Premier League Round 10: Manchester shines with dollars
The highlight of round 10 is the Manchester derby between the two top teams, Man City and Man Utd, who also spent a lot of money last summer.
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| Aston Villa - Swansea (9pm Saturday, October 24): Sleepy meets a soft mat |
The home team, desperate for points, met Swansea at a time when they had lost all their best weapons. At the beginning of the season, the good form of Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew in attack helped the Welsh team beat Man Utd and Newcastle, and draw with Chelsea and Sunderland. But since September 12, Swansea have not won in five consecutive matches. The reason is that their attack is not playing well.
Aston Villa have been battling relegation for the past five seasons. Their fans must be fed up with it. The message is clear: failing to beat equally struggling Swansea at home will cost Tim Sherwood (pictured) his job.
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| Leicester - Crystal Palace (9pm Saturday, October 24): Spiritual weapon |
The key to Leicester and Palace's low-quality squads flying high in the table is their fighting spirit. Leicester have salvaged seven points from behind this season, most recently in the previous round when they earned a draw despite being 2-0 down at Southampton. The inspiration for Claudio Ranieri's side is striker Jamie Vardy (pictured). He regularly asks for painkilling injections to be allowed to play. He is the league's top scorer with nine goals. From an unknown striker in England's semi-professional league, Vardy has risen to become the Premier League's most prolific striker.
Palace, on the other hand, looked like a wounded beast after losing 1-3 to West Ham. Despite having a man advantage throughout the second half, Palace were the underdogs. Like Leicester, Palace's strongest weapon is their fighting spirit. But the home team will have a slight advantage today, as Palace's weapon has been less sharp due to the defeat in the previous round. A confrontation between two "dark horses" after the first nine rounds of the season.
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| West Ham - Chelsea (9pm Saturday, October 24): Test for revival |
Meanwhile, the “little horse” Chelsea is even turning into a “chihuahua” and is drowning in 12th place on the rankings. Mourinho and his team just had a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa in the previous round. But they should note that facing a team second to the bottom of the rankings and a team in fourth place is always a big difference, although Mourinho (pictured) may sometimes confuse West Ham with Villa, because the traditional colors of these two teams are quite similar.
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So there will be no party for the Portuguese coach if he fails to bring home three points from Upton Park. There will be no rebirth for Chelsea stars if they are sunk by Dimitri Payet (pictured) and his teammates in this weekend's London derby. Ahead of his first encounter with Mourinho, Slaven Bilic has had some glowing words for his colleague. He praised the former Real Madrid coach as the best. But Mourinho is not sure if he has the mind to respond politely to Bilic. He recently nudged a young boy for daring to accuse him of cheating.
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| Norwich - West Brom (9pm Saturday, October 24): The "Yellow Bird" recovers |
Before last Sunday, Norwich looked tough to beat. Then Georginio Wijnaldum and Newcastle ruined everything. A 6-2 defeat is never easy. Usually, when a team suffers a heavy defeat, they tend to quickly rebuild their squad in the next round. So Alex Neil will likely be cautious against West Brom, even though they are playing at home. Tony Pulis's side are not known for their attacking prowess. So this could end in a goalless draw.
Norwich should exploit the visitors' left flank. Chris Brunt (pictured) has been uncomfortable playing at left-back on a regular basis, which is not his forte. Martin Olsson and Robbie Brady will therefore have more of the ball if they attack this weakness.
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| Stoke - Watford (9pm Saturday, October 24): Extend winning streak |
Stoke are starting to get things rolling after a slow start to the season. Mark Hughes has led his side to three straight wins in the last three games. Marko Arnautovic was superb in the 1-0 win over Aston Villa, while Bojan Krkic scored the winner against Swansea. Stoke need another man in form to get their hands on the Neptune's trident.
That man is Xherdan Shaqiri (pictured, left), the former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan midfielder. Shaqiri had some fine touches against Swansea, but the Swiss player still seems to be unfamiliar with the ball after only recently recovering from injury. Shaqiri was offered the number seven shirt by Man Utd before he decided to join Bayern. Therefore, once he regains his top form, the 24-year-old can trouble any defense. Watford could be the first victim.
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| Arsenal - Everton (11:30 p.m. Saturday, October 24): Wenger in a dilemma |
With three convincing wins in a row, Arsenal have shown they are capable of competing for the title this year. That's not to mention the 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.
Saying it too much is boring. As mentioned above, Arsenal have been doing it over and over again for many seasons but in the end they still “never grow up”, high enough to touch the championship trophy. Basically, Arsenal is the most unpredictable team in the Premier League at the moment. Man Utd and Man City both have isolated weaknesses while Chelsea’s defense is playing very poorly. But with Arsenal, you seem to have a hard time finding a specific weakness to attack.
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Arsene Wenger will have to decide whether to play Olivier Giroud (left) or Theo Walcott (right) as a centre-forward. Giroud scored the opener against Bayern, but Walcott also played well in the first half, making life difficult for Manuel Neuer. Walcott has generally been a success since being given the central role at the end of last season. Against Man Utd, Walcott also caused problems for the opposition defenders, creating space for Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to operate.
As for Newcastle, they just had their first win of the season in the previous round. The 6-2 victory over Norwich will give the away team's players more strength this weekend. " data-reference-id="23091249" id="vne_slide_image_8" src="http://c1.f4.img.vnecdn.net/2015/10/24/samallardyce-cropped-11caulvq48cjl140vbaebm6x45-1445626224_660x0.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 281px;" /> |
| Sunderland - Newcastle (7pm Sunday, October 25): The Miserable |
The Tyne-Wear derby takes place in a context where both main characters have become poor after the first nine rounds of the Premier League. Newcastle just earned a 6-2 victory over Norwich last weekend, but it was still not enough for them to escape the red light group. Meanwhile, Sunderland are even more "distressed", they have only three points thanks to three draws, three points behind their opponents and are at the bottom of the table. Well, the derby of the Northeast has to "eat rice, eat fish sauce" to please the audience. Sunderland rely on the winning fate of Sam Allardyce (pictured) every time they face Newcastle. This is the second match Big Sam has led the home team after taking over the captain's chair on October 9.
As for Newcastle, they just had their first win of the season in the previous round. The 6-2 victory over Norwich will give the away team's players more strength this weekend.
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| Bournemouth - Tottenham (9:05 p.m. Sunday, October 25): Delicious bait for Kane |
Harry Kane (pictured, left) will be hoping to improve his goalscoring form against a shaky Bournemouth defence. The England striker has had 40 shots in his last 17 Premier League games but has only scored four goals. In fact, Tottenham are unbeaten so far, apart from a 1-0 defeat to Man Utd on the opening day of the season. However, five draws in eight games have left Pochettino's side outside the top six, below West Ham, Leicester and Crystal Palace.
If there is a phrase to describe Bournemouth at the moment, it would be "both bad and unlucky". Having just entered the Premier League, Bournemouth do not know what their chances of staying in the league are. Ironically, a series of their pillars, such as Tyrone Mings, Max Gradel and Callum Wilson, are all out for a long time due to injuries. I wonder how coach Eddie Howe and his students will survive the coming winter?
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| Man Utd - Man City (9:05 p.m. Sunday, October 25): Money war |
One of the matches that gave rise to the Premier League television term “Super Sunday”, the game is sure to make some people a lot of money thanks to its huge global audience.
That is also easy to explain, the audience spends money to help the two teams they care about have enough financial potential to compete with each other. This is even more valid when comparing the spending of Man Utd and Man City last summer.
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| Premier League Round 10: Manchester shines with dollars - sports photos |
In September, Man Utd and Man City respectively brought in Anthony Martial (left) and Kevin De Bruyne (right) for a combined $140 million, given their combined age of 43. At the moment, Martial and De Bruyne are the leaders of their respective teams. In other words, they are “worth the money” that their buyers paid for them. However, is the Manchester derby worth the money that the audience spent to watch?
To get a better feel for it, turn on the TV on a Sunday night and watch the two Manchester teams go at it with money. You might even feel the money flowing out of your pocket.
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| Liverpool - Southampton (11:15 p.m. Sunday, October 25): Waiting for Klopp's first win |
Gone are the days when people called Liverpool the second Southampton of the Premier League. In the summer of 2015, the Anfield team only "sucked blood" Nathaniel Clyne (pictured, left) from Southampton. It is worth mentioning that most of the players who joined Liverpool from Southampton are suitable for Jurgen Klopp's moving style of play.
In the previous match against Tottenham, Liverpool were the only team this season to have run more than Mauricio Pochettino's side in a match. It was a bright spot in Klopp's first game, although the 0-0 draw did not satisfy fans.
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In February this year, with a 2-0 victory, Liverpool "stumbled" Southampton on their way back to the top of the Premier League last season. The away team's fans certainly haven't forgotten this grudge, especially when they see their favorite players wearing the opponent's shirt. As for Liverpool, fans believe Southampton is a good yardstick to determine how much the home team has improved since Jurgen Klopp (pictured) took charge.
According to VNE
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