After Arsenal end the weekend at the top of the pile in the Premier League and Dysart Enos makes an impression at Cheltenham, I reflect on the weekend’s talking points from the world of sport.
1. Should he stay or should he go?
Connections of Gerri Colombe are on weather watch at the moment as fears over unsuitably good ground threaten to derail his King George bid.
Every drop of rain that falls enhances his chances of lining up on Boxing Day where he’d likely go off favourite for the festive feature.
However, it’s perhaps best to proceed with caution on this one. With limited rain forecast over the next few days, I think he’s more likely to take up his engagement in the Grade 1 Savills Chase on 28th December or may even wait for the Cotswolds Chase at Cheltenham on Trials Day…
Insight from Henry Beesley
Allaho to win the King George @ 7/2
2. Doing the maths
After drawing 2-2 at home with Crystal Palace, City jetted off to Saudi Arabia for the club World Cup which means they won’t play another league match until they visit Goodison Park on December 27th, during which time their rivals will play twice.
Hanging in the air is the slightest sense that the maths of the whole thing is starting to go against them. If any team can make a fool of the numbers, it’s City, but the maximum number of points they can accrue — as pointed out by a very smart man on Twitter named Neil Atkinson (credit where it’s due and all) — is 97.
This is a total they have achieved and surpassed in years gone by, but this time they still face tough away trips to Anfield, White Hart Lane, Goodison and St James’ Park. Draw those four and they can only get 89, that’s without mentioning Arsenal and Aston Villa pitching up at the Etihad between now and May.
When City return from sunny Jeddah to January’s bitter gloom, will they look at each other with the same hunger to win that they have had before? The motivation to win a league title derives from that punishing place, where the aches and pains of every doubt, poor refereeing decision and injury begin to weigh heavily on the psyche, where you stare defeat in the face and then claw yourself out.
Do they want to go there again? Bukayo Saka is desperate, Trent Alexander-Arnold is desperate — Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Virgil Van Dijk are desperate — are City?
Arsenal to win the Premier League @ 9/4
3. “The best we’ve had”
Fergal O’Brien was full of praise for Dysart Enos after she took her tally to 5-5 with a commanding victory at Cheltenham over Beat The Bat.
She is now 4/1 for the Mares Novices’ hurdle and level at the top of the market with Brighterdaysahead. It certainly was an eyecatching performance from Dysart Enos, the manner in which she rolled through the gap to take the lead approaching the last marked her out as a cut above the rest.
But, as our Beehive columnist Henry Beesley pointed out 4/1 feels awfully short for a horse who’s trainer is yet to notch a single Festival winner. That’s without even mentioning the Irish battalion that will descend from Closutton in the second week of March.
Brighterdaysahead to win the Mares Novices’ hurdle @ 4/1
4. Gritty Villains
Should Aston Villa beat Sheffield United at home and Liverpool and Arsenal share the points at Anfield, Aston Villa will be top of the Premier League on Christmas Day.
Let that sink in. Villa were languishing in 16th when Unai Emery replaced Steven Gerrard and since then their rise has been irrepressible. Many have drawn parallels between Leicester’s title-winning vintage and this Villa side, but aside from being from the Midlands, the similarities are minimal.
The side that Emery has built is here to stay. There is depth in the Claret and Blue ranks that Ranieri’s Leicester could only dream of. This is not a story uniquely driven by individuals, momentum and the collective ineptitude of more fancied rivals. This is the stirring of a sleeping giant.
They probably won’t win the league. But you would be very brave to bet against them securing Champions League football under the lights at Villa Park for next season and, unlike Newcastle, who are creaking under the weight of unfamiliar expectations, what Emery has built is a sustainable model. Villa are, in fact, back where they belong.
Aston Villa to finish in the top four @ 4/5
5. Back on track
Setting aside for a moment the Taylor Swift mania that has consumed the Chiefs season to date, something has certainly felt a little out of place in recent weeks at the Arrowhead.
Patrick Mahomes has cut a frustrated figure, with error-laden performances seeing the Chiefs sink to two consecutive defeats against the Bills and the Packers. Bouncing back was on the agenda as the took to the field against Bill Belichick’s beleagered Patriots.
A 21-17 victory saw them do just that and put them back into contention to snatch number one seed in the AFC. On paper their remaining fixtures look more winnable than the Ravens’, but sloppy catching errors must be eradicated if they are to head into the play-offs with a chance of making it to consecutive Superbowls.
Kansas City Chiefs to win Superbowl LVII
Lola Katz Roberts is a Content Executive at Fitzdares.
