The craziness that is the Barclays Premier League continued on its crooked path last week.
Manchester’s two powerhouses both suffered shocking upsets, including Manchester United (to West Bromwich Albion) who fell to 12th place in the standings. Everton remained the league’s only unbeaten club, yet only sit in fourth in the overall table.
Clearly, betting on anything so far this season is folly.
Here is a preview of the Premier League’s seventh weekend.
Weekend programming alert:
Sunderland vs. Manchester United
Stadium of Light, Sunderland – Saturday
Believe it or not but it’s been almost a month since Manchester United won in the Premier League (Sept. 14 at home to Crystal Palace) and a late equalizer by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League mid-week will do nothing to improve the sour mood of the club’s rabid supporters.
Maybe Wayne Rooney should wear body armour — at least in training. The star England and United striker is highly likely to keep his behind firmly planted on the bench Saturday after hurting his shin in practice, his second training injury of the season so far. Robin van Persie – who just returned from injury himself – will have to work with Danny Welbeck again.
As bad as things look for David Moyes’ club, a matchup against Sunderland might just be what they need. The Wearsiders have been atrocious and remain the only side without a win. What is equally troubling for caretaker manager Kevin Ball is that the team has given up three goals in each of its last four Premier League contests.
Their lone bright spot has been dynamic former Juventus midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini, who has half of the last-place club’s four goals to date.
West Bromwich Albion vs. Arsenal
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich – Sunday
With the absolute dominance Mesut Ozil has exerted on the Premier League thus far it’s hard to believe that it took him until this week’s Champions League win over Napoli to score his first goal. The German midfield maestro has been worth every penny of the €42 million that Arsenal paid for him and the confidence level of the north London club is absolutely through the roof.
Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsay continue to impress and it’s almost like the injuries to key players Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lucas Podolski are irrelevant. The Gunners are at the top of the table, and have tasted victory in every match of every competition since Day 1 of the campaign.
It was only on Sept. 25 that West Bromwich Albion gave Arsenal its hardest test, in the League Cup when the Baggies took the Gunners to penalties. Manager Steve Clarke’s side is loaded with confidence after a stunning 2-1 upset victory at Old Trafford over Manchester United capped off a strong September that lifted the West Midlands club to 10th in the table.
Loan winger (from Marseille) Morgan Amalfitano has two goals in three appearances, giving management an eye toward keeping the French international beyond this season. Saido Berahino, who scored the winner against United, is only 20 and looks a good prospect to be an England international in the not so distant future.
West Brom loves the role of giant killer, so Arsenal better beware.
Southampton vs. Swansea
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton – Sunday
Who could have predicted that Southampton would be in sixth place after six games? A superb September included a stunning win over Liverpool – who was top of the table at the time – and manager Mauricio Pochettino has his club humming along nicely.
Former Roma man Pablo Osvaldo made his presence known in his debut last weekend, providing the attacking flair that prompted the Saints to pay a club record €15.1 million for him, while linking up nicely with fellow attacker Rickie Lambert and midfield general Adam Lallana. Even more encouraging for Pochettino is that the Saints have not conceded more than one goal in a game all season (and only two overall, the lowest total in the league).
Swansea City had a busy September (six games) and with the exception of a League Cup upset by Birmingham and a defeat to the Arsenal juggernaut, it was a month for manager Michael Laudrup to look back fondly on.
Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger made waves last week when he compared Swansea’s star striker Michu to Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp, and while that is heady praise, the Spaniard has already struck for five goals in all competitions for the Welsh club this campaign.
With two bright young clubs clashing, this one should be a very good one to watch.
Manchester City vs. Everton
City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester – Saturday
After smashing their way through most of September, Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City is coming off a messy week. Perhaps being completely outclassed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League can be forgiven, but allowing a stumbling Aston Villa to rally and score two goals in two minutes certainly cannot if City plans to make a run for the title.
Surprisingly, Pellegrini was not disappointed with his team after the Villa loss, arguing that they deserved to win comfortably but threw the points away in five minutes of poor play. Adding to his optimism is the fact that City has scored the most goals in the league (14 in six games), with midfielder Yaya Toure an unexpected second in league scoring with four goals, and a stable full of dynamic offensive talent at his disposal.
For their part Everton has been fantastic, organized and clinical with on loan striker Romelu Lukaku (from Chelsea) continuing to blossom into a star. The monstrous Belgian has three goals in only two appearances for the Toffees and looks to be a problem for Toure and company.
Roberto Martinez’s club earned full points from September with three wins, though they gave up two goals in each of their last two fixtures.
Both sides have goals in them so expect a thrilling matchup between two clubs with something to prove.
Hull City vs. Aston Villa
KC Stadium, Kingston upon Hull – Saturday
Which Aston Villa side shows up on any given day is anybody’s guess. Two quick goals last week lifted Paul Lambert’s club to a shocking upset win over Manchester City, while they opened the season with a resounding win over Arsenal. But they were shelled by Tottenham in the League Cup and opened September with a loss at home to lowly Newcastle.
Gabriel Agbonlahor is expected to be fit for Saturday though star striker Christian Benteke was not present in the Manchester City win due a groin injury, and won’t be back for a few weeks. Leandro Bacuna has emerged as an exciting young winger for the Villans and struck a brilliant free kick goal last weekend. That being said, the burning question will be when the Birmingham club will start to miss Benteke in the final third?
Maybe it was due to an easy schedule but Hull City still executed in September, squeezing out just enough offence for two wins and a tie from three games and climbing to eighth place. Tom Huddlestone’s strong play with Jake Livermore in midfield has the Tigers confident that they finally belong in the Premier League, but what impact the injury to creative youngster Robbie Brady will have on the club remains to be seen.
