It seems like the Premier League is all about Sunday again –
not too many great games on Saturday (Palace v Sunderland seems the low point),
but then Liverpool v Man United and Arsenal v Tottenham on September 1.
The transfer window remains open until Monday, so don’t be
surprised if Mark Hughes or Sam Allardyce makes a panic buy depending on who
wins the West Ham v Stoke game. Big Sam to pick up Kaka after he requested a
transfer from Real Madrid – could he be the next Okocha, Hierro or Djorkaeff?!
I’m hoping the Bale deal will be done by the time you read
this. He’s going to Chelsea, we’ve known it all along. They are woefully short
of midfielders, and he could play with some of the best strikers from 2008 if
he went there. I don’t really understand the financial fair play rules, but
Chelsea have a squad of 53 and pay them all a fortune – I wouldn’t be surprised
if they are still paying Winston Bogarde!
***
We have to wait until Sunday for Marseille v Monaco in Ligue
Un – should be a good one, with a proper crowd seeing as Marseille are at home.
Juventus v Lazio and Valencia v Barcelona are the two other standout games for
me this weekend. Should be interesting to see how Tevez and Co are blending
into a team, and how Valencia do now that they have sold Soldado to Spurs.
***
And then there’s the Super Cup between Bayern Munich (the
Champions League winners) and Chelsea (the Europe League winners). It’s being
played in Prague – which is in the Czech Republic for those of you who failed
geography (near Russia for Americans) – and is the first time in 15 years this
game has been played anywhere but Monaco. Falcao bagged a great hat-trick for
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea last year, and Jose Mourinho’s team may struggle
again this year.
Bayern are a very strong team that have been playing
together for a few years. Mourinho would have to be a genius just to remember
the names of all the players in his squad – it might mean games for Victor
Moses, Ryan Bertrand and Marco van Ginkel, and surely Paulo Ferrera will play
in another big game (he must still be there, surely). 2-1 to Bayern for me, but
I lose so much money gambling, that it’s best to bet against me.
No comments:
Post a Comment