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Premier League Headlines
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Update on Hugo Lloris injury
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Can EPL Title race be considered over ?
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What Norwich City must do to improve their relegation form !!
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Premier League Headlines ( In Details )
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Update on Hugo Lloris injury
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Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has issued a statement that he plans to be ready for action for the club in January. Hugo was stretchered off the pitch and taken to hospital in opening minutes of Tottenham’s game against Brighton.
Reflecting on the recovery, Lloris said “Everything is well. There can always be hazards, but my goal is to be ready for January. Whether it’s the beginning, the middle or the end, I don’t know. In any case, I’ll take time to make sure I’m well-healed and that I can come back in top form. I’m also using the time to regenerate myself. I’ve never been away from the pitch for so long, so it’s something new, but I’m treating it positively. I’m using this period to spend time with my family and my children. I’m in good hands and we’re moving forward calmly. Everything’s been done as it should have been. Now, we have to focus on rehabilitation, strengthening, gradually gaining mobility and confidence.”
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Premier League Museum Editor Notes: On goalkeeping front, when Hugo Lloris suffered a horrible elbow injury it logically caused Tottenham fans to wonder whether or not Paulo Gazzaniga could step in for him in goal. Thus far, the emphatic answer to that question has been yes. In fact, there’s a logical argument to be made that Gazzaniga has done enough to keep Lloris on the bench when he returns to full fitness. Lloris is a very good goalkeeper, and although he makes mistakes from time to time, there is no doubt that he is an important player in manager Mauricio Pochettino’s side. In argument of goalkeeping, their may be some points but Lloris also brings strong leadership to the team which has been found missing this season even though they have a huge figure in Harry Kane to lead. Lloris has been a long-standing servant of the club and wore the captain’s armband before injury forced him to the sidelines. The club stuck with him even after he suffered an embarrassing arrest for drink driving last year. It will be interesting call from the manager when Lloris comes back from injury.
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Can EPL Title race be considered over ?
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While the calendar has barely turned to the month of November, some people are claiming the Premier League title race is already over. Both Jose Mourinho and Roy Keane said as much in the Sky Sports studio on Sunday, believing that the nine point gap between Liverpool and Manchester City was too much to overcome. Below are comments this week from some pundits –
Peter Crouch said “When it comes to the title, all the Liverpool fans I know are trying to keep a lid on their feelings as best they can. I totally understand why. I was up at Anfield for the game near the end of the 2013-14 season when they beat Manchester City 3-2, meaning the title was in their hands with four games to go. The place was buzzing, and everywhere you went in the city it was the same – absolutely electric, with people telling you they were going to win the league. Then came Steven Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea in their next home game, and they ended up throwing it away. A lot of people were burned by that and that has left them thinking ‘we are not going to make that same mistake again’. That is still true now, even after beating City. I know loads of Liverpool fans and they are all saying the same thing to me – ‘it’s not over’. None of them are talking about winning the league yet; they are saying there is a long way to go.”
Paul Ince said ” What I like about Liverpool, from winning the Champions League against Tottenham, is they have that belief now. I think losing the title last year destroyed them, but the fact they had a game after and won the Champions League it gave them that lift – that confidence to win it. We did it at Man United in 1991 when we beat Barcelona in the European Cup Winners’ Cup. It was the catalyst. You could sense the different mentality in the players – we could beat anyone, because once you beat Barcelona, you can. And you see that with Liverpool now, the confidence, the experience of losing it last year – that won’t faze them now. There won’t be talk about titles, the club won’t allow it. They will just be taking it one game at a time. Last year I always felt like Man City would win it, now I don’t.”
Virgil Van Dijk the talisman defender of the Liverpool said “I’m not gonna say that [it feels like Liverpool’s year]. It’s something for the media. For players the main thing is we focus on the game ahead of us. For me personally it’s Northern Ireland, it’s a tough task. What happens with Liverpool in the future we’ll see, we have no influence on it, the season is so long. My focus is on the next game, at the moment that’s [with our] national teams.”
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Premier League Museum Editor Notes: Between November 23 and the weekend of January 5, Liverpool will play 13 games in 40 days across five competitions. That averages out to a game every three days. Over a period of nearly a month and a half. On Boxing Day, Liverpool face a tricky trip to Leicester. Three days later, the Reds host a resilient Sheffield United. If the Reds escape the festive season with their lead intact, there are still plenty of hazards that lay ahead. In the two weeks that follow, they must travel away to Tottenham and then host a Manchester United side. Two Merseyside derbies also lay ahead against Everton, while the end-of-season run-in looks particularly treacherous. Liverpool must visit Man City at the start of April, knowing that they have lost their last two league trips to the Etihad (including a 5-0 rollicking in 2017). If that match doesn’t provide a points swing in City’s favor, then Liverpool’s final three matches of the season may do so. The Reds conclude by visiting Arsenal, hosting Frank Lampard’s Chelsea and visiting a Newcastle side who may need points to avoid relegation.
While they have experienced collapses in the past, this team does feel different under Jurgen Klopp. Their Champions League win last season got them over the trophy hump, with any mental block that may have been present presumably gone. However, we should be quick to remind that premier league season are brutal and even though Christmas period is defining for championship race, many battles have been won or lost in the last 4-8 games of the season. This is November and title race is truly still not over yet.
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What Norwich City must do to improve their relegation form !!
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With goals and points proving hard to come by, the international break has arrived at a good time for Norwich City. Defeat at the hands of Watford – a sixth in seven games for Daniel Farke’s side – saw City replace the Hornets at the foot of the table. So what should Norwich City be doing to improve on their form.
For starters, City should try and not get off to disastrous starts by conceding in the opening minute of the games. Part of the blame has been put on Emi Buendia whose poor decision making has been systematic of the club’s current struggles.The imminent return of Christoph Zimmermann and Grant Hanley will certainly help with filling that weakness, providing a level of experience and leadership at centre-back which will only bring out the best in those around them.
There are also other issues that head coach has identified. Daniel Farke said “Just after Manchester United we spoke with the players about the naivety in how we misplaced the ball and how it value us targets and the want to clearly show much more maturity. What happens then is if you emphasize that component in the weeks later on you get the emotion the players potentially focus so a great deal on just about every and just about every move, even the effortless passes, and that wish not to get rid of the ball, to maintain the ball, means we are not as fluid as we were in advance of. When the self esteem is not at the greatest it is challenging to play our brand of fluid football. I make faults, so do gamers and officers and we take that.”
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Premier League Museum Editor Notes: English Premier League is an unforgiving place for club’s and players who do not learn from mistakes or fail to fill up on their weaknesses. On the other hand, thinking too much on mistakes or tactics laid about by manager’s causes adverse effect and introduction to terms such as “Playing with hand brakes on”. There is hard competition and it is relentless on all the teams trying to achieve their objectives which run hand in hand with their spendings. Norwich City are about to enter a critical point of the season, where a few more defeats could see them cut adrift at the bottom. But on positive side, despite the concerning position, they are still at the stage where one win can change the whole mood at the club.
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