There were a couple of things that stood out last week and into the weekend in the world of the premier league.
Did Chelsea Miss Their Centre Half David Luiz against United?
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Chelsea leaving David Luiz go for 7 million to their top 4 rivals Arsenal. It think this is a mad move myself. Emery had David Luiz at PSG and he knows that David Luiz can do a job for him at Arsenal. He is fundamentally a good ball player centre half. And when he is good he is really good. Now we know he is prone to the odd howler but anyone is an improvement at Arsenal so he will only improve the team. His experience is another factor which is why I found the transfer even more bizarre. We know Rudiger is still out but Lampard had to rely on Kurtis Zouma at the weekend. Zouma let his new bosses down after Frank Lampard put his trust in him. If David Luiz was still there would Chelsea have conceded the 4 goals. I very much doubt it. Rumours have it that Luiz and Lampard did not see eye to eye from the start and the nail in the coffin was when Chelsea appointed Cech as their new technical director. He wanted out. £7 million though?? That was a great bit of business by Arsenal. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Jan Vertonghen Did Not Even Make The Bench For Spurs.
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I was surprised at Vertonghen's omission and I was wondering was there a transfer request put in but it turns out that Jan came back from his holier's having overindulged. We all know the Pochettino is a stickler for making the players wear their fitness trackers while training and it looks like Jan id not back to full fitness yet. From the friendlies in pre season he was a bit sluggish and it looks like Pochettino took action. He played Toby Alderweireld and Davidson Sanchez instead. A year is a long time in football. This time last year he left Toby and Kieran Trippier in the stands for the first game of the season. Jan is known to be one of the most argumentative players with training and he and Poch's are known for their tit for tats. Maybe this is a way of showing the defender who is boss at the start of the season. As per usual when asked about the situation Pochettino was tetchy and just stated it was his decision to select the team.
With Harry Maguire In the United team , Pogba Can Push Up.
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With a ball playing centre half now at United, Pogba did not have go as deep as normal to obtain the ball at the weekend. This meant he was a bit further up the pitch and when he got the ball he had more options. Rashford's second goal was from a classy little through ball from Pogba. I'm not Pogba's biggest fan but there was a notable improvement at the weekend. Plus Maguire really made an impact. It's early days yet. If those two chances went in for Chelsea it would of been a different story.
Man City Winning By 5 Is Becoming Normal.
I never bet on City to Win anymore. I only bet them at -3 handicap now. The odds are still OK. You might get 3/1 or 4/1 but it is becoming a good value bet these days. But this is against weaker teams. The value is now in beating against them. What would you give me on Spurs getting a win or a draw against city at the weekend. The team that knocked city out of the champions league last year. The team that Pep says he is afraid of. I might put a sneaky bet on this one. No chance you will tell me but I am not quite sure. Without Kompany city are now weaker at the back. And Kyle Walker still starts for them.
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Burnley Are Good When They Are Not In Europe
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Who would have thought? Burnley started the season with a 3 - 0 win over Southampton. But when you think about it Burnley are actually good. Getting into Europe last year was the worst thing that happened to the club. As soon as they were knocked out then they started playing well again. The squad was just too small but now they are back. No Europe and they played well. Ashley Barnes was a real handful as well.