ChippKG

So we are at the end of the International break and I imagine that for many Premier League fans including myself it is a good time to reflect on what the Premier League has already served up this early on in the season. Reading through some of my tweets on a Sunday night with my warm cup of tea at my side, I noticed that Southampton have now gone a total of 382 minutes without conceding a single goal. So I decided to read more into how big an impact Southampton's defence have had in their recent up-rise to the top 4 of the Premier League. Here's another little gem for all the stat-lovers amongst us, Statistically only Roma have a better defence than Southampton in Europe's top 7 leagues in '13-14. Not bad seeing as they are above the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcalona, Juventus and Real Madrid. A stat that will please Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff at Southampton I'm sure.  So why has Southampton's defence been so solid and successful so f...

 These days South West football doesn't have a great deal to shout about with only one team above the third tier of English Football. No disrespect to Yeovil of course. However it does have one of the most feisty affairs in English football approaching. The Bristol derby. To many people outside the South West this may seem like a mediocre or average derby like you would get between the two Manchester clubs or the two Sheffield clubs. I assure you though that there is much more at stake in this match then just bragging rights.  Both Bristol clubs have had rather glum starts to the new season with Bristol City making a stuttering start to League 1 football by picking up just 2 points in 4 games and still waiting for that all important first win in the league. Although a hard-fought victory in the week against premier league side Crystal Palace would have restored some pride and confidence in the side.City are likely to be without Stephen Pearson, Ryan Taylor and Liam Kelly d...

So today Roy Hodgson announced his England squad for the upcoming friendlies which should provide an indication for selections over the not-too-distant World Cup Qualifiers against Moldova, Ukraine, Montenegro and Poland. The squad announced today was as follows: Goalkeepers : Ben Foster, Joe Hart, Alex McCarthy. Defenders : Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Joleon Lescott, Kyle Walker. Midfielders : Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott. Forwards : Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck In this squad there were not too many surprises but the reaction to one or two of the players being chosen did surprise me. This squad will be missing two important figures to that team. They are Jack Wilshere and Steven Gerrard who will both be missing these friendlies against Republic of Ireland and Brazil through injury. Jack ...

Theo Walcott has signed a new contract that will see him get £100,000 a week for 3 years at Arsenal. This comes after a array of dazzling performances from Walcott including a hat-trick against Newcastle. He currently has 14 goals this season and has been earning comparisons to Arsenal legend Thiery Henry after featuring in more of a central striker role. The deal will also make Theo Walcott the second highest paid player at Arsenal behind Lukas Podolski. The 23 year old has a bright spark in what has been a quite inconsistent Arsenal team this season and remains Arsenal's top scorer this season with 14 goals in 21 games. That includes 2 hat-tricks against Reading and Newcastle. He has been a man in sizzling form. Though not recently. This deal does though come as a mighty relief to Arsenal fans who have been frustrated by the recent selling of Arsenal's key players such as Robin Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri a...

S o Norwich AND Sunderland have this evening have put in a  £5m for Swansea's Geordie born striker Danny Graham. But can Swansea really afford to lose him? Who else do Swansea have as a striker?  Let's investigate this.  The 27 year old Englishman has this season been over-shadowed by the staggering performances of fellow striker Michu. The Gateshead born striker currently has 7 goals in 20 appearances for the Swans this season but his frustration over lack of game time has put Premier League clubs Norwich and Sunderland on high alert.  Now both clubs have made bids believed to have been around the  £5m mark for him. Although Graham hasn't had what can perceived as a glittering career, like fellow Englishmen Leon Osman, Scott Parker and Gareth Barry he is a late developer in his footballing career and he just keeps getting better with age.  Having started out at Chester-le-Street Town Graham then moved to Middlesbrough...

There have many great bargains in Premier League over the years. The likes of Eric Cantona, Robin Van Persie, Demba Ba, Joe Hart, Tim Cahill and Shay Given were all come to mind and were bought for under £2 million in their early careers and went on to achieve great things with various clubs. Another that you may be able to put in that list is Swansea's Spanish Superstar Michu. A lot of people at the start of the season would have put Swansea as one of the first teams to be on the cusp of relegation with the void left from the departing Brendan Rodgers and the loss of key players such as Gylfi Sigurðsson and Joe Allen. However under the new management of Michael Laudrup, Swansea are thriving. A large part of this success has been through a astonishing signing, ex Rayo Vallecano striker Michu. Michu has notched up a stunning 13 goals in just 20 games and is currently joint third highest goalscorer in the Premier League with only Luis Suarez and Robin Van Persie ahead of him. N...

In the well publicised recent decent of Liverpool there really haven't been many things for Liverpool fans to shout about. Though when talking about Liverpool it would be hard to not to mention a certain Uruguayan who headlines Liverpool's attacking threat at the moment. I am of course talking about controversial Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. A constant threat in attack, Suarez currently has 16 goals this season in 26 games which makes he Liverpool's top scorer so far this season. For those of you who have seen Luis Suarez play then I suspect that you will agree when I say that he is a phenomenal talent and a joy to watch when in form. A consistent performer Suarez has at times looked like a class above many other players at Liverpool. Many people have even hailed Suarez as one of the best strikers in world due to his dazzling technical ability and his deadly threat from long range. Though Suarez unlike most strikers does like to attack from different positions such as ...