Newcastle United close in on the top four

A solitary second half goal from Bruno Guimaraes was enough for Newcastle United to see off West Ham United at the London Stadium and collect all 3 points which move them up to 6th place, level on points with Manchester City in 5th, 2 points off 4th place and well positioned for the run in. The Irons remain 16th.

Do the top sides get more decisions in their favour?

That is an age old question posed by fans up and down the country on a regular basis. It certainly seems so at times although all fans tend to remember the incidents that went against them more than those where they got lucky. I am no different and certainly have a convenient blind spot when my side gets the rub of the green from referees or linesmen.

One thing I do not agree with though is the other old saying that it balances out across a season. That clearly is not the case. Maybe over a good many seasons but not over just one. Struggling sides do seem to get on the wrong end of duff decisions more than sides that are having a successful season. Certainly this weekend gave us a good example where champions elect Liverpool (ridiculous to say in early March but there you go) overcame bottom club Southampton 3-1 at Anfield after going into the half-time break 1-0 behind. At the end of the first half Reds striker Darwin Nunez somehow only saw a yellow card after kicking out wildly at Saints defender Kyle Walker-Peters. It was a petulant act and should have been a straight red card. Of course, Nunez inevitably scored the equaliser before collapsing dramatically in the penalty area which resulted in the home side being awarded a penalty from which they went 2-1 ahead. Calling it “soft” was being kind. It was simulation and deserved a second yellow that would also have seen the Uruguayan forced to take the proverbial early bath. At the end of the day the result will make little difference for either club this season. Liverpool will still go on to win the title even had they lost on Saturday and Southampton will still get relegated even with the 3 points but it was a good example of how little goes the way of struggling sides, with the converse being true.

Blatant errors also come into play of course. Mikel Arteta was once again unhappy yesterday after his Arsenal side dropped more points after being held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United at OT. The home side took the lead just before the break from an excellently executed free-kick from Bruno Fernandes but when seeing it on replay the ball did not find the top corner, it was really quite central. It seemed clear that Gunners ‘keeper David Raya got his angles wrong and was standing bizarrely too far across his goal line leaving too much to do to reach Fernandes’ shot. Arteta claimed that Fernandes moved the ball back from the original spot of the offence and thus that wall was further away than it should have been but even then Raya’s positioning still looked wrong. Arsenal did manage to earn a point with Declan Rice stroking home with 15 minutes remaining but neither side could force a winner. The result keeps Arsenal in 2nd place but now 15 points behind Liverpool. Manchester United sit 14th.

Nottingham Forest carry on going, this time seeing off out-going champions Manchester City 1-0 at the City Ground. It is an extraordinary season for the Tricky Trees with the prospect of playing CL football next season, the first time since the 1980/81 season, very real. They kept City at arms length and, although I suspect they would have been happy with a goalless draw, scored late on the take all 3 points to remain 3rd and increase the gap to 6th place to 5 points (assuming England will get 5 CL entrants next season). City drop to 5th but remain hot favourites to finish in the top 5 despite another disjointed performance in an unexpectedly below par season.

Chelsea regained 4th spot from City after narrowly seeing off relegation threatened Leicester City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. It was the first time since before Christmas that the Blues recorded back-to-back victories in the PL but both were against the bottom two sides in the division and both at home. They still do not look very convincing and are in dire need of a return to fitness of striker Nicholas Jackson which may prove a catalyst for Cole Palmer to return to form after he continues to struggle, even failing to convert a penalty for the first time in his professional career. Without those two getting the goals flowing again at Chelsea it is difficult to see them keeping hold of that 4th place. Or even 5th. As for Leicester, they changed formation and did look more solid at the back. If they can eek out some clean sheets and record a couple of 1-0 wins then they may yet have a chance at survival but their upcoming fixtures look tough. It may be too late for that change to have a significant impact.

Brighton & Hove Albion lost 7-0 at Nottingham Forest on February 1st. Since then they have recorded 6 consecutive wins, 4 in the PL and 2 in the FA Cup to reach the Quarter Final stage. Quite a response. Their latest victory was a 2-1 defeat of Fulham at the Amex Stadium, recovering from falling behind late in the first half. The winner came deep into stoppage time at the end of the match from the penalty spot after another softish decision. Definite contact with Joao Pedro but he was clearly playing for it. And duly got it! He recovered sufficiently to stroke home the spot kick to move his club up to 6th, just 1 point off Manchester City in 5th. Fulham are 5 points off City but not out of the fight for European qualification yet despite the reverse.

Aston Villa are still blowing hot and cold. Hot this weekend as they narrowly saw off Brentford 1-0 at the GTech Community Stadium, Ollie Watkins inevitably scoring the only goal against his former club. The Bees will probably feel they deserved a point and they created a number of presentable chances to get on the scoresheet themselves but failed to convert any as they continued a miserable run at home, Saturday’s loss making it 6 defeats and 2 draws from their past 8 home fixtures. It sees them drop to 12th and likely too far back now to challenge for a European spot. Not so Villa who are up to 7th place and in contention.

AFC Bournemouth will be kicking themselves this morning after letting hosts Tottenham Hotspur back into their match yesterday. The Cherries dominated the first hour and established a 2 goal lead but after a fortuitous goal from Pape Sarr in the 67th minute, when his intended cross sailed into the top corner of Bournemouth’s net, Spurs rallied and equalised from the penalty spot late on through Son Heung-Min after Cherries ‘keeper Kepa had taken out the Spurs skipper with a rash challenge that has often typified his career. It was an ugly old penalty kick but with Kepa diving to his left, Son was able to dribble the ball centrally to earn his side a point. It leaves Bournemouth in 8th place although they are still only 3 points off 5th. Tottenham stay 13th.

Crystal Palace are currently one of the form sides in the PL with their 1-0 win at home to struggling Ipswich Town making it 4 wins from the past 5 PL matches, a run that sees them up to 11th in the table and on the very periphery of the fight for European qualification. Unthinkable early in the season when they languished in the bottom three. They finished last season very strongly and look to be doing so again this time around. The Tractor Boys, however, have now lost 7 and drawn 1 of their last 8 PL matches with time beginning to run out for them to close the gap to safety, currently standing at 6 points. They also have a significantly worse goal difference which may yet prove crucial as they look to catch up with and overtake Wolverhampton Wanderers who continue to tiptoe towards safety. They picked up another valuable point in a 1-1 draw at home to Everton at Molineux. Interestingly though, they do still have to play each of the bottom three this season. The outcome of those matches will be crucial for all involved although it does still look highly likely that the current bottom three will be the ones to make the drop.

Premier League Prediction Competition 2024-25 – Session 6, Week 5 (of 5)

Newcastle’s win was just what John was after and it duly gave him the Session 6 title and top prize. That without having a POTW in the session either. Congratulations to John. Nick was 1 point ahead of Stefan before Monday night’s match. Both predicted a draw but Stefan’s 2-2 prediction scored -1 point whereas Nick’s 1-1 prediction scored zero. Therefore, Nick takes the runners up prize with Stefan being the unlucky person to miss out. He did claim one of the POTWs in the session though so has free entry to Session 7 alongside Martin.

Just one match remaining in Session 6 but 3 people can still take the session title. John leads with 159 points with Nick second on 158 and Stefan third on 157. A Newcastle United victory tonight at West Ham United will see John triumph. A 2-2 draw will see Stefan take the session with any other draw seeing Nick take the top prize. A West Ham win complicates things further with the number of goals scored by both teams determining the winner. We may even have a tie.

Exciting stuff.

Prizes are very modest currently due to modest entry. If anyone has friends, family, work colleagues etc… who may be interested in taking part, please pass on an invitation to them. More competitors means bigger prizes.

PLEASE INVITE ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN TAKING PART.

CONTACT ME AT… contact.sytykf@gmail.com

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