Pre-Season: Reds Run Over Rovers 0-2

Sports - Football - Pre-Season - BRFC 0-2 LFC

Liverpool ended comfortable 2-0 winners against Blackburn Rovers on Thursday night at Ewood Park thanks to second-half goals from Lazar Markovic and Daniel Sturridge.

As in the other three pre-season friendlies, Jürgen Klopp fielded a different team each half, giving youngsters some play time as well as coupling experienced players with newbies, as the World Cup stars are not joining the side in training till end of the week.

And the match kicked off in glorious sunshine, Dominic Solanke being awarded a penalty after just five minutes when challenged by keeper David Raya Martin trying to reach Ben Woodburn’s pass.

But the Rovers keeper made up for his error pushing away James Milner’s spot kick and keeping the scoreline at 0-0.

The Reds did have the ball in the net with just under half an hour gone, Divock Origi tapping in Alberto Moreno’s cross after Adam Lallana’s blocked shot, but the flag was up.

Loris Karius denied the newly promoted Championship side by blocking a nice drill by Dominic Samuel, a little confidence booster after the German keeper’s Champions League nightmare.

Lallana hit the woodwork before seeing Charlie Mulgrew clear his goal-bound shot off the line seconds later, two chances, zero goals, the two teams went into the break deadlocked, 0-0.

Ten changes were made after the interval for the Premier League team - keeper Karius the only survivor, the Reds continued dominating play and chances.

The game was refreshed, boosted, especially long awaited Naby Keita impressing with his play and interplay for Klopp’s men, setting up Sturridge, creating chance after chance.

The latter collected the ball and spotted Markovic’s fine run, who netted the number 15's accurate pass with a fine touch and effort to make it 0-1 to the visitors after 64 minutes, not long after the home side had made nine changes.

Red academy midfielder Rafael Camacho’s chance beat sub keeper Jayson Leutwiler but was cleared off the line by Paul Downing minutes later.

With just over quarter of an hour to go, Keita’s force was felt again and his run and pass was finished off by Sturridge this time, making up for earlier misses and doubling the Reds’ lead.

Leutwiler denied Camacho before the full-time whistle, ending a nice dominant run out for the Reds before they head off on to their US Tour where they will face Klopp's former side Dortmund (22/07), champions Manchester City (26/07) and bitter rivals Manchester United (28/07).

And it was all topped up not long after the match with the official announcement of Alisson Becker having completed his medical and joining from AS Roma to replace under-fire Karius and out-of-favour Simon Mignolet after a long media-frenzy and speculation, breaking the transfer world record for a keeper.

All in all the Reds can be happy with their progress, in the pre-season matches, the transfer market, general dealings and wheelings, and team spirit, general optimism felt all round, despite the bad news of the week of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain confirmed to be missing most of the season through injury.

Liverpool Goals: Markovic 63’ & Sturridge 73’.

Match Stats: BRFC 0-2 LFC

Possession: 30.3%-69.7%

Shots: 4-16

On target: 2-6

Corners: 1-3

Offsides: 2-1

Fouls: 13-7

Blackburn Team: 1 Raya; 3 Williams, 14 Mulgrew* (c) (45’), 26 Lenihan, 2 Nyambe; 8 Rothwell, 31 Bennett, 6 Smallwood, 29 Evans* (45’), 9 Samuel; 23 Dack. 4-5-1

2nd half substitutes 60’: 25 Downing, 18 Davenport, 11 Whittingham, 13 Leutwiler, 17 Bell* (45’), 28 Tomlinson, 32 Conway, 34 Wharton, 27 Travis* (45’), 37 Fisher, 24 Nuttall.

Liverpool Team: 1 Karius* (59’); 18 Moreno, 17 Klavan, 32 Matip, 2 Clyne; 20 Lallana, 7 Milner (c), 58 Woodburn; 29 Solanke, 27 Origi, 54 Ojo. 4-3-3

2nd half substitutes 45’: 3 Fabinho, 4 Van Dijk, 8 Keita, 12 Gomez, 15 Sturridge, 26 Robertson, 47 Phillips, 48 Jones, 50 Markovic, 64 Camacho, 62 Kelleher* (59’).

Referee: Jonathan Moss

Ground: Ewood Park

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the LFCTV matchday coverage and Sky Sports App and website.

Carroll nicks late winner for Liverpool

Sports - Football - Premier League - Blackburn 2:3 Liverpool

Liverpool kept Blackburn in the relegation zone thanks to Andy Carroll's injury-time winner after a dramatic encounter which saw the visitors letting a two-goal lead slip away after seeing their replacement goalkeeper Alexander Doni sent off, one penalty saved by sub-keeper Brad Jones and another spot-kick conceded and put past the Australian keeper.

This fixture was Roy Hodgson's last match last season after the Reds lost 3-1 to the Rovers. Steve Kean's men could not have come into the match more confident having secured more points, scored more goals and won more league matches than the Reds in 2012.

Blackburn's home record looked encouraging with ten points accumulated from their last six matches played, while Liverpool arrived at Ewood Park off the back of four away defeats in a row, having lost six in the last eight Premier League games, and without main keeper Pepe Reina after he saw red against Newcastle for headbutting James Perch.

Last but definitely not least, Kenny Dalglish's men have the Merseyside FA Cup semi-final showdown next on the card. The only encouragement Liverpool could take before the match was that they have won more games away from home this season than they have at Anfield.

So the visitors took command of the game early on when 12 minutes into the game when Craig Bellamy picked up Martin Skrtel's extraordinarily placed clearance. The Welshamn then produced a fine cross himself from the right which was netted by Maxi Rodriguez in the box, just outside the goal line. It was a great counter attack after Blackburn's free kick was eventually cleared from the Liverpool box.

Hardly 90 seconds laters and another great counter attack saw Jonjo Shelvey's shot saved by Paul Robinson, the rebound shot by Carroll blocked by Scott Dann, before Maxi was on the right spot at the right time again to net that rebound which made it two goals in three minutes for the Argentine.

The Reds could not have wished for a better start, but the twist soon followed.

Doni was distraught when halfway through the first half, he saw a straight red card after brining down David Hoilett which will see the Brasilian goalkeeper miss the FA Cup semi-final against local rivals Everton. He went for the ball but caught the Blackburn forward a fraction late, so the referee had no other choice. Cruel but that is the rule.

Ayegbeni Yakubu took a soft penalty kick, a poor take and easy stop for the third-choice-sub-keeper Jones. But the Nigerian striker soon made up for that miss. Ten minutes later, no one picked him up in the box when he headed in David Dunn's free-kick to get one back to make it 2-1, Jones helpess.

The game continued at high pace, end-to-end stuff, the fans and players only able to gasp a couple of breaths at half time.

On the hour mark, Jones looked all over the place and took too much time with the ball when Yakubu approached him and was pushed down, winning a second penalty for the home sides.

The Reds could utter a sigh of relief when the goalkeeper was only cautioned with a yellow, the referee believing the ball was out of Yakubu's reach, so it was not a goalscoring opportunity.

The striker netted this spot-kick though to make it all level at 2-2 and heat up the last 30 minutes - as if the game was not feisty enough already!
Both sides fought on, missed opportunities to grab a winner and it looked like the game was going to end in a stalemate - before injury time.

Liverpool saw their corner cleared, Sebastian Coates followed with a long hoof forward which found Daniel Agger, whose header found Carroll in the box, who made no mistake this time and headed the ball into the back of the net to give the visitors an injury-time lead and winner.

The celebrations showed how much this meant to the under-fire striker, his team mates and fans, especially before their FA Cup clash against the blue side of Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday!

Blackburn: Robinson; Orr (booked 29), Grant Hanley (booked 90), Dann, Martin Olsson; Formica (booked 65) (Rochina 73), Nzonzi, Dunn (Lowe 75), Marcus Olsson; Hoilett (booked 62), Yakubu (scored 35:53 & 60:53).
Subs not used: Kean, Givet, Goodwillie, Petrovic, Pedersen.

Liverpool: Doni (sent off 25); Flanagan (booked 12) (Jones 26) (booked 61), Coates, Skrtel, Johnson (Agger 53); Maxi (scored 12:38 & 15:10) (booked 46) (Jose Enrique 78), Henderson (booked 86), Spearing, Bellamy (booked 71); Shelvey, Carroll (scored 90:41).
Subs not used: Aurelio, Suarez, Kuyt, Carragher.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Blackburn-Liverpool:
Attempts: 5-4 & 7-5
On target: 3-3 & 4-2
Offsides: 0-2 & 2-1
Corners: 0-0 & 4-4
Free kicks: 7-5 & 6-8
Possession: 53%-47% (35), 52%-48% (BBC HT), 53%-47% (Sky HT), 51.2%-48.8% (Sky 2nd half), 52%-48% (BBC FT), 52.1%-47.9% (Sky FT), 50%-50% (Sky FT)

Sky Stats:
Blackburn-Liverpool:
Passing Success: 76.5%-77.1%
Tackles/Success: 14/78.6%-15/60%
Territorial Advantage: 56.3%-43.7%
Action Areas: Blackburn 27%-45%-28% Liverpool

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Man of the match: Ayegbeni Yakubu

Week 31: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Top games: Villa Park saw a game full of emotions, drama and controversy. It was a great comeback by Aston Villa with two goals in three minutes! But visitors Chelsea never gave up. (Top player) Fernando Torres put the icing on the cake to make it 4:2 and, after his cup scoring spree, finally get his first Premier League goal since 24th September 2011, 18/now 19 games ago. Interim boss Robert Di Matteo seems to be making the difference.
Tottenham recorded a fine win too at White Hart Lane, good entertainment, top quality, by both sides! The scoreline (3:1) is a bit harsh on the Swans, Spurs and Harry Redknapp will be happy though!

Top teams: Sunderland were on top for most of the game against Manchester City, but did not quite get the result they deserved at the Etihad Stadium.
Wigan got a crucial home win against Stoke. The Latics missed so many chances you may have thought it was just not meant to be. But they just never gave up. Brilliant mentality, top football by both sides.
Same goes for Blackburn, just with the wrong result. Brilliant saves by David De Gea were crucial. Then two goals in last ten minutes won it for United and saw Blackburn's hard work undone. Typical late winners for United, now five points clear at the top.

Top players: Papiss Cisse is on the scoreboard again, no one can stop him this season and he got a double against Liverpool. Team mates Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa starred with the striker and are pushing Newcastle closer and closer to the European spot(s).
Tottenham's Gareth Bale danced through the Swans this weekend! Bale covers so much ground, with so much power! the Welsh midfielder has more than helped Emmanuel Adebayor to his double and his side to their first league win in six consolidating their hold on the fourth Champions League spot and going level on points with their city-rivals Arsenal in third.

Top goals: So many beauties to write about this week: Mario Balotelli completed City's comeback with a fine run and smashing one home from far after scoring from the spot. James Collins' header in off long throw for Aston Villa was sweet.
Wolves opener by Michael Kightly was calm, cool, composed and quality as you like. Matthew Jarvis then produced a strong shot to make it 2-1, and top a strong, encouraging performance by his side. Adel Taarabt created a beautiful curl to make it 1-0 to QPR against the Gunners.
Damien Duff's finish to make it 2-0 to Fulham was cool as you like!
And the cross cross by Tottenham's Luka Modric was a killer ball, ment for Adebayor who had gone clear, but was deflected to Rafael van der Vaart who made no mistake and smashed it in, smashing, top quality 1:0.
Manchester United's Antonio Valencia served an even more mouthwatering smasher, brilliant when crosses don't work just score yourself! Then super sub Ashley Young right footed one in on turn, two fine goals.

Top news: Chelsea are the last British side remaining in the Champions League which sees the quarter-final second legs played out this week with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich being the favourites to battle it out and progress to the semis.

Flop teams/defences: Manchester City looked woeful for most of the match! Wolves' dire run continues. So too West Brom. Although they showed fighting attitude... Amongst each other as well!  After dire and absent performances, the last thing these sides needed is to start a brawl amongst themselves!
Arsenal's and Liverpool's defences were absent, then confused, in bits. The Reds are not the Liverpool I used to know, diving, whining, shouting, headbutting!!! Form table 2012: Top 4: United, City, Newcastle, Sunderland! Bottom 4: QPR, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Wolves!!! Liverpool with just 8 points out of 12 games!!!

Flop players: Balotelli's name is rhetorical under this category with his attitude and tantrums. The Italian temper bomb has to learn the game is about his team, not just him!
Andy Carroll had to score! But chose to go down instead, no contact, nowhere near goalkeeper Tim Krul, shame on him! The former Newcastle striker was booked, and rightly so, ashamed he should be!
So should the referee at Blackburn! Howard Webb overlooked a Steven Nzonzi shirt-pull fowl, Blackburn handball in the box and disallowed a goal wrongly too! Absolute shambles!
And last but definitely not least, Pepe Reina's head butt was very uncharacteristically, just stupid! The reaction of James Perch was OTT though, not good allround, but no excuse for Reina, a man of his experience should know so much better, it was so unlike him! After 183 consecutive games for his club, the Spaniard will miss his side's FA Cup semi final clash against local rivals Everton!

Flop goals: Wolves were denied by Adam Bogdan's top goalkeeping , top defending, the crossbar., crap refereeing.. The Bolton penalty was harsh, there was minimal contact only, drama queen Mark Davies made the most of Roger Johnson's challenge! As mentioned above, the disallowed Blackburn goal was nowhere near offside! It was a cruel, cruel result for Blackburn, who drop back into the relegation zone.

Flop news: Aston Villa's captain Stelian Petrov has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia. This year has just been shocking so far! :-( Like Bolton's Martin Petrov revealed under his shirt when he scored: Stay strong Stan! YNWA!

My predictions - Actual results

Aston Villa 2:0 Chelsea - 2:4

Everton 1:0 West Brom - 2:0

Fulham 0:0 Norwich - 2:1

Man City 4:0 Sunderland - 3:3

QPR 1:2 Arsenal - 2:1

Wigan 1:1 Stoke - 2:0

Wolves 1:2 Bolton - 2:3

Newcastle 3:1 Liverpool - 2:0

Tottenham 2:1 Swansea - 3:1

Blackburn 1:1 Man United - 0:2

Week 24: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Top game: The first half at Stamford Bridge was relatively uneventful, not much happening, nothing note-worthy anyway, apart from Chelsea taking the lead through a Jonny Evans own goal. Then in the second half it all kicked off! Chelsea took 30 seconds to double their lead, throwing Sir Alex Ferguson's half-time team talk out the window. Four minutes later it was 3-0 and I would have liked to have seen one blue fan not celebrating three points in the bag. But two penalties later and a Javier Hernandez header six minutes from time, the comeback drama was complete! Typical United!

Top team: Never write off Arsenal, or Manchester United. If there is one thing we have learned over the last couple of decades, it is that just when you think they are going to fall they make a comeback, which makes script writing in the title drama(s) impossible! I found it very amusing to hear the commentators criticise Arsenal when Blackburn equalised against the run of play. They were picking out the Gunners' faults, gaps and recklessness and predicting their downfall if they continued like that. If only they had know what was going to follow... I would have liked to have seen the odds on a 7-1 Arsenal win at that point! Martin O'Neill and Sunderland need a mention in this category as they are top of the form table with five wins in the last six.

Top player: Robin van Persie had to make up for last week's goalless display and he more than did so with a hat-trick. On-loan star Thierry Henry poked his nose onto the scoreboard right at the end too, just to remind the Dutchman he has some French competition. But they played well together, 7-1 reflecting that more than clearly. A great contrast to last week's frustrating disappointment, I have to say!

Top goal: Papiss Cisse's debut goal for Newcastle was a stunning left-foot strike! He looks to have hooked up a very promising partnership with his countryman Demba Ba. Credit where credit is due, Alan Pardew has been mastering his job, getting the right players and right results, taking his side within a point of Chelsea and the top four!
Morten Gamst Pedersen's equalising free kick for Blackburn against Arsenal was a breathtaking goal too! Juan Mata's smacker to make it 2-0 for Chelsea against United was a perfect start to the second half!

Top news: Harry Redknapp was cleared on both counts of cheating the public revenue on Wednesday and on the same day, just hours later, he shot up to become the favourite to become the new England manager ahead of Euro 2012. What a difference a day makes, ey? He's doing so well at Spurs, I just don't want to see him ruining his managerial career like so many have done beforehand by taking on an impossible job!

Flop game and team: Everton's draw at Wigan was a scrappy game which did not see much action until the last 15 minutes. Liverpool's goalless draw against Tottenham kept their unbeaten home record intact, taking the run to 15 games. It was a big improvement compared to the 4-1 thrashing Liverpool got the last time these two sides met, however, the Reds will be more frustrated with yet another draw with eight out of twelve home games ending up with just one point in the bag for Liverpool. Spurs deserved the point for their gritty defending, showing backbone, eventhough they missed their manager and key players.

Flop player: Djibril Cisse's red card turned him from hero to zero for QPR. The Frenchman scored a superb debut goal last week. This week, he raised his hand to fight off defender Roger Johnson, a stupid, stupid mistake. In contrast to that, Robert Huth's sending off for Stoke was harsh. He went for the ball, got the ball, but due to the weather conditions and snowy, slippery field, he took Sunderland's David Meyler with him. Referee Martin Arkinson should have considered both those factors in his decision. But he is known for his hard line on such tackles, having sent off Jack Rodwell and Yohan Cabaye for similar tackles in the past.

Flop goal: I don't know how Fernando Torres could miss that! He found the gap, raced into the box and then instead of shooting he just danced an extra couple of steps of tango which in the end wasted the chance and lost possession. Tim Howard's SPILL gifted Wigan a goal against Everton, what a howler! The goalkeeper failed to collect a ball and saw it deflect off his own player Phil Neville. OUCH! This weekend saw a collection own goalss/deflections/dodgy penalty decisions! CRINGE!

Flop news: And England have more than enough excuses to flop in a major competition yet again. Fabio Capello's resignation after the FA's decision to strip John Terry of his England captaincy due to the pending racism case against him is a farce! The whole thing is a farce! Euro 2012 - forget about it!

Forgot my predictions this week, so here are just the results:

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn

Norwich 2-0 Bolton

QPR 1-2 Wolves

Stoke 0-1 Sunderland

West Brom 1-2 Swansea

Wigan 1-1 Everton

Man City 3-0 Fulham

Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa

Chelsea 3-3 Man United

Liverpool 0-0 Tottenham

Week 23: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Top game: Two matches were classic examples of games of two halves with plenty of entertainment. The big spendings this January transfer window did not quite bring the result for QPR but showed very encouraging signs in form of Djibril Cisse. Aston Villa made a brilliant comeback in the second half, manager Alex McLeish can only hope his side can show this kind of display more often. Liverpool, without  their talisman captain Steven Gerrard, were looking for improvement in the league after their impressive cup run against both Manchester sides. Wolves were in the game just as much as the Reds were in the first half. However, in the second half, it all went down hill for the home side, Andy Carroll netting Charlie Adam's cross with all the space in the world, Craig Bellamy adding the second without meeting any resistence, the goalkeeper missing the ball completely and Dirk Kuyt netting the third off Jose Enrique's exquisite pass taken off a Wolves attack, the Dutchman netting his 50th PL goal, first since May. It was Liverpool's first double over Wolves for over 30 years, worrying times for Mick McCarthy.

Top team: Stoke started strongly against Manchester United, testing league debutant goalkeeper Ben Amos. However, the result is more important than the performance for United, whose win is their seventh out of seven against Stoke and saw them move level on points with league leaders City. Tottenham kept themselves in the race too with an exhilarating display and performance which consolidated their third spot, seven points ahead of Chelsea in fourth and five points behind the Manchester sides at the top.

Top player: This week seemed goalkeepers' prime time! Blackburn continued strong and would not let themselves be put down despite the early own goal they conceded against Newcastle. They created plenty of chances including misses and a missed penalty, Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul doing brilliant to keep his side in the game, frustrating for the home side though. QPR's Paddy Kenny was man of the match for more than one reason/save but his stop against Aston Villa's Robbie Keane was top notch and earned his side a point in the end.

Top goal: The terrific right-foot finish by French debutant Cisse was his third debut goal in the Premier League, adding QPR to his list, joining Liverpool and Sunderland. Talking about Sunderland, with four changes against Norwich, they saw a bright start with on-loan signing Wayne Bridge on the bench. Norwich were a threat too and had won last two away games. The home side took the lead thanks to a supreme right-foot strike into the top right corner by Fraizer Campbell, breathtaking stuff, which led to a confident performance and result, a 3-0 win and three points on the board.

Top news: The January transfer window has closed with no major spendings this time round, the total reaching only £60m, 70% less compared to January last year at £225m. I think the clubs are slowly but surely coming to their sences.

Flop game: The goalless draw between Bolton and Arsenal was a frustrating night for both sides. Arsenal dominated with Robin van Persie enjoying his fair share of chances, as always. David Ngog also missed a couple of chances. The second half saw less attempts, but RVP was the main man again, hitting the post and crossbar. When Mark Davies burst through and was brought down by Wojciech Szczesny, it looked like Bolton would get a late breakthrough and winner, but a penalty was not given. Hence, the action that could have been or anything that looked promising, never came around really. Disappointing.

Flop team: Swansea were unchanged from their defeat against Sunderland, but caused Chelsea problems early on, the Blues struggling to create much themselves. Swansea had go after go at Chelsea's goal, Scott Sinclair finally finding the net against his former side. The London side beat Swansea 4-1 at home, but did not come close to that in this match, Ashley Cole's second yellow not making things easier, the fourth s.o. for Andre Villas-Boas' side this season. But Chelsea never gave up and three minutes into injury time, Bosingwa's cross and a Neil Taylor deflection rescued a point for the visitors, the Swans manager Brendan Rodgers understandably disappointed. Worrying sign for Chelsea that the late goal and point against the promoted side comes to a great relief!

Flop player: Fernando Torres is still goalless, even Carrol has made it onto the scoreboard! The Spanish striker still looks very insecure, unaware, as if he doesn't have a clue of the where/what/how/when of scoring in the game. Ashley Cole's dire performance and sending off did not help Chelsea either, but it is not the first time they have dropped points and looked like they could not even grab or hold on to the one they scraped out somehow.

Flop goal: Stephen Warnock's own goal hurt to see! His gift header made it 2-0 to QPR and must have made McCleish cringe and think his side just did not want to stay in the game. Until he had his word and the second half kicked off as mentioned above. Scott Dann's own goal was an ugly deflection which handed Newcastle their first goal. Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson could never have predicted and covered that one and will never want to see that one again.

Flop news: Aaaaand Carlos Tevez remains at Manchester City after AC Milan and Paris Saint-German pulled out of the chase. I laughed my face off when a rumour went around about a swap deal between City and Liverpool, Tevez for Andy Carroll. LMAO! What a joke!

My predictions - Actual results:

Swansea 1:1 Chelsea - 1:1

Tottenham 4:0 Wigan - 3:1

Wolves 1:1 Liverpool - 0:3

Everton 1:2 Man City - 1:0

Man Utd 3:0 Stoke - 2:0

Aston Villa 1:1 QPR - 2:2

Blackburn 3:2 Newcastle - 0:2

Bolton 2:3 Arsenal - 0:0

Fulham 2:0 West Brom - 1:1

Sunderland 1:1 Norwich - 3:0

Week 21: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Top game: Swansea's 3:2 Arsenal was a gem! It had everything! Robin van Persie opened the scoring with his 18th PL goal of the season, equalling his best season of his career 2010/11, 0:1. This record was followed by controversy with Swansea's penalty equaliser, 1:1. Then in the second half, the Swans' pressure payed off, Nathan Dyer's top class finish turned the game around, 2:1. But then the home side switched off, for just that one second and BOOM, they let one in, Theo Walcott free and in for the equaliser, 2:2. However, seconds later (45 seconds to be exact), Swansea took back the lead, 3:2! Great finish from a tight angle, Danny Graham kept composure and got it right in there. WOW!  Breathtaking stuff! What a game! Brilliant win for the Swans! Arsenal kept the pressure up late on but too little, too late, the hard earned and well deserved three points are Swansea's for keeps! WOW!

Top team: All hard work and endeaver came to nothing for Tottenham, but it was a terrific point for Wolves, who worked their socks off! After all the title talk over the last couple of days, Spurs' stumble came as no surprise, the pressure's on. At Manchester United, everything seemed to be back to normal, three goals, three points, taking them level with City before they scraped out a win at Wigan to restore their three-point lead at the top.

Top player: After Thierry Henry for Arsenal in the Carling cup, Paul Scholes scored in his comeback match for Manchester United, Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney in the buildup, past Danny Welbeck, the old man was not going to miss that one! Wigan's Ali Al Habsi was brilliant, he made some breathtaking instinctive saves, denying Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero more than once and sparing his side from a thrash against City. Shame they could not make more of it, they had their fair share of chances, too.

Top goal: Blackburn striker David Hoilett pulled a great save from Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale. Sub Mauro Formica was on side and swiped the ball in, sweet goal, sweet game, sweet result, sweet points for Blackburn and Steve Kean, especially after going down to ten men so early on! Extraordinary performance which took them out of the relegation zone for the first time since September.

Top news: After a week that saw the return of the legends with Henry and Scholes, Robbie Kean has joined that list after signing for Aston Villa on loan from Loas Angeles Galaxy. Although he is definitely not the same rank as the other two who have returned to their teams of heart and history, unlike Kean with Tottenham, I am curious to see what impact he will make at Villa, if any...

Flop game: Liverpool are not getting beaten but can't get a win at Anfield either! This weekend saw another goalless draw against Stoke, seeing plenty of chances going to waste. Everyone seemed to have an off day missing everything, including referee Howard Webb! It doesn't hide the fact though that Liverpool have only won four of their last 11 home matches, that means 14 points dropped and lost, which would have seen them one point ahead of United in second place! Instead Kenny Dalglish's boys are stuck in seventh, left scratching their heads.


Flop team: Martin O'Neill was on his knees. Chelsea's defence looked in shambles at times, Sunderland missing the loads of chances. Similar to Wigan's draw against City, it was the underdogs against the rich and glamourous, with the prior frustrating the latter and looking like they could pull off a shock and nick a point (or three). But it was not to be, for Sunderland at least, but they (Wigan especially) can hold their heads up high, if they show the same stubbornness and determination against fellow strugglers and teams lower down the table, they should be able to survive in the Premier League.

Flop player: Having Aygbeni Yakubu sent off so early on in the match was cruel for Blackburn. He saw an instant red for his high tackle on Danny Murphy. Everyone was gob-smacked, but it was knee-high, studds showing, red all day long in my book! It was just stupid. But it seemed to pull the team together. Not that he or any player should feel encouraged to repeat such foolishness, but Steve Kean can be proud that his guys didn't let themselves be dragged down by such act and feel sorry for themselves. They got a grip and a win with it!

Flop goal: It was a spectacular take by Fernando Torres which came off the bar, off Frank Lampard and in. Great technique by the Spaniard but Lampard's on the scoresheet, not him. Tough luck. Wolves' goal came from a corner that shouldn't have been given and Emmanuel Adebayor's goal was wrongly ruled out for offside, so Tottenham have good reasons not to be happy with the result. No discrediting Wolves' hard work and effort though.

Flop news: Blackburn captain Christopher Samba missed his side's 3-1 win against Fulham as he was having tests in hospital for severe stomach cramps. Then the story broke, he handed in a transfer request saying "the side is not improving at all". Did he miss this weekend's action? Didn't they show football in hospital? Did they hit him in the head?

My predictions - Actual results

Aston Villa 0:2 Everton - 1:1

Blackburn 1:1 Fulham - 3:1

Chelsea 1:2 Sunderland - 1:0

Liverpool 3:0 Stoke - 0:0

Man Utd 2:0 Bolton - 3:0

Tottenham 3:0 Wolves - 1:1

West Brom 2:2 Norwich - 1:2

Newcastle 1:0 QPR - 1:0

Swansea 1:2 Arsenal - 3:2

Wigan 1:1 Man City - 0:1

Week 16-20: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the last 5

It has been a mad few weeks indeed. Not only have Christmas and New Year kept everyone on their toes and (hopefully) jolly, but the football grounds and pitches have certainly not gathered much dust. Quite the opposite. They have seen everything! From shocks and horrors, to delight and despair, to complete and utter ecstasy and/or ugliness. Well, to make up for my gap in blogging, here are the key facts and stats and my picks of the last five match weeks = 50 games from the 17th December 2011 to 4th January 2012, before the international break:

Top Facts:

- 125 goals scored = average of 2.5 goals per game.

- 136 bookings made = avergage of 2.72 yellow cards per game.

- 7 red cards shown = average of 0.14 sendings off per game or one player sent off every 7.143 games.

- 16 different score lines on the board, top 5 of those were 1:1 (11 times), 1:2 (8 times) and 1:0 (6 times), 0:2 (5 times) and 0:0 (4 times).

- There have only been three games without any bookings, all three of them ending 1:1: Wigan v Chelsea (18.12), Bolton v Wolves and Norwich v Fulham (both 31/12). Faire play and result or coincidence?

Top 5 games: I like surprises, so the most shocking results no one would have predicted made it on this list for me (listed chronologically):

- Wigan's 1:1 v Chelsea and 0:0 v Liverpool: Having struggled in the bottom three since October, the Latics kicked off the Christmas period with two hard-fought and well-deserved draws against two top Premier League sides. Jordi Gomez's late equaliser denied Chelsea a win and Ali Al-Habsi penalty save against Charlie Adam and overall top performance denied Liverpool a win at the DW stadium. You would have thought these two results should have served to up Wigan's confidence and fight to get out of the relegation zone, but things went downhill from there. Shame.

- Man Utd 2:3 Blackburn: After winning eight of their last nine matches since their 6-1 thrashing home defeat against local rivals City and scoring 25 and conceding only 3 in the process, Sir Alex Ferguson could not have asked for a better 70th birthday present than welcoming bottom-of-the-table Blackburn to Old Trafford, expecting an easy win. In the end, under-fire Steve Kean could not have asked for a better New Year's present, because United's back line were terrible, the third goal killing off the home resistance and any chances of a comeback.

- Chelsea 1:3 Aston Villa: Both sides were going through a slump, the Blues having drawn the last three whilst Villa suffered defeats against Arsenal and Liverpool and could only save one point at Stoke. The visitors outplayed the hosts tactically and passionately, Villa just seemed to WANT the win and points that much more. Didier Drogba scored his 150th goal with a penalty whilst Fernando Torres rattled the crossbar, the goal still deluding him. Apart from that, Stephen Ireland and Villa worked hard and bossed the match, ironing out a hard earned, well deserved win.

- Sunderland 1:0 Man City: It was Martin O'Neill's fifth match as Sunderland manager and the total post-Steve-Bruce revamp continued. The game started slow but the second half produced some pulsating end-to-end stuff and ended with a breathless counter-attack. Nicklas Bendtner and Stephane Sessegnon were denied a goal either side of the break, with Edin Dzeko and Micah Richards both hitting the woodwork. But with the last kick of the game, Ji Dong-Won latched on to Sessegnon's pass well and rounded Joe Hart to win it. Late slump for City, brilliant stuff for the neutral eye.

- Newcastle 3:0 Man Utd: Even Fergie had to credit this one! This was arguably his side's worst performance, no discredit to the Toons' top performance though! The Red Devils' back line failed to cope with all the pressure, Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones failing miserably against Demba Ba and Shola Ameobi. Yohan Cabaye's wonderful free kick put the sweet icing on the wonderful cake for Newcastle, who had not won in their previous 18 league meetings since a 4-3 success in September 2001, while the result emulated the 3-0 victory of February 2000.* The only other Premier League win for Newcastle over Manchester United, home or away, was the famous 5-0 in October 1996.* Phillipe Albert scored a memorable fifth in that game and he was on the gantry for Belgian TV on Wednesday night.*

Top 5 teams:

- Top scorers: Man Utd with 14 goals, although ten of them came from two games, both 5-0 thrashings at Fulham and against Wigan at home. Tottenham and Newcastle follow them on the top scorers' list with eight goals in the last five games, then City with seven.

- Top form: Tottenham are the only side who remained undefeated in the last five games (WDWDW = 11 points out of a possible 15). W13 D3 L3 - Tottenham have only once had a better league record after 19 games in the top flight - that was 1960-61 (W17 D1 L1).* In the last five games, formwise, Spurs are followed by: City (WWDLW) and Sunderland (LWDWW), who won 10 out of 15 points suffering only one defeat.

- Top defence: City also make the top defence, having only conceded one goal in all five games. That goal came from Sunderland in their home win against the top dogs. Man City have won their last 14 PL home games, their second best run in the top-flight after 16 in a row in 1921.* Tottenham have only conceded two goals. The Swans are the next best defenders with only three goals given away, their lack of attack though, with just four goals, leading them to only one win (DLDDW = 6 out of 15 points). The Welsh side have also committed fewer fouls than any other team in the Premier League.* Clean and robust but not productive.

- Top players: Arsenal's Robin van Persie still tops the Premier League score list with 17 goals but Toon Ba has impressed me most with his 15 goals in 15 League appearances. City's Sergio Aguero (14) and Blackburn's Ayegbeni Yakubu (12) are serving their sides well through some difficult times whilst the likes of Dzeko (10) and Mario Balotelli (8) who have shown plenty of quality in the past, have gone more quiet, behind the shadows a bit lately. The return of Thierry Henry has made me a very happy woman! And I know it was not in the Premier League, but his winning  return-goal against Leeds in the FA Cup third round could not have made a tastier appetiser for seeing him back in the Premier League! J'aime Thierry!

Top goal: There are sooooo many to choose from, so I'm going for the freakiest again: Everton's Tim Howard is the fourth goalkeeper in Premier League history to score a goal, after Peter Schmeichel, Brad Friedel and Paul Robinson. Howard scored from inside his own box when his kick bounced 30 yards from Bolton's goal and, with the help of the wind and weather, the ball flew over visiting keeper Adam Bogdan. It didn't help his side in the match as they still fell to a 2:1 home defeat against Bolton, but believe me, he could not have done more!

Top news: Plenty of action, drama, thrills, spills, shocks, horrors and controversy in the FA Cup third round and Carling Cup semi finals and the ins and outs of the January transfer window.

Flop games: No such thing in the Premier League! Not that it's worth or that I can recount anyway!

Flop teams:

- Flop scorers: Quite a few teams have been low scores with only four or five goals in the last five games. Here is the list, with only four goals: Wigan, QPR, Aston Villa and Swansea; and only five goals in the last five games: Bolton, West Brom, Everton, Arsenal (! - well, thank god Thierry's back, ey! ;-))

- Flop form: QPR (LLDLL) and Wolves (LDDDL) are the only two sides to have seen no wins over the last five games in the Christmas and New Year period. Worrying.

- Flop defence: Norwich and Blackburn have both failed to keep clean sheets in the opening 20 games of the season, equaling Bolton's record (2009-10 season).* Wigan have conceded the most in the last five games by far with 12 goals. Blackburn and QPR follow next on the worst defense list with nine goals conceded.

Flop players: Luis Suarez and Balotelli have without a doubt caught as much attention on the pitch as they have off it, filling the news with both good and bad headlines. Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres have definitely shared more misses than cheers with their fans and team mates. None of Carroll's last 26 headed shots in the Premier League have resulted in goals and he has had more headed shots off target (13) than any other player in the Premier League this season.* Torres has scored more Premier League goals for Liverpool in 2011 than he has for Chelsea (3) and had just 1 more shot on target in 2011 for Chelsea than for Liverpool (11) this calendar year.* Just like with Michael Owen, I knew, the day he left Liverpool, he waved goodbye to becoming a legend. 

Flop news: First sacking of the year is already out of the way with Neil Warnock sent packing by QPR after a bad run of eight Premier League games without a win. Former Wales/Blackburn/City/Fulham boss Mark Hughes has taken over... Good luck on that one, Mark!

*Thanks to Opta Sports for some interesting stats and facts. The rest I've all noted, scribbled and calculated myself with some peeking on the BBC and SkySports websites and match reports.

My predictions - Useless! - Actual results:

Week 16:

Blackburn 2:0 West Brom - 1:2

Everton 3:1 Norwich - 1:1

Fulham 2:1 Bolton - 2:0

Newcastle 3:1 Swansea - 0:0

Wolves 2:1 Stoke - 1:2

Wigan 0:4 Chelsea - 1:1

QPR 0:1 Man Utd - 0:2

Aston Villa 1:2 Liverpool - 0:2

Tottenham 3:0 Sunderland - 1:0

Man City 3:1 Arsenal - 1:0

Week 17:

Wolves 2:1 Norwich - 2:2

Blackburn 3:2 Bolton - 1:2

Aston Villa 2:3 Arsenal - 1:2

Man City 2:0 Stoke - 3:0

Newcastle 2:2 West Brom - 2:3

Everton 3:1 Swansea - 1:0

Fulham 2:2 Man Utd - 0:5

QPR 1:1 Sunderland - 2:3

Wigan 0:1 Liverpool - 0:0

Tottenham 2:1 Chelsea - 1:1

Week 18:

Chelsea 2:1 Fulham - 1:1

Bolton 3:2 Newcastle - 0:2

Liverpool 3:1 Blackburn - 1:1

Man Utd 4:1 Wigan - 5:0

Sunderland 2:2 Everton - 1:1

West Brom 1:3 Man City - 0:0

Stoke 3:2 Aston Villa - 0:0

Arsenal 2:0 Wolves - 1:1

Swansea 0:0 QPR - 1:1

Nowich 1:3 Tottenham - 0:2

Week 19:

Liverpool 3:0 Newcastle - 3:1

Man Utd 2:1 Blackburn - 2:3

Arsenal 2:1 QPR - 1:0

Bolton 2:1 Wolves - 1:1

Chelsea 2:1 Aston Villa - 1:3

Norwich 2:1 Fulham - 1:1

Stoke 2:1 Wigan - 2:2

Swansea 2:1 Tottenham - 1:1

West Brom 2:1 Everton - 0:1

Sunderland 2:1 Man City - 1:0

Week 20:

Aston Villa 2:1 Swansea - 0:2

Blackburn 2:1 Stoke - 1:2

QPR 2:1 Norwich - 1:2

Wolves 2:1 Chelsea - 1:2

Fulham 2:1 Arsenal - 2:1

Tottenham 2:0 West Brom - 1:0

Wigan 1:1 Sunderland - 1:4

Man City 3:2 Liverpool - 3:0

Everton 2:1 Bolton - 1:2

Newcastle 1:4 Man Utd - 3:0

In case you are wondering about the chain of 2:1 predictions I made, that was when I was at my parents' and forgot to predict, hence the auto-predictor put all predictions 2:1. Told ye USELESS! ;-P