As we head into this weekend’s international break, there have been some interesting developments over the last two weeks. Arsenal, who seemed to be distancing itself from the pack, suffered an unexpected loss. Chelsea was almost upset at home, ending Mourinho’s unprecedented home win streak. Tottenham was, well, inconsistent, so I guess that stayed the same. The league table has seen some shakeups, and there’s one name most did not expect to be this high this far into the season. Now, away we go:
Arsenal (8-2-1) 25 points (W-L-D):
The last two weeks have been a roller coaster for the Gunners. In Week 10, they took on the Reds of Liverpool and defeated them soundly by a score of 2-0. Santi Cazorla scored in the 19th minute and Aaron Ramsey sealed the victory with a goal in the 59th minute. With this win, the Gunners put themselves five points ahead of the pack and continued their dominating stretch. Their cohesion as a unit and their striking force has been superb to this point and has allowed them to begin to separate themselves from the competition.
In week 11, Arsenal ventured to Old Trafford to take on the underachieving Manchester United. They faced a ghost from their past in Robin Van Persie, who came back to haunt them. Van Persie headed home a near perfect corner kick from Wayne Rooney, giving Manchester United a 1-0 lead over his former club. For the rest of the match, each team traded heavy attacks. However, neither team was able to push a goal across, and the fixture ended at 1-0. Despite this loss, Arsenal is still up two points over the competition at the top of the table. In week 12, Arsenal will welcome the surprising Southampton club to the Emirates.
Liverpool (7-2-2 23 points):
In week 10, Liverpool took on Arsenal, and, as previously mentioned, they lost soundly by a score of 2-0. Liverpool has had a very light schedule up to this point, but now that they are taking on the top tier of the league, more flaws are being exposed. However, one cannot fault them for what they have done: compete against the better teams and demolish the inferior teams. That’s exactly what they did in week 11 against Fulham.
The scoring opened when Fernando Amorebieta, a Fulham player, scored an own goal in the 24th minute. The goal did not impact the outcome of the match, as Luis Suarez knocked him two more goals to an eventual victory of 4-0. Liverpool has done very well: manager Brendan Rodgers has put his team in early Champions League contention, and has allowed the Suarez/Sturridge partnership to flourish. It’s not hard to imagine this squad finishing in the top four. However, they may not have enough to overtake Arsenal or even maintain their lead over Chelsea. Still, this would be an improvement for the club, and if they are able to make a move during the transfer period, they may have enough for that extra push. Next week, Liverpool travels and take on its rival Everton in the Mersey Derby.
Southampton (6-1-4 22 points):
Southampton has been the darling of the Premier League thus far. No one expected them to keep pace with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, but here they are 10 weeks in. In week 10, they took on Stoke City, and we saw something extremely rare. In the first minute of the game, Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic launched the ball down towards the Southampton end. The Southampton keeper misjudged the ball, leading to a goal in the 1st minute.
After the bizarre play, Southampton settled down and returned to form with their lockdown defense. They didn’t allow a goal the rest of the way and eventually equalized with a goal from Jay Rodriguez. Unfortunately for Southampton, that early mishap potentially cost them a win, as the match ended in a 1-1 tie. In week 11, Southampton got back on track when they took on Hull City. They poured in the goals early and often: three goals before halftime, including a penalty kick for their star striker Ricky Lambert. Hull managed to get one back in the 57th minute, but it didn’t matter. Southampton went on to win 4-1. The team will look to continue its run against the league leaders, Arsenal, next week.
Chelsea (6-2-3 21 points):
These last two weeks are definitely not what manager Jose Mourinho had in mind. Coming into their match against Newcastle United, Chelsea seemed to have turned a corner and begun to play like Mourinho’s teams of old. Well, that idea was quickly done away with after this match. The first half was evenly played between the two clubs and ended in a tie, but Chelsea’s lack of attack was on full stage. They were only able to muster two shots on goal, compared with eight for Newcastle. Newcastle finally broke the tie in the 68th minute with a goal from Yoan Gouffran. The score would have been much more lopsided if it had not been for some outstanding saves by Petr Cech. However, Chelsea was not able to overcome their lack of an attack and eventually ceded the clinching goal for Newcastle in the 89th minute.
After losing 2-0 to Newcastle, Chelsea retreated to the fortress of Stamford Bridge, where Mourinho has won 65 straight Premier League matches, to take on West Bromwich Albion. West Brom proved to be more competition that most expected. It wasn’t until the closing moments of the first half that Chelsea was able to take the lead, thanks to Samuel Eto’o.
The second half belonged to West Brom. They had Chelsea on their heels for the bulk of the time, but were able to take the lead with two goals in the 60th and 68th minutes. West Brom seemed to have secured the upset victory, ending Mourinho’s record streak, until everything changed in the 90th minute. Chelsea midfielder, Ramires, was “taken down” in the box, which lead to Eden Hazard match-tying penalty kick. On second look, Remires seemed to gone down quite easily and did not deserve the call. Nevertheless, the play stood, Mourinho’s streak lives, and Chelsea escaped with the tie. In week 12, Chelsea will leave the confines of Stamford Bridge to take on West Ham.
Manchester United (6-3-2 20 points):
Manchester United is slowly turning around. They have been unbeaten in their last five matches, after having a very poor start to the season. In week 10, they won handily over Fulham 3-1, thanks to an early barrage of goals. Rooney, Van Persie, and Antonio Valencia each scored once before the 25-minute mark. Fulham got a goal back in the 65th minute off the head of Alexander Kacaniklic, but other than that they did not pose a threat to Man U.
In week 11, David Moyes’ club secured a huge victory over league leader Arsenal, as previously mentioned. With the return of Van Persie from his hamstring injury, Manchester seems to have leveled out. They are attacking more efficiently and consistently, and their back line has been impregnable. It seems as if Moyes’ has finally gained a footing after his tumultuous start, and it will interesting to see if this club can battle back into Champions League contention. Next week, Manchester City will travel and take on Cardiff City.
Tottenham (6-3-2 20 points):
In week 10, Tottenham tied Everton 0-0 on the road, and in week 11 they lost to Newcastle 1-0 at home. There’s no point recapping this in detail. They were lucky, as per usual, to get away with a tie in week 10, and they deserved a worse fate in week 11. Underachieving is the simplest way to describe this club. For all of the talk of competing for the Champions League, I just don’t see it. There’s no effort, there’s no heart—nothing. This club is vanilla. Without Bale, they have no one to create. Same old Tottenham. Not much more to be said. In week 12, they will travel to take on Manchester City.
Manchester City (6-4-1 19 points):
When Manchester City gets going, they are an absolute juggernaut. Manager Manuel Pellegrini finally decided to bench keeper Joe Hart for Alexander Kacaniklic, but he was rendered useless against Norwich City. The scoring began with an own goal. Manchester City then poured in six consecutive goals, with no player scoring more than one. This just shows how incredible their attack is, as they completely dominated this match from beginning to end. The match, which ended 7-0, served as a statement for the rest of the league: despite their current standing, Manchester City will be a factor for the championship in the closing weeks of the season.
Week 11 did not go as planned for the Sky Blues when they took on bottom-dwelling Sunderland. Despite having more corner kicks (14-0), the advantage in time of possession (63%-37%), and shots on goal (4-2), Manchester City was unable to crack the opposition’s back line. Sunderland’s Phil Bardsley drilled home a goal in the 22nd minute, giving them 1-0 lead at home. Sunderland somehow managed to hold off and secure their win. This loss was one no one could have predicted—Man City was just coming for their 7-0 victory against Norwich. Fortunately for Manchester City, they will take on the struggling Tottenham at home in week 12.
Weeks 10 and 11 in the Premier League showed us that anything can happen, as proved by Sunderland’s victory over Manchester City. The past two weeks have given us excitement and controversy, which is what makes the Premier League so captivating. Next we have a two compelling match-ups: Tottenham will try right the ship against Manchester City and Southampton will attempt to validate themselves against league leaders Arsenal.
