1. Arsenal came back to life playing a legitimate premier league club. Wigan is awful defensively yet held Arsenal's attack to a few shots on target and a single penalty attempt. Cazorla resumed being a mediocre threat without a single shot.
2. Everton is pretty good. Anichebe's return seemed to help Jelavic a bit up front. With Mirallas on the mend and Fellaini back in two, one thinks this team still has a legitimate shot at UCL qualification.
3. Reading didn't try and score this week, evidently a bit scared after the Arsenal drubbing. Still though, City should have done better. 8 blocked shots make the shot total look better than they were.
4. Liverpool destroyed Fulham as expected. Fulham is really struggling to generate chances right now. Suarez continues to be the best player in the league statistically.
5. Speaking of solid underlying numbers, Demba Ba had 8 shots with 5 in the box but only a single on target. He did have 4 blocked so maybe the attack wasn't as penetrating as per usual? Whatever the case, he remains a great value at 8.3.
6. Lukaku is averaging 3.9 SIB per 90 minutes played, easily the best in the league. If he ever gets locked in he seems like the solution at cheap forward.
7. I was not surprised this was an even game. Swansea can score and United remains a bit leaky at the back. The game probably deserved to be 2-2.
8. Ummm, Chelsea scored 8 and missed a penalty. Not much more to say here.
9. Southampton - Sunderland was the most surprising game of the week. The Saints struggled off the bye week where most expected a couple goals. It will be interesting to see if they bounce back this week on the road.
10. Stoke's defense is damn near impenetrable at the moment. They give up shots, but not many in the box and few on target. They always have their shape and use their physicality to their advantage. If the game would be called correctly they might struggle with penalties and free kicks, but as it is they are the best pure defense in the league (City has better numbers, but much is due to games like this week when the opposition doesn't even attempt to score on anything but the counter).
A few thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Arsenal came back to life playing a legitimate premier league club. Wigan is awful defensively yet held Arsenal's attack to a few shots on target and a single penalty attempt. Cazorla resumed being a mediocre threat without a single shot.
2. Everton is pretty good. Anichebe's return seemed to help Jelavic a bit up front. With Mirallas on the mend and Fellaini back in two, one thinks this team still has a legitimate shot at UCL qualification.
3. Reading didn't try and score this week, evidently a bit scared after the Arsenal drubbing. Still though, City should have done better. 8 blocked shots make the shot total look better than they were.
4. Liverpool destroyed Fulham as expected. Fulham is really struggling to generate chances right now. Suarez continues to be the best player in the league statistically.
5. Speaking of solid underlying numbers, Demba Ba had 8 shots with 5 in the box but only a single on target. He did have 4 blocked so maybe the attack wasn't as penetrating as per usual? Whatever the case, he remains a great value at 8.3.
6. Lukaku is averaging 3.9 SIB per 90 minutes played, easily the best in the league. If he ever gets locked in he seems like the solution at cheap forward.
7. I was not surprised this was an even game. Swansea can score and United remains a bit leaky at the back. The game probably deserved to be 2-2.
8. Ummm, Chelsea scored 8 and missed a penalty. Not much more to say here.
9. Southampton - Sunderland was the most surprising game of the week. The Saints struggled off the bye week where most expected a couple goals. It will be interesting to see if they bounce back this week on the road.
10. Stoke's defense is damn near impenetrable at the moment. They give up shots, but not many in the box and few on target. They always have their shape and use their physicality to their advantage. If the game would be called correctly they might struggle with penalties and free kicks, but as it is they are the best pure defense in the league (City has better numbers, but much is due to games like this week when the opposition doesn't even attempt to score on anything but the counter).