Following the chaos of Christmas and the blood and thunder of the FA Cup, welcome back to a slightly more sedate Premier League. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty for the world’s best-paid football managers to get worked up about. The African Cup of Nations, for example…
The Scourge of the Premier League
Of all the international football tournaments, The African Cup of Nations is undoubtedly the unwanted guest at the party, at least from the perspective of Europe’s leading club teams. Unlike it’s European and South American counterparts, the ACON takes place midway through the European domestic season, robbing teams of some of their star players for the best part of a month, if not longer. 19 Premier League players will take part in this year’s tournament, starting in Equatorial Guinea on January 17, with the final played on February 8.
All of which is particularly poor timing for Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City. Having clawed their way back to level points with Chelsea, they’re about to lose their most dynamic midfielder – Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast) – for perhaps as long as six weeks.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Toure to City: the 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 African Player of the Year has played the most game-time of any City outfield player; he’s completed the most passes; had the second highest amount of shots on goal - behind only Sergio Aguero - and, in the absence of any strikers over the last few weeks, scored six goals in his last eight Premier League appearances.
That sort of impact will be difficult to replace, especially for key games against Arsenal, who have no ACON absentees, on January 18, and title rivals Chelsea on January 31, who are only missing John Obi Mikel.
Perhaps City should take a leaf out of West Ham’s book: faced with the prospect of life without their Senegalese top scorer Diafra Sakho, The Hammers yesterday unilaterally informed Senegal’s national team coach that Sakho has a back injury, conveniently ruling him out for the next six weeks.
What are the odds of a speedy recovery?
Life’s a Beach
Saturday’s clash away to Sunderland marks a special occasion for Liverpool fans and, indeed, the Premier League: the game at the Stadium of Light marks the fifth anniversary of the fixture which saw the first, and only, goal ever scored via a beach ball.
We’re sure Pepe Reina's happy he no longer has to face such obstacles while he warms the bench at Bayern Munich.
Ronald Koeman’s Ass
Ronald Koeman’s Southampton had an excellent festive period, picking up seven points from a possible nine, including a win against Arsenal and a draw against league leaders Chelsea. They’ll do well to keep that unbeaten run going, however, as this Sunday they travel to Old Trafford to face Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United in the battle for 3rd place. The Saints have an appalling record against the Red Devils away from home: the last time they beat United at the Theatre of Dreams, Dutchman Koeman was doing this in the semi finals of the 1988 European Championships:
That’s a West Germany jersey he’s wiping his ass with, in case you were wondering.
Efficient Villains
Aston Villa are the most efficient team in the Premier League when it comes to earning points from goals, averaging an impressive two points for every time they’ve hit the back of the net (compare that to Chelsea, who are averaging just 1.05 points per goal).
And it’s a good job too, because only two teams in Premier League history have scored fewer goals than Villa by this points in the season: Manchester City back in 1995/96 (pre oil money) and Derby County in 2007/08. Both were relegated.
You can follow Robert Gordon on Twitter here.
