and have not protected Joe Hart enough. City really need to get their act together because the chasing pack are winning and they might just find themselves outside top four.

Manuel Pellegrini faces a tough task to retain his job with City also looking like they are out of the Champions League.

Arsenal's good run of domestic run just goes on. After beating United in the FA Cup, Arsenal comfortably ran over West Ham to keep the pressure on second place City. The Gunners are playing really well since the turn of the year and it looks like whoever plays in midfield, they always dominate that area of the pitch. There is a really fierce competition for places in the Arsenal team and the players have been upping their performances. This has been the biggest reason for the Gunners improved performances. Every player has competition for his position and mistakes are punished as was the case with Mertesacker recently. At the moment Arsenal look a good bet to make top four quite comfortably.

Manchester United got a morale boosting 3-0 win over top four rivals Tottenham. It was by some distant their best performance and result of the LVG era. The team almost looked like the United of old with Carrick and Fellaini dominating midfield. Mata was in the starting 11 and gave a brilliant performance. The result was achieved without the suspended Di Maria and that poses the question whether he should be left out altogether against Liverpool.
 Another thing worth noting also was that Blind played very well on the left side of defence covering well defensively while at the same time providing valuable crosses. It was almost like Patrice Evra at his sublime best. I would like to see Blind get more game time in that position. He excelled there for the Netherlands during the World Cup. Next up for United is Liverpool and that game will give us a true measure of United's progress. It will be a very important match for the red devils in the context of Champion's League qualification.

Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw that could have been damaging had City not lost at Burnley. In the end the Blues actually increased their advantage at the top to 6 points with a game in hand. Chelsea have been stuttering of late in the league with the team struggling to impose themselves in matches like they did earlier in the season but such is their advantage at the top of the table that they are still overwhelming favourites to clinch the title. The chasing pack and especially City have simply not taken advantage. Failure to progress in the Champion's League was a huge blow to Chelsea but they are set to get consolation in the form of the EPL title.

Team of the Week

Forster, Smalling, Blind, Koscielny, Bellerin, Fellaini, Carrick, Ramsey, Agbonlahor, Giroud, Benteke

Player of the week

Fellaini

The EPL Weekend-Round 28

The big guns all got back to winning ways in the mid week EPL action.

Manchester City bounced back from their damaging loss to Liverpool last weekend to earn 3 crucial points at home to Leicester. It was not an easy win and Leicester will feel they at least  deserved to be awarded a penalty courtesy of a Bony foul in the first half. It was only after Milner scored a second in the last minute that the points were secure for City. Perhaps the biggest news of the night was captain Kompany being dropped from the starting line up. Kompany has had an indifferent season so far and has lately been culpable in a number of City's defensive frailties.  He is no longer the commanding force he was last season although a lot of that can be said about most of City's defence including Joe Hart in goal. The one person whose form and contribution can however not be questioned is David Silva. Once again the spanish midfielder gave an assured display and scored his sides first. Him and Aguero have been behind the good things City have been doing this season.
Following the loss toLiverpool, City are in a difficult position as Chelsea now have a game in hand in addition to their 5 point cushion. The gap to the chasing pack led by Arsenal is also down to only 4 points. The cannot afford another slip up.

Arsenal continued their good domestic form with a comfortable 2-1 win over QPR in their latest London derby. Alexis Sanchez rediscovered his scoring form and it is good to see a player who puts in a lot of energy get reward for their effort.
The Gunners are on a very good run form in the EPL and look a shoo-in for top four.
They have important few weeks ahead with the FA Cup clash against United on Monday and then trying to overturn a 3-1 deficit against Monaco in the Champions League. After uncertainties and questions being asked about Wenger and his side towards the end of last year, the Gunners have responded well. Wenger must take enough credit for reorganizing the defence with young Bellerin the preferred right back at the moment. The way he has eased Gabriel into the side has been a bonus for Wenger with the defender giving assured displays in his first two matches. The Frenchman does get a lot of criticism, and he will be severely castigated should should Monaco complete the job against Arsenal. But i think amidst the criticism people at times lose sight of the amount of work he has done.

Manchester United got another lucky break against Newcastle. How many times has this statement been said about United this season.United were once again all puff with no substance. Fan favourite Herrera has been restored to the starting 11 in recent weeks and he provides United with a lot more positive play added with the fact that he has been reasonably prolific from midfield.. which is more than you can say for most who have been playing there. LVG should continue playing the Spanish star as he represents the future of that United midfield. Rooney was played upfront again and he still has sharpness issues to sort out. De Gea once again was instrumental in goal for United fending off a number of the magpies attacks.
Following the loss to Swansea coupled with Liverpool's resurgence, United now face a real fight to finish in the top four. The upcoming games against fellow contenders Liverpool and Spurs will be massive.

Chelsea got over their Capital One triumph hangover to easily see off West Ham. Mourinho's team look to have come through their recent run of dropped poimts and with City failing to capitalise, Chelsea are almost looking a sure bet to win the title. 5 points ahead, a game in hand, ten games to go, surely the title is Chelsea's.
The Blues have coped well with the absence of Nemanja Matic in midfield. Zouma has come in to fill the defensive midfielder role and it looks like another Mourinho masterstroke. Chelsea will be pretty confident of adding a second title to their capital one and who knows, maybe the UEFA Champion's league as well.

Liverpool just look like going from strength to strength. Jordan Henderson looks a totally different player ever since Gerard announced his intentions to leave the club in the summer. The incoming captain has been the key figure for the team with strong displays from midfield. He has been on a scoring run while providing a number of key assists for his team members as well. And a lot of credit must also go to Brendan Rogers for changing the system and making bold decisions such as pushing Sterling more forward and narrow especially when Sturridge was being eased into the squad. With the reds out of Europe, their main concern will be making top four and it is looking increasingly hard to bet against them making it.

Team of the week;

De Gea, Young, Terry, Zouma, Ivanovic,  Coutinho, Henderson, Herrera, Austin, Hazard, Giroud

Player of the week

Hazard