Match Week 19 Recap & 20 Preview

EPL Match Week 19 - CleanSheet Recap & 20 Preview

In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• Current Situation📈📉

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- 15 Predictions

• Off Island 🏝️ - Transfer Potential

• Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

Match Week 19 Recap

• Best Result of Match Week 19. Man United 3-2 Villa.

  • Statement Made. United was against the ropes, down 2-0 in the first 26’ and at the half and really getting it from the home fans on their way into the locker room. Yet United owned the 2H and found 3 goals (and an overruled 4th) to come to life and possibly save their season. That may be an over statement, but the turnaround at home, the passion and energy not seen this year, and over a quality opponent was much needed.

  • Horrendous Defending and Keeping. Man United deserved to be down early given their defending on two set pieces

    • John McGinn from a mile away. (X 17s)

    • Leander Dendoncker off a corner. (X 25s)

  • You are Getting Sacked. Villa fans chant at half time. Wasn't just the Villa fans as United fans were being very vocal in their displeasure.

  • 440+ minutes. The goalless streak for United until the 2H.

    • The Spark. Garnacho from Rashford off a turnover. (X 19s)

    • The Brace. Garnacho with the touch to pull even. (X 30s)

    • The Winner. Rasmus Hojliund, brought in to score goals but yet to see the net this season get’s his first of the PL season, and it was a big one. (X 30s)

  • United Fans Be Like. We Back

  

  • Bad Villa or Good United. Lot’s of commentary on the poor play and decisions by Villa that led to the MU win. No doubt Man United went after the win in the 2H and earned it - but also no doubt Villa helped them with their style of play. Arsenal fans will be able to explain it to you, they saw it with Unai Emery before. Maybe the first mistake Emery has made this season on what has otherwise been a great managerial job to date.

  • Peter Drury. Great commentator with great commentary. (X 80s)

  • Two Robbies. For a 3 min analysis from @the2robbiesnbc. (X 3m)

• Not So Fast.  Luton Town is making a statement - they have a game in hand and are 1 point out of relegation, and only 6 points out of 13^th.

• 100 Acre Wood. Forest goes into Newcastle and goes down 1-0 early. Then Chris Wood happened - 3 goals from Wood, a former Newcastle player, and Forest take over the match. It’s Nuno’s first win (in 2) for the Tree’s and it might be a sign a move was warranted. Here is a breakdown of his impact (2m read @skysportpl). We will see. Did not see that result coming.

• Boxing Day Brilliance. Jurgen Klopp has won every match at Liverpool on Boxing Day, 6-0. A combination of great attitude, respect for the Christmas season and the players listen to him. Quality of the team helps too.

  

  @premierleague

• 1.96M. @NBCSportsSoccer says the Liverpool v Arsenal match last Saturday was the most watched PL match in the US ever beating the 1.92M who watched Arsenal v Man United last January.

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 20

• 6.2.1.1. 6 Saturday, 2 Sunday, 1 Monday, 1 Tuesday.

• Pencil This One In. Tottenham v Bournemouth Sunday 8am cst on USA. Over the last 5 matches, these teams have combined for 22 points Spurs (10) & Cherries (12), the most of any matchup this match week. Spurs have figured things out after a rough stretch trying to figure out how to adjust to injuries 3 straight wins and more importantly allowing only 2 goals in that stretch. Cherries are the hottest team in the PL. They started with 0 wins in 9 matches, and since have 7 wins 1 draw 1 loss in the last 9.

Who’s Hot - Who’s Not

This week’s games are sorted by the MOST points in last 5 matches combined.

Hot🔥v Hot🔥

21 points Tottenham (9 pts) v Bournemouth (12 pts) - See Above.

20 West Ham (12) v BHA (8) - The Hammers are somewhat surprise contenders for Europe after a questionable off season, but David Moyes has been getting the most out of the team. BHA got off to a hot start but have really cooled off looking tired with a rough schedule.

19 Wolves (10) v Everton (9) - If you asked both teams would they be happy with 25 points at the halfway mark of the season, they would’ve been thrilled. Everton sits on 16, but it would be 26 without the 10-point deduction. Which team will continue their run?

Hot🔥v Cold❄️

14 Liverpool (11) v Newcastle (3) - The Magpies are struggling. Liverpool would like to get back to winning ways at home after back-to-back draws.

14 Villa (10) v Burnley (4) - Will Villa overcome the 2H route at United? Given their home record it should be a nice place to bounce back. The Clarets are looking for back-to-back road victories.

Mild🌦️ and/or Cold❄️

13 Fulham (6) v Arsenal (7) - Two 5-0 wins by FFC seem like a long time ago. Arsenal got a good draw at Anfield last time out.

12 Luton Town (6) v Chelsea (6) - The Hatters are eyeing a chance to get out of Relegation. Chelsea is looking for consistency.

12 Man City (8) v Sheffield United (4) - 8 out of a possible 15 for City, The Blades should help City get better.

11 Forest (4) v Man United (7) - Has Nuno figured out how to motivate the Trees? May be a tricky spot for United coming off an emotional home win.

Cold❄️ v Cold❄️

5 Palace (2) v Brentford (3) - A London Derby on two teams who thought they were sitting nicely in the middle of the table until this 5-match run has their supporters concerned about relegation.

Current Situation 📈📉

Clean Sheets Counter

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

15 Predictions

• City will add quality, get KDB and Haaland back and will have enough in the tank to outlast all contenders.

• The Top 7 now will be the top 7 teams in European positions - Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Tottenham, West Ham.

• Burnley & Sheffield United will be Relegated more than a month before seasons end.

• Everton will overcome the 10-point deduction and be safe from Relegation before the final month of the season.

• Nuno will help keep Forest up.

• BHA will fade and miss out on Europe competitions and fall out of Top 10.

• Newcastle will add several transfers but struggle and will sack Eddie Howe midseason.

• Luton Town, Brentford, Palace & Fulham will be in the Relegation race in the last 3 match weeks.

• Chelsea will not make Europe.

• Man United will be playing for a Champions League spot in Match Week 38 against BHA.

• 37 Points will be enough to keep you up.

• Wolves will finish 10^th.

• City will win 16 of 19 remaining matches and finish with > 87 points.

• Man United (-4) and Everton (-1) will finish with a positive goal differential. BHA (+5) will finish with a negative goal differential.

• There will be more CleanSheets in the second half of the season than the first (>4.2 per match week).

Off Island 🏝️

Winter Transfer Window

The Winter Transfer Window will run 1/1 through 2/1, 2024. Here are some of the latest rumor and predictions. For a deeper look, check out this write up/video from Joe Prince-Wright at NBC Sports Soccer (@JPW_NBCSports (X)). Also, here are 50 of the top potential players (@theScoreEPL) to move from PL clubs.

Title Contenders

• Liverpool will be looking to shore up left back and midfield starter/depth. Piero Hincape from Bayern Leverkusen is the top option (Credit Sports Lens)

• Arsenal need depth on defense. Jorrell Hatto is an option from Ajax (Credit Adam Keys). Keeper Ramsdale could be sold.

• Villa need some defensive midfield help.

• City just needs to get their injured players back, but they are always looking for both short term and long-term quality. Rumor is Barcelona's Raphinha who played for Leeds previously. (Credit Oddsshark)

European Contenders

• Tottenham need depth, mostly at midfield due to injury. They will also be looking at longer term options as they target to build for the future under Postecoglou.

• Man United need goal scorers. Ivan Toney, currently at Brentford but on suspension, may be available for the right price (credit Fabrizio Romano).

• West Ham need a striker. TEAMtalk suggest for Akor Adams from Montpelier. Will ownership get on board.

• BHA needs defenders.

• Newcastle need a Keeper.

Safe - Middle of Table

• Chelsea need someone who can finish. Victor Osimhen from Napoli is an option. (NBCS)

• Bournemouth could use support at all positions.

• Wolves need more defense.

Relegation Contenders

• Fulham need better defenders.

• Brentford needs a striker.

• Palace need someone who can create chances, tee others up.

• Forest need attackers up front and in midfield for the right side of the lineup. Nuno is targeting Monaco's Gelson Martin

• Everton has no $ to spend, they will be focused on maximizing what they have.

• Luton Town need more quality.

• Burnley need more quality that fits their system.

• Sheffield United need quality overall.

Best Bets 💰

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Overall GP Standings ($)