Everything is getting just a little bit clearer

Surprise team of the league so far is definitely Newcastle. Nobody expected them to get 16 points in the first 8 games of the season. Even, they lost Barton and last year Carroll in January, they are playing some football. Cabaye is a pin point transfer and with Tiote and Gutierrez the midfield seems very solid. In my humble opinion they still have some problems with forwards but so far Ba is doing his job.

Other than that, there`s no need to say that the crown race will be within the city of Manchester. Chelsea is also pushing a lot at the moment but they`ll lose many players when African Cup starts and still AVB is trying to be and in fact should be very careful making the transition. They`re also doing fine so far but time will show how much they want to be the champions as a new team.

Arsenal is without a doubt underperforming this year but they have an ok squad to compete for the Europan cups not for the top four and as usual injuries are a headache for Mr. Wenger. Last year`s underperformers Liverpool is really showing some determination to get through higher places on the table. Gerrard`s terrific return is a huge boost for the Merseyside and they`ll be in a tough competition for the fourth spot with Tottenham. There`s, at least for me, no need to say that Redknapp made the best buy of the year with Parker and with Modric he`s immense in midfield and I even can say they might construct a partnership which would be considered as the best in the league.

Newcomers Norwich is also another eye-catching team and you can`t do anything but admire Lambert for keeping his belief in his squad. No shiny transfers but still a rock solid team who`ll push to make a shift for any opposition. They really started well and it`s in their hands to perform better but the downside would be this is just for sometime. Hope they continue their form because it`s entertaining a lot to watch them.

Gameweek 7 Predictions

01 Oct 12:45	Everton		2v1		Liverpool
01 Oct 15:00	Aston Villa		2v0		Wigan
01 Oct 15:00	Blackburn		2v3		Man City
01 Oct 15:00	Man Utd		3v1		Norwich
01 Oct 15:00	Sunderland		0v1		West Brom
01 Oct 15:00	Wolves		2v1		Newcastle
02 Oct 13:30	Bolton		0v4		Chelsea
02 Oct 15:00	Fulham		2v1		QPR
02 Oct 15:00	Swansea		0v0		Stoke City
02 Oct 16:00	Tottenham		3v1		Arsenal

I really trust Everton on this match because for two weeks they are playing very well and they seem to be very united due the crisis. Pool will thrill through Gerrard`s involvement but still he lacks match fitness as well as form. Carroll`s form graph is also decreasing Pool`s chances as well as they only picked 3 points from the last three matches. The only danger seems like Suarez and Everton will be wary of this threat and deal with it.


Wigan can`t play from the ground and they always hoof the ball into the opposition area which will be fancied by Dunne and Collins who are both very effective from air. Agbonlahor`s form and Bent`s possible participation will get the 3 points to the home side with ease. Alcaraz`s absence is still a big blow for the visitors but Di Santo or Moses might get an unlikely goal.


Blackburn is showing signs of recovery from their poor start to the season but still it might not be enough for City. Tevez incident will actually benefit the Citizens a lot and De Jong`s return as well as Balotelli getting in the sheet are the pluses as well as Yakubu for Blackburn. Midfield is a concern for the home side added to the backs who are defended by Salgado and Givet. City should tear them apart but it`s also noticeable that City conceded at every away game so far.


ManU will look to get into winning ways after two draws where the latter was a bit shocking after a comfortable 2-0 lead through the half time. Rooney will possibly be back as well as Hernandez and Welbeck. They should seal a comfortable win against the so will be "bully" Canaries. 


After losing Ferdinand, Bramble is arrested this week and this will again cause unharmony within the squad and two clean sheets out of the latest three for Bromwich is something that they want to extend. Sunderland also still doesn`t have any decent Premiership striker after Gyan`s departure and this is a butter on bread for Bromwich. Odemwingie and Long seem really threatening and though I favour Brom to win I expect a resilient Sunderland side. Both sides will be happy with a point probably.


Wolves is a decent side but they obviously lack a leader in midfield and I don`t think O`Hara can provide it. If he is going to be dropped in favour of Milijas thing might change. Fletcher and Doyle would seem a tough test against a tougher Newcastle defense. Ba is getting on his feet and Best is also providing goals and assists for Newcastle. Still, I wonder till when they can carry this form on and Wolves` reaction to straight 3 defeats might be a blow for Newcastle. Doyle also signed a new deal and it`s a huge boost for the home side.


Bolton is really having nightmares atm and Chelsea should find it easy to pass them. They have too many injuries to deal with and especially absence of Cahill is a massive one for them. Drogba`s return due Torres`s suspension and Anelka once again showing his worth to the boss are giving more options for AVB.


Fulham is getting better by time and they won in the latest Europa Cup match with a Johnson brace. His return is also probably giving a selection headache for Jol but more options are always welcome. Qpr had a nice spell of football with the new transfers but Ferdinand and Hall just don`t seem Premiership quality to me and they`ll be tested with really good Premiership strikers as well as midfielders with the likes of Dempsey and Duff. Fulham`s will will be vital and I think they just want to meet with their first 3 points of the campaign.


Swansea is playing nice but they just don`t score enough. Graham the record transfer still didn`t meet with the net and despite the hard work of Dyer and Sinclair they don`t get enough points. Stoke is a hard test but their first time introduction with Europa League gave them a surprise defeat against Sunderland when they were back to the island. Again this time it`ll be a rough match between two and I fancy Stoke to nick a point.


I believe Tottenham will find it easy against Arsenal because they`re on top of their form. Nine points out of nine and Adebayor, Bale, VDV and Defoe all getting on the scoresheet. Parker might be the best buy of the season and he literally lifted Tottenham`s midfield to a newer scale. Arsenal always found it hard on away and Koscielny`s absence is also Song`s absence in midfield where Frimpong, my assumption, will be raped by Parker and Modric. 

A different approach

Tony Pulis`s side is definitely a pain in the ass when you`re facing them. When you look at them first you might think that they`re more like a wrestling team due their sizes and it probably feels like that when you are playing against them. Rooney once said that Barcelona would really find it much more difficult against Stoke and I think he is right. They are really physical and they are not shamed about showing and using it.

One of the interesting things that Stoke has is their backs are really centre derived and though they don`t have the technique or ability or willing to go forward in the sense of widening the area that`s being used, they play extremely well. That being said, they heavily rely on Etherington and Pennant`s individual abilities, them carrying the ball into the opposition area. The other interesting thing is although they don`t have so much pacy players they look like a counter-attack team on numeruos occasions. And their strongest point would be their stamina and concentration. They never let go the game and always want to win because public is very critical of them and they obviously want to prove a point which is "We also play football".

Let`s not forget that Stoke was promoted to Premier League just four years ago and by the pundits they were favourites to move down. But when looked now, they are really tough to beat and even last year they reached to FA cup finals which they eventually lost to Manchester City. Tony Pulis, in this regard, has really to be applauded but also the financial backing by the chairman was also important in this success. By the results they`ve had so far it can be concluded that the players have obviously more confidence in their game as they`re also competing in Europa League now they are more motivated. A top 10 finish seems really not so far away from Stoke but if they advance further in Europe and a possible to injury to one of Etherington and Pennant or both maybe Stoke would find it very hard to compete. Still, they`ve been really fantastic so far and they definitely need a praise and are worth to look.

Predictions

Gameweek 4 Fixtures

Date/Time	Home Team		Score	Away Team
10 Sep 15:00	Arsenal		2v1		Swansea
10 Sep 15:00	Everton		0v0		Aston Villa
10 Sep 15:00	Man City		3v1		Wigan
10 Sep 15:00	Stoke City		0v0		Liverpool
10 Sep 15:00	Sunderland		1v1		Chelsea
10 Sep 15:00	Wolves		2v1		Tottenham
10 Sep 17:30	Bolton		2v4		Man Utd
11 Sep 13:30	Norwich		2v1		West Brom
11 Sep 16:00	Fulham		1v0		Blackburn
12 Sep 20:00	QPR		1v2		Newcastle

Arsenal is to claim first win. With the new transfers they will try and probably win against newly promoted Swansea. Rvp scored 4 goals during the international break and really seems on form. Mertesacker is a great transfer and Santos is really a good attacker back. They`ll be all over Swansea.


Everton is really in a crisis atm. They just have 18 players registered and Anichebe is injured till January. Still the first 11 is really strong and I believe in the absence of Bent, Villa will have some troubles. Everton`s midfield is superior to Villa`s and the game will be evens.


On form City should have no trouble passing Wigan at home. Injured Alcaraz will add to defensive troubles for Wigan and the scoreline might seem scarier in fact.


Stoke is really a disciplined and a physical team. The first week they were very ready against Chelsea and Liverpool will definitely find it hard against them. Though, Stoke also doesn`t offer so much attacking threat as Walters is deep in form and Jones is actually fighting a lot but not looking like scoring. Carroll`s form is also not so good and Suarez will find it very difficult to find gaps though I think he`ll not wake up from the ground either whether deceiving or not.


Drogba`s injured through concussion and though the arrivals of Meireles and Mata, I don`t fancy Chelsea`s odds against Sunderland. Torres will again be very nervous as the pressure is increasing and Sunderland`s squad is getting better. O`Shea is fit again and Cattermole, though it is very surprising, hasn`t seen a red card and on form. Bendtner and Gyan should be very dangerous and I just can`t see anything but a draw out of this game. 


Wolves` fine form gives something to ponder. Though, Tottenham has lost VDV the likes of Bale, Modric, Defoe and Lennon still seem very threatening. The last match between two ended 3-3 at Molineux but Tottenham was very lucky. It seems like a draw but Wolves` good start to season, form of the whole team and players and Tottenham`s slow start to season edges Wolves for me.


Bolton`s shaky defence, though they have Cahill, just disable them to get the points that they really can. Upfront seems promising but the midfield consists of the likes from Muamba and Reo-Coker who can`t attack and therefore making the team prone to play the match on their field. United is top on form and they`ll somehow end up winning the match.


Norwich is really a good team and I can say also it against WBA. WBA`s defence problem continues and Norwich`s eagerness as a whole team and home advantage makes them favourites against WBA for me.


Fulham obviously didn`t start to the season well as well as Blackburn but Blackburn`s away performance and morale, especially how they lost against Everton and Fulham`s performances at Craven Cottage slightly makes them favourite against Blackburn. New transfer Ruiz will probably make first appearance and he will be unknown to the Blackburn defence.


Qpr really seems the worst team in the league and Newcastle made a flying start to the season. Their defensive record is also very strong and although Qpr made some strong signings like Barton and SWP, this also means they`re going to reorganize the team and this will take time. Also, some players are going to lose their place and this will also make them uncomfortable. Best, Gutierrez, Demba Ba and Obertan`s performances should seal another win for Newcastle.