The Perfect Advert for Football

Yesterday's eight games in the Premiership were infested with goals. In fact, the 41 goals scored broke the record (previously 36) for the most goals scored in one day in the Premier League. While the managers of those teams that played will be worried about defensive frailties, fans of football were simply enjoying the entertainment on show.

Stoke 3 - 2 Sunderland

Aston Villa 2 - 2 Fulham

Everton 5 - 3 Blackpool

Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton

Wolverhampton 2 - 1 Man Utd

Man City 3 - 0 West Brom

Newcastle 4 - 4 Arsenal

Wigan 4 - 3 Blackburn

Along with the goals there were some other big stories that came out of yesterday's games. Man Utd's unbeaten run in the EPL came to an end (thankfully) courtesy of the worst team in the Premier League (statistically). Newcastle made history by producing the best comeback in Premiership history. The Toon Army cancelled out Arsenal's four goal lead in the last 20 minutes of the second half with goals that included two penalties and a wonder strike from Cheik Tiote.

Louis Saha continued his scoring streak in style by putting four past Rachubka in the Blackpool net in a game that was as open as the scoreline suggests. Carlos Tevez celebrated his 27^th birthday but netting a hat-trick against struggling West Brom, who have now unjustly sacked their manager, Roberto Di Matteo, in response. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. West Brom have only just been promoted so they were expected to struggle a little.

Tottenham needed a wonder strike in the 92^nd minute from Niko Kranjcar to secure victory over Bolton and Stoke got lucky against Sunderland with two offside goals to secure a 3-2 victory. Sunderland were by far the better side and any time Stoke win is a loss for football itself. Honestly, look at their team, they are all 6'5 heavyweights. Rory Delap's long throw was a novelty last season but now it just makes Stoke look even more one dimensional than we know they are. Rant over.

What does all of this mean in the context of the League standings then? Manchester United are only four points clear of Arsenal and you have to say they aren't playing very well right now. Arsenal could have closed that gap to only two points if they had managed to hold on to their four goal advantage. Wigan have climbed out of the relegation zone following a vital 4-3 win over Blackburn and Blackpool slip further down the table after losing their fifth game in a row.

Torres will be wearing blue today.

Sundays games:

Of course, the weekend's entertainment is far from over. Today we have Chelsea v Liverpool. All eyes will be on Torres as he makes his first appearance in a blue shirt against his former club. He will be desperate to impress his new fans to justify the 50 million pounds that was spent on him, getting a goal against his former club would be the icing on the cake too. Sparks might fly in this game!

Half Time: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
Full Time: Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool (Miereles) 

The FA Cup Fourth Round Draw

The FA Cup enters the Fourth Round

The draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup followed the game between Manchester United and Liverpool yesterday, which United won 1-0. The fixtures are listed below:

Torquay v Crawley Town or Derby

Watford v Brighton

Bolton v Wigan

Arsenal or Leeds v Huddersfield

Fuham v Spurs

Everton v Chelsea

Southampton v Manchester Utd

Swansea v Leyton Orient

Burnley v Burton

Birmingham v Coventry

Doncaster or Wolves v Stoke or Cardiff

Notts County v Leicester or Manchester City

Stevenage v Reading

Aston Villa v Blackburn

West Ham v Nottingham Forest

Sheffield Wed v Wycombe or Hereford

Some interesting ties there. Saints v Man Utd is a good one and should be a great game. Maybe Saints will be able to pull off a shock like the one in the 1976 FA Cup final? Fulham v Spurs, Bolton v Wigan, Everton v Chelsea and Aston Villa v Blackburn are all Premier League ties and will be interesting to keep an eye on too.

Why not subscribe to my blog? The link is below my picture on the right.
Thank you for reading!

Premier League Review: Boxing Day

Boxing day football carries with it a great tradition. Over the years we have seen some great games and this year was no different. There were some big results that concerned both the top and bottom of the table.

Manchester City managed to keep pace with Mancester United at the top of the League with a 3-1 away win at Newcastle. Both teams had plenty of chances but it was City, and Tevez, who proved to be the more clinical on the day. With City 2-0 up, Andy Carroll  did bring Newcastle back into the game in the 72nd minute, however, Tevez restored City's two goal advantage against the run of play 10 minutes later to take all three points.

The Red Devils picked up three points against Newcastle's big rivals, Sunderland, at Old Trafford. A routine win in which United dominated meant that Sir Alex's men are still unbeaten this year and sit at the top of the Premier League, two points clear of City, with two games in hand.

At the bottom end of the table, West Ham managed to come back from a goal down to beat relegation rivals Fulham, 3-1, at Craven Cottage. Quite how they managed that is certainly open for discussion as Fulham dominated the game for most of the 90 minutes. After opening the scoring, Fulham looked to be coasting to a sure-fire win before they conceded two very weak goals just before half time. West Ham climb off the bottom of the table following the win and Fulham joined them in the relegation places.

Tottenham and Aston Villa provided us with a great game at Villa Park. The 2-1 win for Tottenham keeps them in fourth place, only one point behind London rivals Chelsea and two points behind London rivals Arsenal. The loss was another bitter pill to swallow for a faltering Aston Villa side who had shown so much promise in recent years but seem to be losing their way under Gerrard Houllier.

Bolton continued their very impressive season with a 2-0 win over surprise act West Brom. The Wanderers are certainly playing some decent football this year under Owen Coyle, who has yet to spend big in the transfer market. With the addition of a great finisher and some creativity in midfield, Bolton could even challenge Tottenham for that last Champion's League spot.

A full list of the results can be found below.

Sunday 26^th December:

Fulham 1 - 3 West Ham

Wolverhampton 1 - 2 Wigan

Newcastle 1 - 3 Man City

Bolton 2 - 0 West Brom

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Tottenham

Blackburn 0 - 2 Stoke

Man Utd 2 - 0 Sunderland

Arsenal v Chelsea: Preview

Wenger looks for a massive win tonight

Chelsea and Arsenal play a massively important game tonight (27^th December) at 20:00 GMT. One of these teams needs to win to keep pace with Man United (a draw helps neither side) and I would prefer it to be Arsenal. Wenger is the best manager in the Premier League, even if he is a little close minded about the weaknesses in his team. His ethics and playing style are far better than his managerial rivals at the top of the table and his team are an absolute joy to watch on their day. I'm hoping for a 2-1 home win, but Chelsea are a very strong side and could upset the Gunners tonight at the Emirates.

Premiership Preview 18/12/10

Saturday's Games:

Sunderland v Bolton
Arsenal v Stoke
Birmingham v Newcastle
Blackburn v West Ham

Liverpool v Fulham (Match called off)

Wigan v Aston Villa (Match called off)

The wintery weather has claimed two of today's games but the remaining four fixtures should provide plenty of entertainment.

Wenger needs a win today

Arsenal v Stoke is obviously the biggest of the games as Arsenal look to reclaim their spot at the top of the Premier League before Manchester United travel to Chelsea on Sunday. Arsenal, despite their ability and skill, always seem to struggle against big, physical sides like Stoke, Blackburn and Bolton. These teams close down the fragile Arsenal players as quickly as possible and put in hefty challenges when they can to disrupt the flowing football that is so crucial to the Gunners' success.

However, if Stoke don't play as hard and as fast as they can, Arsenal have the ability to cut them apart and turn this game into a drubbing. Arsenal have been painfully inconsistent this season but are miraculously still in the title race. I can't see them faltering today with such a big opportunity to go top once more. I reckon Arsenal will take this game by two or three goals. Whatever the result, it should be a very interesting affair as two contrasting teams clash at the Emirates stadium.

Newcastle and Sunderland will look to continue their impressive seasons with games against Birmingham and Bolton. Sunderland may find the going difficult against Bolton, who boast a ton of Premiership experience throughout their side. Led by the effective Kevin Davies, Bolton are currently sitting in 6^th place, two points ahead of today's opponents. I fancy a draw here as both teams are full of running and effort and will probably cancel each other out. However, that superior experience may swing things Bolton's way.

Newcastle talisman Andy Carroll

Newcastle claimed a fine win last weekend over Liverpool at St. James' Park in Alan Pardew's first game in charge. Today they face a Birmingham side who have been struggling of late. An easy win for the high flying Magpies? Im not so sure. Newcastle fans will be the first to tell you that the Toon Army have been throwing away points against sides they should be beating, like West Brom and Blackpool, all season. So, while Newcastle will be hoping today is the day that trend comes to an end, I suspect that instead Birmingham will snap their recent slide.

The last game is a clash between Blackburn and West Ham. The Hammers have been struggling all season and this is one writer who hopes they get relegated. They have been clinging on for too long in the Premiership and I'd like to seem them gone. Blackburn, on the other hand, recently sacked their manager, 'Big' Sam Allardyce. 

Sam Allardyce is out of a job...again.

While many pundits are dumbfounded by this news, because Blackburn are doing OK, I welcome it. Allardyce is a blight on the game. His boring long ball strategies are a sin and his overly physical tactics are thuggish. Blackburn are a side who are a bore to watch week in, week out and I agree completely with the new owner's decision to rid himself of one of the most overrated managers in the league in an effort to change his team's playing style. Allardyce should be managing in Leagues one and two where his playing style is more welcome. If he ever gets the England job, I'm switching nationalities. That being said, I can see Blackburn taking this game today and further compounding West Ham's miseries.

Enjoy the football!