Sport
7 Points in 7 Days of Football
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Seven days is a long time in football and this week in football was no different.
Here we discuss the seven major talking points of the week
Arsenal’s Ostersunds Nightmare
Arsenal were stunned at the Emirates by Swedish side Ostersunds FK on Thursday evening. The Swedish side took a shock 2-0 lead and threatened the Gunner’s aggregate lead. What’s remarkable is that Ostersunds were formed as a football club one month after Arsene Wenger took charge of Arsenal!
The Gunners came through the tie, however, they did have to bring on several of their first team players to do so. Hardly ideal just three days before a cup final against Manchester City!
After his reported £75m+ transfer to Man Utd, Romelu Lukaku’s record against the top six has been under much scrutiny. Without a goal against the top 6 this season, Lukaku was being criticised for his goal tally in the ‘big games’. But this weekend, he put in a much-needed performance in a big game with a goal and an assist to help United come from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1.
Lukaku was enjoying himself so much he even showed a turn of pace in the dying moments of the game to ease the pressure on his defence. A truly talismanic performance from the Belgian.
Premier League Golden Boot Race
Harry Kane is facing stiff opposition to retain the Premier League Golden Boot award for a third consecutive season. The Tottenham and England front-man currently leads the charts with 24 goals, but with Salah and Aguero hot on his heels he will need to continue scoring at a rate of knots! Kane had a host of chances at Selhurst Park, but just when it seemed like it wasn’t his day, he popped up with a crucial winner. Salah kept pace with a goal of his own on Saturday and with Aguero keeping up his form in the Carabao Cup, it looks set to be a hectic race to lift that trophy come May.
Can all three hotshots maintain their fitness until the end of the season?
Guardiola’s Treble Hunt Continues
The week started with talks about Manchester City claiming a historic quadruple, but these were squashed by a dramatic late winner from Will Grigg. Guardiola’s men ended the week on a high however, claiming the first piece of silverware of the season. City ran out 3-0 winners against Arsenal at Wembley to lift the Carabao Cup trophy. The Citizen’s have comfortably looked the best team in the country and one of the best teams in Europe. Pep will look to take a further step towards a treble.
With City sitting 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League, could they conquer the Champions League to make it a trophy treble this season?
Another damaging defeat this weekend for The Baggies, this time at the hand of Huddersfield. Alan Pardew’s side have now lost five games on the bounce and his record for West Brom is damning (3 wins from 17 games). The club is in disarray both on and off the field and with the cut throat nature of modern day football, the manager often is the point of blame.
Sitting seven points adrift of safety, can Pardew steer West Brom to survival or will he fall victim to the managerial merry-go-round?
Half the Premier League in relegation battle
Only five points separate 11th place Bournemouth from the dreaded relegation zone. In a season where the title race seemed over by November, the relegation battle promises to rumble on until May. At least half of the Premier League can be considered involved in a battle to avoid the drop to the championship and lose the financial riches that come with Premier League status. Clubs like Palace, Swansea and West Ham have been here before and will be looking to draw on that experience to drive themselves to safety.
Who will end up sitting 18th and 19th when the curtain call comes for Premier League season in May?
If you think your team’s goal keeper is shakey, wait until you see MSV Duisburg’s keeper Mark Flekken! Let this be a lesson to all goal keepers out there… make sure you’re concentrating all the time!
I have no explanation for this… pic.twitter.com/0pxk4rXHau
— Lucas Swain-Britton (@LucasSwain95) February 24, 2018