At the top, it is as you were. City are clear and looking uncatchable, while Liverpool and Chelsea seem destined to fight it out for second. This is hugely disappointing, I really thought they would stay with City to the end.
The fight for the final UCL place is really hotting up. Only 4 points separate Man U in fourth and Wolves in 8th. Who will kick on? That may all depend on signings. Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham are all in the market for new talent too, and you can be sure that it will be a hard fought race for the lucrative UCL money. My heart says Wolves or West Ham, my head says probably Man U.
The race for relegation is another hard one to call. Norwich looked dead and buried, but a new manager and some impressive wins have seen them get out of the drop zone. Unfortunately for them the other teams have many games in hand over them due to Covid cancellations, and they play City and Liverpool in the middle of next month. Watford have been dragged into the mire, but having sacked Ranieri they will be looking to a new manager bounce and the return of midfield enforcer Ismaila Sarr from injury.
Burnley look favourites to go down at the moment. Having lost their top striker, Wood, to relegation rivals Newcastle, it looks like they may also lose their best defender in Tarkowski. But they have a load of games in hand over their rivals and a strong manager, so will fancy their chances. Their next game is against Watford and it is a real 6 pointer for both teams.
The great unknowns are Everton, Leeds and Brentford. Leeds have escaped the drop zone well after a tough run of games, including a 3-2 win away to the Hammers in the game of the season so far. They then went to Newcastle with the chance of distancing themselves completely from the drop and landing the Toon further in trouble, but lost the game to a single Jon-Jo Shelvey goal. They could easily get dragged back into it all if they are not careful. Brentford are falling fast after a great start to the season. Their next game is away to City, followed by 2 London derbies against Palace and Arsenal. If they are not on their game, they could be in the midst of the dog fight by the end of February. Everton, too, are falling fast and after sacking "agent" Benitez, they will be looking for a new manager bounce. Their next 2 games are away to Newcastle and at home to Leeds in what could be crucial games for those wishing to escape the race to the bottom. Everton's form has been really shocking - surely it can't continue?
Brighton, Leicester, Villa, Southampton and Palace don't, at this stage of the season, look like they will be involved at either end of the table but all that could change very quickly. Next week sees an international break for South American games, and the following week sees the 4th round of the FA Cup, then the EPL run-in can begin in earnest. We can be sure of many twists and turns to come.
Brighton, Leicester, Villa, Southampton and Palace don't, at this stage of the season, look like they will be involved at either end of the table but all that could change very quickly. Next week sees an international break for South American games, and the following week sees the 4th round of the FA Cup, then the EPL run-in can begin in earnest. We can be sure of many twists and turns to come.
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| Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports. |
Do you think the West Ham-Leeds game was better than the Chelsea-Liverpool one? Would loved to have seen it
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was end to end. Fantastic stuff
ReplyDeleteWe have played far too many games since the start of December and it shows. Even Liverpool had that dodgy wee rest due to 'false positives' on the lateral flow tests....aye my hole.
ReplyDelete