Laura Woods: Man City Will Finish Above Arsenal
TITLE RACE STILL ON
This is what we love about the Premier League. Just when you think Liverpool are running away with it, the Geordies parachute in, nick a draw with a 90th-minute equaliser and reignite the title race for us all.
Seven points feels a lot more achievable for Arsenal and Chelsea to stay in the hunt and I'm absolutely not ready for it all to be over before Christmas. So, yes, the title race is on!
CHELSEA ON FIRE
Chelsea have really impressed me this season. I genuinely thought they would be nowhere near the top of the table.
Their fans are clearly buzzing as well, even singing “We’ve got our Chelsea back”.
I don’t see them winning the title because I still think they’re in their infancy as a team but they’re on the same points as Arsenal with a superior goal difference adding five against Southampton in midweek – albeit losing a clump of Marc Cucerella’s hair in the process!
But when you’ve got goalscorers like Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson in the team and you keep winning games and have players on the bench that can influence things too, you can never say never.
MARTIN HAS TO CHANGE
Saints let Chelsea cruise past them on the coast in midweek, it really didn’t help when Jack Stephens got himself sent off and is now facing a three-match ban for violent conduct (finally some justice for Cucerella’s barnet by the way… it’s only taken two years since Cristian Romero got away with it).
The fans aren’t happy, the team understandably got booed off last night and they also booed the announcement of their next home game, too.
Southampton have had injuries and suspensions to deal with and played against the team second in the league with 10 men for an hour, so I do have some sympathy for Russell Martin.
They also got shafted against Brighton with Howard Webb admitting their disallowed goal should have stood, which must be a very bitter pill to swallow.
But with Saints rooted to the bottom of the table, Russell might need to look at changing his style of play and stop shipping easy goals, or it’ll be the chop for the team and the manager too.
E̶x̶c̶i̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶m̶a̶s
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) December 2, 2024
Excited for a new episode of The Lineup with @talkSPORT ✅
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MY LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
Title: Liverpool. I know I said the title race is still on but, at this point, I do think Liverpool will still win the league. Top 4: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea. I think it’ll stay as it is but City will stage a comeback and come second, then Arsenal with more experience than Chelsea. The Blues will make top four though and get Champions League football back. Relegation: Southampton, Wolves and Ipswich
LATEST RIYADH CARD A CRACKER
The 22nd February fight night is one of the best cards I’ve seen and the most excited I've seen boxing pundits for a while!
We had a good Riyadh card last Christmas but this one is better. The main event will be as exciting as the last time Artur Beterbiev faced Dimitry Bivol, but it’s Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker for me, that is going to be fireworks.
These are two of the nicest men in the world of boxing but both turn into absolute animals.
Parker has worked hard to get to where he is, taken some very tough fights and is getting a well-deserved shot at Dubois.
Dubois shocked the world when he dismantled Anthony Joshua but I feel like this might be a tougher fight for him.
I can’t wait to see Hamzah Sheeraz again too – he is fast becoming a star.