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A bit of a wild week as Arsenal stole three points despite being outplayed. Manchester City destroyed Tottenham, Manchester United dropped two points at Cardiff (karma’s tough, ain’t it?), and Liverpool escaped Goodison Park with a point.
Were it not for a well-deserved but un-issued red-card on Rooney or Mirallas, we might just be looking at a very different table —whether it’s mine or the official EPL table.
That said, Arsenal emerge from the fray again atop both tables, if only for another week. Most of the clubs mentioned above have midweek European commitments (no disrespect, Southampton). Here, then, is my estimation of the Prem’s top-five contenders.
Squad (Last Week) | Last Result (Last 5) | Overall | EPL Table | Comments |
1. Arsenal (1) | W 2-0 Soton WWWLW | 9W1D2L | 1st (28) | A lucky result, to be sure, but the kind of result that suggests that the squad can grind it out as well as overrun or outclass an opponent. |
2. Man City (—) | W 6-0 Spurs WLWLW | 7W1D4L | 4th (22) | God forbid they learn to replicate their home-form on the road; 6 wins from 6 matches, +24 GD, could be enough to win the Prem. |
3. Chelsea (5) | W 3-0 West Ham WWDLW | 7W3D2L | 3rd(24) | After two lackluster outings, some signs of life from Stamford Bridge as Oscar reminds us all of the class that the squad possesses. |
4. Liverpool (4) | D 3-3 @ Everton DWLWD | 7W3D2L | 2nd (24) | Sturridge’s last-gasp equalizer salvaged a point, but questions about the Scousers’ long-term prospects persist. |
5. Soton (3) | L 0-2 @ Arsenal DWDWL | 6W4D2L | 5th (22) | A tough away-loss, under unlucky circumstances, is not enough to undermine Pochettino’s vision. |
Still conspicuously absent are Man United (6th) and Tottenham (9th). Had Wayne Rooney seen red as he should have, Man U wouldn’t be cursing two dropped points at Cardiff; they’d be apoplectic over dropping all three.
Tottenham’s drubbing at the hands of Man City seems an aberration until we see that they went in to the match with only a +3 goal-differential—having scored just nine while conceding six. If they can’t generate more goals, we might have to focus more attention on Everton or Newcastle’s ambitions.
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