Eighth Week Conclusions in the Premiership

Carlo’s ‘cross’ with the defence. What do Abdoulaye Faye, Titus Bramble, James Collins, and Richad Dunne have in common? They’ve all scored against Chelsea from crosses into the box. Totaling half of Chelsea’s goals conceded for the season, 8 in 8 matches, Carlo Ancelotti must address his teams crossing deficiency before their title challenge resumes against high-flying, Lancashire derby winners, Blackburn.

It’s no day at the beach. When Harry Rednkapp traveled down to the South Coast this weekend to face former club Portsmouth, he must have thought how different things could have been. Following the 2008 FA Cup victory with Pompey, Redknapp departed for Spurs leaving Peter Storrie and Alexandre Gaydamak to pick up the pieces. On his return to the club on Saturday, his new side ran away convincing winners… and you don’t need to be a football genius to know that 3rd place is better than 20th.

Does anybody know the rules? Sunderland’s Darrent Bent scored a goal against Liverpool this weekend that will be replayed on football blooper reels for the rest of eternity. Deflecting off a red beach ball with the Liverpool badge emblazoned, Bent’s crisp snap-shot swerved away from Reina and into the net. Taking a moment to consult the linesman, referee Mike Jones ruled the goal legitimate and Liverpool re-started play from the halfway line. Following the match, several former referees spoke out about the incident insisting the Sunderland goal had been wrongly allowed and instead there should have been a drop ball outside the area. We know that in this instance we’re talking about a rare occurrence, but it just confirms what we’ve suspected all along; referees don’t know what they’re doing.

Gunners fully loaded. Arsenal’s league record this season screams of attacking football; 8 matches, 6 wins, 2 losses, 27 goals scored, four 4-goal victories. Early season criticism of Arsene’s young hopefuls has subsided and given way to a wave off high-scoring performances and scintillating team play. As long as Arsene can call upon Cesc Fabregas, with 4 goals already to his name this campaign, to pull the strings in midfield, then Arsenal will always be a threat.

London and Manchester jostle for position. The top five currently includes two teams from Manchester, 1st place United and 5th place City, and three sides from London, 2nd place Chelsea, 3rd place Tottenham and 4th place Arsenal. Last season there were three cities involved in the final top five positions; two from London, 3rd place Chelsea and 4th place Arsenal, two from Liverpool, 2nd place Liverpool and 5th place Everton, and as we all know, only one from Manchester, champions United.

Defoe receives a proper welcome back from the Portsmouth fans