Part 3 – English Premier League: 7th Weekend’s winners
It has been a fairytale of a season so far for Blackpool. If someone had told Ian Holloway in the summer break that his team would be 9th in the English Premier League table during the first week of October, he would
probably have laughed such a statement away.
However, the reality is that Blackpool are currently in the top half of the English Premier League standings. They have played a total of seven games out of which they have won three, lost three and drawn one. Such a record is
better than what experienced sides such as Everton, Fulham and Sunderland have managed to achieve so far in the English Premier League season.
Blackpool’s qualification to the English Premier League came through their play-off win over Cardiff City after they originally finished sixth in the Championship table. It has been a brilliant tale of character and inspiration
from Holloway’s men but they must keep their feet on the ground if they are to complete this miraculous task of surviving in the world’s toughest league amongst the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Out of the seven matches that Blackpool have played so far, five have taken played away from their home stadium. Three of these matches have taken place at the Emirates Stadium, the Stamford Bridge and Anfield respectively. These
stadiums belong to the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, real giants of English football. In their latest league match which was held against Liverpool at Anfield. The Reds were dealt a 2-1 defeat by the Seasiders. It was an astonishing win to the say
the least which only confirmed the fact that no team should be taken lightly in a competitive league like the English Premier League.
Titus Bramble has done himself a world of good through his performances for Sunderland so far. In the summer transfer window, Steve Bruce brought him to Tyneside from Wigan Athletic and it is safe to say that the ex-Manchester
United defender has turned around Bramble’s career.
Once upon a time, Titus was a laughing stock of English football, famous for making comical mistakes and being a vilified figure in Newcastle United’s defensive line but now he has massively improved upon his talents. In doing
so, he started for Sunderland against Manchester United in place of Anton Ferdinand.
His defensive stability has earned him a special mention in this feature of winners from the 7th weekend of the English Premier League; the same stability got his team a goalless draw against the runners of the 2009-2010
English league season. Bramble’s team, Sunderland have successfully turned their home ground, the Stadium of Light into some kind of a fortress over the past season. So far in the 2010-2011 season, Sunderland have managed to defeat Manchester City and draw
against United, City and Liverpool at the Stadium of Light.
Everton were also one of the winners at the weekend as David Moyes’s team cashed in their first three points of the season by defeating Birmingham City by two goals to nil at the Saint Andrews stadium. It was a welcome win for
the Toffee’s who started the weekend at the bottom of the Premier League table. Everton take on Liverpool in their next Premier League match on 17th of October at the Goodison Park. Another victory over their faltering rivals can give them the boost
they need to embark on a good set of results.
Moyes’s main problem has been the amount of injuries that his squad has suffered early on in the season. Everton had to through the start of the season without their first choice strikers as Tim Cahill was used by Moyes as a makeshift
striker. The absence of Louis Saha proved to be really detrimental to Everton’s hopes of getting off to a flying start. As these are still early days in the English Premier League season, one can expect Everton to recover in time to at least finish in the
top ten teams of the league come May, 2011.
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