Barstool Weekly Soccer Preview
Barstool’s Weekend Soccer Guide
[Note: as a quick reminder, I’m out of town until next week but have put together some ABBREVIATED preview posts to make sure you, my beloved reader, does not get lost wandering around the soccer universe without some guidance. Please keep in mind that these were written well in advance so any unexpected line-up changes due to injuries or suspensions, etc, will inevitably not be taken into account. Big Cat has graciously agreed to post these next few posts at the appropriate time, so any complaints about erroneous picks should clearly be directed his way.]
The EPL is back after taking last weekend off for the FA Cup and – while I feel a little like a deaf, dumb and blind spirit guide (writing this a couple weeks ago without the use of the most recent results to help steer the way forward) – I figure the least I could do is provide you with a little preview of the games on deck.
Unlike every other week, this one (obviously) won’t include a discussion of the previous matchday results, nor will it include a rundown of the best games from around the rest of Europe. But assuming I manage to avoid this type of situation:
I’ll be back with a little bit more comprehensive preview/guide for the Champions and Europa League games on deck next Tuesday through Spursday, followed by your regularly scheduled EPL (and Rest of Europe) programming next weekend – for better and worse.
I vill be bock!
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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
This weekend’s slate of games looks like this:
Some interesting fixtures on the dance card, starting with Swansea hosting United followed by (NBC’s Game of the Week) Newcastle visiting City. Unfortunately the odds for this weekend’s games hadn’t been posted at the time of my writing this, [I or BC will fill them in later] so I’ll keep my comments a little more general in nature.
Swansea (+300)
United (-110)
Draw (+260)
The Swans went to Old Trafford and took all three points in a hard-fought 2-1 win last August. The United that they will face this weekend looks a hell of a lot different than the side they beat though, so much so in fact that the result from last fall can be all but ignored at this point. I have no idea what type of formation Louis van Genius is going to come out with against the Welsh club — 3-5-2? 4-4-2? 4-3-3? 8-1-1?? — but my inkling is that Swansea’s poor defensive record is likely to be an issue against the likes of Rooney, Di Maria, RvP and Falcao, who have yet to fully mesh but have nonetheless helped eke out a breathtaking number of points for a club still not firing on all cylinders. There is a damn good chance that Jonjo Shelvey will record a “Jonjo hat-trick” by scoring a goal, an own goal and seeing a red card, but either way I see United winning 3-1.
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Tottenham (-140)?West Ham (+375)
Draw (+280)
LONDON DARBY [sic] TIME! Objectively speaking, and apologies in advance Hammers, but the elasticity of your coective poopshoot is about to be tested in this one. [For the record, I’m noticing that it is a lot easier to make over-the-top predictions when you basically have no information (about the team’s recent form, injuries, etc) to go on, which now that I think about it probably explains a lot about the careers of professional jackasses like Skip Bayless.] Regardless, the likelihood of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen running a train on West Ham this weekend is objectively speaking somewhere between “definitely” and “absolutely”. Spurs to win 2-0.
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Free (*bonus*) picks: two important mitigating factors to keep in mind with City (-350) vs Newcastle (+450) are, one, that the Sky Blues should be rounding back into form thanks to the return of Yaya Toure and addition of Wilfried Bony but, two, the club could be distracted or even sitting some players ahead of the HUUUUGE Champions League game against Barça next midweek. For it’s part, the Magpies have recently been hit with a mild case of Sunderland Syndrome, managing only draws against Stoke and Palace. Newcastle’s road record has been poor though, netting only one win in it’s last six games away from St James, so it’s hard to imagine the visitors coming away from this game with any points. City to win 3-1. I would argue that Southampton (+150) hosting Liverpool (+180) is the most interesting matchup of the weekend, as the Saints (as well as everybody else) are trying to figure out if they are a legitimate contender for a Champions League spot while the Reds are itching to get back in contention for one as well. There’s no telling what kind of form Daniel Sturridge will be in at this point, assuming of course he hasn’t reinjured himself yet, but Southampton is one of the few teams that has the type of athletic defenders to keep him in check (even if/when healthy). I’m going to go with a 1-1 draw (+280).
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So there we have it. Finally, we’re through the last of the four ABBREVIATED blogs that I left for Big Cat to post while I probably die of street-meat-related dysentery somewhere on the Asian subcontinent. As you might have noticed, one of the casualties has been the “REST OF EUROPE” section where I usually highlight for you the best games in Spain, Italy, Germany and sometimes France… I’ll be interested to hear if anybody misses it. Either way, I’ll be back next week (I know, sorry haterz). Try not to miss me too much.
Golden gooooofer!
Holler,
Samuel U. Army