Did Anyone See The Swans Coming?

Going into the game at the weekend just gone, Swansea would've considered themselves having a good campaign in their first season in the Premiership and now after the 3-2 victory over Arsenal this fact is surely confirmed on more of an official basis.

The Swans are up to 10th and with only 1 defeat at home and that was to Manchester Utd so can really be forgiven. Things are looking great for the Welsh team.

I'm not one for upsetting a team while they are on such a high but they will have to watch out that their home form doesn't drop off due to the fact that their away form currently isn't good enough.

This whole story reminds me of Blackpool last season who were having a stormer due to their good home form but as soon as they struggled for victories at home the game was up and they were relegated at the first time of asking.

All that a side, I'm sure the fans will take it as it comes and for now at least are enjoying the fantastic season that they are having.

The Premier League Returns.

With mixed emotions on the international break for the home nations its back to the bread and butter of the league this weekend.

This weeks fixtures:

Saturday-

Liverpool v Man Utd
Man City v Aston Villa
Norwich v Swansea
QPR v Blackburn
Stoke v Fulham
Wigan v Bolton
Chelsea v Everton

Sunday-

West Brom v Wolves
Arsenal v Sunderland
Newcastle v Tottenham

The one fixture that stands out this weekend will be the early kick-off at Anfield between Liverpool and Man Utd.
This game never fails to gain the attention, wheather its due to the quality of football, sendings off or just the heated war of words between managements and this weekends match should be no different.

With Man Utd being on 19 points and Liverpool being on 13 alot of people will consider this game important for the continuation in Liverpools revival, if Utd ended the weekend on 22 points Liverpool would already be 9 points behind the champions where as if Liverpool got themselves a win 19 points to 16 looks much better and could add Liverpool into the potential league winners group of Utd, City and Chelsea.

Looking at the other fixtures I think the City v Villa game could be very interesting indeed as both teams still find themselves undefeated along with Utd and Newcastle....so...will something give? will one team see their first lose? many will think its in the bag for Man City but im not so sure its as clear cut.

Three fixtures that could be just as important but for reasons further down the table are
Norwich v Swansea,QPR v Blackburn and Wigan v Bolton.

Norwich and Swansea are both joint on 8 points so a win for either team would propel them into a great position but if you're a betting man you'd probably go for the draw which both teams would likely take as a good result.

QPR on the same points as Norwich and Swansea find themselves at home to second from bottom Blackburn and after their terrible result against Fulham will be determined not to fall foul again but Blackburn will be hoping to kickstart their season and realive the pressure, even if its just for a little bit.

Wigan 18th hosting Bolton 20th is arguably the most interesting fixture out of the 3... if either team lose the  confidence that they started the season with could really be dented and would really find themselves early favourites for regation...fans will be watching this one with interest, nerves and hope.

The last two fixtures on Saturday Chelsea v Everton and Stoke v Fulham i think are both worth a watch with Chelsea and Fulham having high scoring wins last time around will they be able to carry that through? wWe shall see.

Sundays fixtures could make for a very interesting day too with Newcastle being unbeaten still and Spurs still on a high after a North London derby win...Arsenal  and Sunderland will want to put a stop to their very average starts to this season and West Brom v Wolves which is always a heated occasion and will be a very hard game to predict.

All in all this weekend could prove to be a classic with early season hopes on the line and potential must win games across the ball, i know ill be watching with interest and personally hope the Arsenal can start heading in the right direction.

Who ever you support have your say.

PBS

Which of the Premier Leagues new boys are in the best position to survive?

I have seen a couple of games this season featuring new boys QPR, Norwich and Swansea and have to say I've had mixed emotions on who will survive in the ever difficult Premiership.
Now all three teams have played with heart and a determination that is definitely needed for survival but at the same time have made some mistakes that can only come with the inexperience they have at top level.


I think the most notable news in the summer was that QPR were bought out and spent some money on some bigger names such as Barton, Wright-Phillips, Young (Luke) among others, while the other two teams made signings but none with massive top flight experience.


Automatically due to this reason you would think that puts QPR favorites to achieve at a higher level but looking at their last result against Fulham where they were mauled 6-0 combined with the performances of Norwich at Old Trafford where they can be well within their rights to think they should've won against a high flying Utd side, and Swansea's 2-0 win against a very good Stoke City side then for me things are wide open in a league that could drag 8-10 teams into a relegation dog fight.


So with Norwich, Swansea and QPR in 9th, 10th and 11th respectively all on 8 points whats your thoughts on their futures?


PBS