Here is team by team analyses of what should be done to sustain the tempo by clubs in premiership this weekend.Considering the fact that all the clubs are in the transfer market to strengthen their teams.The impact of big spending is already showing in the club performance, thereby puting presure on others to follow suite.See the full analyses after the cut
6) Will Conte combine Costa with Batshuayi?
Chelsea have made an excellent start to the season; nothing compares to the joy of a late winner, and they have conjured two in two games. But the model is unsustainable; teams who are regularly involved in close encounters are rarely champions. Though it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions after just two games, it is hard not to assess Chelsea’s squad and apprise a lack of goals and general attacking variety compared to their likely competitors. The other side to their six points so far reveals a side struggle to penetrate.
Much as Antonio Conte likes a system, it is time for him to find a way of pairing Michy Batshuayi with Diego Costa, in order to compensate for the relative absence of transcendental talent. Batshuayi is dynamic, well-rounded, tough to mark – and, most importantly, in scoring form. For the majority of strikers, this is not a constant, so full advantage must be taken whenever it occurs. The likelihood may be that Chelsea win at home to Burnley whoever starts up front, but they also need to find a way to win the league. That requires the top or second-top scorer, a feat which looks well beyond a front three of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Pedro or Willian.
1) Matip can be Liverpool’s defensive marshall
If he can keep his head while all about him are losing theirs, then Joël Matip could be the ideal man to bring order to Liverpool’s defence at last. The Cameroon international was signed back in February but did not join from Schalke until this summer and then missed much of pre-season with an ankle injury. But on Tuesday he made a belated and encouragingly uneventful debut during the stroll past Burton Albion. Saturday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur represents a far tougher test but Jürgen Klopp must be tempted to start Matip at White Hart Lane as he continues trying to repair a defence that remains alarmingly rickety. Matip’s aerial prowess should help improve Liverpool’s ability to defend set-pieces and he is a sound tackler and tidy builder from the back, but what his team need most in the absence of further defensive recruits is an organiser who can somehow instil concentration and calmness into chronically skittish team-mates. Of course Liverpool fans would welcome more brilliance from Sadio Mané, Philippe Coutinho and the rest of their attack-minded mischief-makers, but it will take solid defending at White Hart Lane to stoke belief that Liverpool can combine thrills with a successful title challenge this season.
Go The Guardian UK for more
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