Reasons Why Man City Are So Strong

Premier League 2017/2018 season has been started and until the end November there is a frightening team which only lost 2 points. Manchester City. The Blue Manchester has collected 34 points until gameweek 12 and leave the second place with 8 points differences. These are the reason behind their strong campaign. 

Citizens new players (https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/is-this-how-manchester-city-will-line-up-in-20172018/

1. Transfer Policy
   Pep Guardiola first season in Man City was not successful although they had a very good started until October. One of the biggest problem was the defense. Last season, City’s defenders mostly more than 30 years old like Kolarov, Zabaleta, Clichy, and Sagna. Actually, they are a good defender, but their speed couldn’t adapt to Pep’s attacking style, so when the opponent started to launch counter attack, there’s a big hole left in defense. In addition, their new transfers in goalkeeper position, Claudio Bravo, had a worst season because of blunders he made game by game. On the other hand, their main targetman Sergio Aguero suffered injury and decreasing performance after injury.
   
   
   The transfer policy began on January 2017, when they landed young talented Brazilian striker, Gabriel Jesus. The impact was positive, he scored goals and also boosted Aguero’s performance. Unfortunately, Jesus also suffered injury and the gap with the leader, Chelsea, was too far. The Manchester Blue finished the season with no trophy, first for Guardiola in his coaching.
   
   
   Facing new season, 2017/2018, The Citizens are the most serious team in transfer policy. They let a lot of players who is not in manager’s plan depart with cheap price or on loan, mostly defense players, like Joe Hart, Kolarov, Zabaleta, and the others. Man City determined to arrive fresh defenders and goalkeeper although they had to spend a lot of money. For right back position, City expensed 80 mil Euro for two players. They also spent 40 mil Euro for a goalkeeper, a new world record transfer for goalkeeper. In total, The Citizens purchased almost 180 mil Euro for three new defenders and goalkeeper. Besides defense players, Pep also has a new talented winger to improve the attacker for 50 mil Euro.
   
   
   The impact of the transfer policy was very positive, Pep can his attacking style with fresh leg for wingback/fullback and defense players, even for the team, they had more cleansheet this season until GW 12 than before.
    
2. Improvement in Game Play
   The new players bring positive energy for Man City attacking style. With Guardiola’s favorite 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 formation, the new players who are also in manager’s request, settle with the team style very well. Duo creative players, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva have more freedom to create chances every game from central midfield, they can pass to two wingers, two wingbacks, or the striker, even they can also go forward or take a shot. The distance between players far better this season, they play attractive football, the pressing line is also very good, and the most improvement is in defense. 
   
   
3. Confident
   Fresh players in defense, attractive play, score a lot of goals, concede less, bringing win game by game to the Citizens squad. Until GW12, Man City only failed to win a game in PL when they met Everton at the beginning of the season. The rest, they won all matches in the League, domestic league cup, even they are still perfect in Champions League. It boosts their mood game by game, bringing them to the top of their confident to win every game even when they had to concede first at away game like Champions League match against Napoli. If the manager and his management always do their best to keep the players’ mood on and off the pitch, Manchester City without a doubt will be still at the top of the league until Christmas.

As the result of their performance, Manchester City is top of the league with 40 goals scored and only 7 goals conceded until GW 12. The rivals absolutely must work harder if they want to challenge the Citizens to win the Premier League this season.

Most Important Striker in PL part 2

Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Sergio Aguero are the deadliest goal-scorer in PL 2016/2017 season. Until GW 26, their goals are in double digit number. This article will continue the analysis how big the rest of the strikers' influence to their team.

From the 4^th rank on the table, Arsenal with their sharp goal scorer Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean is not naturally a striker, he is a winger. At the first two season with The Gunners, he played at wing, usually left wing forward. After the club failed to land any top targetman to compete with Giroud, Arsene Wenger decided to put Sanchez at center forward due to French striker fitness after Euro 2016. The experiment surprisingly made Sanchez more dangerous because he becomes more flexible to score goals, make assist, create chance, and run between defenders as a false 9. Until PL GW 26, the former Barcelona man has scored 17 goals and created 8 assists, the highest number from the others. Unfortunately, during his on fire form this season, the club look to have high dependence to him. Sanchez is not supported by his teammates, who have problem with winning mentality in a big game. When Arsenal drew 3-3 against Bournemouth after left behind 3-1, Alexis’ gesture showed his disappointment fail to win, meanwhile his teammates were satisfied to the result. Another reaction is showed when Arsenal is humiliated by Bayern 1-5, he looked very frustrated to accept the defeat. Alexis might have his best form this season, but his team still have problem with their mentality at big game. If the situation does not change next season, he may leave the club, moreover his contract is until 2017, and yet to sign a new contract.

Turn to 6th rank on the table, there is Man United with their world class striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Old but gold, that is the suitable word to describe this player. He is 35 years old when he came to England, some people said he is too old to compete in Premier League. Zlatan breaks all negative comments about him and prove his ability with Man United. He has 15 goals in until GW 26 PL this season, in total he scored 26 goals in all competition. The newest one, he scored 2 goals, including one winning goal at EFL Cup final, to bring The Red Devils to be the champion. Similar to Sanchez, Ibracadabra is carrying his team this season, but the difference is the other Man United players (not all) and their manager have winning mentality to help Ibra. The only negative point of Ibra in Man United is the number of game Man United have at the rest of the season. The Red Devils still have to compete in the league, Europa League, and FA Cup. Mourinho must rotate Ibra for some match to keep his fitness at 35 y.o, it means Man Utd have to find another solution at center forward.

Last but not the least, Romelu Lukaku who scored 17 goals with Everton this season (until GW 26). The Belgian is big, strong, fast, and one of the most complete modern striker. The former Chelsea man becomes more mature since his arrival in England. This season, under new manager, Ronald Koeman, he is deadlier than before because the manager system support the striker more than previous manager’s system. In addition, he is in full confident right now. Because of Lukaku’s contribution, now The Toffees is in 7^th place. However, with 23 years old, he has similar problem with Harry Kane, his experience. But, if he continues this incredible form, then he go to bigger club, he can be world class striker in the future. 

	Diego Costa	Harry Kane	Sergio Aguero	Alexis Sanchez	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Romelu Lukaku
Minute Play	2127	1805	1422	2146	2160	2187
Game Started	24	21	14	24	24	24
Goals	16	17	11	17	15	17
Assist	5	4	0	8	4	4
Shot	73	63	80	91	102	68
Shot on target	32	32	33	37	42	36
Yellow Card	5	1	3	5	5	3
Red Card	0	0	1	0	0	0
Goal/game started	0.67	0.81	0.79	0.71	0.63	0.71
Goal/Shot on target	0.50	0.53	0.33	0.46	0.36	0.47

The table shows all strikers’ impact to their club until PL GW 26. The one who has biggest contribution is Alexis Sanchez, with the highest number of goal and assist. With that number of statistic, if Sanchez leave the club, it will be a big loss for Arsenal. Meanwhile, the most effective one is Harry Kane, with the highest goal/game started and goal/shot on target. Yes, he is absolutely a future world class British striker, and with his game number every season, he can be more dangerous and more experience than this season. However, as we can see, each of them has big contribution to their own club. That’s why they deserve to be called most important striker in PL this season.

Most Important Striker in PL part 1

Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Sergio Aguero are the deadliest goal-scorer in PL 2016/2017 season. Until GW 26, their goals are in double digit number. This article will analyze how big their influence to their team.

From the top of the PL table, Diego Costa, is leading Chelsea goal-scorer with 16 goals. After having difficult season with the team last season, his performance back again like he showed in his first season come to England. He is tall and strong, good pace, naughty, and hungry for goals as a targetman. The new manager, Antonio Conte, has applied a new tactic that look comfortable for the Spanish, and raise the striker confident to score goals. In addition, the most important thing is the change of Costa’s behavior on the pitch. Since the lost against Arsenal at Emirates with collecting four yellow cards in the league, he became to be a nice person, controlled his temperament, and focus to score goals and to win the match. As the result, he only had a yellow card from October to February, scored 9 goals in Chelsea’s 13 winning streak and became important player to The Blues.

At the second place of PL table, Tottenham Hotspurs with their PL top goalscorer with 17 goals, Harry Kane. The striker has been claimed as a targetman that English football is looking for after Alan Shearer by the media. He is tall enough to win a header, he has the pace to catch a through ball, and he can strike the ball outside the penalty box accurately. Furthermore, he is still 24 years old this year, so absolutely he is hungry for glory. Pocchetino’s tactic also look suit to him to score a lot of goals with the help from Erikson and Delle Ali behind him. Unfortunately, Kane and his team’s lack of experience in a big game is the negative point. In Euro 2016, Harry Kane, failed to score in the competition with England, who got knocked out in round of 16 against a country with only has 300,000 citizens, Iceland. In Champions League 2016/2017, Spurs were in 3^rd rank in the group behind AS Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen, because they lost to both team in two legs match and unable to show their performance in CL. The newest one, The Lily Whites failed to go further in Europa League because they couldn’t get a win in two legs against Belgian team, Gent. It became worst because they played second leg at home, but they embarrassingly lost at Wembley. Based on the of mentality of his team and him, Harry Kane might need two or three more years to become a champion in the league or Europe, unless he moves to bigger team like Man United or Man City next season.

Next player is Sergio Aguero, Manchester City best striker ever with 11 league goals this season. Since his arrival to Man City, he has been top goalscorer for the team and helped The Citizen to win two Premier League title. His goalscoring record is also in double digit number in a season in six seasons. His positioning, pace, dribbling, and shooting are his complete package to be a nightmare for any defender in the league. Unfortunately, his problem of injury is the biggest concern to the team. Besides, his temperament also another big trouble for the team. He has banned to play for 7 games in the league this season because his elbow to Stoke City players and his red card against Chelsea for high foot tackle. For that reason, Pep Guardiola benched him since the arrival of another hunger striker, Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian has started for three games and scored three goals, unfortunately he suffered injury at his PL third start. Jesus’ injury means a big chance to Aguero to perform. The Argentine started to show his best form again in Champions League round of 16 against Monaco at home, scored two goals in 5-3 dramatic win for Man City. If he consistently plays at his best, control his temperament, and stay away from injury, Man City has a big chance to overtake 2^nd place on the table, or even overtake Chelsea as the leader if they slip.

	Diego Costa	Harry Kane	Sergio Aguero	Alexis Sanchez	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Romelu Lukaku
Minute Play	2127	1805	1422	2146	2160	2187
Game Started	24	21	14	24	24	24
Goals	16	17	11	17	15	17
Assist	5	4	0	8	4	4

FA Cup Replay’s Effect for Liverpool

The oldest football competition in the world, FA Cup, has been begun for EPL team on the last weekend. Most PL team got a draw against lower division team, unless Man City v West Ham and Everton v Leicester City. Overall, the stronger teams won the 5^th round FA Cup preliminary round although there were some surprising results.

Jurgen Klopp has to think hard of his squad due to extra fixture on January. http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/249857-jurgen-klopp-on-fifa-fan-award-fans-of-lfc-and-bvb-should-be-proud

Man City started the FA Cup campaign with a big 5-0 win against West Ham away. Different with most PL team who rotated their squad, Guardiola only made a few changes in his squad and kept his strong starting line up on the game. At the end of the game, The Citizen had a tremendous victory, gave a revival signal to title contenders that they are back. A day later, the defending champion, Man United, also had a party at home against lower division team. Subsequently, three of top 6 PL London team also won the FA Cup match in different way. Chelsea had a convincing victory 4-1 at home against Peterborough despite the skipper, John Terry received red card at 65 minutes. Spurs found their win at second half by 2 goals scored after being held 0-0 by Aston Villa at first half. Meanwhile Arsenal must work hard to get their win after left behind 1-0 at first half before turned the situation into 2-1 at second half. The biggest surprising result was Liverpool, who got 0-0 draw against Plymouth at home.

Liverpool played with the youngest squad ever in their FA Cup history. Jurgen Klopp had to rotate his squad due to busy fixture before and after the match. Before FA Cup 5^th round match, most PL team played in hectic fixtures on December and new year period. After that, they will play League Cup (EFL) semifinal on the midweek and super big match away against rival, Man United three days later. In addition, they have to lose their key players. Sadio Mane leaves the squad to play in African Cup for at least three weeks, could be worse if his country goes to knockout phase. Meanwhile Phillipe Coutinho is still in recovery on his injury. He is estimated back to the pitch next week or could be on the bench in Man United game. For that reason, the German manager did a lot of changes in his squad at FA Cup match.

Consequently, The Reds still has to play vs Plymouth again on FA Cup replay match after United game, but this time at the Championship team’s home. If they want to win, of course Jurgen Klopp has not to play the same young squad again, at least he must add some key players to play with young players. Unfortunately, after replay match, another busy fixture is waiting Liverpool. The Merseyside Red will play at PL then EFL Cup 2^nd leg semifinal. Klopp has to be smart on his squad choices to play this month. If not, he might get the worst result plus injured player(s). The best option is keep rotating the squad and mixing the experience players with young and energetic players on his starting line-up.

Another option for Jurgen Klopp is arriving new player(s) in January transfer window. According to the news and gossip, Liverpool try to sign new attackers, Jese Rodriguez, Julian Brandt, and Quincy Promes plus a new goalkeeper, Joe hart. The attackers are young and talented players that can make Liverpool’s attack become more dangerous, besides Joe Hart is an experience goalkeeper that can solve Klopp’s GK problem. If The Reds can sign one of attackers and the England goalkeeper, it will be a great addition for them to compete either in PL title contenders track or League Cup and FA Cup campaign because they will have a strong team with a good depth squad. 

Tight December

December, a month has been waited by everyone especially Premier League fans. December means no more international football but a busy football fixture, even on Christmas and new year period. After predicted the table leader on the previous article, this article will discuss what has happened on the December game-week and the impact of that result to the table particularly at top.

Begin with GW14, the first game on December, was opened by a big clash Man City v Chelsea. It was an interesting game due to the battle between two genius coach. Both team played high-pressing game since the first minute, created chances, but at the last minute of first half, the Citizen scored the first goal. At the beginning of second half, Guardiola side was enjoying the game, and they should have scored the second goal from brilliant opportunities by Aguero and De Bruyne, unfortunately they can’t. After an hour of the match, the game change, especially after Chelsea could levelled the game by Costa. The West London killed the game by 2 counter attack goal then.

At the other games, GW 14 looked like a good match-day for London top 6 team. Arsenal had a party at West Ham by winning 5-1 and Spurs won 5-0 against Swansea at home. Meanwhile, another top 6 team rivals, had trouble. A day after Man City defeat at home, Liverpool surprisingly got beaten by Bournemouth after leading 3-1 at minute 70’. The match reflected their defensive problem (goalkeeper and central defender in particular). Subsequently, Man United failed to win at Everton because of penalty leveler at the last minute of the game. The result made Chelsea went top of the league by 3 points different with Arsenal at second, meanwhile Spurs closed the gap to top four.

On the following week, Premier League had a tight schedule because all teams had to play 3 games in a week, GW 15,16, and 17. At GW 15, Chelsea and Arsenal continued their winning, meanwhile Man City and Liverpool were surprisingly failed to get 3 points. Man City got beaten at away game by the defending champions Leicester City by 4-2, moreover they left 4-0 behind until last minute. On the other hand, Liverpool had a draw 2-2 against West Ham at home. The only big game at GW 15 was Man United v Spurs, ended 1-0 win for The Red Devils. The result of Old Trafford game reflected Man United has improved as a team, more solid and could handle the opponent’s pressure to hold their lead until the end of the game.

Next to GW 16, every team at top 6 won the game, except Arsenal. The Gunners had a tough away match at Merseyside, got defeated 2-1 by Everton although they already lead 1-0 at first half. Moving to GW 17, the trend was still the same. Only Arsenal failed to pick up points due to lost at big match against Man City away with similar score and the way the game play. Arsenal lead at first five minute by Theo Walcott’s goal after a quick counter attack. At first half, The Gunners was dominating the game, created another dangerous opportunity to score the second. At second half, Man City played much better. They pressed Arsenal high since tthe beginning, then scored the equalizer at first ten minutes of second half. The game completely changed after that, the momentum was on Citizen side. The home supporters screamed loudly every time Man City’s players pressed Arsenal’s player. Because of Guardiola side had their momentum, they finally could score the second and winning goal, Man City 2-1 Arsenal. On the other hand, the other top 6 teams won with 1 goal different.

After GW 17, Premier League played boxing day game-week, a day after Christmas. The result of GW 18 satisfied all top 6 supporters because every team won. So, it’s a happy Christmas for top 6 teams, particularly every top 6 team won by more than a goal lead, except Arsenal, who had a tough win 1-0 against West Brom.

Finally, Premier League had through half way of the season, at GW 19. Chelsea still continued their winning streak to 13 win, beat Stoke City 4-2. Beside Chelsea, Man United also successfully got 5 win a row, after a tough win 2-1 after left 1-0 behind until minute 84. United’s winning streak trend could be a danger signal for the other top 6 teams who fight for top 4 place especially Jose Mourinho seems found the way to make Paul Pogba, Mikhtaryan, and Ibrahimovic play their best football. The biggest match of GW 19 was Liverpool (2^nd rank) v Man City (3^rd rank). Their point difference was only a point before the match. The game would decide the real Chelsea’s challenger for PL title. The game played with a high tempo since the beginning, just like both team show usually, but the home side took the advantage of playing in front of their own supporters, scored the first goal 8 minutes after kick off. After the goal, Liverpool completely enjoyed the game, pressed Guardiola side to win the ball back at midfield and avoided Man City players to play short pass. As the result, The Citizen did not have any shot on target at first half. At second half, the away team improved better, won the ball at midfield area and played high pressing game. They created goal-scoring opportunities, but they could not score any goal. Jurgen Klopp’s soldier showed better defense than before at this game. The Reds kept the lead until the end of the game, won 1-0, pressed Chelsea at top of the table, and made Man City left ten points behind the leader.

GW 19 also had 2 games in 2017, where Arsenal played at home v Crystal Palace and Spurs played away at Watford. Both team had a good result at that match. Arsenal won 2-0 and Spurs had a superb victory 4-1. AS the result, both team overtook Man City position on the table. Arsenal at 3^rd place and Spurs at 4^th rank.

In summary, December’s PL result showed the League have 2 strongest title contenders, Chelsea and Liverpool, although there are the other 4 strong teams still can compete. January will be another PL tough month because there are several big matches, Spurs v Chelsea at GW 20, Man United v Liverpool at GW 21, Man City v Spurs at GW 22, and there are League Cup semifinal and FA Cup matches. But there is a positive point for every team, the transfer window is opened in January, so it will be a big chance for any team arriving new player(s) to cover their weakness. Chelsea and Liverpool might be the strongest candidates, but PL still have a long season, and everything is possible for any team.

The Most Favorite Premier League Leader for Christmas

English Premier League has finished game-week 11 on November 6^th with some surprise result influencing the change on the table. Overall, the top 6 team has the biggest chance to be the leader because their quality of the squad, manager, and club identity. According to their performances, the depth of current squad, and the future fixture of this 6 teams, who will be the most favorite to lead at the half of the season? 

Premier League Table after GW 11 (premierleague.com)

First, let’s discuss about the 6^th and 5^th rank of the league Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs. Hiring a high achievement manager, Jose Mourinho, gives the fans and the club owner a high expectancy to win trophies this season and return their glorious name. In the first three-match league, it looked promising because they won all game. Unfortunately, they lost to their “noisy” neighbor at home at game-week 4. The defeat at derby game affected their mentality as the result they only won 2 league games until match-day 11. Those bad results make them out of top 4 and now they have to survive harder to climb the table and get more win. It is not an easy job for The Red Devils because they also have to fight at some difficult matches next fixtures (Arsenal at home on game-week 12, Everton away GW 14 and Spurs at home GW 15), in EFL Cup and in European competition (Europa League) with two ‘must-win’ games left. It will divide their concentration and energy between domestic and European match.

Besides Manchester United, the same problem is faced by Tottenham Hotspurs. They have to share the focus in domestic league and European competition (Champions League) with two ‘must-win’ games left. The only difference between Spurs and United is Spurs still unbeaten in the league. But it doesn’t mean The Lily Whites are better, because they have more draw than a win (6 draws and 5 wins in PL) and make them left 3 points behind Arsenal, the 4^th rank on the table. They also have unfriendly fixtures until Christmas (Chelsea away at GW 14 and Man United away at GW 15). It seems difficult either United or Spurs to chase the current leader due to their busy fixtures in domestic and European game.

Moving on to 4^th rank, Arsenal, managed by Arsene Wenger. This season, the team has improved better especially in defensive side. Adding Shkrodan Mustafi make their defense stronger because they have duo strong center back plus an experience goal keeper. On the other hand, the arrival of Granit Xhaka in holding midfielder affects the balance between attack and defense in the midfield, because Xhaka not only good in interception and tackle, but also good in creating chance to help attackers like Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. At the beginning of the season, after defeat against Liverpool at home at first match in the league, they looked very strong with few wins in a row. They also show a very good performance in EFL Cup (qualified to quarter final) and Champions League (1^st on the group until match-day 4). 

Unluckily, the old problem, injury, start to haunting The Gunners back. The important players started to have injury one by one since the end of October, beginning from Theo Walcott, then Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil at November international break. The high intensity of match at domestic match and European competition, following the match with national team, are the big factor of that injury. The injury probably make Wenger headache, because November fixture will be difficult for Arsenal. After hosting their rival Spurs, they will face Manchester United away at GW 12. The next three days they will play a decisive match to be group leader at Champions League against PSG. They also have a quarter final EFL Cup clash versus Southampton. On the following month, December, they will play against Manchester City before Christmas. Due to injury problem and busy schedule, they have small chance to overtake first position on the table. Arsenal’s best chance might stand at 2^nd or 3^rd on the table at Christmas.

Above Arsenal, there is Manchester City on 3^rd position. Surprisingly, a draw result at home against Middlesbrough influence the change on the table because Man City had to go down from top of the table. That draw result came after having a very good period, win 4-0 against West Brom and unforgettable 3-1 win versus the best team in the world, FC Barcelona, at Champions League. The minor result against Boro reflected that busy fixtures can influence a team performance even though The Citizens have world class players and one of best manager in the world, Pep Guardiola. On the next fixtures, they still have to play two Champions League games, although they just need a win to qualify to 16 round. Meanwhile, in Premier League, they will face some difficult matches, Chelsea at home on GW 14, Arsenal at home on GW 17, and Liverpool at home after boxing day.  

Fortunately, some injury players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Gundongan have recovered and back to the team, although Kompany and their first-choice Goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo have a new injury. But Kompany absence is not a big problem because John Stones and Otamendi has played well in the central defender. If Man City can get a win in Champions League and manage the players fatigue by rotating them, it is not possible they can win the next league matches and then climb to 2^nd place or even back to first position.

At second place, there is a team who’s been back to brilliant performance. Chelsea. Two defeats in a row against Liverpool and Arsenal has woken them up to top performance, especially the defeats made Antonio Conte change the formation to 3-4-3 (3-4-2-1). New formation impacts to the performance of whole team, as the result they scored 16 goals and conceded 0 goal in 5 matches, which some of opponents are tough teams (Leicester, Manchester United, Southampton, and Everton). The advantage of The Blues is they don’t play in Europe this season, which means they only focus on domestic matches (particularly Premier League, because they’ve knocked out by West Ham at EFL Cup). Conte should use that advantage to play against big team in their next fixture, Spurs at GW 13 and Manchester City at GW 14. 

Unfortunately, The Blues still have a problem in their depth of the squad. The style of play of bench players have not equal the standard of starting line-up players in 3-4-3 formation. It proved at EFL Cup defeat against West Ham, with most of starting xi are the bench players. With Diego Costa (PL topscorer) is only 1 yellow card away to miss next match, meanwhile Hazard, Kante, David Luiz, Moses, and Alonso have no equal back up, Antonio Conte must pray that his players stay away from injury and card accumulation. If Chelsea line-up squad will be fine until half of the season, they will have a big chance to overtake the top of the table.

Lastly, Liverpool is on top of the table after the last time they’ve been there was in May 2014. Eight wins, two draws, and a lost in ten matches with 30 goals scored brought Liverpool to the top of Premier League table. Had away win against Arsenal and Chelsea along with a draw at White Hart Lane and old rival Man United at home, they will only have Merseyside Derby clash at GW 17 and home game against Man City on boxing day as their most difficult match. The advantage of the fixtures could bring them stay at 1^st place on Christmas day. The strength of Liverpool this season is their attacking play, leading by deadly trio Phillipe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane, whose scored half of the team goals. The attacking play displayed by Jurgen Klopp’s army is also supported by ‘Gegenpressing’ when they lost the ball to win it back even to do counter attack. As the result, they scored 30 goals in 11 matches. 

Despite having the best goal score in the league, The Reds also have a problem in their defense with 14 goals conceded. That number is the worst in compare to the other top 6 team. The new central defender like Matip and Klavan, in addition with new goalkeeper Loris Karius, looked difficult to adapt in Premier League particularly in physical game. That defensive problem might be dangerous for them in a tight match like derby Merseyside. Fortunately, besides GW 17 and 19, they should win another match easily on their next fixture. Furthermore, same as Chelsea, Liverpool also don’t have European competition this season. The EFL Cup quarter final match should not influence their focus and energy because their bench players has been show their good performance in EFL Cup previous round.

To conclude, Liverpool and Chelsea will be the most favorite team to lead the Premier League table on Christmas day due to their league fixture and their absence in European competition. In particular, Liverpool is the most favorite one because of their squad's depth. But the other team fans should not be worried too much, because football is not a mathematic, and Premier League is become famous by the drama until the end of the season, so everything can happen in the future.

Manchester City Must Be Effective to Win the Clash against Barcelona

Manchester City has a chance to revenge on their heavy lost at Camp Nou on Tuesday Night (GMT). Despite had poor run in 6 matches without win, a big win on Premier League can be the modal to face five times UCL winner. Here are some factors to City to get the best result at home.

Guardiola told the media after League Cup match that he was not panic to the situation of 6 winless matches. Pep finally showed his word at West Brom game when he got a big win. Ex Barca manager started to find solution by playing Ilkay Gundongan, a smart midfielder to strengthen City’s midfield. Although Gundongan has played before, he looked more comfortable and started to adapt well with Pep’s style on West Brom game. He helped Fernandinho as defensive midfielder as well as created chance for attackers even he scored goal. His consistency can help Man City to win the midfield area on the game.

The strength midfield area is one of the factor for City playing possession football. In case of Barcelona visits, it can be easier to City to win the midfield and play their style because Barca’s maestro, Anders Iniesta, will not play because of injury. But, attacking football means deadly finisher needed, fortunately Aguero has already found his sharpness again on the last game. He can be a big solution for City to score the goal first on Barcelona game. In addition, Barcelona cannot play their best defender in cause of Pique and Jordy Alba’s absence. The Citizen attackers must take advantage to threaten the Catalan’s defense. In this situation, the home side has the biggest chance to score goals.

Man City may win the midfield area and create some chance, but they have to convert every clear opportunity to be a goal. If they are unable to score the goal, Barcelona can attack quickly moreover they have a fantastic trio, MSN. It is not possible when Barca win the ball, they will provide the trio to create chance and threaten City. Furthermore, the trio especially Messi is in good form. Messi can score the goal or create opportunity to Suarez or Neymar. In addition, the Azulgrana has much experience in European competition in compare to the Citizens. The lack of experience of the home side can be a big advantage to win the game for Barca.

            

            However, a win for Man City is a must to hold their position on the table. Monchengladbach can overtake their place on the table if they draw or lose. Finally, to get the victory, Man City must show their sharpness in front of opponent’s goal and effectiveness of their play because Barca can punish them when they cannot score goal.