Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and both Manchester teams claim wins in Premier League

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The Christmas period saw the elite clubs draw a few points clear from the rest in the Premier League as they all claimed victories.

Chelsea look simply irresistible with yet another win this time the victims were Bournemouth who went down 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea remain on course to beat Arsenal’s Premier League record of 14 wins in a row. By the end of January we will know if Antonio Conte’s men were successful or not. But right now few would bet against it.

Liverpool remain 2nd and Jurgen Klopp’s side still have a genuine chance of winning the English league title for the first time in 27 years. The Reds are just two wins behind Chelsea and as previous seasons have shown football and results can change very quickly. Klopp’s team are looking like the real deal though where they have won 12 of their 18 matches and have scored the most goals in the Premier league with 45. Four of those were against Stoke City in their last match.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have bounced back too after a November to forget and have now surged into 3rd place with three wins in a row. They have scored 7 goals in those matches and conceded just one and the former Barcelona manager will be delighted with his teams response. With striker Sergio Aguero expected back after a three game suspension, City who are currently just a point adrift of Liverpool have to be considered as one of the title contenders.

And then there is Arsenal and Arsene Wenger a team who are starting to become comfortable with being known as the club who are 4th. Back to back losses against Everton and Manchester City sent the Londoners from joint first to fourth in a week but the club has responded since then with a win if heavy weathered over West Bromwich Albion 1-0.

Tottenham are in 5th place and chasing down their north London rivals as they look even sharper and fitter than last season. They are determined to at least hold onto a top five spot but its evident in their play that they want to finish higher. Their recent 4-1 demolition of Southampton (and it could have been more) was a joy to behold and underlined what a great display it was given that they had gone a goal behind.

Manchester United seem happy with Jose Mourinho despite a rather lacklustre start to the season. However the club has picked up 13 of their last 15 available points and on form would be second in the table only to Chelsea. Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has refound his form that seemed to desert him in September and this could go a long way to achieving at least a Champions League berth for Mourinho’s team.

With wins for the top six teams a gap has been created at one game to go before the mid way point of the season. This is evidenced in Everton a position behind United who are on 26 points and seven behind the Red Devils.

Right now Chelsea are making it look very easy in arguably the hardest league in Europe to win, will anything give for Conte’s men? If so there are at least three other teams waiting in the wings it what should be an intriguing second half of the season.

 

Best Serie A Strikers so far this season

Mauro Icardi

We will wrap up ‘Best of Serie A’ features by looking at the best strikers in the league this season so far. The 2016-17 season of Serie A has almost reached its half-way point, and we have already witnessed some standout striking performances in the first half of the season. The likes of Mauro Icardi and Gonzalo Higuain have made our list.
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Best Serie A Midfielders so far this season

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Today, we concentrate on best-performing midfielders and forwards in Serie A this season. First up, let’s take a look the five best midfielders in Serie A so far this season. Surprisingly, there are no Juventus players on our list, but the likes of Napoli, Roma and AC Milan are represented in the list.
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Best Serie A defenders so far this season

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Atlanta have been quite a surprise in Serie A this season. They currently occupy the sixth spot and are just two points behind third-placed Napoli. Their success has been built on defensive solidarity, and that reflects in our fantasy football rankings. Atlanta goalkeeper Etrit Berisha occupied the top spot in our goalkeeper list, and now two Atlanta defenders sit at the peak of our top-five Serie A defenders list. Continue reading

Best Serie A goalkeepers so far this season

wojciech szczesny roma

Italian football is going through a winter break, and that means Serie A fantasy football is also on a break until January 7. While football takes a break in continental Europe, we have decided to take a glance at the best performers in the major European Leagues. In this feature, we are covering the top five goalkeepers in Serie A so far this season. Continue reading

Best La Liga Defenders so far this season

Victor Ruiz of Villarreal

A look at this list makes one realize why Villarreal are doing so well in La Liga this season. The Yellow Submarines, placed fourth in the league table, have the meanest defence in the league and that very well reflects on our list. The top three spots on our list are occupied by the players of Villarreal. Continue reading

Best La Liga Goalkeepers so far this season

Sergio Asenjo

La Liga has entered the winter break, and there won’t be any games in the top tier of Spanish football until January 7.

Hence, instead of coming up with top five goalkeepers for the upcoming game week, we have decided to put together a list of top five goalkeepers in Spain this season. Continue reading

Nice go clear as French Ligue 1 is shaping up to be the best in years

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It was a weekend in France where you had to catch your breath on several occasions. Surprise league leaders Nice won again, all conquering Monaco fell to pieces at home to Lyon and then the shocks of shocks was seeing PSG lose again this time to Guingamp who have a population of roughly 7,000 souls.

First to Nice who as expected overcame Dijon in the south of France with the help of a returning Mario Balotelli who scored both of their goals in a 2-1 win. Balotelli has been a reinvented player since swapping the Premier League for Ligue 1 and it is for now paying dividends for Nice. The club has now pulled out a four point lead at the top and have lost just once all season. They will be looking to win the league for the first time in almost 60 years.

Monaco took on Lyon meanwhile and whilst this has in recent years been one of the stand out fixtures and closest, Monaco were expected to win. But Lyon who have had plenty of their own troubles this season rewound the clock back a decade to when they dominated the league and there was only ever going to be one winner.

The visitors were in total control from the first minute and a lacklustre and off key Monaco who had averaged 3 goals a game going into this were soundly beaten 3-1. To add salt to the wounds Benjamin Mendy was given a straight red card and will now miss the next three league fixtures.

And then there is PSG, a team who are undoubtedly a shadow of themselves from last season. This time last year PSG had an 11 point advantage at the top now they find themselves in 3rd place and 7 points adrift of Nice. Their 4th defeat of the season and two in the last three games came at the hands of Guingamp who themselves are having a terrific season. It took the French champions to go two goals down before we saw any kind of reaction. With ten minutes to go Edinson Cavani who is having an outstanding last few weeks pulled a goal back. But it was all in vain. PSG have now gone 3 matches without a win and the pressure is mounting on coach Unai Emery, with some suggesting a loss against Lorient in midweek will spell the end of his short term in charge of the Parisians.

Finally we shouldn’t forget about the 2010 champions Marseille who have re-awoken after a slumber start, they now have 3 wins in a row under their belt and are serious contenders to hunt for a European place.

With recent seasons being dominated by PSG and then before by Lyon this one is really turning out to be something else. There are three genuine contenders for the title in Nice, Monaco and PSG and as this weekend has proven any one of them can lose in any given game. All of a sudden Ligue 1 has become exciting and unpredictable and that can only be a major plus in a league which has been crying out for this since the turn of the century.

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Premier League Weekend Round Up

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With one game left to play in round seventeen of the Premier League, Chelsea extended their lead at the top to seven points, while Swansea and Hull City’s problems at the bottom end of the table only got worse.

Chelsea were first to kick-off at the weekend and they made no mistake as they ran out comfortable 1-0 winners, away to Crystal Palace. It was their eleventh win on the bounce and Diego Costa scored his thirteenth goal of the season. With nearest challengers Arsenal blowing a half time lead over Manchester City and conspiring to lose 2-1, Chelsea now hold a seven point lead at the top of the table, although a win for Liverpool, who go into their match in the Merseyside derby full of confidence and scoring with ease would see them close the gap to six points.

Arsenal have now lost their last two, and although they have been tricky matches, they would have expected to take something from them and their title challenge is now in the balance. They have gone from being joint-top last weekend to fourth place and they have left very little marging for error.

Pep Guardiola, who was under pressure to deliver this weekend couldn’t have started worse as his Manchester City side went behind after five minutes to a Theo Walcott goal. However, they looked like a totally different side in the second half and goals from Sadio Mane and Raheem Sterling ensured the points stayed in Manchester.

At the other end of the table, there was some joy for Sunderland. David Moyes team, who looked certain for the drop have now won four of their last seven and their win over Watford at the weekend seen them climb up to eighteenth in the table. There is still a lot of work to be done, but that win and their current form should give them some much-needed confidence as we enter the holiday period.

elsewhere, both Hull City (who now sit bottom with twelve points) and Swansea City both lost. Both sides failed to score and Hull have now picked up just two points from the last eighteen on offer. Swansea’s from is a little better, with seven points gained from their last eighteen, but both sides will have to put some kind of run together should they wish to be playing Premier League football next season.

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