29th August

Okay so I'm on holiday so don't expect another blog post this week unless something major comes up, but for now I guess I'd better talk about LFC v Spurs.

Liverpool Pegged Back 

It's hard to pin down any sort of exact feeling about Liverpool at the moment. Positivity gives way to negativity and then back again in a matter of minutes, a great big swirling vortex of contradictions, stats and facts and feelings that all flow together. Part of the problem with being a football supporter in the modern era is Twitter, which will overanalyse everything to death and both completely reinforce and simultaneously undermine your opinion ten times over in the space of twenty minutes, all in the same passive-aggressive and irritated tone that suggests anyone who doesn't agree with you is being stupid. Try that, times a hundred, with multiple different opinions. Anyone who thinks that Jordan Henderson can play defensive midfield is losing the plot. But anyone who thinks he's a bad player is stupid. Except those who know he's amazing. But above all else, one opinion is shouted, blindly into the void, by almost everyone. Trust Klopp. 

The contradiction is vast. Everyone telling us to trust Klopp, myself included, can see five or six different problems with every line up that he sends out on a weekly basis. They want Klopp, but they don't want what Klopp is doing. A contradiction that lies at the heart of Liverpool's fandom as they wrestle themselves over whether or not the club is moving forwards or backwards. 

And then we come to the Spurs game, ninety minutes in which it was equally possible to be both positive and negative in equal measure. Jordan Henderson remained in the defensive midfield role, Roberto Firmino started up front ahead of Daniel Sturridge, Milner was preferred to Moreno at left back and we saw a full Premier League debut for Joel Matip. 

The game itself. Liverpool played very well, certainly outplayed Spurs. Created multiple good chances, and should easily have moved at least two or three clear before Spurs pegged us back, a defensive error from Clyne, who simply didn't trust Matip to win his defensive header and got dragged to the ball, freeing Rose to slot past a helpless Mignolet. In terms of decisions, there's a lot for both sides to dispute but I thought that every decision went right. No, Matip didn't block off Janssen, yes LFC should have had a penalty, the offside call was correct and whilst Mane was maybe lucky to stay on the pitch neither of his tackles were stonewall bookings. 

There's very little to actually talk about or analyse from the game itself for me. I thought Matip was exceptional at the back, Henderson turned in easily his best performance in defensive midfield, Firmino's pressing is vital to our game, and if Coutinho had had his shooting boots on we'd have won easily. Mane increasingly looks to be a phenomenal signing and if he plays like he did against Spurs, he will get goals for our team. 

The problems that remain are as obvious as ever: fragility at the back (although Matip has already gone a long way towards fixing this problem, he's easily twice the player Lovren is, and once Sakho is finally able to earn his way into Klopp's favour, those two will form a formidable partnership), the lack of balance in midfield is not solved by Henderson having a cracking game and Wijnaldum should still not be playing. Milner is turning in good performances at left back, but he's nothing more than a stop gap solution. At least Karius will be back after the international break.

But, for all of this weighing up of positives and negatives, I can't help but feel apprehensive. I don't trust or like the 4-3-3. I don't feel it plays to the player's strengths as much as the 4-2-3-1. The balance of our midfield is a deliberate choice that Klopp is making and I'm not sure that it's working. I appreciate Firmino at CF works to an extent but I can't help but feel that Klopp is shoehorning him into a 4-3-3, when his best position for me is the CAM in a 4-2-3-1. Any team that is missing Sturridge and Origi just looks short on firepower. The decision to alienate Sakho, even if he is causing trouble, when Lovren is so clearly inferior baffles me. 

To be blunt, we've started this season okay, but I've not been overly impressed by any our performances. We were awesome for twenty minutes against Arsenal, and at times against Spurs but I've seen very little to suggest we're going to challenge the top four. None of our performances have been as good as they were for swathes of last season under Klopp and based on the display against Burnley the consistency hasn't improved either. 

Which pitches us back into the heart of the matter. I do trust Klopp, and I do want Klopp. But at the moment, it really does feel as though we're going to have to ride it out. I was hoping that Klopp having time with the squad and an extended pre-season would mean we would be able to avoid the teething problems upsetting the likes of United and City, but even they have hit the ground running, admittedly against inferior teams. 

Truthfully, the words: "I trust Klopp" are becoming increasingly meaningless, as dissent in the ranks is getting louder and louder. I don't know whether or not I think Liverpool can challenge for the top four, and the start of this season has been a rude awakening, as we are clearly not where we should be by this point. But on the other hand, it's entirely possible that the defence just needs some tweaking, and once Can and Karius return to the fold everything will be rosy. Even writing this blog, the alarming swing from positivity to negativity is overriding all else.

It's going to be an interesting few months.

The Hard and Fast Section

• City are increasingly looking like title winners. 
• England have butchered Pakistan. Again. 
• Kyle Edmund has upset Richard Gasquet. Conqueror. 
• Arsenal splurging the cash. Finally. All hail Wenger. 
• And Leamington FC continued their fine start to the season. 

24th August

Apologies for no post yesterday, was hoping to post the West Ham v Bournemouth one whilst I finished my dissertation, but no sign of the article so...anyway I promised a blog post about the state of the current international test game, so here we go.

Pakistan Top Rankings

After a few topsy turvy series, in which England, Pakistan, India and Australia all could have ended up on top of the Test Rankings, and after Pakistan came back to snatch a draw in their series here in England, Australia were butchered by Sri Lanka and rain prevented India from beating the West Indies more than 2-0, it is Pakistan who rise to the top of the rankings with 111 points, seeing off India on 110, Australia (108) and England (also 108). 

Now I personally think that the rankings themselves aren't particular good or even a reasonable gauge of where each individual team is at. But what it is useful for is as a helpful visual metaphor for the current state of international cricket. Less than two years ago, South Africa were the dominant side in test cricket, and now they sit in 7th place in the rankings, after failing to beat Bangladesh in a two match series in the subcontinent, and then being hammered in the subsequent series by India and then finally humbled in their own back garden by England. 

Now, the international test game is blown wide open. There are four sides all snapping and jostling for position, all of them confident that they can be the best. New Zealand are vastly improving and Sri Lanka will fancy their chances of climbing the table when they go to South Africa for a three test series at the end of the year. 

The big test at the moment is who can secure results away from home, in unfamiliar and uneasy circumstances. Increasingly in test matches, we're seeing teams win almost all of their test series at home and then lose away in different conditions. And when we do see teams win series' away from home like India in Sri Lanka, Australia in New Zealand and England in South Africa to an extent, it's because they're playing very similar teams in very similar conditions. Yet Australia, who can go to win in New Zealand, and turn over anyone on their own pitches, go to the subcontinent and get spun out by a mediocre Sri Lanka side who were pummeled in English conditions a couple of months earlier. 

The truth is that we're seeing the best teams in certain sets of conditions rising to the top. England and South Africa have very similar styles of team, but England are better so rise to the top. India and Sri Lanka play in similar conditions, and India are better. Australia and New Zealand again. And then there's Pakistan, who are now deservedly on top of the test rankings having gone to Sri Lanka and won, and now come to England and secured a draw, no mean feat. 

What we're seeing at the moment is a power vacuum in test cricket. Test cricket usually has one dominant side, whether it's the West Indies sides of the 80s, the Australian sides of the early 00s, the England side of the late 00s and early 10s or the South Africa side of the last few years. And now, there is no dominant side, and the gap is there for one team to seize control.

And for me that team has to be England. In a few months time, Pakistan will face the first test of their supremacy, now that they have established it, as they go to Australia. Based on their performance in England, I have every confidence that Pakistan will be extremely competitive in that series, as they're  arguably the most well-rounded best side in terms of style. But at the same time, England travel to the subcontinent, to face India in India. 

This for me, is a critical series both for England and for the future of test cricket. Australia are a weakened side, and are not fit to be near the top of the leaderboard, something that I think Pakistan and South Africa will expose later this year when they both go down under. I think South Africa's pace bowlers and Yasir Shah for Pakistan will cause Australia all kinds of problems and their bowling attack is not what it used to be, although I expect they'll cause Pakistan problems. And England have a serious chance to not only establish themselves as serious contenders, but to topple India in the subcontinent, which would send a major message after their 2-0 defeat to Pakistan in the UAE last year.

England currently hold 6 of the possible 7 trophies against the top test nations. They blew the chance to collect the final one with their capitulation against Pakistan and looking at this England side, its strengths and weaknesses are obvious. They have the best pace attack in world cricket, with Woakes, Broad and Anderson, not to mention Stokes and Finn. They have two of the best, if not the two best batsmen in world cricket in Cook and Root and both of them mercifully, can play spin admirably. They have a destructive and dangerous lower order in Woakes, Stokes, Moeen and Bairstow. But they are also prone to serious collapses and the upper middle order is a serious concern with Ballance and Hales with something to prove. 

But by far the biggest question over whether England can win in India again is the quality of their spinners. England have won three series in a row against India and when they won in India nearly four years ago, they had Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann in full throttle mode. There are still major question marks over Moeen Ali which puts a lot of pressure on Adil Rashid, who will undoubtedly play in the subcontinent. 

I personally think England have to be brave and back Rashid. Even if he gets hit for a few runs, he will take wickets and is capable of performing on the highest stage. Cook has to be brave and give him a run in the side, let him bowl long spells and trust him to adjust. Hopefully, the two test series against Bangladesh will be a good warm up and by the middle of the India series, Rashid will be in full flight. 

Do I think England can win in the subcontinent? Yes. We have more than enough matchwinners in our side to win against India and show Pakistan that we are a force to be reckoned with. England should have beaten Pakistan in England this year, we were nowhere near our best in two of the four tests and still drew the series 2-2. England have the quality in their batting line up, they have the pace bowlers and to be honest, if they give Rashid a chance then they have the spinners too. The big question is in their mentality. Do England have what it takes to go and bat hard and trust their spinners and topple a dangerous and powerful India side, in the subcontinent? Only time will tell. 

But in order to seize the top of the leaderboard, England need to prove that they can win away from England consistently. They beat South Africa, now they need to beat India, so that when we go to Australia in 2017, we go in knowing that beating them makes us the best team in world cricket. 

Because England are the best team in world cricket when they put their minds to it. And it's long past time that they showed that. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• West Brom out the EFL Cup on pens to Northampton. 
• As are Watford to Gillingham 2-1. Yikes. 
• But no problems for LFC, beating Burton 5-0.
• White ball cricket today. Roy and Buttler. Excited. 
• 
  

22nd August

So I've written a piece on West Ham v Bournemouth elsewhere, which hopefully I can link you to either tonight or tomorrow when it goes up. As such, I figured I'd do a piece on the Olympics. And since they're over and GB came 2nd overall, I thought I'd count down my top five moments of the games. These are in no particular order.

Andy Murray Takes Gold

Andy Murray has had an excellent year. Two major finals were followed by him finally securing his second Wimbledon title, three years after winning his first. So he went into the Olympics in red hot form, and Novak Djokovic getting knocked out by Juan Martin Del Potro made Murray firm favourite for the gold. But Murray made it look more difficult than he needed to, threatening to lose to both the Italian Fabio Fognini and the American Steve Johnson before seeing off Kei Nishikori to reach the final against Del Potro, who was playing his heart out, having already knocked out Djokovic and Nadal.

It was an epic, four hour tussle. Both Murray and Del Potro were pushed beyond their limits. But ultimately, Murray came out trumps in four sets. Del Potro just wasn't as fit, didn't have enough left in the locker. Murray looked uncharacteristically nervous and sloppy, but in the end, pulled out his mental reserves just as Del Potro's physical reserves ran out. And so, just after 1am, Andy Murray was deservedly crowned a double Olympic champion. No man has ever defended his Olympic singles title. Until now. Terrific stuff from Andy. 

Sir Mo Farah?

Super Saturday struggled to live up to the hype in terms of gold medals. I was tempted to put Jess Ennis-Hill's silver on this list because I was in tears after her defeat, compounded by Greg Rutherford's admission that he was gutted not to defend his Olympic title. Although it was a bitter, brutal moment, it was the most affecting of the Games for me. But luckily, Mo was on hand to lighten the mood, with an absolutely faultless performance in the 10,000m. 

I could have picked either of Mo's faultless runs, because he was perfection personified in both the 10k and the 5k, but his run in the ten was more timely, more dramatic and more inspiring for me personally. The pressure was on, he was tripped over, he was having to run hard, but as ever, even with the pressure on, Mo stood up and delivered. My favourite moment of this is with less than 200m to go, Mo is about to overtake the Kenyan leading the race but is constantly watching over his shoulder. He knows he has the beating of the Kenyan, he just needs to make sure he stays clear of those behind him. He did. He won. The rest is history. 

Trampoline Upset

With everyone else focusing on Team GB's attempts to steal an unlikely Equestrian gold off the Germans, I decided to throw on the women's trampolining final. Within about a minute, I was hooked. Bryony Page was up second and after a quick scurrying of the rules, I have to say I was seriously impressed. I thought she bounced incredibly well, she was very close to the red cross in the middle of the trampoline the entire time and put in a brilliant performance. 

But being a complete beginner, I didn't realise that she'd turned in a silver medal performance. For me, she was the 7th best qualifier, so the others would probably turn in better performances. But as the next competitor fell off the trampoline completely and fellow Brit Kat Driscoll struggled, Bryony was still first with only four competitors to go. And then I started to realise, as three of the top four failed to beat her jump, that Bryony had turned in an absolute blinder. Confusion as to why everyone was jumping worse than her turned into realisation that Page had performed the bounce of her life. 

Bryony had cried after finishing her performance. She knew, in that moment, that she had done something special. There were more tears to come as Page was confirmed as a medalist, and then as a silver medalist, and then finally as she was handed her medal. And I was on the verge of tears too. I absolutely fell in love with Bryony and her quiet humble demeanour. She thoroughly deserved her medal. It may not have been Team GB's most record breaking medal, or most dominant performance and Bryony Page may not be a four time Olympic champion, but little moments like this amongst the chaos of a brilliant games for Team GB are what made it such a great Olympics for Team GB. 

Team GB Take Australia To Give Wiggo History

There were ten main track cycling events at Rio. Team GB won six of them, and got a silver in three of the other four, only failing to medal in the women's team sprint, which they didn't qualify for amid Shane Sutton's sexism allegations. Each of the six golds was special for different reasons, but of the ones that deserve mention, the most nail-biting was the men's team pursuit. Team GB set a world record on their way to the final, the four man team of Ed Clancy, Owain Doull, Stephen Burke and Sir Bradley Wiggins recording a time of three minutes, fifty seconds and fifty seven hundredths of a second to smash New Zealand. And in that race, Team GB went down to three men early, with Wiggins looking like he ran out of steam early. 

And then the final against Australia. Australia went out like a shot, and by the halfway mark had established a lead of nearly a second over the Team GB boys. The panic was starting to set in for just about everyone watching. But Team GB weren't panicking. They were cycling on world record pace. The statement was clear: we're breaking the world record, if you think you can go faster: go ahead. And Australia were nowhere close. They had pushed hard in the first half of the race, but just ran out of steam, as Team GB stepped up the intensity. It became clear why Wiggins had pulled out early in the semi, as he stayed until the end this time, cycling harder and faster than before, giving it his all, as Team GB stuck with four men far longer than before, and much longer than an Australia side who fell apart. Team GB broke the world record again by over three tenths of a second, chipping away lap after lap before finally overtaking Australia and continuing to extend their lead until they won by almost a second and took a deserved gold. All of the lads contributed, but for Sir Bradley, it took him to five golds and eight medals total. The most decorated Olympian of all time and took a glorious money shot with Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Chris Hoy. And to top it all off, Wiggo stuck his tongue out on the podium whilst the rest of the team fell about laughing. Magical moment. 

Trott and Kenny Make History

I could have picked half a dozen moments from the cycling, but I simply couldn't leave this two off the list. Laura Trott and Jason Kenny's ten Olympic golds is well and truly one for the history books, a staggering feat by two incredible Olympians. And the fact that they both secured their final medals (Kenny's third of the games, his sixth overall, Trott's second of the games and fourth overall) on the same night, within minutes of each other just made the whole thing even more special. Trott's complete and utter dominance in the Omnium, followed by Kenny's nerve-wracking Keirin ride, made for a stunning night of cycling and completed what was a truly incredible night around the track. 

And what makes it so much better is how amazing these athletes are as individuals. Laura Trott is Britain's greatest ever female Olympian and yet she truly didn't believe she would win, despite being vastly superior to the rest of the field. She was so humble and emotional in victory, it was impossible not to love her. And Jason Kenny's cool, calm demeanor, as if nothing bounces off him, just compliment her perfectly. Laura did the worrying for both of them, Jason was probably thinking about the Muppets or something. It was a truly magnificent display from two incredible individuals and it very nearly moved me to tears. This is my favourite picture of the Olympics: 

Special Mention

• The aforementioned Ennis-Hill silver. I was bawling. 
• Justin Rose's magnificent pitch and putt to secure an incredibly tense Olympic gold. Don't tell me golf doesn't belong at the Olympics. 
• Stanning and Glover's complete decimation of the field to secure Olympic gold. 
• The rugby men's team making the final, only to lose to a Fiji team that are a story in themselves. 
• And the badminton, as Ellis and Langridge took an unbelievable, incredible bronze despite being seeded 22nd. 
• Bolt being overshadowed on his big day by Saffer Wayde Van Niekerk breaking Michael Johnson's 400m world record.

Tomorrow: The Hard and Fast Section returns...

21st August

So I missed most of the City game at a job interview, didn't see anything of the United game on Friday night because I was at the Harry Potter play and the only interesting thing about Leicester v Arsenal was the dodgy refereeing. So yes, I'm focusing on LFC today.

LFC Toppled By Burnley

The important thing about a game like this one is getting your reaction right. It's very important not to overreact and claim something stupid like Liverpool have gone backwards under Klopp (clearly untrue) but at the same time, it's important not to under-react, and to treat this game as an isolated incident, as simply one of those days. The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle. 

The problems at LFC are as clear as the strengths in the squad. I mentioned most of them last week, but you know, they're prevalent again. The biggest problem stemmed from the early Burnley goal. Klavan played a bad pass across the back four which put Clyne under pressure. Clyne underhit his pass to Lallana, who wasn't close enough to him to begin with. Gray nipped in, and found Vokes, who was clear of Lovren, and fired past Mignolet. It was a great hit, but Mignolet should have saved it, he was perfectly positioned at his near post. And if the first goal was bad, the second was somehow worse, as Henderson, Klavan and Lovren all tried and failed miserably to tackle Gray, who fired past a completely hapless Mignolet. 

I want to start with in my opinion the most glaring issue. Liverpool had conceded five shots on target this season when Mignolet let the second goal in. Five. We literally might as well have not bothered having a goalkeeper, with that goal to shot ratio. Now the naive response would be: "maybe they were all unsaveable". They weren't. They really weren't. The simple, painful truth is this. Goalkeepers exist for the sole purpose of saving goals. A goalkeeper is supposed to bail his team out of trouble. Defenders make mistakes, and they need a competent goalkeeper behind them to prevent these mistakes from turning into catastrophes. Twice, Liverpool's defence made critical errors yesterday afternoon, and twice the hapless wonder that is Simon Mignolet did absolutely nothing to help his side. The signing of Loris Karius was supposed to stop this happening, but his injury is being keenly felt. 

The other men whose injury is being keenly felt is Mamadou Sakho. It's not just about what he brings to the table individually, although he is a top defender, but he also brings a solidity to our back four that always looks decidedly missing when he's not there. Lovren has proven time and again that he's only capable of defending with Sakho next to him, and although once again I didn't think Klavan did a terrible job today, he's clearly a stop gap defender. Liverpool will be desperate for Sakho's return. As for Joel Matip, Klopp hinted we might see him yesterday, so hopefully he'll get game time in midweek and be back in the starting lineup for the Spurs game. 

But the biggest flaw isn't in the defence itself. It's what I've been saying for weeks, the lack of a defensive midfielder. It's baffling that I'm here again, pointing out obvious facts like the fact that a central midfield containing two number tens and an attacking box to box midfielder cannot properly protect a back four. If Henderson looked horribly out of his depth, and he did, it's because the anonymous Wijnaldum and attacking Lallana offered him no protection at all, and he was forced to try and stop Burnley from exposing the defence single-handedly, a job that frankly he's terrible at. He should be playing where Lallana and Wijnaldum are, because at least there he'd offer more cover than they offered him today. 

Klopp has brought in an excellent attacking option in Mane, and he has also bought a goalkeeper and two central defenders to bolster our defence, and all three look like good signings, certainly the fact that Mignolet is still terrible, our defence still looks fragile without Sakho and Matip and Klavan has probably been our best defender so far (not that that's saying much if anything at all) reinforces that. But Klopp still needs a left back, as James Milner played well but clearly isn't a natural left back, and, most importantly of all, he needs a defensive midfielder. Without Emre Can fully fit, Liverpool look an absolute wreck.

I said a month ago that Wijnaldum wasn't the answer. Yesterday he flitted between playing beside Henderson and ahead of him, but offered nothing of substance in either role. This was a game crying out for some control in the defensive midfield area, but Liverpool still only have arguably one player in the squad capable of bringing that in Emre Can. 

The truth is that a Liverpool back five with Karius, Matip and Sakho in it, protected by Can, will defend significantly better than this. But it's also the truth that defensive organisation is all over the place, and this problem is more deep rooted than one or two players consistently performing badly. Liverpool need a left back, need a defensive midfielder, but above all else, they need Klopp to focus long and hard on balancing his team. Because at the moment, we look horribly unbalanced. 

And in terms of attacking threat? Against Burnley we were lacking an incision. Wijnaldum and Firmino were anonymous, Lallana tried and failed, Coutinho was easily the brightest spark, but without Mane in the team, Liverpool are still horribly dependent on the little magician, who was resorting to long shots, always a bad sign unless one of them ends up in the top corner. They need one or two more of their class players to step up. I don't want to linger too long on this point because this game was lost in defence, not in attack. It's incredibly hard to break down a team sitting deep with nine men behind the ball, especially when you gift them a 2-0 lead, but there was a palpable sense of panic and a lack of leadership. The current midfield three isn't working, Klopp needs to drop Wijnaldum, free up Henderson and if Can isn't fit to start yet, then get someone in who is, even if that means Kevin Stewart.

I was extremely disappointed with the Burnley game make no mistake, but above all, I'm just frustrated that after a summer of trying to shore up our defence, we're still shipping goals because of both obvious problems and a deep seated rot in our defensive core. And right now, it's hard to see how we move forward, unless Klopp is willing to splash a lot of cash on a DM. Preferably before the Spurs game. 

Chelsea, City, Spurs and United all won this weekend. If we don't pull ourselves together then we're going to lose ground. And fast. Spurs next up, let's hope we're ready for them. 

Olympic Watch

• Mo Farah is the greatest British athlete all time. He didn't need to win his fourth Olympic gold in the 5000m last night and complete the double double to prove that. But he did anyway. Another perfect, sumptuous run from Mo. 
• Medals in the relay too, the women's 4x400m and 4x100m, both bronze.
• And there was a second gold too for Nicola Adams, with an outstanding fight to defend her title. 
• And the other gold of the day went to Liam Heath in the canoe sprint, whilst Vicky Holland took bronze in the triathlon and Bianca Walkden got bronze in taekwondo. 

20th August

So how about some predictions?

Premier League Weekend 

Stoke v Man City (12:30pm)

This should be an interesting game. City have started to click under Pep but it's early days and they have a long way to go. Stoke away has proven a bogey game for them before and might well do again. Stoke will be well organised, hard to break down and dangerous on the counter-attack and this will not be an easy game for City. 

Prediction: 1-1

Burnley v Liverpool (3pm)

There are no dead certain results in the Premier League and Liverpool have had one or two injury niggles in midweek, not least of which Sadio Mane, but nevertheless this is the sort of game that they would be very much expecting to win to make top four. Should be comfortable, emphasis on the should. 

Prediction: 2-0 Liverpool 

Swansea v Hull (3pm)

Hull showed on the opening day that they are not about to roll over against anyone, least of all against Leicester City. As such, Swansea will have another game on their hands, but after they nicked a win on the opening day, I'm backing them to do the same again. 

Prediction: 1-0 Swansea

Spurs v Crystal Palace (3pm)

Spurs usually make a slow start in the Premier League, especially after a hard summer for a lot of their players. But they found top gear in the second half against Everton and without either Bolasie or Benteke, Palace look like a side in freefall. I can't see them stopping the rot today. 

Prediction: 2-1 Spurs

Watford v Chelsea (3pm)

There are some really good 3 o'clock games today, and this one has the makings of a cracker. Watford played really well with eleven men against Swansea and were unlucky to get pegged back, but nevertheless they'll need to step their game up to play a Chelsea side that are looking more like their old selves, but still have work to do. Could be tight. 

Prediction: 1-1

West Brom v Everton (3pm)

This could be another quite close game. West Brom looked very impressive against an abject Palace on the opening day and Everton played very well in the first half against Spurs. But in terms of goals, I see two teams that are lacking firepower, and two defences that I think could well hold out. 

Prediction: 0-0 

Leicester v Arsenal (5:30pm)

Arsenal could well play to Leicester's strengths in a way that Hull did not, and with their vulnerability at the back, this could really blow up in their face. However, Leicester look all over the place defensively and Arsenal will have the firepower to exploit that. I expect a cracker, but Arsenal to edge them out. 

Prediction: 3-2 Arsenal 

Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1:30pm Sunday)

This could be an interesting game. Two teams that will almost certainly be in the bottom half this year, and got off to okay starts last week. Overall, I'm going to back Boro here, because I think they have an all-round better team. 

Prediction: 2-0 Boro

West Ham v Bournemouth (4pm Sunday)

West Ham were pretty turgid against Chelsea on Monday night, but Bournemouth were downright dreadful against Man United. Overall, you'd have to say West Ham have more in the tank and will probably see off Bournemouth. 

Prediction: 3-1 Bournemouth. 

Olympic Watch 

• Bolt completed the triple triple. Madness. 
• The Brownlees are amazing athletes. 
• Jade Jones. That is all. 
• And for me, the stars of the show are our hockey women, who beat red hot favourites the Dutch to claim gold. Magnificent. 

17th August

Okay two little bits of clean up. Firstly, I know I didn't do a blog yesterday on Chelsea v West Ham, but rest assured, I have written a piece on that and hopefully it will be up today on another site (I know right). Secondly, I promised a piece on the current state of world cricket, which I wanted to wait until the end of the current internationals to write on. So I will post this next week after West Indies v India. Also because I won't be blogging again now until Saturday because I'm in London for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tomorrow and Friday. Aight, let's do this.

Kenny and Trott bring home the Gold

So you'll probably remember a couple of weeks ago I warned you I wouldn't really be following the Olympics because I have a dissertation to write (one week and less than 1000 words to go on that) and I have an addictive personality when it comes to sport. But then I went and did it anyway, because you know, it's the Olympics. But out of all the Olympic sports I've been invested in, none has caught my love more than the cycling. 

Everyone has their own stories, their own moments that just stick with them long after the Olympics has finished. For me, most of these have occurred in the velodrome. Team GB have just been absolutely stunning on the bikes and I've fallen in love with each and every member of the Team GB cycling team, all fifteen of whom came out with a medal. By now you all know the stats, six golds, four silvers and a bronze for the teams, Sir Bradley Wiggins becoming Britain's most decorated Olympian, Jason Kenny's triple giving him six golds, making him the joint most golds of any Olympian and Laura Trott becoming Britain's most golden female Olympian with four golds (expect Sir and Dame to adorn their names before the end of the year). It has been a monumental Olympics for British cycling. 

And what's staggering for me is just how easy they all made it look. The teams were breaking world records left, right and center. The US women's pursuit team broke the world record in their semi-final, only for our team to beat them by miles in the final and take another two seconds off that world record. The Australian men's pursuit team looked extremely dangerous, only for GB to flatline them in the end. 

And then there's our golden couple. Between them they've collected five of GB's six gold medals, as part of GB's men's sprint and women's pursuit team respectively, but also individually, Jason Kenny and Laura Trott turned on the style last night, with Kenny having already picked up his fifth gold in the men's individual sprint, simply turning over anyone who dared come up against him, including his own teammate Callum Skinner. 

Trott was first up in the omnium, an event that Mark Cavendish had won silver in whilst Trott had completed the first three events. Trott had come second in the first event: the scratch race which was a 15km race. One rider, the Belorussian Sharakova decided to lap the pack and Laura wisely decided to let her, as Sharakova spent all her energy. Laura just waited in the pack and was quickest across the line to take second. The next two events were all about Laura Trott - the women's individual pursuit and the elimination race. Laura is an endurance racer, and as part of that women's world record breaking pursuit team, it was no surprise that she pipped American threat Sarah Hammer to first in that event, before absolutely dominating the women's elimination race, where Hammer was once again forced to lose ground, only coming third.

But what's really staggering is not what Trott did on Monday, but what she did on Tuesday. As an endurance rider, she was expected to lose a little bit of ground on the fourth and fifth events. First the time trial, a two lap sprint from a standing start, which was arguably her favourite of the two events. The most important thing was not to lose much ground on Belgian rider Jolien D'Hoore and Hammer. Trott didn't, she came second, beating both D'Hoore and Hammer narrowly, and losing only to Australian rider Annette Edmondson. Moving onto the flying lap then, which is fairly self-explanatory. "If she could finish top five she'll be happy with that" Chris Hoy explained. Once again, the goal was just to make sure that she didn't lose ground on Hammer, D'Hoore and the increasingly dangerous Edmondson. Once again, Laura Trott didn't. She won the race by a mouth-watering 0.17s, nearly four tenths of a second quicker than Hammer and a blistering half a second ahead of D'Hoore. One of her weakest events, and she'd smashed it. In fact I think that's a misnomer. Based on Trott's scores of 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, she has no weak events. 

The points race was an absolute joke. Trott just cycled. And she carried on cycling, picking up a massive 34 points, the same as Hammer and more than D'Hoore to finish 6th in the points race and just as far ahead as when she'd started the race. She covered every possible move, she made moves of her own, she took points for the fun of it. She was toying with the Belgian and American, who quickly realised that they were better off scrapping for silver than bothering to try and challenge Trott, who was so far ahead of them that she might as well have been in her own competition. She wasn't even close to winning the race, as Danish woman Amelie Dideriksen and New Zealand's Lauren Ellis went for absolute broke trying to scramble back into medal positions, but just fell short, but Laura did not just what she needed to do, but significantly more than that, a very comfortable and intelligent ride. 

So having secured her magnificent fourth gold, her second of the games, Trott got to sit back and relax. Or not, as she still had to watch her husband to be fight for his sixth gold, and his third of the games. And if that was nerve-wracking for me sat on the sofa at home, I can't imagine how Trott must have felt. And for Kenny of course, the problem was the opposite, trying to focus on his own race whilst watching Laura win. At least Laura made it easy for him.

And then came Jason Kenny's Keirin final and the drama ramped up to eleven, as the race had to be stopped. Someone had overtaken the derny bike that led out the riders. And the man at the front of the race was Jason Kenny. Replay after replay was analysed. Was the derny off the track? Where had Jason overtaken it? Had the derny left the track too late? Was that an excuse? The doubt was there, but was the evidence. On the one hand, the race had been stopped, you would have thought that someone would be disqualified. But on the other, it looked so close, so tight, that it would have been harsh to knock out the Brit and he probably just about deserved the benefit of the doubt, which he got, after five or ten long, nerve-wracking minutes. Part of the problem was that the organisers didn't have a proper side-on camera with which to judge. Luckily, Team GB did, and Iain Dyer was happy to supply the evidence, hopeful that it would vindicate his man. 

So the race restarted, only to stop again, as this time the German Eilers was the man who went off too early. Groans all round, as the race threatened to descend into farce. "It only ever happens once in a blue moon," Chris Hoy informed viewers. "I've never seen it happen twice before, let alone in an Olympic final." 

And when the race finally, finally, got underway for the third and final time, and everyone passed the derny bike legally, we had a real race on our hands. Kenny got off to a bad start, and stayed down in third. The question was asked: could he do it? And then, as they approached the final back straight, when it looked like he had left it too late, Kenny made his move. And what a move it was. As they came round the final corner, there was no doubt who was winning the race, as Kenny showed why he's the Olympic sprint champion, with a magnificent burst of pace over the final 50m to fly home and take the gold. 

But it wasn't just their imperious performances on the track that made me fall in love with Trott and Kenny, but their human sides. Trott's complete disbelief that she'd won, despite the fact that it was obvious to anyone who'd seen her ride just one event that she was a different class to the rest of the field. Kenny's nonchalance at the prospect of having won six Olympic golds. He was so unassuming and laid back, she was an emotional wreck, and me along with her. They make such a perfect couple, but more importantly, they both make perfect Olympic cyclists, and they pulled off a stunning display to light up the velodrome last night. 

Olympic Watch

• Becky James and Katy Marchant completed the cycling medal rush with silver and bronze respectively in the women's individual sprint, both losing out to the incredible German Kristina Vogel.
• And there were also medals to be had in the sailing, where Giles Scott confirmed his phenomenal gold, boxing where Joshua Buatsi lost his fight to earn a bronze, and diving, where Jack Laugher came back from scraping into the final to claim a second medal of his games with a silver. 
• And there were also two bronzes to complete an incredible haul for Britain's gymnasts, as high bar specialist Nile Wilson and Britain's youngest Olympian, 16 year old floor specialist Amy Tinkler picked up medals. 

15th August

Well that was something...

Liverpool Edge Out Gunners

At four o'clock on Sunday, I put the finishing touches on an article explaining why Liverpool's biggest problem was the lack of cover for Emre Can, and that Alberto Moreno was not a major hole in the side. "Titles aren't won and lost at left back". Then Moreno proceeded to make me not only look very very wrong, but incredibly stupid, with one of the worst performances I've ever seen from a Liverpool player. He made mistake after error, varying from poor clearances to overly aggressive tackles, right up to the three critical errors. First, he headed the ball straight to Aaron Ramsey to set Ramsey in on goal. Then he conceded a penalty from nowhere. Admittedly he got the ball but Gary Neville summed it up perfectly: garbage. It was a garbage tackle, whether it was a penalty or not. And then, having escaped that, he was caught ten yards too far up the pitch and let Theo Walcott in behind him. The net result was a deserved 1-0 lead for Arsenal.

I don't want to dwell on Moreno, as enough words will be spoken about him this Monday to fill a novel. He's a terrible left back, a liability and I'll be grateful to see James Milner there against Burnley whilst we hopefully use the Benteke money to sign a replacement. But it must be remembered that he wasn't the only player to have a poor first half. Wijnaldum and Lallana couldn't get in the game, Henderson was isolated in an unfamiliar position and struggling, and we couldn't get Coutinho in the game. The intensity, the pressing, the energy that was there against Barca just wasn't present, and although overall Arsenal didn't run away with the first half, they still should have been at least 2-0 up at the break.

But up stepped a little magician. Free kick, twenty-five yards out, right on half time. And what a free kick it was, a thing of beauty as it whipped and curled into the only spot in the whole goal that Petr Cech couldn't reach it. He had wanted the wall to move, but the wall were nowhere near it. Perfection. Taking Liverpool into half time at 1-1 which is far more than we deserved. We were lucky to escape at 1-1 to be honest. 

But when we came up for the second half, it was pure Klopp. This was the kind of football that Klopp wanted his team to play. High press, win the ball, pass the ball with incision and dynamic play. Runners off the ball making things happen. We had Firmino, Mane, Coutinho, Lallana and Wijnaldum playing and in that eighteen minute spell after half time, we showed why. The second came three minutes after the break, a beautiful flick from Coutinho releasing Wijnaldum, who found Lallana. A wonderful piece of control and finish from a man who needs to produce that more often, and the game was turned on its head. 

And it only got better from there, as Liverpool out-Arsenaled Arsenal with the third goal, making nearly thirty passes before releasing Clyne down the right, and his low cross was turned in brilliantly by man of the match Coutinho, who was single-handedly leading what was a brilliant team charge. Coutinho was mesmerising, inspiring, producing moments of quality that show why he's Liverpool's best player at times, and our player of the season for the last two years. 

But the other player that Liverpool fans are raving about today is new signing Sadio Mane, who is already starting to show that any criticism of his price tag might need to slow down, as he looks every inch a £30m player so far. He was fast, dangerous and showed fabulous ball control, as well as already interchanging well with the likes of Lallana (although to be honest Lallana could interchange well with a tree that's how good he is at interchanging) but the icing on the cake of Mane's performance was a stunning solo goal, as he turned on the afterburners, leaving Chambers and Monreal for dead before producing a stunning left foot finish. He's the sort of player Liverpool have been after for years, a natural winger with great skill on the ball, tenacity, and searing, searing pace. 

But then the other side of this Liverpool side reared its ugly head again. It's impossible to pin all of our defensive frailties on Moreno, as Simon Mignolet in goal, despite his excellent penalty save, remains a real liability. Yes, he was slightly unlucky that Dejan Lovren made a woeful job of blocking Oxlade-Chamberlain's shot for the second goal, just seconds after we'd put Arsenal to bed, but even so he should have saved it. And he probably should have done better with Chambers' header too, although he looked offside and really Lovren shouldn't have lost his man (he ended up being closer to Klavan than Lovren in the end but he was definitely Lovren's man). Either way credit to Cazorla for a wicked ball in, there's not too much you can do about deliveries of that quality. 

But the negatives can be addressed. Bringing in Matip and/or Sakho for Lovren, Karius for Mignolet, Emre Can to cover the back four and quite literally anyone on the planet for Alberto Moreno when they're fit will drastically improve the defensive side of our game. We still have arguably three of our first choice back four plus our first choice keeper injured (admittedly it's a bad sign when James Milner is your first choice left back but you take my point). Yes Klopp needs to sign a left back and a defensive midfielder, but although Henderson struggled there at times today, it's fair to say that against an inferior team to Arsenal he would struggle there less.

And if the negatives are there and obvious, the positives even more so. We played well for less than twenty minutes in this match and scored four goals and could have scored more. Coutinho, Mane, Firmino, Lallana, Wijnaldum, and even Henderson from CDM all offered a serious attacking threat, and we still have Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi to come back into this side, the latter showing what he can do with a brilliant little cameo at the end. Ultimately, this game might have had a different shade to it in different circumstances, but despite missing arguably seven first team players, we still decimated Arsenal at times. And make no mistake, scoring four goals and beating Arsenal on the opening day is most definitely a positive result. 

Player Ratings:
Mignolet 6
Clyne 6
Lovren 5
Klavan 7
Moreno 2
Henderson 7
Wijnaldum 6
Lallana 8
Mane 9
Coutinho 9
Firmino 7
Can 6 - on for Coutinho 70'
Origi 7 - on for Lallana 76'
Stewart N/A - on for Wijnaldum 88'

Bournemouth Crumble as United Off to a Flier

For forty minutes, this very much had the feel of a Louis Van Gaal game about it. I made the point before the season started that Mourinho, Pep and Conte wouldn't be able to produce miracles overnight, and so it showed in the second of the three big managerial debuts. The first half was a bit of a nothing, United were pedestrian, Bournemouth defended well but offered very little coming forward. And then, well Bournemouth stopped defending well. Simon Francis, who up until the forty minute mark, had been the best player on the pitch, inexplicably under hit a back pass to Juan Mata, and then volley the rebound straight back to Mata six yards out with an open goal, after the diminutive Spaniard fired straight at Boruc, who had reacted well to get out and make himself big. It was the easiest goal Mata will ever score.

That was the only incident of note in an otherwise dreary first half, and if United started to exert their complete control over the second, they were aided by some more truly horrible defending. Rooney had a decent chance after a complete air kick of a clearance but he could only fire at Boruc, who once again read the danger quickly. But Rooney made amends with a lovely header, although frankly he was not under anything resembling pressure. It was a good goal from United's perspective, but for Bournemouth to cheaply give the ball away in their own box and then fail to mark United's two danger players in the vicinity was nothing less than criminal. To give Wayne Rooney a completely free header six yards out? Dearie me. 

If the third was United's best goal, it certainly wasn't Bournemouth's worst. A lovely drive from Zlatan Ibrahimovich from range, put in the only place Boruc couldn't reach. Ibrahimovic marked his first Premier League game with a goal, and it was a good one at that. But United's best players were Mata and other new signing Bailly. It will have been exactly the sort of game Bailly wanted, one against opposition not blessed with a lot of strength, giving him the ability to assert his superior physical prowess and pace in one on ones and fifty-fifties. 

The only blip for United was that a stern defensive performance wasn't rewarded with a clean sheet, as Bournemouth actually ran at the weak link in their defence, that channel between Blind and Shaw, and got a reward for it. Shaw looked rusty, which is to be expected as it's his first game in the Premier League in nearly a year, and Blind turned in a largely good performance but you'd have to say Chris Smalling remains a better option at centre back.

In truth, there are very few conclusions we can draw from this game about how United will perform this season. They were poor in the first half, but when Bournemouth crumbled in the second they were able to take advantage and were excellent. As for Bournemouth, they have some serious problems to overcome, at both ends of the pitch.

Olympic Watch

• Super Sunday it turned out to be, especially in the gymnastics, where the phenomenal Max Whitlock managed to pip team mate Louis Smith to gold in the pommel, but also turned in a stunning performance on the floor to win another gold, this one wholly unexpected, but quite magnificent. Whitlock now has two gold medals and a bronze in this games. A revelation in British gymnastics.
• And there was also joy in two of the more conventional sports at the Olympics, as Justin Rose clinched gold in a spectacular final day showdown with Swede Henrik Stenson and Andy Murray saw off Juan Martin Del Potro in an epic four set battle to take gold in the tennis. Rose and Stenson took it all the way to their third shots on the 18th hole dead level, but whilst Stenson's pitch wasn't quite good enough for a birdie, Rose nailed his to take gold. As for Murray, he was caught in a huge physical battle, but had the stamina to outfight Del Potro, and despite being 5-3 down in the fourth set, turned it around to pip the exhausted Delpo 7-5.
• And GB's fifth gold of the day came in the cycling, where we already knew Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner would fight for gold, leaving GB with a gold and silver. And as expected, Kenny was just too fast. His fifth gold medal, and he could yet add a sixth in the Kierin. A true Olympic great. 
• And away from Team GB, there was some major drama late into the night as Usain Bolt won his 100m race, but had his thunder stolen by Saffer Van Niekerk, who not only stormed to a huge victory in the 400m, but smashed Michael Johnson's 1999 world record. Stunning. 

14th August

So most of my predictions ended up being...well wrong.

The Premier League IS BACK 

Hull City 2-1 Leicester City

Okay hands up who saw this coming. Yes there were cracks in Leicester's team, mostly the lack of cohesion in the central midfield, as Andy King was a poor replacement of N'golo Kante, and Hernandez in central defence struggled in a way that Huth would not have. But this was a Hull side that were fancied to go down, that struggled to put a bench together and that were given no hope and everyone expected Leicester's problems to be glossed over by a thumping win. But in amongst all the problems that Hull have had, there's an odd sense of continuity that has been overlooked, as eight of their starting eleven yesterday also started the play-off final.

And a lot is going to be made of this defeat from Leicester's point of view. And rightly so to be honest, they are the Champions and they've lost to a newly promoted side who couldn't fill their bench and didn't have a manager. There has to be an inquest. And Leicester were toothless. Vardy had a poor game, Mahrez was nowhere near his best and Gray would have been good if he hadn't adopted a shoot on sight policy in the opponent's half. They were missing tempo, they were missing fluidity and whilst that has been Leicester's problem multiple times last season, they always found a way to counter-attack hard. And defensively, Leicester were a mess. Morgan did not look comfortable with his new partner, and Andy King offered nowhere near the level of protection that Kante would have. Moreover, Kasper Schmeichel had one of the worst games he's had in a Leicester shirt, exposed horribly for Leicester's second goal. 

That's not to say that there were no positives for Leicester. New signing Musa looks like a real player, with pace and power and skill. They've got an incredibly fast and dangerous attacking line, and there's no way that players of the quality of Vardy and Mahrez can play this badly consistently. They also have options now, and Okazaki made a real difference when he came off the bench. They also did create a hat-full of good chances, and Vardy should have scored at least once, if not twice, and on another day more goals would have gone in. 

But a lot of credit has to go to Hull. They were well and truly written off before the game, and not without justification, but they absolutely played out of their skins. Although the entire team deserves a lot of credit for their performances, special credit has to go to Jake Livermore, Sam Clucas and Adama Diomande. Livermore was absolutely exceptional filling in at centre back and made a stunning block to deny Vardy late in the first half. And moreover, Diomande was brilliant, causing problems and offering relief on the counter-attack, and scoring the first goal (I think, nobody's really sure but it's gone down as his). 

But the man of the match was Clucas, who played as the deepest of the three in the Hull midfield and absolutely ran the show for Hull. His organisation, tackling, interceptions and general defensive play reminded me of...well Kante. Moreover, Clucas was exactly what Leicester were missing, someone to anchor the team. But make no mistake, Hull were absolutely exceptional, and they thoroughly deserved this win. 

Everton 1-1 Spurs

This was very much a game of two halves. In the first half Spurs were absolutely awful, a shadow of the side that we saw in action last season. They had no steel or control in the middle of the park and Victor Wanyama was a poor replacement for the suspended Moussa Dembele. There was no cohesion in the Spurs midfield and defensively they were a bit of a shambles and very lucky to only concede from a brilliant Barkley free kick that probably wasn't meant to be a shot but bypassed everyone and beat Hugo Lloris, who later came off with an injury. 

Luckily for Spurs, his replacement Michel Vorm pulled off a stunning save to keep Spurs in the game at 1-0 just before half time, and in the second half Spurs were vastly superior to their own first half, they looked like well, the Spurs of last season. They did grab an excellent equaliser through a brilliant header from Eric Lamela, and then they created a slew of brilliant chances to win the game, as they introduced new striker Jansson, who was denied brilliantly by new Everton keeper Stekelenburg, who made two or three world class saves to prevent Spurs from winning the game.

Overall, 1-1 is on reflection a fair result. Everton were excellent in the first half, but Spurs much improved after the break. Everton could easily have scored twice in the first half, Spurs twice in the second. I think both sides will also be reasonably happy with a point, it's a decent start for both of these sides and you have to say that neither of them can really dispute the result. 

Manchester City 2-1 Sunderland

Well this game was interesting. Funnily enough, Pep's first game was not a complete and utter overhaul of English football. Yet. But there were plenty of signs that Pep is starting to yield his influence over this Man City team. Stones in defence playing it out from the back, Hart dropped, and the full backs tucking in, leaving Nolito and Sterling to provide the width. And it has to be said, there were a lot of positive signs from City. Sterling was excellent, Silva and De Bruyne playing in largely the same positions as Liverpool will play Lallana and Wijnaldum demonstrated complete control of the game. 

But of course, this was far from a vintage City performance. There was a lot of slow, lethargic football and after scoring their first inside five minutes from the penalty spot, after Sterling was felled, they never really looked like kicking on and scoring three or four goals. Sunderland found their way back into the game and although they rarely tested City defensively, their goal wasn't exactly a bolt out of the blue either, as Defoe was able to find space in the box and fire low under Caballero. 

But City came again and Iheanacho was in the right place to put Paddy McNair under pressure, and the ex-United defender buckled under pressure, heading into his own net. Overall, I would say that looking at this game, we can learn a lot about what Pep is trying to do, but it's far too early to say he's integrated his system properly into his side. As I've said before, it will take time for the likes of Pep, Mourinho and Conte to make their teams play their way. And this was very much the case here, as City looked very much like a work in progress. 

The Best of the Rest

Elsewhere in the rest of the 3pm KOs (since I can't watch five games at once), there was heartbreak for newly promoted Burnley, as a late goal from Leroy Fer got Swansea off to the perfect start with a 1-0 win at Turf Moor. But the other newly promoted club Boro made it the hat-trick of results with a draw against Stoke, despite winning for large periods of the game after a debut goal for Alvaro Negredo. It was Shaqiri who continued to only score brilliant goals with a stunning free kick to equalise for Stoke. And the third 1-1 draw of the day was secured at St Mary's where Nathan Redmond scored his first Premier League goal for Southampton to snatch a point against a various impressive Watford side, who scored early through Etienne Capoue. And of course, there's the Pulis derby, where an awful Crystal Palace side lost 1-0 to West Brom through Solomon Rondon's goal. 

Olympic Watch

• Super Saturday it ended up being, as Team GB took three golds, four silvers and a bronze.
• There was joy first in the rowing, where our men's eights took gold and our women's eights took silver, both seriously impressive results. 
• And from the water to the track, where GB's pursuit women looked like they were in for a real battle with the US team, only to pull away from them with extreme ease to smash the world record and take gold. There was also joy for the amazing Becky James, who secured a hard earned silver in the Kierin with a brilliant ride around the outside. 
• There was both joy and heartbreak in the pool, where Fran Halsall missed gold by 0.06s and somehow failed to win a medal, but there was a silver for our men's 4 x 100 medley team. 
• But the real story of Super Saturday was in the athletics. Our three big names all won medals, Mo Farah producing a stunning race to win a deserved gold, Jess Ennis-Hill giving everything she had and being beaten by the phenomenal Thiam, leaving Jess with silver, and one of the best long jump competitions in living memory, in which Greg Rutherford came out with a phenomenal jump to take bronze. 

13th August

Okay so it's the first day of the Premier League season, which means predictions.

Premier League Predictions

Hull v Leicester (12:30pm KO) 

So this one has away win written all over it. Even if Leicester's demise is forecast, they've still got more than enough power in their team, including Vardy and Mahrez, to see off a truly wretched Hull side that will struggle to put out a starting eleven, let alone a bench, with only one fit CB. 

Prediction: 3-0 Leicester

Burnley v Swansea (3pm)

This should be an interesting match up, and certainly not the worst side for newly promoted Burnley to start against, as Swansea have been stripped of multiple good players. However, this Swansea side are still a dangerous team and won't roll over against the new boys. I expect this to be a close game. 

Prediction: 1-1

Crystal Palace v West Brom (3pm)

If ever a game had 0-0 written all over it, it would probably be this one. Two pretty average teams, but both of whom will want to get off to a flier. Nevertheless, as Palace have the home advantage, I'll back them to edge it. 

Prediction: Palace 1-0

Everton v Spurs (3pm) 

Definitely the pick of the 3 o'clock games. Spurs have all the fire power, and will be wanting to start strongly to assert their top four credentials, and this is an Everton side that are in the middle of a transitional period, and still have work to do in this window. Spurs are the better team. 

Prediction: 3-1 Spurs

Boro v Stoke (3pm)

Another one where a newly promoted side faces an interesting test at home. And another game I expect to be reasonably close. Stoke have a lot of potential, but this Boro side could also be a serious force in the lower echelons of the Premier League this season, so I'm going for a draw. 

Prediction: 1-1

Southampton v Watford (3pm)

We'll get the first look at Puel's Southampton, and Mazzarri's Watford. Two sides with very different aspirations this season. You sense 17th would be enough for Watford, but 7th is very much the target for the Saints. Southampton have a rock solid defence and enough fire power to see off this Watford side so I'm going for a home win. 

Prediction: 2-0 Saints

Man City v Sunderland (5:30pm)

If ever a game had: glorious start to Pep's revolution, it would be this one. If there's one thing that this Man City side have proved adept at in previous seasons, it's putting a large number of goals past poor sides early on in the season, and I've seen nothing from Sunderland to suggest they won't get a roasting here. 

Prediction: 4-0 City

Bournemouth v Man United (1;30pm Sunday)

This game is another one where Man United will be expected to get off to a flying start and run riot under Jose. But I don't think it'll be that straightforward, partly because United don't have the same firepower as City, but mostly because Bournemouth will prove a sterner test than Sunderland. That said, United should have more than enough to see them off, although I think they'll get a scare.

Prediction: 2-1 United

Arsenal v Liverpool (4pm Sunday)

As hard as I try, I can't rationalise why Liverpool won't win this game. Yes, Arsenal are a fantastic side, but with Ozil, Giroud and Koscielny not quite ready, Mertesacker and Gabriel seriously injured and Sanchez, Cazorla and Ramsey not quite 100%, this is a seriously weakened Arsenal side that will come in significantly less prepared and have almost no central defensive options. On a normal day I'd say this is a draw, but Arsenal just aren't at that level right now. 

Prediction: 3-1 LFC

Chelsea v West Ham (8pm Monday)

This should be a cracker. West Ham are a very good side now, and this will be a stern test for a Chelsea side that a lot of people are tipping to make top four. Both of these teams have goals in them, and I can't see there being much between them at all. 

Prediction: 2-2

Olympic Watch

• There's only one place to start: what a race by Burke, Clancy, Doull and Wiggins to pull off the gold in the team pursuit and a world record at that. Wiggo deserves his fifth Olympic gold, that puts him in esteemed company. And his interview and podium were absolutely hilarious too, what a man. 
• But there was also two pieces of joy out on the water, as Glover and Stanning secured their gold, and the men's fours did what they needed to do as well, after a brilliant race.
• There were also three silvers to be had, as Jazz Carlin secured her second Olympic silver of the games and the team dressage were unable to topple the dominant Germans. 
• But my star of the day is Bryony Page, who made the final of the trampolining qualifying 7th and overturned the odds to pull off the routine of her life and secure a stunning silver. Impossible not to fall in love with her. 
• And in the heptathlon, a real battle between Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Jessica Ennis-Hill is going on, with the 2012 champion putting herself in the gold position with three events to go, and KJT very much still in the medal hunt. Could we see a 1-2? 

12th August

Okay so with one day to go until the start of the Premier League season, I guess it's finally time to nail my cards to the wall and say how I feel the Premier League season will go. I'll be honest, this was really hard. There are six top teams, three or four excellent teams below them, and only three teams I think are up for relegation, so picking 1-6 was hard, 7-11 was very hard and 12-17 was nigh on impossible...

Premier League Table Prediction

1. Manchester City: 

An obvious pick, but also an easy one. I predicted City to win the title each of the last five years and they've pulled it off twice in that period. But after last season's incredible display, I feel with the Premier League there for the taking, City have the best squad, the best manager and the most individual quality. Aguero is the best striker in the league, De Bruyne and Silva are the two best attacking midfielders, Kompany is the best central defender, so it's just about building the connective tissue around their core players to turn this side into title winners again.

2. Arsenal: 

Yes haha Arsenal finishing higher than 4th very funny. But other than City, Arsenal have the best rounded squad. Their midfield is absolutely stacked, they have quality in every area of the pitch, the best fullbacks, and once Koscielny Ozil and Giroud are back, they will have one of the best starting 11s in the league. Yes they have problems in the centre-back and centre-forward areas, but Koscielny and Giroud can plug those areas, and I'd be surprised if Wenger didn't sign at least one more defender or striker this window. No they won't win the title, because they're Arsenal but I think with the rest of the pack off the pace, they'll capitalise again. 

3. Liverpool: 

I think Liverpool have the capacity to make a real run at the Premier League. Vast improvements in the back end of last season, removing a lot of problematic deadwood from the squad and smart signings over the course of the summer mean that there's every reason for Liverpool fans to be optimistic that there'll be a huge improvement on last season's performances. And of course, the Klopp factor. 

4. Man United: 

I was really tempted to say United won't make top four. I think their squad is vastly overrated, they've been playing poorly, they've bought mediocrely and as much as I think Mourinho is an incredible manager, that isn't saying what it would have been saying 24 months ago. Moreover, I think it will take him time to bed in the squad. But that said, this is a team littered with world class individuals. De Gea, Smalling, Martial and Mhkitaryan are all seriously good players. Put them together, and United could be explosive. 

5. Spurs: 

Spurs undoubtedly have one of the best starting 11s in the Premier League. But as we rarely saw the best 11s of the four teams above them play regularly because of injuries, it's difficult to gauge if they're better than the teams above them and you'd have to say that if the other four teams have a similar injury record to Spurs this season, then Spurs have the biggest drop down. One injury to Kane or Dier (or Dembele, or Alli, or Eriksen, or Lamela) KO's their season. Overall, I think they'll struggle to deal with Champions League. 

6. Chelsea: 

A lot of people are tipping Conte's Chelsea to go far this season, and certainly like Liverpool they'll be bolstered by lack of Europe. But this Chelsea team were in total disarray for large periods of last season, they're an aging squad and although they've bought well, Conte is not one of the best managers in this league and like United and City, he will take time to bed in his team. 

7. Leicester City: 

It seems weird to say, but I think Leicester could be the dark horses of this Premier League campaign. Whilst all signs point to an imminent implosion, they nevertheless have largely the same core of players that did so well last season and I expect the teams above them to all struggle. Whilst I've put them 7th here, if they can hold onto Mahrez then I could see them penetrating the top four again. 

8. Southampton:

Once again, it's a summer of rebuilding from Southampton, as they lost their manager, and two of their top players. But once again, you expect them to bounce back. They sign smart, they look good, they're hard to beat and on their day they can take anyone down. Expecting them to challenge for Europe again. 

9. West Ham: 

West Ham feel they have the capability to turn last season's 7th into a springboard into a sustained challenge on the current top teams. The reality is that despite their swanky new stadium and a core of good players, you can't turn into a superpower overnight, and their dismal failings in the transfer market to sign a top striker reflect that. They'll do very well but there are at least six or seven teams in the league better than them. 

10. Stoke: 

Stoke are in a really good position to finish in the top ten again this season, keeping all of their key players and buying smartly, especially if they can secure the signing of Saido Berahino from West Brom. It'll be a tough battle for them, but often consistency can be a huge bonus, with a lot of instability in a lot of the clubs around them.

11. Everton: 

Everton have brought in Koeman, and so much of their season will depend on whether or not they can retain their big stars. John Stones has already gone, and I'm basing this rating on the premise that Romelu Lukaku leaves as well. So far they've been plucking decent players from mediocre teams to really cement their mid-table position, as Bolasie, Kone and Williams are all looking to come in, as well as possibly Wilfried Bony. They're replacing their best players with decent players, but at least they've improved their manager. 

12. Middlesbrough: 

Boro are shaping up to be this season's shock team. They have an excellent core of players, have bought some big names with Premier League and international experience and I think that they will really upset the apple cart this season, finishing ahead of the likes of West Brom and Palace.

13. West Brom: 

As long as West Brom have Tony Pulis at the helm, they'll be fine. They've not lost any key players, and if they can snatch Christian Benteke out from under Crystal Palace's noses, then they shouldn't be close to the relegation dogfight. Either way, West Brom in decent shape. 

14. Bournemouth:

Bournemouth are another team that are in decent shape, having avoided being raided so far this summer, and making smart signings. With major players hopefully fit this season, Bournemouth will be once again aiming for survival and should achieve that aim comfortably. 

15. Watford: 

Watford have two aces up their sleeve. Troy Deeney and Odion Igahlo. Their refusal to sell those two for any money at all may just be what keeps them in the Premier League again this season. They showed in the opening half of 2015/16 that they shouldn't drift into trouble.

16. Swansea: 

The alarm bells have to be ringing at Swansea, selling their best central defender, as well as shipping out almost all of their goalscorers and gambling on Llorente from Spain, a striker who is a bit one dimensional and not actually all that good at scoring goals. But Swansea finished 11th last season for a reason, have quality players and Guidolin is a class manager, so they should be fine. 

17. Crystal Palace: 

Palace are a side in decline. Pardew is a painfully average manager, they're selling Bolasie and unless they sign Benteke I could see them getting relegated. They have key players in key positions who simply aren't Premier League quality and although I think they'll hold on, they could run into trouble. 

18. Burnley: 

Burnley are a good side, with a lot of good players, but I suspect that the current standard of the league will be too high for them, particularly as you suspect they're ripe for having their best players picked off in January. Andre Gray and Sam Vokes will be huge for them. 

19. Sunderland: 

How long can one horribly average side cling to Premier League status before they finally drop out? With David Moyes at the helm, a man who may seriously struggle with the size of the challenge ahead of him, I suspect that without Sam Allardyce, Sunderland are in real trouble. 

20. Hull: 

Hull have a real, real chance of beating Derby for the worst team ever in the Premier League. They are an absolute trainwreck, having lost their manager, their entire squad is injured, the owners are hated and they just are all around terrible. Could be a long and hard season for them. 

Final Table: 

1. Manchester City

2. Arsenal

3. Liverpool 

4. Manchester United

5. Spurs

6. Chelsea

7. Leicester

8. Southampton

9. West Ham

10. Stoke

11. Everton

12. Middlesbrough

13. West Brom

14. Bournemouth

15. Watford

16. Swansea

17. Crystal Palace

18. Burnley

19. Sunderland

20. Hull

I cannot wait to be proved horribly wrong (but not about Hull, they're not winning the league, sorry Joe).

Olympic Watch

• Fiji were absolutely incredible in the rugby sevens final, but Team GB did well to even get into the final and will take the silver. 
• How awesome were Granger and Thornley? Another crew for whom silver is a serious acheivement.
• And there was also a silver for Hounslow and Florence, retaining their medal from London 2012.
• But the stars of the day were the Jason Kenny, Callum Skinner and Phillip Hindes, who went one better and pulled off an insane gold medal at the expense of favourites New Zealand. 
• Meanwhile, flag bearer Andy Murray and golfer Justin Rose keep their own hopes alive. Big names. 

11th August

Right then, suppose I'd better talk about LFC...

LIVERPOOL 

So I'm going to do a proper Premier League season preview tomorrow but since I'm primarily a Liverpool fan and I didn't do a Liverpool season review because I wanted to talk about them separately, I felt a Liverpool blog post was due. I've already rated individual players' seasons last year and I've already talked about where I feel our squad is at (since then we've signed one of the three players I was after, also signed Wijnaldum and will probably sign a left back before the window closes. So now I just want to talk about my hopes, expectations, my thoughts on the previous season and the Klopp era as a whole. 

Okay so starting with the season just gone then. First and foremost, eighth is not representative of where we should have finished that season. It's all very well and good to point it out but anyone who watched our last six or seven league performances should be well aware that the teams sent out simply weren't anywhere near full strength. It leaves a sour taste in the mouth that we spend the last few weeks and months of our season focusing entirely on the Europa League, only to monumentally blow it but that doesn't mean that the league position is any more representative. We should have finished at least sixth and could well have pressed United for fifth. 

But that's moot. We didn't do that, we focused on the Europa League and we finished eighth. My point is merely that we're not the eighth best team in the Premier League, we're nowhere near a million miles away from the likes of United and Spurs and our starting position is nowhere near as bad as some people make out, especially considering that we won't have to worry about juggling Europe this season. 

But yes, last season was a poor season, however you try to spin it. We got off to a horrific start under Brodge, things seemed to get better under Klopp but then before and around Christmas we hit another really bumpy patch. There are multiple reasons why last season went so wrong. For starters, Brodge was struggling, and when he was sacked and Klopp came in, it took a while for the players to get used to and bedded into exactly what it was Klopp was after. Klopp's gegenpress is not something you can magically adapt to overnight. There were some really impressive early signs, beating City 4-1 and Chelsea 3-1 and the 6-1 decimation of Southampton. But a series of injuries, a lack of fitness and two or three truly dreadful individuals just kept stunting progress and we played some truly dreadful matches. 

Watford, Newcastle, Leicester, West Ham, Southampton. These were arguably the five key defeats of the Klopp era. Of those five, Lucas played four of them, Skrtel played the key role in three of them, Sturridge only started once and Coutinho and Henderson only played three of them. Liverpool didn't lose a single game with Can and Henderson in the double pivot, and only twice with Sakho and Lovren starting together. 

Of the crucial individuals involved in decimating Liverpool's season: Skrtel has already been sold, Benteke is on his way out, Lucas is still at LFC but will be at most a bit part player and Simon Mignolet...okay so our replacement for Mignolet is injured but at least we tried. The only other problem is still at left back, where one man wrecking ball Alberto Moreno is still ripe for defensive errors. The introductions of Matip and Klavan into our defence, as well as Karius when he's fit, should limit our defensive errors. 

That's not to say all is perfect of course. Injuries are still a major problem, with Sakho, Lucas, Gomez and Karius out for the foreseeable future and Milner, Matip, Sturridge and Grujic are all facing niggles that will keep them out the Arsenal game, though they should all be back to play Spurs. And in terms of problems, defensively we still need to worry about our full back areas, where we're one injury away from disaster and we still don't have a Premier League proven established central defensive partnership. Moreover, if something happens to Emre Can we could be seriously lacking in defensive midfield, with Henderson, Grujic and Wijnaldum nowhere near as capable in that role and Lucas both past it and injured. 

But nevertheless, there's a real sense of justified optimism at Anfield. With Klopp now having had nearly a year, and a proper pre-season with which to bed in his new system, to mold this squad into his own and bring in additions that he feels will improve the squad, and most of them bringing quality to the table, there's a real feeling that results like outplaying City, Chelsea and United, as we did last season, as well as overturning Dortmund and even the 4-0 demolition job of Barca last week, are not flukes. Klopp has a bigger squad now, quality options in almost every area of the pitch and most importantly, he's got the team playing his style. 

So in terms of hopes for the new season: without European football we can really focus on winning a trophy and making the top four. And under Klopp we have a manager capable of making it happen, with a squad capable of making it happen, and the fans are genuinely starting to believe. We're in a better position than Chelsea right now and Klopp has had a head-start on the likes of Pep and Mourinho. We just need a little bit of luck with injuries, and to get up a head of steam and build some consistency and I see no reason why Liverpool shouldn't make top four and win a trophy, especially as Klopp managed to reach two cup finals last season without the team being fully his. 

So yeah overall I'm feeling good about this season. And why not? All of the teams ahead of us last season have a significantly bigger workload and you can't expect Saints, West Ham, Leicester and Spurs to all deal with that well. Chelsea, Man City and Man U all have new managers so will be slightly behind us in terms of transition and we have managed to get rid of most of the players who dragged us down at crucial moments last season. But more than anything else, football is about optimism. Because if I sat here and claimed that despite a positive end to last season, an excellent pre-season, having improved the squad and given one of the world's best managers time to build a system we weren't going to finish any higher than last season, then what would be the point of following football at all?

Olympic Watch

• After a pretty dire Tuesday, we got some late luck in the pool, with two excellent silvers, for the men's 4 x 200 freestyle finishing behind the US team featuring Phelps and also a brilliant silver for Siobhan-Marie O'Connor, in the 200m individual medley, setting a British record and losing to an Olympic record in the process, can't really argue with that. 
• But Wednesday turned into Wonderful Wednesday, as GB picked up six medals. 
• Joe Clarke started the gold rush with a brilliant display in the canoe slalom. 
• There were also hard earned bronzes for Chris Froome, who finished last in the time trial and managed to pinch a medal by 4s, Sally Conway in the Judo, who overturned the World Champion on the way to a semi-final loss on golden point but a brilliant bronze match, Steven Scott, who had to beat his own team-mate in the bronze double trap shootout, and Max Whitlock, who had an incredibly nervy wait for his medal in the men's individual all-round gymnastics. 
• But the starts of the day were Jack Laugher and Chris Mears, who managed to pull out the dives of their lives to somehow pip both the Americans and the Chinese to 3m diving gold. Phenomenal.