It’s a massive bank holiday weekend at the top and bottom of the Premier League, with Sam Allardyce’s Leeds reign starting at Man City. And Newcastle versus Arsenal should be a belter…
Game to watch – Newcastle v Arsenal
Mikel Arteta proclaimed that Arsenal are ‘back to our best’ after beating Chelsea. Sorry, Mikel. We need more evidence.
The Gunners did not have to be at their best, or anywhere near it, to brush the Blues aside. Chelsea are a shell of a side and while Arsenal ruthlessly picked at the carcass, for 45 minutes at least, most teams in the Premier League would have been made to look like peak 1970s Brazil against Frank Lampard’s barely-arsed rabble.
Sunday, when Arteta takes his side to Newcastle, will show us where Arsenal are right now. In the context of the title race, their performance barely matters – they simply need to win. But Arsenal’s results are so often tied to their mood. Their recent four-game winless run coincided with a nervousness that eroded the confidence and positivity that took them to the summit early on and kept them there for so long.
Only Newcastle can match the buoyancy that saw Arsenal rise to the top. Both have overachieved this season, at least in the context of their expectations, but Eddie Howe, like Arteta before him, looks primed to push on even further next season.
The Toon have five games to find the three wins they need to punch their ticket to the Champions League but St James’ Park won’t let them ease off, or pick and choose when they turn it on. Arsenal will probably need to win every game if they are to win the title and this is the hardest test they will face as they seek perfection.
Manager to watch – Sam Allardyce
“There’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep, not Klopp, not Arteta. It’s all there with me,” said Allardyce in his first press conference back in gainful employment. Leeds desperately need him to be right.
Big Sam will have to channel all the managers he namechecked, as well as Ferguson, Clough and Paisley, if he is to keep the Whites in the Premier League. The new boss inherits a shadow of a team, one about to embark upon a perilous four-game run-in during which it’s hard to see where they pick up another point.
At least Allardyce knows Leeds won’t get any worse – they can’t. The roused themselves for 75 minutes against Leicester last week but wilted eventually under a smidgen of pressure from the Foxes. That followed batterings by…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…