JAN 10 — Welcome to a new year! It sure is kicking off with a bang in the English Premier League.
The first Premiership weekend of 2009 will see a match that pits two teams who have won the title twice each in the past four seasons.
Liverpool may be at the summit of the EPL at the turn of the year but this weekend Old Trafford could perhaps host the title decider.
All eyes will be on OT tomorrow as Manchester United play host to Chelsea. Chelsea have been on a downslide recently and this visit to the home of the defending champions could open a can of worms for the Londoners.
Manager Phil Scolari has been using the press to send mix messages to Roman Abramovich. To summarise, Big Phil’s needs are simple: I need to sign players, a striker and a left wingman at least.
He might not get the players he wants but he can’t stop players leaving too. Wayne Bridge has already left, while Didier Drogba and Alex could be next.
It is not that Chelsea are having really serious problems with the players they have. Their form this season has been unique to say the least.
Where they have remained unbeaten at home for a few seasons consecutively, this season they have lost twice and drawn four. While away, Chelsea has the best record in the premiership, having won all but two matches, and remaining unbeaten. That is certainly better than their away form in the past few years I would say.
Manchester United, on the other hand, have been exceptional at home, winning all but one of their matches, drawing the other.
So, ultimately, this match will indeed be a serious contender for match-of-the-season with the teams that have recorded the best home form and best away form, respectively, meeting to try and break each other’s unbeaten streak.
MU will only have themselves to blame should they fail to win this tie. Though they have been winning in recent weeks but these have all been scrappy one-nil victories.
In midweek, they lost to Championship side Derby County 1-0 in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg. Starting the game were Nemanja Vidic, Nani, Anderson, Rafael, John O’Shea, Paul Scholes and Carlos Tevez.
Despite bringing on the big guns, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, after 60 minutes to join Tevez in the frontline, they still could not find the net.
There could be two ways of looking at this. The players are seriously concerned about the Chelsea game tomorrow and this affected the form of the regular first-teamers. This bodes well for Chelsea.
Alternatively, after the shelling from Alex Ferguson, the team has only one way to respond, so Chelsea had better watch out!
Speaking of Tevez, it is simply remarkable that United have not secured the Argentine on a contract. I just think common football sense is what Ferguson needs.
Ask any MU fan and he’ll tell you Tevez should be signed immediately even if it is at the expense of a future signing. He was the ace in the pack that saved MU last season with some invaluable wins when games were headed for a draw, and equalisers when on the verge of defeat.
Come on MU, be gentlemen enough to honour the verbal agreement of paying ?32 million (RM176 million) for Tevez and not blame it on the current economic crisis around the world!
After watching MU’s FA Cup tie last weekend I can see that Dimitar Berbatov played his best performance this season but let me just remind you and all MU fans that their opponents were the second worst team in the Championship.
It’s very unlikely that the Bulgarian will be repeating that performance tomorrow.
Rio Ferdinand will return to the team after his recent injury but I think even his presence won’t be enough to give MU a win. The safest bet here is for a MU-Chelsea draw.
Liverpool supporters reading the above might be offended that I have declared that match a title-decider. Yes, I know you are top-of-the-table, but the Reds are just not racking up enough solid wins to count themselves as serious contenders.
Minus the injury-prone Fernando Torres, Liverpool have dropped points against supposedly weaker teams. Had Steven Gerrard been out too, they would have lost more points.
This week Liverpool travel to Stoke City, the team that parked the bus at Anfield earlier in the season and earned a point for their efforts. It’s time for revenge, so anything but three points will be disappointing.
Besides, with MU and Chelsea breathing down their necks, Liverpool can’t afford to lose. I think the Reds will win this week but their fall could come at Everton next week.
Apart from the title contenders, all eyes will also be on the progress of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Both have been disappointing in recent weeks.
Apart from their 5-1 flash-in-the-pan performance against Hull City, we have to go back to Nov 22 to find when City last won, a 3-0 defeat of Arsenal.
It surprises me that City, being the richest club in England if not the world, have not sacked manager Mark Hughes and paid excessively for a big-name gaffer. Hughes is only going to push City deeper down the league table and they are already near the relegation zone as it is.
This week they play Portsmouth who have had problems of their own. Having had Jermaine Defoe return to Spurs and Lassana Diarra move to Real Madrid, Tony Adams must be praying the transfer window closes sooner to stop more players from moving. If City lose this weekend then it surely is the axe for Hughes.
Spurs, who started this season disastrously, are showing no signs of climbing out of the relegation battle. Their last win was in the first week of December. I may be cheeky to say this but by the look of things we may not be seeing Spurs in the top flight next season.
After all, the last time Harry Redknapp left Portsmouth to manage another team, which was Southampton, he took his new team down to the Championship. Could he achieve a rare double here?
This week their misery will continue at the JJB where Wigan Athletic are flying high in seventh place. Steve Bruce has performed a near miracle, enabling Wigan to push for a place in Europe next season. He will be out to take full advantage of Spurs’ decline in league form.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, will be looking to take advantage of any slip that MU or Chelsea make to inch themselves closer to the title race. They play West Bromwich Albion at home and this game is a foregone conclusion.
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