Wrong Again?

Once again we were largely off the mark with our assessment of the which games were likely to offer better viewing.  We will put some of the blame on the Opta predictions. Also annoying was the dropped points for BFS sides.

I Waited All Weekend For That?

Was Wilson fouled?VAR didn't send the ref to the monitor. RICHARD LEE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

I wasn't expected an easy time of it facing West Ham even at home.  I was expecting something better than that though.  Newcastle did have the early run of play but didn't really threaten.  The Hammers first offensive foray generated a corner, from which Soucek neatly headed in the opening goal.  First score from a corner for them this season, first one allowed by the Magpies.  Tried to shrug it off but unlike at Forest two weeks ago, the early tally did not shake Newcastle from their torpor.  When Wan-Bissaka turned another counter into the second goal, this match seemed over.  And it was; 2-0 was the final.  This was a true turkey of a performance as they generated just two shots on target.  Given that they took 18 total shots and had an xG of 1.57, we can fairly blame this loss on the lack of clinical finishing, a phrase I'm pretty sure we've used with respect to this team more than once this season.  They blew a chance to move into sixth and now sit 10th, near the bottom of mid-table.

The Dreaded Interesting Match For the Neutrals

D'oh; Tielemans reacts to his PK miss
Jacob King / PA Images / Profimedia

The news from Villa Park was very similar, where Aston Villa struggled against Crystal Palace, a side
they should be able to handle with relative ease.  Instead, they spent the match chasing the Eagles and could only manage a 2-2 draw.  The early goal by Sarr was not all that disturbing, except for the fact that Villa seem highly susceptible to easy counterattacks these days.  The general confidence seemed well-founded when Watkins leveled at 36 minutes.  With Tielemans all set to convert a PK right before halftime, things were looking good.  Except he missed and within a minute, Palace scored at the other end.  Ross Barkley rescued a point for Villa with a  header goal in the 77th minute.  All in all, an entertaining match, which is exactly what Aston Villa didn't need.

We Do the Maddison Blues (apologies to George Thorogood)

As expected, Man City jumped all over Tottenham right from the get go.  Except it was James Maddison who opened the scoring with a clinical one touch finish off a Kulusevski cross.  We make that play this week's YouTubeableMoment.  More domination by City leading to a second goal against the run of play by Maddison, assisted by Son this time.  Continued pressure from City the rest of the way during which Spurs added two more for a final of 4-0.  This leads to the question of how many goals do you have score against the run of play before you really can't call it the run of play anymore?  Sure, Man City had 57.6% of the possession and 23 shots (vs 9 for Spurs).  But Spurs had more shots on target (7-5) and the better xG (2.69-2.10).  Rock away your blues indeed.

Meet the New Boss, Same As the Old Boss (apologies to The Who)

Not much of a new manager bounce for Man United, as they could do no better than a 1-1 draw at Ipswich.  Ruben Amorin saw his team jump out to a 1-0 lead with a goal from Marcus Rashford in just the second minute.  That was all the scoring the Red Devils would manage and Ipswich leveled things just before halftime.  And 1-1 was how it ended.  Kind of like the Man City - Spurs match statistically.  United had more possession (nearly 60%) but shots were even and Ipswich had more shots on target (6-4) and better xG (1.73-.97).  Amorin has been quite public that he thinks the team will need time to adapt to his methods.  That's fine but given the average tenure of managers (not counting caretakers) at Man United has been about two years, probably don't want to take too long. 

That Must Have Been Some Cushion

So Man City have lost three straight EPL matches and yet they still sit second in the table, one point ahead Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton.  Brighton have gained six points, Chelsea five and Arsenal four over the last three matches.  City's stumbles have brought some teams closer but it would be silly to right them off at this point, partly because it's not clear the chase pack is of the highest quality.  

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Dennis: Did VAR Michael Oliver say that was a foul in the small of the back?

Steve: No, he said there was small contact in the back, not worthy of a foul.

Wolverhampton Officials Questioned As To Whereabouts at 5:10 pm on Sunday

As reported here, VAR service was temporarily shut down during the Ipswich - Man United contest after a fire alarm forced the evacuation of the control center at Stockley Park.  The outage wasn't all that long and no incidents requiring VAR attention occurred during the shutdown.

Sensing possible foul play from disgruntled parties, EPL official developed a short list of suspects after reviewing this chart prepared by ESPN.

Wolves officials were scampering for alibis.

The View From Europe

For the Champions League, the EPL sides looked to have continued their domestic league form.  Liverpool (2-0 over Real Madrid) and Arsenal (5-1 over Sporting) stayed hot.  Aston Villa put up another mediocre performance and managed only a 0-0 draw at home with Juventus.  Man City fared even worse, snatching a 3-3 draw from the jaws of victory, surrending three late goals to Feyernoord.  Liverpool are perfect through five matchdays and have a two point lead at the top.  Arsenal's win puts them in the top eight while Aston Villa are now in the playoff group at 9th, as are Man City at 17th.  

Tottenham coughed up a late goal and drew with Roma 2-2.  Man United did better, albeit against an easier opponent, getting a 3-2 win over Bodo/Glint.  Both are now outside the automatic eight spots but do look good for advancement to the playoff phase at 9th and 12th.  Chelsea didn't exactly blow Heidenheim away at 2-0 but they remain perfect through four matches.

In short, all seven EPL sides look good to continue in Europe for a while.

How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?

Speaking of Feyernood, former Union striker Julian Carranza started in that match against Man City.  He had quiet game, one shot and 26 touches in 72 minutes.  But it does highlight the dilemma faced by MLS sides. Why would Carranza want to stick around Philly when he can be playing Champions League football against the best clubs in Europe?  The answer of course, is that he wouldn't.

Be A Shame If Something Happened to Your Playoffs

The MLS playoff bracket took two more hits this weekend as No. 1 seed LAFC fell 1-2 to Seattle and No.7 Red Bull advanced to the Eastern Conference final with a win over NYC.  The Galaxy and Orlando did make it through as No. 2 and No. 4 seeds.  So the East final is 4 v 7 while the West features 2 v 4.  Perfect.  Both matches are Saturday with Orlando vs Red Bulls at 7:30 and LA Galaxy vs Seattle at 10.  On MLS Season Pass.  Nuff said.

Twice the Fun

This is two match match week for the EPL.  Match day 13 goes from Friday - Sunday and Match day 14 runs Tuesday - Thursday.  The "big one" is first place Liverpool hosting second place Man City at 11:00 on Sunday.  Already up by eight points,  a win for the Reds would give them an unfathomable 11-point lead.  The two teams couldn't be in more opposite forms. Liverpool haven't lost in 15 matches across all competitions; Man City haven't won in six. Opta has it 45% for Liverpool win, 25% draw, 30% City win.

A second match to keep an eye on is Chelsea - Aston Villa at 8:30 on Sunday.  Opta has Chelsea as a big favorite and that's probably fair given Aston Villa's recent run of mediocre form.  Still holding out hope that the Villans make this a contest.  Wednesday's Arsenal - Man United fixture might be good too.

Don't forget a welcome Friday afternoon fixture -  the non-derby between Brighton and Southampton.  As noted in the article, they are too far apart and they really don't care about each other for this to be a derby.  I'll still watch, especially on a holiday Friday afternoon.

Newcastle have Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park Saturday at 10 (Peacock), then get Liverpool at home on Wednesday at 2:30 (aslo Peacock).  I'm bracing for one point out of the two contests and hope I'm not being too optimistic.

Opta numbers for the mid-week matches aren't available yet but I'm guessing Fulham - Brighton on Thursday (Peacock) may be predicted as the closest match this season.  Brighton are the better side overall but not by that much and with this one at Craven Cottage, Fulham could make it a close one.  For those watching relegation developments, you'll want to check out Ipswich - Crystal Palace on Tuesday at 2:30 (Peacock).  

Hope you enjoy your Monday off.