Manchester United can win the title
Richard Lenton is an experienced journalist and broadcaster. He won Best Sports Presenter at the 2013 Asian TV Awards, and, despite being in his late 30s, still believes that he can make it as a professional footballer. www.richardlenton.co.uk Twitter: @richardlenton
What I learnt last weekend…
SOMETIMES FOOTBALL DOESN’T MAKE SENSE
When Southampton flogged off their crown jewels in pre season, the common consensus was that they’d struggle to match their achievements under outgoing manager Mauricio Pochettino, who had transformed the Saints into a competitive, top half side. Four games into the new season, Ronald Koeman’s men sit happily in the Champions League places. Funny old game.
SOMETIMES FOOTBALL DOESN’T MAKE SENSE PART 2
The team that snapped up most of Southampton’s best players were Liverpool, who’s spending splurge looked set to help them launch another assault on a first ever Premier League title. Then they go and lose at home to Aston Villa… A team who were supposed to be a bunch of ageing has-beens, sleepwalking their way to relegation. Funny old… Actually, forget the cliches. But Villa fans must be over the moon at their start…
MAN UTD CAN WIN THE TITLE
Yes, Chelsea have made a fantastic start to the season. Yes, United have maybe only one (at most) world class defender at their disposal, but any team who can splash out that amount of cash on genuine world superstars have to be in the mix come May. If Daley Blind can be persuaded to play in defence when Michael Carrick is fit to anchor the midfield, then this ‘Harlem Globetrotters’ United side could take some stopping.
Pick of the weekend: Chelsea to win at Manchester City
Making sense of the statistics to come up with a Premier League dead cert
Until the advent of rich foreign owners, the established ‘big four’ football clubs in England were Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton. Or was it Tottenham rather than Everton? It’s so long ago it barely matters. The point is, by far the biggest game this weekend is between two teams bankrolled by ‘new money’. Two teams who are now big, big favourites to contest the destiny of this season’s Premier League title. It is, of course, Manchester City and Chelsea, who meet in a massive showdown at the Etihad this weekend. I can almost hear the ‘War Of The Worlds’ theme tune crashing around my brain.
But what will happen when these two juggernauts collide? Going on current Premier League form, you’d have to fancy Chelsea, who simply look irresistible. And when have we ever said that about a Jose Mourinho team?
Fair play to the Special One, who always said that this Blues’ side would show their true colours in the second season of his ‘project’. A project, by the way, which he now hopes will last a full ten years. No offence, Jose, but if you’re still at Chelsea in a decade’s time then I will happily walk naked down Orchard Road. Actually, in ten years’ time, I may well be a wrinkly, fat mess, so for everyone’s sake, bail out before the decade is up.
Anyway, Chelsea did the double over the champions last season, when the Blues were weaker and City arguably stronger. In fact, Chelsea have done the double over City nine times in the EPL era.
Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa can once again be the difference. Fabregas has assisted in every game thus far, which is a record, and Costa has bagged seven goals in his first four games, which is another unique milestone.
Selection dilemmas
Helping you choose the right players for your Yahoo! Fantasy Premier League team
If you’re looking for a City or Chelsea player to add to your squad, then Diego Costa still represents good value at £12.66m, especially when you consider that his understudy, Loic Remy, is more expensive. The only problem with picking Costa is that more than 60% of Yahoo players already have him in their squads. Having said that, at the rate in which he’s scoring goals, it may well be necessary to select him to prevent your opponents from pulling clear of you points-wise.
Thibaut Courtois is now unquestionably Chelsea’s number one, and at £5.87m, he has to be worth a look, but again a large percentage (35.30%) of Yahoo players have already selected him.
Better value can be found over at Southampton, who face Swansea this weekend. Italian striker Graziano Pelle has hit the ground running, and £9.39m looks good value when you consider his 41-point haul already this season.
