Chelsea v Manchester United has long been one of the go-to games of the football season, so with the first instalment of the 2016/17 season arriving this weekend, why isn’t it our game of the weekend?
Well Bournemouth v Tottenham might have a little something to do with that.
Impressive performances
The season is still young, at just eight games old, but it’s not too far-fetched to suggest that two of the most impressive results of the season have come from Tottenham and Bournemouth.
Manchester City were unbeaten in the league under Pep Guardiola when they travelled to Tottenham, but they found that particular record broken beyond repair after Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side controlled the game and won 2-0.
Two weeks later it was Bournemouth who grabbed everybody’s attention on Match of the Day, putting an astonishing six goals past Hull City as they moved up to 11th in the league.
Chelsea and Manchester United old news?
This might be a touch premature, but are Manchester United and Chelsea both fading forces? The two sides dominated the Premier League for much of the last decade, but with Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham looking strong for the top four, where does that leave the old guard?
With the Blues and the Red Devils fifth and seventh respectively after eight games, right now, scrapping for fourth place is a very real possibility.
And having brought in Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho to oversee their efforts to surge back to the top of the league, would fourth be enough?
Innovative managers
At the start of this season, we were promised an era of super managers. Conte, Guardiola and Mourinho would all arrive in England and battle it out for Premier League superiority in epic fashion. Great news for The Best League in the World.
But actually, it’s two incumbents who are grabbing our attention with their performances. Pochettino and Eddie Howe are two of the most respected managers in the league right now, known for creating teams worth more than the sum of their parts.
Furthermore, Howe has been touted as England’s managerial saviour, while Pochettino earned his stripes as part of a thrilling title race last season, which he ultimately lost to Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City.
Jack Wilshere
There’s some intrigue here, isn’t there? The Arsenal loanee is set to start his fifth game in a row in the Premier League, a big thing for the oft-injured midfielder, and looks to be steadily regaining match fitness with the Cherries.
And with Tottenham visiting the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, Wilshere’s fifth consecutive start will come against one of his fiercest personal rivals. The England midfielder has spent many a trophy parade telling the world about his feelings for Spurs.
Wilshere v Alli could be a bit tasty as well, couldn’t it?
