Daybreak, Politics, Entertainment, Sport

Tag: Michael Owen

  • Owen names four teams close to winning Premier League

    Owen names four teams close to winning Premier League

    Michael Owen has named four teams that are close to winning the Premier League this season.

    He mentioned Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham.

    Jose Mourinho’s Spurs have only lost once so far this season to sit top of the Premier League after ten matches, although defending champions Liverpool are only behind on goal difference.

    READ ALSO: Fabregas sends class message to Giroud after Chelsea masterclass against Sevilla

    Big-spending Chelsea are currently third – two points below Tottenham and Liverpool – while Leicester City remain fourth despite losing their last two fixtures.

    Manchester United, Man City and Arsenal are ninth, 11th and 14th respectively after poor starts to the 2020-21 campaign.

    Owen admits the Premier League title race is currently ‘wide open’ but says only four teams can realistically lift the trophy this season.

    He told BT Sport: ‘If ever there was a season where you think a team could win it who you didn’t fancy at the start, it’s this one. It’s wide open right now.

    But I still narrow it down to four teams: Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham. Chelsea have a great shout.’

    Chelsea signed the likes of Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz and Thiago Silva over the summer and Frank Lampard’s side smashed Sevilla 4-0 on Wednesday to top their Champions League group.

    Owen added: ‘Chelsea are looking very good, Lampard has got them playing really well. ‘They’re obviously doing well in the Premier League, but they’re flying in Europe. They made nine changes against Sevilla and were still brilliant.

  • ‘Liverpool’s worst performance in a long time’ – Owen

    ‘Liverpool’s worst performance in a long time’ – Owen

    Liverpool put in their “worst performance for a long time” during a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Atalanta, says Michael Owen, with a positive response called for from a side that did have margin for error in Europe.

    The Reds had opened their continental campaign with three straight victories, with that faultless run lifting them to the top of Group D.

    A rare setback has now been suffered by Jurgen Klopp’s side, with highly-rated Italian opposition leaving Anfield with an impressive scalp on Wednesday.

    A disappointing reversal against Atalanta is the first that Liverpool have suffered across a 90-minute game on home soil since they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Chelsea in 2018.

    Jurgen Klopp’s side have grown accustomed to swotting aside all before them on Merseyside, with records tumbling during a period of remarkable consistency.

    Those standards were allowed to slip against Serie A foes, with injuries and a packed schedule doing the Reds few favours, and Owen wants to see an uncharacteristic wobble shaken from the system as quickly as possible.

    The former Reds striker told BT Sport, with the reigning Premier League champions coming unstuck on the back of an impressive 3-0 victory over Leicester last time out: “It was a really, really poor performance, the worst we’ve seen from Liverpool in a long time. It’s one of those where you go, ‘let’s put this to one side and focus on the next one’.

    “You always must look at the positives. If you are going to have a bad day, you should have it today. 

    “If you said at the start of the group, ‘you need one win from the last two games’, then Liverpool would have taken it. If you are going to lose one then this is not a bad one. It is not ideal but it’s better than on Sunday [against Leicester].”

    Another ex-Liverpool frontman, Peter Crouch, echoed those comments, with Klopp’s side considered to be lacking the spark against Atalanta that has made them so successful over recent years.

    “There wasn’t much urgency, the levels went down slightly,” Crouch said.

    “You looked at [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane and they weren’t in the game. 

    “Credit should go to Atalanta, they stopped them from playing. [Papu] Gomez and [Josip] Ilicic were the two best players on the pitch.”

    Liverpool’s next outing will see them take in a trip to Brighton, with Klopp’s troops facing a quick turnaround as they ready themselves for a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.

    RELATED POSTS:

    Thiago backed to repeat Bayern Munich success at Liverpool

    Deadly December awaits Liverpool after abysmal Atalanta display

    Firmino plays ’12 different instruments’ in Liverpool’s orchestra – Klopp