Well, well, well................... We've taken a big hit............... out of 12 players that started this week, 6 have been eliminated!!!
Liverpool are the biggest single cause of casualties this week, with Darren, Vincent and Martin succumbing due to Liverpool's inability to turn total dominance in the 1st half versus West Brom, who fielded a novel new formation of 6-4-0, into anything more than a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time. But all gripes aside, and as much as it pains me to see Allardyce get a positive result in anything he does, a team can set up any way they like and his pragmatic approach worked, restricting Liverpool to 2 attempts on target. It was a deserved point.................
Leeds showed, on the bits and pieces I saw, a good bit more solidity than they have in recent times. Bamford emphatically smashed home his penalty to give a 1-0 lead which Leeds held onto comfortably enough, outside of a Burnley goal, dubiously ruled out for a foul on the Leeds keeper. There was potential for late drama when Nick Pope came up for some corners at the end but Leeds were comfortable enough. Glen and Martina progress to round 4.
Man City coldly dismissed Newcastle in a 2-0 win. City are starting to purr and will likely be one of the main contenders with Liverpool. Andrew and David X 2 the beneficiaries. Raheem Sterling seemed to have his own exclusion zone with defenders terrified to go anywhere near him in the box, he profited with an excellent assist for Gundogan's opener.
Everton notched a late win at the expense of an unlucky Sheffield Utd who only have 2 points after 15 games. Their goal difference of -18 shows that they are losing a majority of their games by a single goal, £23.5 million signing Rhian Brewster just hasn't found his mojo yet, and if they don't start scoring soon they're doomed. But I wouldn't write them off just yet. Mark progressing to the next round
Arsenal responded to my rallying cry last week by battering Chelsea, who have struggled badly since being labelled as favourites for the league by Klopp. A moment from the post match interview with Arsenal left back Tierney stood out for me, when asked if it was a foul for the penalty he won, responded ' I'm not sure, I felt contact and I went down ' . Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the VAR confirmed penalty, and yet further confirmation of how the game we love is transforming in the VAR age. Also Saka, somehow with a straight face, tells us all that he meant his shanked toe-bog attempt at a cross as a direct shot on goal....... Despite these observations, Arsenal thoroughly deserved the win and the younger players are the key to success for Arteta. Conor the victim of Chelsea's abject failure this week.
Southampton's draw not only cost Carol her place in the competition but also lost a friend of mine €2000 in an accumulator. Ouch. Saints had 2 goals ruled out for offside and came close on a number of occasions to win the game. To be fair, Fulham had chances also and Hassenhutl wasn't that displeased with the result.
Leicester twice pegged back Man City's noisy neighbours to dampen some of that particular hype. Match of the Day decided to be kind and not highlight Bruno Fernandes attempted nutmeg 10 yards outside his own box that led to Harvey Barnes first half equaliser, deciding to focus on his earlier assist and later goal instead. What a player Cavani is by the way, a painfully good signing for ABUs. Leicester's comeback draw wasn't quite enough for one of the stars of our Senior Women's side - Jane Finnegan
Graphs
Round 4 fixtures
Next week's picks
