Saturday, February 4, 2012

A Possible Turning Point


This weekend marks one of the biggest in the English Premier League as there are matches with the potential to throw the race wide open. Bolton and Liverpool square off to lead a set of intriguing matches on Saturday, but Sunday brings two of the biggest matches of the season. Tottenham visit Manchester City while Manchester United travel to Arsenal. Both are the second matches between each set of teams and all four have come a long way since the first go-round. City embarrassed the Spurs 5-1 in their first meeting in August while United shellacked Arsenal 8-2 on that same fateful day.
Arsenal and Tottenham have actually rebounded quite nicely since. Arsenal were on a roll with only three losses in 15 matches until two road losses in their last two matches. Tottenham may very well be the hottest team in the league with only one loss in 19 matches since. Currently, Tottenham sits only five points out of first place with a chance to become a true title contender come Sunday.
City has slowed down on the goal-scoring tear they were on in the early parts of the season (as predicted by yours truly) and have incurred a couple losses that have created a little doubt in their title aspirations. United have had significant injuries that have caused Paul Scholes to come out of retirement to give some aid to an ailing midfield. Both are still forces to be reckoned with because they still have the payroll, immense fan support, and the ability to make a game-changing move before the end of the January transfer window.
Now, I would love to make predictions for all the matches this weekend, but if you read last week’s article—of course you did—you know that I was only mediocre in my picks (4-5). So, instead of trying to predict all the matches, I am going to focus all of my crystal balling on these pivotal match-ups.
Tottenham at Manchester City—I am very excited for this game. Hotspur are on a roll, to put it lightly, and City have only been showing up every other match, so we will see who shines. If this season has told us anything, it is that home field advantage does not mean as much. As a United fan, I would love to see a hard fought battle that ends as a disappointment for both teams, and I think that is what will occur. 2-2 tie.
Manchester United at Arsenal—After Arsenal’s miserable season in 2010-11, I was a proponent of Arsene Wenger hitting the road. It was not that I thought he is not a good manager, but I thought he had lost his touch to be able to motivate a team that seemed dazed and confused. However, he has, if Arsenal maintain a level of success, earned Manager of the Year honors for bringing this team back into contention. United have dealt with the disappointment of losing in the Champions League, losing captain Nemanja Vidic to injury, and having goalkeeper David de Gea fall out of first team favor. Still, they have done a good job at keeping pace with City and look to take advantage of Arsenal once again. Even with Arsenal’s impressive stretch, I still do not think they have enough to keep pace. 3-2 United.
This Sunday looks to be an intriguing day of football in England and America. These two matchups, no matter the results, will tell us who is ready to make a stretch run toward the title. Though these are by no means the equivalent of the NFL Conference Championship games we will see later in the day, they may eliminate two teams from competition or show that a changing of the guard is occurring.

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