Premier League Preview
Middlesbrough v Chelsea – Sat. 12.45pm Sky
The only things handed out in October are sweets and candy-apples. With the Premier League season in its infancy, you have to remember that far from having one hand on the trophy, the Blues can’t even claim to have a fingernail in its vicinity – despite some impressive early season form. Even with a list of injuries that reads like Man City’s shopping list, Phil Scolari has found a way of combining Chelsea’s usual ruthless efficiency with some style to put them in a strong position in the early exchanges. A resounding victory over Aston Villa showed that this season’s vintage are well equipped to go one better than last.
The Riverside Stadium has been a tricky trip for Chelsea in recent seasons with Middlesbrough claiming two wins in the Blues’ three most recent visits. If the Boro players can recall what happened before the international break, they’ll gain confidence from their first away win in a long time, at Wigan, but you have to wonder if the team are reaching the level of performance you’d expect from the sum of their parts - with some of those parts being very highly rated individuals. There’s every chance that Middlesbrough will give Chelsea a difficult afternoon, but a point would be good result and you’d still expect an in-form Chelsea to prevail.
Middlesbrough 1 – 2 Cheslea
Liverpool v Wigan – Sat. 3pm Setanta Ireland
Liverpool showed that the spirit of Istanbul wasn’t a once-off vintage with their stirring comeback against Man City and the talk in the aftermath was that it was the type of fighting spirit that wins league titles. Not falling two-nil behind would also help, but rather than letting the heads drop after conceding a two goal lead that completely flattered their opposition, the Reds came out in the second half with more purpose and precision. Another encouraging sign was the width with which the Reds played. Riera has returned from his Premier League sabbatical looking a trickier and more threatening player and Fernando Torres is doing what all great strikers do by scoring even when looking out of sorts in general play.
The loss of Martin Skrtel is a blow. A few blips early in his Anfield career have been forgotten and with Nemanja Vidic now regularly having his praises sung, the young Slovak may have a valid claim as the unsung hero of the Premier League. His pace, strength and composure on the ball mean Liverpool’s back line isn’t as strong as it could be, but with Daniel Agger waiting in the wings, it may not be long before it is. Agger may take a couple of games to regain the match sharpness, but he is a more than adequate replacement.
The focus on Liverpool’s central defence is important because of the impact Amr Zaki has made on the Premier League. Plenty of people scoffed when Steve Bruce pointed out that Zaki was statistically the best striker in the world according to FIFA, but his goalscoring exploits have shown him to be a player of quality, well suited to the physicality of the Premier League. If Agger isn’t up to speed immediately, Wigan could well get on the scoresheet via the Egyptian. Whether that’s enough to claim three points or even one is another matter, but memories of coming away from Anfield with a point in January will give the Latics hope. That night Titus Bramble punished Liverpool’s wastefulness in front of goal and as Stoke proved, keeping it tight at the back is key to getting something from Anfield. Liverpool won’t have it easy, but should have enough to claim all three points.
Liverpool 2 – 1 Wigan
Man Utd v West Brom – Sat. 5.30pm Setanta
With Hull looking like they were the ones that won the Championship last season and West Brom looking like they scraped in through the playoffs, Tony Mowbray may have been losing faith with his adherence to good football, but three wins from the last four games have eased early season jitters. Mowbray likes his teams to play football and as Roy Keane showed with Sunderland, that is compatible with newly promoted teams staying in the Premier League.
The fact that they’ll try to play gives them little hope of claiming anything at Old Trafford, but when he saw the fixture list, this will have been one of the games that Mowbray marked down for the learning curve, so he won’t be too despondent. Man Utd could have one eye on a midweek game with Celtic in the Champions League and so may not be at full strength, but should still be too strong for the Baggies, who will hope to give a good account of themselves and not suffer a demoralising defeat.
Man Utd 3 – 0 West Brom
Stoke v Tottenham – Sunday 4pm Sky Sports 1 – Money Back Special!!
With confidence about as high as their position in the league, an afternoon of repelling Rory Delap’s laser-guided throw-ins is the last thing Spurs need. It’s basic and crude, but it still needs to be defended against and with Juande Ramos failing to eradicate Tottenham’s defensive weaknesses from set-plays, a loss here could be enough for the Spurs’ hierarchy to push the panic button.
For a group of under-motivated players who’ll feel technically superior to their opponents, this is a dangerous game. Stoke is hardly the type of glamour tie to kick-start this motivation and on the other hand, the Potters’ players will be chomping at the bit to have a go at Spurs and claim one of the biggest scalps in English football. Tony Pulis will have his team doing everything they can to unsettle Spurs and combined with the aforementioned Delap causing havoc with throw-ins, you’d have to feel more than a little concerned for Ramos. He may not have had much of a say in the sale of Keane and Berbatov, but his responsibility is to put eleven players on the pitch who look like they care – something they have rarely managed this year.
Tottenham could really struggle here and it could be one bad result too far for Ramos.
Stoke 3 – 1 Tottenham
Newcastle v Man City – Monday 8pm Setanta
Taking time out from turning the air blue in Tyneside, Joe Kinnear clearly did some talking to the Newcastle players. But with Everton’s patchy form, it’s important not to get carried away with what in previous years would be considered a very good point at Goodison Park. It was undoubtedly a good point, but did it come about from a vast improvement from the Magpies or were the Toffees just continuing the poor home form that has dogged their start to the season?
With Man City in equally inconsistent form, it would be foolish to come to conclusions about the outcome of Newcastle’s season based on this game, but taking it in isolation, it is a very winnable game for the home side. Although the arrival of Robinho has made Man City easier on the eye, points have not flowed. With the exception of the exceptional 6-0 thumping of Portsmouth, City have lost all their league games since the Brazilian’s arrival. The outcome of the war will depend heavily on the victors in the battle in front of the Newcastle back four. The combative Butt and Geremi will hope to stifle the creativity of city’s creative attacking midfielders.
On the attacking front, Newcastle could have a lot of joy in the wide areas. Zabaleta had a torrid afternoon at left back against Liverpool and although he misses out through suspension, if he is City’s best option at right-back, it could be a fruitful night for Damien Duff, who looks to have returned to something approaching his best form.
Newcastle 2 – 1 Man City
Arsenal v Everton – Saturday 3pm
Even if David Moyes signing a new contract puts players’ minds at ease, was it really the main reason for the players underperforming and will it bring about a big upturn in form? It’s doubtful that’s the only problem afflicting the team and the putting on ink on paper won’t change what has been a poor start to the season.
Tim Cahill’s late runs into the box could have cause trouble for an Arsenal defence who have struggled with marking but his silly tackle to Xabi Alonso rules out one of the Toffees’ most likely source of a goal. With their fluidity and movement, Arsenal can score against anyone when in the mood, but will the mood strike them on Saturday? Home advantage should see Arsenal through this tricky game.
Arsenal 2 – 1 Everton
Aston Villa v Portsmouth – Saturday 3pm
Martin O’Neill was given a firm reminder against Chelsea of just how much works remains to be done if Villa want to break into the top four, but that result shouldn’t derail the progress they’ve made this season. Sporadically brilliant and occasionally woeful, Portsmouth are a difficult team to assess. Their in form strike-force should craft a goal at Villa Park, but which version of the Jekyll and Hyde defence will rear it’s head on Saturday? It should be a close game and if the Pompey defence forget the mistakes of two 4 – 0 thumpings by Cheslea and that 6 – 0 hammering by Man City, they could get something.
Aston Villa 1 – 1 Portsmouth
Bolton v Blackburn – Saturday 3pm
It’s not the showpiece event of the weekend fixtures, but this Lancashire Derby could be one of the surprise packages. Confidence will be high in the Bolton camp after the victory at Upton Park, but if you scratch the surface of that scoreline, you’ll find that it was borne out of good fortune rather than good play. A generous mood seems to intermittently strike Robert Green and the Trotters did what was asked of them by profiting from one howler and one should-have done-better piece of goalkeeping. The Hammers were remarkably toothless and couldn’t make the most of some neat midfield play, but with Santa Cruz leading the Blackburn line, it could be a different story at the Reebok.
Bolton 1 – 1 Blackburn
Fulham v Sunderland – Saturday 3pm
Holding Arsenal to a draw seems like a good result, but Roy Keane had every right to be furious with dropping two points last time out. It’s one thing conceding a goal to a moment of Arsenal brilliance, quite another failing to stop one the shortest players on the pitch from scoring from a set-piece in the last minute. The improvement Keane has brought to Sunderland means that the Black Cats can now hold their own against the big guns, but games like this aren’t forgone conclusions. Fulham have flickered with signs that they might avoid another relegation dogfight, but in general have looked unreliable.
Fulham 0 – 0 Sunderland
Hull City v West Ham – Sunday 3pm
Phil Brown must be wondering what this Premier League fuss is all about. Hull have collected points and played with style throughout a run of games that would prompt most newly-promoted teams to adopt a defensive approach and hope to avoid a beating. Geovanni may not be the player to rely upon in dark, wet January, but let the good times roll and even if he does nothing for the rest of the season, his goals have the Hull players believing they belong in the Premier League and that’s half the battle. The Hammers’ away form hasn’t been great and Hull looked well equipped to continue their exceptional run.
Hull 1 – 0 West Ham
