Minnows with Frickin' Lasers

minnow ‎(plural minnows)

1. A small freshwater fish of the carp family.
2. More generally, any small fish.
3. (soccer) A low-level team, in comparison to their opponents. 

Okay, maybe not lasers but the minnows did leave some marks on the bigger clubs.  Of the 20 EPL clubs,  10 faced sides from the lower divisions.  In those matches,  the minnows won one (Oxford over Swansea), lost six and drew four.  One of the losses - Sheffield United - was to Manchester United on a PK in the 93rd minute.  I took in two of the draws.  League Two's Exeter City, managed by Paul Tisdale and his pork pie hat (right), gave Liverpool all they could handle and were rewarded with a 2-2 draw and a  replay at Anfield.  Wycombe Wanderers, also of League Two, fashioned a 1-1 draw at home against Aston Villa.  Check out the Wanderers home venue below - I've seen more cars in the parked in a field at the Hempfield Tournament in Lancaster County.



Newcastle are famous for the early exits and did not disappoint, losing to Watford 0-1 on a beautiful back pass by Wijnaldum right to the feet of a Watford attacker. Crystal Palace took a hard fought 2-1 win from Southampton and the Tottenham-Leicester match was an entertaining 2-2 draw. 


Fool Me Once...

Over the holiday break, Michael B and I sat down to watch a dvred EPL match only to find that the first 15 minutes had not been recorded.  That's because NBCSN had the match at 3 pm except it started at 2:45.  We didn't miss any goals (critics of the sport will be shocked) but it was annoying.  The episode did alert me to some sloppy practices at NBCSN and I was fully prepared for Tuesday's match between Newcastle and Manchester United.  Noticing the on-screen guide showed a 3 pm start, I checked on the actual kick-off time, which was indeed 2:45.  So I recorded the pre-game show and didn't miss a second.  Still ended up annoyed because the only thing that happened in the first 15 minutes was a PK call against Mbemba for handling.  As we shall see, things did get better

Midweek

We have generally been clear about our bias here at BFS against midweek games.  However, if the EPL is going to serve up matches like we had on Tuesday and Wednesday, well, we are likely to become more firmly against the practice because it was difficult to take in all the good stuff.  The aforementioned Newcastle-Manchester United clash went from possibly the most boring match of the year through the first 20 minutes to one of the best, if not well-played.  Lots of giveaways led to exciting, counterattacking football.  Down 0-2, the Magpies pulled one back before halftime.  They were thoroughly dominant for the next 25 minutes, getting the equalizer and looking every bit capable of finding a winner.  Except Manchester United got one against the run of play.  But all was not lost as Paul Dummett rifled a shot from the top of the box (!) to tie the match in the 90th minute.  A thoroughly deserved draw.  We will see if coming from behind twice will provide any momentum going forward.

Didn't get to see West Ham's 3-1 win over Bournemouth but it was probably fun.  Dennis will explain the keeper brain fart that allowed Aston Villa to beat Crystal Palace.

Why explain it when I can show it:

This was the only goal in Villa's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace and the rest of the game wasn't a whole lot more appealing.  On the one hand, if this is what you need to get your first win in 18 matches, then you deserve to relegated.  On the other hand, a win is a win and maybe this catastrophic goal keeping will give Villa some desperately needed hope for future matches.  If nothing else, a long awaited win should at least make the "Gumgate" nonsense -  Guzan and Lescott got in trouble during the FA cup match for swearing at fans and spitting gum on the sidelines - go away.  

My other team also managed a 1-0 win, but scored a much more conventional goal - a late [Jabba the] Huth header.  Having just drawn against Spurs over the weekend in the FA Cup, Leicester faced them again in another entertaining contest that could have easily seen 5 or 6 goals if not for some incredible saves and some bad luck.  In particular, Leicester keeper Schmeichel denied Harry Kane on a 1v1 chance - Kane went low for the far corner but Schmeichel cut off the angle enough that he was able to (with a little bit of luck) deflect the ball onto the crossbar.  The past two matches have shown that Leicester may be getting back to their old selves, which is certainly a welcome sight. 

After matching 1-0 wins, my two teams now must face off (Saturday, 12:30) in an apparent test of my loyalties.  I think Leicester have a better shot at winning the league than Villa do of staying up, so I guess I'm rooting for the Foxes this time.  At least they can't both lose.

I had to speed through a terrific 3-3 Liverpool-Arsenal draw; combined with Leicester's win, the Gunners and the Foxes are tied on points for the top of the table.  Poor Luke P - used to say f Spurs but now it might be f Foxes.  Didn't get to see any of the Chelsea-West Brom 2-2 draw which was probably entertaining too.  


Newcastle Sign Ernst Blofeld Jonjo Shelvey
 
The Magpies have more than dipped their toes into the January transfer window (mixed metaphor I realize) with two signings.  I'm with Ray Hudson on this - Jonjo is a decent player but I'm more excited to see what Henri Saivet from Bordeaux can bring to the club.  I'm also a little confused because neither would be considered a prolific goal scorer and I thought that was Newcastle's biggest need.


Calendar

Finally some love from NBC for Leicester; they are the 12:30 Saturday match with Aston Villa.  That's after a morning that sees Tottenham-Sunderland at 7:45 on NBCSN, Chelsea-Everton at 10 am on USA and Man City vs Crystal Palace also at 10 am on NBCSN.  We hope Tottenham understand their obligations as a top table team and take care of one of Newcastle's relegation opponent.  The Blues-Toffees affair is an unlikely lower mid-table match that might not have consequences for anything.  Not so with the Citizens and the Eagles; both have much to play for (Man City are third, three out of first and Crystal Palace are still in the Europa Cup hunt) and are coming off maybe less than their best performances mid-week.

Sunday's matches looked at least moderately interesting.  At 9:05 we can see Liverpool - Man United, both coming off of 3-3 draws; probably something like the 1000th time the two sides have squared off.  The later game (11:15) is Stoke City hosting Arsenal; the Potters have been climbing and now sit in seventh so Arsenal need to beware.

As for my Magpies, we have a home match against West Ham.  There is an elevated buzz with the new signings and the comeback against Man United but the Hammers haven't lost since November 22nd (8 matches, the first five were draws followed by three straight wins).  They sit in 5th, just one point behind Tottenham.  Doesn't sound like a good match to create some momentum.