WHOEVER drew up the fixture lists for this week clearly has a better crystal ball than Gypsy Petulengro or Jonathan Cainer.
Tonight’s tasty morsels include Arsenal against Liverpool, Aston Villa at home to Manchester United, Blackburn versus Hull and Everton take on Chelsea.
No computer could have dreamt up so many blockbusters on the same night.
Wenger v Benitez at the Emirates is a season defining confrontation.
The Frenchman craves a return to the good old days for the Gunners of Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira et al, while the Spaniard just yearns for some stability.
It’s only a couple of weeks ago that Arsenal were being hailed as potential Premier League champions, but those guns have been spiked by a return of just one point from a trio of below par performances against principal rivals Villa, Man United and Chelsea.
Since that embarrassing FA Cup exit at home to Reading, the Merseysiders have stopped the rot and shored up their defence without convincing anyone that they can compete with the three teams above them in the table.
Tonight will tell at the Emirates.
Villa are almost as inconsistent, but are currently on an eight-match unbeaten run, have sealed a place in the Carling Cup Final and haven’t conceded a goal in their last four league games. However, that record will surely be tested by the Rooney inspired Reds tonight.
I’ve repeatedly said this season that United don’t strike dread into opponents any more, yet I have to concede that 15 goals in the last four games suggest they’re on a roll, and in Rooney they possess the player of the season, and probably the most potent striker in Europe.
I’ve also been consistent in tipping Chelsea for the title since before a ball was kicked – and I stand by that – but the whole Terry saga must have been unsettling and a trip to Goodison is not the easiest and will again tell us much about their credentials.
A reunion of the old Bolton partnership Allardyce and Brown, now sporting the managerial scarves of Blackburn and Hull respectively, will be equally revealing at the other end of the table.
There were signs last week that the Tigers are coming to terms with life in the Premier League, they played well against both Chelsea and Manchester City, while Rovers have been stumbling along with mediocre displays to say the least. If Hull win at Ewood Park they’ll be on the heels of their opponents and almost into the top half of the table, something that would have been unthinkable at the start of the month.
DID YOU realise by the way that more Portsmouth than Manchester United players scored in that predictable 5-0 scoreline at Old Trafford?
I cannot recall a team conceding three own goals in the same match but Messrs Vanden Borre, Hughes and Wilson all contrived to put the ball past David James and save Rooney and Berbatov a job.
There seem to have been more own goals than ever this season and there was a delightful touch of symmetry about one of Notts County's goals at Dagenham & Redbridge recently. The scorer was Ogogo og. You couldn’t make it up could you?
And that brings me to the best quiz question I’ve heard recently. You might make a bob or two if you pose this one at your local pub night.
Which player has scored most goals against Liverpool in the last ten years?
Not it’s not Shearer, or Sheringham, Owen or Cole.
The answer is Jamie Carragher, who has apparently has a penchant for putting through his own goal!
SOME fans love it, some hate it and I’m convinced the giant screens at Super League matches have been installed for Stevo to argue against himself on Sky.
An enjoyable night at the Galpharm on Friday when the Giants played out of their skins to ruin Bradford Bulls start to the new season, degenerated into farce though when the fog came down and made judgement of replays impossible for the spectators.
I’m not a great lover of this technology, it seems to encourage referees to cop out of even the most routine decisions, but I understand why it’s there and why the authorities feel it necessary.
I suspect players enjoy the breather it affords too, after all top level rugby is an energy sapping sport, but I did think there was an awful lot of unnecessary time spent delaying drop outs between the sticks.
Arsene Wenger has been complaining about goalkeepers wasting time over goal-kicks, and there is no doubt that actual playing time in matches where the ball is being moved around on the pitch has decreased.
All sport moves along at such breakneck speed nowadays though it’s not surprising participants treasure every second of time out.
