English Premier Leauge Matchday 11 Recap, A Focus on Struggling Chelsea

Photo Credit: footybants.co.uk

Matchday 11 for the English Premier League is in the books, and there certainly were some interesting story lines and games that took place. Most notably, Manchester United clashed with seventh place Crystal Place, and two Premier League titans, Liverpool and Chelsea, squared off in Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge arena. The Manchester United and Crystal Place game unfortunately did not live up to expectations as it ended in a 0-0 draw. This result has to be rather alarming for the Red Devils, as a win here could have potentially launched them into first place in the league, but instead, Manchester United remains sitting at fourth place. Manchester United has now posted back to back Premier League games without scoring a goal, a trend they will obviously will have to correct moving forward if they want to compete for the title this year. As for the most anticipated game of the week, Liverpool and Chelsea, it did not disappoint.

Both Premier League giants found themselves in unfamiliar positions as going into the game Liverpool was ninth, while Chelsea was fifteenth, making this game mean just that much more than a potential comeback season for these two clubs. Chelsea would strike first and quickly as Brazilian midfielder Ramires would score in the fourth minute to give them the 1-0 lead. Liverpool would counter however with there own Brazilian midfielder, Philippe Coutinho, as he would score a wonder goal, tucking his shot just inside the far post to tie the game 1-1 going into the break. When the game would resume in the second half it was all Liverpool, as Coutinho would score again in the 74th, and Belgium striker Christian Benteke would put the nail in the coffin coming off the bench to score in the 83rd, minute sealing the 3-1 win for the Reds, giving Liverpool’s new manager Jurgen Klopp his first Premier League victory. As for other notable results this weekend, Manchester City took care of business against Norwich City 2-1 to remain at the top of the league league. Tottenham also took care of business as they defeated the league’s worst, Aston Villa, 3-1 to move up into fifth place. Leicester City defeated West Brom this weekend as well to continue their unfathomable run this season, although one of the worst team in the league last year, Leicester has now moved up to third place. The main storyline of the weekend, and the entire season for that matter, has to be Chelsea.

The defending Premier League champions have now lost six of their first eleven games, which is the worst start to a season for a defending champion in league history. To add more drama to the result, it was rumored that if Chelsea lost to Liverpool this weekend the Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho, would be fired. No decision has been made on Mourinho as of yet, but it is certainly worth keeping an eye out as the week progresses. Regardless we are certainly in for an interesting second half of the season.