The highlight games for this week’s action are MAN CITY versus WEST BROM and LEICESTER versus EVERTON. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these as well as all game-week 10 EPL 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 time of publication.
WOLVES v CHELSEA
Tuesday 15th
Midweek Premier League Football with all these Game Week-13 fixtures shown live over 3-nights on the Amazon Prime streaming outlet.
This game at Molineux kicks-off at 18.00 in England, if all the parcels have been delivered.
With 93 minutes up on the clock at Molineux on Saturday, it looked like the Wolves had earned a point from a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. Unfortunately, Nelson Semedo got too close to a Villa player to concede a penalty and Nuno’s Boys ended up on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline once the spot-kick was dispatched.
With 11-players being shown a Yellow Card, it was inevitable that there would be a sending off.
As it turned out, 2-players received a 2nd-Yellow, one from each team that ultimately resulted in an early bath for the pair.
The Red Card Joao Moutinho given in the 95th-minute was after the Gold and Blacks had conceded the goal.
The defeat leaves Wolves in 13th-position with the same 17-points as they had at the beginning of the weekend.
Raul Jimenez is a big loss to Nuno and unfortunately, won’t be back anytime soon after suffering a horrific injury which resulted in a fractured skull.
All the best Raul!
Chelsea suffered a rare defeat on Saturday evening losing against Everton by a 1-0 scoreline.
In all competitions, Frank’s Blues were unbeaten in the last 17-games so were confident of heading to Goodison Park and continuing that fine run.
Unfortunately, Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees got the better of the Chelsea, with Everton being awarded a penalty after 20-minutes which was converted.
With no more goals, the Blues lost the game, and the Cardboard faithful hitched a ride on the Amazon Parcel Transporter, for the long journey home, late on Saturday evening.
The defeat drops Chelsea down to 5th after Southampton and Leicester’s subsequent victories on Sunday, with 22-points.
The Champions League campaign is over until February, with qualification to the Last-16, as Group winners, in the bag, unlike Ole’s Wheels who were useless in Europe.
The fixture between these two iconic teams has been played over 100-times in the English Divisions of various guises, the first being in December 1908.
At Molineux, the last term in September, Frank got the better of Nuno in a 7-goal thriller that saw the Blues come out victorious by a 5-2 scoreline over the Gold and Blacks.
At the time, Wolves had 3-draws and 1-loss from the 4-games played, with Frank’s Blues early record being 1-win, 2-draws and a loss.
So to come away with a result as Chelsea did was a great feat.
Tammy Abraham scored twice following Fikayo Tomori‘s opener to give the Blues a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Tammy completed his hat-trick after the break then scored his 4th of the game, however, this time in the wrong net, gifting Wolves a goal.
Patrick Cutrone scored late on for Nuno’s men to make it 4-2 but that wasn’t the end of the goals, with Mason Mount rounding off the 5-2 victory in the 96th-minute.
Bet 365 offer Wolves at 15/4, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 7/10 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
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MAN CITY v WEST BROM
Tuesday 15th
A 20.00 start time in England at the Etihad.
As the away team, Pep’s City had the majority of possession when they headed the short distance over to Old Trafford on Saturday, however, both the Noisy and Numpty Neighbours flattered to deceive the watching TV audience and could only muster 4-shots on target between the two of them.
A lot would say that it’s 90-minutes of their lives they won’t get back.
Barnsley Boy John Stones got another full game under his belt.
In the last 6-fixtures John-Boy has played, City haven’t conceded a goal and noticeably in the 2-games City have conceded, against Tottenham and Liverpool, John was an unused substitute.
Keep going Barnsley Boy!
The point gained leaves City with 19, in 9th-place in the Premier League table, and although just above mid-table, both Man City and United have played a game less than the teams above so will feel it’s a false position.
Unlike Ole’s Zebras, who were rubbish in the Champions League, City progressed through to the Last-16 as group winners, so Pep can put that competition on the back-burner until next February.
When a team is struggling at the wrong end of the table, a trip to the Etihad is not probably what one would want.
West Brom suffered another defeat on Saturday, with pressure mounting on Slaven Bilic.
The Baggies conceded an early goal against Newcastle at St James Park, falling behind with just a minute on the clock.
Darnell Furlong equalised for West Brom, 5-minutes after the restart and in truth, Slaven’s Boys matched the Magpies throughout the game.
However, as with most teams that are struggling and find themselves in the relegation zone, it always appears that a losing goal will be conceded, which ultimately is what happened against Newcastle in the 82nd-minute, leading to a defeat by a 2-1 scoreline.
That’s 5-defeats from the last 6-fixtures with just a victory against Sheffield United on the record, which is nothing really to shout about as the Blades are rubbish and lose against anyone.
The pressure is mounting on Beardy Bilic, not just to keep his job but to keep his horrendous facial hair.
Maybe, with the impending threat of losing his job, the lads growing his white beard to get temporary employment in a couple of weeks, for one night only.
The defeat leaves West Brom 2nd-bottom of the table with 6-points but the hope for the Baggies faithful is they are not cut adrift at the bottom and there is still plenty of time to get out of the zone.
Will Slaven Bilic be allowed to continue in the hot-seat and bring in much needed new recruits in January? or will the bosses at The Hawthorns decide someone else can have a bash as the boss?
If the heir-achy hang on, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may be available soon.
Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero scored goals in the 2nd-half, adding to 1 from Fernandinho early in the game, that gave Pep’s Blues a 3-0 victory over Alan Pardew’s Baggies, when these 2-teams last met at The Hawthorns in January 2018.
Bet 365 offer Man City at Odds On 1/9, the draw at 8/1 and 16/1 for West Brom to come away with all 3-points.
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ARSENAL v SOUTHAMPTON
Wednesday 16th
This game at the Emirates is an 18.00 kick-off.
Arsenal suffered another defeat on Sunday, their 4th-consecutive home loss in the new 19.15 TV slot.
What compounded the defeat was the Gunners captain, Granit Xhaka got sent off for grabbing the throat of Burnley’s Ashley Westwood, then 15-minutes after the Red Card, which initially was a Yellow but changed on the advice of VAR, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang glanced a header past his own goalkeeper to gift the Clarets the lead.
The defeat leaves Arsenal with 13-points in 15th-place.
The Gunners have progressed in the Europa League but are finding life in the Premier League difficult at the moment so need a twist of fate.
Southampton got a great professional 3-0 victory against Sheffield United in the early Sunday kick-off at St Mary’s.
Professional because, although United are rubbish at the moment and are losing against everyone, the Saints still had to put in the performance to get the result.
Ex-Blade Che Adams, scored the opener in the 1st-half, having played for United at the start of his career.
Che is fast becoming one of the stars of the Premier League and whilst many won’t have him as an International player, Gareth Southgate wouldn’t go far wrong in picking the lad in an England squad, if only to have a closer look at the ex-Birmingham forward.
After the break, Stuart Armstrong added a 2nd and having just come on as a substitute, Nathan Redmond scored Southampton’s 3rd, 3-minutes after his introduction.
An inspired substitution from Wreck-It Ralph.
The convincing victory gives the Saints 23-points that temporarily put them 3rd in the table but with Leicester’s subsequent victory, Southampton finish Game Week-12 sitting 4th, a place above Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.
Just over 12-months ago in October 2019, Southampton suffered an embarrassing 9-0 home defeat against Leicester that could have resulted in the board getting rid of Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Hats off to the bosses for believing in Wreck-It and not sending the Austrian down the concrete as the boy has worked wonders.
It does help to have players such as Che and Nathan, as well as Stuart, Danny Ings, James Ward-Prowse, Ryan Bertrand, Jannik Vestergaard, Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Oriol Romeu, Alex McCarthy, as well as Theo Walcott having a resurgence in his career.
Southampton last headed to the Emirates, back in November 2019, with Arsenal still under the guidance of Dick Emery.
Wreck-It Ralph’s Saints came and got a great point following a Desmond 2-2 draw.
The fixture turned out to be Unai’s penultimate game in charge of the Gunners and after a Europa League defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt a couple of days later, Unai was the first in the sacked managers Wats App group, quickly followed by Quique Sanchez Flores and Marco Silva.
Alexandre Lacazette equalised an early Southampton goal after Danny Ings had scored 1st.
James Ward-Prowse put the Saints back in front midway through the 2nd-half scoring the rebound after his penalty kick was saved.
Arsenal left it very late to grab a point, with Mr Lacazette scoring his and the Gunners 2nd in the 96th-minute.
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LEEDS UNITED v NEWCASTLE
Wednesday 16th
Another 18.00 start time in England up in West Yorkshire.
An observation has been noted about Leeds United following their 2-1 defeat against West Ham last Friday and that is they could do with the late great Sir Ken Dodd offering some words of advice from beyond the grave, as Marcelo’s Whites are all Diddymen.
Whilst Mr Bielsa’s men will compete against anyone, Leeds won’t compete at set-pieces as basically, the boys are too small.
Now the great El Loco can instil as much of his knowledge onto the Leeds United players but there is one thing Marcelo Bielsa cannot do and that is, add inches onto his boys.
After being awarded a penalty when Patrick Bamford was put clear through and upended by the Hammers goalkeeper, Matheus Klich decided he felt sorry for the former Arsenal goalie and just passed him the ball back.
VAR, watching the emotional tribute to the Great Dame Barbara Windsor, who had passed away hours before, on BBC 1, decided they should really be watching the footie and informed the on-field referee, Michael Oliver that Mr Fabianski had come off his line a fraction too early, the fraction being 1/20.
Surprisingly, the Leeds players allowed Matheus Klich to retake the spot-kick when Patrick Bamford should have shown some leadership and said, ‘this one is mine now Matty.’
Luckily for everyone concerned at Elland Rd, Mr Klich scored the retake and put the Whites in front.
The Diddymen were then on show after Jack Harrison tried to let the ball go out for a goal kick when inadvertently touching the ball and conceding a corner.
Leeds are not good enough at set-pieces, especially against big players and a 6-foot player. Although being 6-foot is not the height of a 6ft-5inch player and maybe that will be Marcelo’s downfall come to the end of the season.
Leeds United will always compete competitively and athletically, that’s off the card but won’t physically compete throughout the season, as the players are looking for parts in this year’s local Pantos joining Snow White.
The opposition are now starting to realise that and David Moyes just bided his time awaiting a 2nd, set-piece to ultimately score the winner, which is what the Hammers did with 10-minutes remaining.
As mentioned, Marcelo can’t add inches onto his players so needs to instil into them not to concede needless fouls anywhere near the box and try and prevent corners.
Harder said than done, admittedly but the opposition will have picked up on the Diddymen of West Yorkshire.
The 5th-defeat from the last 8-games leaves Leeds United with 14-points in 15th-place.
Maybe with the crowds slowly returning to the stadiums, Elland Rd will once again become a fortress that will see the Whites stave of relegation.
RIP Dame Barbara Windsor.
Respect Sir Ken Dodd.
Newcastle got a great victory on Saturday in front of the cardboard Toon Army.
Miguel Almiron scored after a minute to give the Magpies an early lead.
After the break, West Brom equalised, hoping to snatch an away-day point.
Steve Bruce introduced Dwight Gayle with 20-minutes to go, after being injured since August and not playing in any of the games so far.
Ten minutes later Big Dwight (well, little!) got his head onto a great cross by Jacob Murphy and scored Newcastle’s 2nd and winning goal to give Brucey his bonus over Slaven Bilic.
The victory by a 2-1 scoreline, gives Newcastle 3-wins from 5-games and leaves them with 17-points in 12th-place in the table.
DeAndre Yedlin also injured from the beginning of the season, saw some action like Dwight, for the 1st-time this campaign, however, Andy Carroll just sat doing his hair.
It is nice though.
A rival for Gareth Bale in the Ultimate Barnet Competition.
It was the opening fixture of the 2003/04 Premier League season when these two teams last met at Elland Rd in the Top Flight.
Alan Shearer scored 1st for the Magpies, with a successfully converted penalty on the 20-minute mark.
Mark Viduka quickly equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Alan Smith put Peter Reid’s Whites in front early in the 2nd-half and with only 2-minutes remaining thought, we’re on for an opening day victory.
Unfortunately, Shearer scored his and Newcastle’s 2nd-to give both a share of the points from a Desmond 2-2 draw.
The Leeds United team picked by Pete that day in August ‘03 had Paul Robinson in goal, Gary Kelly, Lucas Radebe, Zoumana Camara, Lamine Sakho, Dominic Matteo, Seth Johnson, Jason Wilcox, Jody Morris, Alan Smith and Mark Viduka.
David Batty came off the bench in the tie, with James Milner not getting an opening day run out.
Sir Bobby Robson’s Magpies consisted of Shay Given, Arron Hughes, Andy O’Brien, (Leeds old boys) Jonathon Woodgate, Gary Speed and Lee Bowyer, Olivier Bernard, Kieran Dyer, Laurent Robert, Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer.
Leeds went on to be relegated 37-games later with Newcastle finishing 5th.
Peter Reid only lasted at Elland Rd until December, with Sir Bobby surprisingly being shown the door at St James Park a couple of games into the following season’s campaign.
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LEICESTER v EVERTON
Wednesday 16th
The 3rd of 3, 18.00 kick-offs in England live on the Amazon Prime Channel.
Leicester got a great victory on Sunday night against Brighton with the 2-Jim’s, Maddison and Vardy scoring before the break to take the Foxes in at the interval with a 3-goal advantage, Mr Maddison scoring either side of Mr Vardy’s notch.
With no more goals after the break, the final scoreline stayed at 3-0.
The victory gives Brendan’s Wonderful’s 24-points and leaves them 3rd in the table, a point behind the leaders but knowing that Liverpool and Tottenham play each other next and will take points off each other, so after this game against Everton, a victory will put the Foxes at least into 2nd-place and possibly top if Liverpool and Tottenham draw.
Rod Stewart wasn’t happy, Lennon knew what was coming and scarpered lively knowing that the Brighton top was heading his way.
Rod had earlier seen his beloved Green and White Hoops beat Kilmarnock (who?) by a 2-0 scoreline in the SPL.
Unfortunately for the Stewart’s, Celtics bitter rivals Rangers had earlier beat Dundee United (who?) by a 2-1 scoreline so the gap of 13-points between the two Glasgow clubs, remained the same at the top of the Scottish Pub League.
Mr Hall will be pleased, over in Australia.
He’s Celtic, United but Brendan has decided that Leicester is the best place to be.
Everton ruined a few Accas on Saturday night with Carlo Ancelotti gaining a victory over one of his former clubs, Chelsea.
The Toffees were awarded a penalty after 20-minutes and after a bit of consultation as to who would take the spot-kick, it was down to the captain, Gylfi Sigurdsson to step up and duly convert to give Carlo’s Blues a 1-0 lead against Frank’s Blues.
That is only 2-wins from the last 8-Premier League games and gives Everton 20-points, which puts the Toffees above both the Manchester clubs into 7th-place in the table.
At the King Power in early December 2019, the Foxes got a great 2-1 victory against the Toffees, still under the guidance of Marco Silva.
Richarlison did put Everton in front midway through the 1st-half.
Brendan then got into his Leicester team at the break with Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho scoring the goals to give Brendan’s Wonderful Human Beings the victory.
Kelechi’s goal was 4-minutes into injury time.
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LIVERPOOL v TOTTENHAM
Wednesday 16th
This Wednesday Night fixture starts at 20.00 in England.
What a game with this being the ultimate top of the table clash.
Both teams with 25-points from the opening 12-fixtures, with Tottenham having a slightly superior goal-difference over Liverpool.
Liverpool have a Plus-9 goal-difference and Tottenham have a Plus-14.
Basically, the 7-2 defeat against Aston Villa has cost them top spot.
Fulham surprised Jurgen’s Reds on Sunday taking an early lead.
Unfortunately for Scott’s Cottagers, the poor dog walker was on display and Fulham couldn’t hold onto the lead, gifting Liverpool an equaliser when Aboubakar Kamara was adjudged to have blocked a free-kick with his arm resulting in a penalty.
Jurgen was about to take off Mo Salah but let the Egyptian King take the spot-kick which Mr Salah rarely misses.
It wasn’t the lad’s best effort but somehow went in, putting the Reds level.
Despite immense pressure, Fulham held on and prevented Liverpool from getting the victory that would have taken Jurgen above Jose, at the top of the Premier League.
At least it now gives this fixture the added extra subplot of the old cliche,
‘Winner takes all’.
Well, the winner goes to the top of the table!
Harry did what Harry does against Crystal Palace on Sunday and scored the opening goal for Tottenham to settle the nerves at Selhurst Park.
After Mr Kane had put Spurs in front it would have been assumed that Jose Mourinho’s men would add to the tally and comfortably beat Roy’s Boys.
The limited Eagle Ultras, who were allowed back into the ground saw their beloved Palace equalise in the 2nd-half which left Tottenham with just a point from the 1-1 draw and not the 3, that Dracula was expecting.
Dele Alli, fresh from shopping for garlic, saw 5-minutes of game-time at the end, the first bit of Premier League action young Del Boys been involved in since the opening day defeat against Everton.
The point gained kept Tottenham at the summit of the Premier League but with Liverpool playing later, it was assumed that the door had been left open for the Reds to leapfrog Spurs into 1st-place.
Liverpool only matched Tottenham’s 1-1 draw, so the positions remained the same.
Liverpool, like Man City and Chelsea but unlike Manchester United, topped their Champions League group and can put that competition to bed until February when the Last-16 starts.
Harry Kane gave Tottenham a 1st-half lead at Anfield back in October, a long time before the Coronavirus had temporarily stopped fun in this world.
When the Fun stops!
Unfortunately, for Mauricio’s Spurs, the Lilywhites couldn’t hold on for the victory and conceded 2-goals after the break to maintain Liverpool’s winning run.
Jordan Henderson and a Mo Salah penalty gave the Reds the goals in the 2-1 victory.
Mauricio only lasted another 2-games in charge of Spurs before he was joining the Wats App group with Quique and Marco.
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FULHAM v BRIGHTON
Wednesday 16th
Another 20.00 game kicking-off at 20.00 in England.
Fulham surprised the current league Champions on Sunday with Bobby Decordova-Reid scoring to give the Cottagers the lead in the 1st-half that was deserved and not against the run of play.
Unfortunately, the useless dog walker turned up and Scott’s Boys couldn’t hold on to the lead, conceding a 2nd-half penalty after Aboubakar Kamara was adjudged to have blocked a free-kick with his arm.
Whilst harsh, it was a penalty and following Liverpool’s conversion of the spot-kick, which Fulham’s ‘keeper Alphonse Areola, will feel he could have saved, Fulham held off a late surge by the Reds to gain a terrific point from a 1-1 draw.
The point gained leaves the Cottagers with 8 so far but with Burnley’s subsequent victory against Arsenal a couple of hours later, drop into the relegation places, however, the performance will encourage Scott Parker.
Brighton suffered a defeat on Sunday evening by a 3-0 scoreline that leaves the Seagulls with 10-points, in 16th-place in the table.
All 3-goals conceded in the 1st-half.
Graham Potter’s men have won only 1-game in 9-fixtures, so need to try and get back on track.
This game was a goal-fest when Brighton last visited Craven Cottage, in January 2019.
Glen Murray scored twice for the Seagulls before 20-minutes were on the clock giving Chris Hughton’s Brighton side a comfortable half-time lead.
Fulham must have received a roasting at the break from their then-manager Claudio Ranieri as the Cottagers came out in the 2nd-half and goals from Calum Chambers and Luciano Vietto, either side of an Aleksandar Mitrovic brace, gave the Tinkerman a victory by a 4-2 scoreline.
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WEST HAM v CRYSTAL PALACE
Wednesday 16th
The 3rd of 3, 20.00 kick-offs in England.
West Ham have 2-days more to recover than Palace after playing on Friday Night.
The Hammers conceded a penalty after just 4-minutes against Leeds United at Elland Rd but luckily Lucasz Fabianski saved the spot-kick to keep the score at 0-0.
Unfortunately for Lukasz, the dreaded VAR watching the clip of Dame Barbara Windsor in Carry On Camping, decided the Bubble’s ‘keeper had strayed off his line, encroachment being the term, so a retake was ordered which was duly dispatched.
David Moyes knew that the key to a victory against Leeds is to firstly, win a set-piece and secondly get his bigger men in the area to out-jump the Leeds United smalls.
Tomas Soucek did just that before half-time heading home a corner.
After the break, Angola Ogbonna got his big bonce on another set-piece that the Leeds players couldn’t cope with.
Mark Noble got 7-minutes at the end after not featuring much over the last few months and will be hopeful of a few more minutes against Palace to show skill his talent.
The 2-1 away-night victory gives Dave’s Forever Blowers 20-points and leaves them 6th in the table.
Crystal Palace earned a creditable point following a 1-1 draw against Tottenham on Sunday.
The Eagles goalkeeper, Guaita was superb throughout the match, denying Spurs on several occasions, however, could have done better when Harry Kane took a speculative shot that ended up going through the Spaniards soft hands resulting in a goal for Tottenham.
Jeffrey Schlupp scored late in the game to cancel out Harry’s goal and earn a point for Roy’s Boys in front of a limited number of fans, allowed into Selhurst Park for the first time since March.
Palace have 17-points, the same as Newcastle and Wolves and currently sit in 11th-place in the table.
At the London Stadium in October, Crystal Palace got an away day 2-1 victory over West Ham.
Sebastian Haller did put the Hammers in front early in the 2nd-half before Patrick Van Aanholt and Jordan Ayew got the 2-Eagle goals.
Patrick’s notch coming via the penalty spot.
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ASTON VILLA v BURNLEY
Thursday 17th
Early Thursday Night Football in the Midlands, England with an 18.00 start time.
Aston Villa, after being reduced to 10-men, following the sending off of Douglas Luiz in the 85th-minute, looked like they were holding on for a point against Wolves on Saturday but somehow came away from Molineux with all 3.
With the game well into injury time, John McGinn burst into the Wolves box and was brought down to win a penalty.
With money on Ollie Watkins to Score Anytime, it was hoped the former Brentford boy would step up and take the kick, unfortunately, that didn’t happen and it was left to Anwar El-Ghazi to confidently score the penalty, to give Villa a great 1-0 victory.
With 11-players booked, it was inevitable that a Red Card would be shown and as it turned out, both teams ended the game a man light, with the Wolves player Joao Moutinho, receiving his 2nd-Yellow after Villa had scored.
Dean Smith’s Claret and Blues have 18-points and lie 10th in the table with the added bonus that Aston Villa have not only 1-game in hand but 2, on the others following a couple of postponements.
Burnley climbed out of the relegation zone late on Sunday evening after a brilliant away-day 1-0 victory against Arsenal, albeit with the goal coming from an Arsenal player, 15-minutes after the Gunners were reduced to 10-men.
That won’t bother Big Sean, who’s boys now have 9-points from the 11-fixtures played, having played a game less than those around them.
When these two met at Villa Park last term, this was a very entertaining Desmond.
Anwar El-Ghazi gave Dean Smith’s Claret and Blues the lead going into the break.
Jay Rodriguez was introduced by Sean Dyche at half-time and quickly equalised for the other Clarets.
John McGinn restored Villa’s lead midway through the 2nd-half but within minutes, Chris Wood got Burnley back on level terms.
The game finished in a 2-2 draw with both getting a share of the points.
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SHEFFIELD UNITED v MANCHESTER UNITED
Thursday 17th
The final Game Week-13 fixture closing Amazon Prime’s delivery of football to the masses, with this night out in Sheffield for the cardboard Red Devil’s, kicking off at 20.00 in England.
You fill up my senses,
Like a gallon of Magnet,
Like a packet of Woodbines,
Like a good pinch of snuff,
Like a night out in Sheffield,
Like a greasy chip butty,
Like Sheffield United,
Come fill me again
Na Na Na Na Na…Ooooohh!
The cardboard Blunts will be in full swing of their John Denver parody which at the moment, really is the best thing about visiting Bramall Lane, as the actual football is shocking.
Sheffield United suffered yet another defeat on Sunday against Southampton, their 11th out of 12 for the season and remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, with just 1-point.
Southampton scored a goal in the 1st-half and 2-after the break, to inflict the 3-0 defeat on the Blades that left Chris Wilder once again miserable on the sideline.
It’s hard to tell when Chris is happy as his face looks constantly like a bulldog chewing a wasp but at the minute, presiding over the Blunts, gives him the excuse to showcase how miserable he is.
It’s difficult to comprehend how Sheffield United can go from being so brilliant last term, to so rubbish this campaign, is it purely because of the empty stadiums?
Surely that cannot be just the reason.
Chris Wilder has credit in the bank for his time at Bramall Lane but Christmas is approaching and like most people at Christmas the credit can run out so Happy Chris may just find himself down the concrete come to the New Year.
James from Swinton, nowhere near the Lane, isn’t happy either, constantly getting ridiculed for his support of the Blunts.
The little lad can’t wait for Santa to come and is constantly asking his lovely girlfriend how many sleeps there are to Christmas when the Big Fella will hopefully bring Jimbo a new Barnsley football strip, so Jimmy can run around the garden on the 25th with his first footballing loves kit on.
Eleven more sleeps, James!
An hour before kick-off, on Saturday afternoon, before the much anticipated Manchester Derby, Ole handed in his team-sheet and the whole of the Manchester United faithful, both cardboard and real, knew that nothing was to come by way of a victory when the names of Fred and Scott McTominay were inked on the paper.
Manchester United will not win anything if Ole continues to pick Fred and Scott.
Edinson Cavanni was injured so didn’t make the 18-man squad which was a shame as it would have been good to see the Uruguayan showcase his movement against the City backline.
Midway through the 1st-half, it did look like Ole’s Wheels had won a penalty when Marcus Rashford was tripped in the area by Kyle Walker.
Although it was an obvious penalty with no complaints from the City defender, Marcus was offside in the build-up so the penalty was immediately quashed.
That was about as exciting as it got throughout the 90-minutes with both ‘keepers telling the respective kit-men, ‘don’t bother washing that pal, like new!’
With Santa getting his sleigh ready for the big night, the United fans are hoping that there are a few presents in the way of new players that will be arriving at Old Trafford.
Obviously, the Transfer Window doesn’t open until January but at least Ole can request them and hope the Equaliser, Ed Woodward gets Santa to bring them pre the window start, so the newbies can get used to the Manchester weather.
Before the visit of the Noisy Neighbours, United had the simple task of heading to Germany and having only to get a draw against RB Leipzig to qualify for the Last-16 stage of the Champions League.
After comfortably beating The Wings at Old Trafford by a 5-0 scoreline, a draw was the least expected against the Germans.
The United cardboards were excited, knowing that Fred wasn’t allowed to play as he was banned following his Red Card against Paris Saint Germain.
The only slight concern was Scott McTominay was in the starting eleven and as of this columns narrative, that United will not win anything with Fred and McTominay, Scott was given the benefit of the doubt.
The doubted benefit, however, waned when RB Leipzig scored 3-goals to put them firmly in the driving seat to progress through the group and leave Ole’s Zebras resigned to travelling to Kazakhstan on a Thursday night in the Europa League.
United only started to play after 80-minutes and did pull 2-goals back but it wasn’t enough and in truth would have only masked the inept performances on show at the moment.
In last week’s column, it was pointed out that Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the World, have Billions of Dollars in sponsorship deals, yet rely on old men, youth team players and Mr Flintstone.
As mentioned, this is not a personal dig at Fred and Scott, who both appear, decent young men, they are privileged individuals playing for Manchester United but the pair are simply not good enough to wear the shirt that the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, Brian Robson, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, to name but 7, have pulled over their heads.
With the festive period approaching, is Fred part of the team because he’s the designated driver when Ole and his Zebras head down Deansgate for a Gin or two?
Off the top of the EveryTip head, straight away there are 3-players the Equaliser should go out and purchase in January.
1- Jack Grealish- Aston Villa
2- Joshua Kimmich- Bayern Munich
3- Nicolo Barella- Inter Milan
Dip the hand in the pocket, pull out some Chevrolet dollars and pay the money for these players.
Even having a cheeky phone call to Stamford Bridge and enquiring about N’Golo Kante.
It worked in 1992 when Sir Alex enquired about N’Golo’s French counterpart, Eric Cantona from Leeds.
The point gained against City gives United 20, for the season so far, leaving them in 8th-place, a point more than the Blue Moons.
When Ole’s men headed over the Snake Pass into Sheffield last season, Manchester United’s best goalkeeper wasn’t allowed to play with Dean Henderson being on-loan at Bramall Lane from Old Trafford.
The United of Sheffield stunned the Pink Devils taking a 2-0 lead with goals from John Fleck and Lys Mousset.
Ole’s Wheels then decided to play and scored 3-quick fire goals from Brandon Williams, Mason Greenwood and Sir Marcus, all 3-goals within 7-deadly 2nd-half minutes.
Ex-Barnsley loanee, Olly McBurnie equalised in the 90th-minute and after a check from the dreaded about Olly resembling Michael Jordan, the goal stood and both United’s came away with a point each.
Bet 365 offer Sheffield United at 6/1, the draw at 7/2 and Odds On 4/9 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Bet 365 offer 8/5 that Edinson Cavanni Scores Anytime and 11/8 that Manchester United Score in Both Halves.
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