Liverpool started 2018 with a bang!
THE year started off with a bang and Liverpool has been the club lighting the fireworks. They have brought to an end, two long-running transfer sagas by signing Vigil van Dijk and selling Philippe Coutinho, for £75 million and £145m respectively.
Van Dijk has already won over the faithful by scoring a late winner against arch-rivals Everton on his debut in the FA Cup’s third round.
Arsenal ensured that the romance of the FA Cup continued when they were knocked out by Nottingham Forest. The current holder’s embarrassing exit will heap further pressure on Wenger who avoided the sack last year on the back of winning the FA Cup. Stoke City also crashed out while Chelsea drew against Norwich.
As we settle back into our usual routines and embrace 2018, this is an ideal moment for me to provide a mid-season assessment of the English Premier League.
And the awards go to… Team of the season? Without a doubt Manchester City. They are unbeaten this season, including an 18-game league winning streak. They have continued their unerring march to the title by dropping only 4 points thus far. Pep Guardiola has got this team playing some dazzling football and many pundits are already claiming this could be the best Premier League team ever.
Most entertaining team – if any neutral supporter had a chance to attend a match, they will most probably choose a Liverpool game. Offensively, the Reds have played some of the best football in Europe, but sadly, their leaky defence has contributed to games being more entertaining than most Liverpool fans will want.
Player of the season? This is a toss-up between David de Gea, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Kevin de Bruyne. However, I will have to go for De Bruyne. The Belgium has impressed in all the major stats and his team is still competing in four competitions.
My fantasy team of 11 players are 1) David de Gea; 2) Kyle Walker; 3) Marco Alonso; John Stones; 4) Toby Alderweireld; 6) N’Golo Kante; 7) Philippe Coutinho; 8) Kevin de Bruyne; 9) Harry Kane; 10) Mohamed
Salah and 11) Raheem Sterling.
OVER the last few months, Jose Mourinho's press conferences have concentrated more on their “noisy neighbours” Man City as opposed to his own team. While Guardiola has kept his views to himself, Mourinho has found a new sparring partner in Chelsea's Antonio Conte. They are creating a fascinating sideshow and the hostility has intensified with both managers trading insults.
Although he has not mentioned any names, Mourinho has made reference to managers who “behave as a clown on the touchline” and “match fixing”, both of which he is alleged to be referring to Conte. Conte, in response, has called Mourinho a “fake” and a “little man”.
When is Chelsea visiting Old Trafford? That is going to be a humdinger both on and off the field!
THE arrival of the Indian cricket team will ensure this is a hotter summer than usual. India, the best Test side in the world, will give our boys a stern test.
I hope Virat Kohli will continue his impressive form and treat the home fans to some exciting cricket. Any match which includes both Kohli and AB de Villiers should be a spicy affair.
India has not won a Test series in South Africa in 25 years and I was surprised that they arrived so close to the start of the first Test.
Teams from the sub-continent generally battle against bouncy/fast pitches. This is why I believe that they should have arrived earlier to play a few warm-up games. However, the team believes they are capable of pulling off a series win. Only time will tell.