Peter Anderson ⚽ The EPL is back! 

Last Saturday saw the season opener that is the Community Shield, played at Wembley between City and Liverpool. Liverpool came away as winners with a 3-1 win over their rivals. The only thing we can take away from this is that they will both fighting it out for the championship again this season. That they are streets ahead of the opposition is a given, and there was very little to suggest anything different this season. 

Will Liverpool miss Mané? Not a chance, Mané who? Nuñez looks like another Liverpool jewel to continue the line of Rush, Fowler, Owen, Torres, Suarez and Salah. Will City miss Sterling? Doubtful, Alvarez scored on his debut and Haaland got into some excellent scoring positions, though he failed to convert. This brought much jeering from the Scousers, but I wouldn't be surprised if Haaland makes them pay when the real games come around. Liverpool still look a little light in midfield and with no new signings in the pipeline they will be hoping that the youngsters can finally step up. Elliot, Jones and new signing Carvalho all got minutes on Saturday. City have business to do before the deadline for sure. They need to replace Zinchenko and would probably like another attacking option. Both sides look good enough for the title this season.

Who can possibly challenge them? Chelsea looked odds on for at least a final push last season, before the wheels came off the Lukaku juggernaut. It all started so well. Now with Lukaku out and Sterling in, they will be looking for a better run this season. Arsenal have strengthened too. Lacazette is out and Jesus is in, and the Gunners have looked good in preseason. However, I don't expect them to sustain a challenge to the end. Spurs will also fancy their chances of a possible challenge. Spurs fans that I have spoken to are quietly confident that Conte will do something special this season. The addition of Richarlison is one to watch. He showed some flashes of brilliance at Everton, swiftly followed by periods of mediocrity and petulance. Will Conte get the best out of him or will the toys get ejected from the pram?

United will be desperately hoping for a top 4 spot this season. They have found recruitment difficult due to their omission from the Champions League. They have managed to get rid of the much of the dead wood. Gone are Matic, Mata, Pogba, Cavani and Lingard, but only Eriksson and Martinez have come in. All eyes will be on their new manager to see if he can steady the sinking ship. I think he might surprise a few critics. Surely, he can't do any worse than the last two!

The EPL always throws up a surprise packet. It was Leicester then West Ham in the last few seasons. Can Newcastle make a bid for the top 4? Doubtful this season but I am willing to be surprised. I really do hope for the league's sake that City don't win it again this season, or if they do that it is a classic 3 way fight to the bitter end. Competitiveness is what separates our league from the rest in Europe, and City and Liverpool have dominated for long enough. Much as I hate it when City's league push is ended, I don't want them to become a PSG or a Bayern Munich.

It all kicks off in earnest next Friday night as Arsenal travel to Palace. Let the fun and games begin!

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.

In Season

Peter Anderson ⚽ The EPL is back! 

Last Saturday saw the season opener that is the Community Shield, played at Wembley between City and Liverpool. Liverpool came away as winners with a 3-1 win over their rivals. The only thing we can take away from this is that they will both fighting it out for the championship again this season. That they are streets ahead of the opposition is a given, and there was very little to suggest anything different this season. 

Will Liverpool miss Mané? Not a chance, Mané who? Nuñez looks like another Liverpool jewel to continue the line of Rush, Fowler, Owen, Torres, Suarez and Salah. Will City miss Sterling? Doubtful, Alvarez scored on his debut and Haaland got into some excellent scoring positions, though he failed to convert. This brought much jeering from the Scousers, but I wouldn't be surprised if Haaland makes them pay when the real games come around. Liverpool still look a little light in midfield and with no new signings in the pipeline they will be hoping that the youngsters can finally step up. Elliot, Jones and new signing Carvalho all got minutes on Saturday. City have business to do before the deadline for sure. They need to replace Zinchenko and would probably like another attacking option. Both sides look good enough for the title this season.

Who can possibly challenge them? Chelsea looked odds on for at least a final push last season, before the wheels came off the Lukaku juggernaut. It all started so well. Now with Lukaku out and Sterling in, they will be looking for a better run this season. Arsenal have strengthened too. Lacazette is out and Jesus is in, and the Gunners have looked good in preseason. However, I don't expect them to sustain a challenge to the end. Spurs will also fancy their chances of a possible challenge. Spurs fans that I have spoken to are quietly confident that Conte will do something special this season. The addition of Richarlison is one to watch. He showed some flashes of brilliance at Everton, swiftly followed by periods of mediocrity and petulance. Will Conte get the best out of him or will the toys get ejected from the pram?

United will be desperately hoping for a top 4 spot this season. They have found recruitment difficult due to their omission from the Champions League. They have managed to get rid of the much of the dead wood. Gone are Matic, Mata, Pogba, Cavani and Lingard, but only Eriksson and Martinez have come in. All eyes will be on their new manager to see if he can steady the sinking ship. I think he might surprise a few critics. Surely, he can't do any worse than the last two!

The EPL always throws up a surprise packet. It was Leicester then West Ham in the last few seasons. Can Newcastle make a bid for the top 4? Doubtful this season but I am willing to be surprised. I really do hope for the league's sake that City don't win it again this season, or if they do that it is a classic 3 way fight to the bitter end. Competitiveness is what separates our league from the rest in Europe, and City and Liverpool have dominated for long enough. Much as I hate it when City's league push is ended, I don't want them to become a PSG or a Bayern Munich.

It all kicks off in earnest next Friday night as Arsenal travel to Palace. Let the fun and games begin!

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.

3 comments:

  1. Peter "Haaland got into some excellent scoring positions, though he failed to convert." City surely didn't pay out all that money for him to blaze over the top from six yards!

    I don't honestly know how my lot will fare but I will certainly take a boring mid table finish. Too many dramas have been made out of Leeds United crises!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt Haaland's misfortune will continue. Too sharp, too good. And every player makes a howler.

      Last season was too nervy for Leeds fans. I would like to see them do well this time out.

      Looking at the line up I think that while Peter is right about the top two, there will be a lot of interesting soccer to watch in the year ahead.

      Delete
  2. We are fucked due to Barcelona using us as a scouting tool.

    ReplyDelete