The 2022/23 Premier League season is nearing its commencement, and the focus has already shifted to making predictions for the 2022/23 Premier League season.
With that said, it’s time to gaze at the entire Premier League table and predict where every team will finish in the upcoming season.
Continue reading “My Early Premier League Predictions 22/23”GK: Jose Sa (11CS + 1A)
Jose Sa has been one of the signings of the season and has had an impressive season at Wolves. Whilst I could have gone for Liverpool’s Alisson or City’s Ederson, Sa has been a key player in Wolves’ fight for European football qualification and I believe he is deserving of being in the FIFA 22 Premier League Team of the Season.
Continue reading “PL End of Season Special: My Premier League 21/22 TOTS”
Liverpool’s dreamlike season came to a sour conclusion as the Reds narrowly lost both the English Premier League and a UEFA Champions League final to Man City and Real Madrid, thus serving a final blow to the stomach for Liverpool’s quadruple aspirations.
Continue reading “PL MONTHLY ROUNDUP: So Close, Yet So Far In The End”
April has been a do or die month for most football teams in the Premier League with one’s eyeing for the impossible and others pushing for Champions League football and safety from being relegated.
Everton, who have been struggling to find their feet under Frank Lampard found themselves in a relegation battle for the first time since the inauguration of the Premier League.
Being one of the six teams to have never been relegated in the Premier League, this relegation battle came as a daunting task for the Toffees who basically have a status to uphold and some pride to maintain as their bitter neighbors are on the verge of footballing immortality.
Following a pulsating 2-2 draw against their closest challengers Liverpool, Manchester City retained pole position as the Premier League title race was left on a knife-edge.
During their second tie of the season, Manchester City and Liverpool traded blows throughout an enthralling clash between two Premier League heavyweights. Neither one of them though could land the knockout punch that would have seen either one of them on course to clinch the title.
Elsewhere, Arsenal who were on the verge of Champions League football for the first time since the 2015/16 season have slightly fell down the pecking order with their North London rivals closing the gap between them and potentially stealing the fourth spot from them.
Antonio Conte, who arrived at Tottenham in November, has made it his sole mission to accomplish Champions League football with Spurs, and with the current turn of fortunes, Spurs stand a better chance of achieving that than Arsenal.
Following a dramatic 3-2 loss to Tottenham in February, Guardiola’s Manchester City were to find themselves stumbling yet again as they were held to a 0-0 draw at the Selhurst Park.
With the draw coming just after City’s reassuring 4-1 win against intracity rivals Manchester United, fans were left stunned as Liverpool were within City’s definite reach for the first time since December.
Failing to beat Viera’s men once more this season, this draw meant that Liverpool would be a point adrift of Man City should they win all their matches. Going up against mid table clubs mostly, Liverpool would make certain that they are hot on City’s heels, setting the two up for a title-deciding match in April.
Subsequent to their league cup win towards the end of February, Liverpool’s 100% record in the league meant that not only do they stand a chance of snatching the league title from City’s reach, but they could do what no English club has ever done. Win a quadruple.
Following their 1-0 loss to Inter Milan at home, Liverpool would then go through on aggregate and on to face Portuguese outfit Benfica in the quarterfinals.
As unrealistic as it sounds, are Liverpool’s quadruple aspirations still possible, or are they dreaming on?
In what could be considered a pretty chaotic month worldwide due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, European citizens have been living on high alert following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s mission to invade neighbouring country Ukraine.
As you have thought, the conflict has already had an impact on sports, with UEFA, the governing body of European football, shifting this season’s Champions League final away from Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Elsewhere, future World Cup qualification matches against Russia have fell into disarray as the broad global community attempts to unite against Putin’s Russia.
Chelsea, whom are owned by Russian tycoon Roman Abramovic, face restrictions as their owner is sanctioned. The defending European champions are among the assets of Roman Abramovic frozen by the British government after a Labour MP in the UK told the parliament that the Chelsea owner had close ties with Putin. Chelsea has since been entrusted to trustees by Abramovic.
On a lighter note, eight months after collapsing from a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening match of Euro 2020, Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen returned to action following a move to Premier League newbies Brentford FC. Featuring as a substitute in his debut match for ‘The Bees’, Eriksen came on in the 52nd minute as a sub for Danish compatriot Matthias Jensen. While Brentford lost that game by 3 goals to nil, seeing Eriksen feature for the first time since that horror of a show was a well-precedented moment.
In other news, Marcelo Bielsa was sacked by Leeds United following the club’s dismal run of form, and Antonio Conte’s inconsistent Tottenham Hotspur helped close the gap between title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool. While it seemed for a moment as though City might be running away with the league, Liverpool have caught up and are hot on their heels. With three months of Premier League football left, could Liverpool’s quadruple aspirations be possible, or will City snap out of it and win the Premier League again?
In what could have been an uneventful month due to the early Covid19 scare, we saw some teams bolster their squads while some continued to go down the pecking order as the game weeks went by.
Aston Villa, who were rather lacking in consistency under Steven Gerrard were soon to be the talk of the town in January following their signing of former Liverpool player Phillipe Coutinho, and the French fullback, Lucas Digne.
In what was to be a warm reunion between the former Liverpool man and the now Villa manager, Coutinho was nothing short of a spark to the Villa team.
After inspiring a dramatic comeback against Manchester United on his Villa debut, the Brazilian earned himself a place in the starting lineup against Everton, and while he didn’t score, he played a pivotal role in their 1-0 win.
Chelsea, who unlike Aston Villa were in the other side of the tracks continued to plumett down the pecking order as they managed to get 5 points out of a possible 12.
While that might seem commendable considering the teams they were going up against, the World champions were faced with disruptions and injury troubles that they, as a big team, should’ve been able to overcome.
With January looming towards an end, Chelsea legend Frank Lampard inherited an Everton side which to put in words had a pretty woeful month.
Going up against Brighton, Norwich, and Aston Villa, Everton lost all their games and failed to score in the last one. With most of their senior players back, this came as a surprise because they were basically dealt easy fixtures.
Recently founded Bromance amongst title rivals Manchester City & Liverpool was reignited as fellow title contenders Chelsea fell short in a series of games.
Chelsea, whom had been occupying the top spot for the longest of times, was seen drop to third as the currently in-form West Ham United beat them by three goals to two.
With Man City and Liverpool playing within the same day, celebrations from the latter were in order as they both had the chance to go top. Kicking off their match at 17:00UK time, Liverpool needed a last-gasp goal from none other than Divock Origi to momentarily go top.
Following their scrappy 1-0 win against Wolves, Liverpool then shifted their focus to Man City’s game up against Watford. In order to remain atop, Liverpool needed Man City to either lose or draw against the Hornets. With their eyes locked on the prize, Man City gave Watford a 3-1 thumping, thus crushing Liverpool’s hopes of remaining top.
As Matchday 16 neared, the title race between the three clubs was still on, and it was to remain like that as the three clubs won their respective matches in a rather peculiar way, if one was to say. During Matchday 16, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, and Manchester United, all won their games by a 1-goal margin. (Arsenal were the only team from the big six to win by a score higher than one.)
All playing against mid-table/bottom-table clubs, one had to wonder where the aforementioned teams left their goalscoring boots because nothing seemed to work for them, and they all had to rely on penalties to win their games.
The events that were to follow though were classic Manchester City. Following their scrappy win against Wolves, The Citizens relinquished their goalscoring thirst with a 7-0 thumping of Leeds United. Liverpool too proved that their 1-0 win against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa wasn’t a ruse as they comfortably won 3-1 against relegation-threatened Newcastle United.
Chelsea on the other hand continued to falter down as they drew against injury-ravaged Everton. The West Londoners drew first blood in the 70th minute as they seemed the favourites to win the game either way. Their sloppy defence was to disappoint them yet again though as they failed to defend 19-year-old Jarrad Braithwaite’s header from a freekick.
During matchday 18, City extended their lead atop with a 4-0 win against Newcastle. Chelsea and Liverpool were both to be held as they both respectively drew against their opponents. With Liverpool’s next game due to be postponed because of the Covid-19 outbreak in the EPL, City did not hold back in extending the gap. In a match that can arguably be called a Premier League classic, Manchester City thumped Leicester City 6-3 on boxing day.
With December coming to an end and Liverpool dropping points yet again against Leicester, City are considered to be on course of running away with the title, but could either one of Liverpool and Chelsea catch up to them and snatch it from their arms?
Despite falling to a 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend, West Ham United remain to be the one team that has undoubtedly stolen the limelight so far this season.
Subsequent to their sixth league finish last season, the Hammers have since improved, knocking out both Manchester United and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.
David Moyes, whom is in charge for his second spell at the London Stadium, has managed to transform a struggling West Ham United side into one of the finest teams in England.
Currently topping their Europa League group with two games to spare, one would’ve guessed that the Hammers would struggle coping with playing European football, considering how rigid Moyes’ side was last season.
During the 2020/21 season, there wasn’t much change done to the starting XI, with seven players starting at least 30 Premier League games. The likes of Antonio, Dawson, and the then loanee Jesse Lingard, were played whenever they were available, leaving them prone to injuries.
Nonetheless, West Ham are a force to be reckoned with now, one capable of beating the likes of Liverpool if given a chance.
Out of all the monumental work David Moyes has done, the gaffer deserves full credit for developing a winning mindset at this West Ham club.
Sports Roundup With Theodore 