Michael Owen expects Barcelona to increase the misery on Arsenal

Michael Owen expects Barcelona to increase the misery on Arsenal by getting another victory in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Catalan club have already secured a 2-0 advantage from the first leg. Those two away goals coupled with the victory mean that their passage into the next round is virtually confirmed. Barcelona have been the strongest team in European football for the last five years and Arsenal have underperformed heavily during this same period. Such differences in quality is likely to tell in the second leg according to Owen.

Owen: Leicester could face relegation battle next season

Leicester City have been a revelation in the 2015/2016 Premier League season as they edge their way towards a title that nobody saw coming, but Michael Owen could see the Foxes becoming embroiled in a fight to avoid the drop next season if they do not capitalise on their success during the summer.

Speaking on the Fletch and Sav Show on BT Sport last month, Owen, who sat alongside Paul Ince as a guest, claimed that Leicester have some big decisions to make with the Champions League money the club will receive if they manage to achieve the fairytale ending to what has been a wonderful story.

Michael Owen says that striker Christian Benteke has struggled in his first half season

Michael Owen says that striker Christian Benteke has struggled in his first half season with Liverpool largely because he has been lacking confidence.

The Belgian international made a big money move to Anfield. He had already established himself as one of the deadliest marksmen in the Premier League during his time at Aston Villa. Many doubted his ability to make an impact at Liverpool since the club largely prefer to play their football on the ground. As expected, the striker has struggled. Despite having a number of opportunities even against lesser clubs, Benteke has struggled to score.

His latest problems came in the win against Exeter City. Despite being presented with several clear cut chances, he failed to score and former striker Owen says that it is simply down to low confidence levels. Confidence is very important to the success of any striker.

Michael Owen is not a believer in Louis van Gaal’s philosophy

Manchester United is having a fairly mediocre season as the English club is currently positioned in the 4th spot of the Premier League after having collected 29 points from the opening 16 matches of the season which have been played so far, they still have a realistic chance of becoming the champions of England but it has been a completely different story for them when it comes to the Champions League.
Louis van Gaal and his players did not manage to make it past the group stages of the Champions League after losing against Wolfsburg and did not have enough points to advance into the next stages of the European competition.

STRIKER MISTAKES COST UNITED

Louis van Gaal has admitted for the first time that he may have made a mistake with regard to selling the likes of Javier Hernandez and strikers in one go. Manchester United surprised many by allowing a number of new strikers to leave the club in the last few summers.

Even though the club brought in Anthony Martial for more than £ 35 million, they are left with only two top strikers to lead the line – Wayne Rooney and Martial. Both players have been highly inconsistent this season and it has been a major reason behind the club failing to score goals on a consistent basis.

SPEED COSTS ROONEY

Andy Townsend is also of the opinion that it’s the lack of speed in the Red Devils’ line up which is responsible for Wayne Rooney not having proved to be as productive in the ongoing season as he usually is.

Rooney has not found back of the net that fluently of late, and on some of the live odds markets like StanJames punters have been able to get as high as 10/1 on him being the next goalscorer!?

You would not like to be too critical of him if you see his overall numbers. Seven goals in 19 games is not that bad a stat to have after all, but, the point to consider is that four out of those seven goals have come in Europe, while, one has come in the Cup which means that he has struck a couple of times only in the Premier League so far and we are already approaching the end of the first half of the season.

Michael Owen claims that Arsenal have the ability to behind the disappointment

Sky Sports pundit Michael Owen claims that Arsenal have the ability to behind the disappointment of the midweek defeat against Bayern Munich to claim a crucial North London derby success this weekend.

Arsenal will be hosting archrivals Tottenham at the Emirates stadium in what is turning out into the top of the table clash between the two teams. Mauricio Pochettino has managed to turn Spurs into a real top four contender this season and they are only a couple of points behind Arsenal after almost 10 matches. Even a draw would be a great result for Spurs, who have been in fine form over the last couple of weeks.

CARRA - CHELSEA HAVE NO CHANCE

The former England defender, Jamie Carragher, reckons that the chances of Chelsea going to claim the Premier League title again seem to be absolutely zero at this stage and rather than aiming for the title, the Blues should now be looking to try and make sure they don’t end up finishing the season outside top 4.

Chelsea slipped down to no. 16 in points table last weekend after suffering another defeat, at the hands of Southampton this time around. It was the fourth time that the reigning champions lost in the top tier in the ongoing season. However, some have still not counted them out of the title race considering the quality that is there in their squad.

Michael Owen confident on Crystal Palace

Former striker Michael Owen believes that Crystal Palace have the ability to take something out of the game against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Alan Pardew’s team come on the back of an impressive away form, while Spurs have been very disappointing at home so far.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have failed to win at home this season, but the game against Crystal Palace is likely to see them build on the win over Sunderland in the last league outing. It finally ended a run of three consecutive draws at the start of the campaign.

FORMATION NOT HELPING ROO

Charlie Nicholas reckons the formation used by the Manchester United management is not doing Wayne Rooney any good and it’s only because of that, the star player has been suffering goal drought for some time.

Rooney’s last strike for the Red Devils came in the first week of April.

It has not happened that often in Rooney’s career that he has gone through such a long period without netting especially while playing in the position of the main forward.