Premier League teams in the FA Cup

Premier League teams in the FA Cup

The 3rd round of the FA cup just recently concluded and many Premier League teams took to the pitch. Many Premier League teams faced much smaller teams in much lower leagues. There were many notable score lines, and some major upsets.

Tottenham kicked off the play with a 7-0 thrashing of Football League Two side Tranmere. Llorente bagging a hatrick, to go along with Aurier’s brace. Son and Kane both added goals as well. A Premier League matchup took place as Brighton beat Bournemouth 3-1. Burnley bested Barnsley by the narrow margin of 1-0. Manchester United beat Reading 2-0, both goals coming in the first half. West Ham also won 2-0 against Birmingham, scoring right at the beginning and right at the end. Cardiff City was the first Premier League club to fall out of the competition with a 1-0 loss to underdogs Gillingham. Everton captured a 2-1 win against Lincoln City. Chelsea won 2-0 against Nottingham Forest with Morata scoring a brace. Southampton avoided defeat against Derby County but had to settle to a 2-2 draw, with the replay upcoming. Crystal Palace won 1-0 against Grimsby Town with Ayew scoring at the death of the game. Arsenal had a comfortable win of 3-0 over Blackpool, with Willock scoring a brace in the first half. Newcastle will also have to replay their match against Blackburn after drawing 1-1. Manchester City destroyed Rotherham 7-0, with an impressive six different scorers and an own goal. Watford cruised to a 2-0 win over Woking. Fulham blew a lead and fell to Oldham 2-1. Their struggles in the league have transferred into cup play. Leicester City also fell 2-1, to Newport County. In a shocking last game, league leaders Liverpool lost to Wolverhampton 2-1.

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Biggest Game Yet of The Premier League!

Biggest Game Yet of The Premier League!

The biggest game of the season concluded yesterday as Manchester City beat Liverpool 2-1. This was a huge game between the top two teams in the league at this point in the season. Going into the game Liverpool had a 6 point lead at the top of the table. Liverpool were unbeaten through 20 games at the time. Manchester City are the defending champions and they needed to win this game to try and catch Liverpool in the title race.

Not only did this game mean a lot to both teams, it also provided in gameplay. In the first half, Sadio Mane hit the post off of a through ball from Mo Salah. There was a miscommunication between John Stones and Ederson and Stones tried to clear the ball but Ederson blocked it. The ball spun towards City’s goal, and looked surely in. Stones made a last second clearance with at least 80% of the ball over the line. Later in the first half Sergio Aguero opened the scoring to put City up at halftime. In the 64′ minute Roberto Firmino pulled one back for Liverpool with a header from close range. Not long after in the 72′ minute Leroy Sane scored off a counter attack to put Manchester City up 2-1. The game was a war until the end but Manchester city came out victorious to pull within 4 points of Liverpool. The title race is back on and Liverpool can’t afford to slip up again.

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Jose Mourinho Sacked

Jose Mourinho Sacked

Big news coming from Manchester United as they have sacked their manager Jose Mourinho. Mourinho is widely regarded as one of the best and decorated managers in the world. Him and Manchester United have had a very poor start to the season and Mourinho has been on the hot seat for a long time. They are currently in 6th position in the Premier League, a large eight points behind 5th placed Arsenal. They have struggled to get results, they have only a zero goal differential, and fans have been upset with their play for a long time. Also, there have been turmoil between Mourinho and some of his players specifically Paul Pogba. Pogba is one of the biggest names in football, but he and Mourinho never had the best relationship. Mourinho has frequently dropped him from the squad and they have had run ins in the past. Mourinho is a very successful manager winning trophies at almost every club he has been at but, his time at Manchester United is up. Manchester United have already appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as caretaker manager until the end of the season. He is a former player for United and he has a very hard task in front of him trying to salvage this season.

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Premier League Leaders

Premier League Leaders

At the time of writing this blog the Premier League is in week 16 approaching the halfway point of the season. Many new and familiar faces have had great seasons up to this point. In this post I will show the top Premier League leaders in some important categories, individual and team.

Premier League Standings

  1. Manchester City- 41 points
  2. Liverpool- 39 points
  3. Tottenham- 33 points
  4. Chelsea – 31 points
  5. Arsenal- 31 points

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This is a top 5 full of big clubs that are familiar with the top of the table. Manchester city is currently in the top spot which they have become accustomed to after winning the Premier League last season. Manchester City and Liverpool are the only two teams to be undefeated in the Premier League this season. Two top 5 teams meet on Saturday as Chelsea take on Manchester City. Notably, Manchester United sits at mid-table in 8th.

Premier League Top Scorers

  1. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang- 10
  2. Harry Kane- 9
  3. Sergio Aguero- 8
  4. Glenn Murray- 8
  5. Callum Wilson- 8
  6. Raheem Sterling- 8

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang currently leads the league with a total of 10 goals in 15 appearances for Arsenal. Manchester city has two forwards in the top 6 with Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling both at 8 goals. Glenn Murray and Callum Wilson are two surprise players that are having great seasons so far. Wilson has already tied his goals from last season in 13 fewer games. The race for the golden boot continues for these players on the weekend.

Premier League Top Assisters

  1. Ryan Fraser- 7
  2. Christian Eriksen- 6
  3. Eden Hazard- 6
  4. Aaron Ramsey- 6
  5. Raheem Sterling- 6

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Ryan Fraser leads the pack with 7 assists in 15 games. His play is one of the reasons that his teammate Callum Wilson is in the top 5 in goals. They are both factors for the success of Bournemouth this year as they sit in 7th place. Raheem Sterling is the only player to appear in the top 5 in goals and assists at this point in the season, contributing directly to 14 goals.

Arsenal’s New Wave

Arsenal’s New Wave

Arsenal is back. After 22 years under the helm of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal has found a new identity. New manger Unai Emery has brought something different to the table. He has a newfound energy, which Arsenal isn’t accustomed to coming from the days of Wenger. He comes from a very successful PSG team which won the Ligue 1, and a total of seven trophies in two seasons. He has brought in a multitude of new signings to strengthen the core of Arsenal. Those of which include the likes of Sokratis, Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira, and 19 year old Matteo Guendouzi. As well as a free transfer from Juventus in Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Arsenal had a hard start to the new campaign with two consecutive losses in the league to Manchester City, and Chelsea, two top teams in the league. Since then, Arsenal have found their groove. As I am writing this Arsenal has won 11 straight games in all competitions including 7 straight in the league. Arsenal has moved up to 4th in the Premier League table, a spot that they are familiar with. They are one spot above rivals Tottenham in the league tied on points but Arsenal has the edge on goal differential. Arsenal is also having a successful campaign in the Europa League. They have won two out of two of their games in the Europa league scoring 7 goals between them. Arsenal sits atop group E with a game against Sporting in hand.

Arsenal’s players have really stepped up in their run of form. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads the strike-force with 6 goals and 1 assist in 9 games in the Premier League. His partner upfront Alexandre Lacazette, has also chipped in 4 goals and 2 assists in as many games. The two strikers have become one of the best strike partnerships in the Premier League. A part of the success upfront comes from German playmaker Mesut Ozil. Ozil was widely regarded as a player with the best vision for a long time. On his day Ozil could pick out any player on the pitch and give them a dime, but recently he has been questioned for his work ethic and his defensive attitude. Although, the critics have quieted down due to the string of performances by the former Real Madrid man. Ozil was praised heavily for his performance in the 3-1 victory over Leicester on Monday. He scored and assisted in the game and overall bossed the midfield showing flashes of his old self.

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Arsenal is trending up, and playing the best football they have played in a while. They are almost in the discussion of challenging for the title and are one of the hottest teams in the league at the moment. Arsenal is back in the champions league zone and handling their own in the Europa league. Arsenal is finally back, and this could be the start to a long run at the tops of English football.

Premier League Roundup Matchday 7

Premier League Roundup

The Premier league is in full flow and the season is heating up. All the sides were looking to pick up points and move up the table. There were many exciting matchups and interesting storylines  in the seventh matchday of the Premier league 2018-2019 season.

Weekend Fixture Reviews

Manchester United vs. West Ham United

Manchester United suffered a shock defeat to the hands of the hammers away from home at the London Stadium. Man. U. came into the game in a bit of a rough patch following a draw against Wolverhampton and a loss to Derby County midweek in the English Carabao Cup. Alexis Sanchez was dropped from the squad before the game not even sitting on the subs bench. West Ham pounced on the wounded Manchester team on Saturday. West Ham started things off early with a cheeky finish from new signing Felipe Anderson in the 5′ min. They doubled their lead when a shot from Yarmolenko took a deflection off of Victor Lindelof and ended up in his own net. Marcus Rashford pulled one back for the red devils with a backheel shot off of  corner in the 71′ min. Just three minutes later Marko Arnautovic Sealed the victory with a precise finish in the bottom corner. With the three points West Ham moved up to 14th, level on points with Burnley and Crystal Palace. Manchester United dropped to 10th place, with Jose Mourinho’s job in jeopardy. The Man. U. fans are unhappy and want change in the front office.

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