The title race is heating up in monumental fashion. All top 3 teams – City, Liverpool, and Chelsea – managed to win their fixtures, albeit by one goal each. Man United barely scraped past Norwich, whilst Arsenal put on a show and spanked Southampton, even with club captain Aubameyang left out due to a breach of disciplinary protocol in the Arsenal camp.
Leading into Christmas, it couldn’t be tighter at the top.
City hold pole position on 38 points, Liverpool are second on 37, and Chelsea – without any decent strikers – somehow still sit third on 36. The Hammers dropped points to Burnely but are still in a European spot with 28 points at number four. Rangnick has Man United back in business (sort of) one point behind West Ham on 27 in 5th. Only one point separates Arsenal and Spurs at 6th and 7th with 26 and 25 points respectively.
There’s quite literally everything to play for, with 3 separate battles happening on the same table. The battle for top spot, the battle for Europe, and the battle for survival – being fought by Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley right at the bottom of the table on 10 and 11 points respectively. This might be the hottest pre-Christmas fixture crunch we’ve seen in over a decade and we’re very lucky to be football fans right now.
Let’s take a closer look at what went down this weekend.
Arsenal don’t need Aubameyang.
Here we are again with more news about off-pitch issues at Arsenal, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, club captain no less, being a thorn in Mikel Arteta’s side in the build-up to their game against Southampton on Saturday.
Whilst the details of Aubameyang’s transgressions are not clear, it’s obvious that the once heralded super striker and unofficial heir to Thierry Henry’s throne is being a very sulky boy. The opposite of what you’d expect from your captain. What would’ve made him even more sulky is the fact that his presence wasn’t missed in the slightest in what we’d describe as Arsenal’s most comfortable win of the season, spanking Southampton 3-0.
Arteta’s biggest call following their resounding win is whether dropping him from the squad that convincingly beat Southampton is sufficient punishment.
Arsenal’s inconsistent young team need better leadership from their senior players, a theme yet to be consigned to history despite Arteta’s efforts, and there must be huge question marks over the 32-year-old’s status as captain now.
Especially since he isn’t scoring any bloody goals.
Gerrard can be proud of his return to Anfield
Ambition dominated Steven Gerrard’s thoughts following his Anfield return and the second defeat of his Aston Villa reign.
Five games into his tenure as Villa boss and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard had to return to a sold out Anfield. Unsurprisingly, the unofficial King of the Kop was welcomed warmly by the Liverpool faithful as he walked out of the tunnel and into the away dug out, unfamiliar territory for him for sure.
That being said, nobody in Liverpool wanted Stevie G to leave Anfield with any points, and, although the Villains put on a brave and resolute performance, a loose Tyrone Mings challenge on Mo Salah saw the Egyptian King convert from the penalty spot and seal a 1-0 win for the Reds, who somehow always manage to score.
In 15 games, Mo Salah has scored 14 goals and provided 9 assists putting him at the top of the pile by a long shot in the Prem. If he manages to maintain this run of form, there’s no way in hell the lad from Cairo won’t bag the Ballon d’Or in 2022.
Place an early bet on it and we back you to come home with some cash.
Antonio can’t do it on his own.
Maybe we’re being a little too critical of a West Ham side that’s currently sitting in fourth position after David Moyes has come on board and completely turned the team around, but the truth is that they’re heavily reliant on the form of striker Michail Antonio, who has been a revelation after his reinvention.
He was the league’s joint top-scorer early in the season but he is now on an eight-game goal drought in all competitions. Are we expecting too much from Antonio after a blistering start? Does he need a solid back up strike partner? Is his ceiling 15 goals?
Probably.
Moyes should probably shop for a hot second striker in January and bolster his attacking options. Not scoring at Burnley can’t only be attributed just to him on a day when only Declan Rice excelled (again, again, again), but it was the sort of scrappy game a hungry, hearty striker could have settled.
The Blues keep finding goals without strikers
Chelsea have scored a couple goals in their few games and are only two points off the top, but there isn’t a very clear identity in attack right now – which is not something you can get away with if you have ambitions of winning the title.
The European champions are not like Manchester City and Liverpool; it is rare for them to blow organised teams away. Creating clear chances often feels like a mission for Chelsea and it should be a worry that their most effective attacker during their victory over Leeds was centre back Antonio Rüdiger, who won both Jorginho’s second-half penalties. Indeed, there was not much of a celebration from Thomas Tuchel when Jorgi sealed the win at 92 minutes.
In short, the Blues attack was too predictable. The title is likely to prove out of reach if Chelsea can’t get their act together in front of goal.
Connor Gallagher; the King of Selhurst Park.
Chelsea loanee, Connor Gallagher, is the real deal.
His brace on the weekend tucked away Rafa Benitez’s Everton in a 3-1 win for Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and he dominated the midfield from start to finish against a Toffees side that, besides their win against Arsenal last week, hasn’t won a Premier League game since September.
The cracks are showing before a crucial period for a frustrated group of Evertonian players that seem to dwindling under the leadership of Benitez, a manager with pedigree but maybe not enough juice to hang in the Premier League for much longer.
With a January transfer window investment unlikely, Benítez needs his best players onside or they could face an even more troubling second half of the season.
Grealish still a no-show for City.
Pep Guardiola jumped to his £100m signing’s side after yet another sub-standard performance against Wolves on the weekend.
Guardiola had this to say following Grealish’s beige day out on Saturday: “One day it will unlock and he’ll score or he’ll make a goal,” “Jack is a player whose decision-making is really good. In the final third he has to do it [better], but it will come. When you are a forward and the other team plays with 10 players or nine players in the box [as against Wolves] it’s so difficult. When one team doesn’t want to play – always it’s so difficult.”
Hopefully Guardiola is right and Grealish eventually justifies his enormous transfer fee, but the reality is, City are still top with or without a contribution from the ex-Villa superstar.
Our money is still on Liverpool to win the league, but if anybody can stop them, it’s most likely the Cityzens.