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IKTS Week 21: At home to the resurgent Red Devils.

Unbelievably, Lampard made all the correct decisions after his men fell behind. He took out the vulnerable Emerson, switched the experienced Azpilicueta to the left, and put in Jorginho to help control Ozil. After that, Chelsea had the best chances, but they only converted on a blunder by Leno, and a counterattack born of the Gunners desire to retake the lead. Chelsea used rotational fouling and the referee was lenient many times with Lampard’s men, but only once with Arsenal, when Guendouzi pulled Abraham right outside the surface. Jorginho should have been sent off for his foul on Guendouzi, one of many he committed. Before this controversial moment, Chelsea were in the ascendancy, and Arteta should have subbed Lacazette and Guendouzi in favor of Willock and Pepe. When Saka slowed down completely, he should have made another change. In retrospect, selling Monreal was a bad idea, as both Tierney and Kolasinac are out. At least AMN is a solid deputy for Bellerin on the right, with Chambers and Mustafi, who have both played there in the past also useful (somehow) as backups. Right now, we have six or seven defenders out of commission for a while. We hope for a miracle against Manchester United. Other action included a VAR-filled game that saw Liverpool beat Wolverhampton 1-0. Tottenham tied Norwich away, Leicester beat West Ham in London to spell the end of the Pellegrini era, Manchester City beat Burnley away, and Manchester City took care of Sheffield United.

Scores for the week:

Geaux_HR 13 (2)
ClevelandJames 10 (0)
Ray from Norfolk, Virginia 8 (1)
hansdampf 5 (1)
inthekcmix 5 (0)

Stars of the week: Geaux_HR had an excellent week on 13 points (and two correct IKTS predictions) ahead of ClevelandJames on 10 points (but no correct IKTS predictions) and Ray from Norfolk on 8 points (and one correct IKTS prediction) with hansdampf and inthekcmix a few points behind.

Clever pick of the week: Geaux_HR predicted the exact scoreline of 1-2 for Newcastle versus Everton, hauling 3 points (and one correct IKTS prediction) with ClevelandJames scoring 2 points for the correct outcome and goal difference, while the other participants hauled bagels.

Crisis pick of the week: Only hansdampf failed to predict a win for Manchester City at home to Sheffield United, while the other participants had the correct outcome.

Standings after week 20:

Geaux_HR 181 (27)
Ray from Norfolk, Virginia 152 (19)
ClevelandJames 143 (15)
hansdampf 135 (16)
inthekcmix 119 (15)
sammy dog 68 (7)
Le Poulain Francais 64 (8)

Overall, Geaux_HR now has a 29 point lead, while the fight for third place is still close, but ClevelandJames has taken a significant lead in the race.

Cup game(s): None.

Cup standings:

Ray from Norfolk, Virginia 7 (1)
Geaux_HR 6 (1)
inthekcmix 4 (0)
hansdampf 3 (0)
sammy dog 3 (0)
ClevelandJames 2 (0)
Le Poulain Francais 0 (0)

Overall, Ray from Norfolk is still in the lead, with Geaux_HR one point behind, while inthekcmix is in third place.

Upcoming schedule:

Week 21: Wednesday January 1 and Thursday January 2:

Brighton – Chelsea
Burnley – Aston Villa
Newcastle – Leicester
Southampton – Tottenham
Watford – Wolverhampton
Manchester City – Everton
Norwich – Crystal Palace
West Ham – Bournemouth
Arsenal – Manchester United
Liverpool – Sheffield United

Cup game: FA Cup on Monday January 6:

Arsenal – Leeds

COYG!