Still anybody’s Premier League title to win
Hello my good football people and I guess all that really matters right now is that dem damn Scousers are back on it again!
It was touch and go at Anfield following Mo Salah’s seven early misses and it always seemed a possibility that Brighton could nick a point.
But credit to Liverpool, they saw it through and set the bar ahead of the monster clash at the Etihad.
I was convinced City were gonna do Arsenal, this was the biggest Pep v Arteta, Master v Pupil meeting to date.
The Gunners apparently coming of age, the great fade behind them, bolstered by big-money signings…Pep, carrying the common “City not at their best” narrative, while accumulating more points season-on-season at the same stage.
However, as it turned out, despite the huge possession stats in City’s favour, and Arsenal occasionally attempting to spring a break, it was a goalless stalemate.
It was a game of very few chances, the Gunners let down by the usually technically proficient Martin Odegaard, and the totally ineffective Kai Havertz who consistently missed running into the correct channels to receive the Norwegians doomed through balls.
It has to be said that as supposed genuine title contenders, it was disappointing how deep the Gunners sat back for the best part of the game.
A huge Red Double Decker parked bus…with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli providing outstanding outlets on either side, why would Arteta set out such a negative game plan?
Ok, of course the No.1 objective was not to lose, but it felt blunt and lacked confidence.
At the end of the day Arsenal will be the happier of the two, however, watching the post-match interviews it was obvious the North Londoners were disappointed that they didn’t come out with a bit more fight.
But still! With nine games to go and three points separating the top three, it’s still anybody’s title!
Elsewhere, there was great wins for Aston Villa and Tottenham, who look likely to be battling it out for that all-important fourth spot, as Manchester United are soooo swak, they couldn’t beat 15th-place Brentford to ignite their charge for the Champions League.
Not only couldn’t they beat them, they should have lost about 4-0 given the chances the Bees created.
They were all over United, hitting the woodwork three times in the process.
I couldn’t believe what I was watching? While my United mates generally want Erik ten Hag to be given another year, great players or not, his inability to motivate in that situation tells a huge story.
I don’t think he’s the man for the job.
It may sound a bit contradictory, but the opposite goes for Pochettino. Chelsea were awful (again) against a ten-man Burnley and could quite easily have lost.
But for me the blame sits squarely with the players…
OK, hold on, taking it a step further, the new owners should be jailed for implementing a ‘project’ like they have with zero insight.
Selling a whole team and replacing them with a bunch of expensive kids with little or no Premier League experience was never gonna be fruitful.
But if you break the game down and look at the seven or eight BIG chances the Blues created, they should have turned the Clarets over quite easily.
Greed, lack of IQ, nervousness? I think all of those come into play.
The number of times on Saturday (and this season) a simple squared ball would have resulted in a goal is ridiculous.
Anyway, back to the action and it looks like an easy three points for Arsenal (v Luton) and Liverpool (v Sheff Utd) this midweek, while City will need to be at their best to beat Villa.
Oh and then there’s that mid-table clash as United go to the Bridge in the battle of the big-boy losers!
Take care… Chat next week, bye bye.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za