Premier League Picks Of The Week 37

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 37

The 37th week of the Premier League action saw:

25 goals - most by West Ham, Crystal Palace and Liverpool = 3 each
295 shots - most by Man United = 23
101 on target - most by Chelsea = 9
114 corners - most by Arsenal = 16
195 fouls - most by Fulham = 15
31 bookings - most by Tottenham and Arsenal = 5 each
2 red cards - Son and Foyth for Tottenham
2 penalties - 2 scored (Aubameyang for Arsenal, Murray for Brighton)

What a game! Liverpool never make it easy for themselves, but never give up either! The Reds can't spell the word boredom, that's for sure! Anyone who thought Rafael Benítez would make it easy for his former side though, got proven wrong on Saturday night: Five goals, plenty of nerves and drama at St James’ Park, substitute Divock Origi with the late winning header against Newcastle (86'), making it 2-3 and taking the Reds back to the top, till Monday at least (see below MNF summary for details). LFC have scored 18 headed goals in the Premier League this season and 12 goals via substitutes, more than any other team in both categories. This Belgian super-sub had replaced Mohamed Salah after the great Egyptian had been stretchered off with a head injury. Worrying for Jürgen Klopp's men ahead of their second-leg Champions League semi-final tie against Barcelona and the final league match of the season next weekend. Crucial.

MNF saw Leicester making it difficult for Manchester City, holding them for nearly 70 minutes at the Etihad. Skipper Vincent Kompany’s wonder-strike from 30 yards out (70'), the Belgian's first goal of the season, made sure Pep Guardiola’s side stayed top, keeping the title race in their hands in the final week of the season, one point ahead of the Reds. The Citizens have now scored 100 goals in all competitions at the Etihad this season; extending their record for most home goals by an English top-flight team in a single campaign. The defending champions have won each of their last 13 Premier League games - it's the fourth run of a team winning 13+ games in a row in the competition's history, with City the only side to have done so twice. Pep’s men have beaten every team they have faced in the league for the second consecutive season; the only other English top-flight team to achieve this were Preston between 1888-89 and 1889-90. Records tumbling. Just wow.

What a team! West Ham secured a Premier League double over Southampton for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. Marko Arnautović scored twice (16', 69') - his first goals since January - with Ryan Fredericks adding a third with his first Premier League goal (72'), to make it 3-0 and three points for the home side. It moves the Hammers to within a point of the top half of the table - something that looked less likely after they lost their first four games of the season and stood on just eight points after their opening 10 league matches. 

Wolves secured a seventh place finish beating Fulham 1-0 in their last home game of the season. If City beat Watford in the FA Cup final on the 18th May, then Nuno Espírito Santo's side will land a Europa League place, returning to Europe after a 39-year wait. Not bad for their first season back in the top tier! With 57 points in the Premier League this season, it is the most by a newly promoted side since Ipswich Town in 2000-01 (66 points). Much in contrast to that, the relegated Cottagers have lost 25 Premier League games this season, the most by a newly promoted side since Derby County in 2007-08 (29 defeats).

What a man! Neil Warnock has suffered his third top-flight relegation, going down with three different teams in three different decades – Notts County in 1991-92, Sheffield United in 2006-07 and Cardiff City in 2018-19. Cardiff’s relegation was confirmed after their 2-3 defeat against Crystal Palace in their final home match of the season. The boss had no complaints about his side despite relegation and was emotional after the difficult game, talking about what could have been with Emiliano Sala. Shame his club are denying any such signing! The Bluebirds have been relegated from the Premier League, becoming the only team to play in more than one Premier League season and be relegated in every single one (also down in 2013-14). Drop.

What a goal! "We scored a goal" the Huddersfield fans were singing, watching their bottom club equal Man City's ten goals at home from 2006-07, so, they did not break the record for lowest total in a season. Keeper Jonas Lössl provided the assist, for Montpellier loanee Isaac Mbenza to run clear and beat David de Gea to level the score (60') after Manchester United youngster Scott McTominay's early opener (8'). Too easy. Man Who?! The Red Devils haven’t won their last away league game of the season since the 2011-12 campaign (0-1 at Sunderland), drawing five and losing one since then. Paul Pogba is the first United player to hit the woodwork twice in a Premier League game since Antonio Valencia against Cardiff in January 2014. Ole Gunnar Solskjær's men will have to settle for Europa League football next season after being held by the Terriers. It means United have now gone five games without a win, their worst sequence since they went eight games without a victory under Louis van Gaal between November and December 2015. 
Elsewhere, Watford paid for three mad minutes of defensive blackout, two corners, two goals for Chelsea (Loftus-Cheek 48', David Luiz 51'). Harsh. Arsenal went ahead thanks to a softer than soft penalty against Brighton (Aubameyang pen 9'), but the visitors got a soft one back (Murray pen 61'), 1-1 the final score. The Gunners need a miracle = a lot of goals and Tottenham to lose if they want to grab the fourth spot in the last Premier League week. Less likely.

What the hell?! A crazy few minutes for Tottenham at Bournemouth saw a man sent off each side of the break - yes, you read right, TWO straight reds in the early kick-off at Dean Court on Saturday! Son Heung-min was sent off for a daft tackle and the pushing and fighting in the aftermath (43’), then sub Juan Foyth was just super-daft with a dangerous and late challenge (48’), just a couple of minutes after coming on (two minutes and 13 seconds to be exact). And it could have been more dismissals with all the bust-ups at the end! Booking points galore! Man of the match Mark Travers did well in his first game as Cherries’ stopper, making impressive saves and good cover, even his counterpart Hugo Lloris congratulated him after the match. Nathan Aké scored the winner in stoppage time (90'+1'), all the pressure finally paid off and made the nine men of Spurs leak and pay for it. Please mind the gap, Eddie Howe’s men are up to 12th on 45 points, 14 points clear of the relegation zone, whilst Mauricio Pochettino’s side went down to fourth, 25 points behind the league leaders, after Chelsea overtook them with their win mentioned above. Spurs have lost 13 (THIRTEEN) matches in the Premier League this season. And they are still fourth with 70 points. Crazy. 

My Predictions - Actual Results
Everton 1:0 Burnley - 2:0
Bournemouth 1:1 Tottenham - 1:0
West Ham 2:1 Southampton - 3:0
Wolves 2:0 Fulham - 1:0
Cardiff 1:3 Crystal Palace - 2:3
Newcastle 1:4 Liverpool - 2:3
Chelsea 2:1 Watford - 3:0
Huddersfield 1:2 Man United - 1:1
Arsenal 2:1 Brighton - 1:1
Man City 2:2 Leicester - 1:0

Click here for last week’s Premier League Picks.

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