Premiership review 29th December 2013

Some more premiership football was played yesterday and Arsenal beat Newcastle by one goal to nil. 

This was a significant victory as Newcastle have been a top five side this season. So for Arsenal to beat them at St James's Park is pretty good. 

This win also meant that Arsenal are now top of the league before the New Years Day fixtures. 

Elsewhere Chelsea beat Liverpool by two goals to one. This was Liverpool second loss in four days. 

 However all Liverpool need to do is to get two or three wins and they back in contention.

Premiership Boxing Day matches

Some big matches took place on Boxing Day and Arsenal beat West Ham by three goals to one. 

This was a big match for Arsenal because if they had lost this match. It would have affected the team morale. 

Theo Walcott had an outstanding match and I really hope he is able to carry this kind of form into 2014. 

Elsewhere Man City beat the leaders Liverpool by two goals to one. Man City player, Fernandinho looks like he has a real talent. 

But whilst they will be scoring lots of goals they will also be conceding a lot of goals as there defence is a bit shaky.

Liverpool played will and Luis Suarez played very well to the point that it made Liverpool look like a one man team. 

Man United and Chelsea also won their games. Tottenham who are now managed by Tim Sherwood drew their match.

 But I suspect it will take time for Tim Sherwood to develop his own managerial  style. But sadly these days premiership managers don't get that time.

 A few bad results and managers are under pressure. Hopefully Tottenham board and  fans will be a little patient. 

So Arsenal are back to being at the top of the league until these weekend fixtures are complete. 

Arsenal v Chelsea review 23rd December

Arsenal's game with Chelsea ended in a nil nil scoreline. Arsenal where pretty poor in this match, hence why they only had one shot on target. 

For some strange reason Arsene Wenger decided against using subs for this match. It was obvious that some of the players where tired and needed to be subbed. 

Chelsea also employed a rather unusual strategy for them. Chelsea where defensive and only hit Arsenal on the  counter attack. 

Both Chelsea and Arsenal's strikers had poor night neither Oliver Giroud or Fernando Torres looked like scoring.

The result meant that Liverpool are top of the league on goal difference from a Arsenal for Christmas. 

Premiership games review 21st and 22nd December 2013

The Christmas premiership games will be taking place in just a few days. But before that some games where played over the weekend. 

Manchester United beat West Ham United by three goals to one. However this win did not improve their league position and they remain in eighth. 

Tottenham beat Southampton by three goals to two. By all accounts it was a topsy turvy match with little between the two teams. The match winner was the ex Arsenal man Emmanuel Adebayor. 

Liverpool had great weekend beat Cardiff City by three goals to one. The in-form Luis Suarez scored two goals and this means Liverpool are now top of league. 

Liverpool have been a sensation this season. Whilst the top teams are distracted with Europe, Liverpool can just concentrate all their energies on winning the premiership. 

So Liverpool have it all to play for and with Suarez scoring goals practically every match they will be tough to beat now they are top of the league. 

Premiership review 15th December

In the premiership on Sunday, Liverpool beat Tottenham by five goals to nil. This was a very embarrassing result for Tottenham, especially as Tottenham was the home team. 

Their manager Andreas Villas Boas (AVB) was sacked yesterday. Which I think was a little harsh, as Tottenham where top eight and had qualified for the knock out stages of the UEFA Cup.

However Tottenham fans where getting impatient as AVB had spent over a hundred million pounds on new players and yet the fans had seen little improvement.

However it remains to be seen now whether the team will now improve now that AVB has been sacked. 

Elsewhere Manchester United beat Aston  Villa by three goals to nil. This was a match that Man United could not  afford to loose. This win moved Man United one place up the league to eighth. 

This means Arsenal are still top of the league by two points and have another very big match against Chelsea next Monday. 

Premiership review - 14th December

Yesterday in the premiership Manchester City beat Arsenal by six goals to three. As an Arsenal fan I was disppointed that we lost. 

However Man City where quicker to the balls than we where and Ya Ya Toure totally bossed the midefield.

It was good to see Theo Walcott back in the squad and scoring goals with his pace. 

Sadly nobody else in the Arsenal team has got that kind of pace and against a team like Man City you need to be able to run at them without fear. 

So it was a bad result for Arsenal who face Chelsea next weekend. This will be a very tough match and a match that Arsenal need to win to stay top of the league. 

Chelsea beat struggling Crystal Palace by two goals to one and this win has puts  them second behind Arsenal. 

So next weeks  game between Chelsea and Arsenal will decide who will be top of the league for Christmas. 

Champions League group matches review

This week saw the last of the Champions league group matches played. Last night Man United beat Shakhtar Donetsk by one goal to nil. 

So Man United finished top of the group and this has increased there chances of doing very well in this competition.  

Man City beat Bayern Munich by a three goals to two and they will finish second in there group. 

Man City could face a top team in the last sixteen. It could be a tough route to the final. 

In last nights Champions league games, Chelsea beat Steaua Bucharest by one a goal to nil and they finish top of their group which helps to make their path to the final a little easier. 

Napoli beat Arsenal by two goals to nil and Arsenal just about qualified in second place. 

Arsenal did not play well and for some strange reason, Arsene Wenger left Jack Wilshire and Theo Walcott on the bench. 

Which is why we where short of pace up front and on the the wings. It was rather strange team selection but most importantly we are through to the next stage.

However Arsenal could now face teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich. But I guess we want to win the trophy we should be prepared to play anybody....

Premiership weekend of 7/8th December 2013

Over the weekend Man United lost by one goal to nil to Newcastle. It was a shock result because Newcastle had not beaten Man United at Old Trafford for over thirty years. 

David Moyes is now under serious pressure and if Man United lose any more  matches, it will be difficult for him to hold on to his job.

In another shock result Stoke a City beat Chelsea by three goals to two. It has been over thirty years since Stoke beat  Chelsea. 

However Chelsea are still third in the premiership so at the moment Jose Mourinho is not feeling the pressure. 

Man City drew one all with Southampton in match that most people expected them to win.

 However they are still top four and they play Arsenal next and this match will be a big match for both clubs. 

Arsenal drew one all with Everton at home and it was probably a fair reflection of the match. 

I suspect that Arsene Wenger had one eye the final Champions League match so he did not play all our best eleven at once. 

Arsenal played reasonably well but Everton where really up for the challenge and did not leave empty handed.

Arsenal are still top league and are five points ahead of second place Liverpool. Who beat West Ham by four goals to one. 

So Arsenal have a little cushion but is there is still all to play for. 

World Cup - selected group review

The draw for Brazil 2014 took place yesterday and there where a few surprises. 

England are in a group with Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica. It is going to be a tough World Cup for England as the draw has not been kind to them. 

It will be a a real uphill task to qualify for the next round. I think they will really struggle to get a win against any of these teams.

Ghana are also in a very very tough group with Germany, Portugal, USA. It is really hard to imagine Ghana topping this group. 

They better pray that they have all their players are fully fit to have any realistic chance of topping or winning this group.

Spain also in a tough group with Holland, Chile and Australia. It won't be easy but I can imagine Spain will make it to the knock out stages. 

After struggling to qualify for the Workf Cup France have somehow managed to be drawn into a reasonable group with Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. I can imagine that they will make it to the knockout stages. 

Nigeria have drawn into a farely reasonable group with Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iran. I can see Nigeria qualifying for the knock stages.

 

Premiership preview- 4th December 2013

In the Premiership tonight Arsenal play Hull City at home. Hull just beat Liverpool so Arsenal will need to be on top of their game to beat Hull.

The players to watch for this game will be Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey.

 If we can get the best out of either of these players then it will be good night for Arsenal. I think Arsenal will win by two goals to one. 

Manchester United are playing Everton at home and this could be quite a tough match. 

Everton are currently above Man United and would want it to stay that way. Plus David Moyes used to manage Everton so Everton will want to prove they are better without him.

However it is difficult to beat Man United at home so I think Man United will win by two goals to one.

Liverpool are at home to Norwich City and after losing to Hull at the weekend they will want to get there title chase back on track. Therefore I think Liverpool will win by two goals to nil.

Spurs are away to manager less Fulham and as Spurs are currently ninth in the league they will want to this win.

To be fair this match could go either way but I think Spurs will win by three goals to one.

Lastly Manchester City are away to West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City have been playing well so would expect to win this match by three goals to nil.

What are your predictions?

Premiership review 1st December 2013

In yesterday's premiership matches Hull beat Liverpool by three goals to one. It was the first time that Hull had beaten Liverpool.

I was surprised by the result,  I thought that Liverpool where serious contenders for the title this year. So to lose like that makes me think that they are not ready to win the title. 

Chelsea beat Southampton by three goals to one and that has helped them consolidate their second place. Any slip ups from Arsenal and Chelsea will be ready to pounce. 

Manchester City beat Swansea City by three goals to nil and that was a good win against a very good Swansea City team. 

Tottenham and Man United drew two all and to be fair both teams need a win. So I would have thought they would view this draw as a loss. 

Tottenham's manager Andres Villas Boas has been really feeling heat. He his now demanding he get more respect. But I understand how the fans feel.

 

He has spent over a hundred million pounds, so ninth in the league must feel like a real kick in the teeth for some fans. 

Sometimes managers don't really get the pain that fans go through and to see your team languishing in ninth place must be a little painful. 

So Arsenal are still top of the league by four points but there is still plenty of football to play. 

Arsenal v Cardiff City review

In yesterday Premiership game, Arsenal beat Cardiff City by three goals to nil. 

I  thought Aaron Ramsey would be one of the goal scorer's as he has been very consistent this season. 

It was great to see Aaron score two goals  against his old team and with Mathieu Flamini scoring the third goal. 

Arsenal defence have significantly improved this season both Pers Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny  have been excellent and solid at the back and this has given the rest of the team confidence. 

Arsenal where very solid in a very competitive match and this was kind of match that we would have been struggling to win last season. 

This win has put Arsenal seven points ahead although the other top teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Man United will play today.