Utd vs Pompey
United with home advantage and lovely front four will always fancy their chances of snatching a result from a game, as much as I like Candreva I’d play Lallana over him as a winger in that system. I like this Newcastle team and it genuinely looks without any glaring weakness, close game but 3 vital points on the road for the Pompey.
United 1-2 Pompey
Morata (Silva)
Lewa x2 (KDB, Gungodan)
MOTM – Lewa
Red Card – Ghoulam
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Newcastle vs Blues
Nice tight game this with a much changed Birmingham set up to play at pace on the break, I can see the plan working for long spells, and then really stifling the geordies, But that said I think Newcastles front four carry too much threat to be subdued forever and a wonder strike by Suarez gives the barcodes a crucial win
Newcastle 1-0 Birmingham
Suarez (no assist)
MOTM – Angel Di Maria
Stoke vs villa
Pretty dull match to be honest, Stoke sitting deep with two banks of four, is understandable, But Ludy with comfortably the better team, wanting to play on the counter for me makes no sense it doesn’t play to their strengths, they’re ultimately a front foot side and for me Zlatan isn’t the man as lone striker if you’re playing on the break, inspite of this I fancied Villa to do enough to get the job done…that said in Belotti stoke have a genuine goal threat and the fruity decided this was a draw so, it is what it is.
Stoke 1-1 Villa
Belotti (kovacevic)
Reus (Modric)
MOTM – Modric
Wolves vs Leicester
Tough game this for my beloved Wolves, Marky has done a stellar job and I like what he’s doing but I just thought that front 3 of Leicester was too strong today, Wolves’s defence is pretty damn strong but it’s a tall order for anyone to keep Lesta quiet for too long, so with a heavy heart it’s an away win
Wolves 1-2 Leicester
Lacazette (Mata)
Costa (Ronaldo) Ronaldo (Hazard)
MOTM – Khedira
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Liverpool vs City
First things first I like the way Liverpool are laid out but fo sho I’d put Marcelo in there, other than that I don’t have a huge amount to say, tactics as always are sound and well thought out. City are very much a work in progress and I see where Fan is going but felt it left Icardi isolated especially against a back three. That said City need points so you gotta make em hard to beat.
Liverpool 1-0 City
PEA (Rakitic)
MOTM – Rakitic
Chelsea vs Hull
Always liked Welshy’s approach of building his side how he wants and in time so of this side will trouble the big teams as they develop, But I think up against this Chelsea side and at the Bridge it’s just a step too far, I like manolas in that Chelsea defence and think him and Bonucci could be a good partnership.
Chelsea 2-0 Hull
Aguero (Alli) Neymar (sterling)
MOTM - Arturo
LSTD's League GW24
posted on 26/3/17
BM
posted on 27/3/17
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 29/3/17
Arsenal vs Tottenham
Tino went for a more offensive minded shape expecting a more defensive Tottenham and although Tottenham look to have changed to something more forward thinking, their side played into Arsenal's hands really. Tottenham definitely have a very strong core to their team, but in this game i felt as though the flanks would be most important with Arsenal having so much talent out wide, can Coleman and Robertson stamp their authority on this game enough to force Arsenal back, probably not, although they definitely possess a counter attacking threat with Hysaj and Sandro both being forward thinking. That being said, with Arsenal going with two up front rather than a lone striker, it was no longer enough for Tottenham to deal with their attack with just that back 3, 4 very aggressive forwards meant Tottenham had to go to a back 5 when defending and it put a lot of emphasis on Matic and Kante to not only defend well but to provide the drive forward to link defence to attack, which is something they are not all that great at, and with Marchisio and Hamsik keeping the ball so well it would mean the Tottenham CMs would spend more time chasing than passing the ball, which would draw Willian that bit deeper to come and start attacks. Of course, Tottenham still posed a threat but Arsenal's CBs are very good players and i felt overall their shape and personal meant they'd dominate the North London Derby. Perhaps in this instance Fud could have swapped either Matic or Dmebele for an attacking midfield threat, had Willian had a partner in AM, Kante nd Matic would have had less pressure on their forward thinking abilities and the WBs would have had an AM/inside forward who could have draw the FBs towards them so the WBs had more room to get forward, likewise it would have been easier to get in behind Hamsik and Marchisio. Alternatively, Kante could probably do the job himself in midfield with what was essentially a back 5 behind him, perhaps a more offensive CM to make a 3-5-2, Willian one CM and another one who could drag the CMs around would have potentially given Tottenham more of a foothold. In Arsenal's case, a bold team selection paid off, the only weakness i can see is that CM pairing, but Tottenham didn't really play enough players to cause that too many issues.
Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham
Arsenal goals: Higuain(Berardi 31), Gabbiadini(Hamsik) 57, Mertens 78
Tottenham goals: Lukaku(Willian) 82
MOTM: Dries Mertens - A constant thorn in Tottenham's side, he regularly got between Coleman and Van Dijk which helped to create 2 v 2's for the Arsenal strikers on the weaker side of Spurs team.