There is something special about that curry

Whenever Steph Curry steps out onto the court you can’t but think one-word Greatness! On Tuesday he won the MVP award for the 2^nd year in a row. However, he made history, becoming the first unanimous winner in the NBA. He is the 11^th player to win back to back MVP awards, joining a star studded list of players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Lebron James and many more. His award speaks out of his overall high consistency and quality. This season wasn’t just special for Curry, but also for his team the Golden State warriors who made history by beating Michael Jordan’s Chicago bulls record of 72 victories by winning 73 games. The numbers don’t lie Curry is exceptional. It’s not just the fact that he can pretty much shoot from any angle or anywhere on the court (Half-Court shot against Utah Jazz) for me it’s his impressive ball handling skills. I love the way his coach Steve Kerr has built this team, it’s a great unit. The warriors can kill you with their 3-point shooting, especially when Curry’s splash brother Klay Thompson is in Rhythm. The two seem to just mop the floor against most teams and then there is Draymond Green who for me is one of the most underrated players in the league who is slowly getting the recognition he deserves.

If you’re not a believer in what I’m saying just let the numbers do the talking.

Lead the NBA in scoring 30.1 ppg, but also in

·        Three Pointers made (NBA record of 402)

·        Free Throw Percentage (90.8)

Averaging

·        6.7 assists

·        Career high 5.4 rebounds in 79 games

·        Shooting a career high 50.4 percent from the field

D-Day

 

Today is the day when the relegation race could finally end. Sunderland put themselves in a fantastic position when they beat Chelsea on the weekend and would seal their premiership status with a win over Everton at home which would relegate both Newcastle and Norwich. Since Sunderland’s big away win over Norwich they have taken five points from a possible nine. Rafael Benítez seems to have rallied the Toon army but it all seems a little too late. A win against already relegated villa at the weekend would have been perfect and put pressure back on Sunderland, Newcastle would have had 36 points but instead it was a bore draw and they only have 34 points, just like in 2009 when Newcastle where relegated on the last day due to a loss at villa it seems like de ja vu with a draw almost certainly putting the final nail in the coffin of Newcastle. As for Norwich how they wish they had a striker like Defoe in their camps. They have not scored in their last four games, between Naismith who cost Norwich 8 million, Mbokani and Jerome they have only managed 9 goals this season. They have truly struggled to score.

Once again it seems like Sam Allardyce is going to maintain his record of never being relegated from the Premiership, however let’s look at a couple of scenarios for tonight’s premiership fixtures.

·        If Sunderland where to Lose against Everton and Norwich win then the relegation battle goes down to the final game this weekend

·        If Sunderland draw and Norwich win, then the relegation battle goes down to the final game this weekend

·        If Sunderland lose and Norwich lose, Norwich will be relegated tonight

·        If Sunderland draw and Norwich draw, Norwich will be relegated

The fight against Relegation

With there being only 4-5 games of the English premier league left it was imperative for Newcastle to pick up there first premier league win since the 6^th of February (1^st win in 8 games) when they beat West Brom 1-0 thanks to a goal from Mitrovic. Strangely enough Rafa Benitez decided to not go with Mitrovic (8 premier league goals) who has been effective for him since he took over at Newcastle and opt with Cissѐ who at this point had only one premier league to his name this season. Rafa talked about how his side had shown “passion and commitment”. That was definitely on show last Saturday and they will need the same today if they are going to defeat a Manchester City side who have seemed to click since the return of Kevin De Bruyne from injury. Newcastle however tend to before better at home then away with 5 of their 7 premier league wins coming at the St James’ Park.

Beating Man city will be a hard task for the magpies but they will be full of confidence with their win against Swansea. In their last six meetings against each other Newcastle have only beaten City once and that was away in the league cup in 2014. Newcastle will need to keep it tight tonight but with their only 2^nd clean sheet in 18 games coming on Saturday, all signs point to a Manchester City win as they push to solidify a place in the top four.

Sunderland on Song

Sunderland’s win on Saturday over Norwich was a crushing and demoralising blow. The 3-0 win drags Norwich right back in to the thick of the relegation fight. If they had beaten Sunderland they could have gone seven points clear but now they are just one point ahead. Advantage Sunderland as they have a game in hand and the better goal difference (-18). Defoe is looking inspirational for Sam Allardyce. He is a natural born goal scorer, a predator, a poacher a fox in a box he will get you goals. They traded Jozy Altidore a player who had just one premier league goal to his name in two and a half seasons of English football for Defoe in the January transfer window in 2015 he got goals last season and he is doing the business again. Himself and Borini caused havoc for the Norwich defence. Out of all the sides fighting relegation Defoe has the most goals this season with 13.

And lastly it was disappointing to see Aston villa getting relegated at Man Utd but it has seemed inevitable for the last couple of seasons. My only hope is that Aston Villa’s owner Randy Leaner sells the club swiftly, as well as selling players who don’t want to be there and bringing in new additions and a manager who has vast experience of the Championship which is an extremely difficult league to get promoted out of.

The fight against Relegation

With there being only 4-5 games of the English premier league left it was imperative for Newcastle to pick up there first premier league win since the 6^th of February (1^st win in 8 games) when they beat West Brom 1-0 thanks to a goal from Mitrovic. Strangely enough Rafa Benitez decided to not go with Mitrovic (8 premier league goals) who has been effective for him since he took over at Newcastle and opt with Cissѐ who at this point had only one premier league to his name this season. Rafa talked about how his side had shown “passion and commitment”. That was definitely on show last Saturday and they will need the same today if they are going to defeat a Manchester City side who have seemed to click since the return of Kevin De Bruyne from injury. Newcastle however tend to before better at home then away with 5 of their 7 premier league wins coming at the St James’ Park.

Beating Man city will be a hard task for the magpies but they will be full of confidence with their win against Swansea. In their last six meetings against each other Newcastle have only beaten City once and that was away in the league cup in 2014. Newcastle will need to keep it tight tonight but with their only 2^nd clean sheet in 18 games coming on Saturday, all signs point to a Manchester City win as they push to solidify a place in the top four.

Sunderland on Song

Sunderland’s win on Saturday over Norwich was a crushing and demoralising blow. The 3-0 win drags Norwich right back in to the thick of the relegation fight. If they had beaten Sunderland they could have gone seven points clear but now they are just one point ahead. Advantage Sunderland as they have a game in hand and the better goal difference (-18). Defoe is looking inspirational for Sam Allardyce. He is a natural born goal scorer, a predator, a poacher a fox in a box he will get you goals. They traded Jozy Altidore a player who had just one premier league goal to his name in two and a half seasons of English football for Defoe in the January transfer window in 2015 he got goals last season and he is doing the business again. Himself and Borini caused havoc for the Norwich defence. Out of all the sides fighting relegation Defoe has the most goals this season with 13.

And lastly it was disappointing to see Aston villa getting relegated at Man Utd but it has seemed inevitable for the last couple of seasons. My only hope is that Aston Villa’s owner Randy Leaner sells the club swiftly, as well as selling players who don’t want to be there and bringing in new additions and a manager who has vast experience of the Championship which is an extremely difficult league to get promoted out of.

Don't hold back in the Europa league

These days winning the Europa league just isn't about adding another cup to the trophy cabinet, the UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino confirmed in May 2013 that the winners of the Europa league will be going into next year's champions league. Sevilla fc took full advantage of this route beating the Ukrainian side Dnipro 3-2 in the 2014 final. Sevilla have flourished in this competition winning back to back Europa league titles (2013,2014). In the 2015-2016 Football season Spain became the first country to have five teams in the Champions league.

Both Man Utd and Liverpool are both on this quest to try to qualify for the champions league via the Europa league. In the Premier league table Man Utd are 6 points behind Man city in four place while Liverpool are nine points but due to both there inconsistent form qualification via the league seems to be pulling further and further away even if it is still mathematically possible.

Gone are the days of rotation and playing the youngsters both Man Utd, Liverpool and Tottenham will be playing full strength sides to progress further into the competition, they cant hold back and i'm predicting all teams to win and to go through.

For me personally I think Liverpool's game is the trickiest simply because of the league cup final at Wembley against Manchester City on Sunday. I think that Klopp will play strong sides for both the game tonight and Sunday,So how refreshing was it to hear yesterday of Daniel Sturridge's pledge of commitment to Liverpool. His goal to game ratio despite his injuries is phenomenal. He's missed approximately 614 days however he has scored 45 goals in 75 appearances. He's crucial not only in terms of his finishing but his pressing up the field. 

I'm predicting a 3-1 win for Liverpool with Sturridge to score a brace!!

Arsenal vs Barcelona Preview

I found myself laughing uncontrollably when my manager told me about a church in Nigeria praying for Arsenal to beat Barcelona tonight. It's almost as though they had been watching the Sunday supplement on Sky sports over the weekend. Matt Law one of the sports journalists on the show said this "They (Arsenal) need to just pray, Barcelona are 32 games unbeaten-it's Harlem Globetrotter football we've been seeing in recent weeks." The odds seems so heavily stacked in their favour and the facts definitely support this notion. The last time Barcelona suffered a loss was way back in October last year. Meanwhile over the course of that time the famous trident MSN (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) have scored bucket-load of goals, 91 goals in all competitions to be infact. The main question is can Arsenal beat Barcelona and what would be there plan?


 If we look into the last 5 games between the two sides Arsenal have won and drawn once, losing three times,but it's not all gloom and doom the game they won was at home in 2011 thanks to goals from Van Persie and Arshavin( what happened to him??). Arsene Wenger was right in telling his players to go for it, down below is 5 keys which must be implemented in the game for Arsenal to record a famous win over Barcelona.


 1) Be patient. That's easier said then done the truth of the matter is Arsenal won't have the sort of possession they do in the premier league they will have to patient and pick their moments.

 2) Take your chances

 In the game against Hull,Arsenal had 24 shots(11 on target ), they have to be clinical because they won't be afforded many chances against Barcelona.

 3) Stay compact but break with pace

 Arsenal's defensive shape will be crucial tonight, they have to deny players like Messi and co any space in between the lines. Pressing them at the right moments,but when they win the ball back they will need to counter with pace to get right at Barcelona.

 4) Be wary of the away goal

 Conceding too many goals at the Emirates stadium tonight could end the tie prematurely. Of course MSN are in great form, but Arsenal can't afford to be giving out any free gifts on the field.

 5) My last and key plan is closing down and stifling Sergio busquets.

Since Xavi left Barcelona he is more than ever there crucial passing clog. Highly effective and supremely underrated troubling the impressive midfielder may open the door for Arsenal in the game

August premier league review

The month of August was pure perfection for Man city who recorded 4 wins out of 4. Scoring 10 goals and their defence boasting a record of 4 clean sheets to go with there impressive form. Man city spent big over the summer and for me the pick of their transfers could be Kevin De bruyne. Yes 55 million is a huge amount of money and a club record fee for City but he comes with an impressive CV in the bundesliga since he left Chelsea in January 2014. He racked up a whopping 20 assists last season for Wolfsburg equalling a league record. The so called big teams in the league have all had stuttering starts; Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, and arsenal have all looked unconvincing.

No one would of ever predicted The champions sitting 13th in the league after 4 games. Losing to both Crystal palace and Man city comprehensively, in a game in which saw Mourinho describe the outcome as a "fake result". Chelsea conceded the fewest goals (32) last season and only lost 3 times however the defence that was looking resolute and solid now looks very leaky. It would be very premature to think that Chelsea are out of the premier league race but it's vital that they win today at Everton. 

Since the season started last month I've been hugely impressed with Swansea and Leicester City and with Gomis, Mahrez and Ayew (The first two players are joint top goal scorers in the league with Callum Wilson all scoring 4 goals). Both Swansea and Leicester City remain unbeaten in the league.

Gomis has gone from strength to strength since Bony's big money move to Man City and becoming a starter in the Swansea side. In his last 8 seasons at Lyon he always scored at least 10 league goals a season. 

Man Utd vs Liverpool is always a game of great magnitude. It's a big game and Jamie redknapp was right in saying that neither side can afford to lose, both lost before the international break and a victory for either side could kick start their season. I'm hoping for a Liverpool win but realistically it will be a draw, final score 2-2.