Domestic football has been on hold over the past week while the battles have been raging in Europe, and the big football nations all aim to be in Germany next year for Euro 2024.
There has been great entertainment and a chance for English football fans to see some of their heroes in action for their countries, a good number of them scoring crucial goals. While Premier League players, Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Manchester City’s Kyle Walker scored in England’s 1-1 draw with Ukraine, Liverpool striker Cody Gakpo has been in red hot form for the Netherlands. He scored in the Oranje’s 3-0 win over Greece last week and he was on target again on Sunday night as the Netherlands came from behind to beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1.
Gakpo levelled from the penalty spot before being subbed with seven minutes remaining; and Liverpool fans hope his form will continue when the Reds open the Premier League weekend with a game away to struggling Wolves.
Elsewhere, Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski were both on target during Sweden’s 5-0 rout of Estonia and their international boss Janne Anderssson says he expects Isak, in particular, to take the scoring responsibility on his shoulders.
Another Spurs man, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, set Denmark on the way to a 4-0 romp over San Marino and the Whites, currently second in the Premier League table will welcome both their European stars back, along with Heung-Min Son who is in action for South Korea against Saudi Arabia in Newcastle on Tuesday.
Better news for Blues after Mudryk scare
The internationals can also be a worrying time for managers and fans of Premier League clubs as their stars are at risk of injury while on overseas duty. But Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk seems to have recovered from a knock he received during Ukraine’s 1-1 draw with England. He was substituted in the final minute of normal time after signalling to the Ukraine bench that he felt a pull in his calf. But he was back in training with his international colleagues on Sunday.
The 22 year old was in a collision with England’s Walker when he felt the pain and Chelsea fans feared the worst, but he was seen running without discomfort when the Ukraine players went back in for training the following day. Manager Sergey Rebrov has listed Mudryk in his line-up for his team’s crucial tie against Italy in Milan on Tuesday. With England leading the way in Group C, Ukraine are in a battle for second place with the Azzurri who have recently lost their manager Roberto Mancini to the Saudi Arabia team and have appointed Napoli’s Scudetto winning boss Luciano Spalletti on a three year contract.
Chelsea already have 11 squad members out injured and their fans and boss Mauricio Pochettino will be watching Ukraine’s clash with Italy with some anxiety. The Premier League 2023 betting odds here at SBOTOP reckon the Blues have a tough task ahead as they try to return to the top four, and they need numbers back quickly…without the situation getting worse.
Some Hammers fans should be careful what they wish for
In other Premier League 2023 news David Moyes’ West Ham United have made a great start to the new league campaign and currently sit proudly in fourth place with ten points from their opening four games. The wily Scot led the Hammers to their first piece of silverware in years as they lifted the Europa Conference League last May. But the sale of captain Declan Rice had some worried Hammers questioning the direction of the club, and there are a few of the more sentimental types who think their club’s name is synonymous with playing beautiful football.
There have been rumblings on social media that Moyes’ pragmatic style is not the ‘West Ham Way’ but, over the past few years their club has been managed by Alan Pardew, Slaven Bilic and even Sam Allardyce.
So what exactly is the ‘West Ham Way’?
It wasn’t winning trophies until Moyes turned up… but it was dipping, now and then, into the Championship.
Things are going well at the London Stadium but fans, and indeed owners, can be fickle and with Manchester City and Liverpool to come over the next two games the mood may begin to change if results don’t go their way. Moyes has recently been joined at West Ham by former Ajax boss John Heitinga, and the two of them worked together during a successful period at Everton.It would be madness for the West Ham owners to consider a change at the helm, even if the Hammers settle into mid-table and the fans start to apply pressure; but then madness is often a feature of the game when it comes to hire and fire!
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