Tag: EPL

Brilliance of Cole Palmer and why he’s arguably PL POTS

Since arriving after the start of the 23/24 Premier League season, he has been nothing but a revelation at Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino. The signing was made after the Blues had failed to strike a deal with Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise, who opted to stay as he signed a contract extension.

This led to the pursuit of Cole Palmer from Manchester City and was a transfer which shocked many. For just £40m, the Englishman is already well on his way to proving his worth in a Chelsea side that has struggled for a talisman in attack since the departure of Eden Hazard in 2019.

Technical elegance, positional awareness in dropping deep and making runs into half-spaces where he has had caused havoc as well as not being afraid to have the odd pop at goal as he did against Manchester United (A) and Luton (A). His chance creation and conversion has been in my opinion, better than expected but credit must also be given to Pep Guardiola. His awareness, pass selection and composure on the ball is evidently clear to see. Credit must be given to Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff for coaching such a talent into becoming one of the best young talents in the Premier League.

The hype around the Englishman is even more impressive when you consider he has 8 goals and 4 assists in the Premier League whilst only joining Chelsea on game-week 5. 15 goals and assists in 16 starts in all competitions. Wow. There is a strong case to be made that Cole Palmer would already be in double digits for goals in the league alone, had he joined from the start of the season.

It wouldn’t be too early to suggest he’s in with a shout for Premier League POTS/YPOTS, should he continue his hot run of form throughout the season. He’s come into a ever-changing and dysfunctional Chelsea side and has stood out since.

With the return of Christopher Nkunku and potentially a proven striker in January, it will be fascinating to see how Chelsea perform offensively with the talent Mauricio Pochettino has at his disposal. The profiling conundrum still persists with Enzo Fernandez but can Pochettino get it to work with all 3 of Nkunku, Enzo and Palmer in the side? Only time will tell.

He has been nominated in contention for the EA December POTM award. Vote for Cole Palmer here: https://potm.easports.com/

Foden Prospers In 3-1 Victory Over Everton

Foden scores a brilliant goal to inspire the comeback for city against a defiant Everton side.

More Injury worries for City as John Stones goes off with what looks like a nasty ankle injury.

Man City get their 1st win in 6 games at Goodison Park with a star studded performance from the England international grabbing himself an amazing 35 yard longshot from outside the box.

Julian Alvarez scores a penalty that slyly beats Pickford down the middle of the net with Bernardo Silva scoring a goal from a Pickford mistake after a failed clearance leaving an open goal for Silva to chip it into.

This win comes from being 1-0 down at half time with an injury to Stones, fans were worried for the second half to kick off, but worries seemed to disappear with a 3-1 comeback against the toffees.

Without Erling Haaland, De Bruyne and Doku, they managed to comeback and win with another injury being added.

This win puts them 2 points behind Villa with a game in hand being 5 points off of the top. This win was crucial for Pep’s side and their title chances going into 2024.

Erling Haaland FURIOUS After 3-3 Draw To Spurs

Simon Hoopers sparks controversy across social media with shocking decision late into the game which could’ve won the game for the home side.

Manchester City drop points in decisive game for the title run with spurs getting 3 goals against the treble winners.

Erling Haaland results to social media after being seen visibly offended with the decision for Simon Hooper to call for a pull back for a City freekick after Jack Grealish was through on goal in the last minutes of the game.

City drop points to a weakened spurs in a game that was realistically a must win for Guardiolas side.

Despite dropping points and a shock decision, that isn’t the only thing wrong with this side yesterday with 2 of the players dropping off of the next game with the glue of the side Rodri getting his 5th yellow card and Grealish getting his 5th yellow card means that they both miss out on the came this coming Wednesday against Aston Villa.

A positive that Manchester City can take from this game is that their £100 million signing Jack Grealish ended his goal drought with a goal here at the Etihad despite him not being able to play against his old club Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Manchester City are now sitting 3rd in the Premier League 3 points off of Arsenal in the top spot once again.

Tottenham finish their loss run after 3 games with a draw at the Etihad putting them 5th 6 points off of the top.

Spurs Without MANY Key Players To Face Treble Winners

This Sunday, 3rd December, Manchester City welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad Stadium to what is leaning to be a very important game for either team.

Tottenham have lost the last three premier league games in a row, leading up to this fixture with the Champions. With many injuries haunting them in these three losses.

They are coming into this game against the home side with a huge number of first time injuries that will hammer the chances they have to leave this fixture with any points.

With James Maddison’s injury earlier in the season, Spurs seem to have taken a big hit from this injury specifically with his linkup play not available for Son.

In the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, Heung-min Son put 3 goals in the back of the net for all of them to be called offside and this inevitably led to their defeat at home.

Despite looking beaten down already, Spurs are coming into a stadium where Manchester City are unbeaten for over a year only dropping points once, to Liverpool last week.

Manchester City recently overcame a 2 goal deficit midweek in the Champions League with a 3-2 victory over RB Leipzig at the Etihad with a stunning POTM performance from Phil Foden.

Coming into the game, Manchester City are heavy favourites with only having Kevin De Bruyne completely out of action from the first side team. John Stones has made his return to training and appeared on the bench for City against Liverpool and Leipzig despite not getting any minutes.

Erling Haaland currently has 14 goals in the Premier League 4 goals ahead of second place Salah. With records still being broken by the Norwegian, City fans can be confident in the fact that he should score a standard goal against this broken Spurs side on Sunday.

The game is set to take place on Sunday 3rd of December at 4:30pm GMT at the Etihad Stadium.

Newcastle vs Chelsea: Blues favourites against out-of-form Newcastle side?

Chelsea will look to continue their good form after the international break as Pochettino’s men travel to Newcastle in hope of picking up maximum points against a Newcastle side that still remain without key players.

Prior to the international break, Chelsea scored 8 goals combined against Spurs and Manchester City. Chelsea fans will hope to see the goals continuing to flow as a win may take them up to 8th in the league.

Uncertainties remain as to whether Longstaff will start. Livramento set to start as he faces his boyhood club. Botman, Targett, Burn, Wilson and Murphy still unavailable.

Newcastle will look to bounce back after a 2-0 loss away at relegation candidates, Bournemouth. Performance which led to Toon fans demanding more from Kieran Trippier and his side in the encounter that followed after full-time.

As for the away side, Pochettino earlier confirmed in press conference that the return of Christopher Nkunku is too soon for trip to Newcastle. However, he remains ahead of Romeo Lavia in rehabilitation phase and is in team training. It is expected he will return to action in time for Manchester United away on 6th Dec.

Wesley Fofana is also back but won’t feature against Newcastle. The backline that featured against Man City, consisting of Cucurella, Silva, Disasi and James is expected to remain in place.

And just how good has this man (pictured above) been this season? 4 goals and 2 assists in the Premier League whilst adapting to a young and inexperienced Chelsea side only emphasises the maturity and quality that Cole Palmer possesses.

The Englishman ranks in top 6 p90 for ‘most passes breaking back line’ in the Premier League this season, with 10.4 ranking just below James Maddison and 2 behind the ever-creative Trent Alexander-Arnold.

If Chelsea are to pick up the 3 points at St James Park, you will assume most of the attacks will come down the right flank with Cole Palmer inverting or going on the outside up against Kieran Trippier or Livramento who aren’t naturally familiar playing on the left side. Also considering James’ tendency to get on the overlap/underlap, this should create numerous opportunities for Chelsea to score should Pochettino’s side turn up anywhere near as they did against Manchester City.

It’s another big test for Chelsea and Pochettino himself amongst many Chelsea fans will be expecting 3 points considering Newcastle haven’t been in the best of form this season.

Newcastle may well have one-eye on their encounter away at PSG midweek – the perfect time to play Newcastle away? Lets hope so.