Football's Mad Weekend And Balotelli Rumours

That was the strangest weekend for football in the Premiership with all of the top five teams dropping points.

The only thing at Confidential we’re a little worried about is the lack of a Balotelli rumour on Twitter over the last two days.

United and Chelsea had the worst two results losing at home to Blackburn and Aston Villa respectively.

United’s 2-3 defeat came complete with a bizarre team selection full of players starting in unexpected positions and a bench of unknowns. Meanwhile naughty Rooney was up in the stands with Giggs, the former kept out of the team for having a cheeky meal out with booze following the resounding victory earlier in the week over Fulham.

Placing Valencia behind Rafael was maverick from Sir A F as the gruff old champion celebrated his seventieth birthday.

Keeping faith with De Gea was even more mystifying. The young Spanish goalkeeper looks out of his depth. Compared with the confidence that top goalkeepers must exude – think Joe Hart at City or Tim Krul at Newcastle – the lad seems as weak as a shrew.

Meanwhile Anders Lindegaard, the reserve goalkeeper, seems the real deal, strong, arrogant and agile. It’ll be interesting to see who keeps net for United on Wednesday against Newcastle.

Across at the Etihad the Christmas and New Year fixtures proved a tribulation as well. A draw to West Brom and a loss to Sunderland were doubly irritating in proving that temporarily at least the skyblue goal machine is under a cloud. Still a swift look at the benches of United and City shows that with the household names on the latter’s bench this is still their Premier title to lose.

The results over the weekend have led to a general discussion about whether this is the poorest Premier League in years.

Chelsea, in particular, appear in danger of finishing outside the top six. With both Liverpool and Arsenal rebuilding, and United and Chelsea fading, the coming boys seem to togged in white.

Tottenham Hotspur should finish in the top three unless they have one of their spectacular crash and burn moments. Their swashbuckling attacking play is a joy to watch. Bale is their talisman, a superfast, powerfully built player with skill in his toes.

Quality issues aside, the parity shown in matches over the weekend, makes the Premier League more interesting to watch than other. Football thrives on unpredictability. No one wants a Scottish or Spanish situation here.

So more power to the likes of Blackburn and Sunderland.

In Manchester we want it to be a top two situation for the city come the end of the season: a manifestation of footballing ascendency, but this weekend's cautionary tales don’t detract from the league but add to it. They make that run-in more exciting.

The only thing at Confidential we’re a little worried about is the lack of a Balotelli rumour on Twitter over the last two days.

Not that we didn't find it odd to see him riding to training this morning at Carrington on a Shire horse, dressed as Napolean.