Sportsbet.io's English Premier League Football Pool Discussion Thread

[cryptofrka]

Liverpool was actually terrible throughout most of the 1st half today - so a big win was quite surprising at the end.
I think that Ekitike's individual brilliance for the 2nd goal fully changed the game, and Wirtz was simply too good today and pushed us further to victory.

Has to be said that Gordon was really lucky to stay on the pitch today though.

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Really bummed that Chelsea managed to turn their game around - they have much easier short-term fixtures and will probably create a decent gap in 4th. Without these 2 points the league table would have been a lot nicer.

[slaman29]

I still don't see Arsenal losing the title tho. I mean Manchester City was the closest competitor but they also lost to the other Manchester team!!

They have a comfortable lead and no genuine opposition this season, but Arsenal are known for bottling and it is difficult to trust them to finish strong. Manchester City won despite spending less than 10% of its time at the top last season. It could be another bottle job season, but Arsenal deserve to win this one; they've been consistent enough.

I forgot to send in my predictions for the first 4 games today

I have no idea what the Liam guy is doing but it seems like we're the new comeback kings in town.

I have to side with you here. Its getting harder and harder to bottle it as the months pass, and I believe Christmas and January topper usually win it, but some have bottled, but nobody bottles in February or later... I think?

Also no idea who is your new guy but poor West Ham

[igebotz]

I have to side with you here. Its getting harder and harder to bottle it as the months pass, and I believe Christmas and January topper usually win it, but some have bottled, but nobody bottles in February or later... I think?

Also no idea who is your new guy but poor West Ham

Well, our famous bottle jobs Arsenal bottled after topping past February to Manchester city in season before last after spending 248 days on top of the league, another one was in 2007/2008 to Chelsea and went on to finish 3rd. The chances of them bottling this one is still very high.

Westham are naturally bad, it was our fault to have given them two goals like that.

[un_rank]

I think that Ekitike's individual brilliance for the 2nd goal fully changed the game, and Wirtz was simply too good today and pushed us further to victory.

He's looking much sharper, as I saw him the first time he wore a Liverpool shirt. Subsequent games after that we're not as bright, just a few sparks but he's looking comfortable now and importantly playing without pressure having scored some goals and given some assists.
Ekitike is class, with or without Isak injury, he should be starting.

I tried to be clever going for Newcastle, hoping maybe they'll have one of their strong away nights.

- Jay -

[buwaytress]

And the hoodoo at Spurs continues for Pep. If Arsenal bottle after this, it will be on a scale never before seen, likely never to repeat.

P.S. Eki's class, yeah, he's found a way to play without pressure (or without feeling it, anyway), when Bobby, Mane, Salah, all played like that, nothing could stop them. Happy for Wirtz, naturally, and he's now got 2 more up on Palmer, sorry Igebotz.

[Ryu_Ar1]

And the hoodoo at Spurs continues for Pep. If Arsenal bottle after this, it will be on a scale never before seen, likely never to repeat.

Manchester City should have been quite comfortable in the second half but instead they seemed to be confused with the rhythm they made. What the hell is this? It looks like I'm starting to trust issues for Manchester City this season because their performance is very difficult to predict, especially with the last 6 weeks in the EPL 4 draws 1 loss and 1 win that doesn't show they are doing well.

6 points Arsenal lead and this is a very good opportunity if the curse does not come to them this season.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Man City drop points again, can only help Arsenal now really as they go 6 points clear this weekend. Man City always seem to drop points against Spurs over the years. It’s a bad result for Guardiola because Spurs have been terrible in the league this season. Man City’s next game is away against Liverpool so they didn’t help themselves dropping points today.

[igebotz]

Happy for Wirtz, naturally, and he's now got 2 more up on Palmer, sorry Igebotz.

I'm not worried, we have a good fixtures and Palmer only need to start 3 consecutive games to match Wirzt or surpass him. But honestly Wirzt has been better and looks sharp in recent games. You have a good chance to win the side bet though.

Man City drop points again, can only help Arsenal now really as they go 6 points clear this weekend. Man City always seem to drop points against Spurs over the years. It’s a bad result for Guardiola because Spurs have been terrible in the league this season. Man City’s next game is away against Liverpool so they didn’t help themselves dropping points today.

Advantage Arsenal once more - they're going to win not because they deserve it more or have the best attack but because the other top teams are inconsistent, no real competition. Just a walk in the park.

Manchester city defensive woes continues - billion bottle jobs.

[un_rank]

A helping hand from Spurs was not on my bingo card for the month. They have struggled every time I needed them to put up a performance and then turned the corner on the other days. After the first half I thought City would put 4 or 5 past them, that was a very good second half display.
On a side note, how did Rodri not get a second yellow card there? That was as blatant a bookable offence as I have seen.

Advantage Arsenal once more - they're going to win not because they deserve it more or have the best attack but because the other top teams are inconsistent, no real competition. Just a walk in the park.

Every weekend it's the same mental gymnastics to come up with different narratives. The suspense to know what it'll be next weekend

- Jay -

[igebotz]

Advantage Arsenal once more - they're going to win not because they deserve it more or have the best attack but because the other top teams are inconsistent, no real competition. Just a walk in the park.

Every weekend it's the same mental gymnastics to come up with different narratives. The suspense to know what it'll be next weekend

Fact is stubborn - you can't tackle agenda  

Your overall top scorer in the league is on 6 goals and we're already in week 24, the only reason Arsenal is still topping is because Manchester city bottled too many easy games from a winning position this season. Give me something to work with man.

None of your attackers are making the team of the year and that's fact - do you know how poor that is from the supposed "best in the league"? You're not the best, you're are only lucky if we look at the stats. Zero narratives, pure facts.

Your 3 best attackers:

Viktor Gyökeres - 6 PL goals
Trossard - 5 PL goals
saka - 4 PL goals
Total: 15 PL goals

Halaand: 20 goals

[slaman29]

I have to side with you here. Its getting harder and harder to bottle it as the months pass, and I believe Christmas and January topper usually win it, but some have bottled, but nobody bottles in February or later... I think?

Also no idea who is your new guy but poor West Ham

Well, our famous bottle jobs Arsenal bottled after topping past February to Manchester city in season before last after spending 248 days on top of the league, another one was in 2007/2008 to Chelsea and went on to finish 3rd. The chances of them bottling this one is still very high.

Westham are naturally bad, it was our fault to have given them two goals like that.

6 points is only 2 games so I have to agree its not over yet. The problem is Manchester City can't seem to take advantage, one has to see what the effects of cup and CL games will have on rotation and on that aspect both MC and Chelsea have bigger squads.

West Ham lol yeah they must have been dreaming at halftime and then got back to harsh reality. I am picking on Chelsea to come on top in cup against Arsenal btw!!

[igebotz]

6 points is only 2 games so I have to agree its not over yet. The problem is Manchester City can't seem to take advantage, one has to see what the effects of cup and CL games will have on rotation and on that aspect both MC and Chelsea have bigger squads.

West Ham lol yeah they must have been dreaming at halftime and then got back to harsh reality. I am picking on Chelsea to come on top in cup against Arsenal btw!!

The title race is between Arsenal and Manchester City, I don't see any other club coming in to it unless Arsenal performs extremely bad as I expected them to in the coming fixtures. Aston Villa bottled a chance to go 2nd, them too I don't trust.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester united are only Top4 contenders. Nothing more.

If Liam comes up with a better lineup, we'd beat them but our records against those bastards is pretty bad. I can't say.

[un_rank]

Your 3 best attackers:

Viktor Gyökeres - 6 PL goals
Trossard - 5 PL goals
saka - 4 PL goals
Total: 15 PL goals

Halaand: 20 goals

But we are still the second highest scoring team in the league only scoring 3 less than Haaland and every other city player. It's funny that City gets criticized for being heavily reliant on Haaland and we are getting criticized on functioning as a unit.
Fun fact - We are also the highest scoring team in the UCL League phase and won all of our matches, which puts holes in your argument about strength in the league.

I really don't mind the criticism as long as we win the league in May. Bonus points if we get more than one trophy at the end of the season.

- Jay -

[igebotz]

But we are still the second highest scoring team in the league only scoring 3 less than Haaland and every other city player. It's funny that City gets criticized for being heavily reliant on Haaland and we are getting criticized on functioning as a unit.
Fun fact - We are also the highest scoring team in the UCL League phase and won all of our matches, which puts holes in your argument about strength in the league.

I really don't mind the criticism as long as we win the league in May. Bonus points if we get more than one trophy at the end of the season.

That's another stubborn fact, I'm not going to dispute or ask you to remove the 5 generous "own goals" from the math but playing and scoring as a unit doesn't stop attackers from performing their primary duties.

Not_fun fact: just win the league and all this will go away - no one told you being an Arsenal fan would be be easy. 

Everyday I'm in the asses of our defenders for being so shit at their level - I don't sugarcoat mediocrity

[un_rank]

That's another stubborn fact, I'm not going to dispute or ask you to remove the 5 generous "own goals" from the math but playing and scoring as a unit doesn't stop attackers from performing their primary duties.

Own goals (4 of them) literally come from attacking threat the team creates and even if you remove the 4 own goals we've still scored more than almost every other team.

Everyday I'm in the asses of our defenders for being so shit at their level - I don't sugarcoat mediocrity

Your team is way off the mark in results and performances this season, you should not sugarcoat your mediocrity, in contrast Arsenal is doing what they need to do in attack and defense across multiple competitions, a position your club will dream to be at and you expect the fans to join in the mental gymnastics that rival fans do?

- Jay -