2019-2020 EPL Discussion Thread

[Jezza]

Chelsea defeats Tottenham!

Fantastic win by the lads! Perfect Christmas present to beat a major rival.

[Jezza]

Latest Results:

Saturday December 21 2019:
Everton 0-0 Arsenal
Aston Villa 1-3 Southampton
AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Burnley
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Sheffield United
Newcastle United 1-0 Crystal Palace
Norwich City 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester City 3-1 Leicester City

Sunday December 22 2019:
Watford 2-0 Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Chelsea

The Ladder:
1. Liverpool 49 - Played 17
2. Leicester 39 - Played 18
3. Man City 38 - Played 18
4. Chelsea 32 - Played 18
----------------------
5. Sheffield Utd 28 - Played 18
6. Wolves 27 - Played 18
7. Tottenham 26 - Played 18
8. Man Utd 25 - Played 18
9. Newcastle 25 - Played 18
10. Burnley 24 - Played 18
11. Arsenal 23 - Played 18
12. Crystal Palace 23 - Played 18
13. Brighton 20 - Played 18
14. Bournemouth 19 - Played 18
15. Everton 19 - Played 18
16. West Ham 19 - Played 17
17. Southampton 18 - Played 18
-----------------------
18. Aston Villa 15 - Played 18
19. Norwich 12 - Played 18
20. Watford 12 - Played 18

[K]

FiveThirtyEight's predictions (Dec 22, 1:30pm.) -- win EPL:

Liverpool 82%
Man. City 17%

The rest <1%.


Okay, looks like we're down to two now. (Or is it down to one?)

[K]

Racism protocol implemented as Chelsea win at Spurs

"FIFA's protocol for dealing with discrimination at games was implemented for the first time in the Premier League during the London derby, won by Chelsea at Tottenham, after apparent racist abuse toward Antonio Rudiger.

Stadium announcements came in the second half ... after Blues defender Rudiger was kicked in the chest by Son Heung-min in an incident that led to the 62nd-minute sending-off of Tottenham's South Korea forward.
...

According to FIFA, the second step of the protocol should be an announcement leading to the suspension of the match and the players returning to the locker room for a specific period.
...

If the discrimination continues, the third step should be the abandonment of the match.
...

Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville called for direct action against racism by players walking off the pitch and admitted he was "ashamed" not to have done so in support of former teammate Ashley Cole."

(AP/PA)

[K]

Bookies' odds:

Liverpool ~84%
Man. City ~14%
Leicester ~2%.

[Jezza]

Boxing Day Matches:

Thursday December 26 2019:
Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton & Hove Albion - 12:30
Aston Villa v Norwich City - 15:00
AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal - 15:00
Chelsea v Southampton - 15:00
Crystal Palace v West Ham United - 15:00
Everton v Burnley - 15:00
Sheffield United v Watford - 15:00
Manchester United v Newcastle United - 17:30
Leicester City v Liverpool - 20:00

Friday December 27 2019:
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - 19:45

All local times.

[K]

Klopp:

"None of the managers have a problem playing on Boxing Day, but playing on the 26th and 28th is a crime. Absolutely not OK and we still have it.

"This year we play 26th and 29th and it is like a holiday. I understand all those saying it should not happen. They are not moaning.

"It would not be a problem to play 26th and 29th with more teams. There is no reason why more teams do not get more than 48 hours between a Premier League game.

"Obviously we can say what we want but no one is listening. The body needs a specific amount of time to go again. That is science. But we ignore that completely.

"We just say, 'Oh, they look strange running around again today'.

"We are not in that situation this year, but I understand each manager who mentions it from time to time – or pretty much always – when we see it coming up because it is just not OK. But other people have to decide that."

(PA)

[K]

With a 4-0 victory over Leicester, Liverpool are romping away. They lead Leicester by 13 points with a game in hand, and Man. City by 14 points.


FiveThirtyEight's predictions (Dec 26, 4:51pm.) -- win EPL:

Liverpool 90%
Man. City 9%

The rest <1%.

[Jezza]

Liverpool are near certainties of winning the title now.

[Jezza]

Boxing Day Results:

Thursday December 26 2019:
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich City
AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal
Chelsea 0-2 Southampton
Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham United
Everton 1-0 Burnley
Sheffield United 1-1 Watford
Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle United
Leicester City 0-4 Liverpool

Friday December 27 2019:
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 Manchester City

The Ladder:
1. Liverpool 52 - Played 18
2. Leicester 39 - Played 19
3. Man City 38 - Played 19
4. Chelsea 32 - Played 19
----------------------
5. Wolves 30 - Played 19
6. Tottenham 29 - Played 19
7. Sheffield Utd 29 - Played 19
8. Man Utd 28 - Played 19
9. Crystal Palace 26 - Played 19
10. Newcastle 25 - Played 19
11. Arsenal 24 - Played 19
12. Burnley 24 - Played 19
13. Everton 22 - Played 19
14. Southampton 21 - Played 19
15. Brighton 20 - Played 19
16. Bournemouth 20 - Played 19
17. West Ham 19 - Played 18
-----------------------
18. Aston Villa 18 - Played 19
19. Watford 13 - Played 19
20. Norwich 12 - Played 19

[Jezza]

Weekend Matches:

Saturday December 28 2019:
Brighton & Hove Albion v AFC Bournemouth - 12:30
Newcastle United v Everton - 15:00
Southampton v Crystal Palace - 15:00
Watford v Aston Villa - 15:00
Norwich City v Tottenham Hotspur - 17:30
West Ham United v Leicester City - 17:30
Burnley v Manchester United - 19:45

Sunday December 29 2019:
Arsenal v Chelsea - 14:00
Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers - 16:30
Manchester City v Sheffield United - 18:00

All local times.

[K]

Wolves all but end Manchester City's EPL title hopes

"... Wolves beat the Sky Blues 3-2 at Molineux.

Hosts Wolves fought their way from two goals down to deny Pep Guardiola's men, who were reduced to 10 men in the 12th minute when goalkeeper Ederson was dismissed.

Diogo Jota latched onto a long ball and flicked it over the on-rushing goalkeeper, with the Brazilian bringing down the Wolves player outside the box.

Aguero was the fall guy, coming off for reserve Claudio Bravo.

City went in front in the 25th minute through Raheem Sterling. After Riyad Mahrez went down in the area, VAR gave the penalty and Sterling's initial effort was saved by Rui Patricio. But the spot kick was ordered to be retaken due to encroachment and, after the goalkeeper saved again, Sterling tapped in the rebound."

(PA)

[K]

FiveThirtyEight's predictions (Dec 27, 4:43pm.) -- win EPL:

Liverpool 95%
Man. City 5%

The rest <1%.

[K]

Bookies' odds:

Liverpool ~92%
Man. City ~7%
Leicester ~1%.

[K]

Another game, another milestone for Liverpool:

https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1211359101952888838

"50 @premierleague games unbeaten at Anfield 💪"

(40 wins, 10 draws)


[A comment below the twitter post claims the last loss at Anfield was:
in any competition vs Chelsea, League Cup last season; in EPL vs Crystal Palace, 2016-2017.
I guess Jezza can confirm at least the first claim.]