Unstoppable City, Powerful United, Lucky Liverpool? - Premier League Review

ANOTHER WEEK of Premier League action leaves us with a questions and a lot of answers. The title race looks to be between the Manchester clubs and Chelsea but can anyone stop Guardiola's men who are on a rampage? Are spurs better off playing away from home? Liverpool's defence conundrum and Arsene Wenger at his defiant best plus we look at this week's controversial decisions, here's a look at the biggest talking points of this weekend.

Home Away from Home - Watching Spurs has been a delight over the last 2 years, they have great squad with a strong English core and this year has been no different, away from home that is. I watched Spurs play at Wembley last season in the Champions league and they just felt out of place. This year sadly it's their home in the premier league as well and you can see they haven't been able to bury those demons yet. Away from home other hand has been a different ball game, spurs have blown their opposition apart (Newcastle & Everton) and we saw a repeat of that performance this weekend with Spurs absolutely dominating the first half and saw them race to a 3-0 lead by the hour mark. Chicharito's goal looked like a consolation for the hammers before Serge Aurier's two yellow cards in 5 minutes changed the game. West Ham came back into the game after some brilliant work from Masuaku to make space and put a cracking cross into the box for Kouyate to score. Credit to Slaven Bilic, he took off Fonte after the red card to Aurier and brought on Masuaku to put pressure on Spurs down that right flank and it nearly worked. Spurs did hold on to get the 3 points and even though the scoreline suggests otherwise it was a game that should not have come to what it did apart if not for Aurier's moment of madness , but 3 points away from home again for Spurs and at the moment any ground in the country feels better than Wembley for Pochettino. 

Like a Wrecking Ball - Manchester City are the team to beat this season period. Etihad welcomed a Crystal Palace side that had failed to score in the premier league in the first 5 games. City had steamrolled their last two oppositions by hitting them in Liverpool & Watford for 5-0 & 6-0 respectively. The first half started as everyone expected it with City dominating the game, but Palace had two great chances and for me Loftus-Cheek should've scored Palace's first goal in the premier league and palace should've been up by 0-1 at the Etihad. I don't think that would have changed or altered the result in anyway City would've still gone on to win the game comfortably. And once Sane put the home side ahead it was already damage limitation for Roy Hodgson. City came roaring out in the second half creating chance after chance and it looked only a matter of time when city would become the first team to score 5 goals in 3 consecutive games. I've watched a few city games this season and the reason I think their unstoppable is the way they attack. There are too many creative players who constantly keep moving making them harder to pick up and the moment someone steps out there's always a city player getting into that space behind. It's that barrage of side to side short passing with players changing positions that make them so difficult to pick up and that is why I think they have to be the team to beat and I can see them getting a few more wins by scoring 5 goals before this season ends.

Grinding it out - This has to be the most satisfying 3 points for Jose Mourinho this season. Why? This game was a testament to how far this United side this season and why every one including me thinks they will challenge for the title. The game started out well and you could already see early on that Southampton were doing well in midfield against the likes of Matic and Fellaini. The game barely had any chances before the first goal arrived after some brilliant work by Ashley Young down the left flank, reminiscent of his days as a Winger to put in a peach of a cross, Lukaku was too strong for Hoedt and even though Forster made a brilliant save the Belgian was there to tap in his 6th goal in the premier league in as many games. Southampton came out determined to get a result in the second half and completely took over the game. 

Manchester United looked under the cosh for the last 20 minutes of the second half but in spite of dominating the second half Southampton could barely create any chances let alone a goal scoring opportunity because of some resolute defending by Jones & co. This is where I thought it was the most satisfying 3 points, we've seen so many times in the previous seasons where games like these have ended up either being a draw or United losing but what we saw at St. Mary's was a collective team effort by a team that is ready to defend for their lives to get a result. That passion and desire has been missing and I think Mourinho has done brilliantly to bring that hunger back in the squad. Even though Mourinho got sent off in the last few minutes of the game (we will cover that) you could see what it meant to United players with Lukaku's celebration at the end of the game saying it all and These 3 points could prove to be vital in Manchester United's push for the title.

The curious case of Liverpool's defence - Liverpool had not won in the league game in September as they traveled to King Power for the second time in space of a week. After losing to Leicester in the Carabao cup the signs were there for them to have another tough game against the foxes at a stadium where they had lost on their previous 3 visits. Liverpool were right out of the blocks at the start of the game as they tend to be usually and put Leicester under pressure right from the first whistle. With Coutinho starting his first game in the lead Liverpool looked threatening and it didn't take long for the Brazilian to make an impact as he floated a beautiful cross far post and Salah doing brilliantly to not just put his head on it but also guiding it past a hapless Schmeichel. Liverpool looked liked the side to double their advantage and they did with Coutinho curling one into the top corner to announce his return to the Premier League. But even with the game at 0-2 you could feel that Leicester can come back in it and they did from corner with a loose ball falling on to Okazaki who poked home to make it 1-2 at half 
 time. I felt Okazaki had fouled Mignolet while corner was taken but the referee thought otherwise and suddenly you could feel the mood change in the Liverpool camp. The game looked balance before Henderson looked to have got Liverpool all 3 points with a well taken goal only to kick start a frantic 10 minutes. Demarai Gray had been bought on in place of Mahrez and 90 seconds after Henderson scored, Gray's cross was nodded in by Vardy to make it 2-3 again. Leicester got a penalty five minutes later after Vardy was brought down by Mignolet only for the Belgian to save the penalty and keep the score at 2-3. Leicester had another penalty shout turned down when the ball hit Emre Can's hand but after that it was anything but comfortable from Liverpool. They did hang on eventually to get all 3 points but if Liverpool want to get anywhere near the top 4 they need to be better defensively but right now even if they're leading by 2 or 3 goals the opposition feels they can come back into the game because this Liverpool defence looks like it could break under the slightest of pressure. A big 3 points for Klopp but a lot of work to do defensively in the training.

Rafa Benitez, The Perennial Underdog - Newcastle went into the game at Brighton as favourites, a term you associate with them many times this season. After 3 back to back wins and some stellar defensive performances things were looking up for the magpies. I watched Newcastle dominate Stoke in a game where they created chance after chance and a game where Joselu should have got a hat-trick so for me this was an routine Newcastle win. The game though was one of the worse games of the season with neither team able to get a foothold in the game. It was a scrappy affair between two teams who are trying to establish themselves in the Premier League but it was anything but that. Newcastle did not create anything whatsoever and I don't remember Ryan or Elliott having to make any saves. In the end it was a smash and grab from Brighton who managed to make the most of set piece worked on the training ground and some poor defending from Newcastle. I have seen Benitez go into games expected to win and bottling it up, he's gone into title races and been broken down mentally by other managers and get into big jobs and not able to keep up with with the clubs ambitions and on the other hand I have seen him gone into games not expected to win and has somehow managed to get the desired result. It's not just him though, we saw David Moyes doing the same for many many years at Everton and when the big job came calling his result was not that different from that of Benitez at Inter or Chelsea or Real Madird. Luckily for Benitez though, Newcastle won't be going in to a lot of games in the premier league this season as favourites and that is where I feel he can really get the best out of this Newcastle side.

Who'd want to be a referee: Here's a look at this week's controversial decisions in the Premier League:

Simon Francis Elbow: Rooney and Francis go up challenging for a header with a Francis catching Rooney with an elbow that left the former England striker with a bloodied face. My initial reaction was it should be a red but after looking at the replay it looked more like Rooney jumping into Francis'elbow who had managed get a better leap rather than the other way round. Obviously Rooney did not think so and thought the challenge deserved a red but the referee took no action against Francis
Verdict - Correct Decision

Mourinho sending off: With the game in the final minutes and United hanging on for dear life it was no surprise Mourinho looked an animated figure on the touchline barking instructions and motivating his team. In the process of doing that Mourinho inadvertently got his foot on the pitch and even though the fourth official Mike Jones pulled him back, the referee Craig Pawson decided to send Mourinho off for that offence. For me, that action was not warranted, referees need to understand the passion this game invokes, we saw so many similar instances of this last season from Conte & Klopp going unpunished. For me, this decision had more to do with Mourinho than anything else, any other manager would've been given a stern talking to from the ref and that would have been that.
Verdict - Wrong Decision, Not a Sending off

Jay Rodriguez Penalty: It was no surprise that Tony Pulis was absolutely incensed after the game, he felt the Baggies should have had a penalty. Rodriguez latched on to the pass from Barry into the penalty area. He saw Mustafi coming and flicked it behind only for Mustafi to clean him out, fair play to Rodriguez her got up managed to take the shot on but not score. We have seen players go down for far less in the premier league and awarded a penalty. For me, I don't understand why the referee has not given it, I think it was more to do with Rodriguez not rolling around and being honest rather than playing advantage from the ref. For all the talk of new rules on diving, such penalties not being given will only invoke more rolling around from players at the slightest of contacts. 

Verdict -  Wrong Decision, Stonewall Penalty
 

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