Managers often point to midweek action in European competitions taking its toll on their players when they’re thrust back into EPL action and this week is a perfect example, writes GARY LEMKE.
On Tuesday, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham all featured in Champions League action. This weekend United come up against Everton on Sunday (five days rest after their Champions League game), while City and Tottenham square off on Monday (six days rest for City, five days for Tottenham).
On Wednesday, Liverpool played Red Star Belgrade and they meet Cardiff on Saturday (three days rest), while Arsenal and Chelsea were in Europa League action on Thursday and play their league games on Sunday (three days rest).
Quite clearly, the two Manchester clubs and Tottenham have been better treated by the fixtures committee than Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have, getting between 48 and 72 hours more rest between games.
Luckily, on paper at least, Liverpool (home to Cardiff), Arsenal (away to Crystal Palace) and Chelsea (away to Burnley) don’t have the most difficult matches on paper, but don’t rule out there being an upset, given the spacing between the matches.
At the top, City and Liverpool are both unbeaten – as are Chelsea – as they set a furious pace a quarter of the way through the season. City travel to London to take on Tottenham and, as has been apparent from the first match, the champions look to be one of the most powerful outfits in Europe.
They already have a goal difference of 23 and have conceded only three goals in nine matches, while scoring 26, which is as close to an average of three per game as it gets. Liverpool too have been miserly, also conceding only three times, and Jurgen Klopp’s decision to strengthen his defence has proved a masterstroke.
Chelsea, unbeaten as well, have had their league run stalled recently with draws against West Ham, Liverpool and Man United, but their big problem is up front with strikers Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud shooting blanks, and the goals coming mainly from midfield. This will cost them dearly in their chase for title honours.
The big one this round is City’s visit to Tottenham and everyone except City’s supporters will be hoping that Spurs do the entire league a favour and stop the juggernaut. It’s a tough ask and I’m expecting the visitors to come away from Wembley with all three points.
Last week’s fixtures threw up plenty of upsets, with the average Superbru return being 5/10. This week the trickier encounters are Brighton vs Wolves, Fulham vs Bournemouth, Southampton vs Newcastle and I reckon that Superbru players who get 7/10 will rise up the rankings quite nicely.
As always, the three points awarded for a correct score are crucial and I haven’t managed to take advantage of this and have a low exact score return, which has cost me. But, there are still 27 rounds – that’s 270 matches, with a potential 810 points at stake – so it’s way too soon to panic.
You will see by the scorelines so far this season a pattern to the league. Interestingly, the most popular draw has been 0-0, where most players probably go for the 1-1 when opting for the draw. With three points on offer for an exact score, those who have been most daring and gone for the goalless option will be profiting.
17 times: 2-1, 2-0
10 times: 1-0
7 times: 0-0, 3-1
6 times: 1-1, 3-0
5 times: 2-2
4 times: 3-2
3 times: 4-0, 4-2
2 times: 5-0
1 time: 4-1, 5-1, 6-1
Here are the SportsClub team’s predictions for this week’s round of fixtures.
Brighton vs Wolves
Gary Lemke (50/90): 1-1
Juandre Joubert (49/90): 1-2
Wade Pretorius (48/90): 2-2
Dean Workman (48/90): 2-1
Marshall Gouts (47/90): 1-2
Fulham vs Bournemouth
Gary Lemke: 2-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 0-1
Dean Workman: 2-2
Marshall Gouts: 1-1
Liverpool vs Cardiff
Gary Lemke: 3-0
Juandre Joubert: 2-0
Wade Pretorius: 4-0
Dean Workman: 5-0
Marshall Gouts: 2-0
Southampton vs Newcastle
Gary Lemke: 1-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 1-0
Dean Workman: 2-1
Marshall Gouts: 1-1
Watford vs Huddersfield
Gary Lemke: 2-1
Juandre Joubert: 2-0
Wade Pretorius: 3-1
Dean Workman: 2-1
Marshall Gouts: 1-0
Leicester vs West Ham
Gary Lemke: 2-1
Juandre Joubert: 1-1
Wade Pretorius: 2-0
Dean Workman: 2-0
Marshall Gouts: 1-0
Burnley vs Chelsea
Gary Lemke: 1-2
Juandre Joubert: 1-2
Wade Pretorius: 1-2
Dean Workman: 1-2
Marshall Gouts: 0-2
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal
Gary Lemke: 1-2
Juandre Joubert: 1-2
Wade Pretorius: 1-2
Dean Workman: 1-4
Marshall Gouts: 1-3
Man United vs Everton
Gary Lemke: 2-0
Juandre Joubert: 2-1
Wade Pretorius: 2-0
Dean Workman: 2-0
Marshall Gouts: 2-0
Tottenham vs Man City
Gary Lemke: 1-2
Juandre Joubert: 1-2
Wade Pretorius: 2-2
Dean Workman: 1-2
Marshall Gouts: 2-2
Lemke is the 2017-18 EPL Superbru Global champion
