Analysing the December games

My Part 1 analysis ended with 12 games played by Arsenal, 13 by Man U

From Arsenal games till the end of the year, they had the following games

H Wigan 2-0 comfortable
A Aston Villa 2-1 Aston Villa were really really good
A Newcastle 1-1 lots of signs of fatigue
A Boro 1-2 - only loss in the league which capped the end of a tiring period
H Chelsea 1-0 did not get to watch this but was told it was quite a sizzler.
H Tottenham - 2-1 Arsenal not at their best and Tottenham greatly improved meant that the gunners struggled to win.
A Portsmouth - 0-0 most boring game - no comment
A Everton - 4-1 thrashing - a game of two halves truly. Still cannot explain how Everton capitulated in the second half after dominating the first 30 minutes

During this period were 5 away games and 3 home games. A total 17 / 24 points gained.

In total 10 Home and 10 Away games.

Since then, they have played West Ham and Birmingham at home and dropped a further 2 points.

I'd said that if Arsenal won their 8 games in December, they would win the league. So its still up for grabs now that they did not.

The effect of losing Kolo Toure and Eboue remains to be seen and AW doesn't seem to want to buy anyone.

Chelsea

I have not watched alot of Chelsea this time round :D but from the look of things they are grinding out results without necessarily playing the best soccer. Cannot rule them out of the title race just yet.

Buying Anelka. A smart move going for this footballing nomad. Despite losing 4 players to the African Cup of Nations, they ought to remain on course.

Manchester United

I watched the 6-0 drubbing of Newcastle; an example of how to demolish a team, and how not to play soccer especially after losing your manager..

I'm tipping Cristiano Ronaldo as the next World Footballer of the Year and/or European Footballer of the year especially if (somehow) Portugal win the Euro Cup in June/July. Absolutely sizzling this time round.

They would be favorites for the EPL too, and a serious contender for the Champions League too.

Liverpool

are stuttering. 12 Points behind Arsenal and Man U albeit with a game in hand. I would rate their chances for the title extremely low, remembering that they still need to play the other members of the big 4 still.

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So 16 games to go and 48 points up for grabs (or for dropping :) ) by May.