This is a massive weekend at both ends of the table. Do Liverpool have to win on Sunday to stay in the title race? Surely, it’s not lose? City will go 10 points clear of the champions (with a game in hand) if they get three points at Anfield.
Klopp didn’t lose at home in the League for two years and now has lost two in two.
Man United could be joint top of the table Saturday evening.
Brighton’s incredible week suddenly sees the relegation fight not as competitive as we once thought. The bottom three need to pull their finger out before they get cut adrift.
Jose Mourinho probably walks into this weekend under the most pressure, especially in terms of his next line up he selects.
Which got me thinking… if a Spurs fan said to you, they are making progress this season you would laugh because they are 8th. Yet that’s what some Gooners say about Arsenal in 10th?
Most managers look for positives even when they lose, but I think our players can believe Arteta if he dismisses Wolves as a one-off. Ironically before the first red card we were playing our best football of the season. We need to play like that at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.
Aston Villa 1-1 Arsenal
The manner of how we lost in midweek caused controversy. Arteta’s task now is to convince his squad it was a one-off freak result in terms of what went wrong.
What pleased me was that at the final whistle we looked angry, so I don’t expect us to feel sorry for ourselves on Saturday.
While a lot of attention is on Leno being absent, I think our biggest miss might be the partnership of Luiz/Holding broken up.
Gunnarsson may have had a shocker in his last start but let’s not patronize the youngster, he’s still a professional keeper. Some are acting like he can’t catch a ball.
We don’t have a creative talent like Jack Grealish, and he could decide the outcome of this game.
Burnley 0-1 Brighton
What a week for Brighton! Not only did they get 6 points against Spurs and Liverpool, but it was the manner in which they played.
So twice in 5 days Potter beat two of the so-called ‘big 6’. Another example that this idea that teams can’t play every few days is a myth. In theory now 10 points above the bottom three, they should play with even more expression.
Newcastle 2-0 Saints
To be fair to the Saints last time they lost 9-0 they responded with an impressive run. At the moment though, their small squad is struggling with playing every few days so it’s a good time to play them.
Fulham 1-2 West Ham
I said for a while Scott Parker couldn’t keep seeing his team play well and not win. After the week Brighton have had its left the bottom three adrift and puts them under massive pressure to get three points.
If they were finding it hard to win before surely it will be harder now that they are 8 points from safety?
At a time when all fans seem reactionary, David Moyes tipping Lingard for an England recall after one start in 13 months doesn’t help.
Man United 2-1 Everton
United play a day before Liverpool vs Man City so it’s a chance to put themselves back in the title race. Apart from beating Saints who were down to 10 men for the whole game it does feel like every time they have a chance to take that next step, they are too cautious. That makes this a huge game.
Spurs 3-0 West Bromwich
Imagine telling a Spurs fan back in the summer that Harry Kane would be injured and with you needing a goal against Chelsea your manager chooses to leave Gareth Bale on the bench and not even have Deli Ali in the squad. Jose only used two subs on Thursday as well, so it’s quite damning that he’d rather stick with the players who weren’t creating anything, rather than even give Bale the last 10 minutes.
That’s Jose though. At every club he’s been at, as soon as things go wrong there are a couple of players, he makes an example out of. If you’re struggling for confidence you want to play West Bromwich and if this game isn’t made for Bale, no game is.
Sam Allardyce has never been relegated, but the way he happily in public will say how rubbish his defence is, sounds like a man who’s at an age happy to take a pay day and has accepted relegation.
Wolves 0-2 Leicester
I think even the most diehard Wolves fan wouldn’t claim they are back just because they beat a 9 man Arsenal. Up to the first red card they looked not confident and were being outplayed. So I need more evidence till I can say they have refound their mojo.
There’s talk that Vardy is fit again but I wonder if you save him for the FA Cup in midweek?
Liverpool 0-1 Man City
Klopp was back with the excuses of players being mentally tired because they had to play Sunday and Thursday. He failed to mention why that didn’t affect Brighton who also played Sunday and Thursday.
Over the last couple of years it’s been Man City who have gone into this fixture needing to win, pressure Liverpool would play off. Now it’s the other way round.
It’s a rare game where Pep would probably take a 0-0 (a score line for lots of matches when the ‘big six’ face each other) but I can see City snatching a goal late on
Sheffield United 1-1 Chelsea
The curious case of Sheffield United – playing well despite being bottom of the League. They are looking like the Sheffield United from last season but may have left it too late. Even if they get a decent draw here it wouldn’t be enough, they need a win
Leeds 2-1 Palace
Leeds like to attack; Palace like to be organised. Leeds like to press high, Palace like to counter attack. I just think if you let Leeds have too much of the ball, they will hurt you, and I wonder if the Eagles will be ambitious enough to test Leeds defence.
There is an interesting debate about could Bamford sneak into the Euros squad, with the striker admitting he feels there are 4 strikers ahead of him. I assume he means Kane, Lewin and Ings? It is still a great story for a man who for years was deemed Championship level
LAST WEEKS RESULTS
Well I checked and shockingly no one went for a 9-0 lol. To be fair a couple of gooners did predict that Brighton would win at Anfield.
Some strong showings, Once Great and Wyoming got 13 points. Kev82 got 12 points. Terrah and Shakir got 10 points each.
(If Arsha reads this – not sure if you got my message last week. On top of your 11 points, I accidently gave you another 7 which belonged to another player, so if you’re wondering why your total has gone down it’s because I gave you too many points).
Top 24 qualify for Euros
Dan Kit 130
Sue 120
ME 117
Shakir 110
Highbury Hero 107
Khadii 103
lykmatt 102
Declan 102
Terrah 101
Dunchirado 100
Easyguys 96
Samson 95
Davars 93
Buchi 92
Edu 89
SJ 89
Dhoni 87
EM 85
Joe Gunner 85
Sagie 84
Arsha 84
Sid 82
Olushorlar 82
Dotash 78
Admin 73
Kenya 001 72
FFO 70
Okobino 69
MTG 68
Herbz 68
Sue P 66
Phenom 61
Rusty 60
Ernie Blaze 59
Wyoming 59
BT/GNR/BDK 57
I 53
Baron 51
Gibson Power 45
Tom 45
Kev 82 41
Famochi 37
006 36
Once Great 36
Ash 32
Anie 25
Babasola 25
Jimmy Bauer 25
Bob 22
Mambo 21
Prince 21
S Emirates 20
Ackshay 20
Quincy Okereke 19
Gunner 4 life 19
Frank Brady 17
Illiterate 16
Gunner Rey 15
Instrooments 14
Jay 13
Musa 12
Third Man jw 12
Toney 11
Nuisance 10
Elvis 10
Vinod 9
ICW – 9
Classy Gunner 8
Invader Zim 8
Kelvin 23- 7
Rain 7
Gerylo – 7
Ba Thea 7
Gold 7
Splendid 7
Dendride – 7
Omwabu Robinson 4
Collins otanchi masea 6
Khgondroidx- 6
Sean Williams 6
Mark 6
Eastside Gooner 5
Durand 5
Deluded One 5
Labass 5
Innit 5
EDI 4
Kuhepson 4
Uzi Ozil 4
Nifty 4
One and Only Making Love OnCampus 4
Seroti 4
Cletus
Chairman Gallani 1
Anti- kev 1
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Dan