Moving From Crisis to Crisis

Just when things seemed to be getting better for Newcastle, they slipped again.  In New Hampshire so limited time.

Barnes' noble effort rescued a draw for Newcastle
Photo:Malcolm Mackenzie/ProSports/Shutterstock

The good feeling after the Aston Villa road win lasted about 20 minutes, or about as long as it took Luton Town to level the match at 1-1.  It happened again as the teams traded goals for a 2-2 halftime score.  Things got worse as Luton Town went up 4-2 by the 62nd minute.  Goals by Trippier and Barnes (just back from injury) allowed us to salvage a point.  Barnes' shot was well-taken and qualifies as this week's YouTubeableMoment.  We sweated out a whether Miley was going to get called for a foul in the build-up.  These late tallies allowed for some relief to go with the dismay that we could only manage a draw against a bottom five club. Let's add an injury to Anthony Gordon (sprained ankle) to the mix.  So much for the one-game winning streak.

Play Sheffield United and Call Me in the Morning

Simply put, facing the Blades is good for what ails you.  Aston Villa were going through their first really unimpressive stretch of the season but snapped out of it very nicely with a 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United.  Crystal Palace got that relief last week.  Apparently, like many medications, it offers only temporary relief.  Palace were trashed 4-1 by Brighton on Saturday and Aston Villa laid an egg in a 1-3 FA Cup loss to Chelsea. 

Sheffield fell deeper into the hole since all the other bottom five sides grabbed a point this weekend. 

How Do You Say Yo La Tengo In Dutch?

There's a story from the 1962 Mets about how centerfielder Richie Ashburn and shortstop had frequent communication breakdowns on shallow pop flies to the outfield.  Ashburn enlisted the help of a teammate to learn that "yo la tengo" is Spanish for "I got it."  On the next pop fly, Ashburn came racing in yelling "Yo la tengo" and Chacon veered away.  Unfortunately left fielder Frank Thomas didn't speak Spanish and ran into Ashburn, knocking the ball out of his glove.  Is it true?  Hard to say.  The only fact check I could find was that Frank Thomas denied that it happened.  Well, of course he would.

I bring up that old chestnut after watching Livepool's Alisson and van Dijk totally botch a ball in the box to allow Arsenal a lead goal.  You can see the play here.  Quite a stunning miscommunication at a critical time.  Arsenal would add an insurance goal in stoppage time but this would be the game winner.  Frankly, Liverpool looked surprisingly uninspired throughout.  That said, it's not like Arsenal ripped them to shreds.  

Even with the loss, Liverpool maintain a two point lead over Man City and Arsenal, though the Citizens have a game in hand.  They were very steady in a 3-1 win over Brentford.  We already mentioned Villa's win.  Tottenham gave up a chance to move into fourth by surrendering a 94th minute equalizer to Everton while Man United won an important six-pointer over West Ham 3-0.  

EPL Matchweek Scoring Record

45 goals breaks theold record of 44.  Obviously Newcastle Luton Town provided the big boost with their eight.  Other key contributors were Chelsea/Wolves, Aston Villa/SHU, and Brighton/Palace.

Sack Race

Tough weekends for the leading sack candidates.  Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace were run over by Brighton 4-1 while Mauricio Pochettino saw his Chelsea squander an early lead to lose 2-4 to Wolves at Stamford Bridge no less.  Off these disappointing efforts, Hodgson at 1/1 and Pochettino at 2/1 lead the field.  Poch may get some relief from their good showing mid-week in the FA Cup replay versus Aston Villa.  Unfortunately, Eddie Howe has crept back up as well and is now at 16/1 along with ten Hag and Kompany.

The Rest of the 4th Round

FA Cup replays completed the 4th round mid-week.  We had high hopes for Aston Villa against an enigmatic and inconsistent Chelsea side but it was not to be.  Here's the final tally for the round:

Divsion                          Wins         Losses

Premier                             10              5

Championship                    5              9

League Two                       0               2

National League South      1               0

As you can see, this is not a good year for the minnows, with all but one of the last sixteen coming from the top two tiers.

Our 2026 World Cup Runneth Over

The schedule for the 2026 World Cup was announced this week and it was good news for us mid-Atlantic people.  Lincoln Financial Field got five group stage matches and a Round of 16 contest.  The Meadowlands in Secaucus did even better, getting five group stage, a Round of 32, a Round of 16 and the Final.  How many matches we end up seeing will be a budget, not access issue.

  

MatchWeek 24 and the Return of Champions League (and other, lesser, European competitions)

Maybe sleep late and pass on Man City hosting Everton at 7:30 on Saturday.

There are five 10 choices.  The TV option is Liverpool -Burnley, which doesn't sound all that great.  Relegation rivals Luton vs Sheffield United face off but Luton are heavily favored.  Most competitive of the lot is Wolves - Brentford.   Spurs shouldn't really struggle with Brighton at home and Fulham likely can handle Bournemouth.  Put us down for Wolves - Brentford. 

NBC feature at 12:30 is Nottingham Forest hosting Newcastle.  The Magpies are favored but not overwhelmingly so (44/28/28).

Sunday is a bit more interesting.  There's a London Derby at 9 on USA between West Ham and Arsenal.  Best matchup of the week is at 11:30 with Aston Villa hosting Man United. A fixture to sort things out - are Man U on the rebound, are Villa ready to compete for top four?

There is a Managers Under the Gun Special on Monday at 3 pm on Monday with Crystal Palace hosting Chelsea.  The outcome is probably more important to Pochettino's fate than Hodgson's.

Champions League is back with first leg of Round of 16 knockout ties.  Man City is away at Copenhagen (Tuesday at 3) and Arsenal is at Porta (Wednesday at 3 pm).  West Ham, Liverpool and Brighton (winners of their groups) will watch others battle it out for spots in the final 16 in the Europa League.  Likewise Aston Villa will watch others compete for the final 16 in Europa Conference League.

MLS season opens in a little over two weeks?  That is tempered by the news that MLS Season Pass is back too.