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

Match Report: Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool

Sports - Football - Premier League - Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool

Liverpool maintained their unbeaten run keeping Arsenal waiting for their first home win of the season as both sides played out a thrilling goalless draw at the Emirates with plenty of action, chances and controversies.

It was the first time James Milner wore the captain's armband for Brendan Rodgers' men as Jordan Henderson missed out due to injury.

Arsene Wenger's men meanwhile were weakened at the back through illness and injury to centre-backs Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny respectively.

And it certainly was a game of two halves with the Reds dominating the first half, Christian Benteke and Philippe Coutinho working dangerously well together, hitting the bar, the post and pulling some breath-taking saves out of under-fire Gunner keeper Petr Cech.

The home side were all over the place, however, they should have been ahead early on when Aaron Ramsey had the ball in the back of the net in the eighth minute, only to be flagged and disallowed offside, cruelly borderline.

Arsenal have only seen two wins in the last eleven games officiated by Martin Oliver and can make it two out of twelve with this match which is not a nice read.

But the Community Shield winners came back strong and took over play in the second half, Ramsey and Olivier Giroud keeping Red stopper Simon Mignolet busy and Alexis Sanchez just finding the post on the hour-mark.

Both goalkeepers worked hard, showed top quality, earning and deserving the clean sheets. Their teams showed great potential up front but major leaks, not being able to keep or clear the ball in the middle or at the back of the field, which should be worrying for both.

Liverpool will welcome West Ham at Anfield next Saturday afternoon, whilst Arsenal will travel to Newcastle for the lunch time kick-off.

Both sides will surely challenge for the top four this season, all depending on whether they can fix the leaks and find more security and solidity at the back, not just relying on their keepers alone.

Pictures taken from the BBC and Sky Sports websites.

Arsenal Team: 33 Cech; 5 Gabriel (booked 65'), 21 Chambers, 24 Bellerin; 19 Cazorla (c), 34 Coquelin (15 Oxlade-Chamberlain); 17 Sanchez, 11 Özil, 16 Ramsey; 12 Giroud (14 Walcott 73'). 4-1-3-1

Subs not used: 2 Debuchy, 3 Gibbs, 8 Arteta, 13 Ospina, 20 Flamini.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet (booked 85'); 12 Gomez (booked 79'), 6 Lovren, 37 Skrtel (booked 61'), 2 Clyne; 7 Milner (c), 21 Lucas (46 Rossiter 76'), 23 Can (booked 67'); 10 Coutinho (18 Moreno 87'), 9 Benteke, 11 Firmino (33 Ibe 63'). 4-3-3

Subs not used: 17 Sakho, 27 Origi, 28 Ings, 34 Bogdan.

Match Stats: Arsenal-Liverpool: 1st & 2nd half

Attempts: 3-11 & 16-4

On target: 1-5 & 4-3

Offside: 5-4 & 0-0

Goal kicks: 2-5 & 1-4

Corners: 2-6 & 5-2

Free kicks: 5-1 & 8-1

Throws: 5-6 & 7-10

Possession: 61%-39% (HT) & 66%-34% (FT)

Referee: Martin Oliver

Attendance: 60,080