With a Friday fixture to give you more time I’m writing this before Thursday’s European games ….
Brighton 2-1 Saints
It might be harsh to be too critical given they pushed Liverpool closer than most assumed but Southampton’s tactics in the second half did confuse me on Sunday.
At 2-2 they kept failing to play out of trouble with them constantly losing possession and the ball coming back. The pressure meant that a goal was inevitable.
Russel Martin needs to decide at which point (if ever) he needs to adapt his principles. While he clearly feels his team are learning his ethos with every passing game, with only 4 points on the board he needs some results soon.
Brentford 3-1 Leicester
As I write this Leicester still have not confirmed who is their new manager, which is odd as I thought the only reason to harshly sack Steve Cooper would be because they had someone better lined up.
The Foxes have been competitive in most fixtures and are out of the bottom 3, surely their objective for the season?
Early talk is they made the change because they want David Moyes or Graham Potter, and I think their chances of survival increase with either. As this is being submitted though Ruud Van Nistelrooy is the bookies favorite to land the vacancy.
Prediction might change if they make an appointment in time for Saturday.
Palace 1-0 Newcastle
Despite being at the bottom there are signs that Palace are improving. Some of their youngsters really stepped up at Villa Park, the likes of Eze might be available again and there is talk of serious investment in January.
Notts Forest 2-2 Ipswich
Out of the promoted sides Ipswich looks like the side with the clearest identity.
They have drawn over half of their games meaning (as their manager pointed out) they manage to mostly compete and stay in games.
The question is long term do they have enough quality in the final third to turn draws into wins?
Wolves 3-1 Cherries
I’m happy for Gary O’Neil that he was given time to turn around Wolve’s fortunes. Other owners may have panicked after the start they had but suddenly the club are unbeaten in 4 fixtures, winning their last two.
They are now getting lucky they were not getting previous. One of them, Semenyo being suspended for this game.
West Ham 0-3 Arsenal
For Arsenal it all comes down to their attitude being spot on. They have left themselves zero room for error unless Liverpool blink before us.
Law of averages says there will the odd day where we don’t show up (maybe a Fulham, Brentford away)
Under those circumstances that makes the London Stadium an ideal place to visit.
Get an early goal and the ground gets soulless very quickly.
Chelsea 3-1 Villa
Earlier In the season I would have argued Villa had the confidence to get a result at the Bridge, but the two teams are at a different level of self-belief right now. Villa have not won in 7.
Suddenly a good time for Chelsea to be having this fixture?
Liverpool 3-0 Man City
Even the best versions of Man City have struggled to win at Anfield. Pep Guardiola only has managed it once when the stadium was empty, only one of 2 times the Champions have won at the venue in 26 visits!
Common sense would say if they can’t get 3 points in front of the Kop when things are going well, they are not going to when their confidence seems rock bottom and all the pressure is on them to get a result.
This fixture has arrived at the perfect time for Liverpool. They will go 11 points clear of their opponents with a victory. That’s without even playing that well.
Man United 3-0 Everton
Ruben Amirom is smart enough to already know this, but the Ipswich game showed us that there won’t be a quick fix at Old Trafford. The team already benefitted by his use of wing backs but the longer the Portuguese can work with his team in training the better. That’s hard to do with the current schedule.
If the 39-year-old could handpick a first league fixture at home though Everton would be near the top of that list. The Toffees struggled to take the initiative even when having a man advantage against Brentford at Goodison.
Their ambition on Sunday might not include much more than parking the bus.
Spurs 3-2 Fulham
This isn’t banter but you can’t get more Spursy than one week being defeated at home to Ipswich then the next week scoring 4 goals at the Etihad.
Ange Postecoglou might have finally found a way to get the best out of Madison playing him in the Pirlo position where he can conduct play from deep. The challenge for the midfielder is to do that consistently.
Tottenham get strange results after playing on Thursday nights, but Fulham play in a manner where this will be an open game which suits the home team.
LAST WEEKS TABLE
Adeski 103
NT Gunnerz 100
JRA 95
Terra 94
Holes 93
That’s 92
Solwills 91
Okobino 89
Akeem 89
Ackshay 88
Baron 87
Antivirus 86
QB 85
Gunnerstew 85
Guñnersmoke 84
Only A 83
J Gunner 81
Stephanie 81
Tom 80
Sue P 79
Its 78
Edu 77
Matthew 77
Kenya 77
Sagie 76
Prince 76
GB 75
Dendrite 73
Zeekseeso 72
Drayton 71
MTG 71
NOAH 70
Me 70
JS7RG 67
Admin 66
Bang bang 65
O Achiel 63
Dragon 62
Edward J Small 62
I 62
Achizzy 60
Amir 55
Babalosa 54
J Legend 53
Taiwo 52
Big slim 50
Ba Thea 46
J Bauer 46
Lupilus 45
J gunz 45
Williamrick 43
Splendid 40
Oluseyi 20-36
Bertie 33
And kit 30
Makers 30
Famochi 30
Illiterate 28
Labass 27
Rich Royal 25
Jacob lerang 25
Gabriel 24
IGL 22
Acts 20
Kobin 18
Lovely 17
Elvis 16
SWS 16 to
Ralph 15
Oslogunner 65-12
Barry 11
Isaac 11
Alex 9
Mulu Fidel 9
Gunner 4 life 8
Dotash 7
Mon August 7
Terry 5
Dunchirado 5
Alwattan 3
