Premier League Round-Up: Matchweek 14
Scores Matchweek 14:
Cardiff 2-1 Wolves
Newcastle 0-3 West Ham
Man City 3-1 Bournemouth
Huddersfield 1-2 Brighton
Crystal Palace 2-0 Burnley
Leicester 2-0 Watford
Southampton 2-2 Man United
Chelsea 2-0 Fulham
Arsenal 4-2 Tottenham
Liverpool 1-0 Everton
Is Arsenal Actually Good?
So matchweek 14 is in the books and not a lot has changed other than Arsenal mixing it up the 3 through 5 spots with their big 4-2 win over Tottenham. So let’s start there, this match lived up to the hype and then some. Coming into this weekend’s slate of games, Tottenham were sitting 3rd after their big victory over Chelsea last week, Chelsea were in 4th and just 1 pt clear of Arsenal in 5th. But as Tottenham always does, they found a way to lose to Arsenal, despite leading early in the match. Tottenham now haven’t won away at Arsenal in 8 years and are 2-10-15 in the Premier League era when facing them away. Arsenal continue to prove that they can score with the best of them but still have defensive issues. I honestly feel that Arsenal were a bit lucky to win this match despite doing so by 2 goals, mainly because the 3rd goal and the eventual game winner from Lacazette was a gift of a deflection. But Arsenal’s win now means that Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all sit separated by just 1 pt with Chelsea now leading the way. Another big mid-week match for Arsenal as they are away at Man United. Chelsea meanwhile are away at Wolves and Tottenham are home vs Southampton.
Manchester City Finally Face Adversity
Pep Guardiola
Photo Credit: Fox Sports
And by adversity I mean that they didn’t have the lead going into halftime. This is the first Premier League match since early October in their match with Liverpool in which they didn’t lead at halftime. Bournemouth did all they could do but in the end it just wasn’t enough as Man City cruised to a 3-1 victory. I just don’t see anyway that City doesn’t cruise to the title again this season. Pep Guardiola has this team firing on all cylinders, except for in Champions League. City are away at Watford on Tuesday but their big match is next Saturday away at Chelsea.
Who Doesn’t Love Jurgen Klopp Celebrations?!
So Liverpool scored one of the luckiest goals you will ever see on the brink of the final whistle. Just take a look…..
How about that Klopp celebration, though? If that had been Mourinho he’d be kicked out of the league. I don’t want to sound dramatic but that goal might have saved Liverpool’s title chances. I mean obviously it’s still early in the season and anything can happen. We are not even to the halfway point yet but if Liverpool want to challenge City for the title, Everton at home is a must win match. Liverpool again remained solid defensively but struggled to find the net, granted they were unlucky to not have scored before that 96th minute goal. Liverpool are away at Burnley mid-week and away at Bournemouth on Saturday
Other Notes
Folks we have officially entered the best time of the year for the Premier League. Multiple matches for every team, every week until the start of the new year. Other leagues across Europe give their players a Christmas break but not the Premier League. Nope, you better be ready to play the day after Christmas.
The top 5 teams have officially separated themselves from the rest of the table. Tottenham sit in 5th place and are 8 pts clear of Everton in 6th. Unless somebody slips up i don’t see another team cracking the top 5.
Manchester United are surprisingly doing well in Champions League considering they sit 7th in the Premier League and just tied Southampton who are in a relegation spot currently. The big reason why, they’ve only given up 2 goals in 5 games(which is impressive because those 5 games include 2 against Juventus and 1 against Valencia). On the other hand they’ve allowed 23 goals in just 14 Premier League matches thus far. Might wanna fix that Mourhinho.
Liverpool are officially on pace to best the 04-05 Chelsea defensive record of only allowing 15 goals all season. I don’t see any chance they can continue to keep this form, but up until this point they’ve been very impressive.
Manchester City on the other hand are currently on pace to best the record they set last year of 106 goals in a season. With 43 goals in 14 games, they’re on pace for 117 goals.