24/25 October 2009

It's a shame gambling is mostly illegal in this country because these predictions will stop coming to fruition...soon. In fairness it didn't take too much insight to conceive of a low scoring yet competitive game between Liverpool and Manchester United. Sitting through so many stalemates over the past five years would cause anyone to wince at the thought of expansive and creative football emanating from this fixture.

Given the recent state of Liverpools fortunes, I wanted to start with the really surprising aspect of this important contest. Why did United allow their hosts to regain the composure and form necessary to achieve a relatively comfortable win?

Surely Manchester United were relishing, salivating even at the thought of turning the screw, ending the Mersey clubs title credentials before November. To be fair it was close until the final minutes when Liverpool added a certain gloss and huge relief to an immensely combative display. The obvious highlight being the goal from Torres just after the hour, leaving Rio Ferdinand and Van Der Sar as mere spectators as he scored brilliantly at the near post. You just couldn't shake the feeling that they missed an amazing opportunity. Bruised and groggy they appeared for the taking and yet they allowed Liverpool to clear their head and take the initiative.

Recently when playing against the top clubs Manchester United appear to have switched to a more pragmatic, even cautious approach that has allowed teams to play themselves into a contest. It's still very early to suggest this but Manchester United might find this year becoming a transitional season between one great team and progressing towards another. Their reliance on Ryan Giggs to be the creative hub of this team is surprising in only the lack of alternatives, Giggs of course is one of the Premiership's best players since it's conception in 1992.

Another game being played on Sunday was taking place at Upton Park, where West Ham and Arsenal participated in an entertaining London derby. Soft goals from Robin Van Persie and William Gallas had put the Gunners firmly in control before the end of the first half. Ironically Arsene Wenger had chosen a more cautious variation on his preferred formation and shipped two goals with only fifteen minutes remaining. The first might merely have been a reward for Carlton Cole as he battled for the cause. The second made Wengers face contort with rage as Cole was tripped by Alex Song resulting in a penalty that was calmly dispatched by Alessandro Diamanti. West Ham probably should have had a penalty earlier, it was certainly the more convincing of the two claims and so the managers venom was correctly placed at own his complacent team.

Much like bad refeering decisions, my coverage of the teams outside the top four should even itself out over the course of the season. Hopefully but there's no guarantees in football you know.