ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON 2021/2022
The excitement in the second week of the EPL is picking up pace with teams getting ready for the challenge in the weeks ahead.
Chelsea vs Arsenal
For this week’s performance let us first start with this year’s hot team in the EPL Chelsea who took on Arsenal in London Derby where Chelsea beat Arsenal by 2-0. Lukaku, who first played for Chelsea as a teenager (he first played for Chelsea almost a decade ago), represented them again after his $132 million signing from Inter Milan, (Italy’s top flight soccer league team where Lukaku saw Inter Milan conquering their first Serie A title in 11 years, dethroning Juventus after their nine consecutive season titles) and looks to have given the Blues an ominous new dimension. His hold up and swift passes caused Arsenal problems throughout the match and the Belgian duly gave them the lead from Reece James’ pass. James got the second himself as he slammed the ball in the roof of net from Mason Mount's pass to make it two wins from two in the league. Lukaku almost made it 3-0 but his header was greatly saved onto the bar by Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Arsenal, missing centre-back Ben White through COVID have now lost both their London derbies in this Premier League. European champions Chelsea who already being tipped as major title contenders, having been one of the best teams around since their coach Tuchel's arrival in January and the one thing they lacked last season was a prolific striker, but they now have that in Lukaku. Chelsea’s defence is almost unbreachable at times with midfielders N'Golo Kante who was a second-half substitute (shortlisted for the UEFA player of the year award). Next up will be their biggest test of the season yet with away game to Liverpool on 28/08/2021 who are also on six points winning both their opening games.
Manchester City vs Norwich City
Of the other contenders of this season Manchester City routed Norwich City with a score line of 5-0 but considering that Norwich City is one of the weaker teams in this edition this result is not much of an importance. Bigger test of course awaits them with Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool among their next five fixtures. With defeats in the Champions League final to Chelsea and also losing their first match to Spurs this season, they are in for a gruelling season ahead.
Liverpool vs Burnley
In the match between Liverpool and Burnley the emotions were high before the match as Liverpool prepared to play in front of a full house at Anfield for the first time since 11 March 2020, a full 528 days after the club last welcomed a capacity crowd for their UEFA Champions League match against Atletico Madrid with fans shouting out a rousing rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', which was followed by touching tributes prior to the start. There was a minute's applause as Anfield paid respects to their lifelong supporter Andrew Devine, the 97th victim of the Hillsborough tragedy. Fans held up a mosaic with the number 97, as their captain Henderson laid a wreath in front of the famous stand to remember the 55-year-old, who died in July, 32 years after suffering life-changing injuries in the 1989 disaster. The match ended with Liverpool easily overcoming Burnley (2-0) with goals from Jota and Mane. During the match both managers were very frustrated with so many decisions from referee Mike Dean with 18 fouls conceded throughout the match and no yellow cards issued.
Manchester United vs Southampton
In the other match Manchester United failed to build on their opening day rout of Leeds United, as Southampton earned a fully-deserved draw at St Mary's. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side looked full of attacking mood and threat in that 5-1 win over Leeds, but here they were a pale shadow of their own performance as Southampton earned their first point of the campaign and even looked more dangerous to grab the victory. Southampton deserved the point in this match as they bounced back impressively from the defeat with Everton in their first game.
Leicester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
In the last second round match of the week, another top contender Leicester City took on Wolves on Monday. Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers praised the fitness and agility of their striker Jamie Vardy after his superb finish for the Foxes. The Foxes' number nine was the most impressive player on the pitch and struck just before half-time courtesy of a well-timed run and header from Ricardo Pereira's right-wing cross. The 34-year-old Vardy had netted 17 goals last season including two on the final day against Tottenham. Rodgers admitted afterwards that his task now is to manage the striker correctly in order to ensure he maintains such impressive performances across the campaign. There are some outstanding strikers in the Premier League this season and of course he is up there with them.
Brains behind the Leagues…
Before 20 July 1885 many clubs made payments to "professional" football players to boost the competitiveness of their teams, breaking FA rules and arousing the contempt of those clubs abiding by the laws of the amateur Football Association code. As more and more clubs became professional, the fixture list of the FA Cup, inter-county, and matches were seen by many as an unreliable stream of revenue, and ways were considered of ensuring a consistent income.
William McGregor (this guy ⬆️), an industrialist located in Birmingham and club director of Aston Villa took up the initiative to establish the Football League in 1888 as a way to organize the fast growing football activities in England.
Accrington, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Everton, Preston North End, Aston Villa, Derby Country, Notts County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the original 12 teams that competed against each other in home and away fixtures. The first ever season was won by Preston, which went through the season undefeated.
These 12 teams were geographically concentrated in the North-west region of England. The effect of this was the formation of the "Southern League" in 1894 and "The Combination" which included the rest of the teams across England.
Later on however, many teams from the Southern League and The Combination would join the Football League spanning three divisions in total.
In 1898 the Promotion and Relegation system was introduced where teams placed at the top would be promoted to the higher division and teams placed at the bottom would be relegated to the lower division. This has become a standard across other Football leagues in Europe and have since adopted the system.
In 1905 the number of teams in each division was set to 20.
Play a game.
More names to find this week.
You are looking for players Lukaku, Jamie Vardy, Bernd Leno and referee Mike Dean.
Here’s what you missed from last week:
Matchweek 1 of the EPL.
A short on Kickball.