De Futebol

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Today is Boxing Day in merry old England. We have some huge matches on tap for today and Sunday. These puppies will have a lot say on who will win the EPL title. 

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Spurs have a hot date with Fulham. City takes on Stoke City. Chelsea takes a little trip to St. Andrews to battle Birmingham.

Eight points separate the top five cubs. This is not a huge spread but it does give Chelsea a little room to breath or as I like to call it wiggle room.

This is the advantage of being in the catbird seat.

Spurs need to handle Fulham. Tottenham needs to get a full three points. Jermain Defoe and his buds need to find the back of the net. Spurs need to strike early and often if they want to keep pace with the leaders.

Chelsea and Birmingham should be a classic battle. Blues are currently in seventh spot with 28 points. If the Blues don’t watch out Blues could perform a little bit of the Blues Brothers on em and wind up with three points.

For as good as Chelsea is they are very inconsistent. One match the Blues kick butt and the next they eek out a tie or lose.

Maybe this match could be Blue on Blue.

Drogba and the guys need to perform at a top level.

The dog has the edge.

Birmingham is at home and Chelsea’s road record is just a hair over 500.

For one I am very curious to see how City performs after their manager Mark Hughes was 86^th outta the joint. Mancini is the new dude in City. Lets see how Mancini can motivate the players to perform at high level.

Sure, City had some huge holes but Hughes did a good job at getting the players to play for him.

Will Tevez, Bellamy, and Robinho phone in the match or will they play balls to the wall.

Boxing Day will give us all the answers we need on this subject.

The boys from Old Trafford need to put their past crappy performances behind them and win on the road on Sunday.  Hull City will be a very dangerous opponent. The Tigers are a bottom feeder. Man U are not road warriors this year. Manchester United has four road losses already this year. Another one might stick a fork in the dream of a historic four peat.

Rooney, Berbatov, and the rest of the boys need to come out breathing fire. Goals are a must. Hopefully the leaky “D” will stand up and not let Man U down again.

The Gunners and Aston Villa have a huge battle at Emirates on Sunday. This baby is for all the marbles. Both clubs are tied for third. Arsenal and Villa each have 35 points.

Be prepared for both the Gunners and Villa to throw their best Sunday punches. This baby should be a wild one.

I can’t wait.

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De Futebol

It is Christmas Eve. Jesus is the reason for the season. I know this bugs many folks but it is the truth. Jesus wasn’t really born on December 25^th but this day was selected by the church in 675 A.D. to celebrate our Lord’s birthday.

Jesus was born somewhere between The Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah, and our day atonement for our sins Yom Kippur. These are our two most sacred and high holy days for us Jews. The holy days usually fall between mid September to early October. Jesus birth falls between these two sacred days.

I am a born again Jew or a messianic Jew.

So have Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The boys from Old Trafford, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, and the rest get a much-needed full week break before getting back into action on December 26^th.

This is Boxing Day in England.

I asked an English friend of mine what is Boxing Day. He explained it this way to me. This was the day after Christmas when folks shared the contents of the Christmas Box with the servants. For the servants had to work Christmas day so they were given the day off to visit their families.

There are some huge matches taking place on Boxing Day. Chelsea takes on Birmingham. Spurs battles Fulham.

On Sunday Man U has a hot date with Hull City. Arsenal and Aston Villa have one of those epic conflicts.

These matches many well decide who has the upper hand when we head into the new year.

Chelsea is the top dog with 41 points. Man U is second place with 37 points. Arsenal is in third place with 35 points. Aston Villa is in fourth place with 35 points. The Gunners have a plus 13 compared to Villas plus 8 goal difference.

Spurs are a fifth place with 33 points.

Arsenal will play their make up game with Bolton on January 6^th.

When January 7^th rolls around, we will have a clear understanding how the top of the table will shake down.

My best guess is that we will have a long jam at the top of the table between Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Spurs.

You might even throw into the mix Man City. But lets see how the guys at City respond to their new coach Mancini.

I don’t care what folks say about the players being mercenaries they still will not play for someone they despise or disrespect.

This happens all the time in pro sports.

Just ask the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay, Buffalo Bills, Flamengo, Palmeiras, and Sao Paulo.

It is more than the paychecks to most of these players. It is a matter of pride.

Mancini dropped the hammer when he said “Guys play for me or else. I will bring in some one who will do it my way.” Mancini is not screwing around.

His butt is on the line too.

You have to trust me on this stuff.

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De Futebol

Let the fun and games begin in the EPL. Mark Hughes was shown the door by City.  Manchester City’s record was adequate. City won seven games. They lost two but get this City had eight ties. This is more ties than wins.

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Was the sacking justified?

It depends on what side of the fence you sit.

For me, no.

For all this high-priced talent City was very inconsistent. This is an understatement.

The truth is City couldn’t put a team away when they needed to.

All you have to do is look at the eight ties.

City had some huge wins. They flat-out took it to Chelsea. They destroyed Arsenal. City and almost beat Man U. 

But City had trouble finishing off the lower teams.

City tied Burnley, Birmingham, Hull City, Bolton, and Wigan. These are all bottom feeder teams.

Spurs cleaned their clocks 3-0 this past Wednesday and maybe management had seen enough.

Millions of bucks were spent on Tevez, Rohinho, Adebayor, and Barry to bring in a title. Management expected at least more wins than ties and losses.

In defense of Hughes, it takes time for a team to get used to playing with each other. The players must learning how to work within the system.

Sometimes the learning curve is steep.

I know this is coach speak but what it means is this. Let me explain this way. In football the quarterback and the receivers spend hours running pass patterns. They do this so they can develop timing between each other. The QB learns when to throw the ball to the receiver. The receiver knows that when he comes out his break the ball will be there.

Futebol players have this same timing as well.

When new players are added it takes time for them to understand each other futebol wise. Sometimes this is an instant thing while at times this can be a very slow process.

A real futebol man running the operations understands this.

I think this was a quick trigger pulled by upper management. They saw their investment of millions of dollars going south real quick.

Will the hiring of Roberto Mancini propel City into the top four?

You must wait and see.

Will the players play for him?

Will Tevez and the rest of the guys quit playing?

We will find out.

It all comes down to this will the players will play with heart. Will they quit when it gets tough or will they suck it up and find a way to win or to pull out a draw in dire circumstances?

When Mark Hughes played at Man U under Sir Alex Hughes was one tough SOB. Hughes played with heart.

He coached the same way.

Just look at his record.

This cat can flat-out coach a team.

The American idea of the carousel of coaching has arrived in the EPL. Instant success or it’s the highway Bozo.

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De Futebol

Even when I make jokes, I get it right. Who would have thunk it.  I said what is the worse thing that could happen to Manchester United was a loss to Fulham. Well guess what? The mighty boys from Old Trafford got their butts whipped by Fulham 3-0.

This was a classic massacre or if you would like to say a take me to the woodshed butt whopping.

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This was one of those oh, excuse me, we have a ton of injuries what do you expect me to do?  Win. At least put up a fight and show some heart.

This was bad folks.

The Cottagers just flat at took to the mighty Red Devils and kicked some major butt. This is about all you can say about the match.

Danny Murphy led off the slaughter with a wicked shot that beat the keeper Kuszczak in the 22^nd minute to give Fulham the 1-0 lead.

The rout was on baby.

Bobby Zamora found the back of the net in the 46^th minute to give the Cottagers a 2-0 lead.

In the 75^th minute, Damien Duff ripped the winner to put the finishing touches on a huge masterful killing of the boys from Old Trafford.

Manchester United played like crap.

I haven’t seen this bad of a performance from a Man U squad in years.

There is heap big trouble in Manchester United land.

Way to go garoto to the guys at Fulham.

I just love this stuff.

Dogs ruled on this day.

Before you cats go nuts on me, let me explain. Yes, I am a fan of Manchester United. A fan is correct but not a fanatic.  I root for the Red Devils. I am partial to them but I don’t live and die with their fortunes on the pitch.

My heart is in Brasil. I am a die hard Flamenguista. I am also a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. The NFL baby.

I also have a very found spot in my heart for Arsenal.

My wife thinks I am a nut, which I am. I do have the papers to prove it.

I became a Gunners fan when I saw the movie Fever Pitch starring Colin Firth.

I have seen Fever Pitch ten times.

Oh, guess what I saw at Emirates. The Philly fanatic dressed in a Gunners uniform was whipping up the crowd into a fever pitch.

The Philly fanatic is the Philadelphia Phillies team mascot.

I am a huge futebol fan but what floats my boat is Jesus. Without Him, I am a dead man.  I am a messianic Jew.  

Tottenham didn’t suffer a let up against Blackburn. Spurs beat em 2-0.

Peter Crouch hit the daily double to lead the Spurs to an impressive win.

The Rovers had a golden chance at the outset of the match to grab the early lead but the shot clanged off the cross bar.

Whew was that close.

Two back-to-back good performances by Spurs have put them back into the title hunt.

Aston Villa held serve in their 1-0 win over Stoke City.

John Crew scored the match winner in the 61^st minute. This goal saved Villa’s hide. This was a total lackluster performance by Aston Villa.

Maybe Bobby Darin’s Dream Lover might best describe the way Villa played on this day.

Still a win is a win and this is all that counts.

Liverpool lost to lowly Portsmouth 2-0. The Reds are dead.

Rafa will get sacked.

Liverpool has quit playing.

I have seen this before.

The players will not play for Rafa anymore.

Rafa needs to go.

After a close, first half the Gunners turned on the Afro burners and kicked some booty killing Hull City 3-0.

The first match changer was this. There was a near bitch-slapping brawl between several Arsenal and Hull City players near the end of the first half.

There was a lot of huffing and puffing signifying nothing. I wish futebol players would learn how to fight.

A few moments later Brasilian Denilson rifled home a great free kick in the 45^th minute to make 1-0 Arsenal at the break.

His shot flat out made the keeper Boaz Myhill look really silly. Denilson’s shot was a ball buster.

This was turning point number two in the match. Hull City had a chance for the equalizer when Gunner defender Silvestre knocked down Craig Fagan in the 56^th minute. Up steps Geovanni for Hull City. The run up. The shot. The diving save by Almunia. The header by Hunt off the rebound. Almunia gobbles the ball. Whew was that sucker close.

The Gunners kicked it into high gear.

Eduardo finally got in the scorebook in the 59^th minute. This gave the Gunners a 2-0 lead.

This was a great example of how short passes in the box ate up the Hull City “D”. 

The ball was on the wing. A great entry pass into Diaby. Diaby passed up the shot and hit Eduardo. Eduardo was standing at the goals doorstep. A simple poke into the net finished up the play.

A great give and go from Arshavin and Diaby cooked Hull City’s goose in the 80^th minute. All Diaby had to do was deposit the gift into the back of the net.

This was all she wrote.

This win by Arsenal squarely puts a ton of pressure on Chelsea to beat lowly West Ham. Will the dogs rule on Sunday? 

We will find out.

The table shapes up this way. Chelsea is the top dog with 40 points. Manchester United hangs on to second place with 37 points. Arsenal is third with 35 points. Aston Villa is fourth with 35 points. Arsenal has a better goal difference than Villa. The Gunners are plus 13 while Villa is only a plus 8. Spurs are in fifth place with 33.

Let fun and games begin.

I love it.

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De Futebol

Now it’s back to the fun in sun for the EPL resumes play on Saturday and Sunday. There is a ton of pressure on the big boys to come up with the “W” not a tie or a loss. The matches that I am focusing on are Manchester United-Fulham, Arsenal-Hull City, Spurs-Rovers, and West Ham- Chelsea. Sure, City has big one against Sunderland but for you City guys you will have to wait.

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The Red Devils have a leaky “D” as well as missing the back of net. If mighty boys from Old Trafford want a historic four peat, Rooney, Berbatov, Anderson, and the rest need to find the back of the net more often than not. Maybe Rooney and his mates might try their hand at being masons. They are good at firing bricks.

MIA is Ferdinand, O’Shea, Neville, and Brown. That’s the entire back line of defense. No wonder the Red Devil’s “D” is like a sieve.  Even the super defender Russian Vidic is hurt. Can it get any worse? Yes, A loss will kill the boys from Old Trafford.

Arsenal needs to shake off the miserable one all tie with Burnley and take it to Hull City. This is a must for win Arshavin, and rest of the Gunners.

My advice is to take it to em. Pedal to the medal. Attack, attack, and whatever you do, don’t, and I mean don’t give up a cheap goal.

Short balls. Work the ball into the offensive zone and punish the net. Please no long balls this time guys.  

Fabregas is out with a hammy injury. This will hurt. Still I expect Arsenal to win.

Drogba, Cole, and Carvalho are to play for Chelsea. This should kick it up a notch for the Blues.

If the Blues play like they did mid-week and last Saturday, it could be a long day.

West Ham stinks but this is the year of the dogs. Anything can happen just ask City, Arsenal, and Man U.

Spurs- Rovers will be a good one. Tottenham needs to get the “W”. This is not the time to let down after kicking City’s butt up and down the pitch mid-week. Come out breathing fire and score baby score. It is that simple.

All and all this season in the EPL is really wild. Who would have thought that Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United would struggle on the road?  Road warriors they are not. All of em has three losses. This is not good. Championships are won on the road. 

The team with the best road record will win the title.

Last year EPL champ Manchester United had three road losses all season. That’s it baby. The Red Devils had a total four loses for the entire campaign. Guess what? The mighty boys from Old Trafford already have four of those bad boys.

 Last year Arsenal and Chelsea had a total of three road losses each. Now hear this both Chelsea and the Gunners have already equaled last season’s total road losses. Both Chelsea and Arsenal have three of those big boys and we are not even at midterm break.

This is not good.

Need I go on?

In the NFL, we have a saying. “ On any given Sunday any team can win.” This saying is now true in the EPL. Former Commish, Pete Rozelle was seeking parity. In the NFL, parity is now a way of life.

I am not saying parity is on the fast track in the EPL but the dogs are making life hard for the big boys.

You gotta love it.

Oh, yeah, one last parting shot.

Barcelona and Estudiantes battle for the 2009 World Club Title. Will Estudiantes be Barca’s Waterloo?

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De Futebol

Barcelona came out looking for total domination over the Mexican side Atlante. Not so, fast bucko. Atlante sent a shock wave through the mighty Barca squad. Atlante struck first. Guillermo Rojas ripped the twines in the 4^th minute to give Atlante the early 1-0 lead.

A misplayed long ball by the Barca “D” allowed Rojas to slip into the goal area. Bam. Bingo. Goal.

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Barca said this is not going to happen on our watch. We’re not going to allow Atlante to upset us big time.

Barcelona began to apply lots of pressure. The siege began on the Atlante goal. Sergi Busquets rammed home the winner in the 35^th minute to tie this sucker up at one all.

A well-placed corner kick set up this baby. The ball was fired into the box. Pass. One timer. Goal.

Enter the best player in the world Lionel Messi in the 53^rd minute. Instant presto. Goal. Messi takes charge. Mate Ibrahimovic slipped a great pass to Messi.  Messi breaks free in the box. Whoop. Messi makes the keeper looked silly.  Shot. Goal. Messi’s walk in goal in the 54^th minute gave Barca a 2-1 lead.

Pedro flat out beat the keeper in the box in the 66^th minute to give Barcelona a 3-1 lead.

Turn out the lights the party’s over.

Stick a fork in Atlante for they are surely done.

A gallant effort by Atlante but this was close but no cigar.

Barcelona proved they were the better side on this day.

Was there any doubt?

Barcelona comes from behind to beat Atlante 3-1.

It is onto the finals for Barcelona where they will face Estudiantes.

This should be a good one.

Now lets go to the fun in the sun EPL

Chelsea almost pulled a draw out of their hat but thank God, for Frank Lampard’s PK winner in the 79^th minute that gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over lowly Portsmouth.

This baby could have wound up in one all draw.

Nicolas Anelka fired a rocket from inside the box to give the Blues the early 1-nil in the 23^rd minute.

Portsmouth discovered the equalizer in the 51^st minute. Once again, the Blues can’t defend a set piece. Fredrick Piquionne rifled home the winner from dead center of the box to tie this baby up at one all.

Enter a dumb foul in the PK area by Portsmouth’s Marc Wilson. Super man to rescue Frank Lampard and thus Chelsea is rewarded a win instead of a tie.

Do you want to talk about crazy? Try this one on for size. The Gunners had a chance to really keep their “MO” alive. But no Arsenal gives up a dumb penalty and winds up snatching a draw from the jaws of victory. It is one all draw between Arsenal and Burnley. Fabregas scored first on a dead on strike that gave the Gunners a 1-0 lead in the 7^th minute.

Then a boneheaded penalty by Thomas Vermaelen gave Burnley the equalizer in the 28^th minute. The run up. The Kick. Crunch time baby. Goal by Graham Alexander to level this sucker at one all.

Instead of three points, Arsenal has to settle for one point.

There goes the Gunners Mojo right out the window.

Now do want to talk about Mojo taking a hike. Let us look at City and the abomination of a performance against Spurs. Spurs kicked City’s butt. This was one of those old fashion take me to the woodshed whooping. 

Spurs win in a cakewalk 3-0.

Way to go garoto.

I just love it.

Tottenham took it Manchester City from the opening whistle. Sure, Tevez missed a gimmie in the opening moments but that was about it for City. City played with a whimper from that point on.

Niko Kranjcar fired the opening salvo in the 37^th minute.  It was follow the bouncing ball as Kranjcar poked home the winner that gave Spurs a 1-0 lead. Lennon fired the cross into the box. Header by Peter Crouch. The ball bounces off of City’s Ireland. Kranjcar deposits the gift into the bank.

Defoe adds another goal in the 54^th minute to make 2-0 Spurs.

Then City just quit. They sorta attacked but not really. Spurs played pitch and catch the rest of the match.

The icing on the cake came in the final moments of the match. Kranjcar attacked the City goal. It was one on three. Whoop. Kranjcar flied past three City defenders. Adebayor was the last line of defense. Here’s your jock mister defender. Shot. It was right through the keeper’s wickets.

Kiss this baby bye-bye for City.

This was a total domination of City by Spurs.

Sure, City was missing some key players but Manchester City quit.

Liverpool picked up a much needed win. The Reds defeated Wigan 2-1. Ngog and Torres scored for Liverpool.

This win keeps the Reds in the hunt for a Champions League spot.

Chelsea is in the drivers seat with 40 points. Manchester United is in second place with 37 points. The Gunners are third on goal difference with 32 points. Arsenal has as game in hand. Villa is in fourth spot with 32 points.  Spurs are in fifth place with 30 points.

Liverpool is now in sixth place with 27 points. City drops to eighth place with 26 points.

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De Futebol

Arsenal righted their ship while Liverpool’s ship is taking on so much water it is about to sink. You can almost stick a fork in Liverpool’s season after the Reds were defeated in their house Anfield by Arsenal 2-1.

Liverpool played a very strong first half. Dirk Kuyt ripped the rebound winner in the 41^st minute to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead.

Aurelio hit a great free kick into the box. Lucas fired a header that was blocked by Arsenal keeper Almunia. The ball comes bounding out. Shot. Save. Rebound. Header. Goal.

The second half was a different story. The Gunners came out breathing fire. Arsenal played like their lives were dependant upon them winning.

It was.

Then wham bam thank you madam the match was spun around and changed on its head.

Nasri fired a great crossing ball into the box.  Whamo. The ball goes flying off of Reds defender Jamie Carragher. Liverpool’s Glen Johnson is cemented to the spot. Bing. Bam. Boom. The ball ricochets off Johnson and into the Reds net to tie this baby up at one all in the 50^th minute

Eight minutes later, 58^th minute, Liverpool’s Glen Johnson was once again the main ingredient in the Gunners second goal. Fabregas fired a wicked cross into the box. Reds defender Glen Johnson failed to make a play on the ball. Johnson gave Arsenal attacker Andre Arshavin a free play on the ball.

Arshavin took the gift. He quickly turned. Arshavin fired. Goal. 2-1 Gunners and this was all she wrote.

The fat lady sang.

Now you can say Voce Vai Liverpool for your season is surely cooked and burnt to a crisp.

This  was the Reds six loss for the season.

Liverpool’s only hope to save their sorry year is that if the top clubs Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal fall apart and lose their next four matches.

Stranger things have happened.

Do you remember what I said about Aston Villa and Manchester United? 

I do have ESPN, I mean ESP.

They way it stands right now. Chelsea is the top dog with 37 points. The Red Devils are in second place with 34 points. Arsenal is in third position with 31 points. Villa is in fourth place with 29 points.

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De Futebol

Do I have ESPN I mean ESP or what. Aston Villa pulled off the grand daddy of em all. Villa took it to the mighty men of Old Trafford with a convincing 1-0 victory over Manchester United.

The 26 year Old Trafford winless streak is dead and buried for now.

Way to go garoto.

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The Red Devils came out loaded for bear but on this Saturday night Villa had all the answers.

Manchester United pressed the attack.

Villa counter attacked. Aston Villa found the answer in the 21^st minute. Gabriel Agbonlahor headed home the only tally of the match.

This goal was set up by a great give and go between Ashley Young and Agbonlahor. This one two combination proved deadly for Aston Villa.

This loss stuck a fork in Manchester United’s chance of wrestling first place away from Chelsea. Instead, the Red Devils drop their fourth match of the season. This was Man U’s first home loss.

Man U had their chances but once again, the boys from Old Trafford came up firing blanks.

Villa has three wins and zero losses against the big boys. Aston Villa has whipped Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool.

One defensive lapse caused Man U problems.

Once again, stupid defending came up and bit the men of Old Trafford in the butt.

If Man U can learn how to finish, they would be deadly.

They can’t so it may be a long season for Manchester United.

The Red Devils had Rio Ferdinand one of their premier defensive players on the injury shelf. His absence cost Man U dearly. 

The lone goal of the match that did in Man U was a mix up between Wes Brown and keeper Kuszczak gave Villa’s Agbonlahor the crack he need to head home the match winner.

All and all this was a much-deserved win for Aston Villa.

You gotta love the dogs.

Chelsea took on lower feeder Everton. Guess what? The Blues barely escaped with a three all tie with Everton at Stamford Bridge. Another dog bites a top echelon club in the butt.

What has happened to the Blues “D”?

It sucks.

An own goal by Peter Cech in the dying moments of the match killed Chelsea’s chance of putting more distance between them and the rest of the field in the EPL title chase.

Bolton and Manchester City played to a three all tie. This was a crazy but fun match to watch. 

Both teams, left it all on the pitch.

It looked like the Wanderers were going to win when Bellamy dived and was given the heave-hoe. This was his second yellow card.

But No! City pressed the attack. Man City forced their will on the Wanderers. At one point, it looked like City was playing with thirteen men instead of being a man down.

Carlos Tevez death defying goal in the 77^th minute save City’s bacon.

A great run into the box by Tevez. Tevez fired a skittering shot that was squeezed between the right post and the net. Pay dirt for City.

Tevez’s daily double may have saved City’s season.

This what I don’t get. The Wanderers let City attack instead of taking it to them. This should have been pedal to the metal time for Bolton.

It was time to squash City like a bug. No! Bolton sat back and did nothing.

This stupid play cost the Wanderers two points.

Chelsea is in first place with 37 points. Manchester United is in second place with 34 points. Aston Villa is in third place with 29 points. Arsenal is in fourth place with 28 points. Spurs are in fifth place with 27 points.

Spurs had a chance to move into third place but no Tottenham lost to bottom feeder Wolves 1-0.

This win allow Wolverhampton to move out of the drop zone. Wolves are in 17^th place with 16 points.

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