Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers had a negative debut at West Brom last week as the home side trounced the Reds 3-0 at The Haw-thorns in the English Premier League opener.
Tomorrow, the Reds entertain champions Manchester City at Anfield and Rodgers’s chances of chalking up his first points look somewhat dim.
Earlier this month, club supremo John Henry said the previous owners at Liverpool had let the club fall into a financial disaster. This summer Rodgers was not given any extra cash to strengthen the squad and the only two players signed came from the money Liverpool earned from their Premier League share at the end of last season.
The critics have already started to put the blame on the new manager with speculation rife that he won’t last till the end of the year.
At West Brom, luck also was not on Liverpool’s side as the visitors felt they were let down by the referee on more than one occasion.
The Anfield fans cannot fathom what is happening to the team they cherish so much although the real problems probaly first sur-faced when Liverpool FC was sold to George Gillette and Tom Hicks in 2007.
On Thursday, a second string Liverpool struggled to beat Hearts 1-0 in their Europa League play-off round, first leg at Tynecastle.
Meanwhile, Manchester City started their new campaign the way they had ended the previous one... coming back from 1-2 down to beat Southampton 3-2.
The loss of Sergio Aguero so early in the season is a setback for Roberto Mancini who remarked that points are important at this early stage of the season.
However, City cannot continue to go through the same kind of drama as that of last week.
With the signing of Robin van Persie, Manchester United have underlined their intention to bring the championship crown back home.
After the shock loss at Everton on Monday, United take on Fulham at Old Trafford this afternoon. This week, Alex Ferguson bolstered his rearguard with the capture of another Dutchman – defender Alexander Buttner from Vitesse Arnhem.
Roberto di Matteo opened his full season at Chelsea with three points at Wigan and doubled them up with another victory at home to Reading in midweek.
The Blues play hosts to Newcastle this evening. Last season, the European champions lost this same fixture 0-2 at Stamford Bridge.
This week, Di Matteo was quoted as saying that Eden Hazard’s display of technical ability and burst of speed proved his club have done their homework well before Roman Abramovich splashed £32 million for the midfielder’s signature.
Lately, the Arsenal fans are giving more thought on howtolerant they have become with team manager Arsene Wenger.
After the transfer of Van Persie, the Frenchman was booed by the supporters. This season, they were rooting for the Gunners to avenge the humiliating 8-2 upset to United in August last year. But Wenger thought differently and decided to sell his best player and team captain to the Red Devils.
Tomorrow, Arsenal are at Stoke in search of a win after they failed to go beyond a drab 0-0 draw against Sunderland at the Emirates.
Tottenham will also be all out to bag the three points as they host the rampant West Brom at White Hart Lane today.
Andre Villas-Boas has high hopes that he will survive the season not as he did at Chelsea last year even if his side lost at Newcastle last week.
The Baggies have been buoyed by their fine win over Liverpool. The only promise West Brom’s manager Steve Clarke could make to Romelu Lukaka (on loan from Chelsea) was that he would get more games at The Hawthorns than he did at Stamford Bridge.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Aston Villa-Everton X
Chelsea-Newcastle 17:30 1
Man. United-Fulham 1
Norwich-Qpr X
Southampton-Wigan x
Sunderland-Reading 1
Swansea-West Ham 13:45 X
Tottenham-West Brom 1
Tomorrow:
Liverpool-Man. City 17:00 1
Stoke City-Arsenal 14:30 2
The Championship
Blackburn-Leicester 1
Blackpool-Ipswich 1
Brighton-Barnsley
Bristol City-Cardiff 14:00 x
Charlton-Hull City X
Huddersfield-Burnley X
Middlesbrough-C. Palace 1
Peterborough-Leeds 2
Sheffield Wed.-Millwall 1
Watford-Birmingham 18:20 x
Wolves-Derby County 1
League One
Bournemouth-Preston 1
Brentford-Crewe 1
Carlisle-Portsmouth 1
Colchester-Sheffield Utd X
Coventry City-Bury 1
Doncaster-Crawley 1
L. Orient-Hartlepool 1
Notts County-Walsall 1
Oldham-Stevenage X
Scunthorpe-Yeovil1
Shrewsbury-Tranmere X
Swindon-Mk Dons X
League Two
Accrington-Exeter City X
Aldershot-Cheltenham 1
Barnet-York City 1
Bradford-Wimbledon 1
Burton-Fleetwood X
Chesterfield-Rotherham X
Dagenham-Gillingham X
Morecambe-Port Vale 1
Northampton-Southend 1
Oxford-Plymouth1
Torquay-Rochdale 1
Wycombe-Bristol Rovers X
Hot Four
Chelsea, Manchester United, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur.