Could we
detect a little softening of Unai Emery's resolve when he said he would
consider including Mesut Ozil in his squad for Arsenal's game against
Wolves this weekend? There is a little more clamor for the German to be brought
in from the cold after his terrific hour or so against Liverpool in the Carabao
Cup on Wednesday.
One of
Arsenal's many problems has been an inability to pick holes in the defense and
for all his other flaws, Ozil reminded everyone at Anfield that he can still do
that. Football fans can book Premier League Tickets on our website on exclusively discounted prices.
It would represent
a climbdown from Emery so he might view this as exposing a weakness, but given
the way, some of the Arsenal fanbases seem to have lost patience with him after
last weekend's draw with Crystal Palace it might be worth a try.
Was that the start of a recovery or
false dawn for Manchester United?
On a human level, it was pleasant to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer smiling
after Manchester United's win over Norwich last weekend, but the necessary
caveats should not only be made clear.
But shouted
this was a Norwich team ravaged by injuries, second-bottom of the league, who
had lost three of their previous four and had only kept one clean sheet all
season.
So will that
3-1 victory at Carrow Road turn out to be the start of something more tangible,
a recovery of sorts for United, or simply a game that even they couldn't fail
to win?
The form
of Marcus Rashford and the return of Anthony Martial will
help, but this is still a deeply flawed United team who could be exposed by a
Bournemouth side who looks in good touch.
How will Southampton recover from
9-0?
The basic
facts are that Southampton lost a game last weekend, but the reality is that
their 9-0 evisceration at the hands of Leicester City could have lasting damage
for the rest of their season.
There is a
theory that relegation might be preferable to the water-treading that has been
happening at St Mary's in recent years, but that still feels like an extreme
point of view, and of course, nobody there wants a demotion to the Championship
on their conscience.
They could really have done without two trips to Manchester
City after such a loss, but they emerged from the first, on Tuesday in the
Carabao Cup, at least with a little dignity, if not a positive result.
Ralph
Hasenhuttl's primary job this week will have been to piece his squad's morale
back together, and we'll see how well he's done that when they step out on
Saturday.
STATS OF THE WEEKEND
Manchester United are seeking back-to-back Premier League wins for the
first time since defeating Crystal Palace and Southampton in February and March.
Their opponent this week, Bournemouth, will be a welcomed sight for United, the
Red Devils boasting an 11-2-3 record in the all-time series. Aston Villa host
Liverpool this weekend looking to snap a long drought.
The Villains
have lost their last 12 matches against the Big 6 across all competitions and
are winless in their last 18 against those foes. Villa's last win vs. a top-six
side? April 2015 in the Premier League against Tottenham.
MAN TO WATCH: Whoever replaces Willy
Boly for Wolves
There might be a few individual players more important to their teams
than Willy Boly is to Wolves, but there won't be many. Boly had
surgery this week on his fractured tibia, sustained before last weekend's game
against Newcastle.
And will be
out for a few months, leaving Nuno Espirito Santo an interesting quandary at
the back. Last weekend at Newcastle he played Matt Doherty in his
back three, an imperfect solution. But one he apparently deemed preferable to
choosing Jesus Vallejo.
Who has only
started one league game this season, when Wolves conceded five against
Chelsea. Ryan Bennett is another option, but he has been in and out
of the team all season, and then there's Romain Saiss. Conor
Coady is really the only certainty, and it will be fascinating to see who
Nuno chooses to play either side of him.
Crystal Palace vs. Leicester City
It's a
little counterintuitive to think that third vs sixth should be an
under-the-radar game, but it still feels odd that those two teams are Leicester
and Crystal Palace. Both sides are
unexpectedly flying in this season's still nascent Premier League season albeit in different ways
Leicester are the attacking free-wheelers who scored nine last weekend at
Southampton.
Palace the Steady-Eddies
who are in the top six despite having a negative goal difference. The varied
styles could make for a terrific game.
The team that needs a bit of luck Norwich
City
Not just a bit of luck Norwich City could do with buckets of
the stuff, such are the severity of their injury problems. They finished last
weekend's game against Manchester United with three players limping around the
pitch.
Who should
really have been taken off but for the fact they had already made all three of
their substitutions. Add those to the six first-teamers already out, which
includes their two first-choice Centre-backs.
And in part
explains their dreadful defensive record. Getting through their trip to
Brighton intact would mark success this weekend.
ONE THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN
Unless
there's been a sudden re-think over the last few days, following the league-wide
shambles of last weekend then VAR will continue to be a complete mess and will
continue to ruin Premier League games up and down the land.
Before the
bar was too high then the bar was too low, and who knows where the bar even is
now. In reality, they should throw the bar away scrap VAR and write the whole
thing off as a bad job.
Unfortunately,
they won't VAR is here to stay and at this stage, it's only about damage-limitation
how little can it make a mess of things, rather than how much it can improve
the game.
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