Four rounds of group games have now been completed in the UEFA Europa League and for the three English clubs involved, their destiny remains in their own hands.
Brilliant recovery from the Magpies
Leading the pack currently is Newcastle United. The Magpies sit top of Group D, knowing that a home victory in their next game against Maritimo will be enough to see them progress into the last 32.
They produced a brilliant recovery from 2-0 down to earn a fighting 2-2 draw in Belgium against Club Brugge on Thursday night.
Vurnon Anita scored his first Magpies goal and Shola Ameobi cancelled out the advantage the Belgians had built up.
Alan Pardew has managed to find the right balance between Premier League and Europa League in regards to his squad.
He has the confidence to rest the likes of Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Papiss Cisse for the majority of the group games, firmly believing that his squad players can do the job.
So far, they haven’t let him down with two wins and two draws in a group that also contains French side Bordeaux.
Pardew was delighted with the final outcome, saying after the match: “We hit the bar and had a couple of good situations, but overall, I am delighted. 2-0 down at Bruges, it’s tough.
“They have got pace in their team, so they are always going to be a threat.
“We are going to have to kick ourselves if we don’t beat Maritimo at home next, with all due respect to them.
“We have got ourselves in a great position and are looking to just wrap the group up perhaps with that win there.”
Defoe in dynamite form
This season’s UEFA Europa League campaign has been a frustrating watch for Tottenham supporters, after stumbling to three draws in their first three group matches.
Jermain Defoe put that right on Thursday, scoring a tremendous hat-trick in the 3-1 Group J home victory over Maribor.
The win puts Spurs second in the group behind Lazio but they probably still need four points from their final two games to ensure qualification.
Defoe (pictured) was in dynamite form at White Hart Lane, as he continues to produce his best season to date.
The striker looks happy and didn’t seem too flustered about having been substituted early in the shock home Premier League loss to Wigan Athletic last weekend.
Andre Villas-Boas elected to play 4-4-2 against the very limited Slovenian champions and it will be interesting to see if he sticks with that for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Manchester City.
Defoe has now scored 15 goals in Europe for the Londoners and overtaken the great Teddy Sheringham in the Tottenham all-time goalscoring list.
A relieved Villas-Boas was pleased to see his change in system work at White Hart Lane.
He said: “It was good to see us in this system, with (Emmanuel) Adebayor coming short and linking play very, very well.
“We have been playing with two strikers, but one off the other one, and we are still a team that creates lots of opportunities with one off or with two up front.
“It was good to see the link up of Adebayor and Defoe, but we ended with one striker coming short all the time so it was exactly the same.”
More uncomfortable questions for Liverpool
More uncomfortable questions awaited Brendan Rodgers after Liverpool came up short once again with his eccentric way of football style not delivering results.
A youthful Reds side lost 1-0 in Russia to Anzhi, conceding in the last 10 seconds of the first half to Lacina Traore.
The defeat drops the Merseysiders to second place in Group A, one point adrift of Guus Hiddink’s side.
Perhaps the only crumb of comfort was a fantastic away victory for Young Boys in Udinese, which means a home victory against the Swiss in a fortnight could be enough for progression depending on other results.
Rodgers defended his team selection, after leaving the likes of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger behind for the trip to Moscow.
He said: “They have been magnificent and I thought they did really well and we just got punished for a mistake.
“That led to us losing the game but I don’t think it was anything to do with Suarez, Gerrard, Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel or Daniel Agger not being here.
“It was just one of those things. We will take it as a team, we are disappointed but there are so many positives (to take) from the game.”
Perhaps there were positives and the visitors did control the majority of the game but struggled to create great opportunities.
Although it would be wrong to say that Rodgers should abandon his philosophies, only five wins in all competitions this season would suggest that his principles are taking far too long to be worked out by the players.
Football is a results driven business and at the moment, Liverpool are simply not delivering on that front.
It was largely another encouraging night for the English clubs in the Europa League and at least, all three sides representing the Premier League have control of their own situations, for now at least.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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