James’ Weekly Football Preview #3
ten Hag sacked, Madrid humiliated… just another normal weekend. *Reminder- if there are any more leagues you would like me to cover, please put a mention in the comments or chat.*
GAME OF THE WEEK: FEYENOORD VS AJAX
Ajax are currently in one of their worst periods in their history, having not won a league title since 2021-22, and having finished no higher than 3rd since, including an abysmal 5th place finish last season. Feyenoord were a nobody club until a certain Arne Slot joined, reaching a European final in 2022 and winning the league title a year later. They, along with PSV, have knocked Ajax off their perch of unchallenged dominance. It was Slot’s smart signings and tactical switch-ups that completely transformed his team into annual title contenders, but the question is wether they can continue their form post-Slot, who is now at Liverpool.
MY PREDICTION: FEYENOORD 2-1 AJAX
PREMIER LEAGUE
Matchday 10, for anyone who reads this later on in the season (not matchday 3).
NEWCASTLE 0-1 ARSENAL
A lot of Arsenal’s players are now back from injury, so I think they’ll get back to winning ways. They desperately need it. As for Newcastle, thay may have Isak back, but I think fans got a little too hyped up about him. Last season, in my mind, I still felt like he was still at Real Sociedad. Now I’ve finally gone through a transfer update. In fact, It feels fake that used to play for Real Sociedad. (Weird right?)
LIVERPOOL 2-0 BRIGHTON
Liverpool’s defence has been outstanding and Curtis Jones DOES actually look like a decent player (and that’s not because he’s my cousin or anything like that).
IPSWICH TOWN 3-3 LEICESTER
Neither teams may be able to defend, but at least there’s one positive, they’re able to attack alright!
BOURNEMOUTH 1-2 MAN CITY
[No comment- what’s the point as we’re just going to see what we’ve seen all season? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]
SOUTHAMPTON 1-2 EVERTON
This feels like a typical scoreline which I’m going for.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2-2 WEST HAM
Chris Wood was relentless once again last week. With Michael Oliver and David Coote unavailable, West Ham will struggle. (Look- a lot of people blame the VAR for these decisions but the truth is that it’s not the VAR’s fault for just being there, but the referees’ fault for terribly misusing it. There’s not a single decent official in the Premier League and this cannot continue.)
WOLVES 2-1 CRYSTAL PALCE
Two teams with underwhelming starts, at leat one is guaranteed to come out with points, so this one is very important.
TOTTENHAM 2-1 ASTON VILLA
A heavyweight clash between heavyweight teams- Tottenham may have lost last time out, but that could be a reason to bounce back and pull off an upset.
MAN UNITED 0-2 CHELSEA
Why do Manchester United always play on a Sunday? I’ve looked at the schedule and it’s ridiculous, they’re playing on a Sunday five matchweeks in a row. Post ten Hag, the scoreline wasn’t particularly hard to decide, it’s Palmer and Jackson up against Zirkzee, the ever so inconsistent trio of Rashford, Højlund and Garnacho, and a slum Bruno Fernandes. And finally
Fulham 0-2 Brentford
Mbeumo, Wissa, etc… they’re on fire at the moment. As a team they’re really hard to beat.
LA LIGA
ALAVÉS 0-3 MALLORCA
Mallorca have started really well and are showing why they reached the cup final last year.
OSASUNA 2-1 VALLADOLID
Real Valladolid’s return to the top flight hasn’t gone exactly to plan, so, as expected, they’re in a scramble to stay up again.
GERONA 2-0 LEGANÉS
All of those departures have really cost Gerona, and it’s fair to say, although Bryan Gil has looked decent, they’ve had one of the worst transfer windows in the league. Abel Ruiz has been a terrible replacement for Dovbyk. However they should be able to win this one.
VILLARREAL 1-0 RAYO VALLECANO
Villarreal are another team who have had an interesting window. They have kept hold of a gem in Alex Baena and Willy Kambwala could prove to be a bargain from Manchester United.
VALENCIA 1-3 REAL MADRID
Despite the humiliation, Madrid are sure to bounce back against a team in the relegation zone.
ATLETICO 4-1 LAS PALMAS
Julian Alvarez so far only has 3 goals in 11 games, but this is the sort of game in which he’ll explode. Atleti have been dominant in midfield.
BARCELONA 3-0 ESPAÑOL
Barcelona just can’t stop winning, with Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski up top!
SEVILLA 2-2 REAL SOCIEDAD
Sevilla lost a few players but also signed a few. Lukebakio has been on fire so far for the team who have made less progress in the last three years than Manchester United. Sociedad are an unacceptable 12th in the standings.
ATHLETIC CLUB 1-3 REAL BETIS
This is actually quite a big game for both sides. At the moment Nico Williams is the player that feels like he’s just disappeared off the face of earth, we’ve heard nothing of him. But no, actually, he’s played 9 games with merely a goal and an assist. Betis’ start has been decent enough, in 6th, snapping up Vitor Roque has been intelligent business and Isco is still playing.
CELTA VIGO 2-1 GETAFE
Who would have predicted Celta to start this well? They are comfortably mid table, which is where they want to be. Aspas deserves so much credit, he is an inspiration to young people, he has incredible attributes, his sportsmanship, leadership, ability to kerp on delivering at his fragile age, and he has also been incredibly loyal to his club. I still don’t know how they managed to sign Borja Iglesias and Marcos Alonso.