Premier League Picks Of The Week 37

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 37

The 37th Week of the Premier League action saw:
260 shots - most by Liverpool = 26
29 goals - most by Arsenal, Crystal Palace & Liverpool = 4 each
223 fouls - most by Middlesbrough = 19
36 bookings - most by Hull City = 5
0 red cards 
4 penalties - 2 scored (Jesus for City & Milivojevic for Palace)

What a game! It was a crucial win for Swansea at the Stadium Of Light, keeping them safe whilst Sunderland's stint in the top league has come to an end after a decade, in a very dire fashion, fans booing... Paul Clement has done what David Moyes has not been able to... Motivation! Change! Woo! Something Arsenal were less complaining about or shouting and begging for after thrashing Stoke 1-4! And with a couple of games in hand, they maybe, just maybe, fancy their hint of a chance to crack and break into the top four. With their last breath! Liverpool's 0-4 thrashing of West Ham didn't help their case though... And it was an emotional farewell at White Hart Lane after 118 years, Tottenham beating Manchester United 2-1 thanks to goals from Victor Wanyama and Harry Kane. A fitting sendoff I think after one of their best seasons against a side having one of their worst campaigns. Contrast.

What a team! Bournemouth are looking to finish in the top ten after beating Burnley convincingly 2-1, their highest league finish in their 118-year history! Sam Vokes had cancelled out Junior Stanislas' goal, but Joshua King restored the lead two minutes later. The Norwegian's goals have been worth 12 points for the Cherries this season, only Diego Costa (15) and Sergio Agüero (13) have been more value to their clubs, Chelsea and Manchester City respectively. Wow! Meanwhile Hull City were relegated after being thrashed 4-0 at Crystal Palace, joining Sunderland and Boro in the drop. Very happy Big Sam. Very sad Marco Silva. But not really a surprise for either side.

What a man! Antonio Conte is not easy to please. His side were crowned champions on Friday night after beating West Brom 0-1, but the feisty Italian is eyeing the double like Carlo Ancelotti did last for the Blues in 2010. Chelsea face Arsenal at Wembley in the FA Cup Final on 27th May. They are also on track to end the season on a record-high number of wins and points total! Molto bene!

What a goal! Ross Barkley's fifth Premier League goal, a lovely curling shot, won the game for Everton against Watford, showing defiance and making a point or two as well to manager Ronald Koeman. The Dutch boss gave his English midfielder a public ultimatum last week, giving him till next weekend to agree a new contract or be sold. To be or not to be... Champions, that's what substitute Michy Batshuayi's late goal made the Blues after beating West Brom 0-1 at the Hawthorns. One to remember. Leicester City's goal at Manchester City was a super acrobatic finish by Shinji Okazaki meeting Marc Albrighton's cross. It was not enough though for the Foxes as they saw Riyad Mahrez's penalty disallowed correctly after a slip and double-touch, meaning it stayed 2-1 and a home win. Cruel but true and correct.

What the hell?! There were quite a few head-shaking moments this weekend! West Brom defender Jonny Evans' blatant handball, casually pushing the ball away mid-fall as if he was goalkeeping. Stoke big man Peter Crouch's goal was more hand than header, Maradona special! And just a yellow card for Boro keeper Brad Guzan's foul on Shane Long, really?! Lucky for him Long sent the penalty sky-high, but Saints still ended 1-2 winners at the Riverside. Ridiculous stuff, best examples for long overdue and much needed video refereeing, pretty please, once again! Pfff!

My Predictions - Actual Results
Everton 1:0 Watford - 1:0
West Brom 1:0 Chelsea - 0:1
Man City 2:1 Leicester City - 2:1
Bournemouth 1:1 Burnley - 2:1
Middlesbrough 0:0 Southampton - 1:2
Sunderland 0:1 Swansea City - 0:2
Stoke City 1:1 Arsenal - 1:4
Crystal Palace 1:0 Hull City - 4:0
West Ham 2:2 Liverpool - 0:4
Tottenham 3:1 Man United - 2:1

Games in hand played before the weekend:
Southampton 3:1 Arsenal - 0:2 

(The game saw 25 shots, 13 fouls, 3 bookings and the Gunners overtaking United and staying in the top four race with a hint of a shout.)

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks Of The Week.

All pictures and stats taken from the BBC match reports and MOTD. 

Premier League Picks Of The Week 17

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 17

The 17th week of the Premier League action saw:

245 shots - most by Tottenham = 30!
23 goals - most by Southampton & Middlesbrough = 3 each
216 fouls - most by Chelsea = 15
45 bookings - most by Leicester = 5
1 red card - Vardy for Leicester
3 penalties - 3 scored (Krkic for Stoke, Negredo for Middlesbrough & Noble for West Ham)

What a game! It was a game of two halves at the Etihad. Theo Walcott had given the Gunners an early lead after just five minutes, in a dominant display by the visitors. But the second half saw that change and reversed by Manchester City. Leroy Sané levelled the score a couple of minutes after the break, off David Silva's pass, who looked offside, Arsène Wenger left furious. But instead of fighting back, Arsenal crumbled, the Sky Blues took over. Raheem Sterling scored the winner off Kevin de Bruyne's brilliant cross, condemning the Londoners to their second defeat in a row and widening the gap between them to nine points. ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a team! Yes, Chelsea won again thanks to Diego Costa, with a simple header, 1-0 at Crystal Palace this time (their 11th consecutive victory equalling club record from 2009)... But Tottenham were on fire at White Hart Lane! Mauricio Pocchetino's men had so many chances against Burnley! They had fallen behind to a ping pong goal, but Dele Alli boomed in a leveller six minutes later before Danny Rose completed the comeback scoring the winner later in the second half. Good goalkeeping and well-set defence meant the scoreline did not get out of hand as it could have with the flood of chances the home side threw at their visitors! ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a man! It seems like an auto-text every week, Chelsea win, Costa winner, as mentioned above. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on a roll too, his header and deflected goal seeing Manchester United win for the third time in a row, 0-2 at West Brom, taking the Swedish striker's run to 10 goals in nine games. And Jermain Defoe was provider this time, for Patrick van Aanholt to score the winner for Sunderland against Watford. I'm telling you, my phone is recognising and predicting certain names every week... ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a goal! On-loan striker Álvaro Negredo produced an excellent finish and a comfortable penalty before a ripper of a pass from Gastón Ramírez found Marten de Roon to make it 3-0. It was a boosting win for Middlesbrough against a sorry Swansea side who are slipping down more and more, now second from bottom with just 12 points. And Liverpool left it really really late in the Merseyside derby to win the scrappy affair deep into injury time thanks to Sadio Mané netting a rebound and keep up with Chelsea at the top!⚽️🙈⚽️🙈⚽️

What the hell?! There were once again questionable refereeing decisions, both Moussa Sissoko and Ross Barkley lucky to stay on the pitch for Spurs and Everton with dangerous tackles that could have ended the careers of Burnley's Stephen Ward and Liverpool's Jordan Henderson respectively. It is just ridiculous that replays cannot be used - I write that every week! Hull City can sing a song of that too, once again unlucky conceding a penalty and losing against West Ham after Mark Noble made no mistake of the spot kick this time. ⚽️🙈⚽️🙈⚽️

My Predictions - Actual Results
Crystal Palace 1:2 Chelsea - 0:1
Middlesbrough 0:0 Swansea - 3:0
Stoke 1:1 Leicester - 2:2
Sunderland 3:1 Watford - 1:0
West Ham 2:1 Hull - 1:0
West Brom 2:2 Man United - 0:2
Bournemouth 2:1 Southampton - 1:3
Man City 1:1 Arsenal - 2:1
Tottenham 2:0 Burnley - 2:1
Everton 1:1 Liverpool - 0:1

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports.