Tottenham’s young midfielders can power them to Europe
Harry Kane took the plaudits again for Tottenham this week after his double sunk rivals Arsenal in the north London derby.
Just as key for Spurs, however, was the duo of Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb in the heart of midfield. The pair, aged 23 and 20 respectively, endlessly harassed Arsenal’s playmakers into mistakes and helped to frequently pin the Gunners on the edge of their own box. Bentaleb’s pass accuracy was an impressive 87.3 per cent and the Algerian contributed the assist for Kane’s winning goal, while Mason recorded the most touches of any player and was active all over the pitch. The duo have plenty of time to grow together and their partnership could be the difference that sees Tottenham finally earn a Champions League place.
Arsenal need Ramsey to find form
Several players went missing for Arsenal in the derby on Saturday, but Aaron Ramsey stood out as one player who really struggled against Spurs’ intense pressure. The Welshman consistently gave the ball away when harassed inside his own half and he lost track of Kane for Tottenham’s equaliser. Ramsey has been unable to rediscover the form that saw him named Arsenal’s player of the season in 2013/14 and appears to have lost his confidence in front of goal. If Arsene Wenger’s side are to seal a spot in the Champions League for yet another year they need the central midfielder to vastly improve upon his display at White Hart Lane.
The next QPR manager has a mammoth task ahead
Taking over for Harry Redknapp at QPR was never going to be easy, but after the 1-0 defeat at home to Southampton this weekend the task of keeping Rangers up seems even tougher for the next man in charge. Caretaker boss Chris Ramsey said in the week that poor results can lead to lapses of concentration and costly mistakes, and that was certainly the case on Saturday as his side let a valuable point slip away in the dying moments. Things are simply not going QPR’s way at the moment and long-term injuries to defenders Richard Dunne and Nedum Onuoha will make matters worse. Charlie Austin will only miss one or two weeks with a toe injury, but the new manager, whether it is Tim Sherwood or someone else, will need to get the side firing before relegation becomes a certainty.
Diego Costa reliance is cause for concern for Chelsea
Chelsea widened the gap at the top of the table as they beat Aston Villa and Manchester City dropped two points at home to Hull. The Blues are clear favourites for the title at this point, but their reliance on Diego Costa is cause for concern. Dider Drogba filled in up-front with the Spaniard missing and the 36-year-old looked off the pace before being replaced by Loic Remy. Remy has the pace to trouble defenders but has looked out of sorts since moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer, and a long-term injury to Costa could leave Chelsea short of options in attack. Relying on a late strike from Branislav Ivanovic to beat lowly Aston Villa is somewhat worrying, but the Blues managed to grind out three points and they are well placed to secure their third Premier League title under Jose Mourinho.
Hammers still in the hunt for Europe
It was surreal to hear Sam Allardyce complaining about “long-ball United” on Sunday after West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Louis van Gaal’s side, but one thing is clear: the Hammers are playing some good football. The pace of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho up-front has defenders continually looking over their shoulders while Alex Song and Mark Noble have formed a formidable midfield partnership. Big Sam’s men were minutes away from a big win at Upton Park and they will take real heart from their performance against a side challenging for the Champions League. While their goal came from a set-piece, Cheick Kouyate’s sensational finish was by no means converted in typical Allardyce fashion. If the Hammers can continue to perform at this level a place in the Europa League is far from impossible.
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