The highlight games for this weekend’s action are MANCHESTER UNITED versus NEWCASTLE and LIVERPOOL versus MAN CITY. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these as well as all game week 11 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication
Game Week-11
Friday 14th
BRENTFORD v BRIGHTON
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
The Bees are hoping to sting a Seagull in this Friday Night Football at the Community Centre, which now has a sponsor and a new name.
The Gtech Stadium.
The company specialises in Cordless Appliances for the home and garden, with the Brentford players and Thomas often seen using them to mow the pitch of a Saturday morning.
The Bees needed more than cordless power on Saturday at St James Park and had to be plugged in following the devastating away defeat against the Magpies by a 5-1 scoreline.
Ivan Toney converted a penalty early in the 2nd-half after Newcastle had taken a 2-goal lead into the break.
Unfortunately for the travelling faithful, Mr T’s unique spot-kick proved to be just a consolation with the home team scoring another 3 to inflict the defeat on Thomas Frank’s Bees.
Ivan has successfully converted 18 out of 18 penalties.
Even if Gareth Southgate doesn’t think the lad is capable of being involved in the World Cup in Qatar, it might be worth taking Mr Toney to throw on minutes before the obligatory penalty shootout that no doubt the Three Lions will face.
Ethan Pinnock, making his first start after a long injury, had a nightmare game, gifting the Newcastle forward the ball to score the 4th and then deflecting past his own goalkeeper late on in proceedings to compound the bad day on Tyneside.
Brentford sit in 11th place in the Premier League table with 10 points from 9 fixtures played.
There is a cluster of 4 teams that have 10 points, those being West Ham, Everton, Brentford and Liverpool.
Since the brilliant display against Manchester United, the Bees have won 1 game from the 7 that followed, with 3 draws thrown in.
That would mean there are 3 losses in the 7 too, which does need addressing before Brentford slip close to the relegation zone.
Two of the 3 defeats have come away from home with the Bees gaining 7 of the 10 points whilst cordless at the Gtech.
In Roberto De Zerbi’s first game at the Amex, Brighton suffered a defeat against Tottenham by a 1-0 score, with the goal conceded midway through the 1st-half.
The Seagulls did huff and puff a bit like those Big Bad Wolf but in truth, never looked like scoring.
The defeat drops Brighton down to 7th in the table with the same 14 points as Newcastle who leapfrog above from the 8 fixtures played.
Newcastle have completed 9 games.
In contrast to Brentford, Brighton have gained 7 points away from home added to the 7 achieved at the Amex.
A quick note regarding Brighton’s Enock Mwepu, the Zambian lad has had to pack in football due to the diagnosis of a hereditary heart condition.
The condition, which can worsen over time, would put Enock at an extremely high risk of suffering a potentially fatal cardiac event if he were to continue playing competitive football.
As someone who has suffered the same problems, this EveryTip contributor would like to wish Mr Mwepu all the best for the future.
In last season’s fixture at the Brentford Community Stadium, a solitary goal by Leandro Trossard in the 90th minute gave Graham’s Wizards the away day victory from a 1-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Brentford at 21/10, the draw at 12/5 and 7/5 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 17/10 that Ivan Toney Scores Anytime and 23/10 that Leandro Trossard Scores Anytime.
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Saturday 15th
LEICESTER v CRYSTAL PALACE
12.30 in England
BT Sport
After a brilliant display against Nottingham Forest on Monday, most assumed that Leicester had turned a corner, however, following Saturday’s fixture against Bournemouth, the corner turned presented a Cul-de-sac.
Patson Daka was handed a start in place of Jamie Vardy following Patson’s goal against Forest and made it 2 in 2, hitting home the opener after 10 minutes to give the Foxes a lead at the break.
Unfortunately for the travelling faithful, who underwent a 300 mile/6 hour round trip to the Vitality, the wrong turn appeared in the 2nd-half with Bournemouth scoring twice to inflict the defeat on Leicester by a 2-1 score.
What made things worse (if possible) for Brendan Rodgers was his old Celtic player, Ryan Christie scored the winner for the Cherries, heaping more misery on Brendan’s not so Wonderfuls who have suffered 7 defeats in the opening 9 fixtures.
Leicester are back at the foot of the table with 4 points from 9 played, following all of the Game Week-10 fixtures.
After the victory against Forest on Monday, the pressure had eased on Mr Rodgers, however, the fans were not happy after the long trip South and vented their anger towards the players at the final whistle.
Brendan Rodgers might just be back under the pump this week and if the Eagles devour the Foxes, it could be goodbye for little Brendan.
‘He’s Celtic, United but Ryan has decided that Bournemouth is the best place to be.’
Crystal Palace recorded their 1st victory in the last 5 Premier League games on Sunday, inflicting a defeat on Leeds United at Selhurst Park by a 2-1 score.
It was the away team that started the brightest and scored an early justified goal after 10 minutes that sparked the Eagles into life.
Odsonne Edouard scored an equaliser midway through the 1st-half to take both teams in level at the break.
It was Patrick’s Palace that excelled after the interval being easily the dominant side which paid off when Eberechi Eze scored what proved to be the winner after 76 minutes.
Double E was superb throughout the 90 and although it’s too late for a trip to Qatar, will no doubt be in the next England Managers’ thoughts once the World Cup is over.
It was a deserved victory for Mr Vieira and his set of Eagles who have been competing in the previous 4 where there were 2 draws and 2 defeats.
Crystal Palace sit 15th in the table with the same 9 points as Leeds United and Aston Villa, sat between the two on goal difference.
Palace and Leeds have only completed 8 fixtures, not the 9 Villa have played.
When the Foxes took on the Eagles at the King Power back in April 2022, Leicester got the victory over Crystal Palace by a 2-1 scoreline.
Ademola Lookman and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the goals for the home team both before the break.
Wilfried Zaha pulled a goal back midway through the 2nd-half tapping home after his initial spot-kick was saved by Kasper Schmeichel.
With no further goals, Leicester gained all 3-points.
Betfred offer Leicester at 13/10, the draw at 5/2 and 11/5 for Crystal Palace to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Jamie Vardy Scores First and 7/5 that Wilfried Zaha Scores Anytime.
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FULHAM v BOURNEMOUTH
15.00 in England
Marco Silva was left unhappy and frustrated after Fulham suffered a defeat against West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.
There were a few contentious issues throughout the 90 minutes that resulted in the Hammers getting the victory by a 3-1 scoreline.
Andreas Pereira, who was at Manchester United, in the short time that David Moyes was in charge, had a mixed 1st-half.
After opening the scoring for the away team, the Brazilian then got involved in a wrestling match with Craig Dawson that saw the on-field referee, Chris Kavanagh, firstly warn the youngster and then after not heeding the warning, award West Ham a penalty due to Andreas hauling down the veteran Hammers Defender.
It was a penalty, despite what other individuals including Marco Silva, Dion Dublin and Danny Murphy think.
After the penalty was converted, both teams went in level at the interval.
West Ham then scored 2 controversial goals that by the letter of the law (regardless of whether people agree with it!) should not have counted.
More on that in the Southampton v West Ham preview.
It was another defeat, the 4th from the last 6 fixtures that sees Fulham drop to 9th in the table with 11 points from the opening 9 fixtures.
Gary O’Neil is continuing the interview for the permanent manager’s position at the Vitality and instead of a Zoom call, it was now a face-to-face meeting with the new owner Bill Foley at the Vitality on Saturday.
Billionaire Bill was in the executive suite to witness Bournemouth’s brilliant 2nd-half comeback against Leicester.
After conceding a Foxes goal early in the game and trailing at the interval, another inspirational half-time speech by Gary helped the Cherries recover to score twice after the break and get the victory by a 2-1 score.
Bill and the Americans have finally put pen to paper and sealed the deal as the high rollers like to say, in purchasing Bournemouth from Maxim Demin.
Phillip Billings and Ryan Christie scored the 2nd-half goals to maintain Gary O’Neil’s unbeaten streak since being appointed following Scott Parker’s departure.
It’s now 3 draws and 2 wins under Caretaker Gary who surely must be given the job permanently.
That said, The Yanks may want a stellar name so it’s not a certainty, however, Big Bill would be daft not to stick with Mr O’Neil, at least for the time being.
Bournemouth are in 8th place in the table with 12 points from 9 fixtures played.
These two met last season but the fixture was a Championship affair with both sharing the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
After a goalless 1st-half, Dominic Solanke scored within a minute of the restart to give the Cherries a lead.
Tosin Adarabioyo equalised for the Cottagers in the 84th minute.
Fulham went on to win the Championship gaining 90 points, with Bournemouth finishing in 2nd place, 2-points adrift.
Betfred offer Fulham at Odds On 17/20, the draw at 3/1 and 16/5 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Aleksandar Mitrovic Scores First and Evens 1/1 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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WOLVES v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
15.00 in England
Wolves, under the caretaker guidance of the ex-Barnsley Centre-Back Steve Davis (not the Snooker player!), suffered a defeat against Chelsea on Saturday by a 3-0 scoreline.
Steve started the new boy and ex-Blue, Diego Costa but despite putting in a decent display, Wolves once again couldn’t score.
The Gold and Blacks have suffered 3 straight defeats and haven’t scored in any which does cause a big problem.
The loss leaves the Molineux Men in 18th place with 6 points from the 9 fixtures played.
Steve Davis was at Oakwell from 1991-1998 and helped Barnsley gain promotion to the Premier League in 1997, however, didn’t feature for the Super Reds in the Promised Land following an injury picked up against QPR at the beginning of 1997.
John Newsome just happened to be at Loftus Rd for the Championship fixture that resulted in a victory for Queens Park Rangers.
Steve suffered a broken leg in the game and didn’t play again that season and subsequently left Oakwell without featuring in the Premier League.
A fortnight after that fixture against QPR, John was back at Loftus Rd for an FA Cup 4th Round clash, which produced the famous overhead kick by Trevor Sinclair.
Steve Davis always says that Trevor wouldn’t have gotten to the ball if the lad was playing.
The strange thing about that promotion-winning campaign for Barnsley in 1996/97 is QPR inflicted a defeat on the Super Reds 3 times, home and away in the league and the FA Cup.
All the best for the future, Steve Davis.
Wolves are currently talking to the ex-Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Seville manager, Julen Lopetegui, following the departure of Bruno Lage, regards the vacant Manager’s position.
The Lage Louts are no more!
At the moment, there’s no confirmation of the new Manager, so more on that next week.
Nottingham Forest hosted their Midlands rivals Aston Villa on Monday Night Football.
In a lively 1st-half, Emmanuel Dennis opened the scoring for Forest heading in from close range to give the home team a lead after 15 minutes.
Aston Villa did quickly equalise, 7 minutes later and with no further significant action, both teams went in level at the break.
That unfortunately, for the watching 32,000 in attendance at the City Ground and the Millions in the boozers, was the best of the 90 minutes with nothing to write home about in the 2nd-half.
The draw by a 1-1 score, gives Nottingham Forest 5 from the opening 9 fixtures and lifts them off the bottom of the table, swapping places with Leicester.
The Villa goal scored came via a shot from outside the area.
There was a stat offered up by Sky Sports that Dean Henderson had conceded 10 goals from shots coming from outside the 18-yard box, 7 in successive games.
Maybe that’s why Manchester United let the lad go out on loan, again.
The hierarchy at the City Ground have given Steve Cooper another 3 years extension to his contract.
Whilst most think this is a positive move and in some ways it is, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Steve will stay the duration as if results don’t pick up, the Welsh lad could still be sacked.
However, it is understandable that Mr Cooper is offered some stability after bringing in so many players.
If Forest had decided to get rid, the next gaffer might not have fancied half of the players brought in, which then causes a further set of problems.
It was January 2018, when Nottingham Forest last ventured the short distance down to Molineux to take on Wolves in the 2017/18 Championship campaign.
Kieran Dowell and Ben Osborn with the Forest goals both scored in the 1st-half giving the away team the victory by a 2-0 score.
It was a surprise win considering Wolves went on to lift the Championship title, with Nottingham Forest finishing in 17th.
Betfred offer Wolves at Odds On 4/6, the draw at 3/1 and 9/2 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer slight Odds On 4/5 that Both Teams DON’T Score and 12/5 that there are Under 1.5 Goals.
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TOTTENHAM v EVERTON
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Tottenham got the away day victory in the late Saturday afternoon kickoff against Brighton at the Amex.
It was an emotional game that came after one of the Spurs staff had sadly passed away earlier in the week.
Gian Piero Ventrone was an Italian fitness instructor that Antonio Conte had worked with before and had brought in to make the Tottenham boys fitter.
It is working as the players have increased in the running stats.
Antonio was visibly emotional before the game and it was fitting from a Tottenham perspective that a solitary Harry Kane goal midway through the 1st-half, gave the away team the victory by a 1-0 scoreline.
Son Heung-Min started again but failed to score, however, did provide the assist for Harry.
Nice-One Son has scored 3 goals from the bench but would prefer to start and try and contribute from the beginning of matches.
Antonio’s Spurs remain 3rd in the table with 20 points from the 9 fixtures played.
Tottenham face Eintracht Frankfurt in London for the reverse fixture of the Champions League group game.
The away trip yielded a point from a goalless draw.
Everton took an early lead against Manchester United late on Sunday when Alex Iwobi capitalised after Amadou Onana pinched the ball from Casemiro.
Alex eventually received the ball and smashed it past David De Gea after just 5 minutes of play.
Unfortunately for the Toffee faithful, that was that and after United scored twice before the break, the home defeat occurred by a 2-1 scoreline.
The loss is the first in 6 for Frank Lampard’s Everton, which leaves the Blue half of Merseyside with the same 10 points as the Red half.
With Brentford and West Ham also having 10, Everton are 12th in the table on goal difference.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin made a brief appearance from the bench gaining 15 minutes of game time after being out of action for a couple of months.
Dominic will enhance the Toffees but the return has to be managed properly meaning minutes will be rationalised.
When Frank’s Toffees last ventured down to the Chas and Dave back in March 2022, Antonio’s Spurs gained the victory by a 5-0 scoreline.
Michael Keane, the Everton Defender, helped Tottenham on the way scoring an own goal in the 14th minute.
Son Heung-Min added a 2nd, 3 minutes later with Harry Kane scoring just before the break to give the home team a comfortable lead.
Sergio Reguilon, who had replaced Ryan Sessegnon at half-time, scored within a minute of the restart.
Harry Kane then rounded off the destruction, scoring the 5th Tottenham goal on 55 minutes.
The surprise then was that there were no further goals in the 35 minutes still left to play.
Betfred offer Tottenham at Odds On 1/2, the draw at 18/5 and 6/1 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 23/10 that Richarlison Scores Anytime and 13/10 that Tottenham Score in Both Halves.
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***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Kepa Arrizabalaga- Chelsea
RIGHT-BACK- Kieran Trippier-Newcastle
CENTRE-BACK- Trevoh Chalobah- Chelsea
CENTRE-BACK- Eric Dier- Tottenham
LEFT-BACK- Joao Cancelo- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Mason Mount- Chelsea
MIDFIELDER- Phil Foden- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Bruno Guimaraes- Newcastle
FORWARD- Bukayo Saka- Arsenal
FORWARD- Gabriel Martinelli- Arsenal
FORWARD- Harry Kane- Tottenham
STAR MAN- Bukayo Saka- Arsenal
Sunday 16th
ASTON VILLA v CHELSEA
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
Aston Villa conceded a goal after 15 minutes against Nottingham Forest on Monday Night Football but quickly equalised 7 minutes later, through a superb strike by the old stager Ashley Young.
The Grand Old Duke Of Hertfordshire is 37 now.
With no further goals, both went off for the half-time cup of tea level.
Nothing really happened in the 2nd-half apart from a few Handbags at Dawn between the two sets of players but with no more goals, both shared the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Aston Villa sit in 16th place with 9 points from the 9 games played.
Chelsea continued their unbeaten run under Graham Potter who has been in charge of 4 fixtures (2 Premier League and 2 Champions League) and has a record of 3 wins and 1 draw.
The 2nd Premier League victory in successive weeks came at Stamford Bridge on Saturday with Graham’s New Blue Wizards inflicting a defeat on Wolves by a 3-0 scoreline.
Kai Havertz scored a looping header on the stroke of half-time to give the home team a lead at the break.
Christian Pulisic added a 2nd just after the restart and with time almost up, the Albania youngster, Armando Broja, introduced by Mr Potter in the 72nd minute scored his 1st ever Chelsea goal.
That was the 3rd Premier League victory in a row, which includes the final game of Thomas Tuchel’s reign when the Blue Engines got the points against West Ham before Mr Tuchel was sacked.
The 3 points gained lifts Chelsea above Manchester United and Brighton into 4th place in the table with 16 points and the added advantage of only completing 8 games not the 9 others around them have played.
Chelsea head to Italy to face AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday.
In last week’s home fixture against the Rossoneri, Graham’s New Blue Wizards got the victory by a 3-0 score.
It was Boxing Day 2021 when Chelsea last visited Villa Park.
Reece James scored an own goal to gift Aston Villa an early lead before Jorginho converted a penalty to take both teams in level at the break.
It was Thomas’s Blue Engines that were the dominant side in the 2nd-half with Romelu Lukaku and another converted Jorginho penalty giving Chelsea the victory by a 3-1 away day scoreline.
Steven Gerrard missed the game due to picking up the horrendous Covid-19 disease.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 7/2, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 17/20 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Jorginho Scores Anytime and 21/10 that Chelsea Win To Nil.
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LEEDS UNITED v ARSENAL
14.00 in England
‘Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again, Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again.’
After being the dominant team for much of the 1st-half at Selhurst Park on Sunday that produced a Pascal Struijk goal against Crystal Palace, the energy then sapped away from Jesse’s Whites.
Alphabet Struijk’s goal came off the back of some great work from Brenden Aaronson.
Crystal Palace then equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
It was the hosts who took control in the 2nd-half scoring a winner to inflict the defeat on Leeds United by a 2-1 score.
In truth, Leeds did play well and with energy for a good proportion of the game, however, once Palace got control of the pressing from Jesse Marsch’s tactics and started hitting the ball long, it stretched the pitch, which meant the Whites ran out of steam.
That’s 3 defeats and 2 draws from the last 5 fixtures, since the brilliant display against Chelsea in August.
Two points from a possible 15, which is simply relegation form.
Jesse’s Whites sit in 14th place, with the same 9 points as Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, having completed 8 fixtures, the same as Palace, not the 9 that Villa have played.
As for the West Yorkshire puddings, most made it back up the M1 with a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 (Blue Raspberry flavour) and a straw to share between 8.
Some are still at the tube station trying to get through the barrier with their B and Q Trade Centre card.
Marching On Together!
Arsenal returned to the summit of the Premier League after being temporarily replaced by Man City for 24 hours, following a superb victory against Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday.
Within a minute of the kickoff, the brilliant Brazilian and one of the Three Angel Gunners, Gabriel Martinelli scored the opener to settle the nerves of the watching faithful.
Liverpool equalised and with time up on the 5 minutes of 1st-half added, Bukayo Saka tapped into an empty net to give Arsenal a lead at the break.
The away team scored an equaliser just after the restart but Mikel’s Young Guns once again restored the lead, when Gabriel Jesus was kicked over in the area and a penalty was awarded.
Bukayo Saka converted the spot kick to score his 2nd and Arsenal’s 3rd which turned out to be the winning goal, giving the Gunners the victory by a 3-2 score.
Arsenal have struggled against Liverpool over recent years but the energy given by the young players, who have the youngest average age from all the Premier League teams, told against Jurgen’s Old Reds.
Arsenal sit at the top of the Premier League table with 24 points, a point more than Man City.
The fixture between the Top Two teams was postponed back in early September and is yet to be rearranged.
Pep 1 against Pep 2 will surely decide who is the most likely to be the next Premier League Champions.
John Newsome is sticking with Man City, sorry Gooners!
Back in the Summer of 2019 (not ‘69 as Bryan Adams would warble), the bosses at EveryTip gave John Newsome the arduous task of compiling a list of 20 Young Players who were 21 or under at the time that could train on and progress in the Premier League.
The following is the first player that John chose from the list of 20, with the column published on July the 31st 2019, still available to peruse in the archives.
The list was in no particular order.
‘English Premier League 2019/2020 – Best Young Players
1. Gabriel Martinelli Aged 18 Arsenal
Gabriel is a young Brazilian Striker who has just penned a new contract at Arsenal after signing for a fee of £6 Million from Ituano FC at the beginning of July 2019.
One of several Premier League new boys who have the distinction of being born in this Millennium having only just turned 18 in June.
Whilst Gabriel may not get the same game time as some of the other youngsters on show in various other Premier League sides, Gabriel, over the coming months, could quite easily push Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette for a place in the Gunners’ First Team.
On his debut in a recent Pre-Season game in America, Gabriel scored for Arsenal as Unai Emery’s side beat Colorado Rapids 3-0.
In Pre-Season Gabriel or Martinelli as he will become known, got a bit of game time and thought he’d scored his 2nd Gunners goal in the game against Lyon, however, was ruled out for offside.
Ituano FC may not be the commonest of the Brazilian teams and play at a very low level in Brazil’s footballing pyramid.
Gabriel found his way to Ituano FC which is based in São Paulo via the more commonly known Corinthian where he started playing Futsal as a youngster.
The new Technical Director at the Emirates is former Gunners midfielder Edu who has gone back to his native Brazil to beat off the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona for his fellow Brazilian and has big hopes for Gabriel Martinelli.
His pace and hard work, that of a similar mould to current Brazilian International and Everton striker Richarlison, will go a long way in making him a fans favourite at the Emirates and Gabriel will know that he has to work hard to appease the Gooners who do take some pleasing.’
Arsenal face Bodo/Glimt in Norway on Thursday before heading to West Yorkshire.
The Gunners got a convincing victory against the Norwegians last week at the Emirates by a 3-0 score.
At Elland Rd, last season, Arsenal got the away day victory over Leeds United by a 4-1 score.
Two goals from Gabriel Martinelli and a Bukayo Saka strike gave Mikel’s Young Guns a lead at the break.
Raphinha converted a penalty midway through the 2nd-half to pull a goal back for Marcelo’s Whites but ultimately this was just a consolation with Emile Smith-Rowe adding a 4th, late on to give Arsenal the win.
A quick note regarding this iconic fixture between Leeds United and Arsenal, since 2000, there have been 4 games at Elland Rd that have finished in a 4-1 scoreline in favour of Arsenal plus another that saw the Gunners get the victory by a 4-0 score.
It would be worth at least a pound on a 4-1 or 4-0 scoreline today.
Betfred offer Leeds United at 5/1, the draw at 10/3 and Odds On 4/7 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Gabriel Jesus Scores First and 6/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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MANCHESTER UNITED v NEWCASTLE
14.00 in England
Fifth v Sixth.
Manchester United got back on track after being derailed last week by the Noisy Neighbours at the Etihad.
Following that disastrous effort against Man City, Erik’s Reds headed to Goodison Park late on Sunday and despite suffering an early setback, allowing Everton to score, Antony soon equalised.
Erik Ten Hag chose Anthony Martial and Casemiro in the starting eleven, instead of Scott McTominay and put Scott, Fred and Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
After half an hour of the game, Mr Martial sustained an injury that allowed CR7 to come on.
In a scene reminiscent of action from the Bernabeu, Casemiro, who was dogged throughout, won the ball in midfield and immediately played it on to his old Real Madrid mate Cristiano Ronaldo who scored a superb landmark goal on the stroke of half-time.
With no 2nd-half goals, Manchester United hung on for the victory against Everton by a 2-1 away night scoreline.
The 3 points gained lift United up to 5th with 15 points from 8 fixtures played.
Erik Ten Hag left Fred sitting and playing with his hair and allowed Scott McTominay a brief 7-minute cameo at the end.
Scott picked up a Yellow Card within 2 minutes of entering the Goodison Park field.
Was that a brilliant ploy by Erik The Red who knew that Mr McTominay had already got 4 Yellow’s this term and another would mean that the young man would receive a 1-match ban?
There was a contentious VAR decision towards the end of the game where a Marcus Rashford goal was disallowed by the dreaded at Stockley Park who informed the on-field referee David Coote that the ball hit Marcus’s arm in the buildup.
The law states that if the ball touches the hand or arm of the goal scorer the goal cannot stand.
Firstly, this is a stupid law or rule, however, if that’s the case then fair enough.
Rewind to the West Ham v Fulham fixture at the London Stadium earlier on Sunday.
More on that later in the Saints v Hammers preview.
To add to that, if the ball touches the arm or hand of the attacking player, regardless of whether it is accidental or not and the goal is automatically disallowed, why isn’t it the same for a Defender when the ball touches his arm or hand in the penalty area?
Accidental or not, should a penalty be awarded?
If it is in place for one incident, why not be in place for another incident?
No Fred was involved in the making of the victory against Everton and Scott McTominay cannot play today against Newcastle.
Slowly, the Penny is dropping, the Penny that was given to Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralph Rangnick yet none wanted to put it in the Manchester United slot machine.
Casemiro allows Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes more time on the ball and protects a fragile Back-Line.
Man City are on a different level so United shouldn’t try and compare at the moment, however, should aspire to match the Noisy Neighbours in the next couple of seasons.
Regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s landmark goal, CR7 is now CR700, having scored 700 club goals in his career.
Sporting Lisbon-5
Manchester United-144
Real Madrid-450
Juventus-101
Seven Hundred!
The first of the 700 came on October the 7th 2002.
The 700th came on October the 9th 2022.
Almost perfect symmetry.
Congratulations Cristiano.
John Newsome has received a lot of stick over the past couple of weeks regarding the Man City 6 Manchester United 3 result, from friends and so-called football experts.
That’s fair enough because John is big enough and uglier enough to take criticism on the chin, however, wants to point out a few things to these so-called experts who stated the obvious (after the event!)
This EveryTip contributor put his thoughts out before the Derby.
Were these same folk sure that Liverpool would beat Manchester United?
Were these experts convinced that Arsenal would beat United?
It’s ok saying (after the event) that it was a silly prediction that Manchester United would gain a draw with Man City, however, Erik’s Reds got a victory over Liverpool and the current Premier League leaders, Arsenal.
Was there anything out of the ordinary to suggest that the team that had gained a victory over Liverpool and Arsenal, couldn’t at least get a draw against Man City who are currently below the Gunners?
Granted, that didn’t materialise and on the day, Pep’s High Flying Blues were head and shoulders above Erik’s Errors but that was only evident after the event.
None of these people want to put their head above the parapet before an event, unlike John Newsome who gives it from the heart!
Yet all are glad to state after that this is this or that is that.
Manchester United inflicted a defeat on Liverpool and Arsenal and despite suffering against Man City, did score 3 goals.
The prediction wasn’t as out there as could be offered by folks after, after the game.
John Newsome is proud of this EveryTip column and is proud that the Barnsley Boy states his beliefs before the event, not in hindsight.
These class wars are real, not mythologised.
Manchester United made hard work of their visit to Cyprus on Thursday in the Europa League group game against Neil Lennon’s Omonia.
After trailing at half-time, United eventually got the victory by a 3-2 away day score.
The reverse fixture is this Thursday before the visit of Newcastle.
A quick note regards the Europa League, only the winners of the specific Group go through to the knockout stages with the team in 2nd place having to face an extra game against another runner-up.
United are currently 2nd in their Group, 3 points adrift of Real Sociedad, who have inflicted a defeat on Erik’s Reds, with the two set to face each other in the final group game at the beginning of November.
Realistically, the fixture in Spain against Sociedad could decide who goes through to the knockout stages and who has to play an extra qualifier.
Newcastle are on the march, following back-to-back victories in the Premier League.
On Saturday at St James Park, the Magpies inflicted a devastating defeat on the Bees by a 5-1 scoreline.
The Toon Army were in fine form and loud voice, when the new Black and White hero, Bruno Guimaraes opened the scoring after 20 minutes.
Brentford did have a goal ruled out by the dreaded VAR before Bruno had scored.
Jacob Murphy added a 2nd to give Newcastle a lead at the break.
The big Defender, Dan Burn, who could easily have a career as a Basketball player, decided to try out for the Newcastle Eagles in the 52nd minute and forgot he was a footballer, handling the ball in the area to concede a penalty.
The on-field referee, John Brooks immediately pointed to the spot but the dreaded wanted to deny rumours they were watching the horse racing on ITV and advised Mr Brooks to look at the monitor.
Usually, this means that the original decision is overturned, however, on this occasion, the on-field referee was satisfied with the original decision and pointed to the spot once more.
This proved that the Stockley Park gang were in fact watching the horses, which was confirmed when a voice came over the mike saying,
‘Frankie Dettori has just won the Dewhurst on Chaldean!’
The ex-Newcastle player Ivan Toney converted the spot kick to pull a goal back for the visitors, however, Mr Guimaraes added his 2nd and a Magpies 3rd soon after.
Miguel Almiron continued his fine goal-scoring form adding a 4th in the 82nd minute with the unfortunate Brentford Defender, Ethan Pinnock converting past his own goalkeeper in the final minutes to gift Newcastle the victory.
That was Miguel’s 4th of the campaign so far being the leading goal scorer for Eddie Howe’s Magpies.
The win lifts Newcastle up to 6th in the table, on the same 14 points as Brighton but with a slightly superior goal difference, however, have completed 9 fixtures as opposed to the Seagulls 8.
It also sees the Magpies unbeaten in 4 now, gaining momentum all the time, with just 1 defeat in the opening 9 games and that was at Anfield, conceding a very late goal (98th minute) to suffer the loss.
The Black and White faithful are a happy bunch at the moment, even though most of the country couldn’t understand them if they weren’t.
Toon Army, Toon Army!
Manchester United and Newcastle both had different managers in last season’s affair between the two at Old Trafford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils gained a convincing victory against Steve Bruce’s Magpies by a 4-1 scoreline.
If one remembers, it was the return of the Prodigal Son, Cristiano Ronaldo, making his 2nd debut for United.
CR7-2.0 didn’t disappoint, scoring the opener on the stroke of half-time to give Ole’s Wheels a lead at the break.
Mr Ronaldo then added a 2nd on the hour mark, before Bruno Fernandes and Jesse Lingard made it 4.
Javier Manquillo had equalised for Newcastle just after the restart but ultimately this goal was just a consolation, United running out convincing winners on that Sunny September Saturday Afternoon.
Betfred offer Manchester United at Evens 1/1, the draw at 11/4 and 11/4 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 23/10 that Christian Eriksen Scores Anytime and 4/1 that there are Over 4.5 Goals.
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SOUTHAMPTON v WEST HAM
14.00 in England
First, against 3rd go up against each other today on the South Coast.
No, that’s not the league positions, it’s David Moyes v Ralph Hasenhuttl, who are 1st and 3rd in The Top 10 Best Looking Managers table.
Things are looking precarious for the new Peaky Blunder character Ralph Hasenhuttl and it’s not a certainty that the Austrian will still be in charge at St Mary’s come this fixture against Dapper David Moyes Boys.
For the time being and before this EveryTip column goes to print, Wreck-It Ralph is still the manager of Southampton, however, that might not last much longer if another bad result happens today.
The Saints suffered their 4th defeat in succession on Saturday against Man City and the 6th of the campaign so far, from 9 fixtures played leaving Southampton in 17th place with 7 points.
On staring that and in the interest of fairness, Saturday’s defeat was against Man City at the Etihad where Pep’s High Flying Blues have achieved victories in all 7 in front of the Citizens this season.
Five in the Premier League and 2 in the Champions League.
The latest defeat by a 4-0 scoreline can be quickly put to bed as Man City were simply too good.
Probably the worry for all connected with the Saints is the results from the other 5 losses, those being against Tottenham, Manchester United, Wolves, Aston Villa and Everton, scoring just 2 goals in the 6 defeats.
Maybe the hierarchy at St Mary’s will hold off with the axe for the time being but it could be a trip to the Job Centre for Wreck-It if a loss occurs against the Hammers.
Both teams have struggled to score this term so not many goals are predicted.
That said, West Ham did bag 3 goals on Sunday in the game against Fulham at the London Stadium, with the Hammers inflicting a defeat on the Cottagers by a 3-1 scoreline.
After Fulham had taken the lead through Andreas Pereira, Young Andreas got involved in a silly incident with Craig Dawson just before a West Ham corner.
The youngster grabbed hold of Craig 3 times before the referee Chris Kavanagh stopped proceedings and warned Mr Pereira.
The warning wasn’t heeded and once the corner was flung in, Andreas again grabbed hold of Mr Dawson, who did use all his experience and the referee had no alternative but to point to the spot awarding West Ham a penalty.
On the Sunday edition of the iconic BBC programme, Match of the Day or MOTD 2, for those unable to say long sentences, Danny Murphy and Homes Under The Hammer star, Dion Dublin, stated that it was a foul by Craig Dawson on Andreas Pereira.
No, it wasn’t, it was stupidity from the Fulham player who had been warned and shouldn’t have tried to re-enact a scene from the WWE.
(That’s the wrestling, not the wildlife!)
Jarrod Bowen converted the penalty to make the scores level at the break.
In the 2nd-half, Gianluca Scamacca scored but knew the ball had touched his hand and didn’t move.
Remember in the Manchester United v Newcastle preview where it was mentioned that Marcus Rashford had his goal disallowed due to the ball accidentally touching his arm?
Gianluca knew the ball had struck his hand, didn’t move or celebrate and waited for the dreaded VAR to disallow the goal.
For some reason, there wasn’t any checking of the monitor by Chris Kavanagh and the goal stood, which once confirmed, Mr Scamacca celebrated wildly.
With time running out, Michail Antonio was put clean through and with a couple of rebounds where the ball clearly touched Michail’s hand (that clearly the Chicago Bulls Head Coach was on the phone to Mr Antonio to enquire about playing in the NBA!) West Ham had scored a 3rd to inflict defeat on Fulham.
Understandably, both Managers, David Moyes and Marco Silva had different views on the decisions made.
In the MOTD studio, Danny Murphy stated that all 3 of the Hammer’s goals shouldn’t have counted and that Fulham should have gotten the victory by a 1-0 score.
Firstly, Danny is an ex-Fulham player and B, that’s not how football works.
The 3 points gained give Good Looking David’s West Ham the same 10 points as Everton, Brentford and Liverpool, sitting below the others in 13th having the inferior goal difference out of the 4.
It’s worth considering that this fixture at the London Stadium took place earlier in the afternoon before the game at Goodison Park.
Did the officials realise they had got those potential handball decisions wrong and punished Marcus Rashford because of that or are just incompetent?
Regardless of whether folk agree that the goals should have stood, the law is there in writing that if the ball touches the hand or arm of the player who scores whether accidental or not, the goal is automatically ruled out.
West Ham host Anderlecht on Thursday in the Europa Conference League.
The Hammers gained a victory against the Belgians in last week’s encounter by a 1-0 scoreline.
This was another Sunny September Saturday Afternoon in last season’s affair at St Mary’s with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints and David Moyes Boys playing out a very entertaining (not!) draw by a 0-0 scoreline.
That’s all that can be said about that particular affair.
Betfred offer Southampton at 2/1, the draw at 5/2 and 29/20 for West Ham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Che Adams Scores Anytime and 23/10 that Gianluca Scamacca Scores Anytime.
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LIVERPOOL v MAN CITY
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Liverpool did play well against Arsenal on Sunday and with the wind blowing in the right direction, could easily have come away with a point from a draw.
Unfortunately, due to Arsenal being awarded a penalty (that could be considered soft!) Jurgen’s Reds suffered a narrow away day defeat by a 3-2 scoreline.
There were concerns that the Liverpool Midfield of Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara were going to be brushed aside by Arsenal’s middle and despite conceding a goal after a minute, the Midfielders coped well against the Gunners.
Following a speculative punt forward by Trent Alexander Arnold, Luis Diaz played in Darwin Nunez to score an equaliser midway through the 1st-half.
With 1st-half added time of 5 minutes up on the clock it did look like both teams would go in at the interval level, however, Arsenal scored a 2nd to make the Reds’ half-time cup of tea taste bitter.
There has been a lot of talk regarding Trent and his inability to defend, which was evident in the Arsenal goals.
T-Double-A went Walkabout and allowed the Liverpool forwards to score.
This prompted Jurgen Klopp to replace Trent at the interval with Joe Gomez, stating that the Right-Back was injured.
The lad did pick up a slight knock after 20 minutes, however, did continue for the remainder of the half.
If Jurgen replaced Trent because of the knock and not the error, no one can argue against that.
Just after the restart, Roberto Firmino, who has a fine goal-scoring record against the Gunners, scored the equaliser.
Roberto didn’t start the game, however, replaced Luis Diaz just before the interval, with the Columbian picking up an injury that eventually left Luis on crutches.
Thiago Alcantara was unfortunate to connect with Gabriel Jesus that saw the on-field referee Michael Oliver award Arsenal a penalty.
Michael is a top referee and although the decision did appear soft, it wasn’t deemed an error so the dreaded VAR didn’t get involved.
Which is lucky really as it’s rumoured the Stockley Park gang were watching Frozen on BBC 1.
Let it go!
The penalty was converted and with no further goals, Liverpool suffered their 2nd defeat from the opening 8 fixtures.
The other 6 have produced 4 draws and 2 wins.
Those good at Math will know that’s 10 points reaped from 8 games, leaving Jurgen’s Reds in 10th place.
The Merseyside rivals Everton, also have 10 points which will irk the Anfield Rappers.
This visit from the current Premier League Champions will sort the boys out from the men.
Both of these will play the reverse fixture of last week’s Champions League Group game.
Liverpool head to Ibrox to face Rangers on Wednesday, with Man City going to Denmark on Tuesday to face FC Copenhagen.
Liverpool inflicted defeat on Rangers last Tuesday by a 2-0 scoreline and Man City gained a victory against Copenhagen on Wednesday by a 5-0 score.
Liverpool are currently 2nd in their particular Group with City at the summit of the Champions League Group G.
Man City continued the unbeaten run on Saturday, inflicting a defeat on Southampton at the Etihad by a 4-0 score.
Joao Cancelo opened the scoring after 20 minutes with Phil Foden adding a 2nd before the break.
Riyad Mahrez scored just after the restart with that man Erling Haaland scoring his obligatory goal to give Pep’s High Flying Blues the points that took Man City to the top of the Premier League table with 23 from 9 fixtures played.
Seven wins and 2 draws.
The jump to the summit was reversed 24 hours later when Arsenal got a victory against Liverpool on Sunday to stay a point ahead of Man City.
Erling scored his 15th Premier League goal of the campaign so far and the 20th in all competitions (5 in the Champions League).
Later on Saturday evening, one of John’s good friends, the Greenmeister, passed on a statement that read,
‘If Cristiano Ronaldo never scores again, and Erling Haaland also plays on until aged 38, the Norwegian will need to score 43 goals a season for the next 16 years just to level CR7’s career total.’
The Greenmeister asked John Newsome if this was correct and on doing a bit of Math, give or take the odd goal here and there for different teams, this is actually correct.
Which shows just how prolific Cristiano has been and what Erling has to live up to.
Whilst the figures are phenomenal, CR7 has scored countless goals in La Liga and the Champions League, for a team that won the Premier League 3 times, La Liga twice and Serie A twice, plus the Champions League 5 times.
As well as the European Championship with Portugal getting to the latter stages in the main International tournaments.
Man City will need to increase their Champions League performance having yet to reach a Final and that goes for Norway too, so Cristiano does have the slight edge over Erling having been able to play in more competitive games over the years.
It is now up to Mr Haaland to propel both City and Norway to the next level and try and get Pep’s High Flying Blues to appear regularly in the Champions League Finals and Norway to the World Cup and Euro Championship Finals.
Remember, Cristiano will be in Qatar but Erling won’t.
What a talent that England has in a player called Phil Foden.
It’s hoped for all connected with England that Gareth Southgate believes in the Stockport Boy, unlike the way Gareth chooses Phil’s mate Jack Grealish.
Mr Foden is the youngest player to achieve 50 goals under Pep Guardiola, beating Pep’s other protege, Lionel Messi to that achievement by 37 days.
The Stockport Iniesta is some talent that the English fraternity should certainly embrace.
In the Arsenal preview, the EveryTip column published in July 2019, regarding,
‘English Premier League 2019/2020 – Best Young Players.’
John Newsome included Phil Foden in the piece written over 3 years ago.
‘14. Phil Foden Aged 19 Man City
Phil Foden, like Rhian Brewster, Gabriel Martinelli, Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi, has the distinction of being a rare Premier League player to be born in this Millennium.
David Silva is entering his final season at City but Pep may not need to look too far for a natural successor for David with the young England starlet Mr Foden waiting in the wings.
Young Phil, along with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ezri Konza, Lloyd Kelly, Mason Mount, Morgan Gibbs-Wright, Harvey Barnes and Tammy Abraham, has recently played for the England Under-21s at the European Championship in Italy.
After losing the first game 2-1 against France which Phil scored an utterly sublime individual goal, Aidy Boothroyd decided to leave Phil out of the starting lineup in the second game against Romania stating Phil was ‘tired’.
TIRED! 19-years old and a professional footballer who has only played 13-times for City in the previous season and Aidy Hoofroyd thinks Phil’s tired.
After playing against France, it is hard to explain what possessed Aidy to leave arguably the most gifted and precocious player in his squad on the bench and save him until their final meaningless match versus Croatia.
Phil Foden is an outstanding attacking talent and to not play him is beyond comprehension.
These so-called managers think they are above the average football fan and try and over-complicate the simple game.
At least Phil has the best manager in the World since Sir Alex Ferguson in Pep Guardiola at his Premier League Club to compensate for the lack of knowledge that Ady Hoofroyd provides.
The slight negative to Phil and it is only slight, is he is all left-footed which on the surface doesn’t appear a problem, as so is David Silva but Phil has the same running style as another ex-English protege in Jack Wilshere.
Jack has been plagued by injuries over the years and his running style could have been a factor in the numerous times’ Jack has been sidelined.
Phil just needs to watch himself and maybe use his right foot a bit more.
Phil has another distinction in the fact that he was part of the England Under-17 side that won the Prestigious World Cup for that particular age group in India in 2017 and was one of the most successful players from England’s Under-21 side.
The Stockport Iniesta scored twice in the final and won the Golden Ball award for the best player at the tournament.
The other notable names in that World Cup Winning team with Phil were Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jadon Sancho and probably the next big star to make his name this season, that of Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster.
Brewster was one of England’s star players in that Under-17 World Cup tournament win, scoring eight goals to win the Golden Boot award and is very highly thought of at Liverpool where he is hoping to break through in Jurgen’s first team this season.
Phil Foden should get more game time himself this coming season too.’
If one is bored one day and struggling to sleep, it’s worth revisiting that particular column to see the other players mentioned.
At Anfield last season, this fixture took place almost 12 months ago to the day on the 7th of October, with both teams sharing the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The strange thing about that scoreline is all 4 goals were scored after the half-time cup of tea.
Both teams must have had an extra sugar lump.
Sadio Mane opened the scoring for Liverpool just before the hour mark, which was equalised 10 minutes later by Phil Foden.
Mo Salah restored the Reds’ lead before Kevin De Bruyne once again drew the scores level.
All 4 goals were scored in a scintillating 22-minute period.
The Archbishop was looking down with a glass in hand, giving a nod of approval.
These two exceptional teams have faced each other 18 times throughout the period that Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have been in charge.
The first fixture was on New Year’s Eve back in 2016, where Jurgen’s Reds got the victory over Pep’s Blues
Happy New Year!
The record over the 18 fixtures in all competitions is,
Liverpool- 8 victories
Man City- 4 victories
Draws- 6 times
Betfred offer Liverpool at 11/4, the draw at 16/5 and slight Odds On 11/10 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Erling Haaland Scores First and 11/10 that there are over 3.5 Goals.
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Game Week-11 (1997/98)
Monday 20th October 1997
BARNSLEY v COVENTRY
Oakwell
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
Barnsley have faced Coventry 25 times in competitive games since the Premier League era, 25 years ago, however, before 1997, the two faced each other 38 times in a league fixture, over 85 years.
The first competitive match between Barnsley and Coventry was on the 20th of March 1920.
The strange thing about this pairing is that since 1920, over 100 years ago, there has been just 1 Cup game, that being in the FA Cup in January 2014.
Before this Premier League fixture on the 20th of October 1997, the previous game between the two was just after Christmas (December 28th) in 1963, which was a Division 3 (League 1) fixture.
Coventry got the late present of 2 points against Barnsley, inflicting a post-Christmas defeat by a 3-1 scoreline.
(Only 2 points for a victory back then, not 3!)
As of the norm back in the day, the two had faced up against each other 2 days earlier on Boxing Day and played out a draw by a 1-1 score.
At the time, the ex-MOTD host, (Match Of The Day) Jimmy Hill was the manager of the Sky Blues.
Coventry were promoted at the end of the 1963/64 season to the equivalent of today’s Championship and were always in a higher division than the Reds for the next 33 years, being in the Top Flight from 1967 and a part of the inaugural Premier League season of 1992/93.
It was a cold Autumnal night back on the 20th of October 1997 when 15,000 or so of Danny Wilson’s Red and White Army turned up at Oakwell to watch their idols take on a Coventry team managed by Gordon Strachan.
It was Sky Sports Monday Night Football offering that also saw around 2,500 Cov fans travel up the M1 to Yorkshire to watch the Sky Blues somehow suffer a defeat against the Super Reds who despite getting the victory by a 2-0 scoreline, had the goalkeeper David Watson to thank for a string of superb saves, that denied Coventry from scoring.
Barnsley-
David Watson, Nicky Eaden, Arjan De Zeeuw, Neil Thompson, Ales Krizan, Darren Barnard, Neil Redfearn, Martin Bullock, Darren Sheridan, Andy Liddell and Ashley Ward.
Substitutes-
Georgi Hristov for Andy Liddell 46th Minute
Adie Moses for Martin Bullock
Coventry-
Steve Ogrizovic, David Burrows, Richard Shaw, Roland Nilsson, Gary Breen, Marcus Hall, John Solako, Willie Boland, Gary McAlister, Simon Howarth and Kyle Lightbourne.
Substitutes-
Martin Johansen for Kyle Lightbourne 68th Minute
Ashley Ward scored for Barnsley after 11 minutes to give the home team an early lead.
That was Big Ashley’s first goal for the Reds since signing from Derby back in August.
Martin Bullock was a constant threat down the right wing but in truth, although the Super Reds were lively throughout, they didn’t actually test Steve Ogrizovic much in the Sky Blues goal and it was Mr Watson that was the busier of the two stoppers.
That said, football is about putting the ball in the back of the net and when Martin drew a foul in the penalty area, midway through the 2nd half, the referee, Paul Alcock, had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
No need for the dreaded VAR, whose concept wasn’t even a pipe dream back in 1997.
Neil Redfearn emphatically converted the penalty to give Barnsley a lead and with no further goals, the 3rd victory of the season was achieved, this time by a 2-0 scoreline.
The victory halted a 6 game-winless run and was the first 3 points gained since the 27th of August 1997.
Barnsley jumped off the bottom of the Premier League table, into 18th following the Game Week-11 set of results, now with 9 points.
Again, a Barnsley fixture produced a positive or negative result for either team, without a draw from the 11 games completed.
Regards the Coventry stopper back in October 1997, Steve Ogrizovic was 40 years old at the time and was still going strong in between the Sky Blue sticks.
To gain another contract at Highfield Rd, which took the ex-Liverpool ‘keeper to the year 2000, Steve had to pack in smoking.
Different times.
John Newsome remembers Mr Ogrizovic playing for Liverpool when John, aged 10, was still at Junior school, now the battle-weary goalkeeper, who has an FA Cup Winners medal gained when Coventry inflicted a defeat on Tottenham in 1987, was still going strong at Oakwell after Steve had turned 40.
If one remembers, Paul Alcock, the referee on the night, was the person that Paolo Di Canio pushed over in the fixture between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in September 1998.
The referee did go down easier than the Titanic but young Paolo shouldn’t have touched Paul.
There was another person on show at Oakwell that October night, who was involved in a legendary infamous moment and that was Coventry’s, Richard Shaw.
Back in January 1995, when Manchester United had travelled down to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.
Eric Cantona initially got embroiled in a confrontation with the Palace defender Richard, which subsequently saw Eric receive his marching orders.
Whilst the confrontation with Mr Shaw was neither here nor there and was part of the game, what followed has gone down in Premier League history and is one of the most iconic moments of the era.
When walking off the pitch, bearing in mind the Selhurst Park tunnel is in the corner, a Palace fan came running from his seat to hurl abuse at the controversial Frenchman.
Most players would just continue to walk away, however, Eric jumped Kung-foo style into the crowd at the Palace fan, with kicks and punches exchanged.
To the purest’s at the time, all those years ago, this was seen as outrageous behaviour by a Professional Footballer and whilst restraint should have been shown by Eric, to be constantly abused by fans must sometimes throw a player over the edge.
Eric certainly was sent over that night in January 1995.
Mr Cantona was banned initially by Manchester United for the remainder of the season, who took the decision, to pre-empt the FA’s own punishment that would eventually see Eric receive an 8-month exile from the game.
In a famous interview given by Eric to reporters, Eric simply said,
‘When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think that sardines will be thrown into the sea, thank you very much!’
and then walked away.
Richard Shaw left Selhurst Park at the end of the 1994/95 campaign and signed for Coventry but will be forever linked with that infamous incident involving the great Eric Cantona.
There were no such incidents at Oakwell, just a chorus of,
‘Danny Wilson’s Red and White Army, Danny Wilson’s Red and White Army.’
The Oakwell girls and boys are very innovative!
As for Paolo Di Canio, the Italian was banned for 11 games in September 1998, for pushing Mr Alcock and never played again for the Hillsborough outfit.
Paolo, however, does appear in this retro EveryTip column later on in the campaign.
During the promotion-winning season of 1996/97, Danny Wilson’s Red and White Army were often heard singing,
‘Bra-zil, it’s just like watching Bra-zil, it’s just like watching Bra-zil, it’s just like watching Bra-zil, Bra-zil!’
In the Premier League, the song thrown out by the faithful was,
‘Ry-hill, it’s just like watching Ry-hill, it’s just like watching Ry-hill, it’s just like watching Ry-hill, Ry-hill!’
Ryhill is a little village on the outskirts of Barnsley.
Against Coventry back in October 1997, the tune was back,
‘Bra-zil, it’s just like watching Bra-zil, it’s just like watching Bra-zil, it’s just like watching Bra-zil, Bra-zil!’
At times, it was just like watching the Samba Boys.
Game Week-11 Premier League Table (1997/98)
15-Coventry 12 pts (minus-5 goals)
16-Everton 11 pts (minus-3 goals)
17-Sheffield Wednesday 9 pts (minus-9 goals)
18-Barnsley 9 pts (minus-19 goals)
19-Bolton 8 pts (minus-7 goals)
20-Southampton 7 pts (minus-10 goals)
Home Win 2-0
The Scottish Pub League continues with the status quo at the summit remaining the same following the weekend’s set of fixtures.
Celtic sit at the summit with 24 points following their victory against St Johnstone (who?) on Saturday.
Rangers inflicted a defeat on St Mirren (who?) to remain 2 points adrift of the Green and White Hoops.
Celtic host RB Leipzig on Tuesday in the reverse of the Champions League group game.
Ange Postecoglou’s Bhoys suffered a defeat last week in Germany against the Red Bull Wings by a 3-1 score.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s Teddy Bears also suffered a defeat in their Match-Day-3 Champions League fixture against Liverpool at Anfield, going down by a 2-0 scoreline and host Jurgen’s Reds on Wednesday at Ibrox.
The loveable OzScot will have the Abacus out once more to help keep a tab on the Liverpool goals, that, if it wasn’t for Allan McGregor at Anfield, could have been a lot more than 2.
It’s hoped the Abacus has a lot of beads.
October the 10th 2022 is World Mental Health Day.
‘Daily Alarm
Depression is just that.
A daily thought or being about feeling worthless.
Depression is an illness to fight.
If down at the minute, continue, fight and get help.
Each day is just another to keep fighting depression.
To change everything is impossible, to fight depression is just that, to fight!
Believe in yourself!’
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