There are two surprise sides at the foot of the English Premier League, but both sides hope an easing of the fixture list will help them climb into mid-table before the festive period begins. Stoke City, which was discussed two week ago, sits in 19th place, with just two draws in six matches to show for its efforts. The Potters...
There are two surprise sides at the foot of the English Premier League, but both sides hope an easing of the fixture list will help them climb into mid-table before the festive period begins.
Stoke City, which was discussed two week ago, sits in 19th place, with just two draws in six matches to show for its efforts. The Potters face a trip to Manchester United Sunday, but then face Sunderland, Hull City, and Swansea in their other three October matches.
But it is West Ham United, a team that battled for much of last season for a top four spot, that is the most disappointing EPL team over the first two months of the campaign. With just one win, and five losses, in their six matches, the Hammers go into the weekend in 18th place, and really struggling to find form in their brand new stadium.
But the problems with the London Stadium, which has been called soul-less by many that attend the once-track and field venue, may be just one of the problems manager Slaven Bilic has to deal with this week. After a Monday night sanctioned team-bonding night on the town, the club has had to answer questions about whether the team was drunk the next morning. With an investigation pending after the Saturday game with Middlesborough, the West Ham players could do themselves all a favor by winning the match against the newly-promoted side, and taking some of the pressure off the terrible start to the season.
West Ham needs a win this weekend, because its schedule over the next 10 match days gets considerably tougher. For a team that is leaking goals against Watford (four), West Bromwich Albion (four) and Southampton (three), facing the likes of Chelsea (Oct. 26), Everton (Oct. 30), Tottenham (Nov. 19), Manchester United (Nov. 27), Arsenal Dec. 3) and Liverpool (Dec. 10) before Christmas may be a daunting task.
It is starting to look like a repeat of Chelsea's 2015-2016 season for West Ham, and that is not a good sign.
What has happened to Stoke City in the EPL?
There is already talk of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side running through the campaign unbeaten, and it is not even October.
After a thrilling 3-3 draw midweek in the UEFA Champions League, against a Celtic team that dropped a close 7-0 encounter to Barcelona on match day one, the Citizens have a tough trip to London Sunday, where they will face a Tottenham team that is sitting in second place.
Maybe we should wait until January, after Guardiola gets through his first festive period in English football, before the unbeaten talk starts in earnest.
Mourinho has a decision to make with Manchester United
It is doubtful that there will be a match this season more entertaining than the one Wednesday near the top of the English League Championship table.
Newcastle trailed Norwich City by a two goals in the 70th minute, but got three goals, including a 95th minute equalizer and a 96th minute winner, to pull out a 4-3 win and send the Sports Direct Stadium into delirium.
Both teams look well on the way to a quick return to the Premier League after their relegation last season.
Top Three/Bottom Three Performances of Week Six
Top Three
1. Juan Mata is a perfect 10- Jose Mourinho put Wayne Rooney on the bench last weekend against Leicester City, and put Mata in his preferred number 10 role. It definitely paid off for Manchester United. Mata scored a beautiful team goal, and the Red Devils were rampant in the first half, scoring four goals. They won 4-1 (with Paul Pogba scoring his first as well) to get the ship righted.
2. Liverpool hits for five- James Milner had two goals, to lead Liverpool up to fourth in the table with a 5-1 win over a suddenly struggling Hull City team. The Jurgen Klopp revolution is well and truly underway.
3. Christian Benteke breaks Sunderland's heart- The big striker scored in the 93rd minute to give Crystal Palace a 3-2 win over Sunderland. It was the Eagles third straight win, and has them up to seventh in the table, with a big Friday match at Everton this weekend.
Bottom Three
1. Sunderland- It seems that every week the Black Cats are on this list, but they just keep finding different ways to lose games. Benteke was the latest to rip the heart out of Sunderland fans, and with just one draw from six matches, the Black Cats have to take points in their next three games. They have WBA, Stoke, and West Ham in that period.
2. Swansea City- Much to Brian Dzenis' concern, the Swans are in free fall at the moment, and sit 17th in the table. They played well against Manchester City last weekend, but lost 3-1. Swansea also has a swirling managerial situation, that needs to be handled sooner rather than later.
3. Are Chelsea in crisis?- Two losses and a draw in their last three have the Blues suffering the blues. Antonio Conte, a defensive mastermind, has seen his team leak goals over the past three match weeks. The defense should be bolstered shortly through the return of Kurt Zouma and John Terry, because Gary Cahill and David Luiz are not getting the job done at center back.
Week Seven Picks
Friday, September 30
3 p.m.
Everton 2-2 Crystal Palace
Saturday, October 1
7:30 a.m.
Swansea City 1-3 Liverpool
10 a.m.
Hull City 0-1 Chelsea
Sunderland 0-2 West Brom
Watford 1-0 Bournemouth
West Ham 2-1 Middlesborough
Sunday, October 2
7 a.m.
Manchester United 3-0 Stoke City
9:15 a.m.
Leicester City 3-0 Southampton
Tottenham 3-2 Manchester City
11:30 a.m.
Burnley 0-3 Arsenal
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean