Premier League returns – what to expect from GW13?
The Premier League, along with most other top-flight competitions, returns after a two-week international break – the last of 2023. With no international breaks scheduled until March next year, club football will be in full swing, and there’s nothing better than the festive PL spell.
By the time the year turns, we’ll have completed 20 league match days. That’s a jam-packed December, which will provide answers as to which clubs are contenders to bring home silverware when all is said and done.
On that note, here’s what to expect from the motley 20-team crew tussling to climb the ladder and add definition to their season, this week.
#1 A box-office worthy Man City vs Liverpool fixture
Fans around the globe, barring Jurgen Klopp, whose team line up for yet another early kick-off, will have their eyes peeled on the Manchester City-Liverpool tussle.
It’s a rivalry that has stretched the heights of imagination in modern years, and extended the ceiling of what fans were accustomed to. And more often than not, when these two teams meet there’s more than just points at stake.
The Cityzens shared the spoils with Chelsea in an edge-of-the-seat thriller that ended 4-4. Despite shoring up the top ranks, they haven’t hit the otherworldly standards we associate them with as of yet. Still, they’ve shown to be the best side in English football again.
Liverpool, on the other hand, are one of the most improved teams from where they were this time last year. A midfield rejig, a fit and firing Salah and grit in front of goal has meant they are undefeated in the PL since the 30th of September.
Just one point separates Man City and Liverpool. Surely, we’ve heard that before many a time. It’s Pep Guardiola versus Klopp. It’s Erling Haaland (if fit) versus Mohamed Salah.
Could you have asked for a better way to start your weekend?
#2 A fired-up Everton unit
It was announced last week that Everton would have 10 points from their total this season chalked off for breaching financial rules.
An independent panel called upon by the Premier League held the Toffees accountable for violating profit and sustainability rules (PSR). As a result, they sit second from last with four points, with bottom-dwellers Burnley behind on goal difference.
“Following a five-day hearing last month, the commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR [profit and sustainability rules] calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5m, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105m permitted under the PSRs. The commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect,” the statement read.
It’s understood to be appealed by the end of the season, but with many other clubs such as Manchester City under the microscope with over 100 alleged financial breaches, Everton were ‘shocked and disappointed.’
Given the kind of man Sean Dyche is, he’d have his troops dust off what they cannot control on the football pitch and hit an indifferent Manchester United team where it hurts most.
In all honesty, the Toffees have been sensational in recent weeks. They’ve collected seven points from their last three league matches, and sandwiched between that morale-boosting run was the 3-0 thrashing of Burnley in the EFL Cup.
They certainly have the personnel to turn it around, and even more certainly have the manager to do so. Perhaps, there is no better time to play Man United. As for Erik ten Hag, there’s perhaps no worse period to visit Goodison Park.
#3 Respite for the basement clubs?
Fans of the game have lashed out at the apparent mediocrity from the newcomers this season. Luton Town, Sheffield United and Burnley occupy three of the bottom four spots even with Everton’s punishment.
A combined 15 points from 12 games a piece doesn’t make for happy reading, but if there’s a time to engineer a barnstorming comeback, it’s now.
This game week, and the ones to follow in proximity, comprises potential six-pointers. It could see upstarts for some teams, while the others could see their fight for survival snuffed.
Let’s begin from the bottom. The fixture ticker for Burnley reads West Ham, Sheffield United, Wolves, Brighton, Everton, and Fulham. At least three of the next six will be in the relegation scrap in the months to follow.
Vincent Kompany has the ease of fixtures, albeit none of them can be labeled as the same. Sheffield United, meanwhile, face-off against AFC Bournemouth and Burnley, offering Paul Heckingbottom an opportunity to prove he’s better than the rest of the chasing pack.
Luton, on the other hand, have shown more fight and intent to remain amongst the top dogs, having held both Nottingham Forest and Liverpool to draws.
Three of their next four matches happen to be at Kenilworth Road, a venue where they’ve found home comforts and enjoyed a homeside advantage. They host a Crystal Palace side fighting for consistency themselves, having lost 2-3 to Everton last time out in an absolute humdinger.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Egghead06. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.