By Josh Ouellette
Match of the Week
Manchester United v. Aston Villa
This is by far the best match of the “Big Four” this week. Aston Villa is unbeaten this season against top five teams. They drew Manchester City, beat Chelsea by a goal, and drew Tottenham, they have yet to face Arsenal.
But the Villains must play an excellent Man United team that is unbeaten at Old Trafford and are getting four players back that didn’t play in their last match, including a healthy Wayne Rooney, and Dimitar Berbatov. Also of that four, returning from the flu is Nemanja Vidic who will start in the Reds backfield against Aston Villa.
Both teams are hot of late in the Premiership, with the Man U’s boys being (4-0-1) with their only loss coming to Chelsea. While Aston Vila is ( 2-2-1) in their last five with strong wins over Hull City and Bolton, a draw against Burnley, and a strong draw against Tottenham, their only loss coming to the Hammers of West Ham United.
I predict Aston Villa to have their unbeaten against top five teams streak snapped. The reds with Owens and the return of Rooney, and Vidic in the backfield will prove to be too strong for the Villains. Man. United Wins 2-1 with a late goal taking away the draw.
Chelsea v. Everton
Everton is ranked 15th in the league table and is struggling of late going (1-1-3) in their last five matches. Their only win cam against an injured West Ham team and if the Hammers goalie hadn’t been iffy in that game they would have lost.
The Toffee’s are coming off a surprising draw against Tottenham where Luis Saha had a big goal in the match. With world renowned goalie Tim Howard Everton is always prone to put a zero on the board for the opposing team.
Chelsea is playing at Stamford Bridge, their home field, where they have yet to lose or draw a match this season. In their last five the Blues are (4-0-1) losing only to Man. City, and having key victories over fellow “Big Four” teams Arsenal and Man United.
The Toffee’s don’t have a good shot against the likes of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, even with Howard at the keeper position. The Blues hand Everton another loss winning 3-1.
Tottenham Hotspur v. Wolverhampton
The Spurs have only lost one match in their last five (2-2-1) and that was to a surging Arsenal team. Tottenham is fourth in the table this week and looks to add an easy three playing the Wanders of Wolverhampton at their home field, White Hart Lane.
The Spurs are led by Jermain Dafoe and Robbie Keane. Who have combined for 18 of the squad’s premiership goals, creating a combination of two of the top strikers in the Premiership.
The Wanderers are struggling and are in the relegation zone. They are (1-1-3) in their last five matches with their sole win coming against fellow relegation worthy team Bolton. Wolves are lead by Kevin Doyle and have only scored 14 goals this season.
No doubt Spurs take this one 3-0, at least.
Arsenal v. Liverpool (December 13, 2009)
This game also got the nod for consideration as game of the week, but with the way Arsenal has been producing, and Liverpool hasn’t been of late, the more exciting game to watch would be the Villa-Man U. match.
Arsenal is (3-0-2) in their last five matches, losing to Chelsea and Sunderland. The Gunners are ranked third in the league table and are surging lately in their UEFA matches, their only loss coming against Olympiakos yesterday.
This season Arsenal has struggled away from Emirates Stadium, with three of their four losses coming away. They also drew West Ham away.
Liverpool is seventh in the league table and in their last five matches the Reds are (1-3-1) with a victory over Everton, losing to Fulham, and drawing Birmingham, Man. City and Blackburn.
Led by Fernando Torres, Liverpool has a solid offense, but their backfield hasn’t been strong of late.
This game will be decided on which offense will show up. The Gunners are without the services of striker Robin Van Perise and Liverpool’s Torres has just returned from a groin injury and is still not match fit. I actually see this game ending in a 1-1 draw, with Arsenal the better team but Torres scoring the equalizer for Liverpool.
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