Prem Talk Matchday 21

Photo from Creative Bloq CC-BY Welcome to Prem-Talk where we talk about what's happening in the English Premier League this week.  Writer Change: As you may have noticed, we have new writer for the Prem Talk. My name is Vivaan, an eighth grader and a loyal Manchester City fan. I am very engrossed with football and specifically, the Premier League so you can expect the same level (or even better!) of Prem-Talk standard as maintained by our previous writer, Naman. You can also expect slightly longer articles for our committed readers. Enough of me, let's get to the news! Looking Back: As we finish matchday 21 with some excitement we saw that the most happening fixture was Man United vs Tottenham Hotspur which took place on 14th of January at Old Trafford, home of Red Devils. The match ended with the Glazers tied 2 - 2 to Spurs. With an early lead taken by Norwegian national Rasmus Højlund in the third minute, the Glazers were cruising until just 16 minutes later when Spurs striker and 26 year old Brazillian wonderkid, Richarlison leveled the match in the 19th minute. The match ended neck to neck leading Spurs to potentially finish in the top 5 for the first time since 2022.  MOTM : Rasmus Højlund   As It Stands: So far, there is definitely a title race for the top 5 teams with the favourite being Manchester City to win the league for the second time in a row after their treble-winning*  season and their current standing remains second.   However, Jürgen Klopp has put together some team this season and the Reds are most definitely a contender to lift their second Premier League trophy. Aston Villa trails ever so slightly behind the Gunners as they remain in   4th place with no point difference between Villa, Arsenal and Manchester City as they all have 43 points. *treble-winning: when a team wins their national league, a local league and the UEFA Champions League  Looking Forward: As we now look forward to Matchday 22, we are enthusiastic for the following matches to take place:  Nottingham Forrest vs. Arsenal (31st January) Fulham vs. Everton (31st January) Luton Town vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (31st January) Crystal Palace vs. Sheffield United (31st January) Aston Villa vs. Newcastle United (31st January) Tottenham Hotspur vs. Brentford (1st Febuary) Manchester City vs. Burnley (1st February) Liverpool vs. Chelsea (1st February) West Ham United vs. AFC Bournemouth (2nd February) Wolves vs. Manchester United (2nd February) Leave a comment on which match you are excited about! TDM's Top Game There are a total of 10 fixtures in matchday 22 but our top pick is Liverpool vs. Chelsea  taking place on the first of February at Anfield. One of the main reasons this is TDM’s top game is not just because of the large fanbase of both teams in our school but because of the significant improvement from both teams.  Chelsea dipped a little bit after the last season with some of their players leaving for the Saudi Pro league but they have brought back their standard after a much-needed goalkeeper switch. The Lions’ main goalkeeper Édouard Mendy left for Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia and Kepa Arizbalaga left to substitute for the injured Thibaut Courtois at Real Madrid, they had no choice but to get another goalie whom has caused their improvement. Their current keeper is Robert Sanchez.  Coming in hot from Brighton the Spanish national has had a wonderful start to his season at Chelsea. Liverpool have also had some improvement as the overall morale of their players have increased since last season since their loss one of their main players who was captain for 8 years, Jordan Henderson, they had been a little bit low, but with a solid majority of their games against Chelsea ending with Liverpool taking the 3 points, they go into this match confidently after defeating the gunners who finished second last season by 2 goals on the 7th of January.   That’s all for the Matchday 21 recap, we’ll see you next time at the end of  Matchday 22. See more stories from #Vivaan here!