Liverpool and Arsenal on my mind

We all looked forward to the Uefa Champions League draw midweek with anticipation of a man whose wife is in labour. Whether our teams are still in contention or not is neither here nor there. Man City should be ruing their lucky stars for drawing Barcelona again. But they have themselves to blame for finishing second in their group. Teams in second position always draw against strong teams. But you need to beat the best to be regarded the best, no short-cut in football.

That said, City have players that can grind results too and are learning the trade of winning emphatically in the Champions League. Unfortunately, it would appear injuries are getting at them. Aguero, Kompany and Dzeko are out with injuries. Manuel Pellegrini can only hope these players will have returned by the time they meet Barcelona in February. As a neutral, the Chelsea versus PSG and Juventus versus Borussia Dortmund fixtures promise fireworks. Chelsea will relish this tie as memories are still fresh how PSG knocked them out last season.

But Chelsea are vulnerable because of a back four that is slow. They defend too deep, which invites pressure and cannot cope with counter-attacks as it showed against Newcastle.

Arsenal will have themselves to blame if they fail to win against Monaco, which scored only four goals in six group matches. The lowest number of goals for a team to finish top of group. But do not forget Arsenal can be catastrophic at times. It beats logic how they beat some great teams and capitulate to mediocre sides with reckless abandon.

For now, my mind is on the English Premier League. Man City against Crystal Palace today may on paper look an easy game for City. But City need to be very careful against small teams desperate to move away from the relegation zone.

Aston Villa against Man United is also a game to look forward to because a lot of sceptics think United have been lucky to find themselves on position three. I do not agree though, because good teams should be grinding out results even in games where they played badly.

Southampton versus Everton is another mouth-watering clash. Southampton have moved from second to fifth position after three consecutive losses to City, United and Arsenal. They meet an Everton side still trying to rediscover rhythm.

But the match of the week is on tomorrow between Liverpool and Arsenal. Liverpool vented their anger for being dumped out of the Champions League and being humbled by United with a 3-1 away win at Bournemouth in the Capital One quarter-finals. Arsenal, on the other hand, come into the match with more confidence having qualified for Champions League and winning against Newcastle with a 4-0 margin. They like performing under pressure. They come into the match as slight favourites. I do not know who to support in this game. Should it be Patrick Manja’s Arsenal or Gracian Tukula’s Liverpool? I should seek the advice of Innocent Komwa on this one.