English Week: chess at Goodison Park, Newcastle get coveted striker

Everton have had a heartbreaking week as they finish the season without Rafael Benítez after losing at Carrow Road. Watford face crucial games in the fight for retention and the Citizens have the title in their hands. These are not the only topics we will discuss in the English Week.

The Canaries sang goodbye to Benítez

Rafael Benítez is giving the city by the river Mersey a vale. The engagement at Goodison Park ended ingloriously for the sixty-one-year-old Spaniard – in half a season he made the European Cup aspirant a relegation candidate. After Saturday’s game with Norwich, Everton were only six points clear of the relegation zone.

It was the game against Norwich, the worst team of the season so far, that the Toffees lost 1-2. The Canaries had only eight goals scored before the Round 22 match, but with two more goals they “sang” Benítez’s final song. The new Everton manager has a tough job ahead of him in the rescue battle.

Despite the poor results, it was full speed ahead at Goodison Park

There has been speculation about Benítez’s future on the Everton bench since the run-up to Christmas, yet the squad has been tailored to the Spaniard’s delight. Lucas Digne, whose quality would have helped with their stay in the Premier League, has been forced to move to Aston Villa. In the opposite direction went Villans winger Anwar El Ghazi, Vitaly Mykolenko came in for the French midfielder and Nathan Patterson strengthened the other end of the defence.

But all of these transfers happened during Benítez’s tenure. Will the new owner also be willing/forced to work with new faces in the Everton jersey?

Watford start ‘rescue campaign’ with a draw

Claudio Ranieri’s team had lost seven games in a row but managed to defend a valuable point for a 1-1 draw at St. James’ Park. Watford are currently 17th with 14 points, occupying the first non-relegation place in the table.

The Hornets will try to defend this position in straight games. Already on Tuesday, January 18th, Kucka and co. will face Burnley and on January 21st they will face Norwich. These two games could see one of the aforementioned teams at the bottom of the table.

Daylight robbery at Turf Moor

A £25m buyout clause that few insiders knew about. Thanks to the players’ agency (also representing Trippier), Newcastle found out about the clause in Chris Wood’s contract and the desperate search for a striker was over.

Burnley not only lost a three goal scorer, but also a thug at the tip of the attack. Conversely, Newcastle have significantly weakened a direct competitor in the rescue battle. The New Zealand striker cannot be expected to shoot the Magpies’ way to stay in the Premier League, but Saint-Maximin or Fraser can benefit from his work for the team.

A definitive title for Manchester City

If after Arsenal’s match with Manchester City (1::2) we talked about the title for Pep Guardiola’s charges as an almost sure thing, then after a well-deserved win over Chelsea (1::0) the Premier League winner is decided. The Citizens have already increased their lead over Liverpool to eleven points and, more importantly, have shown that they are a level above the rest of the English league in terms of football.

Coutinho made a fine return to the Premier League

He struggled at Barcelona, but came alive in a matter of minutes on Premier League turf. Philippe Coutinho played only 22 minutes for Aston Villa, where he came on loan, but managed to score his debut goal and had the lion’s share of Jacob Ramsey’s goal.

Thanks to the twenty-nine year old midfielder, the Villans drew 2-2 with Manchester United

Source: Transfermarkt