Thursday 1 February 2018

Premier League Picks Of The Week 25

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 25

The 25th week of the Premier League action saw:

24 goals - most by Swansea, Liverpool & Bournemouth = 3 each
256 shots - most by Tottenham = 22
68 on target - most by Man City = 10
82 corners - most by Man City = 9
181 fouls - most by Crystal Palace, Newcastle & Burnley = 15 each
22 yellow cards - most by Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Southampton & West Brom = 3 each
0 red cards
5 penalties - 4 scored (Noble for West Ham, Salah for Liverpool, Murray for Brighton, Vardy for Leicester)

What a game! A lot of my predictions went out of the window once again, more to Arsenal's and Manchester United's embarrassing shockers below. Stamford Bridge witnessed a surprise-and-a-half too. Defending champions Chelsea didn't record a single shot on target in the first half. Man of the match Callum Wilson was a constant threat and woke the home side up when the former Coventry striker gave Bournemouth the lead six minutes after the break. Two goals in three minutes by former Hammer Junior Stanislas and former Chelsea centre back Nathan Aké totally downed the Blue ship, where was the defence?! Antonio Conte wasn't a happy man, having a dig at the fact his side had to play on transfer deadline day. I don't think the display nor result cheered the fiery Italian man up... Eddie Howe on the other hand and much in contrast was a very happy and proud man and rightly so, the Cherries unbeaten in six league games and scoring three goals at a top six side in the Premier League for the first time.

What a team! Swansea are flying high, climbing out of the relegation zone for the first time since November (at least for the night, they are still off the bottom after Wednesday's matches) after recording another shock win, this time against Arsenal, 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium. More to that match below.
Manchester City beat West Brom nice and comfortably at the Etihad, widening the gap at the top to 15 points thanks to Fernandinho, an excellent Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Agüero of course and their utter dominance, no surprise there. Pep Guardiola was still shouting and gesturing till the end but surely couldn't have been happier, especially with everyone else around them crashing and crumbling. 15 POINTS!!! FIFTEEN!!!

What a man! Carlos Carvalhal is working wonders at Swansea after seeing the Welsh side record back-to-back wins for the first time this season, shocking Liverpool last week and Arsenal this week, and I believe the Portuguese when he said the win tasted "like honey". Sweet. Arsène Wenger on the other hand is not winning over any fans with this kind of display and only three wins in 13 away league games this season. A top four finish is looking less and less likely for the Gunners. Merde! Ex-Arsenal man Theo Walcott's double that helped Everton beat Leicester on his debut after the January transfer must have added salt to the wound... Putain!

What a goal! Taxi for Petr Čech! What a giveaway it was by the Arsenal keeper to hand Jordan Ayew a tap-in which gave the Swans the lead. Sam Clucas' double either side of that blooper levelled the score just about a minute after Nacho Monreal had given the Gunners the lead and then sealed the win for the Welsh side.
It was a smacker-and-a-half by Emre Can that gave Liverpool the lead at Huddersfield and calmed the nerves. Roberto Firmino doubled the lead from a tight angle before Mohamed Salah made it three goals and three points from the spot for the Reds. Click here for all my match notes.
It was a massive goal for Newcastle against Burnley, especially after their penalty miss, scored by captain Jamaal Lascelles, set up by new signing Kenedy's corner. Clarets keeper Nick Pope saved Joselu's tame spot kick denying the Magpies a breakthrough earlier on. Rafael Benítez's men are the 18th team to win a penalty in the PL this season, Sean Dyche's side and Swansea the only clubs yet to be given one in 2017-18. But the visitors had the last laugh at St James' Park, Sam Vokes levelling the score late on thanks to an evil bounce coming off keeper Karl Darlow, an own goal in the end. More misery on Tyneside. Loved Kevin Keegan's quote in the crowd (see pic). All over the crowd. Wow.

What the hell?! Christian Eriksen put Tottenham ahead against Manchester United with only the sixth touch of the match, 10.44 seconds in! David de Who? The Red Devils (tried to) hit back from the restart, but Spurs held solid, what a start it was at Wembley! But, as it turned out and replays showed, Harry Kane was in the opposition's half on kick-off, the goal shouldn't have stood. VAR anyone? The England top striker kept mocking, beating and running United's defense into bits. Defender Phil Jones' own goal off Kieran Trippier's cross doubled Mauricio Pochettino's side's lead, United boss José Mourinho fuming on the sideline. Not so fuming I bet you when seconds later Antonio Valencia fouled Dele Alli in the box but nothing was given. That's what the English midfielder gets from all his diving... Who wants to be a ref, ey?! It could have been 7 or 8 for Spurs after that, if it weren't for the Spanish stopper that has saved United so many times. It stayed 2-0, three big points for the London side in the race for the top four, their opponents nowhere near them on Sunday, chasing shadows. Mourinwho?

My Predictions - Actual Results
Swansea 1:3 Arsenal - 3:1
West Ham 2:2 Crystal Palace - 1:1
Huddersfield 1:2 Liverpool - 0:3 or my match notes
Chelsea 1:0 Bournemouth - 0:3
Everton 1:1 Leicester - 2:1
Newcastle 0:0 Burnley - 1:1
Southampton 1:0 Brighton - 1:1
Man City 4:1 West Brom - 3:0
Stoke City 2:0 Watford - 0:0
Tottenham 2:2 Man United - 2:0

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match reports, MOTD, Twitter and SFR coverage.

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