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Sometimes there are matches against certain teams where it doesn’t matter how well the team plays or how good their form is coming into the game, because for some strange voodoo reason, some of the big hitters in the Premier League falter against a particular opposition.Such oppositions are usually known as a ‘bogey team’ or you can call them the ‘Achilles heel’ (based on the Greek mythology).So here are the bogey teams of the Top 7 Premier League teams from last season:
#1 Chelsea against Newcastle
Jose Mourinho is one of the most successful managers in football history. The Portuguese has shown that his teams can beat anyone on their day; even if that means that he has to grind a result out. But Mourinho’s Chelsea have struggled to beat Newcastle United during his two separate spells at Stamford Bridge.
The Magpies have never lost to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at home and after five games at St. James’ Park; they have won three and drawn two. Current Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has won two back to back games against Mourinho at home now, with the most recent one ending Chelsea’s unbeaten run in all competitions.
Chelsea have now lost a hat-trick of games at St.James’ Park, with the first defeat coming when Rafael Benitez was the manager.
#2 Liverpool against Aston Villa
The Villains have actually become the ‘villains’ against Liverpool on several occasions. The Merseyside club have struggled against Aston Villa for many years now. In fact, Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool have never beaten Aston Villa at Anfield in three attempts and interestingly have won their two away games at Villa Park.
Liverpool lost to Aston Villa this season at Anfield after an early goal by Gabby Agbonlahor settled the score line. Last season when the Villains visited Liverpool, the home side conceded two goals in the first half but managed to draw level through Daniel Sturridge and a Steven Gerrard penalty.
The Merseyside club have won away from home to Villa, but their performances in these games were far from convincing, but in the end it’s the three points that matter.
Villa are a very good team from set pieces and Liverpool are easily one of the worst when it comes to defending set pieces, so there is some explanation for why Liverpool cannot cope with Aston Villa.
#3 Arsenal against Stoke City
Arsenal fans hate Stoke City for several reasons. Few years ago, the Gunners’ star Aaron Ramsey suffered a career threatening injury after a horrific tackle from Stoke City player Ryan Shawcross. This incident coupled with the extremely physical game the Potters play, which is the exact opposite of Arsenal’s style, make them Arsenal’s big nemesis.
Stoke returned to the Premier League in 2008 and after that, the Gunners have beaten Stoke at the Britannia Stadium only once in seven games. Of these seven games, Arsenal have lost four and drawn the other two games. Their only win has come back in February, 2010. In stark contrast, the Gunners have won all their home games against Stoke in the Premier League era.
The recent encounter between the two ended in a win for Stoke. The Potters took a 3-0 lead by halftime and scored one more in the second half, but it was incorrectly ruled out by the referee. The Gunners did pull two goals back, but a red card to Calum Chambers made recovery even more difficult for them as they lost to Stoke once again at the Britannia Stadium.
#4 Manchester City against Sunderland
Earlier this month, Manchester City won a game at the Stadium of light after coming from behind. The Citizens would have had their heart in their mouth when Sunderland took a 1-0 lead because the previous four games away to Sunderland have ended 1-0 to the Black Cats. The win on December 3rd was their first away win against Sunderland since August 2008.
City’s struggles against Sunderland is not just at home, the defending champions put their title hopes in serious doubts towards the end of last season when Sunderland visited the Etihad and took a 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute through Connor Wickham’s brace. The Englishman missed a glorious chance to put his side 3-1 up and an error by Vito Mannone eventually gifted City a late equalizer through Samir Nasri.
Sunderland had the opportunity to get a win at the Etihad in 2012 also. The visitors took a 3-1 lead courtesy of a brace by Sebastian Larsson and a goal by Nicklas Bendtner, but City leveled with two late goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Mario Balotelli.
City have finally broken their curse at the Stadium of light, but who knows when it will return.
#5 Manchester United against Chelsea
In the last five league games between the two sides, Manchester United have defeated Chelsea just once. Their only win came in October, 2012 in a controversial game where Chelsea had Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres sent off, of which the latter’s red was harsh. United won the game through a goal from Javier Hernandez, but the Mexican was clearly offside and the linesman failed to spot it.
After this game, the teams played four more times with Chelsea winning two and drawing the rest. Chelsea also played United in a cup tie a few weeks after their last defeat to United and the Blues won the game in extra time.
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have faced Manchester United nine times in the league and the Portuguese’s side had lost just one of these games and it was Alex Ferguson who was in charge of the Red Devils’ only win.
Mourinho’s record against United in the league stands like this: Played – 9, Won 4, Drawn – 4 and Lost – 1.
Manchester United are not easily outclassed by any opponent, but Chelsea have managed to do it time and time again, especially when Jose Mourinho is in charge.
#6 Spurs against Chelsea
Chelsea’s unbeaten home streak against their local rivals Spurs stretches back to the early nineties. The North London club’s last away win against the blues was in 1990, when they won 2-1. It has been 24 years and 27 years since Spurs registered an away victory against the blues.
Their record at home isn’t impressive either, they went winless against Chelsea at home from 1987 to 2006 and a vast majority of this period lies outside the Roman Abramovich era, when Chelsea were not a very strong and competitive team.
The last time Spurs won against Chelsea was in April 2010, when they won 2-1 at the White Hart Lane and after that Chelsea have won and drawn three games each against their local rivals.
The latest defeat for Spurs against Chelsea was earlier this month at Stamford Bridge, when Chelsea won by a comfortable 3-0 margin.
#7 Everton against Liverpool
Everton are still waiting for their first win at Anfield since the turn of the millennium, meaning their former manager David Moyes and current manager Roberto Martinez have not won at Anfield with Everton.
Everton’s dismal performance against Liverpool extends beyond the league matches. They have lost two FA Cup finals and a league cup final to Liverpool and most recently they lost an FA Cup semifinal to Liverpool in 2012, despite taking the lead in the game.
Everton’s last win against Liverpool was in October, 2010 and since then, the Toffees have lost three and drawn five of their games against local rivals.
Last season’s Merseyside derbies produced two amazing games with the game at Everton ending in a 3-3 draw after a see-saw game and the game at Anfield ending in a 4-0 win to the home side.
Everton will have to wait till the next season at least for their chance to beat Liverpool at Anfield after this season’s game ended in a 1-1 draw following a last minute stunner from Jagielka, which cancelled out Steven Gerrard’s brilliant free kick.
