Premier league, betting
Everyone in Europe is aware of the menace and venom coming from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the manner in which they took care of Napoli in midweek spoke volume of their depth and grit, Arsenal is coming to town on Sunday, is anyone afraid?
Talking Arsenal, they sure know how to switch from hundred to zero in split seconds, they know how to win when odds are high against them, they know just how to bottle things and lose to the lowest of teams and negotiate marginal errors on the biggest of stages, coming next is Manchester City, league leaders by five odd points, epic slayers of Chelsea and Liverpool that bested Arsenal, conquerors of everything in Europe despite having Napoli, widely regarded as the best ball playing team in the whole of Europe, with Gundogan just coming back, several first team regulars out and a record breaking Kun Aguero upfront... should someone be afraid?
How will Arsenal line up? Obviously not with the same toothless line up that barely managed a goalless affair in Europa on Thursday, the same Lacazzette, Ozil and Sanchez upfront, can they get past Otamendi and Stones at the back for City? Can the ageing Metersacker, the ever reliable but Koscielny and Monreal stop the rampaging Gabriel Jesus, Kun Aguero, Kevin De Bryune and Raheem Sterling upfront? Should someone be afraid?
Jose Mourinho was in bullish mood at his last press conference, asking for respect and recognition, on paper, he deserves it, Manchester United has only dropped points three times this season in all competitions, only beaten by Huddersfield on a bad day and enduring stalemates at the Britannia and Anfield, albeit, the manner of the draw at Liverpool called for the criticisms he’s questioning. Chelsea are low on everything good, the embarrassing loss in the hands of Roma in midweek epitomized how bad it has gotten for Antonio Conte and the champions, did United come too soon for the Blues? Romelu Lukaku has come under the spotlights of late having had his early lethal form nosedived into droughts, but he has assisted in his last two league appearances, Alvaro Morata only recently returned from injury but he has also been heavily criticised for being too much of a light weight upfront especially when Mitchy Batsuayi comes off the bench to deliver the goals, they face off this time, Lukaku against his former employers, who wanted him badly in the summer but missed out, and Morata up against a team that failed to land him in the summer as well, and ultimately, Jose Mourinho up against the team he led to three glorious titles in the past... cracker on Sunday.
Hugo Lloris has been ruled out for up to two weeks with an injury and Spurs will have to rely on Gazzaniga or Vorm, not to worry, Harry Kane is back, back with a banger and expected to lead the line as they face one of the poorest sides in Europe, Crystal Palace, with the final international break of the year upon us, it’s down to third placed Tottenham to capitalize on the surrounding teams who square up on same day as they would practically drop points, after the break they face Arsenal, who by all ratings must have been wounded by the Citizens. Crystal Palace are in the worst of forms, Wlfried Zaha is doing his bit to lift the gloom but the late point earned at home to Westham doesn’t suffice as they still lie terribly down low, they can take solace in Everton who equally have it all to do, but a point against Tottenham will go a long way in easing the pains at Selhurst.
Talking Everton, it got worse for their fans on Thursday as they were bundled out of Europa league with yet another underwhelming loss at Lyon, one that came at extra cost with the loss of Coco Martina to a nasty neck injury, Unsworth is the stand in manager, he’s obviously going to be a temporal fix as Watford, fresh from their shock home loss last weekend will look to exploit the weaknesses of the expensively assembled Toffees. Late on Saturday, it’s Liverpool away to troubled Westham, Slaven Bilic was denied a huge reprieve by a late and super late Wilfried Zaha equalizer at Selhurst, Liverpool will look to heap more misery on the hammers, but Klopp and co are fragile too, football can happen there.
Earlier on Saturday, with final laps of world cup qualifiers everywhere from Europe to Asia, America and Africa, players are going to be cautious, they are needed to help their teams to Russia, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Denmark and Italy to say the least have men in the Premier League who would line up this weekend with one eye in Kremlin.
Stoke hosts Leicester first, the Foxes are healing after their horrific start which led to the sack of Craig Shakespeare, Stoke would look to consolidate on the win at Watford and take the break on a high, , Westbrom are away to high flying Huddersfield, David Wagner’s men went down gallantly to Liverpool, managed by his best friend last weekend and would look to bounce back.
Newcastle United were toothless against Burnley on Monday, the loss must be put aside as they host Bournemouth who are fleet footed but flat footed against Chelsea who shrugged them aside with experience, Southampton’s goal shyness meets dodgy Burnley, one of the best in the league at defending, the way Sean Dyche and his men burnt down the Toons on Monday explains their strength this season, with the Clarets' manager heavily linked to the vacant seat at Everton, Burnley fans would fight tooth and nail to keep their heroic manager.
Swansea must do better than they did at Arsenal last weekend with Brighton in town, Tammy Abraham has been rewarded with a call up to the 3 Lions team for the upcoming friendly game, one that should buoy him to perform better, in all of these, we have our necks to stick into these hot affairs... Let’s do it.
FIXTURES VERDICT
Stoke vs Leicester Leicester to win or draw
Huddersfield vs Westbrom Huddersfield to win or draw
Newcastle vs Bournemouth Newcastle to win or draw
Southampton vs Burnley Full time draw
Swansea vs Brighton Swansea to win
West Ham vs Liverpool Both teams to score
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace Both teams to score
Manchester City vs Arsenal City to win both halves
Chelsea vs Manchester United United to win or draw
Everton vs Watford Watford to win
Strictly the writer’s opinion
Written by Komptrolla
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