The Champions League group stages are complete and we are now on to the Round of 16 head to head clashes. Let’s take a look at the match ups. These are set up as Home and Away matches over the next month. First round games beginning Feb. 12/13 and Feb. 19/20. The 2nd round of games are scheduled for March 5/6 and March 12/13.
Roma v Porto
Manchester United v PSG
Tottenham v Dortmund
Ajax v Real Madrid
Lyon v Barcelona
Liverpool v Bayern Munich
Athletico Madrid v Juventus
Schalke 04 v Manchester City
If you are counting by country: England (4), Spain (3), Germany (3), Italy (2), France (2), Portugal, Netherlands.
Europa League
Europa League is on to its Round of 32. The top 16 from qualification and the 16 who did not qualify for Champions League. too many teams to mention. The Round of 32 is in February and then we can get down to 16 and we can talk about the teams. Arsenal and Chelsea are both still alive from the Premier League as well as Napoli and Inter Milan from Italy. Sevilla, Villareal and Valencia are alive from Spain. Likely the winner comes out of this group of teams.
Match Week 117/18 is officially in the books. The games are coming fast and furious over the Christmas break. Midweek games combined with Weekend games means we get double the fun with the Premier League. The big story of the past few weeks is Manchester City…and not the good kind of news. Manchester City is beatable, they are human, they have flaws, they will not dominate the league in 2018/19 like they did last year. They may still win, but it will be a race to the finish this year. The other big story is Liverpool. they remain unbeaten in the Premier League after 18 matches and have now taken a 4 point lead in the table. Impressive. It might just be their season, things are falling their way, late goals, amazing finishes, but a lot of soccer left as we are just at the halfway point in the league. the other big news is Boxing Day is coming. Get ready on Wednesday to catch some soccer. 10 games fill the schedule for this Christmas Soccer tradition in England.
Match Week 17 Recap
The feature match this week was the clash in Manchester United and Liverpool. One of the must see games of the year when these two traditional powerhouse clubs get together. It was the tale of two teams going in opposite directions. Liverpool surging to the top and Manchester floundering a bit in the mid table. The Jose Mourinjo watch was still in full effect during the week and as fate would have it, this marked his last game as Manchester United coach. The separation in on field performance between these two teams was striking. So much so that a few days after the game, Man U fired their enigmatic coach. Poor play, player revolts, fan frustration all boiled over in the loss. Jose Mourinjo’s third year curse strikes again and he is out as coach of the most famous club in England.
Let’s check out some highlights.
Klopp’s decision to insert Shaqiri was quite a move. He scores twice over 7 minutes. The Liverpool magic continues. Both goals off deflections, but a well earned victory. Night and day in terms of the quality of play on the field.
In other games the winners were: Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton, Tottenham, Watford, West Ham, Southampton with a huge win over Arsenal, and Chelsea.
Match Week 18 Recap
The weekend games produced some interesting results. There were no marquee match ups but there were some interesting scorelines. The big news was Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace. After taking a loss in Week 16 against Chelsea, folks figured Manchester City would get right back on a long winning streak. Not so fast says CP. In a rather shocking result, Crystal Palace, hovering around 14/15th in the table, shocked man City 3-2 and produced one of the biggest wins in their recent history as well as one of the top goals of the year….a stunning strike from Townsend. You will want to watch that few times…an upper 90 volley from 30 yards. Leicester City somehow got a win over Chelsea with only 24% possession. Chelsea really gave that one away. A cross bar and a post denying Chelsea after controlling the game. Manchester United hit for 5 goals in their first game without Mourinjo. The players seemed free and loose and played with passion missing under Mourinjo. Not to be outdone. Tottenham hit for 6 goals in a stunning offensive display against Top 10 Everton. Wow! When Tottenham is focused, they are really dangerous.
Let’s check out the highlights.
Other winners on the weekend include:
Liverpool 2-0 over Wolves. Liverpool now lead the premier League by 4 points and still undefeated in league play. Arsenal 3-1 over Burnley. Southampton 3-1 over Huddersfield. Bournemouth 2-1 over Brighton and Watford takes down West ham 2-0.
Race for the Title & Champions League Top 4
Win-Loss-Tie Liverpool
1-Liverpool 15-0-3 48 Points
2-Manchester City 14-2-2 44 Points
3-Tottenham 14-4-0 42 Points
4-Chelsea 11-3-4 37 Points
5-Aresnal 11-3-4 37 Points
6-Manchester City 8-5-5 29 Points
Watford, Bournemouth, Leicester City and Wolverhampton round out the Top 10. Everton dropped out of the Top 10 with back to back losses.
Relegation Zone
There are now 5 teams within 3 points of the 18th position and fighting to stay up. Southampton (15) and Cardiff City (14) currently safe but sitting just outside the relegation zone. The new bottom three:
18. Burnley 3-12-3 12 Points
19. Huddersfield 2-12-4 10 Points
20. Fulham 2-12-4 10 Points
Match Week 19 Preview
Game of the Week. It’s Boxing Day!
No marquee match ups, but what the heck, we get 10 games all in one day. Just enjoy some great soccer. Can Manchester City shake their mini slump against a surging Leicester City team. Cam Liverpool stay undefeated in league play.
Match Week 15/16 is officially in the books. Not quite the full Match Weeks these days as the Premier League is now getting busy with mid week games for awhile. As we get closer to Christmas it will be pretty intense, 2 games per week, plus Champions League and Europa League and the the craziness of the 40 games in 14 days that is the Holiday break. If you enjoy top flight soccer, get your DVR ready from December 22 – January 4th. And then there is Boxing Day…the day after Christmas for you Yankees. We love our American football tradition on Thanksgiving but the Brits love their “football” on Boxing Day. 10 games from early to late. We get treated to three games here in the states. If you love the game the next month is really a great time to be a fan.
Match Week 15 Recap
The feature match this week was the clash in Manchester between Arsenal and Manchester United…a clash of #4 and #7 in the table. It was really a battle of which team would win and be a contender and which would maybe fall away and be a pretender to a Top 4 claim. A back and forth affair with both teams responding well to adversity. As fate would have it, not sure we got any answers from this one.
Let’s check out some highlights.
In other games the winners were:
Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton, Manchester City, Wolverhampton with a shock win over Chelsea, and Liverpool.
Match Week 16 Recap
The weekend games produced some interesting results. The game of the weekend was #1 Manchester City vs. #4 Chelsea. Chelsea coming off a very disappointing loss mid week to Wolverhampton. After leading 1-0 and dominating the game, they just lost their control of the game and had a mental let down alowing two late Wolves goals to lose 2-1. A bad loss for a Top 4 team. Manchester City rolled on with another dominating performance 2-1 over Watford. The game was critical for Chelsea. Another loss and that would be two in a row and likely dropping out of the Top 4 and at risk to extending their mini slump. Manchester City had not lost in the Premier League in 22 games. Unstoppable was the claim. Chelsea coach Sarri had never beaten Pep Guardiola and everyone seemed resigned that Manchester City would roll again. As a Chelsea fan, I was worried for sure.
Let’s check out the highlights.
For a Chelsea fan the game was awesome. We absorbed the pressure from Man City and kept their big guns pretty quiet. Only 4 shots on goal the first half and nothing too dangerous. We started to come into the game mid way through the half and had some nice possession till half. The scoring sequence was classic counter attack. Playing out of the back and under pressure, David Luiz hits an incredible long cross field pass to Pedro. 50+ yards right onto his foot. Pedro attacks and finds Willian with another cross field pass. From there the ball finds its way to Hazard who drops a great pass across the box and …boom. Kante with a screamer for 1-0 at the break. Chelsea has a strong start to the second half and almost gets a second early in the period but then later in the half a corner kick breaks it open for a comfortable 2-0 win. Appropriate it is Luiz and Hazard as they both played well all game.
Other winners on the weekend include:
Liverpool 4-0 over Bournemouth. Liverpool now lead the premier League!! Burnley 1-0 over Brighton. Manchester United with their most complete game of the year and a 4-1 win over last place Fulham. Arsenal 1-0 over Huddersfield, Cardiff City 1-0 over Southampton, West Ham 3-2 over Crystal Palace. Tottenham keeps rolling with a 2-0 win over Leicester City and Wolverhampton makes it two in a row with a 2-1 win over 10 man Newcastle.
Race for the Title & Champions League Top 4
Win-Loss-Tie Liverpool
1-Liverpool 13-0-3 42 Points
2-Manchester City 13-1-2 41 Points
3-Tottenham 12-4-0 36 Points
4-Chelsea 10-2-4 34 Points
5-Aresnal 10-2-4 34 Points
6-Manchester City 7-4-5 26 Points
Everton, Bournemouth, Leicester City and Wolverhampton round out the Top 10. Everton could replace Man United if they win tomorrow. The first time in a month that Manchester City has not led the race. There was a sense they may run away with it again this year, but after the loss to Chelsea, there is a new feeling, the race is on. Liverpool is for real. Might be a two horse race, but at least that is a race!!
Relegation Zone
There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the 18th position and fighting to stay up. Newcastle United (13), Crystal Palace (12), and Burnley (12) currently safe but sitting just outside the relegation zone. The new bottom three:
18. Huddersfield 2-10-4 10 Points
19. Southampton 1-9-6 9 Points
20. Fulham 2-11-3 9 Points
Match Week 17 Preview
Game of the Week.
#6 Manchester United vs. #1 Liverpool. This a a huge game for both teams. Liverpool now leading the Premier League. Manchester United with their best performance of the year this week. A clash of two of the biggest names in soccer. An emotional fan base on both sides. Can Manchester U revive their season and threaten a Top 4. Can Mourinjo give a master class coaching performance. Can Klopp smash Jose and tell the world, we are in this to win this! It should be very interesting.
Match Week 14 is officially in the books. It was an exciting weekend of games with two big London Derbies and the Merseyside Derby as well. Traditional rivalry games with lots of emotion. And one of the craziest and most unbelievable finishes I have ever seen….no really….I am not kidding. If you did not see the end of the Liverpool vs. Everton game, check it out below. It was a stunner.
Match Week 14 Recap
The feature match this week was the clash in London between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur…a clash of #3 and #5 in the table. It was an interesting match up. Tottenham coming off a huge win last week against Chelsea. A very talented team who has been on the verge of being a championship club but just can’t quite get there. Huge wins followed by confusing losses. Arsenal in their first year with new coach Unai Emery, trying to rebuild themselves into a Top 4 club. Lots of history and great tradition, but has not been a contender for the Premier League title since 2004/2005.
Let’s check out some highlights.
Arsenal is starting to believe, watch out for them the rest of the way. A real statement win for Arsenal.
The other amazing game this weekend was Liverpool vs. Everton. Liverpool in 2nd in the table and needing to stay close to put some kind of pressure on Manchester City, try to not let them run away with the title again. Everton having one of their better starts to a premier league season and winners of 5 of their last 6. Could Everton make a big statement and take down Liverpool. Could Liverpool continue to keep pace with Man City.
Make sure to watch till the end, it will be worth it.
I mentioned it at the top, but I don’t think I have ever seen anything like that goal. Not sure what the Everton GK was thinking. Seemed a pretty easy decision to just pop it back out of play. Maybe he was worried about a corner kick?? Or better yet, why touch it at all, it was over the post, would have either hit the netting or the back side of the cross-bar and ricochet out of play. But to try and catch it? Pickford actually keeps the ball in play and with his touch causes the ball to pop straight up and hit the cross-bar a second time….never seen that. And to top off the craziness, there is Origi, right in front of net to header/shoulder it into the net with just seconds remaining before the whistle. A stunner for Liverpool and a crushing blow to Everton. A cruel ending and not deserved. A draw was a fair result. When you add the Everton header earlier in the game that was somehow kicked off the line as it was going across, wow! Tough, tough loss for Everton.
In other games the winners were:
West Ham 3-0 over Newcastle United.
Brighton 2-1 win over Huddersfield..
Chelsea with a nice solid win over Fulham, 2-0.
Cardiff City with a big win over Wolverhampton 2-1..
Manchester City with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
Leicester City with a 2-0 win over Watford.
Crystal Palace wins 2-0 over Burnley.
Only 1 draw this week, but it was significant. 18th place Southampton went up 2-0 and held on for a 2-2 draw against #7 Manchester United who dropped more points. Man U is danger of missing out on European football next year, Europa League or Champions League.
Manchester City still look unstoppable. They are still crushing everybody.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Loss-Tie
1. Manchester City 12-0-2 38 Points
2. Liverpool 11-0-3 36 Points
3. Chelsea 9-1-4 31 Points
4. Arsenal 9-2-3 30 Points
5. Tottenham 10-4-0 30 Points
6. Everton 6-4-4 22 Points
Manchester United, Leicester City, Bournemouth, and Watford round out the Top 10.
Relegation Zone
There are now 7 teams within 3 points of the 18th position and fighting to stay up. Crystal Palace and Cardiff City both with wins and a critical 3 points. Crystal Palace now at 12, Newcastle United at 12, Cardiff City at 11 and Huddersfield with 10 points sitting just outside the relegation zone. The new bottom three:
18. Southampton 1-7-6 9 Points
19. Burnley 2-9-3 9 Points
20. Fulham 2-10-2 8 Points
There are now 3 distinct groups in the table. The Top 5 teams are all at 30 points or higher and starting to separate themselves from the pack. The mid table teams range from 15-22 points and are ranked from 6th to 13th in the table. The bottom group, fighting to stay up, range from 8-12 points and rank 14th to 20th.
Match Week 15 Preview
Game of the Week.
#7 Manchester United vs. #4 Arsenal. This a a huge game for both teams. Arsenal coming off the huge win against Tottenham and now go right back into a big match against Manchester United. Back to back huge games. Emotional games. Statement games. It would really put the league on notice that Arsenal is back. Manchester United needs a big win. They have struggled all year but are hanging around in 7th. This could catapult them up the standings or signify they are mid table this year. A month ago we all thought Mourinjo was just days away from being fired….he survived. A bad draw against Southampton and then a loss to revitalized Arsenal might put him back on the watch list. It should be very interesting.
Match Week 13 is in the books and we are now officially 1/3 of the way thru the season. Things are taking shape. Teams are now established in their spots in the table and coaches are wondering if they need to make some January transfers to improve their team. Top teams are playing in Champions League or Europa League and we are about to continue with FA Cup and EFL tournament. Things are getting busy.
Match Week 13 Recap
The feature match this week was the clash in London between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur…a clash of #3 and #4 in the table. A home game for Tottenham who were in form after 4 wins in a row. Chelsea were undefeated in the Premier League but had struggled to multiple draws recently so looked vulnerable. I hate to say it as a Chelsea fan, but Tottenham were clearly the better team in this match up, ugh. They pressed Chelsea, played with more energy and really put their defense under an assault early. A very bad call on what seemed an obvious PK did not go Chelsea’s way and before the first half hour, this game was out of control. I think Chelsea needed the wake up call.
Why did Tottenham choose to play their best game of the year against Chelsea. Bummer . But I must say, a well deserved win for the Hotspur. Love that nickname. Tottenham has the talent to be a Top 4 and Title contender. Chelsea was exposed a bit, so now their season really starts. How will they respond? Can Tottenham keep this form longer?
In other games the winners were:
Newcastle United 2-1 over Burnley as they continue to climb up the table from 20th a few weeks back to 13th now.
Liverpool 3-0 win over Brighton.
Fulham with a critical win, 3-2 over Southampton.
Everton with a 1-0 win over Cardiff City.
Arsenal win a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.
Huddersfield with a big win over Woverhampton, 2-0.
Manchester City, now starting to show they are the class of the league, with a 4-0 win over West Ham.
Manchester City look unstoppable. They are crushing everybody.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Loss-Tie
1. Manchester City 11-0-2 35 Points
2. Liverpool 10-0-3 33 Points
3. Tottenham 10-3-0 30 Points
4. Chelsea 8-1-4 28 Points
5. Arsenal 8-2-3 27 Points
6. Everton 6-3-4 22 Points
Manchester United, Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester City round out the Top 10.
Relegation Zone
With Fulham winning , there are now 6 teams within 3 points of the 20th position and fighting to stay up. Huddersfield with another big win to get to 10 points, Crystal Palace with 9 and Burnley with 9 are just outside the relegation zone. The new bottom three:
18. Southampton 1-7-5 8 Points
19. Cardiff City 2-9-2 8 Points
20. Fulham 2-9-2 8 Points
As per normal, the Relegation Zone is a much closer battle that the Premier League title race!
Match Week 14 Preview
Game of the Week.
Two big games this week on Sunday.
#3 Tottenham vs. #5 Arsenal. This is another big London Derby. Is Tottenham for real? Can Arsenal challenge for the Top 4?
#2 Liverpool vs. #6 Everton. Everton has been on a nice run and has not been this high in the table for a few years. Can they make a serious challenge for the Top 4?
Week 12 is in the books and we are currently on a little break for International Play so the perfect time to regroup and see where things stand right now.
Match Week 12 Recap
The feature match this week was the clash in Manchester between Manchester City and Manchester United. Manchester City is starting to create a little separation in the points and standings. United is trying to hang onto the Top 6 but struggling to find their top form. Throw out the records when these two teams clash, but you can’t throw out the quality of players in the Man City squad. They have the best players and best coach right now so that makes it tough on the rest of the league.
Pretty telling when during a 3 minute highlight package there is only one small moment dedicated to Manchester United, the PK. Manchester City dominated the game, dominated possession, dominated shots on goal and the score , 3-1, reflects the huge gap between the two teams. Pretty humbling for Jose Mourinjo and his players. They do not feel even close to Man City right now.
In other games the winners were:
Newcastle United 2-1 over Bournemouth
Cardiff City with a 2-1 win over Brighton
Tottenham with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Liverpool with a 2-0 win over Fulham.
Interesting Note: 5 games ended with draws this week. 50% of the games. As we have said many times, it is a very difficult league and the quality of the teams and games are very close, no matter the standings.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Tie-Loss
1. Manchester City 10-2-0 32 Points
2. Liverpool 9-3-0 30 Points
3. Chelsea 8-4-0 28 Points
4. Tottenham 9-0-3 27 Points
5. Arsenal 7-3-2 24 Points
6. Bournemouth 6-2-4 20 Points
Watford, Manchester United, , Everton and Leicester City round out the Top 10.
Relegation Zone
5 Teams are currently fighting to stay up, all within 3 points of the relegation zone. Crystal Place (8 points) and Southampton (8 points) are near the danger zone in points, just outside due to Goal Differential. Newcastle had a huge win last week to get out of the danger zone.
18. Cardiff City 2-2-8 8 Points
19. Huddersfield 1-4-7 7 Points
20. Fulham 1-2-9 5 Points
Match Week 13 Preview
Game of the Week.
#3 Chelsea vs. #4 Tottenham Hotspur. This is another big London Derby. One of these two teams will stay close to the top 2 Liverpool and Manchester City while one of them will slip back into a dog fight for 4th place. Tottenham with 3 losses already this year while Chelsea is still undefeated in League play. This one will be intense and could be a statement game for the winner. Top 4 clashes are special.
The best soccer in the world….check it out this weekend!
We are almost thru Match Week 11, one more game to go on Monday between Huddersfield and Fulham, a Relegation Zone battle between the teams currently in the 19th and 20th positions in the table. Likely it will be a very intense and exciting game. The winner could earn a very valuable 3 points and get into a much better position.
Match Week 11 Recap
This week the feature match was Liverpool vs. Arsenal, featuring two teams in the Top 5. Arsenal trying to recapture some of the teams glory years while Liverpool tries to hang close to Manchester City in a tie for the top spot in the table. It was a game you expected a shoot out, two really powerful offenses who score goals in bunches. So as fate would have it when you expect a shoot out, obviously, you get a very close, low scoring, but intense battle. As well as a little controversy.
Liverpool with so many chances to score. Headers flying everywhere and a deserved 1-0 lead I think. Not sure about the off sides call on the goal called off. The players who took the shot was on sides and then the deflection off the post seems to nullify the off sides position of Mane. Not sure, but a tough call against Liverpool. Then a really amazing effort by Lacazette to equalize. A really good game between to teams in top form. A fair draw.
In other games the winners were:
Manchester United 2-1 over Bournemouth
Newcastle United 1-0 over Watford. A big win, moving them out of the relegation zone.
Everton 3-1 win over Brighton
West Ham 4-2 win over Burnley
Leicester a 1-0 win over Cardiff City. A tough game for Leicester City following the tragic death of their well loved and respected owner. Vichai Svrivaddhanaprabha, a billionaire from Thailand, who led the team to the miracle Premier League title a few years back, died in a helicopter crash just minutes after take off from the stadium after their previous match. A shocking story and tough week for the Leicester City extended family.
Tottenham 3-2 over Wolverhampton
Manchester City, now leading the table with a 6-1 crushing of Southampton
Chelsea with a solid 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Tie-Loss
1. Manchester City 9-2-0 29 Points
2. Chelsea 8-3-0 27 Points
3. Liverpool 8-3-0 27 Points
4. Tottenham 8-0-3 24 Points
5. Arsenal 7-2-2 23 Points
6. Bournemouth 6-2-3 20 Points
Manchester United, Watford, Everton and Leicester City round out the Top 10.
Relegation Zone
4 Teams are currently fighting to stay up, within 3 points of the relegation zone. Southampton (7) and Newcastle (6) are near the danger. in points. You can now see why the Monday game with Fulham vs. Huddersfield is so critical. The winner adds 3 critical points.
18. Cardiff City 1-2-8 5 Points
19. Fulham 1-2-7 5 Points
20. Huddersfield 0-3-7 3 Points
Match Week 12 Preview–almost 1/3 of the way thru the season.
Game of the Week.
#1 Manchester United vs. #7 Manchester City. This is a big deal. Forever, Manchester United ruled the Premier League and the city of Manchester, but this is a new day. Manchester City is the best in the league winning last year on a record for wins and points. They are the odds on favorite again in 2018-2019. A special team. Can Manchester United find a way to rekindle their glory years and take down City. Must see TV.
Chelsea vs Everton is a clash of 2 vs 9 so another game that deserves some attention. Chelsea undefeated thru 11 games…can they keep it going.
The best soccer in the world….check it out next weekend!
Things are starting to take shape in the Premier League. We are now thru 8 matches and the proverbial “Cream” is starting to rise to the top. The teams in trouble are starting to panic a bit and the teams at the bottom are now realizing they have to fight to stay in the Premier League.
Match Week 8 Recap
This week was all about 1 v 2. Liverpool vs. Manchester City. The two teams predicted to finish first in the table clashing on the pitch. Most expected a high scoring game with two of the leagues best offenses on display. So as usually happens when you think about a high-flying offensive battle, , the game finishes in a 0-0 draw. Wow….did not see that one coming. But it makes for an interesting table and a perfect result for Chelsea.
It was an interesting game off “almost. Shots almost going in, PK’s almost called, star players almost making some incredible plays, but int he end, the GK’s came up big when needed and kept it a draw. Toward the end of the game, Manchester City earned a PK in the 85th minute. It was a shame as I was watching the game. A bummer that Liverpool would lose this late on a PK after battling so hard the entire game. Riyad Mahrez stepped to the line to earn the 3 points for Manchester City….but you already know…the game ended in a draw. Check out the highlights below and keep watching to the end. Not likely Mahrez will get another opportunity to kick a PK for a while after this attempt.
Wolverhampton 1-0 over Crystal Palace. The Wolves are the new darlings of the Premier League after being promoted and now threatening the Top 6.
Bournemouth 4-0 over Watford
Everton 2-1 over Leicester
Tottenham 1-0 over Cardiff City
Manchester United 3-2 over Newcastle United.
Arsenal 5-0 over Fulham. Watch out for Arsenal, they are playing some of the best soccer in the league right now…very dangerous.
Chelsea 3-0 over Southampton. Eden Hazard is the Best player in the Premier League right now. He is on quite a roll.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Tie-Loss
1. Manchester City 6-2-0 20 Points
2. Chelsea 6-2-0 20 Points
3. Liverpool 6-2-0 20 Points
4. Arsenal 6-0-2 18 Points
5. Tottenham 6-0-2 18 Points
6. Bournemouth 5-1-2 16 Points
Wolves, Manchester United, Watford and Leicester round out the Top 10.
Relegation Zone
5 Teams are currently fighting to stay up. Southampton and Fulham with 5 points are in the danger zone.
18. Huddersfield 0-3-5 3 Points
19. Newcastle United 0-2-6 2 Points
20. Cardiff City 0-2-6 2 Points
Match Week 9 Preview
Game of the Week.
Manchester United vs. Chelsea. Chelsea fans would love to put a dagger in Marinho’s team and be the reason he gets fired. It will be interesting on the pitch and on the sidelines. How will the fans embrace their former coach who left them in shambles a few years back. A Man U wins gets them back on track…a Chelsea wins establishes their hopes to be in the title hunt all season. It should be a good one!
In Case You Missed It
An interesting game between bottom of the table Newcastle United and Manchester City. Many of the experts are predicting Jose Marinho will be fired soon after the slowest start to a Manchester United season in many many years. There is trouble with their star player Paul Pogba, and the fans are restless. So they start their game against Newcastle down 2-0 early and very easily could have been 3-0 if not for an amazing save and a non-call on a pretty obvious hand ball in the box. Then, summoning seasons past, Man U comes back for an epic victory 3-2. Amazing really. Will it save Marinho’s job. Did he earn a few more weeks to figure things out. It is an evolving soap opera. Most are surprised he did not get fired last week, but he is a cat with 9 lives, so he continues on, hoping the team can use the rally as a springboard to a strong few weeks of play.
Liverpool is now the only team with no dropped point this season, a perfect 6-0 start to the season. We thought Chelsea could have a tough week. They played in the Europa League away game in Greece on Thursday, had their flight delayed until Friday morning and then had an away game against West ham United on Sunday. Tough scheduling. The result, a 0-0 tie against West Ham. Points dropped for the first time this season.
Match Week 6 Recap
-Liverpool make it six straight wins to start the season with the 3-0 win over Southampton.
-Chelsea with the 0-0 tie knocks them down a peg in the standings.
-Manchester United create more fan fears with their tie against Wolves and then later their loss in the League Cup against lower level Derby. Man U is in disarray right now. Pogba…what are you going to do?
-Manchester City roll on 5-0 over Cardiff City, they are looking very dangerous..
-Arsenal wins their 4th straight after opening with two losses, a 2-0 win over Everton.
-Other winners include Leicester City, Burnley and Tottenham.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Tie-Loss
1. Liverpool 6-0-0 18 Points
2. Manchester City 5-1-0 16 Points
3. Chelsea 5-1-0 16 Points
4. Watford 4-1-1 13 Points
5. Tottenham 4-0-2 12 Points
6. Arsenal 4-0-2 12 Points
Manchester United drops to 7th.
Relegation Zone
West Ham with another point to keep climbing up the table. Burnley with a win to get them clear as well. Both now with 4 points.
18. Newcastle 0-2-4 2 Points
19. Cardiff City 0-2-4 2 Points
20. Huddersfield 0-2-4 2 Points
Match Week 7 Preview
Game of the Week.
Liverpool v. Chelsea. Epic battle between two of the giants of the league. Chelsea just defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the League Cup on Wednesday…can they pull off the double. Will Liverpool return the favor and take down Chelsea. Must see TV….Saturday at 11:30!
In Case You Missed It
Chelsea highlights against Liverpool from Wednesday. A little teaser to get you ready for Saturday. Watch and enjoy. Eden Hazard…oh my!!! Best player in the world right now? Based on this goal…maybe.
So, for the soccer fans out there, we have a busy soccer season kicking into high gear.
Premier League Update. Week 6 recap and Week & preview coming this Friday.
Champions League Update.
The greatest Soccer Tournament in the world…except for the World Cup….except for the Olympics…but those are only held once every 4 years. We get Champions League EVERY year. We are just into the Group Stage. The group stage last 6 rounds of play over the next three months. Match Day 1 was held last week and we have some results to share. Here is a quick summary as well as the 8 Groups. In group play, teams play each other twice for a total of 6 games. Home and Away against each team. The top two teams from each group advance to the knock out stages. 3 point for a win, 1 point for a tie.
Group A: Athletico Madrid, Dortmund, Monoco, Club Brugge
Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham, Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven
Group C: Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade, Napoli, PSG
Group D: Galatasaray, Porto, Schalke 04, Lokomotiv Moscow
Group E: Ajax, Bayern, Benfica, AEK
Group F: Hoffenheim, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City
Group G: CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid, Pizen, Roma
Group H: Manchester United, Juventus, Valencia, Young Boys
Match Day 1 Winners: Athletico Madrid, Dortmund, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Ajax, Bayern, Lyon, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus
Europa League Update
Kind of like Champions League, but its the next best 48 teams in Europe. Too many teams to list….will wait for the knock out stages to get you the list. That’s a lot of teams. Some of the bigger names you may know.
Chelsea and Arsenal from the Premier League.
Sevilla and Villareal from Spain.
Celtic and Rangers from Scotland.
Premier League Carabao Cup (League Cup)
In addition to playing for a Title, teams in English Football can also play and win the Carabao Cup, historically called the League Cup. Teams from the 92 teams that make up the English Football Leagues (Premier, Championship, League 1, League 2) are eligible. It is played over 7 rounds on single elimination. The Round of 32 was just completed this week. Some interesting results.
Giant Killers.
Derby County 2 Manchester United 2 (Derby advances 8-7 in a PK Shootout) Derby County is in 6th place in the Championship League, the 26th best team in English Football just beat a team in the Premier League To 6. Big Upset! 16 teams remain with a heavy load of teams from the Premier League.
Burton two levels down (58th best team) took down Premier League team Burnley (16th place) in the round of 32.
Long Shots still in the Final 16: Derby Count (26th), Nottingham Forest (29th), Burton (58th) and Blackpool (52nd)
Game of the Tournament (so far): Chelsea defeated Liverpool today 2-1. Great game. And one incredible goal from the current best player in the Premier League…Eden Hazard from Chelsea. I will just let you enjoy this one. On my!!!
