I’ll start this week by talking about the Ballon d’Or nominees’ announcement, and I see that Harry Kane is the bookies’ favourite to win. Lamine Yamal is up there too after winning the World Cup with Spain, and I feel Michael Olise would’ve had a great chance if France had won the tournament.
I’d have to say that my pick would be for Kane due to the number of goals he’s scored, and after winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
Clinton was speaking courtesy of Free Bets, home of the best betting sites in the UK.
‘Erling Haaland is one of the best number nines we’ll ever see’
There will also be people staking a claim for Erling Haaland too, due to his goalscoring exploits, and I do feel he will win it one day, but this could be Kane’s last chance with all the youngsters coming through now. So with that in mind, I’m definitely Team Harry!
I have to say that Haaland is a joke though, and he scored twice against FC Porto on Tuesday night. His record is phenomenal and he’s just not normal! He scores goals at a ridiculous rate and is one of the best number nines we’ll ever see.
You have players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo that will go down as two of the greatest players of all time, but Haaland is someone who just wants to score goals and isn’t bothered about anything else.
I also like him for how he deals with social media, because he’s a funny guy and has laughs with people. Everyone loves him, he’s a down-to-earth footballer, as well as a brilliant striker. What a special talent, and long may it continue.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has missed out on being nominated, but I think that’s a fair call. He’s won this award too many times already and doesn’t need to win it again.
Raphinha was another big-name omission, and he has been brilliant for Barcelona recently. He can feel hard done by not to be nominated, but Brazil had a disappointing World Cup, and that has to be taken into account.
It’s certainly good that the award is more competitive now after Ronaldo and Messi kept sharing it between them for many years.
Staying with the theme of attacking players, and I have to say that Nicolas Jackson looked good against Club Brugge. I’ve always said he’s a talented player, and I thought he was outstanding for Aston Villa in that game.
He led the line well and took his goal very well. The composure he showed after going around the goalkeeper and putting the ball into an empty net was outstanding. If they can keep him fit and firing, then Villa have got a fine player on their hands.
This is also a player who knows Unai Emery and he’ll know what makes Jackson tick to get the best out of him. With all that being said, I think it’s a good signing for Villa.
That’s especially after losing someone like Ollie Watkins, and getting his first goal for the club can only give him confidence.
They’ve got a big game coming up this afternoon against Nottingham Forest, with both teams only managing a point from their first three games. A result for either team will be massive, and I’m expecting an entertaining game.
The stand-out game this weekend will undoubtedly be at Old Trafford for the Manchester derby tomorrow.
I love it when the derby games are hectic and played at a frantic pace. We’ve seen it previously when Manchester City are the favourites, but Manchester United have got a surprise result.
I’m expecting an open game because Man United look good going forward, and I think they can cause Man City problems.
But at the same time, defensively, they’ve not been looking as good. We saw that last weekend in the 2-2 draw with Everton.
They’ll have a game plan to try and stop Man City and Haaland, so I think it’ll be a fascinating contest.
I’ll end this week by talking about Hull City and their fantastic start to the season. To get seven points from their first three games is a huge achievement, and they can afford to have a few games where they don’t pick up any points.
They’re hard to play against, and Sergej Jakirovic has done an unbelievable job. That’s after they were many people’s tip to go down from the Championship last season.
Everyone’s tipped Hull to go down again this summer, which you expect, but they laid down a real statement of intent after bringing in six players on deadline day.
The chairman’s brilliant, he backs his manager, and they’ve given themselves a real fighting chance of staying in the division.
There’ll be times during the season where they will suffer, but they’ve had such a good start that everyone else behind them is playing catch up. And it’s difficult when you’re playing catch up, because you’re thinking, ‘Where’s the next win and where are the next points going to come from?’
It has certainly been a very impressive start from the Tigers though, and I’m expecting them to perform well in what is essentially a free hit of a game away at Chelsea this afternoon.