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| Intrigue as Billionaire Blues, Tradition Reds Clash in Premier League |
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| Written by Adeleke Afolayan | ||||||
| Friday, 12 September 2008 | ||||||
     More intriguing is the expected debut of Brazil forward Robinho who until the 11th hour of the transfer day deadline was on his way to Stamford Bridge for Chelsea, only for Al-Fahim and ADUG to buy-out Thaksin Sinawatra's stake with the Citizens and have enough minutes before midnight of September 1 to hijack Chelsea's bid for Robinho by £4m... a mere £4m. To add spice to this weekend's "big money tussle" or "billionaires clash"; whichever you want to describe it with, Shawn Wright-Phillips would be making his home debut for City against the club he was more on the bench than on the field of play up till August. The tie finally takes its place as the match of the weekend ahead of the clash of the Reds at Anfield between Liverpool and Manchester United, with Chelsea leading the Premier League table with seven points from three matches while City is third with six points. A win for City would see the Citizens go two points ahead of Chelsea and possibly top the league table pending the result at Anfield for Liverpool and that from Ewood Park where fourth placed Arsenal visit Balckburn Rovers. However, Petr Cech has stated that Robinho would be made to regret his last minute change of heart as the Blues (from London that is) would show him just what he would be missing. Robinho though joins a club that already has returnee Wright-Phillips along with keeper Joe Hart, Bulgarian Martin Petrov, Brazilian playmaker Elano and immediate previous record signing and yet another Brazilian, Jo who scored two goals against Belgium in the bronze medal match at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Also, Machester City had a similarly good start last season before a run of poor form put them out of contention for a Champions League place. With Al-Fahim and ADUG however, the Citizens may just stay in touch with the "Big Four" and challenge for a place in next season's Champions League. The other big match of the weekend sees champions Manchester United travel to Anfield to face archrivals Liverpool who will be without skipper Steven Gerrard and have not particularly impressed despite being unbeaten so far in all competitions this season. On the otherhand, the Red Devils have been held at Old Trafford by Newcastle and beaten by Zenit St. Petersburg in the European Super Cup match in Monaco but against the Reds, United face a team it has not lost to in the last six Premier League clashes at Anfield, winning five and drawing one without conceding. And without Gerrard and perhaps Fernando Torres who is still nursing the injury picked up at Aston Villa, the balance swings to the visitors favour to continue its unbeaten run and as well launch its Premier League defence as a win would put United level on seven points with Liverpool that currently occupies second. Then comes Arsenal, youthful, skillful and all, against a physical club in Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park with Blackburn on four points while Arsenal have six, having recovered from a disappointing loss at Fulham to score seven in its last two games in all competitions. The Gunners are also boosted by the exploits of England hattrick hero Theo Walcott in the 4-1 spanking of Croatia in Zagreb and Nicklas Bendtner for Denmark in the 3-2 win over Portugal in Lisbon. Rovers meanwhile can count on Roque Santa Cruz back from his goal scoring exploits for Paraguay in World Cup qualifying, however the long journey from South America back to Europe for Saturday afternoon's match might just have its toll on the striker. Other matches in the Premier League this weekend will see Obafemi Martins' Newcastle host Hull City without a manager while Portsmouth will hope to build on the 3-0 win at Everton when Middlesbrough come visiting on Saturday. Dickson Etuhu and Danny Shittu will face-off for their respective clubs when Fulham host Bolton Wanderers with Etuhu expected to make his debut for the Londoners. Another match involving Nigerian players on both sides is Stoke City at home to Everton on Sunday.  Quote this article on your site | Views: 196 | Print | E-mail
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