Barrie's View

Spot the odd one out… Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Fernando Torres, Zinedine Zindane, Luis Figo, Hernan Crespo, Andy Carroll.

Only one of those has never played in a World Cup or even scored an international goal. In fact, Andy Carroll only has 72 minutes of international football experience under his belt, that being in a friendly versus France in November 2010. Andy Carroll has yet to taste Champions League or Europa League action, although he is likely to play in the latter with Liverpool still in the competition.

The list I started this blog off with is of the eight most-expensive transfers of all time after Andy Carroll became the third-highest English transfer record fee today when Liverpool splashed out £35,000,000 on the Newcastle number 9. Carlos Tevez’s record was broken today with the sale of Fernando Torres from Liverpool to Chelsea for £50,000,000.

Andy Carroll’s Record

With only 33 Premier League games under his belt (14 goals), it can be deemed somewhat of a panic buy from Liverpool, despite the sale of Torres. While he is still young and with bags of potential, the amount of pressure on his shoulders will be enormous given the poor league position Liverpool find themselves in. Without putting pressure on him myself, Juan Sebastian Veron, Andriy Shevchenko and Robinho all went for similar fees to the Premier League and failed to make an impact. However, I am confident Carroll will fair better!

Worth more than David Villa?

It was only last summer that proven regular goalscorer, Euro 2008 and joint World Cup 2010 Golden Boot winner David Villa moved to Barcelona for £33,000,000. Villa has scored 14 goals in 20 La Liga starts so far this season, Barcelona winning 19 of those games. I’m wondering if Liverpool will need to also bring in Joey Barton from Newcastle, given he has been the provider of 5 of Carroll’s 11 league goals so far this season.

Charlie Adam only 1/9th as good?

This transfer may infuriate Ian Holloway, given Liverpool initially bid just £4,000,000 for his star player, Charlie Adam.

How does this compare to Arsene Wenger?

Arsenal paid less for Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Marouane Chamakh, Alex Song, Samir Nasri and even Theo Walcott combined!

Liverpool on the up?

Still, Liverpool are moving in the right direction. I believe the money they got for Fernando Torres was a great deal. Regardless of his capabilities of being one of the best players in the world on his day, he has been too injury prone in recent seasons and has seemingly grown frustrated (and argumentative) up front. Chelsea host Liverpool this Sunday, February 6th.

In saying Liverpool are moving in the right direction, they also completed the transfer of Luis Suarez from Ajax today. A good replacement for Torres in the number of free kicks he is capable of winning from diving. In fact, I’d expect him to top the table in that statistic by the end of the season, even if the rest of the league has a half season head start.

Luis Suarez: Talented

A fiery player, Luis Suarez shone at the last World Cup, scoring 3 goals in the World Cup, including the winners versus Mexico and South Korea. He will be remembered most in that tournament for his goal line handball against Ghana in the quarter final that ultimately cost Ghana becoming the first African nation to qualify for the last four (with help from Asamoah Gyan’s missed penalty). A great set piece taker, who is talented in possession of the ball. He scored 35 league goals last season in the run up to the World Cup. I guess that means he’s following in the footsteps of two former Premier League flops; Mateja Kezman and Afonso Alves. I am excited to see Suarez arrive in the Premier League, even though I know his diving will frustrate me. And let’s hope there’s no more biting…

Following their surprise 1-0 defeat at Portman Road in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi final match with Ipswich Town, Arsenal are 4/7 to win this seasons competition.

The second leg of this tie will be played this evening, with Arsenal 1/7 favourites to win the match in 90 minutes. No value their. With an FA Cup tie at home to Huddersfield Town this weekend, Arsene Wenger could give a few more regular starters a place in this evening’s lineup to ensure his side go through.

In the first leg at Portman Road, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Andrey Arshavin all started in a game the Premier League side failed to score against the then-managerless Tractor Boys.

In my opinion, Ipswich Town made a bad choice in replacing Roy Keane with Paul Jewell, despite their 3-2 home victory over Doncaster Rovers on Saturday. In his last managerial job at Derby County, Jewell appeared not to know who is strongest 11 was, sapped any motivation out of the players and failed to register many victories during his year-long stay with the Midlands club. Sitting 19th and 5 points above the drop zone, Ipswich Town are 7/1 to be relegated this season. Even with Paul Jewell in charge, I think the likes of Preston North End, Scunthorpe and Crystal Palace may all be too weak to overtake the side and therefore prevent them from being relegated this season.

Arsenal should have no problems beating the bottom half Championship side at the Emirates. Odds of 1/2 for Arsenal to win by 2 or more may appeal to some.

In the other Carling Cup semi final, West Ham take a 2-1 lead with them to St Andrews when they face Birmingham City on Wednesday. Carlton Cole’s fortunate goal won the game for 10-man West Ham at Upton Park. The Hammers go into this match without the suspended Frederic Piquionne after he celebrated his late goal versus Everton at the weekend.

Whomever qualifies between those sides, Arsenal will be heavy favourites to win the Carling Cup on the day, making these current odds of 4/7 to lift the trophy respectable.

Things didn’t appear to be going too well for Manchester City when they lost 2-1 at home to out-of-form Everton on December 20th. Camp unrest and Roberto Mancini’s future was in doubt. The thoughts of buying the Premier League title looked like a dream back then.

5 Premier League games and 13 points later, everything is under control at Manchester City. Mario Balotelli is sidelined with injury, Roque Santa Cruz is out on loan, Shaun Wright-Phillips is expected to be sold this month and arriving at Manchester City is the highly-rated Edin Dzeko. Roberto Mancini’s future hasn’t been questioned recently and recently he has taken the more positive approach of playing 2 strikers.  As recent as their last Premier League match, which rewarded the home faithful with an exciting 4-3 victory over Wolves. Manchester City go into this weekend’s fixtures level on points with rivals Manchester United atop of the Premier League.

A solid defence could be thanked for a lot of points they’ve picked up in recent games. It started with a 3-1 victory at an unimpressive Newcastle side; Carlos Tevez scored twice. The game was over after he made the score 2-0 after just 5 minutes. That was followed up with 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa that included a Mario Balotelli hat trick – 2 penalties and an open goal tap in. There was not much conviction in the 1-0 home victory versus Blackpool that followed, but 3 points is 3 points and they’ve done that in both games against Ian Holloway’s surprise package in their debut Premier League season.  The 4-5-1 formation was working a treat during a successful run of games.

Sticking 10 men behind the ball at the Emirates saw Manchester City pick up a vital point against fellow title contenders Arsenal in what was a very frustrating game to watch as a spectator. Since then, Manchester City have seemingly forgot how to defend, drawing 2-2 at Leicester City in the FA Cup, before beating them 4-2 on Tuesday in the replay. In between those games with the Championship side came their 4-3 beating of Wolves that saw them temporarily top the league table.

Manchester City travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend. I expect them to pick up 3 points against a bottom 4 side that should be lifted with the arrival of Darren Bent. Roberto Mancini should be looking to play similar tactics to those that worked versus Wolves, whereby playing Carlos Tevez behind Edin Dzeko. The two-headed attack should see them put goals past a woeful Aston Villa defence on way to simply outscoring their opposition if Darren Bent, Ashley Young and co show up.

It’s around Christmas time and the new year that we expect the real title contenders to show up. Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City have not disappointed. Chelsea have fallen out of the race, but this remains a very competitive chase. Having played 2 games more than the leaders is a disadvantage. Their poor form in late October and throughout November may be their ultimate downfall.

Arsenal certainly have the more preferable run-in of the 3 leaders, but with Manchester City’s large squad that will likely see a lot of squad rotation for their Europa League campaign they should have less worries than United about fatigue and too many big fixtures in a short period of time, down the line.

Carlos Tevez has certainly been Manchester City’s key player this season. Provided Edin Dzeko settles in quickly and the two get along, there’s every reason to assume Manchester City will stay in this title race. However, it will come down to the big games, and it’s only Chelsea out of the top 5 that they have had the better of. They failed to score against Arsenal, picking up 1 points in their two games. They were also head 0-0 at home to Manchester United earlier this season, and the same scoreline at Tottenham on the opening day.

For my preview on this weekend’s Aston Villa-Manchester City fixture, please read my weekly Premier League tips column. Manchester City are currently 13/2 third favourites and in need of some help to win the Premier League.

It has been a good start to 2011 with in-play betting, mainly in the Premier League, and this evening in the FA Cup.

Manchester City were my best in-play bet at the weekend after the fell behind early at home to Wolves in the Premier League. I took them at an advanced price of 13/8 half hour into the game at 0-1. They were 2/7 pre-game; a price not worth taking.

Once Kolo Toure equalised shortly before half time, I had more faith in Manchester City, who have previously dropped points against lower half teams. Since Christmas, Manchester City have taken the points they have been expected too, and even an additional one by sealing a goalless draw at the Emirates.

Wolves ended Manchester City’s 3 game clean sheet in the Premier League over the weekend, but couldn’t take any points from them. Carlos Tevez scored twice either side of Yaya Toure’s effort. Wolves turned a three-goal deficit into 4-3 and pushed for an equaliser late on. Fortunately, I won my bet as City held on, temporarily taking them top of the Premier League for the first time in history after Christmas.

Manchester City delivered again this evening, having packed them at 1/2 after Leicester City equalised from the penalty spot in their FA third round replay at Eastlands. Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson scored in quick succession in the first half to give City a 3-1 lead. Playing a strong squad that included Joe Hart, James Milner, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez gave me great faith facing a Leicester City side who have been poor away from home in the Championship this season, including a 1-1 draw at bottom of the table Preston North End this weekend just gone.

Another bet I had full faith in placing over the weekend was laying Portsmouth when they lead 1-0 at the City Ground over Nottingham Forest at the weekend. The backers on Betfair were generous in giving me close to evens! Nottingham Forest are also a very generous 8/5 to win at Pride Park this weekend with Derby County on poor form and generally playing very badly of late.

Manchester City go to Aston Villa this weekend in the Premier League and are currently 11/10 to win.

West Ham fans appeared to pleased during the week when they sealed the loan signing of Wayne Bridge, to finally have a left back on their books.

What they didn’t know is that Wayne Bridge is anything but a good defender. A player who’s barely had a look in at Manchester City recently, his career has been on a decline for a while. From Chelsea, to Manchester City and now West Ham, it’s all been downhill.

Debut Hattrick of Sorts

Wayne Bridge was at fault for Arsenal’s first goal when he allowed Theo Walcott all the space and time he wanted down the right wing to pick out Robin van Persie for a relatively simple tap in. Later in the first half, Bridge failed to man mark Walcott in the penalty area, allowing the England forward to smash home left-footed inside the 6 yard box. If you thought Bridge’s day couldn’t get any worse, he foolishly conceded a penalty with a slide tackle on Theo Walcott who was facing away from goal. Robin van Persie duly converted.

Grant’s Future?

Prior to yesterday’s evening kickoff, there had been strong suggestions it would be Avram Grant’s last game and Martin O’Neill would be his replacement. That and the absence of Scott Parker made it an easy bet to back Arsenal and make up for some of the money Blackpool’s defeat at West Brom cost me.

On that note, please be sure to follow me on Twitter after successfully tipping Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Watford to win the Championship yesterday.

Bridge or no Bridge, the result never looked in doubt. This result handed Wojciech Szczesny his first Premier League clean sheet, now on par with Manuel Almunia on the season. West Ham have failed to score against Arsenal in both meetings in 2010/11. There is every possibility these two will meet in this season’s Carling Cup final.

Following three consecutive seasons finishing 6th in the Premier League, Martin O’Neill had established Aston Villa as a top half side and regular contender for European football.

The timing of O’Neill’s resignation couldn’t have been much worse; just 5 days before the start of the 2010/11 Premier League season. An opening day 3-0 victory over Aston Villa with Kevin MacDonald in charge and things looked fine. James Milner scored his only league goal to date in that date before his transfer to Manchester City. Then came a 6-0 thrashing at Newcastle in match day 2 and Villa were seeking for a more experienced manager.

Defence in Decline

Bring in Gerard Houllier. Successful as Liverpool manager earlier this millennium, he appears to have been away from the Premier League for too long. He’s recorded just 3 victories from 16 Premier League matches; those against Wolves, Blackpool and West Brom. Aston Villa have kept just 2 clean sheets during this run; the last on October 31st at home to rivals Birmingham. Only West Brom (39) have conceded more goals this season.

Motivation; A Lack Of

Gone are the days of Richard Dunne and James Collins being a rock at the back for Aston Villa. They were a great partnership, both making debut seasons in 2009/10 as they helped Villa to 15 clean sheets last season. Could this have anything to do with the manager? Coincidentally, it was Houllier in charge of Liverpool when Emile Heskey’s career took a sudden downhill turn. Reportedly, Gerard Houllier has had clashes with Dunne, as well as John Carew and Stephen Ireland. The laid-back atmosphere that O’Neill imposed has been thrown out by a much tougher regime by Houllier. Not the best way to win over the players.

Aston Villa players simply don’t look up for the fight. Their frustrations and lack of effort on the pitch must come from within. And I’m pointing the finger at Gerard Houllier’s motivation, or lack of motivation techniques.

No Goal Agbonlahor

Indeed, getting the best out of the players has not been Gerard Houllier’s speciality. Last seasons top goalscorer with 13 goals, Gabriel Agbonlahor has not found the net once so far this season. He is being wasted on the right wing. Ashley Young has 3 goals to his name, but has yet to score from open play. John Carew has scored double figures in each of his last 3 seasons, but injuries and a falling out with the manager has limited his game time. Emile Heskey leads the strikers with 3 goals; 1 more than Wayne Rooney, 2 more than Peter Crouch, while England’s other striker at the 2010 World Cup, Jermain Defoe has 0. A combined total of 6 goals; 1 less than Blackpool’s DJ Campbell.

Another link between the England World Cup squad and Aston Villa is their left back, Stephen Warnock. He has had a desperate first half of the season, racking up more yellow cards (8) than any other player in the Premier League so far this season. He has also conceded more goals than any other defender in the league too this season. He’s far from a recall to the England squad right now. At least we hope so from an English perspective.

Two players to shine for Aston Villa this season are Stewart Downing and Marc Albrighton. They are the club’s top two goalscorers; with 5 and 4 goals respectively. Looking good amongst a poor Villa side may help Downing’s recall to the England side, while many of us have bright hopes for Albrighton’s future. Ciaran Clark deserves a mention too, but he is rapidly picking up yellow cards.

Staying for the Summer?

Chairman Randy Lerner seems content to keep Houllier in charge, at least until the summer having reportedly been given money to spend this month. Aston Villa have been strongly linked with a move for Blackburn’s Chris Samba, Lyon’s Jean Makoun and Toulouse player Moussa Sissoko. Perhaps not the Arsene Wenger French revolution but it’s a start, having signed 37 year old Robert Pires in November. Aston Villa have had a bid rejected for Blackpool’s Charlie Adam.

Unless new signings can spark life into Aston Villa in January, I expect Gerard Houllier will lose the dressing room and ultimately be booted out of the club. Surviving relegation is their main priority from here on out. They currently sit in the bottom 3 and are 9/2 to be relegated. Aston Villa travel to rivals Birmingham on Sunday, before hosting Manchester City and then up to Wigan.

Liverpool fans were happy to welcome back Kenny Dalglish this week, despite over a decade out of football management.

Dalglish was powerless from the sideline in preventing his side from going down to arch rivals Manchester United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Dimitar Berbatov won a controversial penalty inside a minute that Ryan Giggs smashed home for the only goal of the game. Steven Gerrard was sent off in the first half for a reckless challenge on Michael Carrick. Manchester United were not at their best, or at their strongest. Tomasz Kuszczak, Rafael and Ryan Giggs played the full 90 minutes. Jonny Evans was just short of a full game before being replaced by Chris Smalling late on. Neither Nemanja Vidic or Wayne Rooney featured, but Michael Owen got 15 minutes against one of his former teams.

Jose Reina was forced into a number of successive saves during one point of the second half, while Kuszczak was rarely tested but for a Fabio Aurelio free kick. Liverpool’s man of the match must go to Ryan Babel for his mock picture of Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt posted on his Twitter after the game.

‘King’ Kenny

Kenny Dalglish couldn’t have been expected to win this game on his first game back, but the loss of Steven Gerrard through suspension is going to hinder him for the near future. Liverpool travel to Blackpool on Wednesday in the Premier League, having already lost at home to Ian Holloway’s side this season.

His previous Premier League experience did see him win the title with Blackburn in 1994/95. But a lot has happened in 15 years. Seemingly, a lot had happened between then and the 1997/98 season when he took Newcastle United from Premier League runners up to 13th place. He lost his job at the start of the following season and hasn’t had Premier League management experience since.

Backing of the Fans

One thing working in Kenny Dalglish’s favour is that he has the backing of the fans; something that Roy Hodgson never had. One thing he doesn’t have is a wealth of talent. The thing that was key to his successes with Liverpool in the 80′s, and Blackburn in 1995. There’s no John Aldridge, John Barnes, Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer and co for him now! Instead, there’s an oft-injured and frustrated Fernando Torres up front, backed up by a headless chicken, David N’Gog. The defence has a has-been Jamie Carragher and are weak at full back. Raul Meireles hasn’t settled in and Lucas remains a first teamer. Can Dalglish really be expected to compete with top half sides like Blackburn and Stoke?!?

Liverpool currently sit in 12th position in the Premier League after Rafael Benitez guided them to 7th last season.

Manchester United travel to Southampton in the 4th round.

An eventful Wednesday evening saw Manchester United’s four closest rivals all drop points as the Red Devils remained top of the 2010/11 Premier League.

Having beat Stoke City 2-1 on Tuesday, Manchester United saw second place Manchester City hold Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Emirates. United are now 2 points ahead of their local neighbours with 2 games in hand. Arsenal trail the league leaders by 4 points but have played 1 game more. Manchester United are now odds-on favourites to lift a record 19th domestic league title.

While Manchester City fans may be applauding Roberto Mancini’s side for staying in their own half, outnumbering and frustrating the Gunners. But from a neutral point of view the negative tactics were nothing but an annoyance to watch on TV. Manchester City simply play dire football, something that the Premier League was not about at the start of this millennium.

Arsenal were unfortunate not to win this game, hitting the post on more than one occasion, while Robin van Persie drew a top save from Joe Hart in the Manchester City goal. City never looked like they wanted to take 3 points home with them. Red cards to both Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta will see them suspended for upcoming matches.

After the FA Cup this weekend and then the first leg of their Carling Cup semi final tie, Arsenal’s next league fixture is at West Ham on January 15th. On that same day, Manchester City host Wolves.

Wolverhampton caused one of the biggest shocks of the night as they beat Chelsea 1-0 at Molineux. An own goal on 5 minutes from Jose Bosingwa separated the two sides as the defending champions failed to score for the fifth time this season. It’s just 1 win in 9 now for the Blues who have suffered 4 defeats during that spell. This result further backs up my blog on Monday stating Chelsea will not win this season’s Premier League.

Tottenham failed to capitalise on Chelsea’s loss and extend their lead over the 5th place side as they went down 2-1 at Everton. Having laid Chelsea, and Liverpool who went down 3-1 at Blackburn, Tottenham let me down as I had them to avoid defeat at Goodison Park. This result moves David Moyes’ side into 11th, one place above local neighbours Liverpool. Harry Redknapp must now admit his team’s title race is over, with Spurs 8 points behind Manchester United having played 1 game more.

A 5-0 thumping for West Ham at Newcastle which included a Leon Best hattrick to take his goal tally past Wayne Rooney on the season saw the Hammers drop back to the foot of the table. Is it just a matter of time now before Carlo Ancelotti, Roy Hodgson and Avram Grant lose their jobs?

Another manager in the hot seat is Aston Villa’s Gerard Houllier after his side dropped into the bottom 3 also following a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Sunderland. This being a correct tip for me in what turned out to be a midweek of surprises saw me win on both backing Sunderland at 11/4 and laying Aston Villa at close to evens. I hope you had time to take that tip.

It’s the FA Cup this weekend, one that I tend to stay away from with the unpredictable nature of the competition that continues to flourish season after season. Be sure to catch me in a week’s time from tonight when I return with more Premier League Tips for the weekend of the 15th.

After a bright start to the season that included a six game unbeaten stretch, with victories over Arsenal and Sunderland, and draws with Manchester United and Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion are currently on a sharp decline.

Tuesday’s 3-0 thrashing at Fulham was West Brom’s fifth consecutive defeat in the Premier League. It leaves them in 16th place, only 2 points above the relegation zone. This run includes losing 2-1 at rivals Aston Villa and a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Blackburn Rovers. Fulham the latest bottom half side to pick up a valuable 3 points off their fellow relegation contenders.

While West Brom were somewhat fortunate to pick up 3 points at the Emirates and 1 point at Old Trafford in truth, their latest loss of form hasn’t been aided by a mass loss of defenders at the back. Their trip to Craven Cottage saw them starting the game with 18 year old James Hurst starting at right back, with regular right back Gonzalo Jara lining up at centre back alongside backup right back Gianni Zuiverloon. To add insult to injury, left back Marek Cech was taken off with a knee injury in the first half. A Fulham win never seemed in doubt. It wasn’t.

West Brom aren’t helping themselves either. Goalkeeper Scott Carson was at fault for Manchester United’s winner on new year’s day when he failed to claim a corner, leaving Javier Hernandez to head home unchallenged in the six yard box. Carson was again at fault on Tuesday when he failed to deal with Simon Davies shot from outside the area that should have been dealt with easily. That was Fulham’s opener in first half stoppage time. In my pre-season preview of West Brom, I noted that Boaz Myhill was the better of the two and manager Roberto Di Matteo should now seriously consider replacing the former England international.

Paul Scharner, one of four centre backs missing on Tuesday would be a suitable replacement as captain for Carson, should Di Matteo make the sensible move. Other centre backs missing for the Fulham game were Gabriel Tamas, Pablo Ibanez and Jonas Olsson. At least two of these are expected to be back to lineup against Blackpool in West Brom’s next league game on January 15th. An important game for the remainder of West Brom’s season.

West Brom lacked creativity from midfield in their last game. While they showed plenty of it versus Bolton recently, the likes of Chris Brunt, Graham Dorrans, Jerome Thomas and James Morrison failed to get much going. Dorrans has failed to light up the Premier League like many were expecting this season. Morrison has been wasteful.

Another wasteful player of late has been Peter Odemwingie. The Nigerian appears to be lacking in confidence of late. Several misses versus Bolton were enough to knock his confidence. He is without a goal in his last four, and has only netted versus Newcastle in his last eight. We are in the transfer window now, which gives Roberto Di Matteo an opportunity to purchase a striker, as the rest of his bench cannot fill him with confidence. Marc-Antoine Fortune and Ishmael Miller aren’t going to become regular Premier League goalscorers.

West Brom are currently 3/1 fourth favourites to be relegated this season. Victory at home to Blackpool in their next league fixture could increase this, while defeat would only see it shorten. Afterwards, a trip to Blackburn Rovers and then a home tie with Wigan Athletic are very important fixtures in dictating the future of West Brom. Ideally they need to be well above the relegation zone before they face a terrible set of fixtures in March and April.

Can you see beyond Manchester United for the second half of the season?

Manchester United head into the 2011 half of the Premier League season unbeaten and joint top with rivals Manchester City, but with 2 games in hand. They are evens favourites to win the Premier League.

3 points at West Brom was a big victory for Manchester United in the first Premier League game of the new year. It’s a good sign to win a game you didn’t deserve to win and that can certainly be said about Manchester United. Gary Neville was fortunate not be sent off and concede penalty in the first half, while Manchester United were thankful for Peter Odemwingie scuffing a penalty wide in the second half at 1-1.

Credit must go to Sir Alex Ferguson who substituted Gabriel Obertan after a shocking first half, putting Wayne Rooney out on the left hand side where he became a big influence and put in a man of the match performance before finishing the game limping around after a strong challenge from Chris Brunt. It was substitute Javier Hernandez who headed in Manchester United’s winner for Rooney’s corner.

Gary Neville was being tortured at right back before being substituted for Fabio. West Brom were unlucky not to find the net for a second time after a flurry of chances. Nemanja Vidic in particular made a match winning block on the line. The long ball game had been particularly successful for a West Brom side who are on poor form. They’ve failed to put away the large number of chances they created recently and cannot afford to let their heads drop at this point; now only 3 points above the relegation zone. They have a big game at Craven Cottage tomorrow evening.

But for a trip to Spurs in mid-January, Manchester United are capable of picking up maximum points in their games before they host Manchester City on February 12th and the Champions League restarts shortly after. In contract, before their trip to Old Trafford, Manchester City go to Arsenal and Birmingham. Later in the season they must travel to Stamford Bridge and Anfield. But for Tottenham, they’ve hosted the top teams in the first half of the season, beating Chelsea, drawing with Manchester united and losing 3-0 at home to Arsenal. Manchester City also play in the Europa League, although don’t always field their strongest team.

Arsenal, who’s Champions League campaign isn’t expected to go past the second round this year have a nice run of league fixtures after their home game with Manchester City this Wednesday. West Ham, Wigan, Everton, Newcastle, Wolves and Stoke will be their following games before travelling to Tottenham at the end of February. Arsenal have the better run in of these 3 teams, and should they drop out of European competition earlier than their competitors I can start to understand why people are backing Arsenal for the league. Arsenal are currently 7/2 second favourites to win the Premier League.

However, can Arsenal win the league with the problems they have at the back and in goal? Every goalkeeper Arsene Wenger fields seems to be a liability. Sebastien Squillaci and Laurent Koscielny aren’t a strong centre back partnership either. However, Johan Djourou has had time in the first team recently and Thomas Vermaelen is due to return in a few weeks. Arsenal have kept 5 clean sheets in 20 league games this season; 2 when the opposition was reduced to 10 men in the first half (Blackpool and Manchester City). Ultimately, results similar to those at home to West Brom and at Wigan may be their achilles heel. Although their have been more consistent this season than in the past couple.