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What a way to start the year

The madness of the English Premier League fixtures during the festive season is something else. The English pundits proudly call it ‘an English tradition’ and they support their assertion with a far-fetched historical fact, saying ‘football originated in England’. Whatever it is, for fans, it is great entertainment. But for the teams, it is taxing on the players. In fact, this is the period teams make or lose ground.

By now many think it is going to be a race between Chelsea and Manchester City. Arsene Wenger thinks it is too early to make such conclusions. Wenger could not be too far from the truth considering that all the top three teams dropped points on Boxing Day. Chelsea drew against Southampton, City drew against Burnely while United did the same against Tottenham.

But come New Year’s Day, it was a bad day at the office for Chelsea fans who were humbled by Tottenham Hotspur and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal were walloped by Southampton. Man United’s insipid performance against Stoke in the 1-1 draw and Liverpool’s stalemate with Leicester confirmed that we still have a long way to go in the league.

It is a sign that these teams can drop points anytime, which can be capitalised upon by the chasing pack. There are also other factors that could slow the top two teams and make the others fancy their chances.

This is also a warning that bottom teams have put their act together to move away from the relegation zone. West Brom and Crystal Palace have fired their coaches in Alan Irvine and Neil Warnock respectively to improve their survival chances. West Brom have already appointed Tony Pulis and it looks like a good appointment given the way they earned a draw against West Ham.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace have courted Allan Pardew. Cynics are calling Pardew a coward for leaving Newcastle after guiding the team from bottom to mid-table. It would appear Pardew is tired of the pressure that comes with managing a big team with supporters’ expectations as high. He has endured a tumultuous reign at St James’s with rumours he would be fired surfacing every week. Perhaps he wanted to leave honourably.

City’s problem is that they would lose Yaya Toure to the Afcon and that could limit Pellegrini’s options in midfield, not to mention Yaya’s influence on the game. Of course, City have extended Frank Lampard’s loan stay at Etihad to cover for Yaya’s absence. Already, they have Sergio Aguero and Dzeko out through injuries. How they pull through this period will be critical.

But of course City are not the only team that will lose players to the Afcon this January. Stoke City (Diouf ), Southampton (Mane), Swansea (Bony), West Ham (Kouyate and Sakho) and many others.

It seems it’s going to be a quiet January transfer window so far. The reason being most teams bought too many players at the start of the season. However, there are strong suggestions Liverpool may buy a striker, according to SkySports pundits. Man City could also go for a striker given their injury worries. Otherwise no big moves unless you call Fernando Torres move to Atletico Madrid a big transfer!

What a way to start a year. Happy New Year to you all!

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