The Goals Not Scored

Newcastle get another draw against a side they should be beating.  Looking at other results though and thinking maybe that's not too bad.

Missing the Engine?

Miggie ended his drought

Newcastle continued to have trouble putting the ball into the goal, limping to a 1-1 against 19th place Bournemouth.  This was a draw on merit, no mistake here.  At least Almiron found his scoring touch.  Another tough day for ASM.  I know this team is not an offensive dynamo even with Bruno in the line up but they look lost without him right now.  The goals not scored and the points not collected are starting to add up.  The good news is that a draw like this used to mean that we were guaranteed to be stuck in the relegation battle.  Now it means that maybe Champions League isn't in the cards.  

And It's Pronounced E-sock

Alexander Isak got the start against Bournemouth as Callum Wilson had a - all together now - tight hamstring.  And the announcers spend the afternoon mispronouncing his name.  It's E-sock, not E-sack.  Don't believe me? Listen to this.

Gunners Lose To Higher Caliber Team

Guess where this is going to end up

The showdown between Arsenal and Man City actually panned out as good entertainment.  A cheeky chip by De Bruyne off an ill-advised Tomiyasu back pass was matched with a Saka PK for 1-1 halftime score.  Arsenal were definitely keeping up.  Man City was more dangerous in the second half and took the lead with a well-placed deflected shot by Jack Grealish.  Dennis and I were both annoyed at how effusive the praise was for WonderCalves; if the shot doesn't nick off the Arsenal defender it goes right into the waiting arms of the keeper.  There was nothing cheap about the third goal - a fine finish by Haaland from a great pass by De Bruyne.  An easy choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.

While it felt like Arsenal played well, the final also seems right.  City were (and probably are) just a better team.  Hate to be conceding the title on February 15th but...before the match 538 had it 58%-39%  Arsenal.  Now it's 62-34 favor of City.  On the heels of a 1-1 draw with Brentford (more on that below), not a good week for the Gunners.

 

What Is He Thinking?

Aaron Ramsdale is 1) a goal keeper and 2) English.  Same for Nick Pope.  How in the world is Jordan Pickford England's No. 1 keeper?

EPL Has Eight Sacks This Year

Southampton's Nathan Jones became the 8th victim this year following a 1-2 loss to Wolves.  It wasn't a a run-of-the-mill loss.  The Saints were up 1-0 when Wolves Lemina got a second yellow in the 27th minute (for dissent no less - wait, he got a yellow in the 9th minute for a bad foul, and followed it up 18 minutes later with a second for dissent!).  So you're up 1-0 at home, also up a man.  For Southampton this year, that simply isn't enough.  Bednarek surrendered an own goal in the 72nd minute and Gomes got the game winner at 87 minutes.  Already on the hot seat, that was the nail in the coffin.  Jesse Marsch has been mentioned as a possible replacement but not clear if that will actually happen and Ruben Selles will be the caretaker manager for this weekend.

£300 Million per Goal

Okay, that's not really fair but since the massive January spend, Chelsea have a 0-0 draw with Fulham, a 1-1 draw with West Ham and an 1-0 loss in the Champions League at Dortmund.  And yet somehow, Spurs had a worse week.  They were pasted 4-2 by a revived Leicester squad, then lost 1-0 at Milan in the Champions League.   

If You Can't Say Anything Nice...

I suppose we should say something about Aston Villa.  They "won" the second half 1-0 against Man City.  So they lost 3-1 on aggregate.

So Much For New Manager Bounce

Sean Dyche and Everton fell 0-2 to Liverpool; not a terrible performance but the Reds were clearly the better side.   Leeds, under caretaker manager Michael Skubala, could not beat Man United twice in four days.  The 0-2 final looks really harsh though, with both goals coming after 80 minutes and Leeds matching up well on most of the statistics.

Heading into the weekend, the bottom three are Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton.  West Ham and Leeds remain one bad weekend out of the relegation zone.  Wolves and Leicester have made noticeable moves away from the bottom but are by no means safe.  And for all their recent good form, Nottingham Forest are still uncomfortably close to relegation.  

Bad Weekend for VAR?

Three incidents are making the rounds on the internet.  One I saw live, the other two only on replays.  ESPN covers all three, plus some other interesting calls here.  Starting with the one I saw, my initial thought was that West Ham's Soucek had not handled the ball in the box.  Though less sure after looking at replays, I'm not too bothered by Craig Pawson not calling it live and John Brooks not recommending he go to the monitor.  I am in the distinct minority on that. Chelsea obviously feel they were robbed as the match ended 1-1.  For the offside that chalked off what should have been a legitimate goal for Brighton against Crystal Palace, feeling less sympathetic.  Neil Swarbrick and the VAR crew flat out drew the line on the wrong defender.  That one ended 1-1 as well.  Lee Mason probably made the biggest error, allowing Brentford's equalizer against Arsenal, spending several minutes concluding that one player was not offside but failing to follow the rest of the play to notice that there was another offside later in the sequence.  Reconstructing after the fact, it sure seems that Mason spent far too much time (over three minutes) to conclude that one player was not offside and then felt pressure to end the review.  If he had followed the BFS VAR rule (if it takes more than 30 seconds to decide, there is no way it is a clear and obvious error), Mason might have had time to review the rest of the play.  Completing a trifecta, the final there was also 1-1. Brooks, Swarbrick and Mason all got pulled from subsequent VAR assignments. 

On the Road Again?

Trip to New Hampshire could put a severe crimp in this week's viewing.  Not an overwhelmingly impressive list of  fixtures but enough there to keep it interesting.

This is taking some getting used to but it appears that Newcastle are again part of the marquee match up of the weekend, this time hosting Liverpool.  NBC thinks so as for the fourth straight week, the Magpies are in the featured Saturday 12:30 fixture.  The last three ended in minimally satisfying draws with Bournemouth, West Ham and Crystal Palace.  A draw here would be just fine.  Wow, 538 has Newcastle as slight favorites (41/35/24).  Liverpool are the only team to defeat Newcastle in league play this year and they did that with a stoppage time goal at Anfield.  This sets up as a great test of how good Newcastle are.

The other fixture of high interest is Everton - Leeds, a contest featuring new managers and two sides squarely entrenched in a relegation fight.  Looks like a close one with 538 showing 36/38/26; a little surprised Everton under Dyche isn't a favorite.  While that one is our pick (and USA's) for the best of the six Saturday 10 am contests, there are a couple of other decent choices if you're not into the relegation thing.  Brighton - Fulham features two of the long-shot contenders for a Champions League spot. Brentford - Crystal Palace could be interesting too.  Wolves have a chance to put the relegation fears farther back in the rearview mirror when they host 19th place Bournemouth. Thinking that Chelsea might make hash of Southampton, even under a new manager.  Same for Man City at Nottingham Forest.  

Aston Villa get another tough assignment facing Arsenal at 7:30 Saturday morning; actually that would tough regardless of the start time.  Two Sunday matches as well with Man United hosting Leicester at 9 and a London derby featuring Spurs and West Ham at 11:30.

Don't forget more midweek Champions League action.  EPL teams in action include Liverpool (vs Real Madrid at Anfield on Tuesday) and Man City (at RB Leipzig on Wednesday).

Also, this doesn't seem possible but the Union kick of the 2023 season next Saturday.  Long-term forecast says cloudy and 41 degrees.  Could be worse I guess.