The early competition struggle at the top of the English Premier League football championship table continues, when the tenth stage of the competition begins today, Saturday. During the last stage, Manchester City, the title holder in the last four seasons, came at the top of the standings with 23 points, one point ahead of its closest competitor, Liverpool, which dropped to second place after stumbling in its last match, while Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea seem not far behind them.
Manchester City will be a guest at Bournemouth, as it seeks to reconcile its fans, who were disappointed following the team’s sudden and early exit from the round of 16 of the League Cup, with a 2-1 loss to its host Tottenham Hotspur, the day before yesterday, Wednesday.
The Spanish coach, Josep Guardiola, the coach of Manchester City, introduced a number of substitute players against Tottenham, in order to rest his main stars, only to pay a heavy price with his sudden exit from the competition.
City, which will host Sporting Lisbon of Portugal next Tuesday in the Champions League, fears surprises from Bournemouth, which is in 11th place with 12 points, and which has been the cause of wasting many points against more than one of the top clubs this season. Bournemouth beat Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium, which will host tomorrow’s match, and also tied with Aston Villa away from home, in its last match in the tournament, last Saturday.
Despite this, Manchester City is armed with a record of its confrontations with Bournemouth, which witnessed its superiority overwhelmingly. In 21 matches between the two teams in various competitions, the Heavenly team achieved 19 victories and a draw in two matches, while the team nicknamed (The Cherry Blossoms) was unable to achieve any victory. For its part, Liverpool is facing a not-easy confrontation against its guest, Brighton, for the second time in less than 72 hours, after they previously met in the round of 16 of the League Cup. Liverpool snatched a thrilling 3-2 victory from Brighton Stadium, in their meeting that took place the day before yesterday, Wednesday, to secure a nomination for the quarter-finals in the tournament.
Liverpool hopes to return to the path of victories, which it missed in the last stage of the league, after its 2-2 draw with its host Arsenal, last Sunday, which came to hinder its uprising with its Dutch coach Arne Sloat, as it stopped the red team’s winning streak that continued in its eight matches. Previous in various competitions.
Egyptian international star Mohamed Salah is looking forward to continuing to score for the third consecutive match in the tournament, after he previously scored against Chelsea and Arsenal in the Red Team’s last two matches.
The Egyptian Pharaoh has scored 6 goals so far in the tournament this season, where he is 5 goals behind Norwegian Erling Haaland, the Manchester City striker (leader).
Salah wants to occupy eighth place on the list of all-time top scorers in the English Premier League, which he currently shares with Robbie Fowler, the Liverpool legend, with 163 goals.
This will be Salah’s 17th match against Brighton, as he has a proven record against the team nicknamed (The Seagulls) after scoring 9 goals and assisting 7 other goals for his teammates, thus contributing to 16 goals.
During Salah’s previous 16 matches against Brighton, the (Egyptian King) led Liverpool to achieve 9 victories, compared to 4 draws and 3 defeats. The match is considered a final rehearsal for Liverpool before its expected confrontation with its German guest, Bayer Leverkusen, next Tuesday in the Champions League, during which the red team seeks to continue its distinguished start after winning its first three matches in the continental competition.
On the other hand, Brighton, in sixth place with 16 points, aspires to continue its good results in the tournament during the current season, after achieving 4 wins and 4 draws against one loss in its first nine matches in the competition, which makes the match fraught with danger for Salah’s teammates.
The stage matches will open today with a confrontation that is not devoid of excitement and competition between Newcastle United, which is in twelfth place with 12 points, and its guest Arsenal, which has 18 points, at St. James Park.
There is no alternative for both teams but to collect the three points, as Arsenal plans not to waste more points, following its loss to Bournemouth and its draw with Liverpool in its last two matches in the tournament.
Spanish coach Mikel Arteta’s team achieved only two wins in its last five matches in the tournament, which left it 5 points behind the summit.
Arsenal, seeking to regain the title that has been missing since the 2003/2004 season, is looking forward to getting a good morale boost before its meeting with its Italian host, Inter, next Wednesday in the Champions League.
As for Newcastle, it is suffering from a poor start to the tournament this season, after achieving 3 victories, 3 draws and 3 defeats, and coach Eddie Howe’s team is looking for its first victory in the competition in a month and a half.
Newcastle’s last victory in the tournament dates back to last September 15, when it beat its host Wolverhampton 2-1 in the fourth stage, after which it achieved two draws and suffered three defeats in its next five matches in the competition.
Despite this, Newcastle is playing the match in high spirits following its valuable 2-0 victory over its guest Chelsea, the day before yesterday, in the League Cup.
This stage will witness a heavy-caliber confrontation between Manchester United and its guest, Chelsea, the day after tomorrow, Sunday, as this will be the first confrontation for the hosts in the tournament after the dismissal of its Dutch coach, Erik Ten Hag, due to poor results.
Manchester United, the historic champion of the competition with 20 titles, is in 14th place with 11 points, moving away from the summit struggle early, after achieving 3 victories against 2 draws and 4 defeats.
The team nicknamed (the Red Devils), which achieved only one win in its last five matches in the tournament, plans to…
To get back on track under the leadership of its interim Dutch coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy. United appeared in a completely different way in their first match with Van Nistelrooy, when they achieved a landslide 5-2 victory over their guest Leicester City the day before yesterday in the League Cup, trying to build on that result against Chelsea.
This is the second consecutive match in the tournament for Manchester United against one of the clubs in the British capital, London, after losing 1/2 to its host, West Ham United, in the last stage.
For its part, Chelsea, which is in fifth place with 17 points, aims to remain in the first positions, as it regained some of its balance following its 2-1 victory over its guest Newcastle in its last match in the competition, last Sunday, which came after its draw with Nottingham Forest and its loss to Liverpool. .
The matches of the two clubs are always characterized by excitement and competition. In 164 matches held between them in various competitions, Manchester United achieved 65 victories compared to 46 victories for Chelsea, while 53 matches were tied, and the Red Team players scored 261 goals, compared to 201 goals for the Londoners.
Several other important meetings are scheduled to take place at this stage, as Southampton will meet its guest Everton, Ipswich Town will meet Leicester City, Nottingham Forest will meet West Ham, and Wolverhampton will meet Crystal Palace tomorrow.
Tottenham Hotspur, which is in eighth place with 13 points and is ecstatic over its victory over Manchester City in the League Cup, will play its guest Aston Villa, which is in fourth place with 18 points, the day after tomorrow, Sunday, while the stage matches will conclude with Fulham’s meeting with its guest Brentford, next Monday.
