Desperate Enough to Watch Carabao Cup Quarterfinals

Undernourished after COVID reduced the weekend's fixture list to a mere four contests, suddenly even the Carabao Cup matches looked appetizing despite our history of trashing that competition.  Speaking of postponed matches, wouldn't the world have been better off if one of them had been Newcastle - Man City?

A December to Forget

Last week I wrote that Newcastle offense was Shelvey taking long shots and Saint-Maximin making futile runs.  Neither was in the starting line up Sunday.  Things went downhill from there.  We don't like to speak ill of Ciaran Clark but he's had a bad December.  He didn't move to cut out the cross from Cancelo, thinking that Dubravka had it.  He didn't and Ruben Dias was more than happy to score the opening goal in just the 5th minute.  Cancelo added on of his own later in the half.  Two more in the second half and there's your 0-4 final.

Can't say I'm shocked, only mildly disappointed that we didn't keep the final to maybe 0-2 or 0-3.  Not sure if that was a 4-3-2-1, a 4-5-1 or a 10-0-1 that Howe put out there.  They managed only five shots with just one on target. We've lost three matches in eight days by a combined 1-11 score. 

A Day of Their  Own

Son's goal got Spurs a draw with Liverpool

The three clubs in A League of Their Own had Sunday to themselves.  We've already discussed Man City's easy win over Newcastle.  While that was going on, Chelsea were struggling to a 0-0 draw with Wolves.  The Blues have dropped seven points so far in December and I hear their membership in A League of Their Own is under review.

The late match between Tottenham and Liverpool was a corker.  Back and forth, lead changes, yellow, orange and red challenges, VAR being tested left and right.  Kane's early goal was covered by Jota and Robertson's late goal was countered by Son.  There were two PK shouts that I think VAR properly let go.  Kane's challenge on Robertson was probably orange, which means VAR was correct to leave that one alone too.  And Robertson's challenge on Royal was also orange in my book so I think the VAR re-refereed that one instead of correcting an obvious error.  Three out of four ain't bad I guess.

There are now three points between each of the clubs, with Man City on top, Liverpool second and Chelsea third.  And, even with the recent slippage, there's still a six point gap between third and fourth - which is still the biggest between any two places in the table.  Sharp-eyed analysts may be quick to point out the asterisk here.  Spurs have three games in hand (Brighton, Leicester and Burnley) and could in theory be within three points of Chelsea were they to win them all.  

Martinelli doubles Arsenal's lead over Leeds

The only other match of the weekend was Arsenal making hash of Leeds 4-1.  Rising star Gabriel Martinelli had two goals by the 28th minute.  The win solidified the Gunners hold on fourth place, giving them a four point cushion over West Ham.  Again, most of the teams right below them have games in hand so that may be a bit illusory.  But no doubt Arsenal have rebounded after slow start.  And I had Arteta high up in the Sack Race earlier this year.  My apologies.

So What About Those Carabao Cup Matches?

Tuesday we were bored enough that we tuned in for the second half of Arsenal-Sunderland (the only non-top tier side left in the competition).  It was only 2-1 at that point so why not?  Soon it was 4-1 heading to a 5-1 win for the Gunners.  Wednesday was better as the first half of Tottenham - West Ham was a treat.  Great end-to-end action that included three goals in five minutes. The second half wasn't as exciting but with Tottenham holding just the 2-1 advantage it was still interesting.  Spurs held on to claim their berth in the semis.

If I had chosen Liverpool-Leicester that might have been just as good.  The Reds fell behind 0-2 quickly on a brace from Jamie Vardy.  Oxlade-Chamberlain got one back but Maddison restored the Foxes' two goal lead.  Jota got one back but Liverpool went into stoppage time still trailing.  Check out the 95th minute equalizer from Minamino here.  Wow, the fans seem to think this was important.  With no extra time in the League Cup until the semis, this went straight to kicks from the spot, which Liverpool won 5-4.  Chelsea claimed the last spot with a 2-0 win over Brentford.

That'll Leave A Mark

Chelsea were missing several players for the  Wolves match due to COVID.   As pointed out in this article, even with the absences, not only did Ross Barkley still not get a start, he didn't even get in as a substitute.  Decent article suggesting winners and losers over the weekend.  The Premier League comes in for some tongue lashing.

Your Reputation Proceeds You

Alexander Lacazette felt he was hard done by a foul in the Arsenal-Leeds contest.  When no cards were forthcoming the announcer suggested that Lacazette's "history of theater" may have worked against him in this case.  

Forest Greening Sighting

Hoever, playing for Wolves here,also looks good
 in a Forest Green kit (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Though I missed it, Ki-Jana Hoever - one of my Football Manager Forest Green players - played ninety minutes for Wolves against Chelsea.  According to whoscored.com, he played well, getting a 7.32 rating.  In FM, I have him on loan from Liverpool; he's doing well, with an average rating of 7.08 over 12 appearances.  

We have regrouped from an inconsistent start that saw us bouncing around the 4th to 8th spots.  We're unbeaten in the last nine with seven wins and two draws and hold a two point lead over Fulham at the top of the table.  

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Steve: If you get a yellow card for a dive, does that mean you were booked for descent?

Dennis: I'm disappointed that it took 8 years to realize this.

Boxing Day and More

As of this writing, only two matches have been postponed so Sunday looks like a full day.  You have a choice of five at 10 am.  We are most likely to go with the London derby featuring Spurs and Crystal Palace (USA).  The percentages at 538 suggest that the most competitive match will be Burnley - Everton (NBCSN).  Other options are Man City - Leicester, Norwich - Arsenal and West Ham- Southampton, all on Peacock. 

At 12:30 you get Aston Villa - Chelsea on NBCSN.  Villa are of course underdogs here and they did lose to Chelsea 0-3 in the reverse fixture.  However, more recently they played both Liverpool (0-1 loss) and Man City (1-2 loss) very tough so we are optimistically hoping for a decent contest.

The 3 pm match is Brighton - Brentford, two sides that have arguably overperformed to this point and who are tied on points at 20.  Everybody is probably tired of me pointing this out but it is still true that only Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea have fewer losses than Brighton.  All I'm saying is that this might be a better match than you think.

That is probably not the case with Monday's match between Newcastle and Man United.  No, it looks like the Magpies "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" December will continue.  I mean, even a lump of coal in the stocking would be an improvement at this point.

Match week 20 will unfold over Tuesday through Thursday.  Tuesday's scheduling is odd in that the start times look like a busy Saturday instead of a weekday.   Who doesn't like a Saturday on a Tuesday? Things start early with a 7:30 matchup between Arsenal and Wolves.  Probably a win for Arsenal but Wolves aren't pushovers.  Three to choose from at 10.  We're likely to tune in to Southampton-Spurs (NBCSN); alternatives are Crystal Palace - Norwich or Watford - West Ham, both on Peacock.  Not saying they are great choices but Newcastle fans have definite favorites in those two contests.

We'll be most interested in the Leeds - Aston Villa match at 12:30 on NBCSN.  Home field may give Leeds a slight advantage here but Villa have played with renewed spirit under Gerrard.  This is exactly the type of close contest that we think Villa should be able to win.  The day closes with Leicester - Liverpool at 3 pm on NBCSN; in past years we might have been all over this one but the Foxes just haven't been all that good (except when they play Newcastle, but then, who doesn't get better when they play Newcastle, am I right?).

Two more on Wednesday but a more normal week day schedule.  Chelsea - Brighton kick off at 2:30 (Peacock) while Brenford - Man City starts at 3:15 pm on NBCSN.  Then two more on Thursday with Everton - Newcastle at 2:30 (Peacock) and Man United - Burnley at 3:15 (NBCSN).  We have every reason to think that Everton will complete Newcastle's wretched December but this one might be a little closer.

Of course, this is all assuming no more postponements.  But even if a few get dropped, this should be more than enough to satisfy even the most rabid fan.