Should Pochettino Be Feeling the Pressure?
With Spurs sitting in a disappointing 10th place, and on the back of as conclusive a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea as you’re likely to see (though Spurs haven’t won at Stamford Bridge in two-and-a-half decades), is Mauricio Pochettino starting to look over his shoulder at White Hart Lane?
It’s a ludicrous thing to say after just 14 games, but this is Tottenham Hotspur and Daniel “a coach for every season” Levy we’re talking about. After all, last December Andre Villas Boas was sacked after just 16 Premier League games with a win percentage of 54%: Pochettino’s win rate currently stands at only 43%, and even if Spurs win their next two games he still won’t have as good a record as the unfortunate AVB.
Still, some solace for the beleaguered Argentine: Crystal Palace, their opponents this weekend, haven’t mustered a single point from the three London derbies they’ve played this season.
Double Dutch
Right now in the Netherlands, millions of boys and girls are celebrating Sinterklaas, a holiday that, depending upon your point of view, is either a racist version of Christmas (the UN’s) or touchingly naïve (most of Holland’s). Since the mother-in-law is Dutch, we’re going to decisively decline to comment.
But what better way to mark the occasion of Sinterklaas than to discuss the first ever Premier League clash between two Dutch managers, as Louis van Gaal’s upwardly mobile Manchester United travel to Ronald Koeman’s on-the-slide Southampton.
Just a few games ago, the trip to St Mary’s would have been considered a litmus test for how far van Gaal’s Red Devils have come, but recent injuries to Morgan Schneiderlin, Toby Alderweireld, Dusan Tadic and Jack Cork have robbed the Saints of much of their defensive solidity and attacking intent.
And it’s injuries, or a squad’s ability to handle injuries, that tends to define a team’s season. Strength-in-depth is a key tenet of any squad with top-four aspirations, and it’s why Manchester United are heading in one direction, and Southampton the other.
No stat sums up the two teams, and their respective prospects for the rest of the season, better than this one: Southampton have managed to rely on just 15 different starting players in 14 Premier League games so far, whereas United have been forced to utilize 26 different starters. Despite that, the Red Devils are just a point behind the Saints going into the weekend.
Dealing With(out) Costa
The18 forlornly suggested earlier in the week that one way to beat Chelsea is to get under the skin of Diego Costa, the theory being that a Chelsea without Costa is a Chelsea shorn of some of its attacking threat.
How wrong we were.
With his top-scorer absent for the mid-week visit of Spurs, Jose Mourinho simply turned to his other two summer-signed strikers to deliver the goods, and deliver Didier Drogba and Loic Remy duly did. The 36-year old Ivory Coast international has scored in each of the two Premier League games he’s started in Costa’s absence, and is averaging nearly a goal ever 90 minutes in all competitions. Not bad for a nostalgia signing.
But allow us to once more scrape the bottom of the “Chelsea are beatable” barrel (if such a barrel exists): this Saturday they face Newcastle United away, and Jose Mourinho’s Blues have never won in four visits to St James’ Park.
A Striking Stat for Liverpool Fans
It’s a worrying indictment of Liverpool’s striker predicament that their last nine Premier League goals have been scored by nine different players, two of whom don’t even play for Liverpool and only one of whom is a striker (Rickie Lambert).
While their opponents this weekend, Sunderland, haven’t won at Anfield in their last 15 visits, nine of Liverpool’s last 11 goals against Gus Poyet’s men were scored by either Luis Suarez (7) or Daniel Sturridge (2), neither of whom will of course be available to Brendan Rodgers on Saturday.
The18: Football Soothsayers Extraordinaire
In our Week 10 Premier League Preview, we suggested that Burnley may be on course to break Derby County’s record low tally of just 15 points accumulated across an entire Premier League season. Since we gave you that shrewd piece of football insight, Sean Dyche’s men are unbeaten in four games and have picked up 8 points from a possible 12.
You’re welcome, Burnley.
This weekend, however, they travel to QPR in a fixture that, like a backside 360 kick-flip performed in the 1980s, is equal parts difficult and totally crucial. A win for either side will likely propel them out of the relegation zone, but Burnley be warned: QPR are a different beast when home at Loftus Road. While The Rs are currently 19th in the table, on home form alone they’d be sitting 8th.
