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Manchester City stand accused of 115 financial violations currently locked up in the courts. Charged by their detractors of spending their way to the top.
The Sky Blues certainly have one club standing by them: Newcastle, their opponent this weekend in the FUBO match of the week.
City’s ownership, the Abu Dhabi group fronted by Sheikh Mansour, boast a net worth or $21.2 billion and haven’t been afraid to throw money around, which is why they’re currently under scrutiny for trying to find dodgy ways to level revenue in order to spend more on players.
But their net worth is far from the Premier League’s greatest, with Newcastle’s Public Investment Fund, the sports arm of Saudi Arabian prince Mohammed Bin Salam being the principle, reporting a net worth of $858b.
The new owners came in with a splash, but as most clubs do under fresh stewardship with unseemly riches, they spent too much and have had to be patient and claw back the excess in the past two transfer windows so they don’t find themselves in the same position as City. But make no mistake, with the financial resources at their disposal, with time, they’ll be another super team.
Currently, the Magpies still are loaded with quality. Had they not suffered a shock loss to Fulham last week, they’d be near the top of the table.
They sit in sixth, but are just three points behind City at the top. While they have been solid defensively, they’ve struggled to score. Their seven goals in five matches is the second-lowest of all the clubs in the top 10, with only Nottingham Forest having scored fewer goals.
Their home support is massive, while rival fans may make fun of the puny City parades for all the trophies they’ve won, Newcastle always has had a deep cultural connection with their city and the supporters, even when the team was relegated.
City is coming off its first dropped points of the season, but in the moment it felt like a victory, netting a 94th-minute equalizer against Arsenal in a 2-2 draw. The bigger loss was the season-ending knee injury to midfield maestro Rodri.
No one is irreplaceable, but Rodri is close. City was winning 1-0 when he was injured against Arsenal and then rapidly went down 2-1. Last year, he missed three matches due to suspensions and City lost every one.
Since the Spaniard joined the team, he has missed 21 games due to suspension or injury and City’s winning percentage when he plays is 74% and when he’s missing it drops to 61%.
That offers hope for Newcastle.
Sometimes glittering stars only offer fool’s gold
So is Manchester United at Tottenham a big match? All around the world you’ll see supporters with names like Son, Rashford and Fernandes on the back of their shirts. But it’s the ‘Match of Meh’ these days.
Level on points, each with 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw, Spurs sit in 10th with their +4 goal difference, United are 11th with goal difference of zero. It’s a chance for one of them to stake a claim and try to climb over the other one and begin a move up the table.
Manchester United simply has to find a way to get Marcus Rashford going, or at least one of their pricey strikers. Five goals in five games just isn’t going to work for a team with European aspirations.
Chelsea chart a path to top four
Since losing their opener to Manchester City, Chelsea has settled quietly into a dark horse spot.
Three wins and a draw later and the Blues are in fifth, just three points off the top. With 11 goals, only City has scored more in the whole league.
This week’s match is an interesting one as they host Brighton, a club they’ve raided for managers and players recently. Brighton is one point back of Chelsea, but haven’t lost yet this season. Three draws have seen them drop down the table, but the Seagulls are well-coached and fight hard.
Brighton desperately need teenage striker Evan Ferguson to spark after being out for six months with an ankle injury.
Chelsea, meanwhile, is spreading out the goals and are making it hard for their opponents to key on one attacker. Nicolas Jackson has four goals, Noni Madueke has three and Cole Palmer has two.
Forest striking the right timbre
There are four teams yet to lose a game this season: Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton and then … Nottingham Forest?
Two wins and three draws have Forest in eighth and it’s well-deserved. Manager Nuno Espirito Santo has the Tricky Trees playing exceptionally sound defensively, they’re sixth in the league in tackles and third in interceptions.
They don’t have the attacking prowess to really leap into contention and be this year’s Aston Villa, but if they stay this disciplined, they won’t be anywhere near last year’s relegation battle and could challenge for a Europa League spot.
Bluer skies for Everton
Everton blew its third lead of the season last week, but managed its first point, a 1-1 with Leicester. The Toffees are in 18th place, have the most goals conceded (14) and have the league’s worst goal-difference at -9.
So, blue skies? Financially, yes, the club appear to have reached agreement with the Friedkin Group, an American conglomerate owned by billionaire Dan Friedkin, which also owns Roma.
While this isn’t going to help Everton on the pitch at the moment, and it has loads of areas to upgrade and need to tread carefully having been docked points last year for overspending, it’s great news going forward.
The Toffees still may have to sell some young stars like Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jared Branthwaite, but this deal means they would then be able to spend considerably on multiple prospects and avoid the gravitational pull of relegation they’ve been mired in the past two seasons.
This weekend’s slate
Saturday: Newcastle v. Manchester City; Arsenal v. Leicester; Brentford v. West Ham; Chelsea v. Brighton; Everton v. Crystal Palace; Nottingham Forest v. Fulham; Wolves v. Liverpool.
Sunday: Ipswich v. Aston Villa; Manchester United v. Tottenham.
Monday: Bournemouth v. Southampton