The Barclays Premier League returned this season after one of the most dramatic season ever in its history. Reading, Southampton and West Ham were the newly promoted teams this season. The premier league teams looked to strengthen their squad during another busy two months of the transfer window. Big spenders and current Champions Manchester City got off to a slow start in the market missing out on targets like Eden Hazard, Robin Van Persie and Daniel Agger. The champions eventually signed the talented young Jack Rodwell from Everton, Spanish defender Javi Garcia, veteran Maicon and Scott Sinclair from fellow league rivals Swansea City. City managed to offload Emmanuel Adebayor during the window on permanent basis this time to the White Hart Lane, another big name to leave the Citizens was English winger Adam Johnson who was unhappy with his involvement in the team. He joined the black cats at the Stadium of Light. Dutch player Nigel De Jong also departed the club and joined Italian side AC Milan.
Barclays Premier League – The story so far
The citizens arch rivals Manchester United made some big signings by bringing in the talented Shinji Kagawa from the German Champions and the prolific Robin Van Persie from the Emirates. The alos signed a new left back as a possible replacement for Patrice Evra who is nearing the end of his career peak. Nick Powell was another youngster to join the team. United tied down veteran Paul Scholes for another additional year as they fail to find a replacement for him. Players who departed the club were Berbatov who moved to Fulham, Pak Ji Sung who transferred to QPR, and Michael Owen – who was released by United at the end of last season and joined Stoke after the transfer window closed. One of the Brazilian twins – Fabio also joined QPR on a season long loan deal.
Chelsea were the big spenders this season with some huge signings. They had departed with their Champions League hero Drogba who moved to China. Chelsea bought the highly rated Belgian star Eden Hazard for 32m. They followed that up by buying Brazilian wonder kid Oscar, German youngster Marko Marin and Victor Moses from Wigan. Kalou departed the club and joined LOSC Lille.
Arsenal went into the market anticipating the departure of RVP. Lukas Podolski, Oliver Girourd and Santi Carzola joined the team. The club once again saw them departing with another star player as Alex Song moved to FC Barcelona.
Tottenham Hotspur was on a clear out sale frenzy as they looked to strengthen their ageing squad. Their biggest signing can be easily named as the purchase of the French stopper and captain Hugo Lloris. Spurs also signed Ajax defender Vertonghen. They managed to sign Adebayor on a permanent deal. The club sold their star midfielder Luka Modric to Real Madrid. The signed Fulham players Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey who looked set to join the reds at Merseyside. Spurs also stole Gylfi Sigurdsson from under Liverpool’s nose early in the transfer window.
Liverpool had a very poor transfer window after failing to find adequate replacements for the players they sold. The club sold players like Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy, Maxi Rodriguez, Charlie Adam and Fabio Aurelio. Their 35m signing Andy Carroll moved to London to join th Hammers on a season long loan. The club signed Swansea and Wales midfielder Joe Allen, Italian striker Fabio Borini and Moroccan Ossauma Assaidi.
The busiest team in the league this year were QPR who made many big signings including Brazilian Goal Keeper – Julio Ceasar. They signed Park Ji Sung (from Manchester United), Esteban Granero (from Real Madrid), Jose Boswinga (from Chelsea), Fabio (on loan from United) and Stephane Mbia. The controversial mid fielder Joey Barton moved on loan to Marseille.
Before the PL season started Manchester City and Chelsea played for the Community Shield. Chelsea took an early lead through Fernando Torres but City turned the match around and eventually ran out winners 3-2.
The season started off with some shocking results and some thrilling matches.
Newcaslte United deafeated Spurs at home 2-1 in their opening match while Arsenal drew to Sunderland. Fulham and Swansea both eased to 5-0 victories. The first shock result was in the opening day when West Brom managed by the previous Liverpool coach Steve Clark defeated Liverpool 3-0. Daniel Agger got sent off for Liverpool in the match. In the second day Southampton gave City a shock but City won the match 3-2, City lost their striker Aguero to injury in the same match. Chelsea won 2-0 against Wigan with their new signing Eden Hazard in the middle of things providing and assist and winning a penalty. The next shock was for United who once again found it difficult at Mersey side losing by a single goal to Everton who were inspired by Felliani who also scored the winning goal.
In the second week Spurs and Arsenal once again failed to win and drew their fixtures. United managed to edge out Fulham to win 3-2, but ended up losing Wayne Rooney to an injury. Chelsea played a mid – week match due to their match in Europe later on and won 4-2 against Reading. Everton were once again impressive as they won 3-1 against a struggling Aston Villa. Liverpool hosted City in the big fixture of the week. Liverpool gave away the lead twice to eventually share the spoils with City. Chelsea’s other fixture was against Newcastle and the won 2-0 against the toons.
The third week once again saw Spurs play out a draw. City and United managed to get three points from their fixtures. Liverpool hosted Arsenal in the big fixture of that week. Arsenal got their first Victory of the season with goals from Lukas Podolski and Santi Carzola. Newcaslt drew against Aston Villa.
The fourth week saw Arsenal crush Southampton 6-1. United eased to a 4-0 victory against Wigan. City once again found it hard against Stoke and settled for a draw. Liverpool meanwhile drew once again this time against Sunderland, they were left searching for their first win. Chelsea drew their first match of the season agains QPR. Spurs won their first match of the season with a 3-1 victory over Reading. Everton and Newcastle shared spoils at Goddison Park.
The fifth week was once again a big week with Liverpool hosting Manchester United. Liverpool were the team in control and Manchester United failed to bring in any sort of challenge. Some highly controversial decisions from the referee saw Liverpool go down to 10 men as Shelvey was sent off and then conceded a penalty after Rafael had equalized Gerrard’s goal. RVP scored form the spot for United. Liverpool were left devastated after the match as they ended the match with injuries to Agger, Borini and Kelly. Kelly is set to to be out for atleast 6 months. City and Arsenal played on the same day but the match ended in a draw.
The last game week saw Arsenal host Chelsea. Chelsea took an early lead through Torres. Gervinho equalized for the gunners, but a Juan Mata free kick found the net as it was deflected in. Chelsea left with 3 points and still unbeaten in the league. Liverpool managed their first victory in the league with a 5-2 rampage over Norwich with Luiz Suarez scoring his second consecutive hat – trick at Carrow road. Nuri Sahin and Steven Gerrard also scored for the reds. City managed to win over Fulham after going behind from the spot agains Fulham. Aguero returned for City in the match and scored their first goal. The biggest match though was between Manchester United and Spurs. Spurs defeated United 3-2 at Old Trafford after 23 years.
The Premier League table after 6 matches has provided some surprises although it’s still too early to judge. Chelsea sit at the top with 6 points and still unbeaten in the league. Everton is second with 13 from 6 games. United are 3rd and one point behind Everton and City are 4th with the same number of points. City are also Unbeaten in the league. Spurs are one point behind City at 5th with the same number of points as West Brom and West Ham. Arsenal are 8th with 9 points, Newcastle are 10th with 9 points. Liverpool are 14th with 5 points. Norwich QPR and Reading are at the bottom of the table in the relegation zone.
Stay tuned as the next round is around the corner on the 6th and 7th of October.
Tags: Arsenal, Barclays Premier League, Chelsea, EPL, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
