Thoughts on Premier League Week 23
By Chris Buneo
With another weekend of exciting Premier League action under our belts, and seeing as the season has just about reached its halfway point, I think it’s time for me to begin my weekly roundup of Premier League action. Each Monday, I’ll provide 5 things to think about regarding the previous weekend’s Premier League action. With some very big fixtures, this weekend provided some good talking points, so without further ado; here are 5 things to think about following this weekend’s Premier League action.
More from Premier League
- Manchester City suffer but come away with win over West Ham
- Premier League match preview: Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
- Jadon Sancho refutes Erik Ten Hag’s comments
- Arsenal win in added time drama as United suffer last-minute agony
- Rudderless Chelsea lose to Nottingham Forest
The first big talking point is probably the most obvious one, Manchester City v Chelsea. In my last article, I talked about the significance of the game, and I gave my predictions for the match. Guessing 9/11 starters for Chelsea and 7/11 for Man City, as well as getting one of the two goal scorers correct, I’d say that’s pretty good. But I digress. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, which helped Chelsea stay 5 points ahead in the table. Had Chelsea won this game, I don’t think City would have been able to catch up, and now that the teams drew, I think it’s going to be easier for City to overtake Chelsea at the top of the table.
I have to admit, for being possibly the biggest Premier League fixture this season, I was a little disappointed that it ended in a draw, but as long as Chelsea’s lead wasn’t extended, I’m content. However, Chelsea is now in a much better spot than if they had let City win and been only 2 points ahead of the defending champions. This was a very important match for both teams, and although it doesn’t change anything too dramatically, the result helps both teams out ever so slightly.
On to our second subject, Manchester United vs Leicester City, part two. As we all know, Manchester United didn’t start off this season as their fans might have hoped they would. Although I enjoy seeing United have hardships (I’m an Arsenal supporter), I understand that their fans have high hopes, as they do have a lot of talent and should be doing very well. Last time Leicester City and United met, this happened.
Ever since that game, United have been in much better form, and now sit 3rd in the table, just one point ahead of Arsenal and Southampton. United gave themselves a 3-1 lead over Leicester, and held on this time to get another much needed 3 points. If United can continue this winning form, they could potentially be Dark Horses to win the title this year. Chelsea and Man City are certainly front runners, but who knows, we’ve definitely seen crazier things happen around the end of the Premier League season.
For our third subject, I’d like to talk about Arsenal. Arsenal is another team that started off this season pretty rocky, however they seem to be making a comeback in the standings. After finishing fourth last year, I as well as many Arsenal supporters was hoping for another top-4 season, maybe even winning the league. But with Özil, Giroud, and Walcott getting injured, it looked grim for a while.
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But then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Chilean machine, Alexis Sanchez started scoring and once he started he just wouldn’t stop. As of this weekend, the former Barcelona man has scored 18 goals in all competitions for Arsenal, and some would say he’s been carrying Arsenal for most of this season. I would have to agree. However, Arsenal seems to be turning a new leaf in the recent weeks. This weekend marked their third straight shutout victory beating Stoke 3-0, defending champions Man City 2-0, and Aston Villa 5-0. This string of large victories has come with the return of Özil, a huge playmaker for Arsenal, and 2 great goal scorers in Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud. If Arsenal continues this trend, they can easily crack the top 4, and maybe even finish in the top 3.
For our fourth talking point, I’d like to talk about how the table looks as of late. The top 6 teams on the table in order are Chelsea with 53 points, Man City with 48, Man United with 43, Southampton and Arsenal with 42 apiece, and Tottenham with 40. The race for third place is really tight with only 3 points separating the teams from 3rd to 6th. For example, if Tottenham beat Arsenal this weekend, and Man United and Southampton both lose, then Tottenham would move from 6th to 3rd. Yes those are slim odds considering the fixtures the other teams are in, but it just shows how tight the table is right now, and it points toward a very interesting and exciting end to the season.
For our fifth and final subject, I’d like to talk about Everton. After a memorable 2013-14 season, finishing fifth in the league and qualifying for the UEFA Europa League, the fans were hoping for another season on the same caliber. Well, to be frank, the team has not been delivering. The team has been struggling since the onset of this season. There are a lot of kinks in the squad that need to be worked out, and now with the absence of their starting goalkeeper, I can’t see them making much progress in the table until Tim Howard comes back. But alas, they won they won this past week, and there still are a lot of points to be scored this season, so it is not wrong Everton that could definitely make a comeback and finish top 8.
Well there you have it, 5 things to think about following Premier League Week 23. I’ll be back next week for a roundup of week 24. Agree/disagree with anything that I’ve said? Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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