Player Analysis and Interview with Adebayo Akinfenwa

Akinfenwa had a mixed day in the East Midlands when he scored and was sent off in Wycombe’s 2-0 win over Notts County.

Akinfenwa was the focal point of the Wycombe front line and was key throughout to the attacks Wycombe had. He was excellent in winning aerial duels against the County defence even though he wasn’t close to them in terms of his height but his stature was what made him win those duels. When asked how he gained the ability to be so dominant in duels with defenders he said: “I’m in the team to do that and it’s something I’ve always had in my game and I use to help the team”. He was a thorn in the defence’s side and it culminated in him opening the scoring just before half-time with a brilliant header into the bottom corner which gave the County keeper no chance.

There was some negatives in his game today. He did have a tendency to hold onto the defenders at corners and free-kicks and was given a booking after several of these little challenges. He was given his marching orders around about 75^th minute for a second booking when he clashed with a County defender but thankfully it didn’t come back to bite as County failed to create any meaningful chances. Wycombe will have to find alternatives to Akinfenwa in their next fixture against relegation threatened Leyton Orient.

After the game, Akinfenwa was able to give greater insight into both the victory and in more general areas on Wycombe and his take on the FA Cup draw. On the team’s unbeaten run he said: “we’re 8 games unbeaten, we take every game as it comes, we have Orient next and we have to keep going”. The team worked well and was efficient both going forward and at the back and barely looked troubled by County all afternoon. When asked on the influence Gareth Ainsworth has on the side and whether him being more animated than quiet is a benefit to the side, he said: “the gaffer is a top guy, both on and off the field, he heads, shoots and tackles along with the side”. This approach is obviously working as Wycombe now find themselves pushing up the table now sitting in 5^th place in the league.  In the draw for the 3^rd round of the FA Cup, Wycombe were given a home tie against either Akinfenwa’s former club Northampton or non-league Stourbridge. Akinfenwa’s reaction do it was: “I don’t mind whether we get Northampton or Stourbridge in the cup, the aim is to go as far as possible”. Akinfenwa and Wycombe will be hoping to one carry on this excellent league form and secondly, to get past whatever opponent they get to maybe get a big side in the 4^th round of the cup.

Long Eaton V Holbeach United

Long Eaton United 3-2 Holbeach United

Long Eaton United edged a close encounter against Holbeach today in a thrilling game at Grange Park.

Long Eaton started brightly by creating a number of chances by launching the ball into the box, but to no avail. It was Holbeach however, who took the lead on the quarter hour mark when Aaron Eyett made a darting run at the United defence and he laid the ball on to Stacy Cartwright who’s driven shot into the bottom right corner gave Jamie Hannis in the United goal no chance.

After the goal, Holbeach, did gain more of a foothold in the game and did put more pressure on the United defence, but they had no end product. United then did have an equaliser when a corner was poorly dealt with by Holbeach and Rob McCormick was on hand to slot the ball past, Rick Drury, in the Holbeach net.

United then, took the lead, just before half time when another poorly dealt with corner by Holbeach gave McCormick the chance to flick the ball past Drury on the edge of the six yard box. This gave United, a well-deserved lead going into the half time break.

Holbeach came out for the second half, all fired up and got their equaliser through substitute Jordan Thomas when he snuck in front of Hannis to poke home, to make the second half more tantalising. Holbeach went on to have their best period of the game as they went close but, went narrowly from two attempts, the United defence was at 6s and 7s.

After this bout of pressure though, United turned the tables and on their first counter attack, they took the lead for the third and final time, as the ball was swung in from the left, Shaun Rickford was able to, head in home from four yards.

United did have the lion share of the later chances, and could have gone further ahead, but Holbeach did looked dangerous on the counter. There was one major concern for United, when brace scorer McCormick went down with a head injury and looked really shaken up and had to be taken off but thankfully he remained conscious, so hopefully he’ll be okay.

There was one final chance for United when a shot clattered the bar before Holbeach fired wide.

That was a very enthralling cup tie and its one step closer to Wembley, for United, if they keep up this level of performance and tighten things up defensively then the can push further up the table.

Where can Walsall go after their FA Cup exit

Walsall have exited this season’s FA Cup at the first round after a 1-0 defeat at home to Macclesfield.

Walsall created very little throughout the game except for a few good bursts from right back Joe Edwards and couple of penalty shouts that were turned down.

The tactics of the day were poor and lacked any real impact and it showed as Walsall looked like the conference side and Macclesfield looked the League 1 team. Macclesfield looked strong throughout and were rewarded with a spot in the next round of the cup. There were thoughts that Jon Whitney might shake things up at half time but it was John Askey who changed his system to secure the win by bringing on Mitch Hancox who is a left back for centre back Neill Byrne to add a bit more width to stop Ginnelly from getting many crosses in.

Simeon Jackson barely got any service the whole afternoon except when he had a single shot that bobbled just wide of the left post which was their best chance of the game as well.

The fans grew more and more frustrated as the game went on, as they felt their side could only play the ball either side to side or backwards rather than anything more penetrative.

Now that the team have gone out at such an early stage, they should look towards pushing themselves up the table and into a play-off position. They have great goal getter in Oztumer and a huge talent in Makris who only came off of the bench in the game that can be the difference makers in the league.

Next up for Walsall is a trip to Premier League Champions Leicester and their Under 23’s side in the EFL Trophy. This will a good pallet cleanser for both the players and the fans to get the taste of the FA Cup defeat.

Walsall should use the game to maybe experiment with the line-up and see what works and take that into next week’s fixture against MK Dons.

Why should you support your local side?

   In the modern age of football, you will walk through your town, and see people wearing Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid shirts even though they’ve probably not even been in the country those teams play in.

Coming from North London, I’ve grown up with my local side being Tottenham Hotspur who have faced the Real Madrid’s of the world and I have seen them win major trophies and I see them play in the Premier League week in week out. Tottenham maybe the big local side for me but I also have a special place for Enfield Town who play in the Isthmian Premier League, they may not have the largest fan base and the players don’t even get their own names on the back but those who follow Enfield up and down the country and even abroad shows that football can bring a local community together.

Enfield can boast the fact that they are the first completely fan owned in the country which shows that the community do care about the lowly Isthmian side not just the Premier League powerhouse club. Supporting your local team is important for a multitude of reasons, but the most important one in my opinion is that it can bring the community together who may be divided on other more everyday subjects but will join together as one to either support Tottenham or Enfield Town.

Speaking to fans of both Tottenham and Enfield, they will say that it was their parents or their peer group who influenced the team that they support but as they reach the age they become more independent thinkers they’ll branch off and support a team that appeals to them. I have the privilege of not only supporting my local team but working for them on a match day. Having to get to the ground a few hours before kick-off you will see fans walking around admiring the stadium both new and old, gathering in the little square just off of Tottenham High Street and the general feeling of excitement building ahead of kick off, which makes me feel proud to support a team that might not be in the most thriving of areas but nonetheless brings people together to support their local side

.

Money has made Tottenham less of the local side and more the global brand, so I will go along to Enfield Town, I’ll support the side, speak to players and staff and see the passion they have for a club that may not be of the highest of standards but they feel having Enfield makes them feel a part of the community which they feel is a great honour.

5 Things we learnt from Spurs v Leicester

5 things we learnt from Tottenham v Leicester

Pochettino has no plan B

Pochettino has been praised for his pressing style and free flowing style of play, but, when teams allow Spurs to attack them and they suck up the pressure and hit on the counter. This causes Spurs problems as their game plan gets stuck and unable to create meaningful chances.

At no point, during the game did Spurs change their approach and allow Janssen to get more service which he desperately needs.

This will need to change, when Spurs face sides who play the “park the bus” structure, they will struggle to get wins which is what they need to challenge for the title, which is their aim.

Leicester have become the new ‘Stoke’

Leicester won the title last season, playing with break neck pace on the wings and upfront in Vardy, they have gone to the old “Stoke” way of playing football, where they would pull the opposition players about and make cynical fouls all over the pitch to get under the opposition’s skin. They still play with the same pacey players but others like Huth, Morgan and Drinkwater were biting at Alli, Eriksen and Son all afternoon. It was surprising that Leicester ended the game with 11 players on the field.

Spurs have no killer threat

With the absence of last season’s top goal scorer Harry Kane, Pochettino has called to both Heung-Min Son and Vincent Janssen to fill his boots.

 Son seemed to answer questions at the start but as gone off of the boil recently and Janssen seems to be unable to score from open play, so Spurs have to find someone either already in the team or find a player in January who can come in and help Kane up front.

 Janssen scored his first Premier League goal of the season all bit in from the penalty spot, hopefully it’ll spur him onto a streak in the coming games.

Spurs stay unbeaten but look vulnerable ahead of the NLD

Today’s draw has made it 10 games unbeaten in the league but it also means 50% of their games have ended in draws. This is worrying ahead of the North London Derby, especially that Arsenal are in hot form after beating Ludogorets in the Champions League 6-0 and beating Sunderland today 4-1.

Spurs still have the best defence in the league but they also have the worst attack in the top six. This shows that if Arsenal are able to get ahead next Sunday then Spurs might struggle to get back into the game and this will worry fans.

Kane might be back for Wednesday’s Champions League match V Leverkusen and he might be fit for the game on Sunday but, may be too unfit to play up to his full potential.

Leicester stole a point

Leicester only managed one shot on target in the whole game which was their goal.

This is change to the team that was winning the league last season. They struggled to get a foot hold in the game and were struggling to provide service to the forwards even though there were three strikers on the field in Vardy, Musa and Okazaki and yet they didn’t trouble Lloris in net.

If it wasn’t for a defensive mix up from Spurs gifted Leicester an equaliser, they wouldn’t have gotten anything from the game. Their away day blues may have ended in terms of losing but they need to get back to the form that won them the league last season if they want a substantial reward at the end of the year.

Chesterfield v Scunthorpe match report

Scunthorpe strengthened their position at the top of League 1 table with a win against Chesterfield.

Scunthorpe were on top from the start, however Chesterfield had the first real opportunity of the game when Ched Evans had a shot from just outside the box which was easily gathered by Luke Daniels.

Evans also went close with a header that went just wide, from a Gboly Ariyibi in the 26th minute. Scunthorpe then had a great chance a few minutes later through Josh Morris who fired his shot just wide of the Chesterfield goal.

Ariyibi had another shot that was deflected wide in the 43rd minute, but Scunthorpe had the best chance of the half when Paddy Madden raced through onto goal only for his shot to be saved by Ryan Fulton in the goal.

it was all square going in to the break, but Scunthorpe should have easily been in front but were unlucky not to be.

They did, take the lead shortly after the break when Morris' free kick on the top of the box was able to avoid everyone and outwit the keeper and snuck into the Fulton's right post. They were then able to double their lead in the 60th minute when Van Veen broke into the penalty and his low drive was able to squeeze its way under the keeper's legs.

Scunthorpe were able to tie the game up in the 85th minute when substitute Mantom was played in by Van Veen and he easily beat Fulton.

Chesterfield rarely tested the Scunthorpe defence in the second half, and they really did show the differences in the teams as Scunthorpe showed why they are the league leaders, and Chesterfield showed why they will be facing a relegation battle this season as they rarely threatened this afternoon and gave their fans very little to cheer about.

The man of the match was clearly Scunthorpe’s Josh Morris, who clearly bossed the midfield, and his goal was a little lucky however he did deserve it. The only player who can come away from this game with their head a little higher, is Gboly Ariyibi, who looked dangerous when he was given any freedom down the wing but he was unable to provide much service to Ricky German and Ched Evans up front.

Sam Rush Visit

Sam Rush took time out of his busy schedule to talk to students at the University of Derby.

Sam was asked a number questions varying from his relationship with owner Mel Morris to what his thoughts are on current manager Steve Mclaren.

He wasn’t too happy about the fact that Derby have had five managers in the past 15 months, but is hoping now that Steve has returned from his stint at Newcastle and Sam believes that Steve was the reason for Derby’s resurgence in 2013, and that maybe this year will be a positive one. He wants “the season to last”, which obviously means that they are challenging the teams at the top end of the table rather than at the bottom which is where they currently occupy.

When asked whether or not the EFL Trophy will be beneficial to the clubs on both sides of the fence, he was in agreement that the competition is a great idea as it gives young players the game time that they need however the crowds have been disappointing and this is down to the structure of the competition in his opinion. Sam however, didn’t offer any concrete solutions as to how this can be rectified. He does praise the work of competition organisers of the football league and the premier league as he states that the Premier League 2 and other competitions have aided greatly with the development of Derby’s U23’s as they’ve played the big Premier League sides like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur as well as playing international sides like PSV Eindhoven and Benfica.

He feels that Derby will be a lot better following their win against Leeds on Saturday, and he seems to think that Steve’s return will energise the place and will bring back the ‘Derby’ style of football and he still thinks that Chris Powell will still have a big part to play in the club as he is greatly respected by the club and by Mel.

Finally, Sam wanted to thank Mel for all his work he’s done for the club and that he epitomises the local man who is giving back to his local club. He has done this by putting money back into the club for its development, for example he has invested money into the academy that It’s now a category one academy, one of the very few Championship clubs with this status.

Stoke V Sunderland match report

A Joe Allen double helped Stoke to their first win of the season against Sunderland.

Stoke finally put to bed their winless streak against fellow strugglers Sunderland, thanks to Joe Allen who continued his scoring streak from international duty as he doubled his tally for the season in an afternoon. There was worry though as Allen limped off injured towards the end of the game, but Hughes was quick to reassure fans “he has a high workload and sometimes that can affect his muscles but it’s nothing to be concerned about”.

Hughes was also quick to praise the performance of his players, he added “the performance has been coming, stemming from Hull in the cup. They were excellent from start to finish, hopefully now the noise around us can dissipate a bit”. Stoke really looked a changed team as they were defensively sounds and were able to keep the pressure on Sunderland, throughout and limited the service to Defoe.

The manager, was also impressed with how his players are performing really well after international duty especially Shaqiri and Arnautovic who he said look sharp and focused.

Stoke started brightly as they took the lead on the 7^th minute, as Shaqiri picked up on a poor clearance and fed Arnautovic who dinked in a cross for a simple header, for Allen to put away. Sunderland tried to get back into the game but Defoe could only get a single chance but it was easily blocked by Shawcross.

Just before the break Stoke and Allen added a second, when a corner was poorly cleared to Allen in on the edge of the box and his low drive wrong footed, Pickford in net. There was also a big injury concern for Patrick Van Aanholt who came off with a confirmed abductor injury, with an unconfirmed return date.

Stoke could have made it worse for Sunderland when Arnautovic put the ball in the back off the net when Adam had a shot which cannoned off of Arnautovic into the net but it was ruled out for offside.

Moyes remained upbeat after the defeat saying that if they manged to keep the score 1-0 at half-time then they would have had a chance to get something from the game as he felt that they played better than the score line suggested.

Moyes feels that it’s only a matter of time before they get the win they need. He stated that “we need a bit of momentum to get us going. The supporters never gave up on us today, that’s the lift the players should be using”.

Stoke can now kick on with this first win of the season and can now maybe push up the table and string some positive results together. On the other hand, Sunderland need to get that first win for the players to get their confidence up and fight in a relegation battle.

England U21 5-0 Bosnia U21

Tammy Abraham stars as England comfortably beat Bosnia 5-0 at Walsall.

England ended their qualification campaign with a flourish as they cruised to an easy victory over Bosnia. Bosnia on the other hand started brightly as they applied lots of early pressure and all they lacked was the killer through ball to finish the move.

England took the lead in incredible fashion just after the 15 minute mark, when John Swift picked up the ball on the edge of the box and let fly and exceptional strike which looped over the top the Bosnian keeper and found its way into the top corner.

England didn’t have to wait long for a second, as Joshua Onomah took the ball at the top of the box and his shot was easily saved by the keeper only for striker Tammy Abraham to tap home to double England’s lead just a couple minutes later. England went into the break 2-0 up and cruising as Bosnia hadn’t really troubled Walton in goal.

There was only one injury concern for England and Chelsea as Nathan Chalobah went off at half time to be replaced by Calum Chambers.

England added a third through debutant Joshua Onomah, who cut inside the box and let fly an excellent finish beyond the keeper. England scored a fourth when Jack Grealish, put an inch perfect through ball for winger Duncan Watmore who coolly slotted past the keeper to make it four for England.

Tammy Abraham completed the scoring, on 68 minutes when he ran through on goal and dinked the ball over the keeper to tie the game up for England and ending the qualification campaign on possibly as big as high as possible and gave Aidy Boothroyd a first home win in charge of the U21’s and maintained his 100% record as well.

Abraham probably stole all the headlines with his brace but there were impressive displays across the midfield with Onomah, Swift and Grealish all impressing in different ways with Onomah and Swift picking up goals and Grealish aiding in at least a couple of them, the man of the match decision was a hard one but it was given to Grealish as he probably made the biggest contribution to the game. Boothroyd probably is hoping that he’ll be in charge for Poland in 2017 but only time will tell what the FA will decide upon.

Enfield Town V Dulwich Hamlet match report

Crooks wheeling away in celebration after converting penalty

Match Report

Enfield Town 2-2 Dulwich Hamlet

LATE PENALTY SALVAGES A POINT

A late Billy Crook penalty salvaged a point against Dulwich Hamlet this afternoon at the QE2.

Town could not have wanted a better start, than scoring almost straight from the kick off when Harry Ottaway picked up the ball at the top of the Dulwich box and slotted the ball coolly past Preston Edwards into the bottom corner of the net to the delight of Town fans.

 Town continued to play the ball well, with quick short passes up the field and Mickey Parcell was getting joy down his side, the only thing lacking was a killer pass at the end. Town were really well organised at the back for the opening 20 minutes, with Mark Kirby able to neutralise Dulwich balls in the air and spray the ball out well to the wings.

As the first half continued, Dulwich kept trying to launch the long ball to little effect and the game had very few chances, until around the 30^th minute when the ball was whipped in from the left hand side towards the back post where Carter was waiting to place his header back across Nathan McDonald into the bottom right.

 The Dulwich goal opened the game right up and it became very much end to end stuff, as Town went close when Samir Bihmoutine had a volley which went just over the bar, Dulwich then had a great chance when centre-back Nathan Green, almost ran the entire length of the field to only have his shot blocked by Percy Kiangebeni. The half ended with a final chance for Town when Dernell Wynter was able to break into the box and hit a fierce shot that was saved well by the keeper.

Half-time: Enfield Town 1 Dulwich Hamlet 1

Sub at HT- Kier Dickson off Nigel Neita on

Town again started the half well again creating a chance straight away but was well saved by the keeper. Town then had a free kick not too far out from the Dulwich box which created a chance when it was headed back into the mix by Kirby caused confusion amongst the defenders but was eventually cleared up field.

Dulwich’s change of bringing on Alex Teniola for Daniel Carter seemed to be working a treat as they were creating a lot more chances. Next came a bit of controversy when the referee awarded a penalty to Dulwich, which was calmly converted by Carew slightly after the hour mark.

After this Town Brought on Tyler Campbell for Mickey Purcell which added some much needed pace down the right and Campbell almost made an immediate impact when he had shot which was turned out for a corner by Edwards. Town also took Daniel Wynter off and brought on Tony Mendy.

The game became scrappy after this which played slightly into Dulwich’s favour as it gave them the chance to get outside Town to get in crosses but to no avail.

Town then had a penalty of their own when Neita was brought down in the box almost in slow motion. Billy Crook stepped up to take the penalty in front of the Town fans behind the goal, and it was duly converted into the bottom right corner to set up an exciting finish.

Town had a great chance to win the game when Mendy was sent through on goal but unfortunately his tame finish was easily gathered in by Edwards. There also an excellent run by Campbell at the end but his shot was too weak to trouble Edwards in net.

Full-time: Enfield Town 2 Dulwich Hamlet 2

In a post-match interview with Ottaway, he stated how the team felt on the result saying “we see this as a point gained rather than two dropped as we have to look for the positive result rather than the negative”. This result also extends Town’s unbeaten run to six games and Ottaway stated that “Hopefully our six game unbeaten run can continue but we need to take every game as it comes”. Which is truly the only way to go into the next game thinking. Hopefully this run won’t end and Ottaway can keep scoring.

Notts County v Leyton Orient match report

                                             

                                     

                                                Notts County v Leyton Orient match report

Jon Stead inspired Notts County to their first home league victory of the season with a 3-1 win over Leyton Orient this afternoon.

County edged a very scrappy first half. Orient started the stronger but County gradually grew into the game, culminating in Stead having a double chance half way through the half but this was easily dealt with by Alex Cisak, the Orient goalkeeper.

The game lacked any positive chances in the later part of the half, in which Notts central defender Richard Duffy was cautioned for a handling offence to beak up a dangerous looking Orient attack.

County came out the traps flying in what proved a far better second half. The deadlock was broken in the 53^rd minute when, after good build up play, the ball was played in by wing back Matt Tootle and met by the head of Jonathan Forte. Cisak almost kept it out but an alert assistant referee spotted it had already crossed the line.

Fans had to wait only a couple of minutes for a second goal – a real beauty. Stead picked the ball up on the top right corner of the box, turned and powered a thunderous shot into the bottom left hand corner of Cisak’s goal.

County were reduced to ten men after 68 minutes when central defender Louis Laing was shown a second yellow card. This gave Orient a chance to come back into the game and Paul McCallum duly set up a nervy finish when substitute Jordan Bowery flicked the ball over a defender’s head to the back post, leaving McCallum with an easy chance.

The final moment of the game was a piece of sheer brilliance from County loanee Aaron Collins. Taking a pass from substitute Jordan Richards in the Notts’ half Collins burst into the Orient half, beat one defender for pace, skipped past another and coolly tucked the ball just beyond Cisak to seal the points for County.

The man of the match award deservedly went to Stead whose link-up play was a constant delight until he had to be substituted in the 58^th minute with a hamstring problem. The goal against Orient was his seventh of the season and he now has gone to the top of the League Two goal scoring chart.

Now with County’s unsuccessful home streak ended at the fifth attempt the team can only look ahead with confidence to pushing towards the playoff spots. Orient’s defeat was their first away from Brisbane Road.

Ligue 1 preview 16/17

After looking into Italy, the next league to turn attention to is the, Ligue 1, and there is a lot to cover. For example: can PSG cope with the loss of Ibrahimovic; can Lyon mount a serious challenge on the title this term and how can Toulouse make up the goals that Ben Yedder scored last term to stop them from being relegated.

The First look at Ligue 1 has to be with PSG. The club easily ran away with the league, last term, but with the loss of the league's biggest stars will they still be able to be so dominant. After Ibrahimovic's departure, PSG went about plugging the hole left by him by bringing Hatem Ben Arfa from Nice and moving Cavani back into a more central role, they hope that will replace the role left by the enigmatic Swede. By bolstering the squad depth by bringing in Krychowiak from Sevilla and replacing Van Der Wiel, with young Belgian full-back Meunier that will help them to compete on more fronts in Europe . The arrival of Unai Emery, as manager can only give PSG fans a sense of hope of going further into the Champions League than they have done.

PSG's main rivals to the crown come in the form of Lyon and Monaco. The former will be hoping for more goals from the red hot Lacazette and hoping Fekir can help in that department, they could again test PSG for the crown. they will also hope young midfielder Tolisso and the ageing Valbuena to help offensively and defensively to aid in a title push. Monaco on the other hand could have some optimism for the new campaign as with the signing of Glik from Torino will stop the leak of goals in the back and the return of Germain from Nice who had a good campaign and helped Nice into a Europa League spot will try and bring the also returning, Falcao, back to the form of old that made him so feared by defences.

The one team that could struggle is OGC Nice, who with the departure of star man, Ben Arfa, and the loss of striker Germain could struggle to find that cutting edge up front that they need, to maintain the progress they achieved last season. Their only saving grace is that they weren't a team that conceded a lot so, as long as they are able to find a good source of goals then they will hold up the right end of the table.

Now looking towards the other end of the table, the real concern is with Toulouse, who have lost the player who single headedly kept them afloat last season, in Yassim Ben Yedder. Without his goals they will struggle as they hard a torrid time of defending leads and drew one too many games as to have the chance of staying up. If they find a replacement for Ben Yedder, then things will okay but if they can't I have real fear for them going forward. the other team in the danger zone is Guingamp who avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth and will need the ageing Star Jimmy Briand to fire in the goals whilst Kerbrat needs to marshal the back to keep the goals conceded down.
Lastly of the three promoted sides Dijon are in the danger seat as they lack squad depth and seem to be in for a lack of goals and the side to be the whipping boys of the league like, Troyes, were the previous season.

In conclusion, PSG will need to hope Cavani can find form of old to try and fill Ibrahimovic's boots, but if he can't then there will be ready takers for the crown in Lyon and Monaco who have the calibre of players to win the league but just need to stop the PSG steam train. At the other end I can see the bottom to be propped up by Dijon and followed by Toulouse if they aren't able to find the Ben Yedder replacement.

Serie A 16/17 Preview

As a first post I'd thought of previewing the league of the country I am currently visiting which is

Italia.

The main talking points that are coming out of the Serie A are: how will Napoli adapt to the loss of Higuaín; will Juventus break their own record and secure their sixth consecutive Scudetto and who can if anyone challenge for the crown.

You obviously can't have a Serie A preview with out talking about the 'Old Lady' of Italian football which is Juventus. It's been a busy summer transfer window for the club with many new additions to the fold like Miralem Pjanic; Dani Alves; Medhi Benatia and of course the big one Gonzalo Higuaín for a league record transfer fee. Are these additions just paving the way for the inevitable departure of Paul Pogba to either Real Madrid or Manchester United. Massimiliano Allegri's side will be looking to break the record the club set in the 1930's and win their sixth consecutive Scudetto title. They will need to be at the top of their game as some those teams who have been lagging behind in recent years will out to stop the side from setting further dominance in Italy.

To look at the main rivals to Juventus' crown we have to look at the those who finished in and around them last season and a maybe surprise package.

The main rivals to the crown come in the form of Napoli and Roma. Both have lost key players that made the side tick last season in Higuaín in the former and Pjanic in the latter.  Napoli have looked to Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik to maybe find the goals that Higuaín reached last season and Roma will be looking for the likes of Salah and El Shaarawy to help Dzeko and the ageing Totti to help power them over their rivals. The arguably more likely to challenge is Roma as they have an overall strong spine of a team and excellent players who have the ability to turn games, such as Radja Nainngolan who scored one of the goals of the tournament at the recent Euros and resolute defence shields in Strootman and De Rossi. The defence itself is one of the strongest in the league with an excellent full back in Florenzi who will provide attacking power as well as his defensive ability and they also have supremely strong centre backs in Rudiger and Manolas and the addition of Juan Jesus can only add depth in that area for Roma. The sight of all would be to see Francesco Totti to lift the league in what could be his last season would be a sight for all to see and his crowning achievement.

The surprise package in the Serie A this season could be from Inter Milan. They finished last season in 4th and a grand total of 24 points off of the winners, but with players in the side having an impressive Euro's in Perisic and Eder, and if they keep hold of Icardi then they could prove to be a side to watch in the coming season.

Then to finish off this preview we have to look at those sides down the other end of the table and keeping their heads above water this season. Of the Promoted sides the most likely to suffer the drop is Crotone who lack the quality and depth to stay afloat whereas some who came close last season need to greatly improve as to avoid the dreaded drop this time ride. These are Udinese, Sampdoria and Palermo, who will need to maintain strong form at home and to pick up some on the road as to avoid anxious fans come crunch time in May.

All in all I can see Juventus creating history but if they have dodgy start as they did last campaign, I doubt that the teams around them will be as forgiving this time round, especially with what will be created if they do.