EPL week-end - Man Utd can crush the league

It does not look as though the internationals that took place on Wednesday will have much bearing over this week-end's matches but it will certainly boost each single player that took part in England's beating of Brazil at Wembley (except maybe for blundering Gary Cahill). That was an impressive performance by the Lions and long may live the the midfield axis of Wilshere and Gerrard. Even with Neymar, Brazil is not the Samba team of old. In particular, when you have David Luiz from Chelsea as your rock at the back, there is a reason for Scolari to worry about his defence.

Man Utd can crush the league on Sunday if their main opponents fail to register full points. Everton are the visitors at Old Trafford and the Toffees inflicted their hosts a blow on opening day of the season by beating them by the minimum score at Goodison Park. David Moyes is one of my contenders for Manager of the Year as he's making them perform at a consistently high level since the start of the season. They are led by the mercurial Fellaini who's building himself a great goalscoring ratio for a midfielder. Man Utd rarely lose both home and away matches to the same team and they will want to make sure that the visitors are no exception to the rule. The Red Devils are in good form and seem to have Rooney back to his near-best. My only concern with them is that they are bound to have an eye on next Wednesday's Champions League game at the Bernabeu. It will not be surprising if Sir Alex Ferguson were to alter team selections on Sunday, given that they have a stronghold in the league and that the Champions League still remains a trophy he covets. Although this game looks to be tight, I do not see Man Utd losing this and they look good value as a Win at current market odds. In addition, whether their main rivals win or not on Saturday, I believe in continuing backing them for the title.

Tottenham v/s Newcastle. Spurs got a big blow recently over the injury of their main striker Defoe who's bound to miss at least their next few games. Adebayor is back from the African's Cup but is not certain to feature. Still, they are still potent in attack with the likes of Lennon, Dempsey and Bale. Newcastle go to White Heart lane on the back of 2 consecutive wins to give some breathing air to manager Pardew. They seem to have replaced the loss of Demba Ba with newcomer Sissoko who beat Chelsea on his own last week by scoring 2 goals on his debut. The Magpies are still missing mazy winger Ben Arfa and although they will play with renewed confidence I find it hard to support them against a strong Spurs team. Spurs are a draw-no-bet selection.

Stoke v/s Reading. The hosts are still going through some rotten form and there is no better way for them to get their season on track than playing at home against a lowly team. The Potters showed some of the defensive resilience they have been renowned for in recent years against Arsenal last week although they lost by the minimum score. Reading have gathered points here and there lately thanks to the late heroics of diminutive striker Le Fondre. The rest of the team will have to pitch in big time for their fair record to continue. I don't see a lot of goals in this one but I see this as a great opportunity for Stoke to start a good run.  They are a draw-no-bet selection.

Southampton v/s Man City. The Saints seem to be warming well to new manager Pochettino although the change looked an unfair sacking of ex-manager Nigel Adkins. Southampton have very good form at home and are led by in-form striker Rickie Lambert. They will pose problems for this City side who will be welcoming back their powerhouse midfielder Yaya Toure and possibly their defensive mainstay, captain Kompany. In Toure's absence, David Silva has been running the show but has not been served by the profligacy of their main strikers in front of goal. The problem with the Citizens this season has been their indifferent level of form. They can be outstanding in one game and capable of playing poorly in the next. They have the ammunition to win this game but even if they do, I don't think it will be by much. Looking at the market, Southampton with a 1 goal handicap lead is the selection.

Aston Villa v/s West Ham. How many more chances does Villa need more to finally register a win? It's bound to come one day, and it could very well come against West Ham on Sunday. Striker Benteke is on fire and is Villa's main hope. They cannot afford to lose against the Hammers or else this must surely be the sack for manager Paul Lambert. The Villains are recommended as a strong draw-no-bet against an average West Ham side.

The other games look capable of ending in any result and going for the draw in them might be rewarding.

Win: Man Utd
Draw-no-bet: Tottenham, Stoke, Aston Villa
+1 Goal Handicap: Southampton.

Outside reasons

Nadal is looking good and after overcoming Alamagro, will face another Spaniard in Ferrer in the semi-final. He should win that one too and reach the final. The other semi-final will see another duel between Federer and Djokovic. Both needed 5 sets in the previous round and the Serb had to save 4 match points to stave off elimination from local Tsonga. That Nole has an amazing fighting spirit, he's never out.

Nadal to beat Ferrer is a certainty. Nole should logically beat the aging Federer; it's not as certain as with Nadal, but it will bring better returns with some amount of risk.

Interesting developments in football around the non-selection of Rio Ferdinand after the defection of Gary Cahill due to injury. Hodgson was right to dismiss Rio from the original selection since the fresher legs of Terry, Lescott and Cahill give better cover. I have no problem with that. However, after the no-go of Cahill, there is no way that Tottenham's Kelly is a better defender than Rio. So, for pure footballing reasons, Hodgson has no real excuse for not selecting the Man Utd defender. The problem is that the manager shot himself in the foot in the first place by saying that he did not select Rio in the first place for footballing reasons, unaware he might eventually run short of defenders.

The reason he's right to omit Rio is because he and Terry can no longer play together on the same team after the racism scandal involving Anton, Rio's brother. The world knows that and if Hodgson were forthright and simply admit that, then he wouldn't be facing this debate. Being England manager makes him in need of being politically correct, not blunt honest, and this has played against him; if he's to be accused of a wrongdoing, it's of being dishonest in that instance. At this point, having Terry is more important than Rio, and there is no way he's going to include Rio at the risk of causing friction in the squad. Good decision, but poor execution and result. Let's hope England's Euro experience goes the other way round.

Win: Nadal

Season on the line

Man Utd gave a perfect rendition of How to Throw away the Title after getting caught into a 4-4 tie with Everton. A cross-bar and 2 minutes of madness meant that an assured 3 points transformed into a measly 1 point that could cost the Red Devils dear in the end. It's game on for the Manchester Derby next week and City will no doubt on such defensive lapses if they were to repeat at the Etihad.

Barcelona's season is on the line on Tuesday in the return UCL semi-final leg against Chelsea. 2 costly defeats in the space of 3 days have rocked the Catalan club big time; they lost the Liga to Real this week-end and they are in danger of going out of the UCL if they can't beat Chelsea by more than 2 goals.

Against Real, clearly Guardiola was distracted by the UCL match. His team selection meant that he wanted to freshen things up against Chelsea; after all, even a win over Real would have meant his team still trailing the Los Blancos in the standings and hence the destiny of the title still out of their hands. The problem for Barcelona in these 2 matches has been their profligacy in front of goal. With a lack of a pure striker in the form of David Villa, they rely on Messi (excessively) and midfielders Fabregas and Sanchez to score. As we've seen lately, if Messi fails to score, the reliance on the other 2 can be somewhat misplaced. They have scored, but never in the range of the Argentinian genius.

Much of the game will depend on Petr Cech, the Chelsea keeper. He will need to have a near-perfect night and rely on the aid of his best friends, his posts and cross-bar! There's no doubt that Chelsea's defensive pair of Terry and Cahill will be breached, but it remains to be seen whether Cech can be beaten. Yet again, he was saved by his posts against Arsenal over the week-end.

Barcelona will get plenty of possession, and opportunities to score. In fact, they will score, I have no doubt. But will they concede? Chelsea's best way to score will be on set-pieces, particularly with the lack of height in the Catalan team. Arsenal went to the Nou Camp and scored. So did Milan. Chelsea are always a threat to score with Drobga; particularly if he's keen on his unfair-play antics with his usual dead-man drops, sometimes in the penalty area. The Ivory Coast striker is still dangerous despite his age, but the theatrics he's added to his repertoire leave a lot to be desired.

This could be a high-scoring game. Barcelona could blow this Chelsea team apart if they take full opportunity of their scoring chances. If their defence stays perfect on the night and they do not concede, they will qualify. I cannot see them lose. It looks like Chelsea is in for a hell of a trip. Draw-no-bet on Barcelona is safe; for them to qualify is still on (from previous post selection). Messi to finally score against the Blues doesn't look like a far-fetched selection as well.

 Draw-no-bet: Barcelona

Chelsea blues

Man City and Inter Milan won as expected; pretty straightforward selections. Man Utd went to thrash Fulham 5-0 in London, which was a fantastic result for the Mancunians. They seem to be in great form and cannot be dismissed at the moment. They will not give up their title cheaply to their city rivals by any means! I still think strongly that City are in the driving seat.

Chelsea and Tottenham drew to the delight of both Manchester teams. Although John Terry had a very good game, I don't expect him to be able to give commanding performances game-in game-out until his prosecution affair is sorted out. There isn't any doubt that this will affect his game and his mental sharpness in the games to come. In fact, he could be a liability to his already-struggling defence. No doubt that courting Gary Cahill is a priority for Villa Boas at this moment. With or without John Terry, Chelsea will win neither the Premier League nor the Champions League, that's a given, in my mind. They are bound to lose Drogba for the Africa Cup in January. Realistically, they could even be out of the top 3 if Tottenham can keep their momentum. The Blues are still a good club with able players but I would not go close to punting on them for any title this year.