The Flat Back Four: 2009/2010 Barclays Premier League Week 22

Sunday, January 31, 2010

2009/2010 Barclays Premier League Week 22 - 24 Review: Chelsea Still On Top!

There were a lot of matches being played from January 18th to January 31st, just to catch up with the Premiership schedule and to make up for that snow-stopped weekend.

It was also a period where the Premier League leadership changed hands a few times. The week started with Chelsea at the top, and when Arsenal beat Bolton 4-2 (another great Fabregas display) in the Emirates, Arsenal became top for the first time this season. However, that did not last long as January 23rd, Manchester United, aided by a Rooney quadruple, wrested top spot from Arsenal.

Chelsea had something to say about that, as they took on an in-form Birmingham on Wednesday January 27th. A Frank Lampard double helped the Blues surge past Birmingham City and back as leaders of the Barclays Premier League.

The Premier League kicked on in proper fashion on Week 24 and clearly the highlight of the week has got to be the Arsenal v. Manchester United match at the Emirates.

Manchester United took the initiative on Sunday and got the reward for their aggression, beating Arsenal 3-1. The game at the Emirates also indicated, while Arsenal's football can be breathtaking, it is still lacking the penetration when it matters. Wayne Rooney scored his 100th Premier League goal in a fantastic sweeping move which had the United stamp all over it. Even without Cristiano Ronaldo, the Red Devils were too hot for Arsenal as the Arsenal players fell by the wayside, being bullied by their more experienced opposition.

The 18-time League champions are not about to give up their Premier League crown without pushing Chelsea right to the end. Nani and Rooney ensured that Manchester United remained one point behind Chelsea who has a game in hand.

The Premier League results from Week 22 to Week 24 were:

Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Arsenal	4 - 2	Bolton Wanderers
FT	Liverpool	2 - 0	Tottenham Hotspur

Saturday, January 23, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Manchester United	4 - 0	Hull City

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Portsmouth	1 - 1	West Ham United
FT	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0 - 0	Liverpool
FT	Bolton Wanderers	1 - 0	Burnley
FT	Tottenham Hotspur	2 - 0	Fulham

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Aston Villa	0 - 0	Arsenal
FT	Chelsea	3 - 0	Birmingham
FT	Blackburn Rovers	2 - 1	Wigan Athletic
FT	Everton	2 - 0	Sunderland

Saturday, January 30, 2010
Status	Home	Score	Away
FT	Birmingham	1 - 1	Tottenham Hotspur
FT	Fulham	0 - 2	Aston Villa
FT	Hull City	2 - 2	Wolverhampton Wanderers
FT	Liverpool	2 - 0	Bolton Wanderers
FT	West Ham United	0 - 0	Blackburn Rovers
FT	Wigan Athletic	0 - 1	Everton
FT	Burnley	1 - 2	Chelsea

Sunday, January 31, 2010
Time	Home		Away
FT	Manchester City	2-0	Portsmouth
FT	Arsenal	1-3	Manchester United

The new loan signing for Everton, Landon Donovan hit the ground running, scoring one goal and creating one for Leon Osman against Arsenal. His deceptive pace, excellent passing ability and unselfish play makes him the perfect complement to the Everton setup. Nice start to the Premiership for the MLS player.

Liverpool kept up their good run, unbeaten since losing to Portsmouth. The Reds are now well in the mix, one point behind Spurs who is sitting in fourth. Getting into the Champions League is the only way to keep both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres;

The end of Week 24 also revealed a number of clubs on superb unbeaten runs,
Chelsea: 8 matches unbeaten
Liverpool: 6 matches unbeaten
Everton: 9 matches unbeaten
Manchester United: 6 matches unbeaten

The longest unbeaten run this season have come from Birmingham who went on a 12 match unbeaten run before Chelsea beat them 3-0 last week. That run brought Alex McLeish and his team 26 points out of a possible 36. This great run of form accounted for 76% of Birmingham's points collected so far, virtually guaranteeing them another season of Premiership football.

Manchester City were on a 10 match unbeaten run which included seven consecutive draws and that led ultimately to the sacking of Mark Hughes. As was Arsenal before they were totally mauled by Manchester United on Sunday.

And the clubs which are free falling?
Fulham: 6 matches since last win
Burnley: 12 matches since last win
Sunderland: 9 matches since last win
Hull City: 9 matches since last win
Wolverhampton Wanderers: 5 matches since last win

Finally, without playing very well, West Ham have taken advantage of their relegation rival's defeats and moved up to 15th place. Suddenly that terrible draw against Blackburn Rovers don't look like such a bad result.