Monday Morning Premier League Analysis

Birmingham 1 Reading 1

Kapo was dropped from the 16 as McLeish appears to be favouring the hard workers over the creative talents. Forssell started with Jerome up front whilst McSheffrey played on the left. Birmingham’s next three games (Bolton away and Boro and Fulham at home) all look winnable. Ridgewell picked up his fifth booking of the season.

Designated penalty taker Hunt scored his second spot kick and fourth goal of the season. He’s averaging 3.7 points a game and with 63 points in total he’s the bargain (£3.5m) midfielder to have. Gunnarsson got injured and was replaced in the 28th minute.

Derby 0 Middlesbrough 1

Derby are six points adrift and are only heading in one direction.

Third goal in three games for Tuncay who is starting to look a decent prospect. Downing is proving a reliable points getter. He supplied the cross and and is now up to ninth in the midfielder list with 61 points. Schwarzer returned from injury to replace Turnbull in goal.

Fulham 0 Newcastle 1

Healy was recalled to partner Dempsey. Kuqi dropped whilst Kamara (surely their best bet?) was suspended. Bocanegra bizarrely preferred to Konchesky at left back. Six-pointer at the Cottage on Saturday against an in-form (?) Wigan.

Cacapa came in for the injured Taylor (hamstring). Barton took and scored the 90th minute penalty. They’ll miss Obafemi’s pace up front in January and will be desperate for Owen’s speedy return. With Derby (home) and Wigan (away) next up the recovery should continue.

Manchester City 4 Bolton 2

Elano failed a fitness test so Fernandes kept his place. Ball was selected ahead of Garrido at left back, although the Spaniard came on for Petrov and got the KC for the final goal. Two in two for Bianchi who was ably supported by Darius Vassell.

Nolan’s decent form continues and with Bolton’s next five games looking OK expect him and Anelka to get some more points on the board. Michalik played ahead of O’Brien at centre back.

Portsmouth 0 Tottenham 1

Pompey have failed to score in five of their last six games at Fratton Park. Benjani has now gone five games without a goal. Pamarot picked up a knock and was replaced by Hreidarsson on 74 minutes. African Cup of Nations is looming ever larger for Harry’s men.

Back to back league wins for Spurs for the first time since May. Who needs Robbie Keane? Our top tip Berbatov is moving up through the gears now. Dawson missed out due a last minute illness and Bent got the nod over Defoe despite Jermain’s brace against City.

Sunderland 1 Aston Villa 1

Roy Keane was left fuming after a late winner was harshly ruled out. Stokes partnered Jones in attack who has now gone six games without hitting the back of the net. Gordon still bench warming.

Martin O’Neill is one of the more predictable Premier League managers and once again they were unchanged from the side that lost to Portsmouth. Maloney came on to score an excellent free kick and salvage the points. A front three of Agbonlahor, Carew and Young is hardly prolific.

West Ham 0 Everton 2

Carlton Cole passed a fitness test but only made it to half time. Camara was his replacement. Ashton played the full 90 minutes. Solano returned after being cup-tied and Ljungberg kept his place ahead of Boa Morte who was not even on the bench.

The Yak is not going hungry. That’s eight goals in his last seven Premier League games. Jagielka partnered Yobo with Lescott at left back. Johnson came on for the last three minutes and sealed the win. Everton are flying up the table and should give United a decent game at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Wigan 5 Blackburn 3

Gemma Atkinson’s return from the jungle seems to have done the trick for ending Marcus Bent’s barren run of scoring. Brown and Taylor came in for the out of favour Granqvist and Koumas with Scharner dropping back into defence. Heskey got injured again and based on recent history will be sorely missed.

Emerton’s dismissal was Rovers’ fifth red card of the season. Samba picked up his fifth booking and will miss the Chelsea game. McCarthy missed a penalty. Blackburn have hit the wall but at least Santa Cruz is firing again. His seven goals, five KC’s and 68 points make him the number one striker in the game and the sixth highest scorer overall.

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0

Fabregas, Flamini and Hleb all returned to great effect. RVP played the last 20 minutes having replaced Eboue (nasty looking knee ligament strain). Third goal of the season for captain Gallas. Only Arsenal’s second clean sheet in the last eight Premier League games.

Belletti dropped for Ferreira. Lampard with just one goal and one KC in five looks to be missing Drogba. I’m going to hold on to him for now although I’m tempted to tinker. Terry hobbled off before half time and although there is no break there could be ligament damage. If he is out for a while Alex will be the chief beneficiary.

Liverpool 0 Man Utd 1

An unchanged 11 for Rafa but they lacked a cutting edge against the quality of Ferdinand and Vidic. Liverpool’s last five home defeats have been to Man Utd or Chelsea. Babel looked good when he came on and is a quality prospect. Alonso could feature in the Carling Cup semi.

A predictable line-up from Sir Alex with Hargreaves preferred to Carrick and Brown continuing at right back. Tevez is only two points behind Santa Cruz at the top of the striker charts. He’s got seven goals and three KC’s in 16 starts. With other teams suffering injuries and African Cup of Nations absenteeism the momentum is moving towards United.

That’s it for today. Enjoy the run-up to Xmas and good luck with any transfers.

Cheers,
Tom