Chelsea @ 15/8
Arsenal @ 7/5
Draw @ 5/2
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What is that distant, slightly ominous rumble I can hear heading into Gameweek 11? Is it a tube train passing beneath my feet? Is it my stomach? Is it Adama Traoré re-arranging Stonehenge with his bare hands as part of a new, light training regime?
Or is it the sound of escalating seismic activity which could significantly impact the Premier League? An incoming series of tectonic shifts that will engender a permanent change in the existing footballing landscape?
It certainly feels like something big is on the cusp of happening. And this weekend could be a decisive marker, a bellwether weekend, that confirms my suspicions.
The pressure is already building at The Emirates – a stadium with a history for volatility within its strata.
Now, I don’t claim to be an expert seismologist (though I have seen the movie San Andreas starring Dwayne Johnson) but I think an earthquake is set to hit London very soon. And it could strike at 4:30pm on Sunday; with the epicentre being Stamford Bridge, SW6, where Chelsea are set to host Arsenal.
To add further concern to this potential situation, the visitors’ foundations have begun to look a bit shaky of late. They are already behind Chelsea on goal-difference in the Premier League – defeat at Stamford Bridge will see clear daylight appear between the sides – and are already 7 points behind Liverpool, who do not look like losing anytime soon.
Recent defeat at Bournemouth was compounded by a lethargic loss at Newcastle last weekend, and further structural damage was inflicted by Inter Milan on Wednesday night in a close encounter at the San Siro.
Are they merely experiencing a blip, a rogue flicker on the seismometer? Or is the earthquake detector about to explode into a sustained period of furious scribbles, after which a new hierarchy will have been established – one that no longer includes Arsenal in the highest echelon of the Premier League table?
The pressure is already building at The Emirates – a stadium with a history for volatility within its strata. Can Mikel Arteta subdue the situation and prevent a damaging, unrepairable fissure from appearing right through the heart of the club?
But what if my calculations have been incorrect? What if I have drastically Michael Fish-ed my forecast? Is there a chance that the actual locus of the incoming quake is lower? Just below the complex geology of the South Downs?
Brighton v Man City is a 5:30pm kick-off on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola is beginning to experience sizeable tremors too. Three consecutive losses have been registered, and a cavernous gulf has suddenly appeared in his hitherto rock-solid midfield.
Rodri was, of course, always going to be missed. But seeing the full extent to which the Spaniard’s absence has been felt, in a side as collectively strong as Manchester City, further indicates that the decision to award him the Ballon d’Or – regardless of what Real Madrid and Vinicius Júnior may think – was indeed the correct one.
Midweek defeat in Lisbon was particularly chastening for Guardiola – imminent Manchester United boss Rúben Amorim offering not just some important lessons on dynamic counter-attacking football; but also on grooming a much, much better beard.
Pep claims to be up for this new challenge, of negotiating the unfamiliar shifting sands beneath his feet, but Brighton are unbeaten at the American Express Stadium in the Premier League this season. Danny Welbeck’s 6 goals put him near the summit of the top scorer table and Brighton’s total of 17 is the same as Arsenal.
Where on the Richter scale would another defeat for the defending champions appear? Are we seeing portents of a paradigm shift; an epic, expensive disaster movie featuring massive change in English football? Or is it just a low-budget episode of Eastenders with an exploding bin that will be forgotten about in two weeks’ time?
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