Barclays Premier League Gameweek 15

Hey again! It should be another good weekend of football. It has been a week of season ending injuries as Lucas’s, Steven Taylor’s and Vidic’s have been ruled out for the season. Bit of a European theme going on in this blog but I guess that was the biggest talking point this week.

Manchester United v Wolves: 2-1

It is always nice to see Manchester United have a dip in form, unless you’re a united fan yourself. They were beaten mid-week by Basle and they join the Europa League for the first time. Just to add insult to injury Vidic, one of their most consistent players over the years, suffered knee ligament damage and is ruled out of the rest of the season. Not only will that weaken their team, Hernandez is unavailable as he picked up an injury last weekend at Villa, which means a lot of pressure falls to Rooney, who has gone 8 games without a goal. Will he be able to end the bad run of form just when United need it? I think so. It would be interesting to see how they cope with what will be a weakened team than usual though.

One to watch: Wayne Rooney – Will he been in the media again this week, after hearing his Euro ban will go down to two matches?

Chelsea v Manchester City: 1-0

Despite beating Bayern Munich 2-0, Manchester City failed to make the top two, even with a respectable 10 points, that would have been enough in 6 of the other groups. They join their rivals, United, in the Europa league. It might be a blessing in disguise as they can concentrate on the league and other domestic cups. City have been scoring for fun this season and added another 5 last weekend at home to Norwich. However their main problem is their defence. Sounds stupid I know as they are unbeaten but their last clean sheet was on the first day of October in a 4-0 win against Blackburn. On the other hand Chelsea did make it through their champions’ league group and as group winners, surprisingly. Their league form has also improved and we have found our attacking force once again with back-to-back 3-0 wins against Newcastle and Wolves respectively. Sturridge has been on top form recently with 3 goals in consecutive league games. He should have scored more last weekend if it wasn’t for Krul. I’m looking forward to this Monday night fixture. I will let you know my reaction.

One to watch: Daniel Sturridge – he’s playing his best football in a Chelsea shirt. He started his career at City between 2006 and 2009 

Stoke City v Tottenham: 1-3

Thought I will continue the European theme that’s occurring. Stoke have already qualified for knockout stages but Tottenham have to rely on other results going their way for any chance. Putting that to one side, both sides are going well in the league with Spurs closing in on both Manchester clubs especially as with their game in hand. Stoke seem to be balancing their league and Europe pretty well and are currently in 8th place. They picked up a good result away to Everton even if it was a bit lucky (Their only two shots were from defenders). With Tottenham’s current form I can’t see any other result.   

One to watch: Emmanuel Adebayor - it's hard to choose one from the current squad. He will probably score

Arsenal v Everton: 2-0

One to watch: Robin van Persie

Bolton v Aston Villa : 0-0

One to watch: Jussi Jaaskelainen

Liverpool v QPR: 2-0

One to watch: Jordan Henderson

Norwich v Newcastle: 1-2

One to watch: Gabriel Obertan

Swansea v Fulham: 1-1

One to watch: Damien Duff

West Brom v Wigan: 3-1

One to watch: Peter Odemwingie

Sunderland v Blackburn: 2-2

One to watch: Stephane Sessegnon

Who’s Judd Trump?

If you have been watching the snooker this week, you might have noticed Englishman Judd Trump. I first noticed him in last year’s World Championship where he reached the final, only to be beaten by Higgins, 18-15. He was the second youngest finalist behind Stephen Hendry. The 22 year old is one of the rising stars in the sport and is currently ranked 7 in the world. He is currently playing the semi-finals of the UK championship, a huge improvement on last year’s performance where he was knockout by Mark Joyce. He is one frame away from beating Australian Neil Robertson, who had a similar introduction to the sport. If he gets through he will play the winner of Allen and Walden game.

Just as i finished writing that paragrpah he has done it, beating Robinson 9-7 to reach his first ever UK final.