So a season that gave us the ridiculously unexpected draws to a close and already we can start to turn our attention to EURO 2016 and of course next season in the EPL. If the prospect of the Premier League next season hasn’t got you salivating by now you cannot be a committed fan of football. Forget Carlos Ancelotti rolling into the Allianz Arena. You can be slightly intrigued by the prospect of Zinedine Zidane trying to wrestle away La Liga from the Camp Nou.
But by my estimations, there will be at least six EPL clubs starting the new campaign with a new boss and with that projected list of a minimum of six including both Manchester clubs and Chelsea, the pressure will be on like never before as the likes of Conte, Guardiola and, in an ideal world for entertainment purposes, Jose Mourinho, enter environments where ‘bedding in’ periods will not be tolerated. All that plus we get to see the next chapter in Leicester City’s extraordinary story both at home and now abroad in the UEFA Champions League.
A quick word on Selangor’s defeat in Singapore to Tampines in the AFC Cup. The Red Giants were poor but having been on the same Changi to Subang flight back with them on Wednesday I am pleased to report there were no happy, joking faces in their camp on the way home. They all looked miserable, as they should have done after going out of AFC competition but with professional footballers nowadays, that is no given. I spoke to Rob Cornthwaite, one of football’s good guys, on the way back and he refused to use the shocking Sports Hub pitch as an excuse, simply admitting Selangor played very, very badly. Look for a Giant response from the Reds back in domestic action against Kelantan next Wednesday.
I’m going to go through the usual process of casting my eye over this weekend’s fixtures but with more than a few players with one eye on Dubai/Marbella/Las Vegas the final ten games should be treated with extreme caution. What I can promise you though, is my ‘Three for the Weekend’ assessments will be made with no holiday on my agenda….the Euro’s are just around the corner!
Arsenal 4 Aston Villa 0
It is impossible not to go with a thumping Arsenal victory as they sign off another season that failed to deliver the big prize against quite possibly the worst team to grace the Premier League. And to think with 23 minutes to go in the fifth game of this season, Villa were beating Leicester 2-0 at the King Power Stadium! They may have kept a clean sheet at home last week but every Villa player surely wants this season to end as quickly as possible. However, if Arsenal turn it on this Sunday, the final 90 minutes of the Villa nightmare may feel like 90 hours to their long-suffering fans. Even when they were half decent in years gone by Villa have struggled against the Gunners in recent meetings with just 2 wins in their last 32 contests against Arsene Wenger’s men.
Manchester United v Bournemouth – DRAW
Sky’s cameras in the UK have picked this game as their final ‘live’ match of the season. Partly because United have the largest following and partly, I’m sure, because the reaction at Old Trafford come the final whistle should be fascinating. Those cynical TV rascals are hoping Louis Van Gaal’s team fail to win yet again and the now obligatory ‘lap of appreciation’ by the Red Devils is met by screaming reds fans demanding LVG’s exit and the anointing of the Special One. Sky are clever boys when it comes to picking their ‘live’ games so I’m with the draw here. Remember Bournemouth beat United in the reverse fixture in December and Eddie Howe deserves huge credit for keeping the Cherries up when they an almost unanimous pick from every pundit in the world to go down.
Newcastle 0 Spurs 4
I hear they do good lasagna at the Marriot in Newcastle but I’m assuming Spurs will be giving that a swerve for the pre-match meal! A huge boost for Tottenham in their quest to finally finish above Arsenal, was the Toon being condemned to the drop by Sunderland’s win against Everton in midweek. The St James Park terraces will be all about hurling abuse at Mike Ashley’s regime and bearing in mind most of the players in black and white stripes have looked like they haven’t been trying for most of the season now would be a very peculiar time to start! With Spurs already having scored 33 goals away this season and Harry Kane wanting to secure the Golden Boot, this could be a goal fest for the visitors.
OTHER PICKS
Chelsea v Leicester – Over 2.5 goals
Everton v Norwich – DRAW
Southampton 3 Palace 1
Stoke 0 West Ham 0
Swansea v Man City – Over 2.5 goals
Watford v Sunderland Under 2.5 goals
WBA 1 Liverpool 3
Other posts by Patrick Kinghorn
