FootballFanatic

TOT 2-0 BHA

BOU 1-3 ARS

SHU 2-0 WAT

CHE 2-0 S’TON

AVL 2-1 NOR

CRY 3-1 WHU

EVE 2-0 BUR

MU 0-0 NEW

LEI 1-1 LIV

WOL 1-2 MCI

We are half-way through the season and here is all you need to know about Matchday 19, all matches played on Boxing Day.

Game of the round/matchday

 

Leicester City vs Liverpool (King Power Stadium)

The undisputed game of matchday 19, Brendan Rodgers will be seeking for revenge after their 2-1 loss at Anfield in which James Milner scored a penalty in the 95th minute. Leicester wouldn’t want to lose any points after their 3-1 loss at Man City. It will be a tasty fixture after Christmas. Can Leicester inflict Liverpool’s first loss of the season? One thing to note is that Liverpool have played 1 less match because they were playing in the Club World Cup.

Easiest three points

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brighton 

Spurs look like a much changed side from their 3-0 loss at Brighton. The Mourinho era hasn’t started perfectly, but Spurs look a better side with the Portugese Tactician managing the team. Although Graham Potter’s men put in decent performances, they lack clinical finishes. 

Another Interesting fixture

Wolves vs Man City

Man City haven’t been at their best without Frenchman Aymeric Laporte, and their 0-2 home loss against Wolves summed that up. They haven’t been doing better though- losing 1-2 to their rivals United but all is not bad. They have won the past 4 games by at least a goal difference of 2. Wolves, are not at their form last season but are still consistent and doing well. Will be an interesting tie, but not the best.

Predictions (which didn’t go well last Matchday) will be coming soon.

Tottenham completely outclassed by Lampard’s youth

In a game with racial slurs (#saynotoracism), many fans expected Mourinho’s Tottenham to win this one, but Lampard tactically outclassed the self-dubbed, ‘Special One’. Willian gave in an incredible performance and Lampard’s 3-4-2-1 formation worked wonders as the full wing-backs (M. Alonso and C. Azpilicueta) tracked down when they needed to defend to a 5-4-1 or a 5-2-2-1 formation. Willian scored a goal and a penalty  thanks to stupendous errors by Serge Aurier and Paulo Gazziniga, giving Chelsea the win ‘at the Lane’. Son’s stupid error cost him a red card and a suspension. Poor and dissappointing performance for Tottenahm. This gives me a question: Can Leipzig win Tottenham in the Round of 16?

Leicester blip as they record second loss in the EPL this season

It is still possible for Leicester to win the Premier League but it will be difficult. Leicester went to the Etihad, looking for all the 3 points but couldn’t take any. Jamie Vardy’s cheeky chip, which gave Leicester a 0-1 lead, was cancelled out by Riyad Mahraz’s deflected strike. A foul by Ricardo Pereira gave City a penalty which Gundogan scored. Jesus made it 3 in the 69th minute. Good performance by both sides, but City showing Leicester how a true champion plays the game.

United stunned by a brilliant Watford

Watford maintained their discipline as well as their attack as a David De Gea error as well as a Tryo Deeney penalty after a Aaron Wan-Bissaka foul gave Watford the 2-0 win. Their first win since they won 0-2 at Norwich and another frustrating Sunday as United were not clinical enough. Watford are now level on points with Norwich at 12 points. Time to sack Solksjear?

Interim manager’s last appearances not enough for Everton and Arsenal

Everton and Arsenal played a stalemate 0-0 draw. Everton’s 9 shots were not the best as they didn’t have any on target. Arsenal had 6 and had 2 on target but were easy saves for Pickford. Both interim managers give way for their new managers. This fixture could become more interesting should both teams improve.

Liverpool vs West Ham has been postponed.

#EPL #PremierLeague #Liverpool #mancityleicester #manutdwatford #tottenhamchelsea

 

 

Everton have just announced the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti.

Ancelotti, 60, has returned to the Premier League as the 3rd highest paid manager at Goodison Park.

Be wary, LFC. Those Merseyside Derbies won’t be as easy as you think. (His Napoli side beat Liverpool 2-0)

#carloancelotti #everton #manager #highpaidmanagers

Liverpool are playing Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo in a tight yet interesting matchup. Both sides would want to win this trophy.

History

Flamengo and Liverpool have some history. Flamengo fans will be reciting a chant in the Khalifa International stadium. It roughly translates to: “In December 1981 we ran circles around the Englishmen/3-0 over Liverpool/It left a mark on history.

Flamengo won Liverpool 3-0 in December 1981 to win the Intercontinential cup- the forerunner to the Club World Cup- by overpwering Kenny Daglish and the rest of the team in Tokyo.

Flamengo were founded in 1895 as a rowing club, but started kicking a ball around in 1912. Their fanbase swelled in size in the 1980s- their golden era. Winning 4 league titles and the Copa Libertadores in 1981- as well as beating LFC. 

Who do Liverpool need to be wary of? 

Diego Alves

The former Valencia man was crucial for Flamengo, and was voted best goalkeeper in Brazil. Front three need to be wary. 

Rafinha

A Bayern Munich legend, and although old, his wealth of experience can prove to be vital against Liverpool.

Gabriel Barbosa

Gabriel Barbosa has netted 25 goals in 29 games in the Brazillian league this season. 

Who do Flamengo need to be wary of?

Mane, Salah

Both Mane and Salah are doing well this season, and Salah, back in full form, could prove to be deadly and lethal against Flamengo. Mane, who also tracks back to defend, is clinical and is amazing in the air. Clinical, Flamengo need a strategy against both men.

Full-backs

Robertson and TAA prove to be deadly on the attack, with dangerous crossing which could prove to be costly for Flamengo.

Virgil van Dijk

Could be the solution to Gabriel Barbosa, just hope he is fit enough to play in the match, if not, I can see a Flamengo win.

Liverpool Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3)

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Robertson; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Score Prediction?

I’m a Liverpool fan so I have a biased perspective. But to be as neutral as possible, I say:

Liverpool 2-1 Flamengo (A.E.T)

I wouldn’t be too surprised if we would have to decide the match on Penalties.

Arsenal have announced the arrival of Mikel Arteta, the former Gunners captain. The Spaniard, who was the assistant manager at rivals Manchester City, signed a 3.5 year deal with his contract expiring in May 2023.

“This is a huge honour. Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that’s been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.”

“We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we’ll do it. I’m realistic enough to know it won’t happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.”

Arsenal fans will be expecting from their former captain to improve their tactics, team selections, and possibly make some signings in the January transfer window.

#mikelarteta #arsenal #manager #headcoach

Liverpool vs West Ham is postponed.

Everton 2-1 Arsenal

Newcastle 1-1 Crystal Palace

Aston Villa 2-0 Southampton

Norwich City 0-1 Wolves

Brighton 1-2 Sheffield Utd

Bournemouth 2-2 Burnley

Man City 1-1 Leicester City

Watford 1-0 Man Utd

Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea

 

Ahh, good to see the Premier League back. We have some tasty fixtures for Christmas and here is all you need to know!

Games of the weekend

1. Man City vs Leicester- Etihad stadium

An absolute christmas cracker of a fixture, and City will really want/need to win this one. They are, quite shockingly, 4 points behind Leicester and are in third place. The two sides are much different from the time they last met, spiralling in opposite directions. City last won this fixture 1-0, after Vicent Kompany, the man they ever so need now, scored a thunderbolt to basically wrap up the title. Currently, Leicester are better but don’t write the champions off, especially at home.

2. Tottenham vs Chelsea

Another Christmas cracker of a match. Chelsea won 2-0 in their last meeting- Kieran Trippier scored a comical own goal after a miscommunication with Hugo Lloris. Spurs are a different side now, fielding the likes of a rejuvanated Dele Alli and a lethal Serge Aurier. Thankfully Tottenham play at home, so the smaller amount of Chelsea fans in the stadium will be muffled out by the home supporters (so hopefully we don’t hear boos for Mourinho). Will also be an interesting match.

Potential Upset

Watford vs Man Utd

Many people thought Liverpool vs Watford would be the easiest fixture of Matchday 17 (Including ourselves), but Nigel Pearson once again announced his name to the Premier League, causing Liverpool to dig deep to score 2 goals. Watford could have even be leading us had they been more clinical. Watford will hope to be more clinical against a possibly sluggish United side.

Predictions will come later. Do note Liverpool vs West Ham will be postponed as Liverpool are playing in the Club World Cup. 

 

Liverpool scraped past Monterrey to reach the Club World Cup final. I mean, we couldn’t do much about it. Keita’s goal was cancelled out by Rogelio Funes Mori’s equalizer. Firmino’s substitution proved vital as he converted a TAA cross to score the winner in stoppage time (90+1′). We really couldn’t do much in the game, Van Dijk, Lovren, Matip, Gini Wijnaldum and Fabinho were injured, while Firmino and Mane weren’t at their best form. So we had to field a starting XI with Divock Origi, Shaqiri and Adam Lallana and Jordan Hendorson at Centre-back. That’s how desperate we were. Alisson was at his best- giving a five star performance including some excellent saves denying huge chances by th opposition. Let’s hope Gini, Van dijk, Mane, Bobby Firmino, Lovren and TAA can all make it in the Starting XI this Sunday.

Aston Villa 5-0 Liverpool

Aston Villa cruised past Liverpool. Horrible performances from Salah and Mane. Where were they? Nah, just kidding. Liverpool fielded a U23 side with an average age of 19 years of age. The youngest in their history, this young side actually went with a strong mentallity and in fact created more chances than the hosts. However, Aston Villa’s clinical finishing gave them an ‘easy’ 5-0 win.

Everton 2-2 Leicester City (Leicester win 4-2 on penalties)

The game of the round didn’t fail to dissappoint as Everton played a nail-biting 2-2 draw against second-placed EPL club Leicester. Everton came back from 2-0 down after a last-gasp screamer from Leighton Baines in the 91st minute. The miss of the match, though, was Richarlison missing a posibbly easy goal after Schmeichel’s poor pass gave a huge chance for the hosts. He did make up for that however- doing well in the shootout by making 2 saves. Another highlight of the match was James Maddison’s penalty saved by Pickford (in the shootout).

Oxford Utd 1-3 Man City

You may think this as nothing surprising, but you will be stunned when you see the statistics. Both sides had the same amount of shots (18), and Oxford had one more (5) on target than City (4)! Unbelievable stat, showing that City are vulnarable. However, Bravo made sure that didn’t affect the scoreline with a fine string of saves. Had Oxford been more clinical, they could have put on a bigger fight. I honestly feel bad for saying this is the easiest game of the round. The hosts had hope for 4 minutes after they equalised right after half-time started. City win, though, and face local rivals United hoping to get revenge for their 2-1 loss at the Etihad.

Man Utd 3-0 Colchester

Oops, I think I made a mistake. This was to be the easiest game of the round, but then again City are reigning EPL Champions (I said City vs Oxford would be the easiest). Man Utd cruised past a Colchester side, a League Two Colchester side, winning 3-0. The hosts looked threatening on the attack and effecient defensively. Maybe this could be something for Solskjear?

Semi-final fixtures (Over 2 legs):

1. Leicester City vs Aston Villa
2. Man City vs Man Utd (Game of the round)