Premier League Picks Of The Week 14

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 14

The 14th week of the Premier League action saw:

266 shots - most by Tottenham = 28
37 goals - most by Arsenal & Tottenham = 5 each
223 fouls - most by Swansea & Liverpool = 17 each
42 yellow cards - most by Chelsea, Saints, Swans, Arsenal, Hammers, Sunderland, Stoke & Man United = 3 each
3 red cards - Agüero & Fernandinho for Man City & Pereyra for Watford
3 penalties -  3 scored (Kane for Spurs, Baines for Everton & Wilson for Bournemouth)

Thumbs up, happy Pardew 👊🏻😉👍🏻

Jolly, chatty Mourinho 😑😑😑

Taxi for Forster ⚽️😱🙈😱⚽️

What a game! There were plenty of goals and talking points again this weekend, but the clash at the Etihad gets my vote. It had a little bit of everything. Gary Cahill's own goal opened the scoring for City. Kevin De Bruyne was made to pay for his miss right in front of goal when stubborn Cesc Fabregas levelled the score minutes later. Willian's counter break, run and take and Eden Hazard's whack made it 1-3, another counter, winner and devastating statement that crushed Pep Guardiola's men, mourning all their earlier misses dearly. And the mayhem at the end that saw Sergio Agüero sent off for his outrageous scissor tackle on David Luiz and Fernandinho walk off with him for his chokes and push on Fabregas just topped it all off, the latter lucky not to end up in the books too for his cheekiness. Although, I am sure the FA will pull up, question and punish both sides for the teams clashing as they did, either way, Antonio Conte's men ended up on top of it all, with or without outstanding class or quality.

What a team! And Leicester's downfall continues. Their defeat at Sunderland sees Claudio Ranieri's side hover two points and two places above the relegation zone having taken just 13 points from the opening 14 games, 14 places and 16 points worse off than at this stage last season. David Moyes will be a much happier man seeing his side record their third win in four games thanks to Robert Huth's own goal and non-other than Jermain Defoe, plus great late saves by Jordan Pickford, taking the Black Cats up to 18th, one point behind West Ham in 17th.

What a man! Alan Pardew was all smiles and thumbs up to chairman Steve Parish, thanking his boss for backing him up against the pressure and scrutiny of the board and lack of form, and paying him back with a win, a comfortable and confident 3-0 against Southampton. The win takes the Eagles up to 14th with a nice little three-point cushion to the relegation zone. Claude Puel's side meanwhile crumble down to 12th continuing their poor away form with a win rate of just 14%.

What a goal! Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cracker to make it 1:4 for Arsenal destroyed any hope the Hammers had of a comeback after Andy Carroll had headed one back. And man of the match Alexis Sánchez's cheeky step, tip and tap dummy up and in (looked offside but) sealed the thrash 1:5 and his 14-minute hat-trick nicely. This confident win sends the Gunners shooting up to second place, three points and two goals behind the high-flying Blues.

What the hell?! That's what Jürgen Klopp must have thought seeing his side give away a two-goal lead at the Vitality Stadium. The Reds led comfortably at half-time, 2-0 up thanks to Sadio Mané and Divock Origi, in total control and dominance. After the break, Bournemouth hit back from the spot, Callum Wilson converting the penalty. Emre Can restored that two-goal cushion but super-sub Ryan Fraser turned the game around, scoring in the 76th, providing for Steve Cook to equalise two minutes later, and helping in the buildup before Nathan Aké netted the winner in stoppage time. Breathtaking and mind-bending stuff! It was only the 23rd time in 1,062 occasions that a team that was 2-0 up ended up losing = 2.1%, nearly unique! Unglaublich! Click here for my full match report.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Man City 2:2 Chelsea - 1:3
Crystal Palace 0:1 Southampton - 3:0
Stoke City 1:2 Burnley - 2:0
Sunderland 1:2 Leicester - 2:1
Tottenham 2:1 Swansea - 5:0
West Brom 0:0 Watford - 3:1
West Ham 1:3 Arsenal - 1:5
Bournemouth 1:2 Liverpool - 4:3 or click here for my full match report
Everton 2:3 Man United - 1:1
Middlesbrough 0:0 Hull City - 1:0

My worst prediction week yet!!!

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports