Who Will Win the 2019 Six Nations?

We are now just days away from the start of the 6 Nations and the hype is real. The squads are all announced and now fans are waiting to see who makes the 23-man matchday squads. But as we prepare for the tournament to begin, the question on everyone’s lips is “who will win?”

England

Schedule: Ireland (A), France (H), Wales (A), Italy (H), Scotland (H)

After a torrid time last tournament and a poor summer, England looked to be back on the up during the Autumn Tests and with a number of key personnel back from injury they will be looking to make a mark as they build towards the World Cup. Key to their hopes will be the return of Billy Vunipola, who has had awful luck recently with injuries. 3 home matches gives them a slight advantage over some of their rivals and I would expect all of them to result in victories, however they do have probably their hardest 2 matches both away from home in the form of Ireland and Wales.

France

Schedule: Wales (H), England (A), Scotland (H), Ireland (A), Italy (A)

It may be the greatest of clichés in rugby, but at this point, we still don’t know which France team will show up. They have an abundance of talent but the injury to Teddy Thomas leaves them potentially lacking a top quality winger. Only 2 home matches will not help their chances this year, I can’t see them having much luck at Twickenham or the Aviva Stadium and if things have not gone their way, a trip to Italy in the final round of matches could be a potential banana skin.

Ireland

Schedule: England (H), Scotland (A), Italy (A), France (H), Wales (A)

Looking at the squads, Ireland have to be the favourites as they have such depth in almost every position, despite a few players missing through injury, not to mention they are a team on top form, with all 4 provinces having advanced to the knockout stages of their European Cups. Having only 2 home matches this year is not ideal, but with Italy being one of the away matches, I think that they will be largely happy with their schedule. I think that home advantage will see them past the English and the French, while the one real danger I can see is the trip to the Principality Stadium in the final round for a potential winner-take-all match.

Italy

Schedule: Scotland (A), Wales (H), Ireland (H), England (A), France (H)

Italy are a team on the up under Conor O’Shea but the loss of Matteo Minozzi and Jake Polledri will hurt them. Bonus points are probably the most they can hope for in their first 4 rounds, but a home match against France could be a big game with the Wooden Spoon on the line and I think that Italy could pull out the victory here, especially if France have struggled through the tournament.

Scotland

Schedule: Italy (H), Ireland (H), France (A), Wales (H), England (A)

Scotland are a team that are so hard to judge. When they’re on form they look unstoppable, but when they are having a bad day, nothing appears to go right for them. They often appear much stronger at home than away, so a 3:2 home:away ratio this year is good news for them, however with 2 of those home matches being against Ireland and Wales, there is no guarantee this time around. I can’t see them beating Ireland, but I could see them snatching a win in France and using that as a springboard to win when hosting the Welsh in the next round. A win in Twickenham seems unlikely, but if the chance of victory is still there for the Scots and not the English, then they could pull off a big result over the Auld Enemy.

Wales

Schedule: France (A), Italy (A), England (H), Scotland (A), Ireland (H)

Wales are another team hard to predict at this stage. They have a number of injuries, with the back row severely hit and first choice kicker Leigh Halfpenny still out with concussion, however they are also a very experienced team who are on a run of good results. Like Ireland, their schedule has been largely friendly to them, with just 2 home matches being helped by a trip to Italy. The opening round match in Paris could go either way and will be largely dependent on which French team turns up, but I do see that as being an away win. England at home and Scotland away could both go either way but I can imagine at least 1 win and a bonus point loss from these and then it could all come down with a championship shootout in the final match against Ireland, where home advantage will be huge, but probably not quite enough to see them emerge victorious.

I think that we are going to see another Irish Grand Slam, but if they are going to lose a game I see it being the finale against Wales. If that is the case, I think that the Irish will still win by virtue of bonus points. I may be picking with my heart more than head at times, but my prediction for this year’s table is as follows:

Ireland
Wales
England
Scotland
Italy
France

How do you see this tournament going?

Before I finish, just a quick reminder that I am running fantasy rugby leagues for the 6 Nations on 2 sites this year. If you want to take part, you can find more details here.

Fantasy 6 Nations 2019

We are less than a week away from the beginning of the 6 Nations and what a better way to start getting hyped for the tournament than preparing to do fantasy rugby!

For those who haven’t heard of or done fantasy rugby before, it is an online game where you pick a team from players taking part in a tournament and earn/lose points according to what they do in each match (eg points for a try, points lost for a card). Over recent years, fantasy rugby has become a lot more popular, with a number of sites starting to create their own fantasy rugby competitions, each with slightly different rules.

As I have done with the Premier League and Premiership Rugby this year, I have decided to invite you all to join me in a fantasy rugby league for the 6 Nations, but I couldn’t choose between 2 sites so feel free to join both!

I have been doing the ESPN Fantasy 6 Nations since my uni days (too long ago to admit!) and of the 2 sites I will be doing, this is probably the easier one for rookies! In this one, you select 15 players: 3 front row, 2 locks, 3 back row, 1 scrum half, 1 fly half, 2 centres, 2 back three and nominate 1 kicker (the only player who will have points counted for kicks off the tee). You can set up a team here and join my league using the code 1323867-118131

The other site that I will be using this year is The Rugby Magazine. I have used them for the Premiership the last 2 seasons and really enjoyed it, so was obviously excited to hear that they had expanded to the 6 Nations. In this one, you need to select a squad of at least 28 players and then each round, select a starting XV and a 8-man bench (which gets half points). You will also need to select a captain (for double points) and a kicker (again, the only person for who points earned off the tee will count). What I have really liked about The Rugby Magazine’s fantasy leagues is that not only are they deeper in terms of selecting a squad, but they also allow more variety by letting players be placed in multiple positions – for example, Owen Farrell could be played at 10 or in the centre. You can set up a team here and join my league using the code b6c1e40d48e6

Interested? This is purely for fun so there is no money or anything on the line and no prize for winning other than the respect of your opponents. I hope to see you there and my the best man/woman win!

My Sporting Preferences

Hi guys! Something a little different today as I realised that I’ve been writing on here for almost 3 years now (time flies!) and alluding to some of the teams I support but not actually really talked about the sport I like to watch and who I support in them, so I thought today it would be a great chance to get to know me a bit better.

Rugby Union

Rugby Union is unsurprisingly my favourite sport, both the 15 and 7-a-side variations of the game. I got into rugby when I started going to secondary school and quickly fell in love with the sport. Over the years I’ve played for my school, grassroots club (shout out to Longlevens RFC!) and also started my own social 7s team in my last year of uni, and played a number of positions: all the front row, lock, blindside flanker and one match I will never forget against our local rivals where I played at outside centre!

Being a Gloucester boy born and raised, there was only 1 club I was ever going to be following once I was into the sport and that is the Cherry & Whites – Gloucester Rugby – and by extension, Hartpury RFC and Gloucester-Hartpury Women.

I have started watching a lot more rugby around the world in recent years though and the Scarlets have beat out Munster become my second team, courtesy of one of my best mates being a Scarlets fan and their attacking mentality making me always want to watch their games . I’m also really excited by the growth of rugby in the USA, so I consider the Eagles my second international team (after England) and I have tried to pay attention to the MLR – I put my support behind the Seattle Seawolves last season but with the league still expanding and new teams forming I would not say that I have adopted them as my American team. I’ve also tried to pay more attention to Super Rugby in the last few years but would not say that I have adopted a team, although I found myself firmly behind the Western Force when they were put at risk of being axed.

Football

As with (I’d assume) most English kids, football was my initial sport. Just having a kick-around on lunchtimes of after school and with highlights of the Premier League still available on terrestrial TV, it is something that is relatively easy to follow.

As for my favourite team, I have to admit that I’m a fan of Manchester United. *Runs for cover* Granted, I’ve never been to Manchester, but my support from United came from a number of my closest friends at school being United fans, so I found that we would talk about them more and I found myself paying more attention to their matches. I do also have a soft spot for Cheltenham Town, my local team in the football leagues. As for internationals, I am an England supporter, but I have found in recent years a bit of an apathy towards internationals and I have rarely watched outside of the Euros and World Cups.

American Football

I’ve got family in America and went to visit them a couple of times as a kid, so vaguely remember watching some NFL games on TV when I was out there, but not really understanding what was going on. Then during secondary school one of my friends let me borrow Madden 04 and in learning to play the game, I fell in love with the sport. This love continued as I went to university and started watching games more often and making friends with a number of the uni’s American football team.

From those times I used to go to America, I remember us rushing home one day to watch the Tennessee Titans play back in the days where the late Steve McNair was at QB, so once I finally got into the sport they were always going to be the team I picked. Ironically, when I next went to see my family in the USA, it turned out that they are Cowboys fans and hate the Titans… oops! Too late!

Road Cycling

I’m not even sure how, but I’ve really started enjoying watching the Grand Tours in recent years and also by extension some of the other televised races like the Tour of Britain and the Critérium du Dauphiné. It is a great example of teamwork seeing the domestiques working on behalf of their leaders and then the combination of tactical nous and sheer determination among the lead riders to race each other up climbs that make me shudder just watching on TV. Team Sky are my team and I really love a number of their riders including 2018’s Grand Tour winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, while I also really enjoy the Yates brothers and Mark Cavendish – so 2018 was a pretty good year for me!

Rugby League

I just love rugby in general! While I prefer union, I do also enjoy watching rugby league as it is generally a more fast-paced game than union. I really got into watching the Super League a few years back but I’m so busy these days I struggle to find the time to watch anything beyond the England matches and the odd big club game. For this reason I wouldn’t say I fully support a team, but I would say I have a soft spot for Canadian team Toronto Wolfpack, who were founded around the same time I started paying more attention to the sport.

Formula 1

I used to watch Formula 1 religiously when it was on terrestrial TV and I didn’t have such good access to pay-TV sports channels, but these days with the way the sport has come to rely on tyre degradation and pit strategies in order to win, I’ve largely gone off the sport – though I will still watch on occasion. Back from his early days at Mclaren, I’ve been a big fan of Kimi Räikkönen, while I also cheered for Jenson Button when he was in the sport and have found myself supporting Fernando Alonso for a number of years as he has tried to do his best in cars that are nowhere near the quality he deserves.

Cricket

For years I had no interest in cricket whatsoever, however I have found myself paying a bit more attention to the shorter forms like one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches. I will say thought that I have no real interest in the game beyond England matches and would struggle to watch a Test match live for more than a couple of hours, though I would watch a condensed highlights show.

Tennis

Another sport that I find myself watching less now that I have access to extra sports channels. It’s rare for me to watch much beyond Wimbledon, and even then it has often just been Andy Murray or Laura Robson’s matches in recent years. Back in the day though, I was also a big fan of Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick and also found myself cheering for Maria Sharapova back when there were no highly rated Brits in the women’s events.

Snooker

Much like tennis, the amount of snooker I watch has dropped off drastically as my options have opened up. I think the BBC show “Big Break” went a long way to helping stoke an interest in the sport when I was a kid and I have been lucky enough to watch in the heyday of Ronnie O’Sullivan! If I’m at home writing, I may have it on in the background, but its very rare I find myself watching these days.

Baseball

Not something that I usually watch but I do enjoy going to a couple of matches when I’m in the US. Despite having been bought Yankees, Cardinals and Rangers branded goods over the year, there’s no Major League teams that I would say I pay attention to, however I do try to keep up with how the Memphis Redbirds are doing in the Minor Leagues.

and finally…

The Movie Trivia Schmoedown

I know what you’re probably saying: “How is movie trivia a sport?!”… But the Schmoedown has done a great job of making it one. Taking a movie trivia quiz and combining it with WWE-style entertainment has created a wonderful product that I have fallen in love with! The show has become such a big part of my life and I even write for their website (links to all my articles can be found here) and if you want to know a bit more about this, you can find a piece I wrote over a year ago here.

2019 Six Nations: 6 to Watch

We are just weeks away from the 6 Nations kicking off for another year. With the World Cup starting in October, the tournament will take on extra significance as not only will players be trying to win the tournament but they will also be trying to prove to their coaches that they should be on the plane to Japan later this year.

With the squads now released for the opening rounds, I’ve taken a look at each team and selected a player to watch. These are generally players who have either only amassed a few caps or not been an obvious name to those who only watch international rugby. How will these players do this tournament and how many of them will we see at the World Cup?

England: Tom Curry

The injury to Sam Underhill has opened the door for Sale flanker Tom Curry to likely take the 7 shirt for the tournament. At 20 years old, Curry has been capped 5 times since making his debut on the 2017 tour to Argentina. England have struggled to find a real “jackal” at flanker for a number of years but Curry is a real danger at the breakdown and if the support men are not close enough then expect him to add another turnover to his tally.

France: Demba Bamba

It’s not very often these days that we see a player in the 6 Nations who is not playing in one of the top 3 domestic European leagues (Premiership, Pro 14, Top 14). That will be the case though if 20-year-old prop Demba Bamba comes off the bench. Currently playing in Pro D2 for Brive, Bamba was one of the stars of the French U20s and made his debut for the senior international team against Fiji in November. It’s often said that a prop doesn’t reach his best days until much later in his career, this 6 Nations will give us the chance to see the early days of what could end up being a great career… assuming the team around him turns up this season.

Ireland: Tadhg Beirne

One of the older players on this list, Beirne is a hell of a player who I have really enjoyed watching for the Scarlets and now Munster over recent seasons. Having moved back to Irelend, Beirne made his international debut in the Autumn Tests. With James Ryan, Devin Toner and Iain Henderson all more experienced in the Irish second row there is no guarantee that Beirne will get massive game time (so I feel even more sorry for Ultan Dillane who is also in the squad) but when he is on the pitch his threat at the breakdown and his ability in the loose will show why I picked him in my Uncapped XV last year.

Italy: Seb Negri

Negri has been in and around the Italian squad for a couple of year now, having earned 12 caps since his debut in June 2016 and was a regular in the Italian XV during last season’s 6 Nations. Part of the Hartpury squad that won promotion to the Championship, the Zimbabwean-born flanker is a strong runner that will help the team got on the front foot. Parisse may be nearing the end of his career, but Negri is one of the new generation of stars coming through for Conor O’Shea and Italy.

Scotland: Adam Hastings

The son of Gavin and nephew of Scott, Hastings has the rugby pedigree. I was not overly impressed with the fly half at Bath but he has flourished since moving to Glasgow. He is likely second to Finn Russell on the depth chart but they did start together in November with Russell moving to 12 and Gregor Townsend may try this again during the tournament. A very exiting player, the 22-year-old’s chemistry with a number of his Glasgow teammates could see him be the breakout star of this year’s tournament.

Wales: Gareth Anscombe

With 20 caps to his name, 27-year-old Gareth Anscombe is probably the most well-known player on this list to the casual fan. Outside of the back row – which has been hit by injuries – I can’t see there being too many inexperienced players in the Wales XV, however Anscombe has only recently started to look like the starter at 10. Anscombe started the final of the 2011 Junior World Championship at fly half for New Zealand, with Beauden Barrett and Lima Sopoaga at 15 and 12 respectively, which shows the quality he has. He has a good enough kicking game to control the match but also has that attacking ability that takes Wales to a new level. Even if Dan Biggar starts at 10, with Leigh Halfpenny still to recover from concussion symptoms after Samu Kerevi’s late hit in the Autumn Tests, there is always a chance that Anscombe could line up at 15.

NFL Bold Predictions: How Did We Do?

Back in September and with the NFL regular season about to get underway, 3 friends and I decided to put our necks on the line and show our knowledge of the NFL by predicting the 8 Divisional Champions and the teams that would make it to the Super Bowl.

Now that the regular season is over and the playoffs are underway, it’s time to see how we did on our predictions…

Teams who made it into the playoffs are marked with a *

NFC North

How it ended: Bears*, Vikings, Packers, Lions

The shock addition of Khalil Mack took the Bears’ defense to another level, while the offense was able to do enough to get the victories and win the division. The Vikings fell back this year despite a great start to the season from Adam Thielen and you can’t help but wonder if spending big money on Kirk Cousins was the right decision. An early Aaron Rodgers injury stopped him from performing to the level we expect and with him not at 100%, the team’s deficiencies were all too clear, while the Lions were anything but the king of the jungle.

Our predictions: Me – Vikings, Rob – Vikings, Matt – Bears, Ed – Vikings

Not a great start for 3 of us who were all expecting the Vikings to push on with a franchise QB at the helm, but Matt’s trust in Trubisky paid off for him.

NFC East

How it ended: Cowboys*, Eagles*, Redskins, Giants

In a division that was struggling for quality, the Redskins looked on course to crawl into the playoffs until an injury to Alex Smith derailed their season. The Cowboys got it together down the stretch with an improving defense and an offense that looked much more dangerous once Amari Cooper was added. The Eagles struggled initially with Nick Foles under center but did not drastically improve when Carson Wentz returned from injury and eventually turned back to Foles to scrape into the final Wildcard spot at the Vikings’ expense. The Giants stuck with Eli Manning but it is hard to imagine them doing so for much longer as a 1-5 record against their divisional opponents killed any chance of the playoffs.

Our predictions: Me – Eagles, Rob – Eagles, Matt – Eagles, Ed – Eagles

All of us fell into the Minnesota trap of expecting a franchise QB to lead one of last season’s strongest teams to the playoffs, though Matt’s pick may have also been driven by his Eagles bias.

NFC South

How it ended: Saints*, Falcons, Panthers, Buccaneers

The Bucs spent most of the season switching between Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick in an attempt to get a string of wins together, with generally poor results. The Panthers started 6-2 before a run of 7 defeats ruined their season, while the Falcons lost to all 4 teams from the AFC North to put them out of playoff contention despite a 4-2 record against their divisional rivals. The Saints ran riot this season with the attacking trifecta of Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara and Micheal Thomas almost impossible to stop.

Our predictions: Me – Saints, Rob – Saints, Matt – Saints, Ed – Saints

The first time that all 4 of us were all correct, the balance that New Orleans had in their offense was too strong to ignore and we all had enough faith in their defense to hold strong enough to concede less than the offense scored.

NFC West

How it ended: Rams*, Seahawks *, 49ers, Cardinals

The 49ers’ season was over before it had barely begun after losing Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 3 after having already lost RB Jerick McKinnon before the season even started – with Pierre Garçon also missing half the season, it’s impressive that they even got to 4 wins! The Cardinals season was a disaster as they finished 3-13 with a franchise-worst 1-7 home record. The Seahawks were meant to be in a rebuilding phase but recovered from an 0-2 start to make double-digit wins earn a wildcard spot, while the Rams burst out the gate to be the early leaders, only for a 35-45 loss in a shootout at the Superdome and 2 disappointing losses in December to strip them of 1^st seed in the NFC.

Our predictions: Me – Rams, Rob – Rams, Matt – Rams, Ed – Rams

No shocks here with so many teams coming into this season part-way through a rebuild, whereas the Ram’s additions suggested that they are very much in win-now mode.

AFC North

How it ended: Ravens*, Steelers, Browns, Bengals

The Browns are competitive again! With young stars Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward, and with Hue Jackson and Todd Haley fired after Week 8, the Browns put together an impressive run that hints at things to come, while a narrow loss to the Ravens in Week 17 clinched Baltimore the spot in the playoffs at the expense of Pittsburgh. The Ravens also had a midseason change of fortunes after Lamar Jackson was given the nod at QB, while the Steelers were left without Le’Veon Bell – who sat out the entire season – and may be set to lose Antonio Brown after relations appeared to sour during the season. The Bengals started well, getting to 5-3, but only managed 1 win in the second half of the season, with Tyler Eifert, Andy Dalton and A. J. Green all missing significant time.

Our predictions: Me – Steelers, Rob – Ravens, Matt – Steelers, Ed – Steelers

Rob can feel smug here as the Ravens defense saw him be the only person to correctly guess this division’s champion, though I’m sure more of us would have made that pick if we’d realised Bell would sit out the entire season and not just a portion of it.

AFC East

How it ended: Patriots*, Dolphins, Bills, Jets

A 3-0 start soon went wrong for the Dolphins, who promptly lost 7-38 at Gillette Stadium and only picked up 4 more wins all season – though they did manage a remarkable walk-off victory against New England at home. 4-12 was the best that the Jets could do this season but there are positive signs for the development of Sam Darnold. The Bills managed shock victories over the Vikings and Titans when they were both looking strong, but were unable to get enough consistency. The Patriots 2-1 start and poor performances got some people wondering if their dominance was over, but despite maybe not looking as strong as in some seasons, they still finished 11-5 to earn a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Our predictions: Me – Patriots, Rob – Patriots, Matt – Patriots, Ed – Patriots

Given that the Patriots have won the AFC East in 15 of the previous 17 seasons, is it any shock that we all went for them here?

AFC South

How it ended: Texans*, Colts*, Titans, Jaguars

The Jaguars defense couldn’t live up to last season’s performances and Blake Bortles was back to being Blake Bortles. The Titans’ season was ended in Week 1 in hindsight, with Delanie Walker picking up and injury that saw him out for the season and Mariota also going down with an injury that he struggled with on and off the season. Despite this, they kept going and were only denied a playoff appearance with a loss in a winner-takes-all match against the Colts who recovered from a 5-1 start to finish 10-6. The Texans also had a poor start, going 0-3, but a 4-0 divisional record helped them on their way to 11-5 and the top spot in the AFC South.

Our predictions: Me – Texans, Rob – Jaguars, Matt – Texans, Ed – Texans

With questions around a number of these teams, Houston appeared the safe choice assuming everyone could stay fit. I imagine Rob is regretting picking the Jags about now…

AFC West

How it ended: Chiefs*, Chargers*, Broncos, Raiders

The Raiders were a shambles, trading away 2 of their best players in WR Amari Cooper and OLB Khalil Mack. Case Keenum was unable to replicate his form from last season with the Vikings. The Chiefs ran out to 9-1 as Patrick Mahomes wowed fans and pundits alike with his play, however they did lose a couple of matches following the release of Kareem Hunt for off-field issues. Despite a late win in a shootout at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chargers’ loss to Denver in Week 11 saw them finish the season as the 5^th seed in the AFC despite having a 12-4 record that only the Chiefs could match – the Chiefs earning the 1^st seed by virtue of their record in the division.

Our predictions: Me – Chiefs, Rob – Chiefs, Matt – Chargers, Ed – Chargers

How fitting that in the closest of divisions, this was also the one with the greatest variety in the predicted winner (2:2 rather than 3:1). For this to have come down to record in division games shows just how hard a decision this was to make.

The Final Tally

In what was a very close affair, Rob, Matt and I all finished on 5/8 correct, but Ed finished on 4/8

Super Bowl Prediction

Me: Vikings v Patriots
Rob: Jaguars v Saints
Matt: Eagles v Texans
Ed: Chargers v Packers

So it’s safe to say that these predictions were awful! Of the 4 of us, only Matt managed to predict a match-up that included 2 teams to qualify for the playoffs, however even that came to a quick end as the Texans are now out after losing to the Colts in the Wildcard Round.

Now the only question left to answer is if any of us will even have 1 of our selected teams make it to the big game…

December 2018 in the Premier League

Happy New Year all!

It may seem odd to say that a league spanning from August to May can be decided in one month, but with 7 rounds of football in December and some huge results, the Premier League title may have been all-but wrapped up the title for Liverpool by the end of the festive period.

Elsewhere, two managers followed Slaviša Jokanović into unemployment with Mark Hughes being replaced at Southampton by Ralph Hasenhüttl and Ole Gunnar Solskjær replacing José Mourinho at Manchester United.

Pushing forward

I have some real sympathy for Sean Dyche. His Burnley side have not been awarded a penalty in the Premier League since 15th April 2017 against Everton, despite a number of incidents since that looked like they should have resulted in the referee pointing to the spot. The latest incident came in their 3-1 loss to Arsenal, where Kevin Long was bundled over by Sead Kolašinac in the Arsenal box. Soft? Maybe, but by the letter of the law it should be a foul, and by extension in this case, a penalty.

What will be even more galling for Dyche is that in the same round of fixtures, Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a goal disallowed for Everton for a push on Davinson Sánchez during their 2-6 loss to Tottenham – a push that was arguably a softer foul than Kolašinac’s. Then, just 2 matches later, Kolašinac did concede a penalty in the 5-1 loss to Liverpool by pushing over Dejan Lovren. 3 pushes, 2 fouls… the maths just doesn’t add up.

One of my real bugbears in football is the amount of pushing and pulling that goes unpunished. The powers that be need to decide that either any push or pull is legal or every push or pull is a foul, and the officials then need to enforce this. Otherwise we see games ruined by players being penalised one week and not another for the exact same act.

A crazy few minutes

Brighton’s 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace gave us one of the craziest moments of the season, and unfortunately not many people come out of it looking good.

Glenn Murray went down in the box under pressure from James Tomkins – perhaps a little easy, but that’s another debate altogether – but referee Kevin Friend did not award a penalty. Murray stayed down with an injury and in the afters, Shane Duffy inexplicably thrust his head into Patrick van Aanholt, earning himself a deserved red card. Having lost a defender, manager Chris Hughton replaced Pascal Groß with the more defensive Leon Balogun. Things didn’t end there as Friend had awarded a corner, thinking the ball had been played by Tomkins rather than Murray and the corner resulted in Balogun scoring a stunning volley with his first touch of the ball!

While I would hope the officials would be able to get the decisions between a corner and a goal kick correct at this level, this incident to me really highlighted one of the differences between football and rugby. In rugby, an offence like Duffy’s headbutt would cause a reversal in the referee’s original decision as well as any necessary cards. This way, the aggressor is punished with a dismissal and his team are also punished. Had that been the case here, Duffy’s indiscretion would have seen the corner (that they already shouldn’t have) be reversed to a Palace free kick, which could have made a huge difference given the 1-0 scoreline at the time.

Great month for Liverpool

December couldn’t have really gone much better for Liverpool. They continued their unbeaten campaign with 7 wins from 7, including victories over Manchester United, Arsenal and local rivals Everton. Meanwhile, title rivals Manchester City dropped points with losses to Chelsea (2-0), Crystal Palace (2-3) and Leicester (2-1); Tottenham lost to Arsenal (4-2) and Wolves (1-3); Arsenal lost at Southampton (3-2) and drew at Manchester United (2-2) and Brighton (1-1) and Chelsea lost 1-0 to Leicester.

8 of the last 9 league leaders on Christmas Day have gone on to win the title, while Liverpool’s leade on New Year’s Day would be the biggest margin overcome in Premier League history were they to lose the title, so the signs are very good for the Reds. Mohamed Salah may not be scoring with the same regularity as last season, they look much more secure at the back with Virgil van Dijk looking one of the best centrebacks in the league and Alisson currently sits top of the league in terms of clean sheets.

I don’t expect them to go unbeaten this season, but barring a slew of injuries to key players, I find it hard to imagine they will drop enough points to allow anyone else to overtake them, especially as I expect their rivals to also drop more points in such a hotly contested league this season.

Throwback to the past

Granted it's against Cardiff, but the Solskjær reign couldn't have started much better than a 2-0 lead away from home within 30 mins #CARMUN #PremierLeague
— Tim Etheridge (@PStetheridge) December 22, 2018

The inevitable finally happened this season as United’s loss to Liverpool saw the end of José Mourinho’s reign at Old Trafford, with the Special One being replaced by former fan-favourite player Ole Gunnar Solskjær until the end of the season. The move has had instant results, with the team playing a much more attack-focused gameplan with the players looking much freer than before. They may not have played table-topping teams, but 4 wins from 4 has made Solskjær only the second manager in the history of the club to win his first 4 league games in charge, the first being Sir Matt Busby.

It has been wonderful watching their recent performances and with Solskjær in charge and Mike Phelan on his staff, this is probably the closest feeling we have had to the classic United since Fergie retired.

However, I do not want to get carried away. United are still struggling to keep clean sheets and are in desperate need of a top-quality centre back, but the rumours have been that United will be limited to loan signings with Solskjær currently only on loan from Molde until the end of the season. That will not be enough to keep up with the top teams and if players like Pogba begin to act up again (I cannot believe that his new form is down purely to him being given more freedom on the pitch as opposed to him now actively putting in effort) then things could turn horribly again.

Personally, I really hope things work out for the rest of the season and would love to see the Baby-faced Assassin get the role on a permanent basis.

Top 6 prediction

Liverpool
Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal
Chelsea
Manchester United

Eyes on the Ball

Thoughts from the world of sport and the Schmoedown

Month: January 2019