Sam’s Soccer ex-Stravaganza!
Hi haters,
Doesn’t get much more entertaining than the midweek games, the highlight of which was the back and forth slugfest between Liverpool and Arsenal that was capped off by an equalizer at the death by Joe “English Messi” Allen
It should go without saying what the lowlight was, but for those of you who need me to spell it out it involved Tottenham failing to capitalize on a billion chances before watching mighty Leicester waltz away with all three points. I know Spurs can’t have nice things, but for some reason this one hurt a little more than most…
Somehow, this is your fault
As for the transfer window, there are two more weeks to go and clubs have traditionally waited until the last minute in the hopes a desperate buyer
Dids zumbody says my nam?
will swoop in and pay waaaaay too much money. To make matters all the more interesting, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid were just penalized for breaking the same rule as Barcelona (signing foreign players when they are too young) and were banned from making any moves during the next two transfer windows, meaning who the hell knows what will become of David De Gea and Gareth Bale – among many others.
Drama drama drama, it’s what makes the world go round… should be a fun few weeks. For now though let’s focus on this weekend.
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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
It’s been a long week of traveling for yours truly but I just touched down back in the beloved Midwestern backwater I call home. Point being, like the post on Tuesday, I’m keeping this post a little brief for everybody’s sanity. Here’s a quick reminder of what happened on Tuesday and Wednesday:
– Hottest club over the last six games has been Arsenal (13 points), which will come as little surprise as they now sit atop the table, but anyone wanna guess who is the second hottest? Thaaaaat’s right, it’s West Ham (12 points) followed by Leicester and City (11 points for both).
– At the other end of the spectrum, there is a dead heat among four clubs that have managed just five points from six games: Swansea, Newcastle, Villa and Louis Van Gaal’s Arrrrrrrrrmy… though Everton fans shouldn’t laugh too hard as the holiday season has not been kind to the Toffees, who’ve earned six points from its last six.
– Newcastle vs United and Liverpool vs Arsenal both offered the kind of attacking soccer that the EPL was once known for. Too damn bad managers have become such conservative little bitches lately.
Such a trendsetter
– Watford had a hell of a first half but I’m a little tired about their staying power. Falling to Southampton means the Hornets have lost three on the trot, making Monday’s game at desperate Swansea quite an interesting affair.
For the moment, this is how things stand:
As for the games coming up this weekend, here’s what we got…
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PICKS OF THE WEEK
Not quite the laundry list of tasty matchups this weekend as there was on the midweek slate but still plenty of interesting games on deck, though the big’n of the weekend is obviously…
Liverpool (+130)
United (+220)
Draw (+225)
United had not scored more than two goals in a game since mid-October (at Everton), while Liverpool had not scored more than two goals in a game since October (at Chelski), and yet there they were pretending to be offensive juggernauts this past midweek. So can either retain enough momentum to take all the spoils in this one? Spoiler: No. I’m not a huge fan of Klopp’s current set-up with Firmino up top. He scored a rather lucky goal followed by a helllllllllluva strike against Arsenal, which I saw led a lot of people on twitter to anoint him the next Luis Suarez, but consider me in the “highly dubious” camp. United, on the other hand, finally saw some spunk from the heretofore lifeless Wayne Rooney… was it a sign of a renaissance or simply a lucky performance for a man being scouted heavily by the NASL? Too early to say, but if you ask me a sustained resurgence seems unlikely. As it is, I think both clubs may have used up most of their goals for the month this week, meaning Sunday’s game will be a tightly played affair. Gimme a 1-1 draw.
Chicks dig draws
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Chelsea (-135)
Everton (+360)
Draw (+270)
Chelsea comes out and shits the bed (almost) every game. Bookies respond by coming out and making them the favorites (almost) every time. You could have made a lottttttttttttttttttttt of money betting against the Blues (not to mention on Leicester) this season. This seems like a sucker line, and I am nothing if not a sucker. Everton is banged up but will have all of its difference makers out there, whereas Chelsea is still without Hazard – real talk: is that even a negative at this point? – but is otherwise fit as a fiddle. Based on Everton’s recent form (see above) there are obviously reasons to think Chelsea at home is the way to go, but the odds make it seem as though this is Arsenal (or 2014-15 Chelsea) hosting the game. Given the obvious upside potential, you’d be a fool not to go with the Toffees. Everton to win 3-2 in a wild one.
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Other games:
• Early bird special! Tottenham [-300] coming off a performance in which they likely deserved better, and know it, host a Sunderland [+825] club that took full advantage of Swansea being down a man to amass their largest haul of goals since a League Cup game against lowly Exeter in August. That game had more of a one-off feel to it though, and Spurs come into this game knowing full well that several clubs are now right on their ass after the Leicester slip-up. Call this a homer pick if you must, but deep down you know I’m right. Spurs to win 3-0.
• City [-265] will be missing Kompany and now Mangala at the back for this game, which has to give anybody pause when considering the tasty odds that Crystal Palace [+815] is getting. I thought long and hard about going with the Eagles but just couldn’t do it without Bolasie – who could’ve been huge given City’s weak spine – and Wackham failing to impress, I just couldn’t pull the trigger. Is this the game that Sergio Aguero remembers how to play soccer? Who knows at this point, though with Silva and Toure in the middle and Ginger/Mini-Blumpkin duo roaming the wings, it’s hard to see Palace keeping pace. I’m going with a close one, but City to win 2-1.
• Speaking of seemingly sucker lines, 10th place Watford [+225] being such big dogs against 17th place Swansea [+140] seems like a good example. The Swans have precisely ONE win since the start of November, including a loss to Oxford less than a week ago. But here are the rubs: (a) I have a strict one-sucker-bet-per-week rule, (2) Watford is a bit banged up at the moment and (iii) the Swans have too much talent to finish the season in the bottom quartile of the table… at some point they are gonna have to pick up some wins, and this weekend feels like a likely time to start. Swansea to win 1-0.
• I’m not making an official pick on the Villa/Leicester game, but alllllllls I’m saying is that I don’t necessarily like the Foxes. Why? Because sometimes soccer doesn’t make sense.
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REST OF EUROPE
La Liga: 2nd place Barrrrrrrrrthelona host 8th place Athletic Bilbao on Sunday (1:30pm on beIN Sports), and yes, that is right in the middle of the NFL playoffs… but that’s why god invented the DVR/second TV.
Serie A: The surprise package of the season is obviously 1st place Napoli, which faces off with 6th place Sassuolo on Saturday (1:45pm CT on beIN Sports).
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So there you have it, the best weekly soccer preview that Barstool will ever publish today. I’ll be back with some FA Cup replay action, including Spurs vs Leicester Round 3 (in 10 days), on Tuesday.
A+ finish
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