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All of a sudden we’re back to where we’ve always been with Manchester City atop the Premier League table.
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On Wednesday, City convincingly beat Arsenal, who were at home, 3-1, to draw level on points, but ahead on goal difference.
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It’s worth noting that Arsenal still have a game in hand, but had they beaten 18th-place Everton, not drawn with 8th-place Brentford and beaten City, and won their game in hand, they’d be 11 points clear.
It’s not quite an epic collapse yet, but winning just twice in their last six games has let City back in the front door and they have some tricky waters to navigate yet. They go to Aston Villa this weekend, who lost their last two, including one to City, but had not lost in four prior to that.
The schedule is somewhat favourable for Arsenal, after Villa they have Leicester, Everton, Bournemouth, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Leeds. Only Fulham are in the top half of the table, it’s a chance for the young Gunners to get their confidence back and not worry about City for a while. But all eyes are on how relatively inexperienced manager Mikel Arteta will deal with the criticism and how he sets his teams up. They’re sandwiched by another Manchester club, with United just five points back and charging, only dropping one game in their last six.
City meanwhile should cruise against Nottingham Forest and seem to have found fuel in the 115 charges of financial impropriety brought on them by the Premier League. Manager Pep Guardiola has been at his defiant best, suggesting the whole league is jealous of City’s success and all 19 other Premier League clubs want to see them sanctioned because they can’t beat them.
If the charges prove true, the details are quite specific in City dishonestly reporting payments and revenue to skirt regulations, City must be held to account, but in the meantime, Pep seems to have used the ‘disrespect’ card to get his players interested in winning the league yet again.
With this week’s clash of the top two, they’ve hogged the limelight, but do you know who has the fewest losses in the league this season? Hard to believe, but it’s Newcastle who still have lost just one game. They’ve lost some momentum lately, only winning once in their last six versus five draws. Those 10 dropped points have seen them fall 10 points back of Arsenal and City, but the fact they’re not losing is still a good sign.
They’ve given up a stunning 13 goals all season, City have given up 23, Arsenal 21 and United 28. Newcastle still sit comfortably in fourth spot. They host Liverpool on Saturday, the only team to beat them this season. The Reds have fallen completely off map, sitting in ninth spot, but they looked more like their old selves last week dumping rivals Everton 2-0.
Getting a slew of injured players back, Virgil van Dijk, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota all returned last week while Mo Salah scored a typical counterattack goal to show hints of his old self and new signing Cody Gakpo got his first goal for the club.
This weekend will tell an awful lot, have Arsenal lost their nerve? Are City the team to beat? Are Liverpool back? Are Newcastle really going to hold a Champions League spot at the end of the season?
With the Champions League knockout games back there’s extra distractions and teams like Arsenal, United and Newcastle, who aren’t in the competition, can watch City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea try to manage on both fronts.
Other games to watch this weekend: Everton host Leeds, and the Everton crowd can be a massive difference maker. A cauldron of hostility when they’re up, a toxic tensor bandage when they’re down. The Toffees are in the relegation zone, Leeds sit one spot and one point above in safety. A Leeds lead will crank the pressure up on Everton and new manager Sean Dyche who has brought his bruising Burnley style to his new club.
Spurs need to get back on board, winning only two of their last five, but face West Ham who have won just once in six and sit two points above the relegation zone. The Hammers need to accrue points now if they don’t want to fight relegation come May, Spurs seem to be somewhat in disarray.
Fulham travel to Brighton, the teams tied on points but Fulham sitting sixth to Brighton’s fifth by virtue of playing two more games. Which team can seriously push for a European place?
SATURDAY: Aston Villa v. Arsenal; Brentford v. Crystal Palace; Brighton v. Fulham; Chelsea v. Southampton; Everton v. Leeds; Nottingham Forest v. Manchester City; Wolves v. Bournemouth; Newcastle v. Liverpool. SUNDAY: Manchester United v. Leicester; Tottenham v. West Ham.
With Inter dropping more points last week, unstoppable Napoli may as well be crowned Champions now as their 15-point lead is insurmountable. The big question now is what happens with the Champions League places.
There’s three points between Lazio in sixth and Inter in second.
Of course, the variable is Juventus. They would be in second place, but due to being found guilty on financial charges, they’ve been docked 15 points and sit in ninth. The 12 points they have to make up to get back into the top four looks too big a task, so word out of the club’s backrooms is they’re going to hell bent for leather to win the Europa League to qualify for next year’s Champions League, a task being called paramount with stars Dusan Vlahovic and Adrien Rabiot being targeted by richer Premier League clubs. With no Champions League next season, it may be tough to hold onto their stars. With Barcelona and Manchester United in the Europa League as well, the second-tier tournament carries a little more weight this season.
FRIDAY: Sassuolo v. Napoli. SATURDAY: Sampdoria v. Bologna; Monza v. AC Milan; Inter Milan v. Udinese. SUNDAY: Atalanta v. Lecce; Fiorentina v. Empoli; Salernitana v. Lazio; Spezia v. Juventus; Roma v. Hellas Verona. MONDAY: Torino v. Cremonese.
Atletico Madrid have gone back to their roots and locked down their defence, happy to grind out 1-0 wins again and have seen something of a revival, climbing up to fourth.
While Barcelona stroll to the title, eight points up on Real Madrid, Atletico hold all the drama for the rest of the season trying to hold onto that final Champions League spot.
They host Athletic Bilbao this weekend who are six points back of them, but they’ve actually scored more goals. Barca and Real Madrid are the only Spanish sides to score more goals than Bilbao, the clash in styles against Atletico this weekend will be fun to watch.
FRIDAY: Girona v. Almería. SATURDAY: Real Sociedad v. Celta Vigo; Real Betis v. Real Valladolid; Mallorca v. Villarreal; Osasuna v. Real Madrid. SUNDAY: Elche v. Espanyol; Rayo Vallecano v. Sevilla; Atlético Madrid v. Athletic Bilbao; Barcelona v. Cádiz. MONDAY: Getafe v. Valencia.
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