No team looks ready to grab hold of the Premier League this season and it may be that the manager that pulls off the best couple of buys in the January transfer window ends up lifting the title above his head next year.
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The Reds travel north to Newcastle on Sunday, riding a four-game winning streak in all competitions.
John O’Shea of Sunderland and Olivier Giroud of Arsenal tussle for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on May 20, 2015 in London, England. I always ask the players to play for the team, the team is the leader.
The challenge facing the German was put into better focus at St James’ Park as memories of a 6-1 League Cup victory at Southampton and a 4-1 Premier League triumph at the Etihad drove expectation to new levels this weekend.
West Ham, for example, have 23 points in the actual Premier League table but have a massive 52 in the Power Rankings having followed up their wins at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City with a draw at Old Trafford. “It weakens the side slightly, we have a better chance when those players are not playing, but they’ve still got a top-quality squad of global players throughout”.
They have brought in some world-class players in the summer such as Kevin De Bruyne and Nicholas Otamendi that has prevented some fringe players from breaking their way through into the first team. Expect Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho to return to the starting 11 and provide a constant menace to a Newcastle team that has conceded the most goals (30) in the league.
However, Emre Can won’t be available for Liverpool.
Manchester City’s Martin Demichelis in action with Stoke City’s Marco van Ginkel.
Southampton vs. Aston Villa, 10 a.m.
Surprise package Leicester City kept their richly-deserved place in the top two with a draw at home against Manchester United in their last outing.
Bournemouth – 10: Chelsea are proving to be the source of lots of Power Rankings points this season. Sold!’ It was a decent result for West Brom against Tottenham, though, and keeps them ticking along nicely, well clear of a relegation scrap.
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Even against a Newcastle side visibly lacking energy and belief there was a sluggishness and a lack of cutting edge to Liverpool that suggests there is still work to do before they are capable of the kind of long-term consistency required to overhaul those above them in the table.
