All posts by h79snht.top

Alexis Sanchez has established himself as one of the first names on the Arsenal team-sheet and one of the most ferocious attackers in the Premier League since arriving from Barcelona in summer 2014.

Indeed, the Chilean forward’s mix of power, pace, trickery and netting prowess has seen him bag 33 goals in 73 appearances for the Gunners – seemingly obliging Arsene Wenger to field him as a central striker this season.

He’s certainly come good on the change in roles, notching up four goals and three assists in eight Premier League outings since the start of 2016/17.

And Sanchez’s hot form has got us at FootballFanCast thinking about the 27-year-old’s scoring record since turning up in the Premier League following a string of underwhelming campaigns at the Nou Camp.

With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the ten biggest victims of Sanchez’s ability to consistently find the net since his move to England.

10. SOUTHAMPTON – FIVE APPS, TWO GOALS

Sanchez has hit the onion bag twice against Southampton, both of which came during the 2014/15 campaign. But somewhat underwhelming compared to his usual standards, the South American has gone goalless in five more appearances against the Saints.

9. STOKE CITY – THREE APPS, TWO GOALS, TWO ASSISTS

Sanchez has played a part in four goals during his three appearances versus Stoke City, including a brace against the Potters during his debut campaign.

8. QPR – TWO APPS, TWO GOALS, ONE ASSIST

Many a top striker boast a strong record against regular whipping boys QPR and Sanchez is no different, accumulating a goal a game against the west Londoners in addition to one set-up.

7. READING – ONE APP, TWO GOALS

The Arsenal star has faced Reading just once throughout his career, but that single appearance was still enough for him to get on the scoresheet twice. Another exploit of Sanchez’s debut campaign – facing the Royals in the semi-final of the 2015 FA Cup.

6. MANCHESTER CITY – SIX APPS, TWO GOALS

Now we’re getting into the big boys. Sanchez has scored twice against Arsenal’s regular title rivals Manchester City, with one goal at the Emirates Stadium and one on the Citizens’ home turf.

5. MANCHESTER UNITED – FIVE APPS, TWO GOALS

A slight improvement upon his record versus City, Sanchez boasts the same amount of goals against Manchester United but in one less appearance. However, both of those goals came in the same game last season – a 3-0 win over the Red Devils.

4. BURNLEY – FOUR APPS, THREE GOALS, ONE ASSIST

Back to the whipping boys in the form of Burnley, who have a knack of suffering hefty defeats in the Premier League. Sanchez has contributed to four goals in as many appearances, but couldn’t find the net against the Clarets earlier this month.

3. WATFORD – FOUR APPS, THREE GOALS, THREE ASSISTS

Arsenal have a dominant record against Watford and the Chile international has certainly benefited from that, claiming three goals and three assists in just four outings. Two of those goals came last season.

2. LEICESTER – FIVE APPS, FOUR GOALS

Leicester may have beaten Arsenal to the Premier League title last season but the Gunners certainly can’t blame Sanchez’s profligacy. He’s netted four goals in five outings against the Foxes – his second-best return versus any English side.

1. HULL – FIVE APPS, SIX GOALS, TWO ASSISTS

Hull City have been on the receiving end of many multi-goal thrashings in the Premier League and Sanchez has certainly played his part, punishing the Tigers with six strikes and two assists in just five appearances.

Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez has entered the season in a formidable run of form, leading the Gunners attacking line in his new role, with the Chilean already boasting eight goals from his start to the season.

The former Barcelona man has proved to be a crucial attacking outlet since moving from the wings into a central role in Arsenal’s formation and his form has kept Olivier Giroud out of the spotlight since the Frenchman returned to injury.

It’s opened up a new dimension in Alexis’ attack and the Chilean has told Arsenal’s official website he is enjoying his new responsibilities.

“I like it as a centre forward because I can get involved in the play more. I have the chance to drop deep a little bit more and that means I can link up with my team-mates more.

“[The manager] is the one who decides, he’s the one who changes things around and decides where we play. He asked me to play there so I said fine – I looked up some videos on the internet to see how I needed to adjust my movement and I’ve been adapting since then.”

After picking up an injury in international duty with Chile, Arsenal are waiting to see whether the Copa America champions risk Alexis in tonight’s World Cup qualifying clash with Uruguay before making their own assessment upon the forward’s return to London Colney.

The Gunners face a massive clash with Manchester United this weekend, before hosting Paris Saint-Germain in a crucial Champions League tie next week.

I’m sure José would have allowed himself a little smile when Kevin De Bruyne managed to hit the bar from a yard out.  José in his hotel room thinking: “I was right and better still, I have the real Belgian star in my squad.  Someone I can really rely on.”  

City and Chelsea was a game of incidents and it was this incident that changed the course of the game.  Not Luiz cleverly avoiding a red card, that barely made the footnotes by the end of the game.  De Bruyne did better than Raheem usually does from that position as the England midfielder would have got it up and over the bar, but the £50m Chelsea reject still achieved the improbable.  

Suddenly Chelsea were with us, clearly feeling that they only needed to play for half an hour to beat their title rivals.  The game will be remembered for more than the result however, and one or two questions will need to be answered.  

Firstly, how is Gary Cahill still considered England’s number one centre back?  Secondly, how many red cards would José have got for sarcastically clapping the 4th official in the style of Guardiola and, thirdly, what is the true reason for Aguero wanting to finish Luiz’s career?  

I think the final question is the most important.  I mean, this is not the first time Aguero has launched himself into the Brazilian.  Maybe we will never know.  One thing we do know is that Sergio is going to get another four game rest, somewhat conveniently smack bang in the middle of December when all the Christmas parties are going on.  Credit to Cesc Fabregas, though.  He skilfully set up Costa and then equally skilfully set up Fernandinho.  Quite the return to the starting eleven.

Speaking of Christmas, it is guaranteed to happen once a year, a bit like Andy Carroll heading one past the Arsenal.  Yes, Carroll was the most obvious anytime goalscorer bet of the weekend and I hope someone cashed in.  The problem for West Ham was that he needed to do it six times if they were going to outscore Arsene’s men.

Sanchez was in one of those moods and his treble was the best thing to happen at the London Stadium to date. Wenger claims Alexis will not be staying at Arsenal just for the money.  Really, Arsene?  He won’t be staying to win league titles, will he now.  Therefore it is a fairly safe assumption that the pounds and pence have something to do with it.

Slaven Bilic is clearly on borrowed time at the Hammers, not just because the owners have publicly backed him.  He suggested that the “intensity” has gone in training, which is kind of falls under his remit of things to fix.

All Bob Bradley had to do to avoid a thrashing against Spurs was to read some of my recent columns over on my daily blog.  My tactical plan for Spurs is fairly simple.  My theory is that you don’t put any kind of tackle in in the area and certainly don’t let anyone called Harry shoot.  Sadly for Swansea they chose to ignore my advice, Dele Alli going all Michael Owen and earning Harry Kane the chance to score yet another penalty.  They say Ozil and Sanchez are the best double act in North London but they are wrong.  It’s Harry and the penalty spot.  

When quizzed about Alli’s shameless dive, Pochettino took the opportunity to make it clear he still bears a grudge towards the aforementioned Owen. Back in the 2002 World Cup Poch’s dangling leg led to Owen gaining England a match winning spot kick of their own.  Still, it’s good to see that he’s over it.

I’d really appreciate it if David Moyes could go back to being rubbish. I have no interest in eating humble pie for my Christmas Day meal and the way Moysey is turning it around at Sunderland is concerning me.  Having said he spent many nights sitting in a darkened room after a defeat his electricity bill must be going through the roof.  

As of now I refuse to refer to Leicester City as “champions” as they clearly cannot be bothered to do the title any justice.  I still think Ranieri would be best off getting all the Premier League game between now and the Champions League knockouts moved to a Tuesday or Wednesday night.  That’s the only way I can see him getting a decent league effort out of Mahrez and Vardy.

Smug Al was on top smug form after Palace eased past Southampton.  Pardew wasted no time to wax lyrical about how he had changed the training on Friday to address some defensive issues.  Honestly, it had nothing to do with the entire squad demanding that they do some defensive work for once, particularly on defending set pieces.  Nothing at all.  

Smug Al also took the opportunity to have a pop at Palace’s recent investors, claiming they know very little about football.  Of course they don’t, Alan, they haven’t sacked you yet.  Pardew’s thumbs up to his boss mid-game was cringey, and only out cringed by the fact Mark Bright had to give Parish a nudge to make sure he responded in kind.  Please lose to Hull at the weekend lads, call it an early Christmas present to me.

Nathan Ake has done more good for Chelsea since playing for Bournemouth than in any of his U23 Development squad matches.  He will have dreamed about scoring the goal that kept the Blues top of the table, but he probably didn’t envisage it happening whilst he was playing on the South Coast alongside Jack Wilshere.  

Bournemouth refused to give up against Liverpool and it was the introduction of Fraser and Afobe that did for Klopp’s men.  Let’s be honest, Jurgen, big Benik Afobe up against Lucas was only going to end one way.  Kloppo was gracious in defeat and was thought to be getting on the phone to Pardew to find out exactly what they did in training on Friday as Liverpool need a bit of that right now.

Everton and United closed out the weekend and it reminded us all of the days when José would capably shut up shop away from home when in the lead. It’s not that he has gone all gung-ho in his older, slightly more narky days.  It’s just that he has to turn to Fellaini to close the game out.  There were a mere three minutes on the clock when the Belgian managed to make himself the social media trend of the weekend, and you can only imagine what Mourinho had to say to him after the game.  

Mind you, it plays into his “United are the unluckiest side in the land” narrative.  Zlatan was peak Zlatan after the game, claiming his kick to Coleman’s head was unintentional.  The big Swede claimed that he knows how to kick someone in a way that they never wake up.  If you know how to kick things properly, Ibra, why have you missed so many chances this season, eh?

Follow Chris’ daily Tales over at www.talesfromthetopflight.com

[ad_pod id=’domino-survey’ align=’center’]

[ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]

Southampton play host to Liverpool in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie at St Mary’s on Wednesday night, with both sides aiming to reach the Wembley final.

Saints come into the fixture in poor form, though, having lost three on the bounce in the Premier League – conceding nine in the process – while they twice lost the lead to draw 2-2 with Norwich City at Carrow Road in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

However, they have beaten three top-flight sides already on their way to the last four in this competition, with the highlight being their 2-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last time out.

Claude Puel’s men will face a tough task against the Merseyside outfit, though, who are second in the Premier League and five points behind the leaders Chelsea.

Like their south coast opponents in midweek, the Reds face a replay in the FA Cup after a much-changed side could only draw 0-0 with League Two outfit Plymouth Argyle at Anfield on Sunday.

Here are FIVE key battles that will decide the outcome at St Mary’s…

Daniel Sturridge vs. Virgil van Dijk

While he has found first-team starts hard to come by this season, with Philippe Coutinho unlikely to be named in the side and Sadio Mane away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Sturridge should get the nod up top at St Mary’s.

The England international scored twice in a 6-1 thrashing of Southampton at St Mary’s in the same competition last season, and he will look to replicate that impressive goalscoring form on Wednesday.

However, he will come up against one of the most-wanted centre-backs in the Premier League in Van Dijk, who continues to impress with his aerial dominance and his comfort and quality on the ball.

While he is strong in defence, the Dutchman has also shown how he can be a threat at the other end of the pitch for the low-scoring Saints with goals against Tottenham and Norwich in the last couple of weeks.

Adam Lallana vs. Oriol Romeu

Despite his success with the Saints, Lallana always gets a mixed reception when he returns to St Mary’s and he will certainly be keen to silence the boo-boys on Wednesday night – and he is in the form to do exactly that.

The England international has been one of the best players in the Premier League this season – he has scored seven goals and picked up seven assists in 18 top flight appearances – and he will be looking to make another impact in an attacking sense in the semi-final tie.

He will come up against Oriol Romeu who has often been the deepest-lying Saints midfielder this season, tasked with protecting his back four.

The Spaniard will need to be at his best and most aware to stop an in-form Lallana.

Roberto Firmino vs. Cedric Soares

Earlier on in the campaign, the link-up play between Firmino, Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane was quite sublime at times, but with the latter definitely out and Coutinho a doubt, it will be up to the Brazilian to provide that attacking spark on Wednesday.

With the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi looking for service, Firmino will need to put in an influential performance to break down a Saints defence that they couldn’t in a 0-0 draw at St Mary’s in the Premier League in November.

If he starts on the left-hand side, the attacker will come up against Euro 2016 winner Cedric Soares, in what will be an interesting battle.

The pacey Portuguese right-back came off with a head injury in the defeat to Liverpool’s rivals Everton at Goodison Park last week, but is expected to be fit enough to start for this huge tie.

Divock Origi vs. Ryan Bertrand

The Belgian has probably had more first-team minutes than he might have expected this season – often being preferred to Daniel Sturridge in attack – and Jurgen Klopp will likely give the forward a start in this clash at St Mary’s, if nothing else for his outstanding performance in the same competition last season.

Origi netted a hat-trick in the 6-1 thrashing of Saints in the quarter-finals of the League Cup in 2015, and he will want to show that same clinical finishing to help his side reach a Wembley final.

While he and Roberto Firmino are likely to switch wings throughout, Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand will be up against Origi at some stage, no doubt.

The England international is one of the south coast side’s most consistent performers and he has certainly stood up in an attacking sense in recent weeks, scoring the equaliser in the 3-1 win against Bournemouth while he also netted in the previous round of this competition – a 2-0 triumph against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Jay Rodriguez vs. Dejan Lovren

Similarly to Lallana, Lovren isn’t the most popular player when he returns to St Mary’s following the way in which he left the Saints to join Liverpool in 2014.

The centre-back has certainly come on leaps and bounds for the Reds this term after a dodgy spell last season, and he is the club’s first choice at the heart of the defence right now with Joel Matip still on the sidelines through injury.

The Croatian will come up against a Rodriguez that is slightly different to the one he played with before he moved to Anfield, with the attacker still struggling to get back to the form he was showing three years ago.

There have certainly been glimpses of him getting back to his best, though – think the brace against south coast neighbours Bournemouth last month – and he will need to get the better of Lovren on Wednesday night if he is to find the net again.

As the halfway stage of the Premier League season approaches, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino should be relatively content with his side’s efforts to qualify for Champions League football once again this season.

Indeed, the north London outfit currently lay in fifth place, just one behind their bitter local rivals Arsenal in fourth.

But as we move into the business end of the campaign, Pochettino must identify the areas that continue to hamper the progression of his Spurs side to ensure they don’t drift away from the top four battle.

Fortunately, however, the January window is just around the corner and provided Daniel Levy gives him the right funds to spend, Pochettino should be able to amend some of those issues via the transfer market.

With that in mind, we take a look at three glaring issues Pochettino must look to resolve when the transfer window opens on New Year’s Day.

Inject pace in the wings

An enormous, glaring issue Spurs consistently suffer from is the lack of pace in attack.

Pochettino’s side have struggled to stretch teams this season and find space behind the lines of sides that set up defensively with the aim of keeping Spurs’ chances limited.

Signing a speedy, penetrative winger would allow Pochettino to add another dimension to the White Hart Lane outfit.

Kane is the only scoring striker

With summer signing Vincent Janssen struggling to deliver, Harry Kane remains the only in-form striker at the club and an injury to the England international would hugely damage Spurs’ chances of Champions League qualification.

Janssen hasn’t scored a Premier League goal from open play this season and although the Dutchman is still a young, developing player, Spurs need to find another goal threat for the remainder of the campaign.

A short-term solution would be ideal, but decent front-men rarely come cheap – especially midway through the season.

Better depth in key areas

Following injuries to both Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld in September and October respectively, Spurs lost momentum in their title challenge and ultimately went on an eleven-game winless run.

The run saw them knocked out of the Champions League and their title challenge fade. So if the North Londoners are to maintain their push for the top four, Pochettino needs to improve the squad’s all-round depth in January.

As reported in an exclusive by The Daily Express, Paris Saint-Germain are eyeing a shock move for Crystal Palace’s striking superstar Christian Benteke.

What’s the story?

Paris Saint-Germain are still searching for a permanent replacement to Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his move to Manchester United last summer and have cast their eyes on Selhurst Park to replace the Swedish legend.

The Express report that PSG have been scouting the big Belgian, keeping tabs on his progress all season. Now they’re willing to test Crystal Palace’s desire to hold on to their £30m man.

The paper say that Palace have already rebuffed a big money offer from the Chinese Super League with new boss Sam Allardyce eager to hold on to him.

Cash in or hold firm?

Crystal Palace are currently locked in a massive battle to save themselves from relegation, just one place above the relegation zone and level on points with 18th placed Hull City.

Disruption to their team at this stage of the season could prove disastrous, especially when it’s someone who has the ability to win games like Christian Benteke. The Belgian international has 8 Premier League goals this season, the Eagles’ top scorer.

Even if well compensated, losing him in this transfer window, especially if later in the month when they may not have time to find a replacement, is not the right move if they’re serious about staying the division.

The striker has the ability to be the difference between Palace and other teams around them in the relegation fight.

[ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]

The FA Cup fourth round has been incredibly kind to us this weekend as we witnessed a wealth of surprising results. After Lincoln City defeated Championship leaders Brighton & Hove Albion yesterday, today saw Sutton United look to take another scalp.

The Non-league outfit excelled on their big day and stunned Garry Monk’s in-form side, resulting in the FA Cup fifth round featuring two non-league sides for the first-time since the inception of the Football League.

Sutton will look ahead to tomorrow night’s fifth-round draw dreaming of another glamour tie, with the possibility of facing giants like Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea.

Captain James Collins’ secured the victory with a second-half penalty and sent the home supporters ballistic. We all love a good cup upset and we’ve gone through the game moment-by-moment to bring the match as it happened, solely in pictures.

Managers face off

Garry Monk has earned plenty of plaudits this season for the performances of his Leeds United side but he faced a huge challenge today, coming up against Sutton United Paul Doswell- who is extremely superstitious and had a coach take his side to the game, even though they were a minute down the road.

He was also pictured vaping on the sidelines. If anything shows the difference between professional football in the non-league, it’s that!

Disallowed goal

The home crowd were riled-up early in the game as Roarie Deacon tucked home after just six minutes. It gave Leeds an insight into what they could expect from the remainder of the match and replays showed the decision was perhaps a little unfair.

It showed the neutrals we had a game on our hands though and that was exactly the case.

Penalty

A mix-up in the Leeds United defence gave the minnows the opening they craved just eight minutes into the second-half, when Lewie Coyle committed the offence. The spot-kick came to captain Jamie Collins, who played for Havant & Waterlooville against Liverpool previously.

He needed nerves of steel but, fortunately, he had that.

Man of the moment

Wearing the armband, Jamie Collins stepped-up and dispatched the opening goal with ease.

Sutton fans could really dream now as their side had taken the lead against promotion contenders Leeds United. The home side had over half an hour to keep their Championship opponents at bay and there was still a lot of work to do but you could see the belief oozing out of the side.

Cup-set

At the final whistle, Sutton went crazy after a tremendous accomplishment. Overcoming AFC Wimbledon in round three was an achievement in itself but this game will go down as the greatest day in Sutton’s history- although their potential draw next round could get even better.

[ad_pod id=’Shoot-Xmas-Survey’ align=’left’]

Alexis Sanchez has been Arsenal's stand-out player this season but question marks have surrounded about the Chilean's long-term future in North London, with many feeling the former Barcelona man will cut his ties this summer.

The two-time Copa America winner netted his 20th goal of the season in the Champions League on Tuesday night but was a frustrated figure come the final whistle, after Arsenal left the Allianz Arena with a 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich.

That's intensified rumours that Alexis may be moving on but the superstar seems to have suggested that's not the case, with his recent post on Instagram.

No soy un "SUERTUDO" simplemente trabajo con esfuerzo y dedicación para estar hoy aquí y sonreírle a la Vida

Chelsea have been handed a major boost in their quest to sign Franck Kessie from Atalanta as the Blues target revealed he’s flattered by the interest of the Premier League leaders, The Evening Standard reports.

What’s the word?

20-year-old Ivory Coast international Franck Kessie has excelled with Atalanta this season, scoring six goals, and has seen interest in his services rise significantly- with Chelsea, Arsenal, Roma and Manchester United eyeing his signature.

Atalanta, who sit fifth in the Serie A standings and are vying for a spot in European football next term, will find it difficult to keep hold of Kessie’s services this summer as top-sides eye a swoop- and Kessie has given interested clubs a boost in their pursuit.

Chelsea, who are said to be plotting a swoop this summer, are regarded as the favourites for Kessie’s signature alongside Roma and the comments from the youngster will have gone down very well in West London.

What was said?

Quoted by The Evening Standard, Kessie has discussed interest from top-sides in Europe but also made it clear how much he’s enjoying life with his current side.

“I am very flattered that clubs of this level are interested in me. This proves that I’m having a good season, that I continue to progress. I don’t want to go too fast.”

“I don’t know if my club has received any offers. I’m under contract. We’ll see if we need to discuss anything. I like Bergamo. The city is nice, quiet, and I appreciate life in Italy, where I was well received.”

Should he move?

Kessie will face a big decision on his future this summer, particularly if Atalanta are successful in their push for continental qualification. Currently sat fifth, within the Europa League spots, Atalanta are just one point above Lazio and must fight AC Milan and Fiorentina for a top-five spot.

If Atalanta fail to achieve their aim, then the chances of Kessie moving on this summer will intensify. However, if they do reach the Europa League then the youngster should seriously considering remaining with his current employers for another season.

At Chelsea, and the rest of the interested clubs for that matter, Kessie will find chances of first-team football difficult to come by and that could hinder his development. Staying at Atalanta, meanwhile, could help him further his abilities in the coming years.

[ad_pod id=’Shoot-Xmas-Survey’ align=’left’]

Wayne Rooney’s future at Manchester United has been a hot topic throughout the season and more fuel was recently added to the fire via comments from Everton boss Ronald Koeman, who opened the door for a sensational return to Goodison Park.

Those comments have sparked plenty of debate as to whether Rooney would consider a return to his boyhood club and whether he would be a good fit back on Merseyside- with former Toffees defender Richard Dunne the latest to share his views.

Whilst others have questioned the motives behind the transfer, Dunne told TalkSport that Rooney could shine for a number of years yet and pointed at Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as evidence to back-up his claim.

“It would be a great signing. There is a lot left in Wayne Rooney. He has obviously not had a run of games this year but in terms of fitness and ability that is not really in question. He just has to look at Ibrahimovic and see how strong and how good he is at his age, 35. Rooney is only 31.”

“It would be a great signing for Everton, if they can get him, but I’m sure there will be a long list of clubs who think Rooney can improve their side.”

Tied down until 2019, Rooney could be offloaded this summer as opportunities at Manchester United are becoming limited and he was a top-target for Chinese clubs during the first couple of months at 2017- and they could revive their interest in him this summer.

[ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]