Tag: Premier League

Leicester City advance in Champions League with more wins than they have in the Premier League

They’re Leicester City and they’ll win where they want

(Leicester City)

Leicester City shocked the world by winning the Premier League last season. So what did you think they would do this season? Win it again? That would be stupid and boring. And by currently sitting 16th in the Premier League—just two points above the drop zone—Leicester are making it crystal clear that they don’t give a shit about winning it again, either.

No, they’re leaving the piddly little Premier League to small-time clubs like Man United, Chelsea, and Liverpool. What Leicester City care about is the Champions League. And they’ve proven that by winning their group—one that also includes Porto, Copenhagen, and Club Brugge—with a match to spare and one more win (four) in five European matches than they have 12 Premier League matches this season (three).

Since this is Leicester’s first appearance in the Champions League, this is also the first time they’ve reached the tournament’s knockout stage—a feat it took Man City three consecutive tries to accomplish. With the Champions League on lock, Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri now has the difficult task of convincing his players to actually care about the uncultured backwater that is the Premier League so they can try and avoid relegation.

From Leicester’s official website:

“It is unbelievable, to be top of the group,” said Ranieri. “I am very happy and very proud. I am happy for my players, for my chairman, for the fans — for everybody.

“We have another journey now through the knockout. Unbelievable. It is very important to be top of the group but our minds must now go on the Premier League because I want to push my players to think about the Premier League.

“Now our job is done. We won the group. I don’t know which team we will play but it will be a fantastic team.

“But now we have to go back. In the Premier League we are very close to the relegation and we must play at the same level as the Champions League because when we want to do something we achieve something.

“We must concentrate on the Premier League now.”

“Must” is a strong word. I’d go with “might as well.” As in, “This Champions League business is easy peasy, so we might as well embarrass everyone back home again, too.” What I’m trying to say is that, at this rate, Leicester will win the 2018 World Cup. While playing in League One.


Lights go out at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light

It’s been that kind of season for the Black Cats

(PA Dugout)

Sunderland have endured an absolutely miserable season thus far, so of course when they finally play well enough to win at home for the first time this season (and just the second time overall), the lights go out during the game.

A power failure at the Stadium of Light (who says the football gods don’t have a sense of humor?) prompted fans to create a beautiful twinkle effect with their phones as Sunderland beat Hull City 3–0 to climb out of last place in the Premier League.

https://www.gettyimages.com/license/624352702

Surely Sunderland fans would’ve preferred this to happen during their 4–1 loss to Arsenal or 3–0 loss to Everton, but it hasn’t been like the Black Cats’ fortunes to enjoy small graces such as that.

The outage also had Sunderland manager David Moyes doing his post-match press conference in the dark, which gave him the opportunity to work in a shot at the assembled journalists in the name of banter.

When Moyes recently said that he often sits alone in a darkened room after matches, I don’t think this is what he meant.


Man City fans are the worst at Fantasy Premier League

And Middlesbrough fans are the best, because the keyword here is “fantasy”

I have no idea what is happening in this image

International breaks provide time for clubs to reflect on the season thus far. They also give the Premier League’s official website an opportunity to call out supporters of the two Manchester clubs for being terrible at fantasy football.

Since the Premier League’s official fantasy game asks participants what their favorite club is upon setting up a team, they’re able to track which club’s supporters perform best in the game. As it turns out, this is bad news for fans of Man United and City. Here’s the full table:



It’s unclear exactly why Man United and City fans are doing so poorly, but it’s interesting to note that most of the big clubs (with the exception of Liverpool) are near the bottom of the table—perhaps signifying that they have a larger number of casual fans who might not have the knowledge or commitment to be successful fantasy owners. Or maybe Pep Guardiola’s WiFi ban at City’s training complex is decimating their staff’s ability to play fantasy football and tanking their points average.

Meanwhile, Middlesbrough supporters top the table, proving that they did their homework before making their return to the Premier League this season. And Sunderland fans appear to know far more than David Moyes.

The “top-owned player” category is also interesting. It’s no surprise that fantasy points machine Sergio Aguero is listed 14 times. What is surprising is that Leicester fans have adopted inexpensive Watford midfielder Etienne Capoue, who has already scored four goals (double his output from the last three seasons combined) as their favorite over the likes of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

As for me, I’m with Hull City fans at 483 points, but I’ve done it without Aguero (I’ve remained loyal to Zlatan because I know what happens to those who don’t). I’ve also done it without paying attention to my fantasy team for the last eight weeks or so. This is not a strategy I would recommend for maximizing fantasy success.


Arsenal beat Burnley with last-second, offside handball goal

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With mere seconds left to play against Burnley, it looked like Arsenal fans were going to get to celebrate Arsene Wenger’s 20th anniversary with the club by continuing their calls for him to be sacked. But Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Laurent Koscielny and the match officials all did what they could to ensure that Wenger didn’t suffer embarrassment by getting him a 1-0 win with an offside, handball goal at the death.

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Fans should become paid extras in the Premier League televsion show

With the Premier League expanding to Friday nights this season at the behest of Sky Sports and their £4.2 billion investment, further strain is being put on match-going fans in order to cater to the more lucrative home audience.

On the surface, this makes sense as a business decision. Optimizing the Premier League’s product for the TV money hose that’s funding an influx of talent and international business interest is a logical thing to do. But, as the Guardian points out, this addition of Friday fixtures adds to a growing list of challenges for match-going supporters.

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Jurgen Klopp regrets giving piggyback rides after Liverpool’s fourth goal against Arsenal

Liverpool came back from 1-0 down to take a 4-1 lead over Arsenal in the 63rd minute of their Premier League opener. As the goals piled up, the excitable Jurgen Klopp couldn’t resist getting in on the celebrations, with Sadio Mané even jumping on his back for a ride after scoring the fourth. The party quickly got out of hand, however, as Arsenal scored twice to make it 4-3 and give Liverpool a scare until the final whistle.

With the benefit of hindsight and reduced adrenaline levels, Klopp realized that he might have overdone it.

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