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How the Top European Leagues were won

Posted by admin on May 19th, 2011

Premier League – Winners: Manchester United

The closest league in Premier League history was won by Manchester United, and this occasion was more important than any of the ones before. Manchester United claimed their 19th title, and therefore making themselves the most successful team in English football history. There is still one game remaining, but if United win that, then they would have only reached 80 points which is a record low in the Premier League. Chelsea were strong favourites to retain their title, as they started the league in goal scoring fashion, as United were dropping points.

However, Chelsea’s form collapsed towards the end of the calendar year, as United started to improve and overtake. Arsenal believed they had a great chance of securing the title, but since their Carling Cup loss, their form had suffered the same as Chelsea’s did, as they went out of four competitions and lost too many points in the league running. With 3 games to go, only United and Chelsea could win the league, and the two went head to head at Old Trafford. With a 3 point lead anyway, United would have nearly clinched the league with a win, and a draw would still make them favourites. However, a Chelsea win would make them slight favourites if they were to win at Old Trafford. The game went well for United, who were 1-0 up in 1 minute, then doubled their lead inside 20. Chelsea managed to pull a goal back but United were the far superior team and all but won the title.

It was sealed a week later, as a 1-1 draw at Blackburn secured their 19th league success. United’s top goal scorer was Dimitar Berbatov, although other strikers Wayne Rooney and summer signing Javier Hernandez were pivotal in the title running. Defender Nemanja Vidic was top class all season, as was Edwin Van Der Sar who retires at the end of the season. The manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs both won their 12th title, which sums up United’s hunger to achieve more and more and more. However, it is going to be tougher for them next season as all top six clubs are strengthening their squad with top players and it will definitely be interesting to check the odds on be win about United credential title challenge for next season.

With the emergence of resurgence Liverpool under Kenny Dalglish, Manchester City with their bottomless pit money from their owners and ready to attrack top players with Champions League football and the seemingly Roman Abramovich ready to rejuvenate the aging Chelsea squad with his Russian money, English Premier League fans across the world will be the ones that are most excited with the prospect of the entertainment from arguably the best league in the world.

La Liga – Winners: Barcelona

In recent years, the Spanish League has been a two horse race between arguably the two biggest clubs in the world, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona has won the league the last two occasions, and their current side is dubbed as potentially the greatest team to have played the game. Barcelona made some minor changes in the summer, as Ibrahimovic was sold, but David Villa brought in, as well as squad players like Mascherano and Affelay.

Barcelona started as favourites, but a new Real Madrid, managed by Real Madrid were to give them a close challenge. Despite drawing their first game, Real Madrid started off the season very well, and were ahead of Barcelona, who lost to newly promoted (now relegated) Hercules at the Nou Camp 2-0, which shocked the footballing world. Real Madrid and Barcelona met at the Nou Camp in November, with Madrid in 1st place. Barcelona won the match 5-0, and it was regarded as one of the best team performances of all time. As the season progressed, Barcelona was comfortably above Real Madrid, but a few points dropped would make it closer. However, Real Madrid couldn’t close the gap, and instead lost a few times at home, to end the title race and Mourinho’s 9 year home unbeaten run.

Real Madrid won the Spanish Cup final, but lost out to Barcelona in the league as well as Champions League. Barcelona secured the title with 3 games remaining as a 1-1 draw at Levante was good enough. Messi has had an unbelievable season scoring 52 goals in all competitions so far. Xavi and Iniesta have continued their great form, which puts them as one of the best players in the world. David Villa, despite losing form towards the end of the season, has been clinical for Barcelona in his first season. Overall, one of the best teams of all time clinched a 3rd title in a row, and there could be more success to come, as they play Manchester United at Wembley for the Champions League.

Serie A – Winners: AC Milan

AC Milan started this season with a new manager, who wasn’t a well heard name outside of Italy, called Massimiliano Allegri. Having not won the title since the 2003/2004 season, the club was on a lot of pressure, as Juventus and Inter Milan had won all the previous titles since then. Ibrahimovic was signed for AC Milan, who had previously played for rivals Juventus and Inter Milan. Kevin Prince Boateng and Robinho were also brought in, as AC Milan aimed to have more attacking threat this season. After comfortably winning their first game 4-0 against Lecce, they would slip up a few times in the weeks after to the likes of Cesena, Catania and Lazio.

With Inter Milan struggling following Mourinho’s depature, as well as Roma’s and Juventus’s decrease in form, the season was a great chance where a transitional AC Milan team could go and grab the league. AC Milan didn’t reach the top of the league until November, when they defeated Palermo at home. From that point, AC Milan, with a few dropped points here and there, never looked like losing the league, as they stayed first in the league throughout the whole season. Antonio Cassano was bought in January, to bolster up the attacking options, as well as Vam Bommel to add more experience in the midfield. With the other teams failing to put a lot of pressure on AC Milan, with the exception of rivals Inter Milan who had never given up, but were beaten 3-0 by AC which all but ended their hopes of winning the league.

AC Milan wrapped up the title against Roma with a 0-0 draw, with 2 games still remaining to play. Robinho, Pato and Ibrahimovic all have 14 goals scored in the league, with one game remaining, which shows the attacking threat of this Milan team, and with defenders like Thiago Silva and Nesta, they always had enough ability to win this league, and will start next season as favourites too. Next season, they will hope to have a better impact on the Champions League, as the team hasn’t looked like winning it since their 7th title in 2007.

Premier League – Final Weeks of the Season

Posted by admin on May 6th, 2011

This Premier League has been one of the closest and most exciting of all time, and we reach it’s climax in just over 3 weeks time. Yet still, we still don’t know what teams will be relegated, what teams will be representing England in Europe next season, and the Premier League trophy still hasn’t reached it’s destination. It should make up to a terrific finale to the season, and nobody will be able to take their eyes off it!

Premier League Winners

At the beginning of the season, it was regarded anyone from the top 5 could win it, including Man City and Tottenham. However, we were soon to find out that perhaps it’s one year too soon for them, falling adrift from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. At the beginning of the season, Chelsea came flying out of the traps, and were made overwhelming favourites after winning their first 5 games, all by convincing score lines, whereas Arsenal had dropped a few points, and United had dropped more points, and uncharacteristically from winning positions. Towards Christmas United had improved, whilst Chelsea had declined losing 5 games. United on the other hand, were still undefeated.

In January Chelsea were ruled out of winning the title by most critics, as United were going head to head with Arsenal. Going into the final 10 games of the season, Arsenal and Manchester United couldn’t be separated, but pundits were starting to believe this was Arsenal’s year as they had the easier fixture list and were hoping to win a famous quadruple. It was amazing how times had changed though, as they lost the Carling Cup final in the last minute to Birmingham, before exits to Barcelona and United in the Champions League and FA Cup respectively. Arsenal still had to focus on the Premier League, but their inexperienced side couldn’t handle the pressure, dropping home points to Blackburn, Sunderland and Liverpool before losing at Bolton. Their title dream had finished, with left United, who hasn’t had the spectacular of all seasons, in the driving seat, as they were 6 points ahead with four games to go. However, with United losing to Arsenal, who are effectively out of the race, and Chelsea beating Tottenham controversially, it has brought the forgotten team of Chelsea back in the title race.

They have picked up 25 points from a possible 27, and now face United this Sunday at Old Trafford. Both teams have it in their hands, although United have the edge, being at home, and a win will all but secure them the title. Three points is the difference at the moment, with the same goal difference. Chelsea need to win at Old Trafford, and that would make them favourites to go on to win the league. Anything less, and United losing the title will be minimal as they would need 4 points from Blackburn away and Blackpool at home. Arsenal, who have been in the title race for so long this season, are not mathematically out of the race yet, although they need a miracle to win the league, but the future for next season is certainly bright, but the club needs a trophy, so this season would be considered as another disappointment. United knocked out Chelsea in the Champions League, and now face Barcelona in the final, so United are hoping for a famous double.

Race for Fourth

It’s been Tottenham or Manchester City for the 4th place in the Premier League since the start of the season. The first game of the season was a matchup between the two sides, which was an entertaining 0-0 at White Hart Lane. With new players for City, and Tottenham having the Champions League to focus on, City have been above Tottenham for most of the year, and are in touching distance to finally qualify for the Champions League next season. Tottenham, obviously finished fourth last year, and cemented 4th place with a win at the City of Manchester Stadium. They meet again midweek, but this time, Tottenham need to win to stand any chance of reaching fourth place. The gap is currently 7 points with only a possible 12 to play. Tottenham need to win all their remaining games, and hope City drop points in 2 of the 3 other games. It’s certainly not impossible, as City have to visit Everton and Bolton which are not easy games.

However, Tottenham need to get maximum points, which means wins against City and Liverpool away, which is a huge ask. City also have the FA Cup final to look forward to, as they will need to beat Stoke which will end their 35 years of hurt, last being successful in 1976. Tottenham will be slightly disappointed with their league form this season, but the future is looking bright for them if they keep their biggest players. Tottenham will be delighted with their first run in the Champions League, beating the likes of Inter and AC Milan, before getting knocked out by Real Madrid. City are expected to get fourth, but you just never know in football.

Relegation

This has been one of the most exciting relegation battles of all time, as at one point in this season, 12 teams have one point being considered by football pundits to face the drop. Fulham, Everton, Stoke and even Liverpool were once in the ‘relegation fight’ but that was just a blip as all teams are comfortably now in the top half, and Liverpool in a position to challenge for a European place. But with them being mentioned just emphasizes how close the league has been this season. Last season 32 points would have kept you safe, and with 3 games remaining, the bottom side currently sit on that total. Despite all the teams that have been there or there about in terms of the relegation zone, there are 3 games left, and still no fans know which sides will be playing Championship football next season. I personally believe that 42 points should be enough to survive, which means the likes of Sunderland, Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Brom are safe, being just 1 point away from it. So that leaves Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool, Wigan, Wolves and West Ham.

3 teams from those possible 6 will go down, and we have no idea who and that’s why this Premier League is so exciting. Some of those teams will have to face each other, and some have to play teams in the top 3, so these teams have to treat the last 3 games as three cup finals, and try to get as many points as you can get. West Ham are bottom, and three points away from safety, but all their remaining fixtures are winnable games. Blackpool, who were in the top half of the league for the majority of the season, now are out of the relegation on goal different, and their final game is at Old Trafford. Wigan and Wolves and been in and out the relegation places all season, but being out of them when the season is finished is what’s most important. It is sure to be an enthralling end to the season, and the Premier League fans cannot wait for each and every fixture to take place.

7 reasons why Chelsea paid £50 million for Torres

Posted by admin on March 2nd, 2011

Fernando Torres joined Liverpool in the summer of 2007 from Atletico Madrid for a fee of £20million. Yesterday he joined Chelsea, the team he has scored against seven times in the colours of Liverpool, 5 of them being in the league, and two of them in the Champions League.

Torres made his debut against Aston Villa in the first game of the season on the 11th of August, and had a good performance but didn’t finish the match with a goal in a 2-1 win. His next game was his home debut, against league rivals Chelsea, and he scored in the first 15 minutes in a 1-1 draw. The Liverpool fans quickly started to worship Torres, and knew that he could potentially be a legend at the club, and help the team win trophies. Assisted by Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres outpaced Chelsea defender Ben-Haim before placing a fantastic finish against Chelsea keeper Petr Cech. The Kop fans were in ecstasy then, but who would of thought that three years later they would be burning their jerseys?

In the semi finals of the Champions League in 2008, Liverpool had drew 1-1 in the first leg at Anfield with John Arne Riise scoring an own goal in the last minute. In the second leg, they were 1-0 down 1-0 before Fernando Torres made his contribution with another well taken finish in the bottom corner, after a brilliant through ball from team mate Yossi Benayoun, who is also now at Chelsea. Unfortunately for Liverpool it would Chelsea progressing to the final, with the match finishing 3-2 after extra time.

Almost a year later, Fernando Torres would find the net once again against Petr Cech and Chelsea. It was a crucial game, as both teams were hoping to win the title, with Manchester United in first place. Frank Lampard got sent off on the hour mark, and Liverpool had pressed for a winner, and eventually found it in the 89th minute through Fernando Torres. A Fabio Aurelio cross down the left found Fernando Torres to head it goal wards from the near post beating John Terry in the air, and the ball came off the post before going into the net.

Just a few minutes later Torres scored against to round off a brilliant afternoon for Liverpool, as Benayoun caught Ashley Cole on the ball, before setting up Torres for a easy finish to win the game 2-0.

Liverpool met Chelsea again in the same season, but this time in the Champions League quarter finals and Guus Hiddink was in charge of Chelsea. It turned out to be a fantastic tie for the neutral. The first leg was once agains at Anfield and Fernando Torres scored as early as the 6th minute, and fans were expecting the same result as a few months before. Alvaro Arbeloa running down the right side managed to cross the ball in the box and for him to Torres to execute the finish once again, against Petr Cech. That was the first goal of the tie, but there was to be 11 more goals in the tie. The first leg finished 3-1 to Chelsea, and then the second leg at Stamford Bridge finished 4-4, with Liverpool putting up a great fight, but still going out.

Fernando Torres was out of form last season, when Liverpool missed out on Champions League places, with a 7th placed finish. Torres also under performed in the World Cup and people then questioned if he would still carry on at Liverpool, and he said he was happy at the club. This season started like the last one, and Torres was struggling to find his form. Liverpool entertained Chelsea on November 7th and Chelsea quickly started to lose momentum in the league after a sparkling start. Fernando Torres was excellent in this game, and this performance was in tone with the ones which made him such a big name in the first place.

Torres scored early on in the first half to give Liverpool the lead. A exquisite ball from Dirk Kuyt found Fernando Torres, who judged his run, and the pace of the ball well, before blocking off John Terry to finish into the bottom corner, albeit slightly fortuitous with the well he connected with the ball.

The second was more impressive and one of the best goals he had scored in a Liverpool shirt. He picked the ball up in the right corner outside of the penalty area, before driving in the area against Ivanovic before opening up a shooting chance and finished a glancing shot into the far corner, leaving Petr Cech with no chance of saving it. Chelsea saw that day, and previous days, what qualities Fernando Torres had and will be delighted to have signed him for a record British fee of £50million.

Stop Hitting Yourself

Posted by admin on February 27th, 2011

Bryan Carrasco is taking “football diving” to the next level….

Ronaldinho Debut Flamengo

Posted by admin on February 3rd, 2011

Take a look at some of Ronaldinho moves in his debut as the captain for his new club – Flamengo.

Top 5 Best Performing Players of Premier League 2010/11 So Far

Posted by admin on January 27th, 2011

5th Dimitar Berbatov

He is currently the top goal scorer in the Premier League, joint with ex-team mate Carlos Tevez. The reason why Berbatov isn’t higher on this list because he hasn’t shown the consistency he would have hoped for. His goals have come in spurts, and between each spurt is a goal less run, which frustrates the player and therefore doesn’t play to his full potential. This season, when he plays in his top form, he has improved his work rate, his finishing and overall play. When he isn’t in the right frame of mind, he looks sluggish, lacking the work rate, lacking confidence in front of goal, and often up front is subdued. He had scored 6 premier league goals in as many games up to mid September, including a fantastic hat trick against archrivals Liverpool. For his next goal, he had to wait until the end of November, when he scored 5 goals in one game against Blackburn. There is no doubt he has been a big threat this season, but would hope to cause opponents more of a struggle, especially away from home, as only two of his 14 goals have come away from Old Trafford. I would have put Berbatov’s team mate Nemanja Vidic in at 5th place instead, but Manchester United’s scoring this season has relied a lot of Berbatov so far with the underperforming Wayne Rooney, where as Vidic is the commander of a fantastic back line, that has been a lot luckier with injuries than last season. The back four is the best in the Premier League, and as the season will end, it may be Vidic and co who will get the plaudits instead of the strikers.

4th Rafael Van Der Vaart

This has become a fantastic signing for Harry Redknapp and Tottenham. He is only 27 years old, and a player still in his prime. Bought for a fee of £8million on the last day of the transfer window, he has become a success at White Hart Lane this season. So far he has scored 9 goals for Tottenham, and each single one has been crucial. He won Premier League player of the month in October, has he scored nearly a goal a game, and also came up with a few assists. Despite being out with a few injuries here and there, each game he has been considered a massive threat from the opposition. Arguably his best game for Tottenham was the North London derby, when he set up two goals, and also won and scored the penalty, in a great 3-2 win over Arsenal. His link up play with the likes of Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Peter Crouch in particular has been fantastic, and he has also proved his talent in the Champions League where he experience will be good for the Champions League debut’s. He has already become a fan favourite at White Hart Lane, and not only because of his technically gifted football skills. He plays each game with passion, and will celebrate more than any other person in the ground if Tottenham score a goal. He is driven with passion to have success at Tottenham, and with him staying injury free, they have a good chance of doing so. (more…)

Top 5 Players I would like to see in the Premier League

Posted by admin on January 18th, 2011

5th Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic has been a class act for all the big clubs across Europe, including Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan from Italy, his one year spell at Barcelona, and his earlier days at Ajax. He has been one of the most talked about players in the last decade for his unique way of playing football. He has his critics as well as his admirers but I must admit I am certainly the latter. His touch and finishing ability are fantastic, with his overall play generally good, as he often can be the target man, as well as being an integral part in a team’s build up. Some people often say he isn’t a ‘big game’ player and this has let him down, as he has struggled to perform in the Champions League latter stages, and his work rate is always questioned, but this can be confused with his laid back approach to the game. I would, and everyone else would, be intrigued on how he could cope in the Premier League. The Premier League is a lot faster than other leagues and players will need to depend on hustle and bustle as much as their technical qualities. He has been targeted by Premier League teams before, so it may happen sometime in the future.

4th Wesley Sneijder

One of the best players in the 2010 calendar year. The best player for Inter in their treble season and best player for Holland in their World Cup campaign finishing runners up. Manchester United have always been interested in the midfielder, as the ideal replacement for Paul Scholes. Sneijder’s passing ability is spectacular and accurate many more times than not, and is often creating goals for his team mates. He gets on the score sheet too, with great shooting ability from open play or from a direct free kick. In comparison to Ibrahimovic, I’d think he would suit the Premier League better, with his mobility and maybe having won everything at Inter, and had a spell at Madrid, the English League is perhaps waiting for the very talented Dutch man.

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Top 5 Underperforming Premier League Players of 2010/2011

Posted by admin on January 14th, 2011

5th Emmanuel Adebayor

It may or may not be his fault, but Adebayor has not played nowhere near well enough as he has in previous seasons. When he was in Arsenal’s team, he was an integral part in the team that nearly won the league in the 2007/2008 season, he has contributed so many goals and was one of the most talked about strikers. Since joining Manchester City, he has had a downfall spiral in form, and currently finds himself 4th choice striker at Manchester City. Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and new signing Edin Dzeko will now be firm favourites to start ahead of Adebayor. His best performances have been in the Europa League, as he scored a hat-trick in one of the group games. He has only notched up 8 league appearances in the last and has been disappointing in all of those, only nothing up one goal, which was a penalty in a 2-1 defeat. Whenever he has been chosen to play, he has underperformed, and probably due to lack of confidence for losing his place in the starting line up. He has been rumoured to leave Manchester City to resurrect his footballing career.

4th Andrei Arshavin

Arguably one of Arsenal’s best players last season, but this season he has fell short of last season’s form. This season started off well as he scored two goals in the opening 3 matches which occurred in August. Since then he had to wait till the end of November to score again in the league. In Europe and other cup competitions he has played more and has more goals per game ratio. However, in the league his form has continuously dropped and has found himself very disappointing of late, and has recently started the Premier League games on the bench instead. After performing so well in Euros 2008, Arsenal bought him the following January for £15 million and had expected him to be one of their leading stars. He looked convincing in his first 18 months at the club, but his form the majority part of this season has been disappointing and arguably one of the most frustrated players in the Premier League, considering the amount of quality he has showed before. He has the second half of the season to get his form back on track.

3rd Steven Gerrard

There has been no doubt that this player has had a fantastic career. Without him playing for Liverpool in the last 10 or so years, then they would be far worse off. Every trophy Liverpool has won in the last 8 years, Steven Gerrard has been the main protagonist for the Liverpool side. When Liverpool came closest to winning the league, in the 2008/2009 season, Steven Gerrard was in unstoppable form, scoring 16 goals from the midfield position. He’d also notched up 9 assists that year too, to give Liverpool a real chance of winning the league, only to fall short by 4 points. Since that season, it has gone downhill for Liverpool and Steven Gerrard. All the off the field antics, between managers and owners, Steven Gerrard hasn’t been able to perform to his best this season. Coming off the bench against Napoli in the Europa League group game, and scoring a hat trick has been Steven Gerrard’s game of the season. Other than that, he has been a shadow of his former self, scoring just four Premier League goals so far this season, which is nothing compared to his normal self. Last weekend he got sent off for a wreck less challenge in the FA Cup 3rd round against Manchester United, and it has summed up Steven Gerrard’s season so far.

2nd Fernando Torres

It is no surprise why Liverpool have been doing so poorly this season compared to them two years ago. The fans can blame the managers, owners etc, but realistically they are heavenly dependable on their two world class players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Since signing Fernando Torres for the 2007/2008 season, he has been in terrific form. Scoring 24 goals in his first season, followed by an impressive 14 the next season, when he had many injuries too. His form didn’t fall too much last season with 18 goals in Liverpool’s poor campaign. After a disappointing World Cup for Spain, he returned to Liverpool with people doubting his commitment to the club, and still struggling with injuries. This season has been hard for him so far, but his two goals against Chelsea in a 2-0 win, just shows how well he can perform, but this season he has unfortunately not been up to the task. He has scored 6 goals so far, which is disappointing for his standards, and when Torres struggles, Liverpool struggle, and when him and Gerrard both struggle, then Liverpool will find themselves in trouble, which is why they are currently in the bottom half of the table.

1st Wayne Rooney

It’s a bit of a surprise that the most under-performing player this season currently plays for the team that are flying high at the top, and still remain undefeated. However, the most underperforming player this season has to be Wayne Rooney without any doubt. Since joining Manchester United as a teenager, he has gradually improved every season. In the 2009/2010 season, he was Manchester United’s best player, scoring 26 goals in the Premier League, as well as great Champions League performances too.

Since injuring his ankle in Munich back in March, he simply hasn’t been the same player. His performances in the World Cup were terrible, and often slated from the English press. When he returned to Manchester United for the start of this season, he had more troubles, including his private life affecting his game. He also at one point wanted to leave Manchester United, as he thought they were lacking ambition in the transfer market. He then changed his mind and signed a 5 year deal, and after recovering from injuries he has been able to play for Manchester United after missing chunks of the season. From the games he has played though, he has only scored 3 goals in all competitions all season, and only 1 of them coming from open play. His recent performances have been improving, and some people think he can recapture last year’s form. He is thankful that the likes of Berbatov, Hernandez and Nani have been finding the net for Manchester United this year, or else Manchester United would be chasing the leaders instead of being in the lead. Rooney will now hope to start his season now, and put bad 7 /8 months behind him, and add goals to his good performances, and not many people would back against him doing it.

Next Premier League Manager to be sacked?

Posted by admin on January 9th, 2011

Roy Hodgson - Liverpool

Liverpool and Roy started the season sluggish and since then has gone from bad to worse to terrible. In the first couple of months it was nothing disastrous but defeats to rivals Manchester United, Everton as well as the cup upset against Northampton didn’t do Hodgson any favours. However, this Christmas period has got even worse, as defeats at Newcastle, then home to Wolves before losing so effortlessly against Blackburn a few days ago, has put Roy Hodgson Liverpool career in huge jeopardy. Many thought he would of have been sacked by now, but as things stand he will be the manager when Liverpool take on Manchester United on Sunday. If it turns out to be an embarrassing loss, then he must go surely.

Avram Grant – West Ham

West Ham only survived relegation last season by the skin of their teeth, and subsequently Zola was sacked as manager. The newly appoint Avram Grant however, has not injected optimism in his first 6 months in charge. West Ham were the slow starts of the Premier League, losing their first 4 matches without putting up a fight. With West Ham planted to the bottom of the table, Avram was supposedly given 3 matches to save his job, and his players responded getting 5 possible points from those matches. Was that enough to save his job? Since then the Hammers lost 5-0 at Newcastle, to put Avram Grant’s job more insecure.

Carlo Ancelotti – Chelsea

After doing the double last season in his first season, his second season couldn’t of started much better in the first couple of months. In the first five league games of the season, they won all of them, scoring 21 goals in the progress and conceding just one. Ever since Ray Wilkins has left Chelsea have only won two games and lost to the likes of Sunderland, Wolves and Arsenal as well as disappointing draws too. In the last 10 matches, only 3 teams in the Premier League have worse form, and this particular form could get Ancelotti sacked. Mourinho and Scolari have been surprise sackings of Chelsea in the past, therefore people shouldn’t be too surprised if Ancelotti gets the sack next.

Gerard Houllier – Aston Villa

After an inconsistent start in the Premier League for Aston Villa, when they had a caretaker manager in charge, they wanted to bring someone with experience in, and that was Gerard Houllier. However, since his arrival, it has been the opposite and the form of his team has been poor, and they currently sit in the relegation zone. Aston Villa in recent seasons have been challenging for Europe but staying in the Premier League now seems like a more possible task instead. Houllier hasn’t been given a lot of luck so far, with so many injuries to his squad. Apparently he is going to be given more time, therefore he needs to spend wisely in the transfer window and climb up the table quickly.

Arsenal v Man City – Preview

Posted by admin on January 5th, 2011

3rd place in the Premier League host 2nd place at the Emirates, as Arsenal and Manchester City battle it out against each other. Neither side will want to lose ground on Manchester United, as these two are currently the closest challengers. Arsenal defeated Manchester City 3-0 at Eastlands earlier on this season, when the home side were down to 10 men after just five minutes. Tottenham and Chelsea not far behind these teams, and as it’s so tight at the top of the league, it could only take a game or two, to go from 2nd to 5th and outside the Champions League places.

Key Players

For the home side, Samir Nasri is the biggest threat at the moment, and undoubtedly Arsenal’s best player this season. Fabregas is just as vital for Arsenal, as the team are far better once he is in the side. Robin Van Persie is back to full fitness and wants to get back to his best, after he scored on Saturday against Birmingham. For the visitors, Tevez has been City’s biggest threat this season, and their top goal scorer. De Jong in midfield has been impressive, and will be key to breaking up Arsenal’s attack.

Unavailable Players

Arsenal will be able to field their strongest possible team with the exception of Thomas Vermaelen who has been out for most of this season. Manchester City will miss David Silva and Mario Balotelli which will be a big blow for their attacking side of the game. Mario Balotelli has had a great scoring record recently and David Silva is quickly becoming one of their most important players.

Previous Head to Head (Last 5 Matches)

Man City 0-3 Arsenal – 24/10/10
Arsenal 0-0 Man City – 24/04/10
Man City 4-2 Arsenal – 12/09/09
Arsenal 2-0 Man City – 04/04/09
Man City 3-0 Arsenal – 22/11/09

Form Guide (Last 6 Matches)

Arsenal – W,W, L, W, D, W
Man City – W, W, L, W, W, W