Prior to Chelsea’s Carabao Cup match against Brighton, Paul Merson expressed concern for the Blues. The Sky Sports analyst also considered if Arsenal could recruit Ivan Toney in January following Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus’ goalless performance in the North London Derby.
According to Paul Merson, Chelsea’s Carabao Cup match against Brighton at home on Wednesday is essential because Mauricio Pochettino appears to be starting to panic.
The Blues have only triumphed twice so far this campaign, and they have gone three games without scoring. On Sunday, they lost at home to Aston Villa.
Merson expresses concern for Chelsea before of their match against the Seagulls. He also discusses if Arsenal should want Ivan Toney and Liverpool’s matchup with Tottenham.
The next ten games for Chelsea are crucial, but where will the victory come from?
More than any other team, Chelsea is in need of the Carabao Cup. Chelsea’s cup match against Brighton on Wednesday night is more important to them than any other remaining club in the competition.
I claimed that Tottenham blew it by fielding a depleted team in round two and losing. However, given how they’ve played thus far and their need to qualify for the Champions League, I can see why they chose to rest players at this time.
Chelsea can’t, however, win a game for candy. They’ve also had a good start; many clubs would have bitten your hand off for those matches. Newcastle has four more points than Chelsea despite having started the season by losing to Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Brighton.
Going out to Brighton in the cup right now is the last thing Chelsea needs to do.
When you consider Chelsea’s schedule, you become concerned. You can’t catch your breath since the remaining 10 games are so crucial to their season. It’s a stretch where you genuinely are unsure of when they will triumph in a football game.
So a significant football game is on Wednesday. If they lose this game, they will have won three of their previous 24 games. One was a game versus Luton, and you never know when they’ll triumph. One was a cup matchup with AFC Wimbledon, and they prevailed in that one. The other occurred last season in the league, but only after Bournemouth earned enough points to remain in the top flight.
Even Mauricio Pochettino has come forth and is now admonishing fans to exercise patience while the process is ongoing. When a manager says something out loud, it indicates that they are beginning to feel a little anxious. Even he doesn’t believe that this is how it was intended to be.
If he is already saying that, it is concerning. They too have injuries, so I hope he has the patience and time he needs. Yet I’m concerned.
Toney may be required by Arsenal in January.
Eddie Nketiah won’t help you win the Premier League, as I’ve said from the beginning.
You require a competent center forward. I don’t blame Nketiah for the 2-2 draw with Tottenham, but I don’t think he elevates them given the next 32 games and the remaining Champions League matches. Even Gabriel Jesus, in my opinion, doesn’t advance them.
When I first saw the teams, I was quite optimistic that Arsenal would win on Sunday. Jesus plays on the flank, Nketiah plays up front, and I don’t think Fabio Vieira is up to par. Then Jorginho enters the game in place of Declan Rice.
Even though it wasn’t Arsenal’s best team, considering the Champions League and all the games they still have to play, it didn’t appear too strong on Sunday, did it?
There aren’t many center forwards in the world, thus they only have Ivan Toney available in January. A dying breed, they.
The other day, I overheard Michael Owen conversing. In the past, players like him, Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, and Robbie Fowler averaged 20 to 30 goals per season while not receiving a ton of England caps. Along with Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright. You now play for England after scoring 20 goals in the Premier League.
Toney is a talented player who is good in the air and can hold the ball up. Arsenal may need to pursue him. However, there aren’t a ton of center forwards in existence.
Arsenal will no longer be in the title chase if they lose against Manchester City on October 8. They would trail by seven points.
But there are still so many games left, many people object. However, if Man City had a seven-point lead and there were 600 games remaining, Arsenal wouldn’t be able to overtake them. You simply cannot make that up, as Arsenal would have just one game against City going forward, and it would be on the road.
That encounter at the Emirates is crucial; it’s already make or break.
A Liverpool victory over Spurs would be enormous.
It would be a huge accomplishment for Liverpool if they were to defeat Tottenham the following week. While I don’t believe they will lose, going to Tottenham at this time puts them up against a very good club and talented players.
In the opening 35 minutes against Arsenal, I believed Spurs played poorly. I believed it to be identical to watching the Spurs under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. If Gabriel Jesus scores to make it 2-0, the situation changes completely. But he overlooks an obvious sitter.
After that, Tottenham continued to play the way they want to play, and I was really impressed with them.
I believed Arsenal would triumph handily. However, Spurs often would have given up and lost if they had been down 1-0 and 2-1. Give credit where it’s due. They were exceptional in my opinion, and I now predict they will finish in the top four.
Destiny Udogie was exceptional. It’s unusual for him to have a booking so early in the match before facing Bukayo Saka, one of the best wingers in the world.
But Ange Postecoglou deserves the praise. ‘I have faith in you, you’re a full-back, it’s your duty to defend one-on-ones, stay on the pitch,’ he told him. A manager would often eject Saka from a match since you wouldn’t want him to receive a red card. Fair play to the management, though; Udogie did a great job.
Meanwhile, Liverpool still has a lot of work to do. Manchester City is currently wrecking the league by applying so much pressure to everyone. What they’re doing is amazing.
Liverpool’s current success can be attributed to their perseverance. You must take it one game at a time and avoid giving them an advantage.
The biggest advantage Liverpool has is that during the next two weeks, they can draw with both Tottenham and Brighton since they still have to play Man City twice and can defeat Man City both times.
