[ad_1]
Paul Pogba and José Mourinho are in the Big Weekend as if it were 2017. But the main game can only be Liverpool v Manchester City.
Game to watch: Liverpool v Manchester City
When Manchester City hosted Liverpool in early January 2019, Pep Guardiola’s side was third and trailing the Premier League leaders and elected champions by seven points after 20 matches. They won 2-1 at the Etihad before embarking on his subsequent march towards a successful title defense.
Two years later, Liverpool are fourth and seven points behind City after 22 games, although the league leaders have a game on their hands. The transformative events of two years ago should give Jurgen Klopp hope for a resurgence, even if qualifying for the Champions League has become the immediate goal.
This is both the best and worst opponent they could have hoped to face after a second straight loss at home. Burnley and Brighton exposed Liverpool’s growing inability to beat smaller teams. They have seven points from as many games against the bottom six this season, compared to 15 points from seven games against the other teams in the top seven. City will play more on their hands in terms of not sitting deep and hitting the counter, but they are in imperious form.
Unfortunately for some, 13 is both the number of Premier League games that City have been undefeated and the length of the club’s record winning streak they have accumulated in all competitions. Since the insipid loss to Tottenham in November, they have conceded four goals. Since the monotonous draw with Manchester United a month later, they have scored 34. This may not be as good as they have been with Guardiola, but it is certainly their most balanced and stable version of the Spanish regime.
Even amid their struggle for form and consistency towards the start of the season, City had enough to draw against Liverpool and miss a penalty from Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian will be conspicuous by his absence at Anfield, even if several players have shown themselves capable of coming back in his place.
Those who do the same for Liverpool seem to be hurting and marginalizing themselves in the process. Alisson, Fabinho and Sadio Mane could return to ease the pressure, but a decision will have to be made on who starts in the middle, now Klopp has options to choose from. In City’s form and mood, it really might not matter. They will enjoy the opportunity to take another rider out of this title race.
Player to watch: Paul Pogba, probably
What changes do you make to a team that just won 9-0? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will give the last answer when Manchester United host Everton on Saturday night.
Perhaps Eric Bailly enters for Victor Lindelof to counter the aerial threat from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ricarlison? Paul Pogba was left out of the attack midweek, so common sense suggests he comes back fresh and fired, but for whom? And with Edinson Cavani in doubt due to injury, Anthony Martial may have a chance to capitalize on a promising backup performance.
It will be interesting to see what Solskjaer does with the right side of his attack, a position that will take care not only to create chances, but also to prevent Lucas Digne from having too much impact. That could be the key battle and any fighter chosen at Old Trafford could solve it.
Pogba started there against Liverpool with good results, helping to restrain Andy Robertson and he missed a late opportunity to seal the victory. Solskjaer might be tempted to repeat it. And then there’s Mason Greenwood, who managed to provide just one assist in Southampton’s win, though his displays of late have been an improvement.
The safest and therefore most likely bet seems to be Pogba. Hell, I bet you don’t remember who started on the right for United in their 3-1 win over Everton in November. Damn Juan Mata!
Go ahead, Ole. You know you want to…
Coach to follow – José Mourinho
Only once before has José Mourinho lost three consecutive league games throughout his career. A month later, he was fired. There really could be a lot of Tottenham fans who would accept defeat at home to West Brom if they were guaranteed that final result.
It was in late 2015 that Mourinho seemed so inept. Chelsea had been defeated 2-1 at West Ham before returning to Stamford Bridge to hand over Jurgen Klopp his first victory as Liverpool manager. By the time the Blues visited Stoke, the Portuguese was serving a one-game penalty at the stadium and missed Marko Arnautovic scoring the only goal in a home win.
The reason given by Chelsea manager Michael Emenalo for firing “the individual” in December was “palpable discord.” Mourinho had lost his players then when he and they drifted one point above the drop zone. Things are not so bad in Tottenham, but they sure play like a team threatened by relegation.
Mourinho found time between questioning the referee’s performance, lamenting the absence of “a good Dele Alli we didn’t have yet but hope we can have in the future” and lamenting the lack of “confidence” to suggest that he saw at least one in the second half against Chelsea.
“The union is very easy to show when you are at the top and you win games, when everything is incredible,” said Mourinho. “But in difficult moments it is more difficult to see that union, but I saw it in the second half. I do not have any doubt “.
So he may not be throwing all the players under the bus yet, but Mourinho can’t want to get away with parking it against West Brom. Tottenham have to take the initiative and dominate at home a team that has conceded at least 14 more goals than any other team this season. Try to blame injuries when you let Sam Allardyce keep his first clean sheet as a manager since April 2018.
Team to Watch – Southampton
The good news is that Ralph Hasenhuttl and his players have been here before. They know how to react. They will be leaders of the Premier League in 13 months and all of this will be forgotten until someone is sent off after two minutes of a game they lose 9-0 in March 2022 and the cycle continues.
The response, it must be said, was not immediate when Leicester thrashed them at St Mary’s in 2019. Not in terms of results anyway. Southampton lost their next two league games to Manchester City and Everton, but their performances were considerably better, with a bar as low as it is clear.
Hasenhuttl and his players then used it to draw a line in the sand. “After this, no more talking about us, no more messages. The time for that is over, ”he said, examining the burning wreckage after Leicester. “Our only objective is to work with Manchester City. This is where we should direct all our energy, and this is what we owe to our fans. “
At least this time they have a slightly softer accessory to play back in shape and confidence. It was Manchester City after Leicester. This time it’s at Newcastle’s home. Phew.
Football league match to watch: Swansea v Norwich
Daniel Farke was “not dancing on the table” after Norwich was limited to a second straight goalless draw with Millwall in midweek, but his team continues to spin atop the championship. Their lead over second Brentford has dropped to four points, the Bees have a game in hand. Swansea lurks a place and a point further back.
Since December 16, Steve Cooper’s team has not tasted defeat, ensuring another tight but passionate game for Norwich when they visit South Wales on Friday night.
It was Farke’s team that emerged victorious between the two in November, a game resolved only by Marco Stiepermann’s goal in the 84th minute at Carrow Road. This should be more of the same between two equally excellent teams and exemplary coaches.
As Cooper said in the middle of the week: “It has the makings of a good game.”
European match to watch: Marseille v PSG
Much has changed since the five red cards that spoiled (improved) Le Classique in September. Marseille inflicted a second straight loss on their rivals in Ligue Un to start the season, with Florian Thauvin scoring the only goal of the game before Neymar, Leandro Paredes, Layvin Kurzawa, Dario Benedetto and Jordan Amavi were sent off at the Parc des Princes.
PSG have since rallied to climb to third place and three points from Lille in defense of their eternal title. Marseille have slipped to ninth place after following a six-game winning streak with one win in their last nine games.
But it is the identity of the two men on the bench that is so different. The vegetarian nerd who once patrolled the PSG touchline gave way to Mauricio Pochettino, who claimed the first trophy of his coaching career against Marseille at last month’s Trophée des Champions before being told predictably and hilariously that it was not a proper silverware and he was still a bottle dealer.
The man he faced in that Tottenham philosophy final also left. Andre Villas-Boas was not so happy with signings are made without him saying so and so he submitted a resignation that was rejected to facilitate his dismissal.
Nasser Larguet, head of the club’s youth academy, took over the disappointing 2-2 with Lens midweek and will presumably fill that role again, with reports suggesting Jorge Sampaoli will be installed as permanent manager over the weekend. How he would love to get into a team that just posted their first league double over PSG since 2010.
Matt stead
[ad_2]