What a week for football, chaos has erupted all over our nation of soccer and we are absolutely loving it. The spawn of this years season kicked off last weekend with some spectacular matches stealing the headlines not forgetting to mention the rise of a few, clear new clubs to look out for in the coming year. Newcastle, Palace and Southampton certainly gave off promising signs which is stunning seeing with the state these clubs have showcased in previous years and even bouncing back from selling out in this summer window. All football aside, my favourite trend of the week has to be the ALS ice bucket challenge; so simple but what entertainment. We've seen heroes from Sky Sports' Jim White to all time great David Beckham being nominated and drenched in ice water all in the name of raising money for charity; one word, brilliant. Talking transfers and its all getting rather warm towards the end of the market, with little under two weeks to go the premier league totaliser has already smashed last years transfer millions and it definitely isn't going to hold up. After last weeks shenanigans Manchester United surely looked as though they needed to tighten up the back line so the signing of the Argentinian Rojo should help them severely, then you have Liverpool. The red side of the Mersey have added depth to their squad this summer but are still needing to fill that hole up top left by Suarez. Will the deal with Balotelli go through? and can the Italian Stallion do the business for Brendan Rodgers?.
Punting in on Saturday's lunchtime crunch time, we have a game where Paul Lambert's Villa welcomes in the Toon Army for a match that won't be short of picturesque highlights. Newcastle put up a prominent, brave battle last weekend against the champions but unfortunately they didn't quite have enough to stop them sneaking through although this being said it genuinely seemed as though they've made signings of the summer in Cabella and Riviere. Villa on the other end, pulled through and snuck in a one goal win against a, normally solid, Stoke side. All in all these two are full of confidence, which is enough fuel for another top flight cracker but after last weeks flip turn performance Newcastle are undoubtably a new team giving them the advantage. The next highlight on another beautiful soccer Saturday is Chelsea's luck of the draw being against another newly promoted side in Leicester. Monday night was the birth of the Blues title bid and the Londoners were gifted a premier league opener against Burnley which they bossed 3-1. Diego Costa bagged then and now he has the chance to do it again but this time on home turf; surely everyone is going with a Chelsea win over Leicester here? unless the midlands men can cause a London a tear jerking upset. Finally the last of Saturday's fixtures is a spicy encounter between Everton and Arsenal. It was all so close, but yet so far for the Toffees last Saturday as they only managed to reel in a draw against newbies Leicester and Arsenal didn't look too much to write home about either. Wenger forgot to park his Wenger bus leading to Crystal Palace snatching the lead but lucky for the Londoners they managed to pull the game back and take all three, valuable points. A toughie to call but I'm going with an away win purely because Everton don't seem a shadow of there previous selves.
Super Sunday is treating us hardworking football lovers to three fixtures for our long bank holiday weekend and they'll certainly be appreciated. Only one of the three catch my beady eye however and that is the four o'clock kick off where Sunderland host Manchester United. Louis Van Gaal took a massive shock to the system at the hands of Swansea in the week previous and to be honest he's toned down a lot since reality has hit home. It's clear to see that he definitely wasn't expecting that start and now has to prove his mustard otherwise he'll be getting a one way ticket down Moyse Street. Unquestionably the Manchester men needed to buckle up and buy some players and with Rojo now touching down at Old Trafford they may just have that extra strength they need. Take nothing away from Sunderland but it would seem Manchester United already have something to prove so I'm expecting a serious romping; easy away here.
Where do I begin here? the second monday night football of the year and already we have a fixture such as Man City and Liverpool to feast our eyes upon. I can't hide my excitement for this, my blood is pumping, my reminder is set, I'm just like a fat kid at a buffet. Last years first place and second place are locking horns in what will be one of the games of the season, who knows, it may even decide the title so early on as now. Imagine if Balotelli were to sign in time for this one? The big, bad Mario, returning to the Eithad only to don a Liverpool jersey and leaving his old captain stuck in the grass; you can just picture it now and can see the papers racking up the headlines. Back to reality and these titans are going to go at it no holds barred, Man City so superbly strong in defence with the ability to turn nothing into a goal face the pass masters and speed in Liverpool squad. It's the new SAS versus Kompany and Co. and both teams are truly going to be battling for the title; buckle up because this ones going to heart pounding. Final result... Liverpool win.
WEEKEND PREDICTIONS:
Saturday 23rd August...
Aston Villa 1-2 Newcastle
Chelsea 3 -1 Leicester
Crystal Palace 1-0 West Ham
Southampton 2-1 West Brom
Swansea 1-1 Burnley
Everton 0-2 Arsenal
Sunday 24th August...
Hull City 0-0 Stoke City
Tottenham 1-0 QPR
Sunderland 1-3 Manchester United
Monday 25th August...
Man City 1-2 Liverpool
WORTH A PUNT:
Liverpool to beat Man City 2-1, 12/1...
The new big spenders are in town and they are seeking a revenge on last years title robbery. Oh, so sore, the agony has been left and the wounds of every man associated with Liverpool football club have freshly healed meaning they are ready for war once again. On Monday night the mighty reds keep the revival up and travel to the Etihad in search of the victory that can prove they are the better team. It's undeniable Man City won't just roll over but I feel the passion steaming in from Anfield can knock City for six, giving them the all in important three points. Rodgers and his boys are steaming off the back of a win and I'm expecting another, 2-1, have a bang on that and settle yourself a couple of extra quid for a few bank holiday beverages.
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