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

The EPL Weekend-Round 26

The weekend served up it usual dose of surprise and unexpected results.

Chelsea felt robbed as a controversial sending off was quickly  followed by a Burnley equalizer. The Blues lead is now down to 5 points and this was a huge opportunity missed to preserve their advantage at the top.
Juan Cuadrado has offered Mourinho a different dimension to the Blues forward play. He seems to have fit perfectly into English football and the Blues set up. He played well on the flanks and although he faces a battle to oust Willian fromthe starting 11, he grabbed his opportunity well. Chelsea should have been home and dry before the Matic incident and they paid for their profligacy infont of goal. Costa hasn't been as sharp in the last 2 matches and he missed a couple of chances early on.
Mourinho will feel the officials conspired against his team but they should have put Burnley to the sword early on. What the blues now need to do is forget this result and focus on their next match. They are still in a good position and strong favorites to claim the title in May.

Manchester City ensured they took advantage of Chelsea's slip by thrashing a disappointing Newcastle side.
The return of Yaya Toure brought stability to the City midfield and it was evident why they struggle when he is not playing. in deed City won only one of five games that Toure missed. Aguero looks to be back to his best and with Bony making his debut, City look prepared to run Chelsea down the home stretch. Dzeko also had a solid game upfront for City. On the evidence of this performance, Chelsea still have a long way before they can ease their feet of the gas.

Arsenal ground out a hard fought win against Palace in a tough London derby. With a lot of their key players now back from injury, Arsenal are looking good for a top 4 finish. A good number of their players look to be hitting top form at the right time. Ozil looks a different player since his return from injury, Giroud looks sharper than he has been this season and the defence looks to have gotten past their rough patch.
The Gunners are upto 3rd in the table and it's hard seeing them fail to make top 4.

Manchester United's luck finally ran out as a string of recent poor performances finally resulted in a defeat. United have had a succession of below par performances.Van Gaal has been very underwhelming. The optimism and hope that greated his appointment has been replaced by grumbles and despair as a star studded team continues to struggle against lesser opposition. United now face a real battle to finish in the top four with Southampton, Tottenham and Liverpool breathing down their neck. The ease with which teams play against United is worrying. This was a poor Saints side,coming off a run of bad results and missing Wilfred Bony. But they still beat United to ensure they complete a first ever double over the Red Devils. Whatever disease Van Persie has, it seems to be spreading to the rest of the team. For a while now, Mata, RVP, Falcao, Di Maria, Rooney have been very poor. In fact the only United player who seemed interested was Herrera. It is a wonder Van Gaal rarely plays him.

Liverpool were brilliant against the Saints. Brendan Rogers has done a very good job to turn Liverpool's fortune around after a difficult start to the season. The return of Sturridge has further strengthened the squad a brought forth new belief. Liverpool are right in the battle for top four, and with Spurs, United and Saints dropping points around them, this was a fruitful weekend for Liverpool.

Team of the week,
Lloris, Ivanovic,Skrtel, Mertecsacker,Coleman, Cambiasso, Nasri,Silva,Hazard,Aguero, Dzeko

Player of the week
David Silva

The EPL Weekend-Round 16

The EPL served up its usual dose of excitement following mid-week action of European football.

Manchester City continued their recent good form with a hard fought 1 nil win over relegation threatened Leicester. City once again ground out a result against a potentially tricky fixture. City are becoming masters of doing that lately. The win came at a cost though with City losing captain Kompany and Dzeko to injuries and the duo look set to miss out on the crucial holiday fixtures. City are now in the middle of an injury crisis and are set to face a real challenge with the busy run of fixtures coming up. With Aguero, Jovetic and now Dzeko out injured, 18year old Pozo is their only recognised striker. The 3 points were priceless in their pursuit of Chelsea. Lampard was once again the hero for City with his 175th goal in the premier league. I was sceptical when City signed Lampard but i have been really impressed by him. His professionalism and hunger even in the twilight of his career is an example to the younger players. 6 goals already from midfield and you start to understand why Pellegrini is keen on extending his loan spell. The real star of the show however was Nasri. The Frenchman seems to have rediscovered his form and has been in a rich vein of form. My man of the match against Roma in midweek, Nasri once again provided the creative spark for City in the absence of David Silva. He has been controlling play very well of late and was the creator for Lampard's goal. All in all, City got the job done in the end and will now head into the festive fixtures hoping to keep in touch with the league leaders.

Chelsea got past Hull in a match that will be remembered for the Blue's diving antics. Costa, Willian and Cahill all tried to fool the referee withblatant dives, the latter lucky to escape a second yellow card. A Tom Huddlestone red card and a Diego Costa goal were enough to make things comfortable for the Blues in the second half and help erase the memories of the previous weekend's loss to Newcastle. Chelsea were not at their fluid best but they still got the three points that mattered.

Arsenal returned to winning ways with a deserved 4-1 thumping of Newcastle. The Gunners were totally dominant and the performance was so good it made those agitating for Wenger's sacking eat their words. In what was a potentially difficult game on paper given the Magpies wonderful run of results, Arsenal came out on top and deservedly so. Giroud was deadly infront with a brace. He missed 3 months of the season but is only a goal behind Welbeck. Birthday boy Cazorla looks to be back to his best and i think Arsenal are a better side when he is playing. Arsenal's defence which has come under a lot of criticism especially following the defeat to Stoke played with better organization. Bellerin filled in at right back and gave a promising display providing good attacking threat down the right side. Oxlade Chamberlain also gave an assured display that reignited the Gunners charge back into the top four.

Manchester United v Liverpool was the highlight of the weekend. United ran out comfortable winners in the end as a lethargic Liverpool side continued their wretched run of poor form. Van Gaal once again went for a back 3 with Valencia and Young as wing backs. De Gea was in excellent form thwarting Liverpool and Sterling so many times, one lost count along the way. Carrick deserves special mention as he marshaled the defence well. There is a lot of talk about United winning without playing well but that might actually be a good thing. Six wins on the trot without playing well makes you wonder what would happen of they actually started playing well. With the injuries easing, United have every reason to feel confident heading into the festive period.


Team of the week
De Gea, Bellerin, Debuchy, Mangala, Clichy, Lampard, Cazorla, Rooney, Mata, Giroud, Hazard

Player of the week
De Gea

The EPL Weekend-Round 15

Another exciting weekend of EPL action.

Chelsea finally got beaten as their 23 match unbeaten run was brought to a sudden halt by hard working Newcastle. It is evidence to the unpredictable nature of the league this season. The Magpies started the season in terrible fashion with Pardew almost losing his job amid pressure from the fans, a run of five successive wins turned the tide and not many would have predicted them to end Chelsea's long unbeaten run.
The Blues were missing suspended Nemanja Matic in midfield but the rest of the team was the usual Mourinho first 11.
Chelsea did not work the Newcastle keeper a whole lot. Newcastle's game plan of hurrying Chelsea and hitting them on the counter worked perfectly. In Cisse, Newcastle have a striker on top of his game and he took his chances well after he came on as a second half sub. Mourinho was left mourning about Newcastle's tactics but in truth the Magpies were thoroughly deserving of the win. It will be important to see how Chelsea respond to this set back. A few days ago they were looking like near certainties to win the league, now they are only 3 points ahead of Manchetser City. All of a sudden the title race is back on and Chelsea will face a real battle to stay ahead of the pack.

Manchester City ensured they took advantage of Chelsea's earlier slip up by scrapping a win against Everton courtesy of a dubious penalty. City had Hart to thank for a late save to deny Lukaku. The win came at a cost though as their talisman Aguero looks set for a spell on the sidelines. The Argentine has been by a distance City's standout performer this season and it will be a big challenge for City, especially during the busy holiday period, to cope without him. City did what they had to do and the gap to Chelsea is now just three points. As long as they keep within touching distance, City will be confident of retaining their title. The interesting bit is City's recent run of good form has been achieved without their creative magician David Silva and Kompany has been struggling with injuries. The two alongside Hart, Toure and Aguero form the spine of the team. The feeling is that City are yet to really hit top form and when they do, the rest of the premiership will be left struggling to catch up.

Arsenal put in a woeful performance at Stoke. Traditionally the Potters away is always a tough fixture for Arsenal but the manner of their collapse was baffling. 3-0 down at half time and lucky not to go 4 nil down in the second half. The Gunners did manage to salvage some degree of respect to the scoreline but this was a disappointing performance. The biggest disappointment however will be that having been 3 nil down Arsenal came back to within a goal of levelling the scores with over 20 minutes still to play, yet they couldn't find that all important goal. Arsenal's defense was all over the place and the ease with which Stoke were able to score is worrying for Arsenal. Wenger started with Mertesacker and Bellerin in defence and that gave Stoke confidence that they could bully the pair. I think it's about time Wenger started pairing Koscielny and Mertesacker. The former has just returned from injury but the urgency with which Arsenal need that pairing back together is huge. Chambers had a torrid day and got himself sent off. Arsenal need to look at this result as a one off since they were on a good run anyway. They need to dust themselves up, forget about Stoke and focus on the next game.

Manchester United made it 5 wins on the trot with a hard fought, and rather fortuitous win over Southampton. The Red Devils are on a really good run and are up to third on the table without really playing well. van Persie scored a brace and looks to have rediscovered his scoring touch with 3 goals in 2 games. United's problems still lie in defense where once again they looked very vulnerable. Van Gaal resorted to a 3 man central defense system. I can understand his thinking since the two wing backs are really not defenders and needed support against a tough side away from home. The problem in defense was not the system but rather the personnel. Mcnair was looking like a disaster in the waiting and Smalling's injury made matters worse. Evans who came on as a sub is hardly a figure of reassurance in such a system and Carrick is not a defender. So under the circumstances, this was a massive win. United next face Liverpool and they will be hoping to have a few defenders back. In the meantime, they can bask in the glory of rising to third in the standings.

Liverpool were booed off by their own fans after playing out a dull goalless draw with Crystal Palace. In truth Palace should have won and left Anfield disappointed. They totally dominated and a combination of wayward finishing and the Reds keeper kept the scoreline goalless. Liverpool lacked bite and quality and it is sad to see how low they have fallen this season. It's hard to pin point exactly where the problem is. Brendan Rodgers is under real pressure and you get the feeling should they go out of the the Champion's League, the fans will apply even more pressure. What Liverpool need to do is start winning games by whichever means. And what a time it would be to start that winning run. Their next match is against Manchester United.

Team of the week,
Green, Jenkinson, Collocini, OShea, Clichy, Colback, Bojan, Sissoko,  Bolasie, Cisse, Caroll

Player of the Week,
Collocini

The EPL Weekend-Round 12

The EPL returned from a two week international break with lots of talking points.

The weekends big match was without a doubt Manchester United trip to Arsenal. Both teams were looking to build some momentum having had largely disappointing seasons. Arsenal had a poor record against United lately having only defeated United once in the last 14 games. The Gunners started the game so well and engineered wave after wave of forays into the United goal area but without making it count. In the first 25 minutes Arsenal had at least 3 good opportunities to score but the wasted their chances. United struggled to impose themselves and the inexperienced defense was looking very uneasy. Van Gaal had opted to start with 3 central defenders with Shaw and Valencia as wing backs. Blackett looked the most nervous and erratic of the 3 center halves.He had a torrid time against Chamberlain who i thought played really well and has been my best player for Arsenal recently. Arsenal however did not make United pay and after the break, United slowly grew into the game.  The first goal was always going to be key and a lot of luck and fortune swung United's way when Gibbs first knocked of Schezny before inadvertently poking the ball into his own net. That provided the games turning point since after that United were able to sit back and hit Arsenal on the counter. Welbeck had a poor game against his former employers and for me he is yet to really convince me that he was a good signing for Arsenal. If he hadn't been around, Giroud would probably have been thrust straight into action and i doubt he would have missed the couple of headers Welbeck missed in the first half. Wilshere got injured and looks set for a spell on the sidelines but crucially for Arsenal, Koscielny and Giroud are back. For United, another injury to Shaw added to their injury woes but they now need to put together a run of wins to solidify their grip on top four.

Chelsea as usual produced a disciplined performance against West Brom, it ended 2 nil but it could easily have been 7-0 had it not been for Ben Foster and some wayward finishing by Chelsea. The Blues are surely on their way to winning the title. They have the most discipline defensively and no other team understands how to defend as a unit more than Chelsea. Even Hazard who last season was criticized by Mourinho for not tracking back has been doing his own share of defensive duties. In Matic they have the leagues best defensive midfielder and with Fabregas and Costa having shaken off injuries, Chelsea only look set to stretch their lead at the top.

Liverpool once again lost, this time against Palace. The Reds are tinkering on having a crisis and Rodgers is now facing questions about the security of his job.
The Reds defense particularly appears too vulnerable whenever the opposition are attacking. Lovren in particular has been having a nightmare of a season and maybe it's time Rodgers tried out the experienced Kolo Toure. Lambert did get his first goal for the club and with Balotelli sidelined he now needs to start showing he is capabhle of leading the line.

Manchester City got back to winning ways in a tricky fixture against high flying Swansea. City had to rely on the power of Yaya Toure to see them through as they kept alive their feint hopes of catching up with leaders Chelsea. City are not the real deal so far but they will feel that as long as they don't let Chelsea get too far ahead of them, they will still have a chance. Their next match against the Saints is absolutely crucial. City are certainly not at their best at the moment but as long as they keep grinding out results, anything is possible.

Team of the week
de gea, kelly, smalling, dummet, robertson, toure, sissoko, jedinak, hazard, rooney, ings
Player of the week
danny ings