Premier League Picks Of The Week 22

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 22

The 22nd week of the Premier League action saw:

29 goals - most by Leicester & Man City = 3 each
269 shots - most by Bournemouth = 26
89 on target - most by Bournemouth = 8
118 corners - most by Bournemouth = 12
202 fouls - most by Brighton = 13
28 yellow cards - most by West Ham, Stoke & Arsenal = 3 each
0 red cards
0 penalties

What a game! I got out of breath watching Brighton against Bournemouth on New Year's Monday lunch time, neither side holding back, end-to-end stuff, brilliant to watch, 41 shots attempted between the two, the most in a single Premier League match so far this season. It ended 2-2 at the Falmer Stadium, a couple of beautiful team goals by the home side, Anthony Knockaert converting José Izquierdo's unselfish pass nicely and Glenn Murray with a smashing shot, Steve Cook heading in the equaliser in-between, lots of close chances for both sides and a scruffy second leveller by Callum Wilson to finish it off for the visitors. Great entertainment, the sides finishing 12th and 13th respectively.
Wednesday night's London derby was a thriller-and-a-half too at the Emirates, it all happened in the second half. Arsenal and Chelsea shared out 33 chances between each other, but it was Héctor Bellerin's injury-time strike that decided the result, a 2-2 draw, a point each. Gunners boss Arsène Wenger was not happy with the Blues' penalty that got them back into the match, Eden Hazard with the spot-kick a couple of minutes after Jack Wilshere had given his side the lead with a stunning high-fired strike. Antonio Conte's men must have thought they had nicked the perfect comeback when Marcos Alonso netted Davide Zappacosta's low cross to make it 1-2 in the 84th minute. But Bellerin spoilt that show with a superb half-volley to grab a point for the home side. Zappacosta saw a shot bang off the crossbar in the dying seconds, but it stayed 2-2. Breathtaking end.

What a team! 38 seconds into the game, Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock unmarked. After the fastest goal in the Premier League this season, Watford had no chance at Manchester City! Marco Silva's side have lost four out of the last five, whilst Pep Guardiola's men made it 20 wins out of 22 league games, 15 points clear at at the top. End of the crises after last week's dip.
At the other end of the table, West Brom are now 20 games without a win as Andy Carroll's double, his first two goals of the season, including the last-minute winner completed a dramatic turnaround for West Ham. Hammers boss David Moyes went mad celebrating the escape out of the drop zone. Baggies manager Alan Pardew was heart-broken by another late defeat, blaming his side's tired minds after only two days rest compared to the opposition's week off. That does not excuse their long miserable run though, which sees them drop down to 19th, level on points with bottom side Swansea.

What a man! Mark Hughes saved some of his players in the thrash against Chelsea on Saturday, to then go on and lose at home against Newcastle a couple of days later, thanks to Ayose Pérez's goal, and their keeper Karl Darlow with some spectacular saves. How much longer will he be Stoke manager as they are sliding down further and further with their worst run in over three decades?! And this result could have been even worse if Ciaran Clark wouldn't have missed a sitter from a couple of yards out... (And as I am editing and publishing this belatedly, my question was answered and the inevitable happened, Hughes sacked after Potters got kicked out of the FA Cup third round at League Two side Coventry City.)
And Crystal Palace are in form with only one loss in the last 11 after they made a great comeback at St Mary's beating Southampton 1-2. Shane Long's first goal in 11 months was not enough as James McArthur and Luka Milivojević replied to turn the game around with a gutsy response and performance. Saints slip down to 17th after nine games without a win whilst Palace are booming. Is Mauricio Pellegrino the right man for the Saints? Roy Hodgson certainly is for Palace! Wow!

What a goal! It was a great right-footed take by Riyad Mahrez to give Leicester the lead against Huddersfield, some sloppy defending beforehand helped though, too. Islam Slimani doubled the lead for the Foxes with his first goal for the club. And Marc Albrighton made it three goals and three points for Claude Puel's men.
Liverpool's Sadio Mané broke the deadlock at Burnley with a smacker from the edge of the box, left-footer on the turn, after a very frustrating hour of football in the pouring rain. There was some late drama with two goals in the last few minutes, but the German boss Jürgen Klopp ended up all smiles. Click here for my full match report.
Antony Martial's opener for Manchester United at Everton was also a great individual unstoppable hit from the edge of the box. Jesse Lingard doubled the Red Devils' lead with a similar smacker into the right top corner of the net. Two great goals, three points for José Mourinho's side, leaving Big Sam loud and fuming, his side not even recording a shot on target, his record against the Red Devils remaining miserable with only one win in the last 22 meetings.

What the hell?! The linesman at Swansea must have his eyes and/or football knowledge tested. Spurs took the lead thanks to Fernando Llorente - who was clearly offside. The visitors had another chance, headed high - with a group of Mauricio Pochettino's men offside! But no flag was in sight. It didn't get any better after the break. Dele Alli, who doubled Tottenham's lead and sealed the three points late on, should have been booked for diving. Davinson Sánchez should have been sent off for a second bookable offence. Referee Bobby Madley and his colleagues had a stinker!!! What a nice welcome to the Premier League it was for new Swans boss Carlos Carvahal in his first home game in charge!!! The pouring rain certainly fit the mood in Wales!!!

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

Tottenham 2:1 West Ham - 1:1 postponed from week 21, Son Heung-min and Pedro Obiang with two stunning long-range strikes. 31-3 shots, 8-1 on target, 7-1 corners, 10-6 fouls, 0-2 yellow cards, Spurs will have been left wondering how the hell they did not get more out of that game!!!

Click here for my previous Picks Of The Week.

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