Title Race Wide Open

Results in the space of a few hours has once again made the Premier League title a possibility for both Chelsea and Manchester City.

    Anfield staged the first of two games which have reduced Liverpool’s chance of making history this season. Liverpool looked favourites ahead of their clash with their rivals from the capital. Jose Mourinho, Chelsea manager forced into notable changes due to his sides upcoming Champions League semi-final 2^nd leg with Atletico Madrid.

Collective errors cost Liverpool causing both of Chelsea’s goals at the end of both halves. Liverpool are now not totally in control of their own destiny with Manchester City holding a game in hand, away to none other than the Red’s Merseyside rivals, Everton.

Red’s boss Brendan Rodgers stuck with the same side that secured a 3-2 victory at Norwich a week ago, his counterpart and former colleague Mourinho handed Demba Ba a start, Salah and Matic returned following their ineligibility in the recent European fixture. More surprisingly, Tomas Kalas was handed his Premier League debut, seen by many as a risk with the match holding such importance on the race for first place.

Spurred on by a full house, Liverpool started brightly but from the off Chelsea were hard to break down. The wall of Blue players kept tight throughout picking intelligent moments to attack rarely throwing too many into Liverpool’s half.

Chelsea frustrated the home fans and players alike, continuously running the clock down deliberately, delaying throw-ins and goal kicks etc. Referee Martin Atkinson raising his watch numerous times to Blue’s players demonstrating he was only going to add more time on, 7 minutes in total.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard made an uncharacteristic mistake resulting in Ba’s opening goal. The mistake probably unforgivable in the eyes of the fans if it was made by a less popular player. A slip deep in his own half upon receiving the ball allowed the Senegal international, Ba to run on uncontested a roll the ball under Simon Mingolet, just his 6^th league goal this season.

Over the course of the 2^nd, the home side spent long periods in the opponents half of the field in search for an equaliser. Constantly made to utilise wide players in the first half, Liverpool tried to instigate moves through the centre of the park yet, the minimal gap between Chelsea’s defence and midfield managed to cut out any hope of a goal.

Liverpool’s attacking players, known for flair and cohesion this season but today, figures including Allen, Sterling, Gerrard & Suarez seemed out of sync, lacking quality to break down Mourinho’s well-constructed, compact defence. Even Daniel Sturridge’s return from injury had no apparent effect and with little clear-cut chances, Chelsea secured a clean sheet. The inexperienced Kalas, a proverbial rock alongside Ivanovic.

Chelsea and Liverpool became a big rivalry since Jose Mourinho’s first stint in charge, this time he is the one with the bragging rights, stopping Liverpool in their tracks via mastermind tactics. The Portuguese running to away supporters, when Liverpool had pushed to high up in stoppage time and a quick counter contributed mainly by former Red, Fernando Torres saw Chelsea score a second as Torres found himself 1-on-1 with the keeper, unselfishly playing across to Willian to walk the ball in the net.

On the final whistle, the onus was on Manchester City. If they secured a win at Selhurst Park City would move 3 points from the summit. Opponents Crystal Palace have been tough to play against with manager Tony Pulis pulling them far away from the relegation zone since his arrival, but City secured a 2-0 victory courtesy of Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure goals.

Results today have reopened the door for Chelsea and Manchester City to win the Premier League title despite Liverpool retaining top spot. Chelsea have what is arguably the easier run in, facing Norwich and Cardiff City in their final two games, the Barclays Premier League title is once again a 3 horse race and realistically any side can win it.

My personal prediction is Manchester City, already previously familiar with current situation. Despite a tough game at Goodison Park, they’ll use their title-winning experience to secure the trophy once more. Chelsea will tire over the next week being in the Champions League and today’s loss will hit Liverpool very hard.

Young Lions Hoping To Leap To Brazil

    Only 53 days until the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and there are some players who are picking the right time to perform to get themselves on Roy Hodgson's radar.

A number of places are all but set in stone - barring any injuries - figures such as Joe Hart, Wayne Rooney, Jack Wilshere, Gary Cahill etc. but many names are still being thrown around regarding who will board the plane to Brazil.
  23 is the limit that Hodgson can choose for his disposal, meaning some will be left watching the tournament like the rest of us, from a TV screen.

Performances from a few individuals this season have called for some consideration, giving Hodgson a welcomed selection headache. Luke Shaw (Southampton) and Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), two not long ago were part of the England U21 set-up and that have progressed further than many could have imagined in such a short space of time too.

A battle in the left-back berth commenced long ago. The trio fighting it out are Chelsea's veteran, Ashley Cole, the ever-impressive Leighton Baines and this seasons consistent Southampton youngster, Luke Shaw. Question marks arose not too long ago over Cole's 'right' to be on board, appearing on 21 times in all competitions this season.
 An argument is at hand that his experience will be crucial against strong attacking sides like Italy and Uruguay, but for me, I believe despite his old head he may get found short due to his lack of match time and possibly it is time for him to hang up his international boots to prolong career at club level.

Baines has to be first choice. Too little has he been sat in the shadows behind Cole, and he's proven he can perform at the highest level in the last year through his performances at club and international level. The Toffee's player most definitely doesn't lack experience either, having spent almost 7 years in the Premier League at Everton, he's exactly what Luke Shaw should be looking to emulate and like most.

Although Shaw is somewhat of a raw talent, with the guidance of Baines he has the ability to be a very capable back-up and as I'm sure many will agree, has proven potential to become one the world's best left backs for years to come.

Raheem Sterling, another English youngster featuring prominently as well as shining above many others has had a big hand in getting Liverpool to the summit of the Premier League. The 19 year-old's brace against Norwich earlier today in the 3-2 victory took his tally to 10 goals for the season as well as keeping the Red's title hopes intact. Hodgson will probably choose this livewire for Brazil, in my opinion Adam Lallana is the only English winger to have bettered him this season. For me, Adam Lallana has a lot more in his locker to offer but if England are ever in need of pace to get behind defenders then Sterling will be the go-to man.

Sunderland's Connor Wickham is my final highlight. A loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday earlier this season seems to have brought Wickham to life, having failed to make any kind of impact following his move from Ipswich. He scored 9 goals in 17 appearances for the Hillsborough side, he steered the Owls away from danger, before moving on loan to Yorkshire rivals, Leeds briefly before being recalled by Gus Poyet due to an injury crisis.
  On his return Connor Wickham scored 2 goals in a surprising 2-2 draw with Manchester City and bagged a goal at Stamford Bridge during Sunderland's 2-1 victory on Saturday. The Hereford-born striker may feature in a England friendly before Hodgson picks his final 23, however I don't believe his end-of-season form will be enough to earn him a World Cup place, Rickie Lambert and Andy Carroll most likely ahead of him in Hodgson's mind.

So, with only 3 games remaining for most teams in the Premier League, performances can still catch the eye of the England manager and the final 23 places are by no means filled.

Pulis' Party at Palace

Earlier this season, Crystal Palace flirted with an immediate return to the Championship, languishing at the foot of the Barclay's Premier League table tallying a lowly 4 points. The future seemed bleak as The Eagles.

23rd of November 2013, enter Tony Pulis.


A manager that has never tasted the bitterness of relegation, took the reigns from his son's Godfather, Ian Holloway. Looked upon by Crystal Palace to install consistency and solidarity, well known for doing so from his time at his previous employers Stoke City FC.

Once reaching the heights of the Europa League with his previous club in the 2011-12 season as well as boasting FA Cup runners up the season before, the Welshman began a dogfight to save Crystal Palace returning to 2nd tier Football. Pulis certainly wasn't blind to the task in hand, "I like climbling hills" he stated, "and this is going to be a tough job".

It didn't take long for the Pulis to put his coaching prowess to work as Palace secured a 1-0 victory against local rivals West Ham, the new manager's first win in charge, the goal coming from a previously poor-standard Chamakh. The former Arsenal man followed this with goals in two consecutive matches showing glimpses of why Ian Holloway had signed him.

Picking up a further 6 wins in charge by the end of the January transfer window, alongside a foray of new faces in the forms of Tom Ince (loan), Joe Ledley, Scott Dann, Wayne Hennesey and the current formidable midfield Jason Puncheon, Tony Pulis was creating his brand at Crystal Palace. To a lot of people's surprise, including my own, Pulis founded a side unlike his old Stoke City but, players with attacking flair and who in comparison with Pulis' Stoke team, rarely play long balls when attacking.

Tony Pulis has now forged an outfit that aren't predictable and certainly no pushovers as fans may have thought under his predecessor. Palace have claimed precious victories a long there way against the likes of those tempting fate near the bottom of the table as well as a superlative 1-0 performance against Mourinho's title-chasing Chelsea.

Last night Pulis continued his Palace turnaround with an emphatic 3-2 scalping of Everton at Goodison Park, accomplishing 4 successive victories that have helped accumulate to Palace's 40 points - the mark which is widely regarded as a safety target - still with 4 games remaining. A win of this caliber is no small feat, The Toffees looking to fill the final Champions League spot ahead of Arsenal, an obstacle possibly too large following the defeat.

Jason Puncheon, who scored in the win against Everton scored his third goal in as many games, is a man, just like Cameron Jerome and Scott Dann who has Palace manager Tony Pulis to thank for putting his career on the upturn once more having made Puncheon's loan deal permanent in January.

Pulis' Palace will be surely partying come the close of the current season, assured of their place in the Barclays Premier League for the 2014-15 sesaon. All of us Football fans are now wondering what heights will Tony Pulis hit next season?