PTC Therapeutics Premiership – Gameweek 4 Preview

This weekend sees the return of the PTC Therapeutics Premiership at the Lee Westwood Sports Centre.

We are at the business end of the season now, where every performance and every point is crucial. There are battles up and down the table for the title, the best of the rest and the relegation fight. It looks to be another fantastic weekend of football.

After securing their place in the WFA Cup final, Aspire PFC look strong at the top of the league. It’s been a great season for them, not always playing the prettiest football but certainly showing they have what it takes to be champions. On Saturday, they take on WBA Throstles before a preview of the cup final against Newcastle United Foundation PFC. On Sunday, they begin with a match against Brighton & Hove Albion PFC before the biggest game of the season against fierce rivals West Bromwich Albion PFC. There is a great case to be made that this match could decide the title race already; should West Brom emerge victorious, they will retake 1^st position on goal difference, however, Aspire could win and sit six points clear of the champions. All eyes will be on that game.

AFC Bournemouth Warriors tough season continued throughout the last weekend,  rooted to the bottom of the table, they are the only team in the division not to have picked up a point yet, and they have a very unhealthy goal difference after three weekends. Despite this, they put in arguably their best performance of the season against Aspire, showing true spirit and bravery against the league leaders; this should give them confidence going into this weekend as they face fixtures against Leeds Chariots PFC and Teesside PFC, before some significant fixtures at the bottom of the league against Nottinghamshire PFC and Brighton & Hove Albion PFC. If they can take the desire they showed against Aspire into those games, they should have great belief that their season is not over yet.

Since Gameweek 1, Brighton have been playing with three players, a difficult task for any team, especially a team fighting relegation. Their performances with such a disadvantage have been exemplary; they have fought hard and played with no fear, earning an exceptional 0-0 draw against Northern Thunder. James Mason has stepped up when his team needed him this season and the Seagulls will surely continue to impress the rest of the league with their spirited performances. They will need to be strong as they face the champions West Bromwich Albion, Villa Rockets, and title-chasing Aspire ahead of a huge fixture against AFC Bournemouth Warriors which could boost their survival hopes.

The much improved Leeds Chariots side this season will be looking to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three clubs by taking points from their first two games against Bournemouth and Nottinghamshire. Points here would really benefit Leeds as they have some difficult games against Sevenoaks PFC and Northern Thunder to come on Sunday. Dan Rigby will be looking to regain his England first-team spot and there is no doubting he has the quality to do that and to help his team climb up the league.

Newcastle United Foundation PFC are only moving upwards. A quality season sees them vying to finish 4^th alongside a remarkable run to the WFA Cup final. Sam Smith will be hoping to score more goals for his boyhood club, whilst the impressive Oli Crawshaw will look to build on his recent success in the England development squad. They begin with a competitive game against Teesside PFC, followed by Nottinghamshire and Aspire, a good opportunity to get a feel for their opponents in the final. They then face WBA Throstles and Villa Rockets, both of whom are tussling with Newcastle for that 4^th position. You never know in football, but Newcastle will be confident they can get something from all of their fixtures this weekend.

Northern Thunder made the extremely difficult decision to fold at the end of the season. A real loss to the sport as one of the oldest and most successful clubs. They will hope to end the season on a real high; they still have a chance to win the title as they are only six points off the top and three points off West Brom, who they will play this weekend alongside games against Villa Rockets, Sevenoaks and Leeds. They have the talent and the belief to win the league, so don’t be surprised to see them win these games and potentially pull off a scalp against the champions.

It’s been a tough season for Nottinghamshire, they have really suffered from the absence of Adam Langley from the side. With that in mind, they are only two points away from 10th-placed Brighton after starting to pick up some important points. They have five games this weekend, facing off against Newcastle, Leeds, Sevenoaks, Bournemouth and Teesside. There are some favourable games in there, and they will be confident that they can gather enough points to escape the relegation zone and start to look up the table.

Sevenoaks PFC were mightily impressive last time out; playing with three players, they won both their Saturday games and put in really well-organised performances with a clear plan, making their opponents work extremely hard to break them down. They still occupy 4^th position and will have the opportunity to retain it as they play Northern Thunder and WBA Throstles out of their closest rivals. They also have some favourable matches against Leeds, Teesside and Nottinghamshire. Sevenoaks are a very well-run club with some brilliant technical players who always put in a shift.

Teesside PFC have found themselves slowly falling down the table in recent weekends. Whilst this may look worrying, they do have 17 points so far this season which has them secure. There will be some tight and competitive games for Teesside, who face a strong Newcastle side, before a run of potentially kinder fixtures against Sevenoaks, Bournemouth, Villa Rockets and Nottingham. Teesside games have been known to be close and low-scoring; however, they always create chances, and if they can put them away, Teesside could fly up the table.

It’s been another solid season for Villa Rockets. Their defensive displays are always admirable, and it’s rare you’ll see them give up any more than one goal in a game. What will frustrate Villa the most is their struggles to score multiple goals in matches, they are often very low scoring. After a tricky start against Northern Thunder, they take on Brighton, Teesside and Newcastle with opportunities to gain some more points to further solidify themselves in the race to finish 4^th.

After they were knocked out of the WFA Cup at the hands of Leeds Chariots, West Bromwich Albion will be keen to keep up their winning run since the struggles of Gameweek 2. They are only three points away from the top of the table in 2^nd; however, they have some difficult fixtures on paper. They will expect to beat Brighton ahead of a potential banana-skin against local rivals WBA Throstles. Sunday will be their biggest test as they face Northern Thunder, who will be up for it with the chance to go level on points with West Brom. Then comes the massive game against Aspire; if they can win that game, they will be back to the top of the table. West Brom can show they have what it takes to be Champions if they can find their way through those matches.

WBA Throstles have started to gain some momentum, the squad finally starting to click, and performances are improving, culminating in a superb 2-2 draw with Northern Thunder. They start their weekend against Aspire, where they will be looking to help out their parent club West Bromwich Albion before potentially hindering them as they play them in their next game. Then there is an opportunity to get revenge against Newcastle, who beat them in the WFA Cup semi-final, before taking on Sevenoaks to contest for that 4^th spot. If they can keep up their form, there is no reason why Throstles can’t take 4^th spot by the end of the weekend.

The weekend is going to be magical; so many great football sides, huge match-ups and still everything to play for. We cannot wait.