Saturday 19th August, 8pm
City @ 7/10
Newcastle @ 18/5
Draw @ 3/1
view odds
While the Premier League season is just getting started – emerging slowly from its chrysalis; offering but a thin glimpse of the colourful action and season-defining VAR controversies still to come – the summer transfer window is building to a feverish finish.
Just these last few days have seen Chelsea continue to usurp and humiliate Liverpool in the transfer market. Highly-rated Anfield targets Moisés Caicedos and Roméo Lavia, in exchange for eye-melting fees, have both decided that their footballing future is in SW6.
There are also rumours going round that in order to further antagonise Liverpool, Chelsea are going make a late, hugely-inflated bid for Kenny Dalglish.
But it’s easy to see why players are so attracted to the team that finished 12th in the table last season, following a campaign characterised by malfunction and hilarity.
For promising young footballers – with nothing to their name except a scrap of talent and a small, dented tin of dubbin for their boots – Chelsea FC offer a simple, tantalising dream. A dream of heading to Stamford Bridge, of working hard, and of one day getting to become the next Adrian Mutu. Or Steve Sidwell. Or, if things really work out in their favour, the next Winston Bogarde.
That is why everyone wants to sign for Chelsea – to have the chance to see their names listed amongst those legends of the club. Liverpool simply cannot compete with that legacy.
In other hard-to-fathom transfer news, Brazilian sensation Neymar has grown weary of being paid an awful lot of money to play football, and has left Paris to join other hungry young bucks in Saudi Arabia; where he will be paid an awful lot more money to play football. This move will finally give him the opportunity to perform in boots made entirely from gold.
No matter that the average attendance in the Saudi Pro League last season was just over 10,000 – fewer than a Luton Town home game…
Fortunately, we can put all the above discourse about exorbitant transfer fees, cynical sports-washing, and the state-controlled, Middle Eastern takeover of football to one side this weekend, and focus solely on domestic issues. Because there is a very eye-catching Premier League game taking place on Saturday at 8pm: Manchester City v Newcastle United!
If the Premier League offered a UFC-style ‘Performance of the Weekend’ Bonus, after the first round of fixtures it would been awarded, without hesitation, to Newcastle United. Their 5-1 TKO of Aston Villa was devastating and turbo-charged, and made an instant star of new signing Sandro Tonali.
It will be fascinating to see if they will be able to maintain a similar intensity against the defending champions. But a Manchester City side already shorn of its midfield message centre, Kevin de Bruyne? An XI who may also be a bit weary following their midweek trip to Greece to contest the all-important UEFA Super Cup? The anticipation on Saturday night could well reach fever-pitch…
Temperatures could have been suitably raised in advance by the strong undercard clash, which sees Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester United at 5:30pm on Saturday.
Such is the nature of expectation, the Spurs faithful seemed relatively pleased with their 2-2 draw at Brentford last weekend – in the post-Kane world it seems any signs of hope and creativity will be embraced like a long-lost relative.
United fans, meanwhile, although they won their opener at home against Wolves, were probably hoping for the sort of performance that would immediately propel their charges into the category of serious title contenders. Instead, they got a ragged, disjointed, soft-centred display that relied heavily on being bailed-out by the exploits of Raphaël Varane, and their alleged new signings over at Stockley Park.
Who will leave the Tottenham Stadium with their expectations met on Saturday? Who will leave with an incipient fever-dream clouding their heads…and potentially the rest of the season?
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