I don’t think anyone could have expected Liverpool to be so poor.  They never got off the bus, as one cliché goes; and Spurs took full advantage by playing fast, fluid football, the best I’ve seen them play since last season’s Champions League matches against Inter Milan.

Liverpool finished the match with nine players after two yellow cards were shown to Charlie Adam and Lucas respectively.  But the way they were playing, Liverpool wouldn’t have won if they had finished with their whole squad on the pitch!

In between the first and last matches of the day, Manchester City threw away a two goal lead at Fulham, and even more surprising was Sunderland thrashing Stoke 4-0 at the Stadium Of Light.

So confident were the bookmakers Paddy Power of a Manchester United victory, they were offering money back on all losing bets, if Chelsea won.

So many times matches like this one are hyped to ridiculous levels and fall short on entertainment value but this was a corker.  Chelsea performed well with an attacking formation.  Andre Villas-Boas continued with the young strike force of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge.

The weakest link was Frank Lampard who looked off the pace and lacking confidence. Lampard was substituted at half term as Man Utd were amazing leading 3-0 even though the end-to-end game was anything but one sided, with Chelsea having their fare share of possession and more shots on goal.

Minutes into the second half and Fernando Torres was put through one on one against former Athletico Madrid team-mate David de Gea.

Torres showed his growing confidence with a deft chip.  He was put through again and once more showed great skill to beat de Gea, only to shoot wide in front of an open goal.  It was this which courted the headlines, rather than Torres playing well and Wayne Rooney missing a penalty as he slid and landed on his bottom, reminiscent of John Terry’s penalty miss in the Champions League Final against Manchester United in Moscow.

As for Arsenal, they through away a lead to lose 4-3 to Blackburn Rovers.  Pressure continues to grow on Arsene Wenger as the main question appears to be not whether he should keep his position but who Arsenal could possibly replace him with.

Manchester Utd were awesome and deserved the win though Andre Villas-Boas tactic to attack United rather than sit back almost paid off.

They are now two points clear at the top of the Premier League and the only team in the division with maximum points.  In past seasons they have been slow out of the blocks and finish strongly.  This season it could be all over by Christmas!

Roberto Mancini’s Man City must have thought they had done enough when they put five past Tottenham at White Hart Lane in the early afternoon kick-off, which had Harry Redknapp blaming Chelsea for their poor start to the season.  Sami Nasri made his debut and alongside David Silva helped the blue side of Manchester completely outplay Spurs.

Upfront Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko were chosen ahead of Carlos Tevez & Mario Balotelli as it happened this was to be the game that all doubters of Edin Dzeko’s ability were to eat their words, as the Bosnian striker scored four goals with a truly sublime performance; and for the first time I witnessed why Manchester City paid £27m last January.

Manchester City’s demolition of Spurs followed a 3-2 away win at Bolton and a convincing 4-0 home win against newly promoted Swansea>  But it was the thrashing of Spurs who finished fifth last season suggests City have stepped up another gear as they look likely to be the only serious Premier League contenders to Man Utd.

Whatever Man City can do, Manchester United can do better!

After whipping Spurs 3-0 at Old Trafford last week it was the turn of north London rivals Arsenal to enter the Theatre Of Dreams; and with a new look Man Utd brimming with Barcelona-style confidence it was a bad time for a depleted Arsenal side without a handful of first-team regulars and the loss of Sami Nasri & Cesc Fabregas, I don’t think anyone apart from the most blinkered of Arsenal fans expected anything but a comfortable home win.  But no one was expecting 8-2!

8-2 and it could have so easily been more.  Wayne Rooney hit the post and Wojciech Szczesny was one of the only Arsenal players who could seriously hold his head up after what was such a humiliating defeat that Arsenal FC have apologised and offered all fans that made the trip a free away game ticket.

I am confident that Arsenal’s troubles are not going to disappear that quickly, and along with Tottenham were left at the weekend scratching their heads wondering if someone has put something in the Manchester water supply.

Of the other so-called ‘big six’ teams, Chelsea looked laboured, slow and obvious in their play until new signings Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku were introduced in the second-half as they eventually beat off Norwich at Stamford Bridge 3-1, while Liverpool continue to forge ahead under the leadership of King Kenny Dalglish as they beat Bolton 3-1 at Anfield.

It’s been a great start to the Premier League, and one thing is for sure, the Premier League champions will be from Manchester.

Kenwyne Jones opened the scoring with another headed goal from a Jermaine Pennant cross. Ryan Shawcross tapped in a second from inside six yards, and Jermaine Pennant made it 3-0 with a deflected shot from about eight yards.

Wolves were very poor while Stoke continue to impress, playing to their strengths under the excellent management of Tony Pulis.

Wolves (34 points) stay in the bottom three, along with Wigan (33 points) and West Ham (32 points) but there is still time for all three to avoid relegation with four games still to play.
Blackpool climb out of the relegation places on goal difference after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday.  Blackburn are currently 16th (35 points) and Birmingham (38 points) are far from safe following a run of bad results.  Fulham are in 14th position with 39 points and a game in-hand on the six teams below them, which I believe will be enough to see them play Premier League football next season.

I personally think the relegation battle will go to the final day and is now between the bottom six: Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool, Wigan, Wolves and West Ham.

At the top of the Premiership Arsenal and Tottenham both dropped more points at the weekend.  Spurs were held to a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane by West Brom, while Arsenal lost away to Bolton. Tottenham appear to have blown a chance of a top four finish and Champions League football next season with two from a possible six points last week; while Manchester City overcame Blackburn on Monday with Edin Dzecko’s first Premier League goal.

Man City are now 5 points clear of Spurs with five games to play; and with Arsenal winning only one point from their last two games, Arsene Wenger will be looking over his shoulder at Roberto Mancini’s sky blues who are now just 5 points behind them with a game in hand.

Chelsea continued their recent good run as the most inform team in the Premier League with a 3-0 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday, including a first goal for Fernando Torres, and Manchester United continued to grind out results beating Everton at Old Trafford 1-0 on Saturday.

Both Chelsea (67 points) & Manchester United (73 points) have four games left.  This weekend Chelsea are at home to Spurs while Man Utd are away to Arsenal; two massive games for all four clubs.  But the Premier League title could be decided when Chelsea play Manchester Utd at Old Trafford on Sunday 8th May.

Things have moved on since and the talents of Gareth Bale and Jack Wilshere have come to amazing fruition with both players collecting PFA Awards last weekend.

Tottenham’s Welsh wing wizard Gareth Bale was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the club, being awarded the Player of the Year Award while Jack Wilshere picked up the Young Player of the Year Award for his excellent form at Arsenal.

Both players are likely to figure in tomorrow evenings game and Castrol Edge performance data compares the two playmakers and the effect that they have had on the Premier League so far this season.

In the Premier League this season, Bale has been a force to be reckoned with on the left flank, firing in seven goals and assisting one more. However, the Gunners midfielder Wilshere has assisted two more goals (3) and provided three more goalscoring chances (45) than the Welshman.

Wilshere has a superior passing accuracy; both overall (86% v 73%) and in the final third of the pitch (78% v 65%) and has also been more involved in matches than Bale on average, touching the ball 72 times a game compared to Bale’s average involvement of 62 touches a match.

Somewhat expectedly, Bale is much more of a threat in and around the box than the English midfielder though; attempting 23 more shots and having a superior shooting accuracy and conversion rate. More surprising is the fact that Bale has a better tackle success rate than Wilshere – 77% to the Englishman’s 74%.

And here are the stats:

Bale v Wilshere – 2010/11 Premier League

Even though Arsenal took a 2-1 lead to the Nou Camp on Tuesday, they knew Barcelona would be difficult to contain for 90+ minutes. But if they could score the pressure would be on Barca to score twice. It was a difficult task without the absurd sending off of Robin Van Persie for taking a shot on goal after the referee had blown his whistle for a marginal offside decision. Whether Van Persie did or didn’t hear the whistle above the noise of the capacity crowd, I don’t believe the referee could have been sure.

Van Persie was sent off in the 56th minute, just after Arsenal had drawn level on the night through a Busquets own goal. At this point, though Barcelona was dominating the possession and the game itself, it was Arsenal who was going through to the quarter-finals. With wave after wave of amazing attacking football, I believed Barcelona were going to win the game even before Van Persie’s dismissal. But the decision was ridiculous and only put added pressure on the ten men of Arsenal who played as courageously as they had two weeks previous at The Emirates. I don’t think many neutrals would disagree that over the course of the two legs, Barcelona were the better team. Furthermore, on these two performances alone, the Spanish champions look unstoppable and could give any team, club or country a run for their money.

While Arsenal are out, Tottenham Hotspur continue to enjoy their Champions League run which has seen them top their group, beat the reigning European Champions Inter Milan and yesterday go through to the quarter-finals after playing out a 0-0 draw against AC Milan. This was a great disciplined performance from a team that are known for their attacking play and defensive weaknesses. To go through by not conceding a goal over two legs certainly surprised me. Harry Redknapp said it was a “fantastic achievement” and would rather not draw Barcelona in the next round but would be happy to play anyone else.

The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals will take place on Friday 18th March. Beforehand Chelsea look favourites to go through against FC Copenhagen next Wednesday at Stamford Bridge following a 2-0 win in Denmark; and Manchester United should beat Marseille at Old Trafford on Tuesday after a 0-0 draw in France. The other two games see Bayern Munich play Inter Milan with a one goal advantage from the first leg and Lyon travel to Real Madrid following a 1-1 draw.

The quarter-finals will be a straight draw, meaning that for the first time in the Champions League this season any English teams left in the competition could face each other. But after being knocked out of last season’s Champions League by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, if Chelsea & Real Madrid go through, what’s the chances of Mourinho coming back once again to haunt Roman Abramovich?

Let’s hope Chelsea & Manchester United can join Spurs in the draw and avoid each other in the quarter-finals.

But with just eleven Premier League fixtures left and only one lost game this season Man Utd look destined to win another Premiership title and in the process surpass Liverpool’s record for winning the most Premier League / League One titles and, as far as their fans are concerned, be hailed as the best team in English football.

On paper Manchester United’s fixtures don’t look too difficult.  Aside from the two crunch games this week they play West Ham, Newcastle, Arsenal and Blackburn away, and Bolton, Fulham, Everton, Chelsea and finally Blackpool at Old Trafford on 22nd May.  All of those games are ultimately winnable but although Man Utd look favourites to win another Premiership title they have had a few lucky escapes this season and drawn too many games when a few more victories would already have them sailing home.

They also have the added distraction of the FA Cup, where they are likely to meet Arsenal in the Quarter Finals (Saturday 12 May) followed by a Champions League second leg tie against Marseille (Tuesday 15 May).  Both games are at Old Trafford.

Pre-season I predicted Manchester United would win the Premier League but I think the Champions League will be a step too far.  As for the FA Cup, if they can beat Arsenal they have a great chance to win the double; and as a neutral I would love to see the red and sky blue of Manchester meet in the FA Cup final in what would surely be a great way to end a fantastic season.

Ahead of the tie on Tuesday afternoon Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made the surprise announcement that the clubs top scorer Samir Nasri will be available for tonight’s game having recovered from a hamstring injury sustained in the FA Cup clash with Huddersfield Town on January 30th.

The French midfielder had been expecting to be sidelined by the injury for three weeks, but Wenger said yesterday, “He’s recovered quicker than expected. I said it would be 21 days but it will be only 17 days.”

Nasri’s inclusion in the Arsenal squad will be a bonus for the North Londoners although Wenger has made it clear he will not be taking any chances on the player and will make a decision today (Wednesday) as to whether Nasri will be included in his starting line up.

While Arsenal have been getting by quite nicely without Nasri, there is no doubt that his inclusion in the squad is a huge lift for the team.

His form this season has been exceptional putting him into contention for the Premier League Player of the Year award. As playmaker and goal scorer the French midfielder is unrecognisable from last season at Arsenal.

Other team news from the Arsenal camp is that Tomas Rosicky has recovered from a groin injury but Abou Diaby has been ruled out with a calf injury.

Meanwhile Barcelona’s Andre Iniesta who missed the Quarter Final contest between the two teams last season, has suggested that his team will have to beat ‘one of the best teams in the world’ if they are to progress in this seasons Champions League contest.

Iniesta will be fit to face the Gunner’s this time around but says that the tie will be decided at the Nou Camp in the second leg, ‘It is the Champions League, we find ourselves against the best in the world so I don’t think anyone will think the tie can be won today.’

Arsenal fans might be tempted to wager a few pound on their team to win the Champions League Cup before tonight’s game as the online betting odds are currently offering 20/1, while Barcelona are clear favourites to go all the way at 7/4.

The current odds for tonight’s match are not so spectacular however, with Arsenal to win at 3/1, Barcelona to win 10/11 and a draw at 13/5.

Arsenal will have been lifted by this result, particularly as they are playing consistently well and present the only real challenge to Manchester United in the Premier league.

Arsene Wenger claims that the Gunners have closed the gap on their rivals since being punished in the quarter final of the Champions League last season when Messi scored four goals in their 4-1 romp at the Nou Camp and Arsenal escaped with a draw at the Emirates.

Despite playing the most attractive football in the Premier League, I really can’t see that the North Londoners are equal to Barcelona, but they are closing the gap due to Wenger being in a position to field his best players on a more regular basis this year.

None more so than Robin Van Persie who has scored more goals in the Premiership in 2011 than any other, with ten goals so far in less than two months. But the Dutchman has only featured in one Champions League game for Arsenal, and although he scored on that occasion all eyes will be on the Barcelona goal machine Lionel Messi, who has scored 13 times in his last eleven CL games.

In midfield it will be interesting to compare Xavi and Fabregas, perhaps the Barcelona players future replacement. Despite Cesc providing a joint Premier League high of nine assists this season, four more than Xavi, it is the Barcelona player who comes out on top in tackling and accuracy of passing.

In the Champions League however, Xavi has managed just the one goal assist so far (and no goals), although he has hit a competition-high 366 accurate passes in the opposition half. Arsenal captain Fabregas, on the other hand, has already bagged three goals and provided two goal assists.

While the likes of Messi and Fabregas will no doubt provide some of the highlights of the game on Wednesday, the outcome of the game may well depend on the performances of both sides’ defences.

Laurent Koscielny has endured a mixed start to his career with Arsenal, but in recent weeks, his partnership with Johan Djourou has become vital to Arsenal’s title tilt. Indeed, with those two in position in central defence in the Gunners’ last seven league games, Arsenal have kept five clean sheets. Koscielny has also impressed in attack, netting two goals so far.

His Spanish counterpart, Puyol, has already netted one goal, while his distribution, like that of all the Barca players, is superb, with 91% of his passes finding a team-mate in La Liga.

Castrol Performance data shows that Arsenal will know what to expect after their quarter-final clash with Barcelona last season.

Over the two legs, Barcelona asserted their total domination of the ball, completing 654 passes more than the Gunners. Pep Guardiola’s were too much to handle over the two legs, unleashing 37 shots, that’s one every five minutes. Nearly half of those attempts found the target (18). Lionel Messi alone had nearly twice as many shots on target as the Gunners, testing Manuel Almunia nine times, four of which found the back of the net.

Arsene Wenger will be warned to wrestle the initiative away from Barcelona early on. Last season, Arsenal were battered in the first-half of their first leg at the Emirates. As shown by the average position graphic below, all of Barca’s outfield players – barring their centre-halves – spent the majority of their time in the Gunners half of the pitch.

Given Barcelona’s dominance in La Liga again this season I would expect a repeat of last seasons quarter final score at the Emirates and am going for a 2-2 draw.

castrol performance research

For reasons of money, investment and past glories, it is easy to think of the aforementioned clubs as the five teams that still have a realistic chance of winning this season’s Premier League. But Spurs are only above Bolton Wanderers (who have a better goal difference) because Bolton could only manage a home draw with Blackpool on Saturday.  Both Bolton and Blackpool are playing really exciting football under the guidance of Owen Coyle and Ian Holloway respectively, and have been involved in some surprise results already this season.

So, as we head into December it is good to see there are only six points between the top 5 clubs, and the top half of the Premiership includes some surprises.  Liverpool can only scrape into the top half of the table on goal difference, ahead of two of last season’s promoted teams, Blackpool and West Brom. While ahead of them are Bolton (6th), Sunderland (7th), Stoke City (8th) and Newcastle United (9th).

Manchester United are top of the league for the first time this season after a 7-1 thrashing of Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford on Saturday.  It marked the return of Wayne Rooney to the starting line-up and also the best performance I have witnessed from Dimitar Berbatov since his move from Spurs.  Not only did the Bulgarian striker score five goals, his movement and link up play with Rooney was as sharp as I have seen.

Blackburn were awful but that takes nothing away from an excellent team performance by Man Utd who remain unbeaten this season but moreover have started to play better football and look like possible champions. Lest we forget, Manchester Utd have regularly started the season off slowly in recent years, only to make a charge for the Premiership title come the New Year.

Furthermore, United’s thrashing of Blackburn has meant they now have the same goal difference as Chelsea who started the season so well.

Defending champions Chelsea find themselves two points behind Manchester United after only being able to manage a draw against Newcastle at St James Park.  This follows defeats to Sunderland & Birmingham, and more importantly, the surprise sacking of assistant manager, Ray Wilkins, which has now been followed by the news that Frank Arneson has resigned and will leave his post as head talent scout at the end of the season.

It is clear that there is something wrong behind the scenes as well as on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, and though the return of John Terry, Michael Essein and Frank Lampard to the Chelsea team will help alleviate some of the problems Carlo Ancelotti is faces on the pitch with a team that were playing exciting football and looked invincible just a month or so ago, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Chelsea continue to implode over the coming weeks and months.

For the first time since July, I can muster a grin at the fact that I had a pre-season bet that Manchester United would win the Premier League this season.

Chelsea are going to struggle in the Premiership without John Terry and Alex for the next couple of months but they will both be fit when the Champions League knockout stages begin in March and with two games to go Chelsea have already booked their place in the second round.  And with Frank Lampard returning from injury too, I still believe Chelsea have the best chance of lifting the Champions League trophy in May, of all four English clubs.

So with two games to go in the first round of this season’s Champions League, which two teams from each group look likely to go through to the knockout stages next year?

FC Twente have two games left against Inter Milan (away) and at home to Spurs.  To finish ahead of either Inter or Tottenham they are going to have to win one of those games and hope that Tottenham & Inter drop points in their other games; possible, but unlikely.

Three teams can still progress from Group B.  Lyon currently lead the group with nine points followed by Schalke 04 on seven and Benfica with six. Lyon and Benfica should both pick up three points when they play Hapoel Te-Aviv, while Schalke 04 have the most difficult games as they face both Lyon & Benfica.

Manchester United are unbeaten this season in both domestic and European competition and lead Group C with ten points.  Rangers will need to beat Man Utd at Ibrox on Wednesday if they are going to have any chance securing second place ahead of Valencia.

In Group D Barcelona & FC Copenhagen are both in a very strong position and do not play each other in their two remaining fixtures.

Bayern Munich are one of only two teams to have won all four games and so have already qualified for the next round.  Roma look the most likely to join them ahead of CFR 1907 Cluj-Nopoca (great name) and Basle.

Chelsea are the other team with four wins out of four but it’s not clear whether Spartak Moscow or Marseille will finish second. I’m erring towards Spartak Moscow as they play Marseille at home tomorrow night, and then should easily beat MSK Zilinia in the last round of games on Wednesday 8th December, while Marseille entertain Chelsea in their last fixture.

It is not clear who will join Real Madrid in the next round from Group G.  AC Milan are currently one point ahead of Ajax and the final game on Wednesday 8th December between the two former Champions League winners will decide.  AC Milan will have home advantage, and if they beat Auxerre tomorrow, a draw will be enough against Ajax.  Ajax host Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid tomorrow evening in Amsterdam where they will be trying to keep the pressure on AC Milan with a win.

Finally, in Group H Shakhtar Donetsk look favourites to join Arsenal in the next round following their surprise 2-1 win at The Emirates where former Arsenal striker Eduardo scored the winning goal.  Both Arsenal & Shakhtar Donetsk could qualify if they win their games tomorrow evening.  Arsenal are away to Braga and Shakhtar Donetsk are away to pointless Partizan Belgrade.

Qualifying from the group stage if teams are level on points will be determined by the results of games between the teams in the tie (if tied, by goal difference and then by away goals counting double).

My Champions League tips for which two teams are going to go through from each group are as follows:

Group A: Inter Milan & Tottenham
Group B: Lyon & Benfica
Group C: Manchester United & Valencia
Group D:  Barcelona & FC Copenhagen
Group E: Bayern Munich & Roma
Group F: Chelsea & Spartak Moscow
Group G: Real Madrid & AC Milan
Group H: Arsenal & Shakhtar Donetsk

The final Champions League first round fixtures will take place on Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th November and Tuesday 7th & Wednesday 8th December.