So we are past the crazy Christmas week when the games are coming fast and furious, 2 games a week and how in the world can anyone keep up with that. This darn work thing keeps getting in the way. Full time blogging sounds like a nice gig, there is just that cash flow problem…oh well… you just need to give me a chance to get caught up this week.

A few big developments over the past few weeks, first, the big news, Liverpool finally lost a game, and oh what a game it was. Liverpool lost to title holder Manchester City in an epic battle. It was a real edge of your seat type of game. I tried to stop watching a few times as I had things to do, but I could not walk away. It had that intensity that makes your nervous watching. Constant action, an energy about it, the players felt it, the coaches felt it and certainly the fans felt it. All the talking TV heads agreed, it was the best game in the Premier League this season…by a long way. The two best clubs in the league slugging it out. I was a bit drained afterwards. Never more than a 1 goal lead and scoring chances all the time. The result was in doubt right up to whistle. Check it out.

Spanish highlights just make the game more exciting, don’t you think. This game needed something special and it just sounds better when you here “goooooooooooaaaaaaaaal!

The second big development the past few weeks is the re-emergence of Manchester United. They’re Back! This was a season that was really falling apart. Jose Mourinjo was on watch to be fired the entire year. The 3rd season curse was alive and well. The team was flat, the fans were frustrated, and the results were not good. Sitting around 7-8th in the table all year with no real direction. Paul Pogba, the best midfielder in the world was not happy, lost his captaincy, and was benched multiple times. Something had to give, and give it did when Mourinjo was finally fired after their really poor performance against Liverpool, losing 3-1 and getting dominated. Replaced by a club legend who over 10 years scored 91 goals for Manchester United in his career, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was names Caretaker manager and has righted the ship. Players are loose, confident and playing their best soccer of the season. 6 straight wins have Man U now in striking distance of a top 4 finish. In a real teat last week, Manchester v=came up big against a Top 4 team Tottenham. It was really the GK that shone brightest. David de Gea put down his claim form the best GK performance of the season with 11 saves, many of them epic and amazing. A single counter attach strike gave Man U the lead and then it was the de Gea show. Check out this amazing GK performance.

Week 21-22 Recap

A strange few weeks with only three teams able to win back to back games. Other games/winner of note were:

Manchester City with 2 wins, over Liverpool and Wolves.

Burnely with two wins over Huddersfield and Fulham.

Manchester United with two wins over Newcastle and Tottenham

Race for the Title & Champions League Top 4

Win-Loss-Tie 

1- Liverpool 18-1-3  57 Points

2- Manchester City   17-3-2   53 Points

3- Tottenham  16-6-0   48 Points

4-Chelsea      14-3-5   47 Points

5-Aresnal     12-5-5   41 Points

6-Manchester City  12-5-5   41 Points

Watford, Leicester City, West Ham United and Everton round out the Top 10.  Bournemouth and Wolverhampton dropped out of the Top 10 with recent losses.

Relegation Zone

There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the 18th position and fighting to stay up.  Burnley with two massive wins recently (21) ,Southampton (19) and Cardiff City (19) currently safe but sitting just outside the relegation zone.  The new bottom three:

18. Newcastle United 4-12-6   18 Points

19. Fulham 3-14-5  14 Points.

20.  Huddersfield 2-15-5  11 Points

Match Week 23 Preview

Game of the Week. #4 Chelsea vs. #5 Arsenal. A really big game for both clubs. Arsenal and Chelsea have both had nice moments this year, but both need 3 points desperately to maintain their Top 4 hopes.

Get ready for an exciting finish to the season. 16 games to go.

We are officially at the halfway point of the season, 19 games complete and 19 games to go. So, what is the story of the year? Liverpool, maybe but for me the real question is:

What is wrong with Manchester City! That is the the Hot Take from this week. After dropping their first Premier League game to Chelsea a few weeks back, they have now lost 3 of their last 4, losing to Crystal Palace and Leicester City in back to back games. Last years runaway winner is struggling. Their mini-slump has turned into a crises in Manchester. The next two games are huge. A game Sunday against Southampton where they need to find some momentum and then….a showdown with Liverpool. Win and they are right back in the race. Lose and they go down 7 points and maybe it’s over. Liverpool is now halfway to an unbeaten Premier League season. It has happened only twice in history. First accomplished by Preston North End in the inaugural Football League season on 1988-1989. A total of 27 games, winning the league and the FA Cup. A record of 23 wins and 4 draws over the season. The only other time it was accomplished was in the 2003-2004 season in which Arsenal became the first team to go undefeated in a 38 game Premier League season, finishing the year with 26 wins and 12 draws. Can Liverpool be the 3rd. Lots of work to do, but the dream is still alive.

Match Week 18 Recap

No feature matches between Top 6 clubs this week, but some very interesting games and results to report. The score that really shocked everyone was the Leicester City 2-1 win over struggling Manchester City. For Leicester, that is back to back big wins, having taken down Chelsea the game before. Manchester City had their chances, but it just seems when you are in a bit of a funk, that things just don’t go your way. Man City actually took a 1-0 lead, but Leicester City keep pressing all game. Two really nice goals, one on the counter attack and a rocket shot from Ricardo off a corner kick stunned Manchester City. Wow. Back to Back losses. Incredible. Did I ever tell you that this league is hard!

Let’s check out some highlights.

In other games the winners were:

Everton 5-1 over Burnley.

Liverpool rolls on with a dominating 4-0 win over Newcastle.

Tottenham is building momentum after thrashing Bournemouth 5-0

Manchester United seem to have forgotten Mourinjo after 2 wins. 3-1 over Huddersfield.

Chelsea back on track with a 2-1 win over Watford.

West ham with a 2-1 win over Southampton.

Race for the Title & Champions League Top 4

Win-Loss-Tie 

1- Liverpool 16-0-3  51 Points

2- Tottenham   15-4-0   45 Points

3- Manchester City  14-3-2   44 Points

4-Chelsea      12-3-4   40 Points

5-Aresnal     11-3-5   38 Points

6-Manchester City  9-5-5   32 Points

Leicester City, Everton, West Ham United and Watford, Bournemouth round out the Top 10.  Bournemouth and Wolverhampton dropped out of the Top 10 with recent 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 (15) currently safe but sitting just outside the relegation zone.  The new bottom three:

18. Burnley 3-13-3   12 Points

19. Fulham 2-12-5  11 Points. Their first week out tof the 20th spot on a few months.

20.  Huddersfield 2-13-4  10 Points

Match Week 20 Preview

Game of the Week. #1 Liverpool vs. #5 Arsenal. The first of two big weeks for Liverpool. Will they be caught looking ahead to Manchester City. Can Arsenal protect their title as the only undefeated Premier League Champion in the modern era of 20 teams.

Get ready for an exciting second half to the season.

Champions League

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.

Premier League Fans, let’s get caught up.

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.

Merry Christmas.

Premier League Fans, let’s get caught up.

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.

Premier League Fans, let’s get caught up.

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.

Premier League Fans, let’s get caught up.

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.

Let’s check out some highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIeksysVSqQ&feature=onebox

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?

Back to back on Sunday…check it out!!

Premier League Fans, let’s get caught up.

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.

Let’s check out some highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dX0MTB-qr4&feature=onebox

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!