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Manchester City's quest for a 3rd straight League title

10/8/2019

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PictureManchester City's new boy, Rodrigo
​By Mac-Noble Adile


The citizens are preparing for another brutal campaign, where they will once again stand toe-to-toe with Liverpool and slug it out for the premier league title.


City recorded a mind-blowing total 198 points in their past two seasons to win back-to-back Premier League trophies, but many are speculating they will need to go beyond the 100 mark to win it again.


They will become only the fifth team in English football history to achieve the feat of three consecutive top-flight titles, after Huddersfield ,Arsenal , Liverpool and Manchester United (twice).


Manchester United did it from 1998-2001 and 2006-09, the only side to do it in the Premier League era. Before them, it was Liverpool (1981-84), Arsenal (1932-35), and Huddersfield (1923-26).


That’s it, so Manchester City is aiming to join pretty exclusive company when it tries to defend a trophy Liverpool as found as elusive company.


Last season finished tight. City’s incredible follow-up to an unprecedented season was again enough for first place. That was just one point more than the flashy Reds of Anfield, who threw away a big time Christmas lead about as quick as a kid tosses away the wrapping paper.


City has questions at left back between Benjamin Mendy , Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Angelino .


Oddly enough, Angelino may be the answer for City. The 22-year-old was bought back from PSV Eindhoven last season after a 1-goal, 9-assist league season and impressive-enough job in the club’s UCL run.


Liverpool, again, will be City’s main foe domestically and in Europe. As is now custom under the Txiki Begiristain-Ferran Soriano sporting director-chief executive axis, City have moved slickly in the market to give them the best chance of holding off Klopp’s men. The defensive midfielder Rodri joined from Atlético Madrid in the first week of July , City paying his €70m (£62.8m) release clause, so the addition of a central defender, following Vincent Kompany’s departure for Anderlecht, is the only real issue remaining.


Here’s the good news for City fans who believe Liverpool is right on its tail: They aren’t. The expected goals table says City should’ve finished with 90 points last season, not 98, but that Liverpool’s 97 were an even bigger over performance. The Reds expected finish was 83 points.
City has the ball more than everyone else, passes more and better than everyone else, shoots more than everyone else, and scores more than everyone else.


Incredibly, those totals are the same home and away. That was true in Guardiola’s first PL title campaign, too, with the exception of finishing fourth in shots per game while away from home.  

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New dawn for Chelsea as season’s opener cometh

10/8/2019

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Picture
By Asuzu Emmanuel


The 2019/ 2020 season is Chelsea's 106th competitive season, 31st consecutive season in the top flight of English football, 28th consecutive season in the Premier League.


Chelsea ended the 2018/19 season with silverware, but it is the return of a fans' favourite, Frank Lampard - not that Europa League success - that has breathed new life into Stamford Bridge.


New start plus Transfer ban would make fans cautious


With the departure of Maurizio Sarri and their best player last season, Eden Hazard; Sarri moving to Juventus and Hazard away to the Southern part of Europe, Madrid.
Not even a transfer ban - which Chelsea have taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport - and the inevitable sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid has seemed to diminish hopes for an encouraging season.


The inability to make signings, and Lampard's man-management qualities, should bring about a greater sense of unity in what became a tense dressing-room. Ross Barkley has shown signs he is ready to fulfill his potential, and the stage is all his for the start of the season with new arrivals from season long loan like Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and with an experience Olivier Giroud at the pack.


There is no guarantee that Lampard is going to succeed at this level, not in his first season as a top flight league manager and the absence of their best player last season Eden Hazard. The transfer limbo also means Lampard may offer second chances to outcasts such as Christensen and members of Chelsea’s returning loan army, with Kurt Zouma hoping to challenge in central defence after a year at Everton and the departure of David Luiz on deadline to Arsenal, Kenedy an option on the wing after a year at Newcastle and the midfielder Tiémoué Bakayoko keen to prove himself after spending last season at Milan.


But questions linger


Yet questions linger. Is Ross Barkley capable of a consistent run of form? Was it a mistake to sign Mateo Kovacic, an underwhelming presence on loan from Madrid, on a permanent basis? Will Ruben Loftus-Cheek be the same after injury? Do Giroud, Batshuayi and Abraham convince up front? And will there be enough spark without Hazard? Lampard will need time to come up with the right answers, of course.
On the look of it there is much to like about Lampard’s return to the club he knows inside out, where he is respected by the club’s notoriously hard-to-please board and revered by supporters who will feel waves of excitement wash over them when they see their manager in the away dugout at Old Trafford on 11th August.


It is an appointment that makes sense on a number of levels, not least because installing Chelsea’s record goalscorer should have a restorative effect on the mood after a year dominated by less than complimentary chants about the quality of Sarriball.


What Lampard brings


Lampard will bring unity, that's of course a great advantage as compared to Sarri who had issues with players and the board. Yet for all the romance of Lampard’s homecoming, there are awkward realities to confront. The lack of creativity at the dept of Midfield.


In Sarri’s place arrives a 41-year-old who has been managing for a year, finished sixth in the Championship with Derby County and lost the play-off final to a more experienced English manager, Aston Villa’s Dean Smith.


Well, it will be down to the players to perform to their best.


Still, imagine the excitement if it is Lampard leading a title race. For all the current uncertainty it would be glorious.


Chelsea will slug it out with Man Utd at Old Trafford on Sunday, 11th August, 2019 by 16:30 GMT+1.





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Reds host Canaries as another Premier League season begins

9/8/2019

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Picture
Henry Jackson

A new Premier League season gets underway on Friday night, with European Champions Liverpool welcoming newly-promoted Norwich to Anfield. Here’s all you need to know.


Liverpool vs. Norwich
Friday, August 9, 2019 – 8pm (BST)
Anfield
Premier League
Referee: Michael Oliver


Right then, here we go again.


It only feels like yesterday that Jordan Henderson was hoisting the Champions League aloft in Madrid on one of the Reds’ greatest nights.


A relatively low-key summer and pre-season has been and gone since Jurgen Klopp‘s side secured European Cup number six—now it’s time to focus on league commitments.


Liverpool did themselves proud in taking Man City all the way to the final day last season, but 97 points somehow wasn’t enough in the end.


A similarly freakish level of consistency is required in 2019/20, as the Reds look to finally end that horrible 30-year wait for a league title.


Heading to Merseyside on Friday are an exciting Norwich team—one who clinched the Championship title last season under the tutelage of Daniel Farke.


On paper, this should be about as one-sided as it gets on the opening night of the season, but the Canaries must not be underrated.


They will likely raise their game on a special evening for the club and Klopp’s men need to be ruthless in front of an expectant crowd.


Liverpool’s performance in the Community Shield was one of a team clicking at just the right time, despite losing on penalties to City—that bodes well ahead of the visit of Norwich.


Team News


Klopp has almost a full squad to choose from. Sadio Mane is in contention to start, despite arriving back for training later than his team-mates, but he may be on the substitutes’ bench.


At the back, Klopp has to choose between Joe Gomez and Joel Matip to partner Virgil van Dijk—judging by his Community Shield selection, Gomez has the edge.


Fabinho is almost certain to start at the base of the midfield, while Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum are favourites to join him.


Naby Keita brought more guile against City, however, so he, fit-again Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and an improved Adam Lallana represent more creative options.


Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino are expected to start proceedings, and in Mane’s potential absence, Madrid hero Divock Origi is likely to take up a left-sided role.


Rhian Brewster is looking to make his mark this season and he could represent an exciting option off the bench.


Farke is without Timm Klose, Christoph Zimmermann and Alex Tettey, explaining on Thursday that his side “have just two centre-backs and one natural defensive midfielder.”

Last 5 at Home to Norwich (All Competitions)

Drew 1-1 – September 2015 (Ings; Martin)
Won 5-1 – December 2013 (Suarez x4, Sterling; Johnson)
Won 5-0 – January 2013 (Henderson, Suarez, Sturridge, Gerrard, Bennett OG)
Drew 1-1 – October 2011 (Bellamy; Holt)
Won 3-0 – September 2004 (Baros, Garcia, Cisse)


The Opposition (Norwich)


Having spent three seasons away from the Premier League, Norwich are back.


The Canaries are always a welcome addition to the top flight, playing an attractive brand of football and possessing a classic old-school stadium in Carrow Road.


Norwich have thrived with Farke at the helm, following the 42-year-old’s move from Borussia Dortmund II to East Anglia in 2017.


If a 14th-placed finish in his first season was adequate, what the Canaries achieved in 2018/19 was magnificent.


They topped the Championship table with 94 points, losing just six times in arguably the most competitive league in Europe.


Teemu Pukki was the star man, leading the goalscoring charts with 30 goals, but there were several outstanding performers, from Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis at the back to Marco Stiepermann in midfield.


A productive summer in the transfer window has seen a number of good players acquired, not least on-loan Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann and Switzerland striker Josip Drmic.


Norwich may still be among the favourites to be relegated this season, but they look better equipped than others to beat the drop.

Did You Know?


Liverpool are unbeaten in their last five opening Premier League matches.


Their last defeat came in August 2012, when Brendan Rodgers suffered a dreadful first league game as manager, losing 3-0 at West Brom.


The following season, 2013/14, Simon Mignolet‘s debut penalty save helped earn the Reds a 1-0 victory at home to Stoke, before beating Southampton 2-1 at Anfield 12 months later.


Philippe Coutinho scored a beauty to nick a win at Stoke in 2015/16 and a stunning 4-3 triumph at Arsenal saw 2016/17 start with a bang—who else remembers Klopp giving Mane a piggyback at the Emirates?


Most recently, a late Watford equaliser proved costly in a 3-3 draw at Vicarage Road and West Ham were swatted aside 4-0 at Anfield last August.


Klopp’s View


Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Klopp insisted Norwich will be a tough proposition, as he comes up against a number of former players:


“They are really special for a Championship team, what they were last year, because the way they played: clear structure, clear plan, little coincidences in the game, everything looks properly planned. They have all my respect.


“But these kinds of fixtures, with all the stories around, are always like the proper banana skins.


“It’s like it’s made for something like that if you are not aware of it. If you don’t go 100 percent in a game like this, you will slip 100 percent.


“They are too good for that, that’s a good team, the funny thing is with that I don’t think I’ve ever faced a Premier League team where I’ve worked together with so many players before!


“So that’s really nice. They were really young [at Dortmund], yes, but I still know them.”


Culled from www.thisisanfield.com



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