Tenth Week Conclusions in the Premiership

Pompey mount revival. Following a miserable season start of 7 losses, conceding 13 goals and netting just 3 in the process, the South Coast club, rooted in last place, were everyone’s early season pick for relegation. But how quickly things change in football. In the last 4 matches, Portsmouth have scored 10 goals, conceded just 2 and amassed 7 crucial points on the way to Premiership survival. With fellow strugglers West Ham, Wolves, Hull and Blackburn failing to secure three points over the weekend, Pompey now sit miraculously only three points from safety.

Arsenal’s home comforts. When Harry Redknapp intimated this week that Tottenham had caught up with their more successful London neighbors, he must have forgotten to look at the fixtures. With the North London derby around the corner, his comments were only ever going to come back to haunt his team. Spurs haven’t won at Arsenal this century. In fact, the last time they did take all three points was back in 1993 when Cesc Fabregas was 6 years old. To add to the omen, Arsenal’s home form this season has been impeccable. Prior to the Spurs match, the Gunners had won all 4 of their matches at the Emirates, averaging over 4 goals scored per match. Needless to say, Redknapp was made to eat his words as his side were spooked into submission 3-0 by a rampant Arsenal attack.

Phil Brown sacked! Not yet but it’s only a matter of time. With Paul Duffen, ex-Chairman and staunch supporter, resigning mid-week, Hull City manager Phil Brown’s tenure at the club hangs in the balance. Only one point off last place, Brown needed his players to stand up and be counted when referee Mike Jones blew for kick-off at Burnley’s Turf Moor. But that wasn’t the case as his chaps succumbed to a demoralizing 2-0 defeat. A string of three home matches against Stoke, West Ham and Everton will go a long way in determining Hull’s future in the top flight. Whether Phil Brown will be at the helm to manage those fixtures remains to be seen.

Liverpool dead and buried? Rarely can a team afford 5 losses in a season, let alone in the first 11 fixtures, if they’re going to challenge for the title. But that’s exactly the scenario in which Rafa Benitez and his wounded soldiers find themselves. With Steven Gerrard out injured indefinitely, Fernando Torres slowly returning to full fitness and Jamie Carragher due to serve a suspension for his Craven Cottage misdemeanor, Benitez faces possibly the most testing time of his Anfield reign. A must win mid-week match away to Lyon followed by a crunch home tie against Birmingham hold the key to Benitez’s future at Liverpool.

Seeing red - Carragher's dismissal adds to Liverpool woes