This seasons Premier League just gets better and better. With so many twists and turns so far with all the major teams losing out at some point and with last years title winner wallowing mid-table, you’d be hard press to find any fan that’s certain that their team will win the league.
Last weekend was a perfect example with Chelsea just narrowly edging ahead of Norwich from thanks with Diego Costa.
Who would have predicted Liverpool would turn Man City over the way did at the Etihad?
It’s a feat no other team has been achieved under Pellegrini’s rule. And we’re not even half-way through the season! The only consistency we can see is with a strong Man United side, but with so many injuries to their strikers can they retain that level?
So the two main games that we have put under the spotlight this weekend are Man City vs Southampton and the London Derby between Tottenham vs Chelsea.
Man City vs Southampton
Pellegrini will certain be hoping that the shock defeat to Liverpool will be the last of the season and a wakeup call to the rest of the team that this season will not be a walk in the park with Chelsea out of contention. The win against Juve in the Champions League should put the players in a good frame of mind ahead of this weekend. I’d expect to see a cautious build-up to the game from City with the Saints having most possession during the frist 20 mins, but expect to see City edge ahead when the whistle goes.
Man City will be without defenders Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala, midfielders David Silva and Samir Nasri, and forward Wilfried Bony.
The Saints are without Jay Rodriguez and Florin Gardos.
Tottenham V Chelsea
It’s been some time since you say that Spurs has the edge over Chelsea going into a game, but that’s just what we have in prospect for the Sunday game. Chelsea may have won last weekends game to Norwich but it was hardly convincing.
With Chelsea still licking their wounds and their forwards lacking confidence in front of goal its highly possible that Spurs could win comfortably and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them two goals clear or their London rivals.
Tottenham’s injuries wosten with Nabil Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli and Alex Pritchard out of action.
Chelsea will be without striker Radamel Falcao, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, midfielder Ramires Santos and defender John Terry.