STYLE OF PLAY

At the start of the season you’d have imagined the current PL positions of both sides would be the other way around. Sheffield United are currently 8th in the table and West Ham are 16th but there’s potential for West Ham’s fortunes in particular to change.

David Moyes’ appointment seems to have given West Ham a new style of play and has given the Hammers life with 2 wins from 2, a 4-0 win against Bournemouth and a 2-0 away win at Gillingham and has also potentially revived the out of form forwards. Felipe Anderson prior to Moyes hadn’t contributed a goal all season but registered his first goal of the season in the Bournemouth win, last season he scored 9 in total and West Ham could really do with him finding some real form.

West Ham’s position in the table is poorly reflected with the main bulk of their issues coming from Fabianski being injured and being forced to play inexperienced goalkeepers but they also have had a problem with scoring goals. In the 2010’s West Ham’s top goalscorer in one season was Arnautovic who scored 11 goals, no player managed to score more PL goals in one season than him which doesn’t quite cut it with teams around them having proven goalscorers banging them in.  

Sheffield United have proven their well drilled consistency this season but it could be said they’re starting to slip slightly, they’ve started slipping clean sheets away in recent weeks and in the last 10 games they’ve conceded 13 goals. In usual circumstances, that’s a very reasonable amount of goals conceded but they only let in 8 in their first 11 PL games this year. The bar that Chris Wilder’s side have set has given them an outside shot of European football so the recent slack defending could be a niggling worry.

The Blades consistently select the same defensive setup with Baldock, O’Connell and Stevens playing every single minute so far this season, Henderson and Basham have missed less than 90 minutes each. It’ll be nothing short of impressive if all of those players are able to play every minute of every game but it could play a factor in the potential decline of Sheffield United in coming months. The main form of the Blades tends to come away from home with 15 of their 29 points coming away from Bramall Lane, they’ve also lost double the amount of home games than away games.

Robert Snodgrass and Declan Rice are both one booking away from suspension as are a few Sheffield United players: Stevens, Baldock, Lundstram, Basham and Norwood being the affected. Injury-wise Aaron Cresswell is nursing a knock but could well be in the squad, Ryan Fredericks is ruled out with a hamstring injury and Hammers’ skipper Mark Noble also has a knock to comprehend.

The reverse fixture in October was 1-1 at the Olympic Stadium and I’d expect the same tonight. Moyes has galvanized West Ham but Sheffield United’s stubborn setup alongside West Ham’s shoddy offensive threat seems like it should fizzle out to an even ending.

There’s not much joy in the markets for wagers, especially with both teams having goal issues but there’s plenty of value in the card markets. Here’s something that’s overpriced that could be a nice earner.

Price as of 23:45PM 9/1/2020.

Kick off is 20:00PM 10/1/2020.

SUPER SUNDAY

Now this is a proper Super Sunday and the last one of the decade.

Arsenal host Chelsea in a game where if the teams around them were to win, they could drop as low as 15th with less than half of the season to go. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored on his first appearance under Mikel Arteta, the Gabonese international is currently the second goal top goalscorer in the PL behind Vardy and is always capable of capitalising on the smallest lapses of concentration which are not infrequent in the inexperienced Chelsea defence.

Tammy Abraham has been in a slight rut by his high standards this season, he’s scored 3 in his last 9 appearances in all competitions, but Chelsea haven’t been quite as fluent going forward as they have in recent months, especially in the recent 2-0 defeat to Southampton. The Blues looked very deflated and lacked urgency, the only shining light was Mason Mount’s contribution when he came off the bench at half time. Mount looked excellent and created a key chance 13 seconds after coming onto the pitch and really should be getting game time from the start today.

Prior to Arsenal’s 3-0 home defeat to City, they had scored in every single home game since December 19th, 2018 where they lost at home to Spurs. On the other hand, Chelsea have scored in all away games since the first game of the season where they got hammered by Man United.

It’s clear that both sides have got issues of late but Arsenal’s current state of affairs and their 1 win in their last 14 makes them look vulnerable against a Chelsea side that played Spurs off the park last week. Chelsea are available at a rough price of 5/4 and both teams to score is 1/2, both of which represent decent value.

Everything surrounding Liverpool at the moment is regarding the title they look certain to win and the imminent threat to Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten run, but todays opposition Wolves are coming off the back of a heroic 3-2 win after being 2-0 down against Man City. Wolves victory did not in anyway come as any huge surprise as City’s defensive issues have been sizeable and Wolves have been terrific this year anyway. Nuno’s side have the Europa League in their agenda and they’re still able to perform at such a good level in the PL, they’re sitting in 7th but a win would take them up to 4th with 33 points.

Liverpool’s previous win was a thumping victory over Leicester where Trent Alexander-Arnold ran the show. The English right back claimed 3 assists and also scored a pretty tidy goal as well, he’s proving at a consistent level that he’s one of the worlds best and there’s not many players that can distribute a pass or create a goal to the standard he can. A win for Liverpool would put them 13 points clear with a game in hand over the following pack. The Reds also have managed to improve their defensive third with 5 clean sheets in their last 7 games as opposed to 0 in the 7 before that.

Unfortunately for neutral football fans, wanting a competitive title race, this game will not make much difference. Wolves can always be dangerous against the big teams as City learned but Liverpool do not seem to be making those kinds of mistakes.

Manchester City aren’t quite the dominant force of last season’s title winners that finished on 98 out of a possible of 114, they’ve already dropped 19 points from a possible 57 this season. The injury to Aymeric Laporte set City quite far back this season and they have not been able to recover from the massive gap he has left in the defence. Ederson got sent off in their match against Wolves in the 12th minute which has earned him a 3-game suspension, leaving City with Claudio Bravo. Man City have already conceded 6 more goals than they did in the entirety of last season and have acquired 1 clean sheet out of their last possible 14. Tonight’s opponents had minimal expectation for the season and have been heads and shoulders above what could possibly have been anticipated.

Sheffield United were antepost favourites to be relegated and to finish bottom but instead see themselves challenging in the European spots, tonight would be a huge scalp over a team that are almost guaranteed to have ¾ of the possession. Their real success story has been the defensive stubbornness that Chris Wilder has embedded into his squad but there is a problem with the lack of offensive threat. Lys Mousset is the Blades’ top goal scorer with 5 but recently he’s been a player that makes appearances from the bench.

All previous meetings in Manchester between the sides took place in a 7-year timeframe between 1999-2006 and have ended 0-0 but with both teams prowess towards both ends of the pitch in modern times it could be deemed an unlikely outcome. City will need a win more than anything at the moment and will be looking to bounce back from the disappointing result against Wolves, so a cagey City win seems about right.

Here’s a little accumulator that involves the 3 games and incorporates some of the mentioned picks, bet accordingly. If you’re interested in any other selections, follow me on my social media links that will be provided below this piece.

MINOR HONOURS

Despite this game not involving Liverpool, who currently sit top of the Premier League it could be the game to really decide the title, even as early as December. A win for Leicester would see them stay 10 points behind (providing Liverpool win), if not they’ll find themselves 12 or 13 points behind with 20 games to go. Man City are 4 points behind Leicester prior to tonight so a win would potentially reduce the gap to 11 points which still is a tough task.

In last year’s meetings between the sides, each team won their respective home fixtures and this exact game near enough secured City the league after a Vincent Kompany wondergoal. As previously mentioned, this game has a very different situation surrounding it but both teams are in great form and nothing can be expected another than goals.

Vincent Kompany’s vital goal 6/5/19 in a Manchester City 1-0 win over Leicester

In the last 10 matches in all competitions City have had over 2.5 goals in 8 of those with both teams scoring in 9. Kevin De Bruyne has been the driving force behind City’s current form with the recent absence of Sergio Aguero (groin), but the Argentine looks to be returning in the coming week or so but would be expected to have a bench role today. De Bruyne has arguably been player of the season so far with 6 goals and 11 assists and simply ran the show against Arsenal in the 3-0 win last weekend. Similar can be said about Jamie Vardy’s influence for Leicester.

Vardy is the PL top goalscorer currently with 16 goals in 16 appearances and is clearly in electrifying form but did draw a blank vs relegation threatened Norwich. Leicester came into the game against the Canaries on an 8-game win streak where they faltered and drew which is inexcusable with the bar they’ve set already. Even with Vardy’s prowess offensively, Leicester’s defence has been superb. The Foxes have only conceded 11 goals in the Premier League which equivalates to 0.64 goals a game but, they have not kept a clean sheet away against City since 2003.

Injury-wise there’s no injuries for Leicester to worry about and for City Aguero’s on the way back. Aymeric Laporte is still sidelined and has shown how large a miss he’s been for them with City’s defence looking more vulnerable than ever. Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Rodri are all on 4 PL yellow cards which makes them 1 away from suspension coming into the busiest time of the season.

This game is bound to be a cracker and it’s huge for several reasons. There’s going to be plenty of action, cards and drama so here’s a little pick wager-wise.

This bet is available with bet365. Price is accurate as of 12:45PM 21/12/19. Stake is not shown, bet responsibly

Please bear in mind it’s the time of year where rotation is prominent, this is purely based on personal thoughts.

LIKE A RASH

In the grand scheme of things this game doesn’t have huge relevance as both teams have secured qualification. A win for AZ will win them the group but a draw or United win will see the group placings stay as they were with United topping Group L. With the likes of Inter, Salzburg and last year’s Champions League semi-finalists Ajax dropping into the Europa League, neither team should be resting their squad to avoid a second-place finish and a potentially tough match up.

Man United have really turned a corner of late with back to back 2-1 wins, firstly at home to Spurs and magnificently, away in the Manchester derby. Marcus Rashford has been a driving force in what seems to be a progressing United team, he’s scored 13 in his last 14 games for club and country and threatens every single game since being moved onto the left side, where he’s most deadly.

In this year’s group United have scored an average of 1.2 goals a game and 0.4 conceded on average too which conflicts with their last 10 results. In the last 10 games they’ve had 9 finish with over 2.5 goals, 8 of which both teams have scored in. AZ have also had 9 out of the last 10 games end with over 2.5 goals but in only 2 of them both teams have scored, partially because of how brilliant they’ve been.

AZ Alkmaar have won 8 of their last 9 games with clean sheets in each of them, the only goals they’ve conceded have been in the draw against Partizan in the previous EL game, otherwise they’ve been rock solid. In their last 3 EL games they’ve had a total of 66 shots and scored 13 of them, they’re clearly going to be a threat to the United backline that struggles with clean sheets.

Myron Boadu is AZ’s top goal scorer in the Europa league this season and the promising 18 year old has scored 16 goals in all competitions, unfortunately he’s suspended tonight which leaves the offensive reins with Oussama Idrissi who’s scored 3 in this season’s competition and also scored 3 in his last 4 appearances. The goalscoring ability seems to be embedded in Arne Slot’s team and with United’s current offensive prowess and lack of clean sheets, tonight looks like a goal fest.

Marcus Rashford is the leading man for tonight, his world class ability should be way too much for AZ, he looks bound to score and so do AZ. For the evening’s selection there’s exceptional value.

Rashford to score and both teams to score is 15/8 at the time of writing which simply must be snapped up.

SIXTH AND STUBBORN

A Thursday evening fixture in the Premier League makes you truly realise we’re into the Christmas month and the games come quicker than usual which makes brilliant viewing for avid football fans.

Sheffield United take on Newcastle at Bramall Lane where a win would put them back up to 6th place with 40% of the season played. Before this season began, Sheffield United’s lack of Premier League experience and style of play looked to be setting them up for a difficult year but they’re really proving all the doubters wrong and are true candidates for a potential European finish, but there’s 72 points left up for grabs with plenty of potential for it to change.

Lys Mousset made a transfer from Bournemouth to the Blades for a club record fee of £10 million which at the time was baffling due to Mousset’s record in the PL and general performances. The Frenchman had scored 3 goals in 58 appearances for Bournemouth but upon arrival has looked like a completely different player, he’s scored 4 in his last 6 PL games and contributed a further 3 assists.

Wilder’s real success in managing Sheffield United has been the defensive stubbornness, at the time of writing they’ve conceded the second least goals in the league only to Leicester and incredibly, have a better defensive record than Liverpool. The players have been marvellous, but much of the credit will go to Chris Wilder for his tactics regarding the setup in a team that very rarely changes and has a staple core.

George Baldock, John Lundstram and John Fleck are currently all on four bookings each and one away from a potential suspension which could rock the boat. The next four fixtures for the Blades are all against teams in the current bottom 5 though, which could easily set the tone for the second half of the season.

Newcastle, similar to Sheffield United, had no real pressure on the season ahead following the appointment of Bruce who was almost expected to fail. The Magpies have collected 6 points from a possible 21 on the road this season which of course is not fantastic; but they have faced the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and West Ham. Surprisingly, the wins have come against West Ham and Spurs, but Newcastle have a way of defending against the big teams that really does seem to work, it’s just offensively they’re hugely lacking.

Newcastle have scored a total of 13 goals in their 14 PL games so far, 8 of them have come from defensive players and considering they spent £55 million on Saint-Maximin and Joelinton, that’s simply not good enough. Joelinton has scored 1 goal in his time at Tyneside so far which way back in August and hasn’t looked like changing that anytime soon. Miguel Almiron was signed last season for £21 million and has not scored, and only provided 1 assist in his 24 PL appearances.

The saving grace is Martin Dubravka in goal, he faces an exceptional amount of shots being in a team that sits back and welcomes attacks. He’s made an average of 3.65 saves a game in total this season, which equates to 51 overall. If it wasn’t for his services, Newcastle would surely be pinned to the relegation zone.

Sheffield United look way too strong and are riding a wave of excellent form coming into tonight’s fixture, a home win looks on the cards and a clean sheet seems probable.

Sheffield United to win and BTTS- No is roughly available at 7/4 with most bookmakers.

Below is also a suggested bet builder with bet365 with a couple of fancies for goalscorers and cards.

READY FREDDIE?

This game for Arsenal is the start of another era at the football club, Emery’s sacking came very quickly after a draw at the weekend to Southampton and a loss in midweek to Frankfurt which was by no means surprising.

Freddie Ljungberg takes over temporarily as the list of available replacements stacks up, the Swede knows the club very well and he was of course part of the real Arsenal glory days. If you see the likes of Chelsea and United hiring club legends it seems to really change the mentality of the club and since Wenger, Arsenal have been crying out for someone to take the reins and redirect what is a struggling club.

Arsenal’s problems seem to be stemming defensively but they do have the options to perform well and just haven’t been doing so. Arsenal’s away record is miles away from where it should be for a team with Champions League aspirations, they’ve only won one away game this season and that was way back on the first day of the season at St James Park. They’re also only won one game in their last nine which was a scrappy win in the Europa League against Guimaraes with two late free-kicks from  Nicolas Pepe.

Norwich, prior to their 2-0 win against Everton at the weekend were in a major slump of form which saw them pick up 4 points from a possible 33, conceding an average of 2.18 goals a game across the fixtures. Teemu Pukki started the season fantastically well scoring six goals in his first five PL games but has drawn a blank in the eight matches since and has gone off the boil alongside the Canaries.

Todd Cantwell has shown glimmers of hope but has picked up a knock and is an injury doubt for today’s game, as are David Luiz and Hector Bellerin who’ve both got minor problems that may rule them out today.

Arsenal should have the strength to dispose of Norwich today with the new manager factor added, but if it’s the squad that’s the problem then Arsenal could be in for a very difficult game. You simply cannot ignore that Norwich beat Man City earlier on in the season at home, this game looks bound to have plenty of goals, and a result-based selection would be too difficult to choose.

I’d suggest a bet builder for a game in which should have goals, cards and pure drama.

Line-ups for the game are also as follows:

Norwich: Krul, Aarons, Zimmermann, Godfrey, Byram, Amadou, Trybull, Cantwell, McLean, Hernández, Pukki.

Subs: Roberts, Vrancic, Lewis, Buendía, Stiepermann, Fährmann, Srbeny.

Arsenal: Leno, Chambers, Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac; Xhaka; Guendouzi, Willock; Ozil; Aubameyang, Lacazette.

Subs- Tierney, Sokratis, Torreira, Pepe, Martinez, Martinelli, Saka

GROUP WINNERS

A huge game in group H sees Valencia take on Chelsea in a game which could secure qualification to the next round for one of the sides. Ajax, Valencia and Chelsea are all on 7 points with Ajax’s fixture looking like a potential win which would mount all pressure upon these two sides.

The previous meeting in England was a 1-0 win in favour of the Spaniards, which was arguably against the run of play, but in the history of the two clubs Chelsea have never lost at the Mestalla. Previous meetings have included two draws and one win in favour of the Blues but none of those fixtures have taken place within the last 9 years.

Chelsea are an exceptional side on the road this season and have won 7 of their last 8 away games and scored 22 goals, the only real problem being their lack of a main Goalscorer in the Europa League. Tammy Abraham has scored 3 goals in his last 10 matches and has 1 in 4 in this years Champions League, but has the ability to snap back into form based on this season’s exploits, Chelsea seem bound to score on paper it’s just a matter of who it shall be.

Valencia have had a mixed group stage so far with their two most recent fixtures being a 4-1 win at home to Lille and previously a hefty 3-0 home defeat at the hands of group leaders, Ajax. Unfortunately, like Chelsea they also have a goal-based issue, in all competitions this season their top goal scorer is Dani Parejo with 7 goals, with 6 of those coming from the spot. The Spanish side have also had goals come within the first 25 minutes in each of their last 4 UCL home games, Chelsea have scored prior to that minute in 2 of their last 3 UCL fixtures.

Chelsea seem the more likely team to come out on top tonight but from a betting perspective there is some nice prices about.

Chelsea to score a penalty is generally available at around 6/1 and Valencia to do the same is roughly 8/1.

Liverpool v Napoli

Liverpool play against one of their seemingly, bogey teams tonight. Napoli have beaten Liverpool in their last two fixtures with comprehensive 2 and 3-0 victories, with the 2-0 being in the reverse fixture with both goals being scored in the final 10 minutes. Since that meeting, Liverpool have gone on a 13-game unbeaten streak including 12 wins, Napoli on the other hand have gone in quite the opposite direction.

Gli Azzurri have won 4 of their 13 games since their victory over Liverpool and haven’t had a win in their last 6 in all competitions. They really seem to be struggling for form in recent weeks with the likes of main talisman, Dries Mertens scoring 2 in his last 14 matches for club and country and being far from in form.

Liverpool are playing drastically different to the Italian side with recent results seeing them soar through every tournament they take place in; they’ve won all of their last 10 home games with an abundance of goals; each game seeing Liverpool score two or more. The major downside to such a terrific run is that Liverpool have not kept a clean sheet in any one of their last 10 home games which seems to be a burden they cannot shake off.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been on fire as of late, bagging 5 goals in his last 6 from midfield and has grabbed 3 of those in his last 2 UCL appearances, both against Genk. He will be looking to add further goals to his tally tonight to win Liverpool Group E with a game to spare.

For the evening there’s undoubtedly plenty of value, Liverpool to win with both teams to score is superb value at 7/4, that selection has came in for their last 10 home games.

The Ox to score and Liverpool to win is also at the 3/1 mark.

2 English teams and a probable 2 further wins, a good night for the Brits.

JOSE OUT?

The big talking point of arguably the year is the appointment of Mourinho at Spurs. There’s absolutely no doubting the quality that Mourinho has previously brought to the Premier League, his serial winning is contagious and considering the squad he’s inheriting you’d expect him to carry it across, but does he really suit Tottenham?

Mauricio Pochettino’s five-and-a-half-year tenure in North London didn’t result in any trophies but it did build a team that’s flourished and became a staple in the top 4. In the last decade Tottenham have had four finishes outside of the top 4, three of which were before Poch’s arrival prior to the 14/15 season. The Argentine’s first year in charge saw Spurs finish in 5th but the four seasons since have all been magnificent with two 3rd place finishes, a 2nd place and a Champions League runners-up medal.

It goes without saying there has been clear progression in the Tottenham side under Pochettino and especially with Harry Kane who started his drastic change into the player he is today. The England captain had made 11 appearances for Spurs amongst a variation of loan spells and began to blossom when Pochettino took over and has since won golden boots domestically and internationally. Harry has also expressed his appreciation and love for his management via twitter with a very heartfelt tweet.

Now, onto Jose.

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the appointment of Mourinho had been in the works for a while with the announcement of his arrival coming 11 hours after the departure of Mauricio, Daniel Levy clearly had a plan in mind and executed it as soon as he was able to.

Mourinho is going to bring a completely different mentality to the Tottenham side and his talks with the squad during his first training session have been publicised where he centred it around how he will turn the team into winners.

Jose has been notorious over the years for his “boring” style of play, but you simply cannot argue with the stats, in 19 years of management he’s won 19 trophies in 4 different countries, including 8 domestic titles, 2 Champions Leagues and 2 Europa League titles. There’s a certain charisma that Jose brings to football that removes the “boring” element of his footballing game and makes any club he’s at, an exciting one to follow. In comparison, Spurs have won 17 top tier trophies in their HISTORY with only 2 in the last 20 years, both being League cups.

The appointment being good for Spurs is hard to say, Jose’s great for short term success but the way in which Spurs have gone about business in recent years is as if they’re building for a better future which is not at all Jose’s usual approach. As a football fan it’s an exciting time to be watching Spurs but it’s a worrying time to be a fan of the club. The philosophies of Mourinho do not cater to youth and it’s something that you’d like to imagine has changed after watching the likes of Chelsea thrive under an academy driven squad.

Something had to change after Spurs’ start to this season and a new manager always tends to be the way clubs go about things, but this time it could really cost Tottenham.

Pukki Party

Frank Lampard is yet to register a PL win as a manager after facing tough games against Manchester United and Leicester but comes into a game that would have been considered a bit easier before the season started, against newly promoted Norwich. For the Blues, that will not even remotely be the case after Norwich have started the season with true intention, bagging a goal and creating plenty of chances against Liverpool but then disposing of Newcastle in stylish fashion.

Teemu Pukki has been the mastermind behind the Canaries’ last year or so, the Finnish striker scored 29 in the 18/19 Championship campaign and has started the PL season with 4 goals in 2, including a hat trick against Newcastle. He’s looking a real threat and the step up in quality of football really doesn’t seem to have phased him. Todd Cantwell was responsible for two of the assists for Pukki against Newcastle and the 21-year-old Englishman looked dangerous cutting in from a wide role. It’s clear that Daniel Farke has embedded a real attacking style in Norwich and it’s working tenfold.

Chelsea haven’t had the greatest starts with Lampard’s winless tenure thus far, but this season will be used purely to create the team he’s going to use in the future. Mason Mount has been a prime example of the youth coming through at the moment, he’s played the full 90 minutes in both of Chelsea’s games so far and scored his first PL goal in the Blues 1-1 draw with Leicester last weekend. In addition, at Derby (still under Lampard), he scored in their away fixture against Norwich last season in a 4-3 victory.

The glaring issue in the Chelsea camp seems to be defensively, in their last 5 away games in all competitions they’ve conceded 15 goals and have conceded 5 in their first 2 PL games. The new backline has bags of youth coming through and they’re clearly still adapting to being at the top level, all there’s to be said for now is they will leak goals.

Talking of goals, Norwich tend to be involved in high scoring home fixtures, in their last 9 games in all competitions, 8 of them have had over 2.5 goals where Chelsea have had over 2.5 in 7 of their last 9. Norwich’s consistency offensively and Chelsea’s current form, this will make for a high scoring game.

If you’re looking for a selection to place a bet on for this game, Pukki to score, draw and over 2.5 is roughly available at 14/1.

Teemu Pukki to score is available at roughly 6/4 too, which looks a steal.

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