Premier League Analysis - 31/03/08

Birmingham 3 Man City 1

All hail the “Zarate Kid“! With McFadden out (could be back for the Everton game on April 12th) injured the Argentine is an in form striker who’ll definitely start and he’s only £2 million. Sign him up! Birmingham have scored in their last eight league games - only Man Utd can match that.

City were very poor and even Sven looked angry at the end. Jihai came in for Corluka and Johnson did not make the squad. Elano (scored the pen) and Vasell supported Benjani in attack.

Bolton 2 Arsenal 3

A confidence sapping defeat for the Trotters who led 2-0. Matt Taylor showed he’s always good for some YTM points and as a defender playing in midfield he’s one for the short list. Although with three of their next four games away Boltons’ survival task looks increasingly uphill.

A fantastic comeback for Arsenal’s first win in six. Adebayor and Walcott coming on made the difference and Van Persie looks well on the road to full fitness. Fabregas the “KC King” now has 17 that’s six better than next best midfielder Gerrard on 11. Gallas bagged his fourth goal of the season.

Derby 2 Fulham 2

Thank you and good night.

And Fulham probably won’t be too far behind.

Man Utd 4 Aston Villa 0

Too easy. Van der Sar rested a troublesome groin, the defence remained intact, whilst Carrick, Giggs, Scholes and Ronaldo were the chosen midfielders with Tevez returning to partner [tga]Rooney[/tag]. Ronaldo moved 81 points clear of his closest rival (Gerrard) in the YTM charts. He doubled his KC tally for the season to 6.

Villa have now gone 18 league games without a clean sheet which is the club’s worst ever run in the Premier League. They have Bolton, Derby and Birmingham nect so things could improve although Carew was subbed on 40 minutes with an injury.

Portsmouth 2 Wigan 0

Check last week’s analysis for my “Defoe Alert“. He’s a home banker who has scored in every game he’s played at Fratton Park and now has seven in six games. This was the first time in the Premier League that they have won four home games in a row. Remaining fixtures look appealing. Hreidarsson and Utaka were both subbed having picked up knocks.

Having notched up four clean sheets in a row Wigan have now conceded five in two games. Heskey and Bent started with King coming on from the bench. Massive home game with Birmingham is next.

Reading 0 Blackburn 0

Reading managed just one shot on target but having gone to ten men (Matejovsky two yellow’s) they did well to survive the last 15 minutes. That’s a third clean sheet in five games for the Royals who are looking fine for survival. Newcastle away (expect some goals) and Fulham at home next which should see some more points on the board.

Only three goals in five away league games for Blackburn who seem to have run out of steam. Roberts was again preferred to McCarthy but surely that will change soon. Hughes cautiously waited until the 82nd minute before making a change.

Sunderland 2 West Ham 1

Sunderland scored their seventh 90th minute goal of the season. The Roy Keane fitness regime (bootcamp?) obviously works. Kenwyne Jones at last broke a barren spell stretching 10 games and with Fulham the next game he could well go a nice little run.

Freddie Ljungberg scored but then pulled up with a hamstring injury against Sunderland - a familiar problem for the Swede that is likely to see him miss a few games. The Hammers finished the game with 10 men as McCartney, Paintsil and Cole had already picked up knocks.

Chelsea 1 Middlesbrough 0

Despite going 79 leagues games at Stamford Bridge without defeat this was a struggle for Chelsea who missed Lampard (illness). Terry passed a fitness test to play with Belletti and Bridge the chosen full backs. Drogba started with Anelka on the bench. Salamon Kalou doesn’t get any headlines but six goals and 11 KC’s is a decent return for £5 million.

Alves came on and struck the woodwork twice. He hasn’t scored in five Premier League appearances but there are signs that he is settling in.

Liverpool 1 Everton 0

19 home league goals now for El Nino, 15 of which have been at the Kop end. He’s now level on 140 YTM points with Adebayor. Not bad for a debut season. Skrtel has five clean sheets in eight starts and looks to have cemeted his starting XI place very quickly. He also looks a likely scorer from set-pieces. Hyypia partnerd the Slovak with Carragher shifting to right back and Lucas coming in for Mascherano.

Two goals in the last four and three games without a win for the Toffees who miss Cahill going forward. They have Derby at home next so keep faith with The Yak - he’s getting hungry again.

Tottenham 1 Newcastle 4

Not many saw this one coming. Spurs conceded four goals at White Hart Lane for the fourth time this season. Ramos tried to accommodate the form of Bent but by going three up front but it unbalanced the team and Berbatov had to drop deep making him ineffective. I can’t see Juande making the same mistake again.

At last the Keegan effect kicks in. Although Owen played at the head of a midfield diamond it didn’t stop him scoring for the third game in a  row. Martins and Viduka looked menacing ahead of him. Geremi has notched up 15 points in his last two games and represents decent value at £4 million.

Just six games to go now and only one Manager of the Month £10,000 to go for - get your teams (50 % off and free transfers) in by Saturday.

Cheers,
Tom

Tags (click to view more!): McFadden, Man Utd, Adebayor, Walcott, Van Persie, Giggs, Scholes, Ronaldo, Lampard, Terry, Drogba, Anelka, El Nino, Adebayor