2018-2019 EPL Discussion Thread

[HAL]

Liverpool is the home of the Beatles.

[K]

This sounds like AFL:

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says it will be 'survival of the fittest' under him

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/man-utd-crystal-palace-team-news-latest-injury-ole-gunnar-solskjaer-a8798466.html

"Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes his fast and direct football is responsible for Manchester United’s recent spate of injuries, though he will make no apologies for his style of play.

Solskjaer is likely to be without as many as 10 players for Wednesday’s Premier League trip to Crystal Palace...

The raft of injuries has been attributed in some quarters to United’s new expansive style. Under Solskjaer’s predecessor Jose Mourinho earlier this season, United averaged 98 sprints per Premier League game.

That figure has jumped to 108.6 per game since Solskjaer’s appointment as caretaker manager in December ...
...

When asked whether he saw a connection between United’s new style and injury concerns, he said: “It’s probably linked, yes, because when do you make that change?

“Do you wait until pre-season and think you will change results by not asking them to run? Or do we start now and show them what the demands are and the intensity of how we want to play?

“You’ve seen what I chose. We need to play as a Man United team and if you want to be a part of Man United, it’s a survival of the fittest.

“We’ve not had time really to work on the fitness,” Solskjaer added. “We had a week in Dubai, we’ve not really had many weeks of training, lots of game time, but Dubai as you might have noticed it was more of a tactical one than a physical one.” "

[K]

Liverpool have cut their goal difference deficit substantially, but the bookies' odds have barely changed.

[HAL]

[Jezza]

Weekend Matches:

Saturday March 2 2019:
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal - 12:30
AFC Bournemouth v Manchester City - 15:00
Brighton & Hove Albion v Huddersfield Town - 15:00
Burnley v Crystal Palace - 15:00
Manchester United v Southampton - 15:00
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Cardiff City - 15:00
West Ham United v Newcastle United - 17:30

Sunday March 3 2019:
Watford v Leicester City - 12:00
Fulham v Chelsea - 14:05
Everton v Liverpool - 16:15

All local times

[K]

In their 29th game, Tottenham broke their season-long drawless streak. Liverpool also drew. Man City won.

The UK bookies' odds are now (for example):

Man City 1.33
Liverpool 3.25
Tottenham 200.00
Man U. 200.00

which translates to roughly these title chances:

Man City ~ 70%
Liverpool ~ 30%

[Jezza]

Latest Results:

Saturday March 2 2019:
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Arsenal
AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Manchester City
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-3 Crystal Palace
Manchester United 3-2 Southampton
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Cardiff City
West Ham United 2-0 Newcastle United

Sunday March 3 2019:
Watford 2-1 Leicester City
Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
Everton 0-0 Liverpool

The Ladder:
1. Man City 71 - Played 29
2. Liverpool 70 - Played 29
3. Tottenham 61 - Played 29
4. Man Utd 58 - Played 29
----------------------
5. Arsenal 57 - Played 29
6. Chelsea 56 - Played 28
7. Wolves 43 - Played 29
8. Watford 43 - Played 29
9. West Ham 39 - Played 29
10. Everton 37 - Played 29
11. Leicester 35 - Played 29
12. Bournemouth 34 - Played 29
13. Crystal Palace 33 - Played 29
14. Newcastle 31 - Played 29
15. Brighton 30 - Played 28
16. Burnley 30 - Played 29
17. Southampton 27 - Played 29
-----------------------
18. Cardiff 25 - Played 29
19. Fulham 17 - Played 29
20. Huddersfield 14 - Played 29

[K]

Hacker Who Leaked Soccer’s Secrets Loses Extradition Hearing

"The leaks first emerged in 2015, on a website called Football Leaks, before Mr. Pinto, a year later, joined with the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel and a group of other European news media organizations to slowly disseminate related news articles. They painted an unflattering picture of an industry troubled by questionable efforts to avoid millions of dollars in tax, flagrant rule breaking by some top clubs and an alleged sexual assault by one of soccer’s biggest stars, Cristiano Ronaldo.
...

As he awaits his fate, news media groups with access to his data continue to publish new revelations. As recently as last weekend, details emerged of an apparent effort by the Premier League giant Manchester City to circumvent fiscal rules set by European soccer’s governing body by disguising sponsorship payments, and another alleged scheme by the same club to run an off-the-books player recruitment fund."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/sports/hacker-football-leaks-soccer.html

[K]

Melbourne City owners under investigation from UEFA

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-city-owners-under-investigation-from-uefa-20190308-p512tx.html

"The vice-chairman of Melbourne City may be drawn into a UEFA investigation into the A-League team's parent club, Manchester City, after the European governing body announced a probe into an alleged plot to subvert rules on club spending.

UEFA announced its investigation into the English Premier League club's finances on Friday, with the official probe following an investigation from German magazine Der Spiegel last November which alleged the club planned to manipulate sponsorship agreements to side-step UEFA's stringent Financial Fair Play regulations. If found guilty, Manchester City risk being banned from European competition.
...

"Manchester City welcomes the opening of a formal UEFA investigation as an opportunity to bring to an end the speculation resulting from the illegal hacking and out of context publication of City emails," a Manchester City club statement read. "The accusation of financial irregularities are entirely false. The club's published accounts are full and complete and a matter of legal and regulatory record."
...

At the centre of the allegations are the Financial Fair Play regulations, introduced by European football's governing body to prevent growing club debt and limit the domination of wealthy clubs in major leagues.
...

Privately, City sources believe there are some powerful people in the football community who have a vendetta against CFG.

The owners of Manchester City and its principal sponsor, Etihad Airways, have shared family ties. The airline is a publicly listed company and denies its sponsorship of the Premier League club received any funding from City Football Group or Al-Mubarak."

[Jezza]

Weekend Matches:

Saturday March 9 2019:
Crystal Palace v Brighton & Hove Albion - 12:30
Cardiff City v West Ham United - 15:00
Huddersfield Town v AFC Bournemouth - 15:00
Leicester City v Fulham - 15:00
Newcastle United v Everton - 15:00
Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - 15:00
Manchester City v Watford - 17:30

Sunday March 10 2019:
Liverpool v Burnley - 12:00
Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers - 14:05
Arsenal v Manchester United - 16:30

All local times

[K]

You can now get odds of $1000 and $1500 on Tottenham & Arsenal at one bookie. It really is down to two, but Man City & Liverpool's relative standing with the bookies is unchanged:

Man City ~70% title chance,
Liverpool ~30%.

[HAL]

I am sure I can.

[K]

I haven't looked at the remaining games for Man C. & Liverpool. Is Liverpool's fixture harder? (i.e. Why is Man C. so favoured at this point?)

[HAL]

Maybe.

[Jezza]

Latest Results:

Saturday March 9 2019:
Crystal Palace 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Cardiff City 2-0 West Ham United
Huddersfield Town 0-2 AFC Bournemouth
Leicester City 3-1 Fulham
Newcastle United 3-2 Everton
Southampton 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City 3-1 Watford

Sunday March 10 2019:
Liverpool 4-2 Burnley
Chelsea 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United

The Ladder:
1. Man City 74 - Played 30
2. Liverpool 73 - Played 30
3. Tottenham 61 - Played 30
4. Arsenal 60 - Played 30
----------------------
5. Man Utd 58 - Played 30
6. Chelsea 57 - Played 29
7. Wolves 44 - Played 30
8. Watford 43 - Played 30
9. West Ham 39 - Played 30
10. Leicester 38 - Played 30
11. Everton 37 - Played 30
12. Bournemouth 37 - Played 30
13. Newcastle 34 - Played 30
14. Crystal Palace 33 - Played 30
15. Brighton 33 - Played 29
16. Southampton 30 - Played 30
17. Burnley 30 - Played 30
-----------------------
18. Cardiff 28 - Played 30
19. Fulham 17 - Played 30
20. Huddersfield 14 - Played 30