Results week 14

Leicester v Birmingham
Entertaining game to watch with attacks at either end. Leicester set up well with a similar set up to Birmingham, but opting to go for wingers and keep the Birmingham WBs pegged back. With Birmingham unable to control possession and opting to drop back deeper it made things congested but Leicester have some excellent players for opening up defences and Thiago and Hazard in particular were key today, allowing them to create good chances in the game. Going the other way Birmingham had a game plan and they stuck to it, they found it easy to get beyond the Leicester wingers, Asensio especially but they often found Kante in the way down the left, or Azpilicueta on the right, both with plenty of energy to cover, which meant that Birmingham’s attacks tended to only be fruitful when their WBs were able to get forward. The game did change slightly towards the end when Birmingham brought wingers on and Leicester changed to FBs, however Leicester’s midfield kept control overall and won them the game.
Leicester 4-2 Birmingham City
Leicester City Scorers: Hazard 13, Asensio 35, Thiago(Hazard) 51, Ramos(Koke) 87
Birmingham City Scorers: Keita 44(Vertonghen), Sterling(Vardy) 78
MOTM: Thiago Alcantara


Hull City v Liverpool

Chelsea v Aston Villa
End to end game with two frightening attacks. Felt Chelsea had more in terms of possession, a very good defence and midfield for building out and a lot of talent going forward, with Villa a more direct attacking threat, two amazing CFs and flair out wide, it was always going to be an exciting game. In the end i felt that Chelsea were always capable of creating through the middle, with Neymar and Mbappe coming inside it caused the FBs a lot of problems of wether to follow or stay at home, with Villa not having enough men in midfield to take up the role of marking, Chelsea always seemed to have someone free. The wings belonged to Villa though with Danilo and Sandro constantly having to run backwards and Chelsea’s CBs unable to come out and help, it gave the CMs a lot of work, which they did well, but Villa were always dangerous when Tolisso or Khedira had overcommitted in attack. Overall though i felt Chelsea had too much.
Chelsea 3-2 Aston Villa
Chelsea Scorers: Aguero(Neymar) 27, Mbappe(Neymar) 51, Neymar(FK) 71
Aston Villa Scorers: Cavani(Robben) 44, Higuain(Griezmann) 58
MOTM: Neymar

Portsmouth v Wolves
Two teams playing with similar formations and both with pace and in form playmakers. Portsmouth’s midfield 3 is perfect for controlling the game and they did today, but Wolves in Aubameyang have an awful lot of pace to stretch a defence and players in Jorginho and Silva who can find even the smallest gaps, which meant they were always dangerous. Portsmouth dominated though, Wolves made it hard but Portsmouth had too much quality to not find chances. Wolves however dug deep and got a very big away point. In the end it keeps both teams in contention for the title/europe but not the best they’d have hoped for.
Portsmouth 1-1 Wolves
Portsmouth Scorers: Mertens(De Bruyne) 53
Wolves Scorers: Aubameyang(Douglas Costa) 85
MOTM: Andre Ter Stegen

Arsenal v Newcastle
Two debutant managers, JYAF back to see if he can take another of England’s most successful clubs to the Championship, although with the squad at his disposal he may struggle. Ludy at another club where hoarding players has become the done thing, will he stick to copying Klopp’s tactics in a bid to squeeze 4th, or does he see bigger things on the horizon? I liked JYAF’s tactics a lot and think they gave Arsenal a bigger chance than you’d usually expect in this game, he had the right plan to keep things tight and not let Mane and Salah use their pace and using Mandzukic’s height to bring Ricardo and Hamsik into attack down the left with the aim of freeing up the right for Candreva was certainly a good plan. Ludy’s set up as well is very hard to fault and he has quality all over the pitch. Whilst I think going to 4-4-2 to defend would have meant Newcastle were able to progress the ball fairly easily, Hummels and Koulibaly able to overload the strikers and in turn give support to Pjanic and Casemiro in possession, I think it would have been hard to find gaps in Arsenal’s two banks of four, with Arsenal’s midfield all very comfortable and hard working defensively, I think Newcastle would have been relying on lapses of concentration perhaps from the Arsenal FBs who are much better going the other way, as much as they would be able to rely on the quality of the forward lines. Godin as well has always marshalled Suarez fairly well. Newcastle definitely would find chances though, they are too good not to. Arsenal would struggle to find as many chances as their opponents as that Newcastle defence is quality, n Mandzukic and Hamsik though Arsenal have two players to make things happy. Newcastle dominated but in the end Arsenal got a point through a good game plan and a slice of luck.
Arsenal 1-1 Newcastle
Arsenal Scorer: Hamsik(Benzema) 71
Newcastle Scorer: Mane(Pjanic) 36
MOTM: Diego Godin

Tottenham v Stoke City

Everton v Brighton