My SBOTOP pal James says the Premier League is more entertaining than your best box set and, as usual, he’s bang on the money as the action last weekend showed so vividly.
During 24 hours of full on action Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal scored twice in injury time to take three vital points home from Villa Park; and then Manchester City handed two points over to relegation candidates Nottingham Forest. And that means the Gunners are back on top of the league, for now.
There were some spectacular results at the other end of the table too, added pressure to a high profile manager and some poor refereeing which has resulted in some fall out since the weekend.
But briefly back to the action and Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa looked highly unlikely as they entered second half extra time and, if anything, it looked like the Villains would go on and win the game as Leon Bailey saw a thunderbolt tipped onto the crossbar and fellow striker Jhon Duran forced another good save from Aaron Ramsdale. Then the Gunners had an outrageous piece of luck when Jorginho’s shot hit the bar and bounced off Emi Martinez’ head and into the net. And the Gunners’ perfect day was complete when Gabriel Martinelli scored with a breakaway goal at the death.
When Bernardo Silva scored a brilliant solo goal before the break everyone (outside of Nottingham) fully expected Manchester City to wipe Forest away in the second half and with 73 per cent possession and 23 shots (six on target) to four, the Sky Blues should have been out of sight. But Forest’s new signing Chris Wood snatched a point with the hosts’ only effort on target.
The very latest Premier League 2023 betting odds here at SBOTOP have the title race on a knife edge with Manchester City the marginal favourites at 1.95 while Arsenal are priced at 2.05. If the games had been ten minutes shorter the Sky Blues would be top by two points instead of behind by that margin.
At the other end of the table you have to feel for Leeds United, who lost to Everton on a day when all three of the teams which began the weekend in the relegation zone won. The biggest surprise came at Stamford Bridge where bottom club Southampton won, leaving Chelsea’s owner Todd Boehly with a headache…
Potter under Pressure
Just one win in ten games, in all competitions, is a terrible return for any club; and for one which has spent more than £400m on players this season it is mind boggling. But that is the position Chelsea are in as they sit tenth in the table, ten points behind fifth placed Newcastle United and even four behind their humble neighbours Brentford in ninth.
Under previous owner Roman Abramovich Chelsea was a sacking club and, indeed, Boehly potted Thomas Tuchel after a poor start to the campaign. But what would pulling the trigger again achieve, with the Blues almost out of the top four race? Potter succeeded at Brighton and Hove Albion but it took him time to mould the team as he wanted, and he is clearly a talented coach with a group of new players still settling in.
I think he’ll be given time to sort things out, but Potter won’t feel comfortable if he suffers many more weekends like the one just gone. A trademark free-kick from James Ward- Prowse won the game for the managerless Saints and it was no more than the basement club deserved, matching Chelsea’s five shots on target.
The Blues must do better…and soon.
VAR in the dock
Last week VAR official Lee Mason left PGMOL, the referees’ organisation, after another shambolic weekend, the highlight being his admission that he forgot to draw the offside lines for Ivan Toney’s equaliser against Arsenal. Mason didn’t actually need to draw the line to spot, as everyone in the ground had, that Christian Norgaard was a mile offside.
This weekend referee Stuart Attwell was in the spotlight after he, and then VAR, missed one of the worst fouls you are likely to see when he was ‘in charge’ of Manchester United’s match with Leicester City. Here in England we like a tough challenge but Marcel Sabitzer’s attack on Leicester’s Wout Faes was truly horrific, as the latest Red Devil clattered in to the defender with his studs up. It was as clear a red card as you are likely to see but Sabitzer was not even cautioned.
If Attwell takes a look at the Premier League 2023 highlights from the weekend again, he might well change his mind. But Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers would have preferred the VAR team to have spotted the ‘clear and obvious error’.
Having watched my team, Burnley, in the Championship this season I haven’t missed VAR one bit…I’d say no-one at Turf Moor has, even though we would probably have won a few more penalties!
The use of this technology is a mess, it is losing credibility week after week and it needs to improve.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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