The 2017/2018 EPL Weekend-Round 3

Manchester United continued their good start to the season with a hard fought 2 nil win at home to Leicester. That’s now 3 wins, 10 goals scored and none conceded. United were once again impressive in a game they would have drawn last season. Leicester defended resolutely and at some point it was beginning to look like it might be one of those days for United. Credit to Mourinho though because he made the correct changes in the 2^nd half and both his subs scored. Mourinho was quick to point out in his post match interview that last season United won their first 3 as well so nothing to celebrate yet. Deep down though he must feel more confident especially due to the manner of this season’s wins. United are more confident, more direct, passing it around well and looking much better. Mourinho decided to start with Martial in place of Rashford. I like Martial because he is very direct, rarely loses possession and has an eye for goal. I however think for now United are better off starting with Rashford and having Martial come on in the second half. Martial is an excellent impact sub. Pogba has been playing a lot better this season mainly because of Nemanja Matic. The calmness and protection provided by Matic has freed Pogba to push upfront and dominate the midfield. I expect him to provide more assists than last season and score at least 10 goals in the league. Mkhitaryan is another player who is playing well evidenced by his 5 assists in the first 3 games. The excellent form of these players has meant some players who would be expected to play have missed out on game time. Herrera for instance is yet to feature this season. There’s also a lot of push for playing time in defence with the likes of Smalling, Lindelof, Rojo and Shaw yet to feature. All this competition for places is good though and Mourinho must be satisfied with his squad. Having re-signed Ibrahimovic, I don’t expect further transfer activity for United.

Chelsea easily dispatched of Everton with an easy 2 nil win in a potentially tricky fixture. Alvaro Moratta and Cesc Fabregas were both on target as the Champions further provided proof that their opening day loss to Burnley was a minor blip. Antonio Conte has made no secret about his desire to strengthen the squad even with the signings of Bakayoko, Moratta and Rudiger. With the anticipated departure of Costa, Conte is looking to get an additional striker, with the defence also in need of reinforcements. Ngolo Kante is the main holding midfielder for the Blues and alongside him it’s either Fabregas or Bakayoko with Matic’s departure. Last season Fabregas and Matic shared that role with each starting depending on the opposition, Matic preferred in games where Conte felt he needed more steel and power in the midfield while Fabregas featured in games Conte wanted a more attacking approach. I feel Fabregas provides a bit more. Conte’s concern has always been that Fabregas doesn’t defend well when the Blues don’t have the ball. His attacking qualities though are world class. I feel this season despite Bakayoko’s arrival, we might see more of Fabregas and Kante than Bakayoko and Kante. Eden Hazard is soon returning to the squad so you feel Chelsea will be kicking on as the season progresses.

Manchester City were lucky to get a 97^th minute winner against Bournemouth in a very eventful match. Sterling was once again the hero coming on a second half sub to stab home the winner. City on paper look to have a very good squad, probably the best in the league, but they are still to gel and find the right chemistry. Guardiola is still not sure of his starting 11. They have a lot of attacking talent and to think that they are still chasing Alexis Sanchez and Kylian Mbappe makes for a scary attacking prospect. If and when Pep gets the right chemistry and mix, City will be deadly.

The weekend’s big match was Arsenal away to Liverpool and it didn’t disappoint, unless you are an Arsenal fan. This is the worst time to be an Arsenal fan. The Gunners put up a really horrible display at Anfield, it was difficult trying to remember the last time they were this bad. They were poor all over the pitch with the exception of Cech who must have been wondering what he was doing in the field. Arsenal wouldn’t have had a worse week. Reduced to watching Europe’s big boys drawn in the champion’s league groups, the Gunners then had to endure the humiliation of being lined up alongside Europe’s second class clubs in the Europa League group draws. For Arsenal to concede four and still have Cech as their best player on the pitch just shows the extent of Liverpool’s dominance. The Reds were all over Arsenal and would even have scored more had it not been for a couple of good saves by Cech. As much as Wenger’s selection of his squad was questionable, the performance by the players was even more disappointing. None of the 10 outfield players can look up and feel proud of their contributions. Wenger decided to start with a back 3 with the Ox and Bellerin as wing backs, a system that has never worked for him. For some strange reason, he also decided to start Bellerin, their first choice right back, on the left wing. He also decided to use the inexperienced Rob Holding in place of established defenders like Mustafi against Liverpool’s attacking trio of Mane, Firminho and Salah. Wenger also decided to start with his record signing and first choice striker Lacazette on the bench. Arsene Wenger still believes he can improve Arsenal but even his staunchest supporters are now doubting him. Arsenal are on a downward trajectory. Having failed to qualify for the Champion’s League this season, a lot of transfer activity was expected. Instead all the news is about Arsenal players wanting to leave the club instead of the other way. Sanchez, Chamberlain, Mustafi, Gibbs are all being linked with moves away from the club. And you wouldn't really blame them. No replacements are forthcoming though. With clubs around them strengthening, it’s hard to see Arsenal competing at all. Arsenal’s minimum target this season should be top four. On current evidence they are nowhere near that. It’s going to take an unprecedented transfer deadline day activity for the Gunners to bring the right personnel in to have a squad good enough  to challenge for any honours this season.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Peter Schmeichel

Nicolas Otamendi

Phil Jones

Cesar Azpilicueta

Bernard Mendy

Cesc Fabregas

Matt Ritchie

Paul Pogba

Mohamed Salah

Saido Mane

Raheem Sterling

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Mohammed Salah

The 2017/2018 EPL Weekend-Round 2

Manchester United continued their impressive start to the season with another 4-0 win at Swansea. Unlike last week's 4-0 rout of West Ham, they had to wait until the 82nd minute to secure the win as Swansea capitulated and let in 3 goals in a 4 minute spell. For long periods of the game Swansea defended stoically but eventually they gave in as United once again showed some ruthlessness in front of goal that was lacking last season.
Mourinho once again started with the same starting 11 meaning a 4-1-4-1 formation with Matic once again sitting in front of the defence with Pogba and Mkhitaryan dictating play ahead of him and Mata and Rashford providing support to Lukaku from the wings.
Tougher opposition await but this is a very good beginning to the season for United. Another ominous sign for United's rivals is the strength of the bench. With the likes of Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini, Darmian, Smalling, Lindelof, Lingard and Martial on the bench, United do look strong.
Lukaku has slotted into his role with so much ease and it's beginning to look like it was money well spent by United. His sense of awareness, power, speed and eye for goal have been evident so far in the 3 competitive games he has played for United so far. And with service coming from the likes of Mata, Rashford, Pogba and Mkhitaryan, Lukaku looks set to get past if not close to 30 league goals.

Arsenal's past ghosts at Stoke returned to haunt them in the 1 nil defeat. Arsenal had scraped through their first fixture against Leicester last weekend and their luck ran out. Arsene Wenger clearly still has a lot to do if he is to lead this Arsenal side back to the top four and even title contenders. The situation with Sanchez is not helping and the Gunners clearly miss his influence. Arsenal were wasteful in front of goal and when eventually Lacazette did find the net, the linesman's flag cut short his celebrations with a marginal offside decision. Arsene Wenger was left ruing the referee decisions but ultimately the problem lies with his squad. A lot of Arsenal fans were hoping that the squad will undergo a major strengthening this summer but so far only Kolasinic and Lacazette have arrived. It's a bit strange that Arsenal let Gabriel go when defence is one of the areas where they have been short. That Monreal has been playing as a center back so far is further that defence needs strengthening. It was therefore a big surprise that when asked about further signings, Wenger responded that in fact Arsenal need to sell more players as their squad was bloated. With no champion's league football this season, Wenger will need to ensure his side avoid slipping further behind this early as qualifying for the champions league will be the minimum requirement this season.

Chelsea looked almost like the side that won the league title last season with a smash and grab victory over Spurs at Wembley. With injuries and suspensions limiting the number of players available for Chelsea, Conte put out a defensive line up meant to contain Spurs and hit them on the counter. Chelsea employed similar tactics last season on a number of occasions with  lot of success. David Luiz was deployed in midfield meaning the Blues essentially had 3 defensive midfielders in Luiz, Bakayoko and Kante. The tactic worked as Spurs for all their possession were limited in the number of chances they carved out. Tottenham's creative engine Christian Erikssen was smothered and even the dangerous Delle Alli was hounded every time he got close to the ball. In Alonso, Chelsea have a consistent performer and it wasn't really a surprise when he delivered an unstoppable freekick to give Chelsea the lead. His second goal left the usually reliable Lloris embarrassed as he let the ball goal go through his legs.
Moratta for me still does not fit into Chelsea's counter attacking system. I would be looking to sign another striker to complement him. He is a different type of player to Costa. The system Chelsea play when playing against tougher opposition is one where they used to leave Costa as a lone striker and because of his strength and ball-holding qualities, he would retain possession and hold up play giving the likes of Hazard and Pedro time to join the attack. Moratta is more direct and used to playing in triangles of passes with players around him. That might not be the case at Chelsea and so he has a lot of adjusting to make.

Liverpool managed a hard earned win over Crystal Palace with Mane once again the key man. It might have been a long day for the Reds had their former striker Benteke brought his scoring boots as he spurned the Eagles best chance. Liverpool for me still look short up front. Yes they do have Firminho, Origi, Sturridge, Mane and Salah. But for me only Origi and Sturridge are really number 9s. The former is however inconsistent and Sturridge on his part always has the danger of injuries lurking. Liverpool need for Coutinho to stay because he is really the creative engine for the team not to mention his goals as well as set piece distribution. It however remains to be season if their resolve will be broken with Barcelona offering what is quite a crazy sum for his services. Liverpool of course could sell him and use the money to rebuild the team. It is no secret they need a goalkeeper as Mignolet can prove unreliable. In Robertson, they seem to have unearthed another wonderful fullback as the youngster has been peerless in his performances so far.  Liverpool's realistic target this season is a good run in the champions league as well as another top 4 position. A domestic cup triumph would bring back smiles at Anfield. They need to make a few signings before end of August if they are to achieve that.

Manchester City scraped a point in their highly charged fixture with Everton. Guardiola will be reasonably pleased by his team's fighting spirit having been a goal down and a man down by half time. City have outspent the rest of their rivals so far this summer and most of the new signings are still finding their feet. They will need to catch up fast. New keeper Ederson who has been brought in as number one choice was culpable for the goal scored by Rooney as the shot was straight at him. Danillo and Bernado Silva put in ok shifts but much is still expected of them.Jesus and Aguero started together for City but none really impressed. Most pundits have City as their favorites but on this evidence they still have much to do if they are to avoid  repeat of last season.



TEAM OF THE WEEK - Butland Alonso Baily Maguire Valencia Mooy Pogba Mkhitaryan Wilian Jese Mane
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Alonso