English Premier League: Analysing the festive fixtures

Though most of the major leagues of Europe (e.g LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A) shut shop for this part of the year, the Premier League witnesses its most busy period during these very days, and most Premier League squads are tested to the maximum at this time. The short gaps between matches i.e., around 2-3 days, as opposed to the general 6-7 day gap, forces most managers to test their bench strength. It is in these games that teams with European experience fare the best, because they are used to 2-3 day cycles as opposed to teams without European experience. Hence the cliche of the ‘table taking shape’.

Well, now that all the festive fixtures have concluded, let’s view the situation pre-December 25th and the situation post January 2nd.

We look at only 3 teams i.e., Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, because I feel that only these 3 teams are in the race for the Premier League (no offence to Arsenal and Tottenham fans intended).

The table pre December 25th (in the order of Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points)

1. Manchester United 18-14-1-3-43

2. Manchester City 18-11-6-1-39

3. Chelsea 17-9-5-3-32

4. Arsenal 18-8-6-4-30

The table post 2nd Jan.

1. Manchester United 21-17-1-3-52

2. Manchester City 21-13-6-2-45

3. Tottenham 21-12-3-6-39

4. Chelsea 20-11-5-4-38

So what happened in the festive fixtures?

Manchester United

26th December vs Newcastle (H): Manchester United conceded the first goal, as has been the case with most United matches this season. James Perch scored in the fourth minute itself, putting pressure on Manchester United early on. Jonny Evans equalised in the 25th minute and then wrote off his own hardwork by scoring an own goal just 3 minutes afterwards. Patrice Evra scored off a long ball from Robin Van Persie in the 58th minute, but Newcastle again took the lead in the 68th minute via Papiss Cisse. RvP proved his worth once again by scoring the equaliser just 3 minutes later, showing that he is the best striker in the EPL. Javier Hernandez scored the winning goal in injury time and clinched the match for United.

Result: Victory for Manchester United (4-3)

29th December vs West Bromwich Albion(H): Manchester United scored early on thanks to an own goal from McAuley, who diverted a cross from Ashley Young into his own net. The match went without another goal until Robin Van Persie, in injury time, doubled their lead and sealed the match in favour of the hosts. Another notable feature was the return of Vidic (You surely were wondering how the hell did Manchester United keep a clean sheet).

Result: Victory for Manchester United (2-0)

1st January vs Wigan Athletic (A): Well, for people who love some side stories, it was this very fixture last year which Manchester United lost, and which triggered their dip in form, finally costing them the title (Remember the 8 point lead which Manchester United squandered in the last stage of the previous season?). However, Ferguson’s men did not let any such thing happen again this time around, with Van Persie and Hernandez tearing through Wigan Athletic, scoring two goals apiece. It was a United day on the field and Wigan were just left licking their wounds.

Result:Victory for Manchester United (4-0)

Manchester City

26th December,vs Sunderland (A): Adam Johnson? Does it ring a bell, City fans? Well, the former City player scored the all-important goal against his former club, giving Sunderland a surprise victory over the “Citizens”. City even saw the gap increase with United winning against Newcastle.

Result: Defeat for Manchester City (1-0)

29th December vs Norwich City (A): Edin Dzeko gave a flying start to City with 2 goals in 4 minutes. However, Pilkington scored one in the 15th minute. Sergio Aguero made it 3-1 in the 50th minute before Russel Martin scored in the 63rd minute to make it 3-2. Edin Dzeko produced another goal just 4 minutes later on when a shot came off the post and went in off the Norwich goalkeeper. The goal was adjudged an own goal and thus Dzeko was denied a hat-trick. Russel Martin gave City a scare by scoring another goal. However, Norwich, which had defeated Arsenal and Manchester United at Carrow Road earlier this season, could not find an equaliser.

Result: Victory for Manchester City(4-3)

1st January vs Stoke City (H): It was a routine win for City as Pablo Zabaleta, Edin Dzeko, Sergio Aguero struck, clinching a 3-0 victory for City.

Result:Victory for Manchester City(3-0)

Chelsea

26th December vs Norwich City (A): Riding on the back of a massive victory over Aston Villa (8-0), Chelsea could only produce a solitary goal at Carrow Road. Juan Mata’s strike in the 38th minute proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Result: Victory for Chelsea(1-0)

30th December vs Everton (A): Everton came off the blocks very fast, scoring within 63 seconds via Steven Pienaar. However, Frank Lampard proved his worth to Chelsea and showed why he is still indispensable to the club by scoring 2 goals, with one of them coming from a header off Ramirez’s cross.

Result: Victory for Chelsea (2-1)

2nd January vs QPR (H): Shaun Wright Philips dealt a blow to Chelsea’s already fading title hopes. His goal in the 78th minute proved to be the difference between the two sides. QPR, though languishing at the bottom of the table, got a fresh boost in their battle to avoid relegation by clinching their first away win in a year.

Result: Defeat for Chelsea (1-0)

It is often said that the Premier League is not won in December-January, but these fixtures surely give us a insight into how the race may pan out. As I already said, these fixtures give us a look into the bench strength of the teams, which could prove crucial, as from now on most of the clubs will have tough schedules, with FA Cup and European fixtures lined up alongside Premier League with the season nearing it’s business end. It is also a chance for managers to have a final look at their squad before the January transfer window, and to identify the weaknesses and create their shopping lists.

Manchester United: They could not have had a better set of results in these fixtures. They drew the maximum number of points i.e., 9 out of 9. They also seem to have found an answer to their defensive problems, as they kept 2 clean sheets. The return of Vidic has surely given their defense much needed solidity. With City suffering a defeat, it also extended their lead to 7 points. The only negative that came out from these fixtures was the knee injury to Wayne Rooney.

Manchester City: The loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light enabled arch rivals United to take a 7 point lead. Nasri got a 3 match ban. Defensive cracks were exposed in the match against Norwich City which the Mancunians could only win because of an own goal. City are surely missing Kolarov, Maicon and Micah Richards. Balotelli proved to be a problem again with his clash with Mancini in training, where both were found tugging and pulling at each other’s clothes.

Chelsea: Well, after that blast of a start to the season, what is Chelsea going through now? They are already eliminated from the Champions League where they earned the unenviable reputation of becoming the first title holders to be eliminated from the group stages itself. They came into the festive fixtures on the back of an 8-0 win over Aston Villa and a 5-1 win over Leeds United. There were talks of Rafa Benitez bringing a turnaround. Chelsea managed to scrape in with victories in the first 2 games, but QPR humbled them and Chelsea even fell to the 4th position, just behind Tottenham, though they have a game in hand. There were even talks of Torres finding the goals again, but he could not keep the momentum going. Surely, Chelsea should look for a new striker in the January window.

Well, as a final statement, Manchester United have surely emerged as a winner out of these fixtures but as they say “Picture abhi baaki hain, mere dost.” So, stay tuned because the Premier League may have more twists and turns coming.