Aston Villa 0-3 Man Utd
Man Utd were dealt a huge blow midweek with the news that Robin van Persie would be side-lined for about a month with a thigh injury. Aston Villa were without the influential Fabien Delph who was serving a one game suspension and the Villains were hoping to end their abysmal home run against Utd, their last league win against Utd was 18 years ago. Sadly for Villa after just 18 minutes of play they found themselves two nil down thanks to Danny Welbeck. The first came after Adnan Januzaj had hit the post and Welbeck was first on hand to slot home, the second came three minutes later following great work from Antonio Valencia down the right who produced a pinpoint cross into the path of Welbeck to convert. Man Utd keep up the pressure in the first half and both Welbeck and Wayne Rooney came close to increasing the lead. Villa on the other hand failed to test David de Gea. The second half was a feisty affair, de Gea and Gabriel Agbonlahor had a handbags moment shortly after the re-start which resulted in both being booked. Agbonlahor will therefore miss Villas next fixture away at Stoke. Utd kept up the pressure and were rewarded on 52 minutes when Tom Cleverley (yes that is correct!) finished off a Wayne Rooney assist to make it three nil. Mathew Lowton was the next name in the referee’s book when he caught Januzaj and shortly afterwards Utd supporters rose in unison to welcome the return of Darren Fletcher following serious illness. Rooney was unfortunate when he found himself clean through only for the referee to bring play back following more handbags by Welbeck and Nathan Baker. The remainder of the match just petered out with no more clear cut chances, Villas Ciaran Clark was booked and Christian Benteke was missing in action again and is clearly short of confidence. Man Utd will take some positives from this result, three crucial points, a comfortable win and signs that when they attack down the flanks the Red Devils can be a handful, Villa though will be very concerned with their poor run of form.
Bonus points: Welbeck (3) Cleverley (2) Jones & Valencia (1)
Norwich 1-1 Swansea
This intriguing encounter at Carrow Road saw Swansea without the industrious Chico Flores who was suspended and the home side were without their influential midfield pair of Robert Snodgrass and Anthony Pilkington due to injury. Fantasy managers were hoping this game would be as action-packed as the previous six meetings which have produced 25 goals and the signs at first were promising when Nathan Dyer put Swansea ahead on 12 minutes following a great passage of play from Ashley Williams. Michu should have doubled the lead but took a wild stab and saw his effort sail over the bar. The turning point in the first half came shortly after Dyer was stretchered off the field with a nasty ankle injury, when deep into stoppage time Johan Elmander found Gary Hooper and the former Celtic Forward unleashed a 25 yard volley that gave Michel Vorm no chance. The second half was a messy affair, Swansea were frustrated by The Canaries and picked up silly yellow cards, Angel Rangel, Michel Vorm and Jose Canas were all booked by the referee. Hooper was denied late on following great work by Leroy Fer and Michael Turner headed against the bar. Norwich will be disappointed not to have taken all three points, they were denied by the woodwork and outstanding goalkeeping by Vorm.
Bonus points: Hooper (3) Dyer & Williams (2)
Tottenham 0-5 Liverpool
Sundays stand out game was the visit of Liverpool to White Hart Lane who had their captain Steven Gerrard missing due to injury. Spurs had enjoyed a small run of form but have won only one of their last five home league matches. The first 45 minutes showed a side to Liverpool that has been lacking away from Anfield. They were relentless at times against Spurs, Phillipe Coutinho had a great chance after just 2 minutes following good work from Liverpool’s Stand in Captain Luis Suarez but the Brazilian scuffed his shot. Liverpools passing was played at a high tempo and was slick and they broke through the Spurs defence on 18 minutes when, following a period of extended pressure, Michael Dawson lost possession to Jordan Henderson and his pass found Suarez who obliged with a brilliantly well placed finish. Liverpool now had the bit between their teeth and Coutinho saw an effort hit the crossbar and Spurs were then forced into an early substitution when Sandro retired injured. To compound his departure more sustained pressure from Liverpool saw Henderson calmly volleying into the goal for Liverpool’s second after an effort by Suarez had been saved. Just before the break Simon Mignolet was fortunate when an effort by Roberto Soldado was disallowed following a shoulder barge. The second half performance by Liverpool showcased their potential, and the result was devastating to Spurs. Goals from Jon Flanagan, Raheem Sterling and Suarez were no more than Liverpool deserved and Spurs’ job was made all the harder when Paulinho was red carded in the 63rd minute for a foul on Suarez. The standout performance has to go to Suarez, 2 goals and three assists says it all, the home fans had long gone as the sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone reverberated around White Hart Lane. The result moves The Reds up to 2nd place, just 2 points off top spot. Sensational!
Bonus points: Suarez (3) Henderson (2) Flanagan (1)
This article was written by Eddy
So AVB been sack Tottenham should go for Jurgen Klopp
Haha
JEET – They should appoint Potty as their next manager..
NiN….
Regarding Pottys imminent appointment at Spurs?
I wish you too join me?
But NiN….
Please read the small print wont you
Potty
Potty’s number 2..hmm..sounds good to me!!
I’ll have my agent deal with the paperwork haha..sure to be sure ya know..??
Capello was at the game yesterday , and NiN i off the to Potty Bookmakers and putting a Monkey on that lol
Bench – It would be the kick up the arse that they desperately need haha,anything could happen with Potty at the reigns..they could even win the World Cup!! Hah!!!
:big-lol: yes NiN very true , got to go catch you later mate
Haha,laters mate,be good.
Migs (given)
coleman, terry, zabaleta, gabbidon (turner)
hazard, ramsey, yaya, lallana (ravel)
suarez, lukaku (aguero)
2FT and nothing in the bank
when i do aguero—> rooney i have 0.9 in the bank.
i could do lukaku—> negredo but that leaves me in 0.4 debt.
to make up i could do lallana—-> fer
thoughts????
I’d stick with Lukaku personally, have a few nice fixtures coming up
yeah thanks nin and as93, think im gonna do
aguero—>rooney also thinking of lallana —–>cabaye/fer
I’m a personal fan of Cabaye, brought him in before the Manchester United game where he scored, unfortunately he got a ban and was suspended but I expect him to follow up his form. For £6.5m he’s a steal. I wouldn’t fancy him against Palace at home though, you’ll likely see me bang on about Palace for a while because their overall defensive play is impressive. They are on-par with Arsenal since Tony Pulis took over (disregarding the recent thumping by City).
hazardeden10 – I’m not liking the look of those moves to be honest,Everton have the form and fixtures so i’d keep Romelu,i think Aguero >> Rooney/Negredo is enough,squad looks good for the weekend, apart from Aguero of course.
yeah actually just thinking that, aguero is only out for lets say 4-5 weeks. lukaku has better fixtures than negredo, so will do aguero—>rooney, also thinking lallana to cabaye as newcastle have stoke and palace in the next 2 gw’s
hazardeden10 – Cabaye would be good,i think i’d just do the Aguero move though,and play Lallana vs Spurs (tough game on paper,but eh….) and keep your 2FT’s,the fixture madness is upon us again so having 2FT’s would be sweet just in case anything happens.
yeah, i agree, thanks very much NIN!
i could play gabbidon (new H) or morrison (mun A) ahead of lallana?? palace’s defence has been suprisingly solid recently
hazardeden10 – lallana for me.
Going to do Aguero – Rooney. I’ll have 2.2 in the bank and 1FT left. Should I upgrade a defender? I currently have B.Turner, Distin, M.Olsson, Chester and Fonte?
yeah i would, look to get a big name in- maybe mertesacker or zabaleta?
Yeah was looking at Zabaleta and then Mertesacker after the Chelsea game?
yeah thats what im doing.
I’d look at Mert before the Chelsea game, Chelsea will go behind and struggle to get on top for the rest of the game. Maybe some biased optimism here from a Gooner but being as objective as possible I think that’s what will happen.
flingy – I agree,i don’t fancy Chelsea against your lot at all..especially with Theo back on the scene,3-1 Arsenal me thinks..
Shh NIN we are no longer friends until after GW17. My qualification place is in the balance here!
flingy – Haha,i noticed this morning..should be a close battle,we’re both on a -4 too..for Wally haha.
I’ll have to alter the Captain’s Picks article NIN to put you at a disadvantage. You should captain Brady, yeah that’s the one to go for, definitely.
flingy – hahaha,how shrewd!!
Don’t worry about it NiN, last week he told everyone the stats said Suarez was the best pick and he even said that on Twitter. Defended it with stats and so on. He was absolutely right, except he chickened out and captained Lukaku because of peer pressure. So don’t worry NiN, I will get the boys in the back to pressure him into picking the wrong captain again. 😉
Cheers Mito haha,you hearing this flingy..rumor has it you’re going Lukaku again..heh heh….aww,just remembered i captained Lukaku too,stupid Suarez haha.
I’ve already used both my FT so I’m just going to chill for the whole week. I wish I had done this during my test time, not the last week of school! Gonna be damn boring this week.
AVB got sacked, guessing the United fans can`t wait till they meet Liverpool as well 😉