Surging Man U guns for Liverpool
Red Devils have momentum on their side heading into clash of Premier League titans
Manchester United hosts traditional rivals Liverpool on Sunday (TSN, 8 a.m.), as Jose Mourinho goes for his biggest win since taking charge of the Red Devils.
These two teams met earlier in the season, a dull scoreless draw in which United was fortunate to escape Anfield with a point. Now, with home advantage and his team in a great form, it’s hoped Mourinho will focus more on attack and less on shutting down the opposition.
United is undefeated in 15 games in all competitions, including wins in their last nine. High-profile signings Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are once again looking the part, while the defence led by Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo is playing well.
While United has all the momentum, Liverpool has lost theirs. A big 1-0 win over Manchester City on New Year’s Eve set up Liverpool as the team to challenge leaders Chelsea, but the Reds haven’t won a game since. Liverpool is still in second place, five points out of first, but there’s a cluster of teams right behind them, including sixth-place United. A loss on Sunday could send Liverpool spiralling out of the top four.
Table toppers
With Barcelona dropping points away to Villarreal last Sunday, that opened the door for Sevilla to move into second place. They took that opportunity with a thumping 4-0 win away to Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Now Sevilla must face Real Madrid, as the league leaders come to visit on Sunday. This will be the third meeting between these two teams in 11 days, as Sevilla and Real were also drawn against each other in the Spanish Cup round of 16.
A key player for Sevilla is diminutive French forward Wissam Ben Yedder. He netted a hat trick in Saturday’s win, and now leads the team in scoring with eight goals. The 26-year-old joined Sevilla in the summer from Toulouse, where he was the club’s top scorer for several seasons.
Ben Yedder is quick, agile and has good vision, and will look to do some damage against Real on the counter-attack.
The Goddess
The big game in Italy this weekend is on Sunday, as sixth place Atalanta visit fourth place Lazio.
Atalanta is having a good season, having taken points off Roma, AC Milan and Inter so far. The club plays in the small city of Bergamo in the north, and has the reputation as the most successful team in Italy that’s not based in a major metropolitan area.
The club is named after a female athlete in Greek mythology, and the team is nicknamed La Dea, which means “The Goddess.”
A key player at Atalanta is midfielder Jasmin Kurtic. The Slovenia international isn’t normally known as a goal scorer, but he’s been used in more of an attacking role this season, playing just behind the front two, in an aggressive 3-4-1-2 formation.
Kurtic has height and is good in the air. Playing in a more advanced position, he’s now one of the team’s top scorers.
On the B side
Down in Serie B, meanwhile, a team that many people are talking about is Pisa. The club has the best defence in the league, with just 12 goals allowed in 21 games.
That would normally put a team near the top of the table, but instead, Pisa sits 19th among 22 teams and in serious danger of being relegated. The problem is that they can’t score. Pisa has managed only seven goals all season, and only one goal in their last 11 matches. That’s a terrible dry run for a professional team, and it’s become a running joke in Italy as to when Pisa might score again.
The club is managed by former AC Milan star Gennaro Gattuso, who played more than 70 games for Italy. Gattuso was a hard-tackling defensive midfielder, but not the best at going forward.
It looks like his team is following in his footsteps.
Bob Lenarduzzi is president of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets