Opinion on Grand Slam Sunday in the EPL: Manu vs Liverpool and Chelsea vs Arsenal

In two days time, it will be what is term as Grand Slam Sunday as the top four teams in the EPL will battle it out against each other which will have a huge bearing to where the championship will be heading to.



The below is the screenshot of the current table as of the 22/3/08. Currently in first is Manu with a 3 point lead. They are followed closely by Arsenal and Chelsea and slightly further back is Liverpool who has regained their form over the last few weeks.

The first match to preview is the Manu vs Liverpool game. This is in normal times a very intensive game but to add on to the intensity of this game is the timing of the game as well as the gap at the top.

In recent weeks, after a mid-season slump, Liverpool has hit the road and is back in a big way. They have recently went on a run of 7 successive wins and are in buoyant mode as they are scoring for fun with the new front pairing of Torres and Gerrard as the free role attacking midfielder. A win at their bitter rivals Manu would provide an additional boost to the Liverpool players that they may come out of nowhere and win the League title.

On the other hand, Manu in the last few games have developed a worrying wastefulness in front of goal which led to the elimination from the FA cup and the narrow wins against Bolton and Derby which in all honesty are quite fragile in terms of their defence. Only the individual brillance of Ronaldo is driving the team towards the Championship.

Therefore in a way we could say this could be one of the worst time for Manu to meet Liverpool. The situation would have been much difference if the fixture was a month ago.

The below is my opinion on what are the potential problem that Manu could face .

1. If Manu regular center half pairing is not able to recover in time for the game, Torres could have a field day in attacking Manu if he is on the ball as the replacement will have a harder time coping with the brilliant running of Torres and Gerard.
2. In recent games, Fergi has been trying out a number of combination for centre midfield. If the combination is not selected with utmost care, Liverpool which has an abundance of talent in centre midfield ( Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso) will dominate the center midfield. If that happens, Manu will be in big trouble.
3. Another area of concern would be the choice of the wingers. If they choose both Nani and Ronaldo, there is a high chance that these players will take the ball and charge to opposition territory. This is more of a direct route and will lead to less intricate passing in the midfield which is something useful to help remove the attention of the opposition players. Another potential weakness about the direct route is that a lot of the manu midfielders will go up and support and if Liverpool are able to take the ball of the dribblers, it will lead to a rapid counter-attack which Liverpool are very good at.
4. In attack, Manu stiker has hit a lean spell with the exception of Ronaldo, Liverpool could mark Ronaldo out and Manu would effectively be toothless in attack as they lack a finisher upfront. ( Someone in the mold of Ruud)

The below are the potential problem that Liverpool could face:

1. Ronaldo. He is the main threat that they have to watch out and they cannot afford to give too many direct free-kicks from 25 to 30 yards out.
2. If for some reason, Gerard and Torres are not on top form, it will be hard for liverpool to sustain attacking pressure on Manu defence. These two players performance will likely determined the performance of Liverpool.
3. Rafa himself. He has to decide on his team setup and the mentality they approach the game. A wrong choice in midfielder could be critical to Liverpool.

Based on the past history, Liverpool has not beaten manu in the league for a few years already and their last win was 2 years ago in an FA cup tie. However this game will be very close and to be honest during the last few meetings with Liverpool, Manu rode their luck and won games with a very late goal from John O'Shea last year.

As a Manu fan, I am hoping that we can continue the winning streak against Liverpool but it will be a very tough matchup. ( Doubt that there will be many goals)

For the second game between Chelsea vs Arsenal, it will be another tight affair. Chelsea has not lost at home for a very long time. It is a fortress for them.

In the recent matches, Chelsea defence has not looked so solid as evident from the last outing against Tottenham which they considered 3 goals from set play which previously Chelsea was fantastic at defending it. However their attack is still very strong and with Joe Cole and Frank Lampard in hot form, they will cause any defence problems.

Arsenal in the last few weeks with the exception of the Milan game has not been outstanding. They have drawn 3 times in a row against opposition that they were expected to beat. The surprising thing is that in these 3 games, Arsenal did not manage to dominate the games for long period and also need not create their usual array of chances for their forwards to finish.

Based strictly on form, Chelsea should have the upper hand since they are also at home. However Arsenal is one team you do not write off as can be seen from their performance against Milan on their day, they are nearly unplayable.

Therefore I have a sneaky feeling that this match will be a draw. ( Maybe because I am a Manu fan and the best result is a draw :)

Anyway it will be a great Sunday evening of top class football although goals could be a premium.