Premier League 9th-11th February Discussion Thread

Big Four could all drop points here...

Arsenal better drop points

Being pessimistic I'm saying that we will because we are usually poor after an international week. Plus Santa Cruz is due a game as is McCarthy who seems to be suffering from second season syndrome.

I have this sneaking suspicion Newcastle are going to take 3 points from Villa...I also think Derby are going to beat Tottenham...simply as losing a game like that is typical of Tottenham.
I expect wins for Us, Everton, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Sunderland.

Bolton vs Portsmouth really is a dodgy one...I think a draw...same with Boro vs Fulham. Fulham were excellent on Sunday, they have a couple of new players/players back from injury.

Matthew Upson wrote:I have this sneaking suspicion Newcastle are going to take 3 points from Villa...I also think Derby are going to beat Tottenham...simply as losing a game like that is typical of Tottenham.
I expect wins for Us, Everton, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Sunderland.

Bolton vs Portsmouth really is a dodgy one...I think a draw...same with Boro vs Fulham. Fulham were excellent on Sunday, they have a couple of new players/players back from injury.

i'm not hugely confident. we've been Cr@p in the last 3 games. at least young will be back. gabby probably missing, but he's hardly been great the last month or so.

we really should win though. newcastle are down to bare bones and not exactly in form.

Its the fucking derby, bring it on, its going to be hard they are a class team and we have injuries and suspensions. However, its a derby and we will (better fucking had) give everything to get something. We know we can beat them, we have done so in 4 of the last 6 home games and havnt done so bad at the swamp over the last 6 years, drawing 4 times.

Ronlado is on form and will be a handful but hopefully he might fall under Ball's boot again.

Two things are for sure, one good and one bad. The min silence wont last and we will all be branded c**ts, its a shame but it will happen. The second is that we will have 3,000 fans there who will outsing the 73,000 rags and hopefully give our side a boost.

U*d have talked about this game as not being a big one for them, that we are an easy 3 points ( maybe on Sunday given our team they will beat us convincingly who knows) and that their main rivals are Liverpool, well they cant say that now. We are decent side who cant be taken lightly, if they do so, dont be surprised to see us stick a big dent in their title hopes.

COME'ON CITY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Myyyyyyyyyy father said to me one day is it red or blue for you, and if its red your out the door and i wont see you no more,

Aaaaaaaaaand then one satday afternoon he took me to Moss Side,

He said my son your time has come and this is a lesson in pride,

Yoooooooooou see the scum you never run you stand and fight your ground,

Aaaand when it comes to derby day your sure to hear this sound,

Hark now here,
The City Sing,
United ran away,
And we will fight for ever more,
Because of Derby Day.

Who are we... Blue Army, Who are we.... Blue army.

debaser wrote:

Matthew Upson wrote:I have this sneaking suspicion Newcastle are going to take 3 points from Villa...I also think Derby are going to beat Tottenham...simply as losing a game like that is typical of Tottenham.
I expect wins for Us, Everton, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Sunderland.

Bolton vs Portsmouth really is a dodgy one...I think a draw...same with Boro vs Fulham. Fulham were excellent on Sunday, they have a couple of new players/players back from injury.

i'm not hugely confident. we've been Cr@p in the last 3 games. at least young will be back. gabby probably missing, but he's hardly been great the last month or so.

we really should win though. newcastle are down to bare bones and not exactly in form.

I also think Newcastle will win this one Villa's squad isn't exactly brimming with depth either to be honest. If they want to get into Europe these are the games they need to win.

Routledge playing?

maybe. i'd guess he'll be on the bench, O'Neill doesn't tend to change the team much, so it'll probably just be Young back in for Maloney and Harewood for Agbonlahor if he's out.

Sgoater1 wrote:Its the fucking derby, bring it on, its going to be hard they are a class team and we have injuries and suspensions. However, its a derby and we will (better fucking had) give everything to get something. We know we can beat them, we have done so in 4 of the last 6 home games and havnt done so bad at the swamp over the last 6 years, drawing 4 times.

Ronlado is on form and will be a handful but hopefully he might fall under Ball's boot again.

Two things are for sure, one good and one bad. The min silence wont last and we will all be branded c**ts, its a shame but it will happen. The second is that we will have 3,000 fans there who will outsing the 73,000 rags and hopefully give our side a boost.

U*d have talked about this game as not being a big one for them, that we are an easy 3 points ( maybe on Sunday given our team they will beat us convincingly who knows) and that their main rivals are Liverpool, well they cant say that now. We are decent side who cant be taken lightly, if they do so, dont be surprised to see us stick a big dent in their title hopes.

Not taking anything away from City, but beating Liverpool at Anfield is the highlight of the season. In 3 seasons time Manchester United will equal (or overtake ) Liverpool’s 18 league Titles record. The game should be good as Derbies always are, missing Rooney will be some blow (only 2 games I believe this season Rooney did not play Manchester United avoided defeat) but if you want to win the Premiership you must have the personal who can make sure no void is created. Even though Manchester United have only dropped 2 points this season at home and Manchester City have only won 2 games away from home, form does not count (ignore the cliché).

Btw who will play RB? Corluka? Van der Vaart destroyed him midweek and he does not posses C Ronaldo blistering pace.

Nummer 14 wrote:Btw who will play RB? Corluka? Van der Vaart destroyed him midweek and he does not posses C Ronaldo blistering pace.

VDV is a real genius .

shazlx wrote:

Nummer 14 wrote:Btw who will play RB? Corluka? Van der Vaart destroyed him midweek and he does not posses C Ronaldo blistering pace.

VDV is a real genius .

Future Il Capitano for Oranje, seems to be losing weight which is a good sign.

If City doesnt observe the silence then the battle wont just be just on the field though , Sunderland are missing a midfield though Miller , Yorke,Richardson , Edwards ,Reid and probably Etuhu so they may drop points.

Derby wont be the match to watch but hopefully we can win to complete the tribute(and keeping distance with Arsenal) but football rarely works that way.

Mikel's back for us which is excellent news of course. Only problem is that Lampard looks to be back too.

Looks like Kuyt will be starting for Pool. I hope Rafa doesn't play Crouch.

Bring the tally up to 95 (in all domestic competitions) says I.

Dark Savante wrote:If City doesnt observe the silence then the battle wont just be just on the field though , Sunderland are missing a midfield though Miller , Yorke,Richardson , Edwards ,Reid and probably Etuhu so they may drop points.

Derby wont be the match to watch but hopefully we can win to complete the tribute(and keeping distance with Arsenal) but football rarely works that way.

It wont be im sorry to say, although we have been told anyone who shouts out faces a life ban and arrest. It will go off big time out the ground and maybe in it like you say.

Nummer 14 wrote:

Sgoater1 wrote:Its the fucking derby, bring it on, its going to be hard they are a class team and we have injuries and suspensions. However, its a derby and we will (better fucking had) give everything to get something. We know we can beat them, we have done so in 4 of the last 6 home games and havnt done so bad at the swamp over the last 6 years, drawing 4 times.

Ronlado is on form and will be a handful but hopefully he might fall under Ball's boot again.

Two things are for sure, one good and one bad. The min silence wont last and we will all be branded c**ts, its a shame but it will happen. The second is that we will have 3,000 fans there who will outsing the 73,000 rags and hopefully give our side a boost.

U*d have talked about this game as not being a big one for them, that we are an easy 3 points ( maybe on Sunday given our team they will beat us convincingly who knows) and that their main rivals are Liverpool, well they cant say that now. We are decent side who cant be taken lightly, if they do so, dont be surprised to see us stick a big dent in their title hopes.

Not taking anything away from City, but beating Liverpool at Anfield is the highlight of the season. In 3 seasons time Manchester United will equal (or overtake ) Liverpool’s 18 league Titles record. The game should be good as Derbies always are, missing Rooney will be some blow (only 2 games I believe this season Rooney did not play Manchester United avoided defeat) but if you want to win the Premiership you must have the personal who can make sure no void is created. Even though Manchester United have only dropped 2 points this season at home and Manchester City have only won 2 games away from home, form does not count (ignore the cliché).

Btw who will play RB? Corluka? Van der Vaart destroyed him midweek and he does not posses C Ronaldo blistering pace.

No he is out suspended, it will be Ned Onuoha if he is fit.

Arsenal vs Blackburn: should be a poor game as both sides have around half the teams out through injury, ANC or suspensions.

Matthew Upson wrote:I have this sneaking suspicion Newcastle are going to take 3 points from Villa...I also think Derby are going to beat Tottenham...simply as losing a game like that is typical of Tottenham.
I expect wins for Us, Everton, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Sunderland.

Bolton vs Portsmouth really is a dodgy one...I think a draw...same with Boro vs Fulham. Fulham were excellent on Sunday, they have a couple of new players/players back from injury.

If Jol was still at the helm, pehaps. We were very inconsistent and fragile at the back. But Ramos has instilled bit more dicipline in our play, whilst not losing our attacking verve. And in doing so, we are now more consistent.

We shouldn't lose to Derby and if we have any aspiration of moving up the league, we CAN'T lose to Derby. Confortable win..

shazlx wrote:Arsenal vs Blackburn: should be a poor game as both sides have around half the teams out through injury, ANC or suspensions.

Hoping the Ade does the business

Man City 1-0 Man Utd
Sunday, 19 August 2007

Man City: Schmeichel, Garrido, Richards, Dunne, Corluka, Geovanni (Ball 74), Hamann, Johnson, Petrov, Bojinov (Mpenza 8 ), Elano (Bianchi 63). Subs Not Used: Hart, Onuoha.

Booked: Hamann, Corluka.

Goals: Geovanni 31.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown (O'Shea 73), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Scholes, Carrick (Campbell 73), Giggs, Nani (Eagles 60), Tevez. Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Silvestre.

Booked: Brown, Ferdinand.

Att: 44,955

Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Co Durham).
______________________________________________________

Still can't believe we lost this game, although we did have a unfit Tevez upfront and no Rooney + Ronaldo.

Probable Man Utd Line-up:



*or Nani

Evra is suspended so it will be O'Shea.

Arsenal team news for Monday

Out: Van Persie, Rosicky, Djourou, Denilson

Doubts: Almunia, Senderos, Diaby, Flamini

Internationals: Toure, Eboue, Song

It is a quite concerning list of unavailable players we have at the moment. Wenger is even considering bringing Toure into the squad despite the fact he might be involved for the Ivory Coast's third placed game at the weekend. Senderos is a major doubt as well so it looks like we will be playing either Hoyte or Gilberto alongside Gallas. Hopefully one of Flamini or Diaby will make it to be alonside Fabregas, Hleb and Walcott. Bendtner scored midweek for Denmark, but Wenger will probably want to keep the Eduardo and Adebayor partnership going.

We need a result and some luck with the injury recoveries. It's the small matter of Man Utd and AC Milan soon.

Likely West Ham team:

-------------------Green---------------

Neill---Ferdinand---Upson---McCartney

Ljungberg---Mullins---Bowyer---Etherington

---------------Ashton---Cole----------------

Bench: Wright, Spector, Solano, Noble, Camara.

Out: Gabbidon, Collins, Davenport, Pantsil, Parker, Faubert, Boa Morte, Bellamy, Zamora.

When's Bellamy back Deano?

0-1

Newcastle have scored already through Owen!

Aston Villa 0-1 Newcastle HT

It seems that a couple of the teams chasing European places have lost their way a bit in recent games, particularly Villa and Man City.

Sheffield gunner wrote:Aston Villa 0-1 Newcastle HT

It seems that a couple of the teams chasing European places have lost their way a bit in recent games, particularly Villa and Man City.

and Liverpool

A good first half from us today. We got our early goal and have played pretty well from there - the big difference has been in how we are passing the ball around, passing it out of defence and holding onto it, rather than simply hoofing it away and letting the opposition pressure us constantly. We have had some excellent possession, our movement is much better when going forward, we are forming triangles and there have been times when Villa have really struggled to get the ball off us. We are also closing down well across the pitch.

Villa have had a few chances, they look threatening down the left without creating a huge deal. Carew came close with his header, and Villa should have had a penalty out of Barton's scuffle and handball in the area. But overall I think we have dictated the play more, have done excellently in regards to maintaining our lead.

The two wingers, Milner and Duff, have been fantastic, they are roaming about the pitch, Duff is drifting particularly effectively, Milner is delivering the ball superbly, and they have been most responsible for our level of play, constantly offering an outlet for the defence. We are once again weakest in the centre of midfield. Butt started awfully, and whilst he has started to break up the play well, still his passing has been dreadful. Barton has been worse, he hasn't hit a decent pass yet. Cacapa doesn't fill me with confidence, Carr has had a good game but the limitations of playing a right footer at left back are evident, Beye has coped but hasn't excelled against Young down their left. Smith has had a much improved game after hitting standards of immense dreadfulness recently - he is holding up the ball properly, his movement is better, he made one excellent reverse pass that Owen just failed to latch on to, though he is still lacking quality at times. Owen got his goal, and he hasn't featured hugely besides that, but he has added to our build up play.

The hope is that we keep it up, because we have had a number of games this season where we have been okay in one half but awful in the other. We have looked really promising so far.

I was going to say that it's somewhat fortunate for Liverpool that the other sides are losing form because they could get caught up in a real fight for the European places. They should recover from their poor form, although you never know. I think Everton could still be a considerable obstacle, particularly if they move a further three points clear of Liverpool this weekend. But with a game in hand Liverpool should move away from Villa and City, particularly if they don't pick up any points this weekend.

Glynn Hensen wrote:

Sheffield gunner wrote:Aston Villa 0-1 Newcastle HT

It seems that a couple of the teams chasing European places have lost their way a bit in recent games, particularly Villa and Man City.

and Liverpool

You had to mention Liverpool didn't you.

2 goals for Villa in successive minutes, deja vu.