Premier League: Best 11 Players from Week 24

Posted on February 15, 2021 by David Bronstein

Manchester City have gone 7 points clear at the top of the Premier League and at this moment another league title looks inevitable for Pep Guardiola’s side. City swept Tottenham aside by beating them 3-0 at the weekend to win their 16th game of the season.

Leicester were brilliant as they stunned an out of sorts Liverpool by coming back from a goal down to beat the current champions 3-1. Leicester have 46 points and that is the same as 2nd placed Manchester United who have won just once in their last five games. Liverpool look out of the title race now and they are 13 points behind Manchester City and the league leaders have a game in hand over them.

Everton, Tottenham and Leeds have dropped off the pace for a European position as they were all beaten at the weekend but Arsenal beat Leeds 4-2 and they are just 5 points from a possible European finish.

Let’s check out the team of the week below and you can see if any of your players have made the grade.

Goalkeeper: Ederson Moraes- Manchester City 10pts

Ederson earned a huge 10 points as he kept a clean sheet against a strong opponent in Tottenham as Manchester City won 3-0. Ederson kept his 14th clean sheet of the season but the story of this game was that Ederson earned extra points as he actually assisted in one of the goals, very rare for a goal keeper.

Defender: Ola Aina- Fulham 7pts

Ola Aina had a superb game for Fulham as they won at Everton 2-0 in perhaps an unlikely result. The beauty of his game is that he helped keep a clean sheet and helped give Fulham 3 huge points and he assisted in the opening goal to cap off a great game for the defender. He is the top defender at Fulham and has 22 points so far.

Defender: Matthew Lowton- Burnley 9pts

Burnley beat Crystal Palace very convincingly at the weekend 3-0 and Matthew Lowton not only kept a clean sheet to earn the points but he also scored the last goal for Sean Dyche’s side. He has 28 points so far.

Defender: Joao Cancelo- Manchester City 5pts

The defender has been one of the best for Manchester City this season and is an integral part of the team. He earned 5 points as City beat Tottenham 3-0 and that means he has kept 12 clean sheets this season and with 64 fantasy points earned is currently the number 1 defender at the club.

Defender: Lewis Dunk- Brighton 5pts

Lewis Dunk now has 28 points for Brighton and he is the best defender for the club presently. Dunk kept his seventh clean sheet of the season and that is impressive for a club like Brighton, who at times, have struggled this season. His value is 7m.

Midfielder: Ilkay Gundogan- Manchester City 10pts

If Manchester City win the league then Ilkay Gundogan would have been a big part of the reason, he has simply been superb for the club and earned a staggering 10 points this week. Gundogan scored 2 goals against Tottenham and now has 13 goals and has also assisted another 5 times so far.

Midfielder: Rodrigo- Manchester City 6pts

Rodrigo opened the scoring for City as they beat Tottenham 3-0. He had to keep his cool to convert the penalty and ultimately that set up the rest of the game. It was an important goal for the midfielder as it was his 1st league goal of the season.

Midfielder: Ruben Neves- Wolves 6pts

Wolves have been under pressure lately but Ruben Neves helped ease that as they beat Southampton away from home 2-1. Neves opened the scoring for his club and then assisted in the match winner for an all round great performance.

Midfielder: Johann Gudmundsson- Burnley 6pts

Burnley went a long way to staying up by beating Crystal Palace 3-0 away from home and there was joy for Gudmundsson who has suffered a few injuries this season but scored the first goal which set up his team for all 3 points.

Striker: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang- Arsenal 14pts

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has had a poor season by his standards by the Arsenal striker was back to his very best as he helped the Gunners beat Leeds United 4-2. Aubameyang scored a fantastic hat-trick including a penalty to put his name back amongst the very best in the Premier League. He has 8 goals so far in the league this season.

Striker: Jay Rodriguez- Burnley 6pts

Jay Rodriguez was able to earn six points at the weekend as Burnley beat Crystal Palace 3-0. Rodriguez scored the 2nd goal after just 10 minutes and assisted in the clubs third goal to wrap up a great win. Rodriguez has scored just once now but he has been injured for a long spell and has a total of 3 points as he was on minus before.

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Attack, attack, attack – How Leeds United became one of the most exciting teams in Europe

Posted on February 11, 2021 by David Bronstein

Leeds United have been a breath of fresh air this season in the Premier League after spending the previous 16 years in the Championship. At the beginning of the season many expected Marcelo Bielsa’s side to struggle for the majority of the campaign and go straight down, instead they have been, on most occasions brilliant.

Leeds won’t be winning anything this season but that was never the objective, only survival was. However manager Bielsa had something else in mind, the Argentinian realised that the best form of defence in the Premier League is attack, plain and simple. Playing like that means they will lose heavy one week and win heavy the next and there has been a clear trend of that occurring. It has been wonderful and very entertaining to see.

Leeds United’s best games so far this season

Liverpool 4-3 Leeds United

Even though Leeds lost this game it was a statement match that the club were going to be a force this season. It was the opening weekend of the league season and the newly crowned champions Liverpool were ready to defend their title against the newly promoted side in Leeds. And what a game it was.

Leeds kept coming back when maybe they were not expected too and we were properly introduced to the likes of Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison who both scored. Liverpool won the game but it didn’t feel like it, that was the type of impact that Leeds had made.

Leeds United 4-3 Fulham

In Leeds very next game they were involved in another seven goal thriller but this time they won the game. Heider Costa had scored in the 5th minute to get the ball rolling and he would end up scoring a brace and Bamford got on the score sheet again. It was an important win and told everyone how Leeds can bounce back from defeat.

Leeds United 5-2 Newcastle United

Newcastle under Steve Bruce were expected to win this game mainly because of the experience that the club had gained in the Premier League. But Leeds attacking flowing and relentless football overwhelmed the Magpies and following goals by Bamford and Rodrigo, Leeds scored 3 goals in 11 second half minutes to smash Newcastle and end up winning 5-2 at home. By now in the season another player had emerged of quality in the team and that was Stuart Dallas who also scored in this game.

Leeds United 5-0 West Bromwich Albion

Given how poor West Bromwich Albion have been this season Leeds were expected to win. However for the most part whilst the Baggies have been losing games they have also been stubborn in defence. But they had no reply to the way Leeds were playing this game. An own goal flew into the back of the net inside the first ten minutes which set up this game nicely for Leeds. Another 4 goals followed- all by different scorers and some lovely ones to boot in an easy win for the home side.

What has made Leeds such a brilliant attacking side?

The simple answer is Marcelo Bielsa. Leeds have only really shown that passion and fight since Bielsa was appointed as manager. In his first season Leeds did well in the Championship and got to the play-offs but lost it, that would have been agonizing. In the clubs 2nd attempt they made no mistakes, this, after being stuck in the second tier of English football since 2004.

Bielsa has implemented a team that work hard and work the ball out from the back. The club are not afraid to bring their defenders forward and commit and some of their dummy play in midfield has created spaces and more opportunities to score. What has been revealing is that Leeds are a team who do not give up. Even earlier in the season when they played Manchester United and lost 6-2. Even at that score Leeds played as if they were just looking for one goal to level it up.

Of course the Manchester United defeat revealed when the tactics can go wrong, when Leeds play to attack against a very good attacking side, yes they will score a few but could lose heavy. But for the neutral and surely for the Leeds fan it is a joy to watch overall. Bielsa seems to prefer the 4-3-3 formation but you get the feeling that he would be happy to change that up to. Though hell would have to freeze over before he played 5 at the back, his philosophy on that is clear, what’s the point?

Leeds Top 3 performers this season

1. Patrick Bamford 59pts

2. Jack Harrison 44pts

3. Mateusz Klich 31pts

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Huesca relegated as Valencia continue push for Champions League qualification

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Shane Clancy

Valencia turned on the style to hit Huesca for six, confirming relegation for the bottom-of-the-league side in the process.

Marcelino’s team bounced back from their 3-1 Europa League semi-final first leg defeat at Arsenal in the best possible way.

It took just two minutes for the away side to take the lead. Daniel Wass was allowed far too much space on the edge of the box before putting his shot past Roberto Santamaria in the Huesca goal.

In the 16th minute, Rodrigo raced onto Santa Mina’s pass to round the ‘keeper and roll the ball in to make it 2-0 to Valencia. Continue reading →

Atletico Madrid go back to basics to get results

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Feargal Brennan

Atletico Madrid look to have recovered from their slow start to the season, with Diego Simeone’s side unbeaten in their last five games in La Liga and Champions League action.

Los Rojiblancos won just one of their opening four La Liga games, with underwhelming performances and just three goals scored.

Their start was particularly frustrating for fans after their impressive showing in the European Super Cup Final, where they beat bitter rivals Real Madrid in Tallinn.

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Spain may have turned a corner under Enrique

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Jamie McLean

Spain began their UEFA Nations League campaign with an impressive 2-1 win against Gareth Southgate’s England at Wembley, indicating they may have just turned a corner since their turbulent World Cup campaign. The appointment of Luis Enrique as Julen Lopetegui’s permanent replacement was seen by many as a positive move towards getting the Spaniards back to their best after a disappointing campaign in Russia this summer. Lopetegui was sacked just days before Spain’s first game in the tournament and while stand-in Fernando Hierro deserves credit for leading the nation to the tournament in such difficult circumstances he did not seem to be the right man for the job, hence Enrique’s appointment.

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Rodri Hernandez will shine in the centre of midfield for Atletico Madrid

Posted on August 19, 2018 by Asif Norat

Atletico Madrid look more than ready for the 2018/19 campaign, as their recent, monumental victory against local rivals Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup final showed that they have the attacking force and squad depth to go on to competing in all competitions they take part in on all fronts.

With Gabi leaving the Spanish side after spending just over ten years within the first-team at his boyhood club, it will be up to Rodri to fill in the huge void left by the 35-year-old. It may sound like a hard job for him to complete, however, the Spanish midfielder has the capability with his number of abilities to go on to being a huge influence in the middle of the pitch for Diego Simeone’s team.

At the age of 22, Rodri has arrived at the Wanda Metropolitano for €20 million on a five-year deal, which is regarded as a fairly low fee for someone who has a lot of potential in today’s market. Just before the signing had become official by the club, it was quite a surprise to see that both Barcelona and Real Madrid did not show any signs at all of being interested in the former Villarreal player.

The central midfielder showed off his quality on a regular basis at Villarreal last season, where he came in for the injured Bruno Soriano and came up with a huge number of complete performances week in and out. Due to his natural knack of snuffing out the danger in his own half to setting his team off on the counter, there are no doubts that he will go on to have a successful career.

Atletico Madrid’s signing of Rodri should be seen as a fantastic piece of business completed by a club that are predicted to challenge for the La Liga and are expected to go far in the Champions League. Not only that, but the other signings of Gelson Martins, Nikola Kalinic, Santiago Arias and Thomas Lemar will only help Simeone and his men to achieve the objectives they have set out from the start.

Rodri returning to Atletico was eventually going to happen soon or later, given that he was born in the capital city of Spain and had spent just over six years in Los Rojiblanco’s youth academy before moving to Villarreal. Just before he had left, he was told by the coaches that managed and taught him on a day-to-day basis that he lacked the ideal physical strength to play for the club at any level.

Five years later, he returns to Atletico as one of the best up and coming central midfielders in the league, and is simply ready to silence the critics who had second thoughts on him back when he was a teenager. Also, Rodri playing week in and out for one of the best clubs in Spain and in Europe will only increase his chances of being recognised by Luis Enrique, who is the national coach of Spain.

Now, the main question is whether Simeone will stick to his style of play or will allow his team to play expansive football. If that was the end outcome, Rodri would have been perfect at producing many types of balls into the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Diego Costa and Thomas Lemar. Meanwhile, he is currently doing fine in his role of playing at the centre of midfield, where he controls and dominates play on both sides of the pitch within the well balanced and effective 4-4-2 formation.

Iago Aspas must start for Spain against Portugal

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Jason Pettigrove

Not long now until Spain take on Portugal in what’s expected to be one of the games of World Cup 2018.

Though Julen Lopetegui still remains unbeaten as Spain coach since taking the job from Vicente del Bosque, there’ve been a few worrying signs in their last two friendlies against Switzerland and Tunisia.

Neither side pose the same threat as Cristiano Ronaldo and Co., and yet they made life difficult for La Roja in their warm-up games for the tournament.

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Germany and Spain lay out draw in La Liga-studded clash

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Joe Thomas

With La Liga action being suspended for the international break, we took the opportunity to take a look at how many of the Spanish division’s top stars performed in the clash between Germany and Spain at the ESPRIT Arena – a game that saw Barcelona’s Marc Ter Stegen and Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos play for the hosts, as sixteen leading La Liga players featured in total.

Having come off the back of a successful qualifying group in which they won nine of their ten fixtures, Spain arrived in the game brimming with confidence and a desire to prove themselves against an elite side having whimpered out of the last two tournaments. Continue reading →

The star La Liga performers over the international weekend

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Joe Thomas

No La Liga action from the week just gone but here are some of the star performers to have emerged from Spain’s premiere division from the international break!

Kaylor Navas, Costa Rica

The Madrid goalkeeper has been put under immense scrutiny over a tepid campaign for Los Blancos but secured a clean sheet for his national side in their 1-0 victory over Scotland.

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