Premier League in Europe

Newcastle heads to Germany Tuesday looking for a better result in its reverse fixture than the 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund it suffered at St James Park three weeks ago. The Magpies are flying after beating Arsenal on the weekend while their German foe was blitzed by Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga Saturday. The other Premier League team in action on Tuesday is Manchester City which will try to avoid yawning when it hosts Young Boys. The Citizens  won in Switzerland 3-1 when the teams last met. Manchester United will be in Denmark on Wednesday to face Copenhagen. A Harry Maguire goal was the difference when the Red Devils won the first match at Old Trafford. Arsenal is home to Sevilla on Wednesday after defeating the La Liga club in their first group meeting in Spain. Ajax is the only club that Brighton has beaten in its last eight matches across all competitions. The Seagulls will hope to once again feast on the Dutch club in their Europa League rematch in Amsterdam on Thursday. Liverpool will also be on the road to face Toulouse after the Reds triumphed by a 5-1 margin at Anfield in the first meeting. West Ham will be at home hoping to avenge its earlier 2-1 loss to Olympiacos in Greece. Europa Conference League action will see Aston Villa host AZ Alkmaar. Villa defeated the Dutch side 4-1 in their first meeting in the Netherlands.  

Premier League Week 11 Preview

Arsenal puts its undefeated Premier League record on the line when the Gunners travel to Newcastle on Saturday. The Gunners are one of two undefeated clubs and trail similarly undefeated rival Tottenham Hotspur by two points in the table. The Magpies, meanwhile, have won four of their five matches this season at St. James Park, stumbling only in a one goal loss to Liverpool.

League leading Spurs must wait till Monday to take the pitch in the much-awaited Mauricio Pochettino derby. The Chelsea manager returns to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face his former side, which is experiencing wild success, so far, under Manager Ange Postecoglou. The Australian manager has delighted fans with an aggressive attacking style that has more than compensated for the departure of striker Harry Kane. After experimenting early on with Richarlison leading the line, Postecoglou has been playing Son Heung-min at center forward with the Korean international notching eight Premier League goal so far this season, joint second in the league. Pochettino, meanwhile, is yet to find a consistent scoring threat at Chelsea. Raheem Sterling leads a floundering attack with three goals for the Blues. While Postecoglou has Spurs leading the table, Pochettino’s side are struggling in 11th place with a return to the European places seeming to be a longer project than expected.

Monday night football in London 🍿
#TotChe pic.twitter.com/NH4kENl1zc

— Chelsea FC USA (@ChelseaFCinUSA) November 3, 2023

Third place Manchester City and league leading scorer Erling Haaland host Bournemouth on Saturday. The Cherries, winners in the league for a first time last week, face a daunting challenge against a Manchester City club which has won all its 21 Premier League and Cup matches played at the Etihad in 2023. It’s unlikely that Bournemouth will find its first ever win against Manchester City this weekend.

The other current top four club, Liverpool is on the road but will also be a heavy favorite Sunday at newly promoted Luton Town. The Reds will be seeking a fifth consecutive victory across all competitions and have scored at least twice in their last six matches. Luton Town has scored nine times in the Premier League this season versus the 23 league goals of Liverpool.

Aston Villa is only a point behind Liverpool in the table as Manager Unai Emery’s side travels to Nottingham Forest for Sunday’s other Premier League match. Villa’s seven wins in its first 10 matches marks the best start by the club in a top tier league season in 70 years. Nottingham Forest, however, can be stubborn at home as they currently have a seven-match unbeaten league run at the City Ground.

Sights set on Sunday 👊

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) November 3, 2023

Brighton has failed to win in its last four league matches, dropping the Seagulls from the top four into their current seventh place position in the league. Injuries to Solly March, Pervis Estupian, and Danny Welbeck have factored in slowing the momentum of Manager Roberto De Zerbi’s side. Only Estupian is expected to return anytime soon but even that won’t happen this weekend when the Gulls face a resurgent Everton side which has won three of its last five Premier League matches. The Toffees’ recent trio of wins is more than they had accomplished in their previous twenty league games. The return to fitness and form of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been a key to Everton’s recent success.

West Ham, 1-0 losers to Everton last weekend, travel to Brentford on Saturday. The Hammers have lost two in a row and have only a solitary win over relegation bound Sheffield United to their credit over their last six league matches. Manager David Moyes will hope that a midweek Carabao Cup win over Arsenal can change the trajectory of his squad in the league. The task won’t be easy against a Bees’ side which has won its last two Premier League matches by an aggregate 5-0 margin. Each of the Bees’ last eight league wins have been against London sides as they enter Saturday’s derby versus the Hammers.

Manchester United will be in London Saturday hoping to improve on its current eighth place position in the table. The capital city hasn’t been kind to the Red Devils as they’ve won just once in their last 11 visits to London. That one victory, however, was against Fulham last November and Craven Cottage will again be the site when the two sides face off on Saturday.

The bottom two clubs in the table will both be at home this weekend as they try to improve their lot. Burnley will host Crystal Palace. Both the Clarets and Eagles have struggled to score eight goals this season. Burnley, however, has conceded 25 times versus the 13 goals allowed by Crystal Palace.

Bottom of the table Sheffield United, meanwhile, has scored a league low seven goals and conceded a league high 29 goals as one of the worst Premier League sides of all time. The Blades are home to Wolverhampton on Saturday. Wolves will be trying to extend its unbeaten run in the league to six matches against the cellar dwelling Blades. 

Carabao Cup

The Round of Sixteen provided a surprise when West Ham defeated visiting Arsenal 3-1. Gunners’ Manager Mikel Arteta rotated his line-up and received a disappointing performance from those squandering the opportunity to impress. Kai Havertz continued to struggle with his new club. Aaron Ramsdale did himself no favors in his ongoing battle with David Raya to be the preferred goalkeeper for the Gunners. Among the others failing the test for Arsenal were Zinchenko, Jorginho, Reiss-Nelson and Fabio Viera. The Gunners fell victim to the typical David Moyes game plan as West Ham prevailed despite controlling only 28% of the possession and failing to put a shot on target until the second half. After being gifted a first half own goal by Arsenal, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus found the net in the second half for the Hammers. Former West Ham captain Declan Rice only entered the match as a second half substitute to a mixed reaction from West Ham supporters. West Ham wins the dubious privilege of travelling to Liverpool for the next round after a Darwin Nunez goal eliminated Bournemouth 2-1. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp rotated eight of his eleven starters in the winner over the Cherries.

It probably doesn’t matter who Manchester United Manager Eric ten Hag puts on the pitch as nothing seems to be working for the Red Devils. Old Trafford was the scene of a second consecutive 3-0 defeat as the Red Devils lost their cup tie to Newcastle by the same scoreline as the Manchester derby loss last weekend. A heavily rotated Newcastle side had no problem in dispatching their woeful opposition. Former Chelsea academy players Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento impressed for the Magpies, Hall scoring and Livramento registering an assist.

Newcastle will face Chelsea in the cup semifinal after Chelsea defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Defender Benoit Badeashile scored for Chelsea in his return from a lengthy injury absence with Raheem Sterling also finding the net against Chelsea’s Championship tier opponent.

Everton will host Fulham in the semifinals after the Toffees defeated Burnley 3-0 and the Cottagers triumphed 3-1 at Ipswich Town. The other semifinal draw matches lower tier Port Vale and Middlesbrough.

The Carabao Cup semifinals take place December 19th and 20th.