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Publication date: Thursday, September 10, 2020 5:07 AM
The Premier League is almost back. And thanks to our new partners, Betfair, every week we will see triple the fascinating things to watch out for in televised games (which are all for now) …
How Bielsa manages with not seeing much ball
Finally, the mythological Marcelo Bielsa is coach of the Premier League. It speaks to the maverick energy of the man that predictions regarding Leeds United range from an assault on European venues to a total collapse in a division that generally punishes non-super clubs attempting to play an aggressive high-pressure game. It could go either way, that’s why his baptism of fire at Anfield it is clearly the choice of the round.
The most interesting thing about the game is witnessing how Bielsa adapts to seeing so little ball. Liverpool will inevitably dominate possession, which means Leeds will be forced to back down, and quite a drastic reduction in those run-down positional exchanges that have defined Bielsa’s teams. It would take some serious guts to push maniacally, to morph into a 3-3-1-3 and go for the jugular, against this Liverpool.
But if anyone is crazy enough to give it a try, well, obviously it’s Bielsa. Even if Leeds are happy to sit down, they are still an excellent counterattack team, and should be even better this year with Rodrigo at the helm. Leeds could be hammered 5-0. Or they could hold a tactical masterclass and steal a famous victory. Either way, there will surely be goals.
Returns over 3.5 goals in Liverpool v Leeds in 5/4 (Betfair)
The second season of Mourinho begins
That’s right, José Mourinho’s second season at Tottenham, by historical precedent the only campaign in which he will do any good in North London. That might not be the case, of course, and if his rebranding exercise on the Spurs’ Amazon Prime documentary has anything to do with it, Mourinho knows he needs to change the narrative. A four- or five-year period slowly feeding Spurs to the top of the Premier League would completely restore their image as one of the best coaches in the world.
Realistically, that’s not likely to happen, making 2020/21 a watershed moment for Mourinho’s experiment. The Spurs need to win something. Fortunately, an undefeated final in the last six games of the season, leaving them fourth in the form table since Jose’s appointment, puts them in a solid position to do just that. Many have already dismissed Mourinho as a modern irrelevance. But he has made a career out of proving the skeptics wrong.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is the ideal Matic-style signing to finally solidify the Spurs midfield, while Matt Doherty will be positioned on the right back to round out the defensive side of things. That should further stabilize a tactical system – quick counterattacks in the compressed mid-block – that was clearly coming together in June and July. The Spurs will only get better this season, and Everton at home it’s a great place to place a bookmark.
Some excellent new signings mean Everton should be drawn into the traps Mourinho sets, eagerly aiming for possession through Allan, Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez as the Spurs sit back and wait for their moment to jump. Carlo Ancelotti’s team is in transition. The Spurs are just getting out of their way.
Tottenham return to beat Everton at 17/20 (Betfair)
Brighton tests Chelsea’s new gung-ho approach
How do you improve on a team that created the second most chances (and had the second most shots) last season, but conceded the ninth most goals? You spend a lot on three of the best young attackers in the world, of course. That’s Frank Lampard’s response, anyway, as he tries to look at the football gods with an overwhelmingly unbalanced squad. One wonders if Lampard, the player, ever noticed what Claude Makelele was doing behind him.
From the first game of Lampard’s reign to the most recent, Chelsea has been repeatedly caught in the transition from attack to defense, a direct consequence of rushing forward with all the prowess of the ant colony released on Homer Simpson’s space shuttle. : freedom – horrible, horrible freedom.
the big question on mondaySo, it’s whether an aging Thiago Silva and some more crafty pressers like Kai Havertz and Timo Werner can close the open patches in midfield. His opponents Brighton and Hove Albion are a deceptively difficult early test, given that Graham Potter is a reactive tactician who prepares thoroughly to exploit the weaknesses of the opposition.
Brighton can change formations in the blink of an eye; it can counter precisely in the spaces vacated by careless opponents. Perhaps Brighton’s new defensive partnership of Ben White and Lewis Dunk can hold its own against the forwards. debuting in English football – and, thinking about his 3-0 win over a clumsy Tottenham in October, maybe Adam Lallana can free Aaron Connolly and Neal Maupay behind Chelsea’s high line.
Back Brighton Double Chance / Draw v Chelsea at 5/4 (Betfair)
Over 3.5 goals in Liverpool v Leeds, double chance Brighton / draw v Chelsea and Tottenham to beat Everton with 9.37 / 1 (Betfair)
Alex Keble
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