Week 37: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend
Top game: The early kick-off on Saturday was a juicy delight! The six-goal thriller at the Emirates opened up the race for the guaranteed Champions League spot in third place for Tottenham and Newcastle who were both playing on Sunday. Norwich were top-quality and fought hard and could have had a dozen of goals. Great entertainment, great watch.
Liverpool's thrashing of Chelsea gained the Reds a hint of revenge for their FA Cup final defeat against the Blues. The first half was cracking, action-packed end-to-end stuff that had everything in it! Goals, penalty, misses, shouts, bouts, slips, tricks, kicks...

Top team: City continued their unbeaten run against Newcastle who have now failed to gain a single point against the Premier League leaders in their last eleven meetings. The Sky Blues will remember St James' Park (now called Sports Direct Arena) fondly, not just for this crucial win, but this is the same ground they were crowned champions in the last time round - 44 years ago! We will see next weekend whether their long wait for another title will have finally come to an end or they will be kept waiting, longing, wishing, dreaming...

Top player: Yaya Toure's double won it for City after being pushed forward by Roberto Mancini after bringing Nigel de Yong on. It turned out to be a super-sub for the league leaders, which gave the Ivory Coast midfielder the freedom he needed to score two sublime and crucial goals.
Cisse has fallen heals-over-head into his fifth goal in seven games for QPR. If Rangers stay up, they have him to thank and hope his heals will stay put.

Top goal: With 19 minutes to go in one of the most crucial games in the title race, Toure was the one to thank and celebrate for a sweet goal to give City the lead against Newcastle. It was one of those unstoppable curls. After a nice one-two, exchanging passes with Sergio Aguero, Yaya produced a precise bend which led the ball right into the corner beyond Tim Krul, impossible for the keeper to reach and stop.
Sunderland's equaliser against Fulham was a smacker by Phillip Bardsley from outside the box past Mark Schwarzer. But only 15 seconds later, straight from kick-off, Mousa Dembele was able to run free and create a fine shot but this time with a wicked deflection off Michael Turner to turn it past Simon Mignolet. Gob-smacking couple of minutes at Craven Cottage which ended up rewarding Fulham with the three points and leave the visitors empty handed.

Top news: This is the first time I remember the title race going to the last weekend - the goals being the only gap between the two Manchester sides. It is going to be an unforgettable crunch-and-a-half next weekend, that's for sure! Can't wait! Oh, and one more relegation place and the last automatic Champions League qualification spot are all still to be decided too, so it's crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch time!

Flop game: Everton's goalless draw at the Molineux stadium was a scrappy draw with relegation-bound Wolves avoiding equalling a Premier League record of 10 straight home defeats. It was their first home point since 4th December and they earned it the hard way, holding through and keeping out a stubborn Everton side who controlled most of the match but ended up the more frustrated going home with two points dropped rather than a point gained, with their Merseyside neighbours creeping up on them in eighth place, only one point between the two going into the final weekend of the season.

Flop team: Bolton dropped points again against West Brom after giving away a precious two-goal lead. James Morrison came off the bench to score a last-minute equaliser, earning his side a point and putting a severe dent in Bolton's chances of surviving the relegation battle. The Wanderers now need to win their last match of the season away to Stoke and rely on Manchester City not to slip up against QPR, who are two points ahead of Owen Coyle's side in 17th and nine goals better off in goal difference.

Flop player: John Terry had a night to forget at Anfield. Suspended for the Champions League final, the skipper did not give Roberto Di Matteo much reason to miss him giving away three goals, one nuts through the legs, one slip and one set-piece giveaway. The defender can call himself luck if he will find his name on the England Euro 2012 team sheet!
It is a rare occurence to find Robin van Persie under this category, but the way the Dutch striker went down in the box instead of converting the chance there and then, fool him! No penalty for his antiques and two points dropped for Arsenal in the race for thirs and automatic Champions League qualification!

Flop goal: Bolton's second goal had a stroke of luck in it, the ball smashing from one defender to another, ending up in the back of the net as an own goal thanks to Billy Jones' deflection. Coyle will be wondering where the luck went to for the rest of the game and whether it will finally be on their side when it comes to the relegation crunch at the final weekend of the season or they are destined for the drop and going to join Blackburn and Wolves in the Championship next season.

Flop news: I cannot believe I have to work next weekend, i.e. I am going to miss the whole epic episode with all the crunches, deciders and drama! Argh! Thank god for Sky+! I will be ignoring any social media and news input or output on my way home, to make sure I can catch the highlights and still be part of all the blood, sweat and tears!

My predictions - Actual results

Arsenal 1:2 Norwich City - 3:3
Newcastle 1:1 Man City - 0:2
Aston Villa 1:3 Tottenham - 1:1
Bolton 3:2 West Brom - 2:2
Fulham 0:0 Sunderland - 2:1
QPR  2:0 Stoke City - 1:0
Wolves  0:3 Everton - 0:0
Man United 3:0 Swansea City - 2:0
Blackburn 1:2 Wigan - 0:1
Blackburn are relegated
Liverpool 0:2 Chelsea - 4:1

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 22: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Saturday alone saw 27 goals! Only one team in the top half of the table pocketed three points on the day- that team being Sunderland. The Sunday double kick-off of the two Manchester clubs and their wins over their London rivals at the top of the table would be the all-too-obvious picks, but there was so much more:

Top game: It was a weekend of spectacular goals and comebacks: A superb strike by Danny Guthrie opened the score for Newcastle and gave them a false sence of security, comfort and confidence at Fulham. A soft penalty taken by Danny Murphy then gave Fulham the equaliser and put both former Liverpool players on the score sheet. Clint Dempsey's 13th goal of the season made it 2-1 and his 14th followed soon after with a cracking finish to make it 3-1 and him the highest American scorer in Premier League history. Bobby Zamora netted the second penalty to make it 4-1 which added together to four goals in 16 minutes! A good bit of skill by Hatem Ben Arfa tucking himself inside the defender made it 4-2. But Dempsey with a hat-trick made sure that at 5-2 it all stayed under Fulham's control! What a game of two halves and comeback kings!

Top team: Eventhough it ended up in defeat, Tottenham were more than just an opposition to league leaders Manchester City. They were strong competitors who looked set to be the first side to deny Robert Mancini's side a home win in the Premier League. It was a quite firm competition until it all kicked of in the second half with four goals in ten minutes. Gareth Bale's looked like he had grabbed Spurs a point when he met the ball first-time and curled it into the top corner, until Ledley King was penalised for pulling down Mario Balotelli and the Italian substitute stepped up to beat Brad Friedel. Spurs are now eight points behind the leaders in third place, but five points ahead of Chelsea in fourth, making the Champions League spot more and more their own.

Top player: Robbie Keane starred for the other comeback kings of the day, Aston Villa, with two gobsmacking goals! After making his debut for Wolves over 14 years ago, he returned to the Premier League on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy, beating his former side in spectacular fashion. The Irishman hasn't seen much action over the last month-and-a-bit, the more impressive his display way. Steve Morison and Frank Lampard had scored in every game for their respective teams so far this year, Norwich and Chelsea having won all three games before their goalless draw.

Top goal: Keane's 125th Premier League goal deserves to be put under this category not only for the statistic or for the comeback but also in what skilful fashion it was executed. Keane made defender Roger Johnson pay for a poor headed clearance by lashing his long-range strike in off the crossbar from 25 yards out.

Top news: FA Cup 4th round coming up, with Liverpool facing bitter rivals Manchester United at Anfield, in the last week of the January transfer window 2012.


Flop game: I knew before it kicked off, United against Arsenal could not compete against City's win over Tottenham in terms of entertainment and quality (and goals) and it didn't. Chelsea's goalless draw against Norwich was just an agonising watch. The chances that were created weren's even close. Norwich will be more than glad about the result, but Chelsea will have to worry whether they can keep hold of a Champions League spot if they continue like this.

Flop team: Liverpool showed some shocking defending! They were two goals down within 28 minutes, allowing man-of-the-match Chris Eagles to run free, all Red shirts around the box but leaving Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker still free to score both goals. Craig Bellamy pulled one back, but it was again a case of false hope. Bolton sealed the win at 3-1 with a magnificent finish after David Wheater headed back Martin Petrov's corner for Gretar Steinsson to volley the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. It looked all too easy for Bolton, whilst the Reds drew a sorry, very sorry picture of themselves.

Flop player: Balotelli cannot stay out of the headlines and his stamp on Scott Parker was just so evil, it's ridiculous! Various reporters were discussing whether the striker knew where Parker's head was, whether it was just an unlucks accident... Please! Who would kick back like that if there wasn't anything or anyone there they were targeting?!
Another player under negative scrutiny, Fernando Torres was NOT on the scoreboard for Chelsea once again with chances galore, but no goal. The Spaniard has now gone 15 games without scoring, the last one against Genk in October, his worst run since he came to England when he joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007. No bien!

Flop goal: Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen will not want to see either goal which gave West Brom a win and three points at the Britannia Stadium. West Brom hadn't beaten Stoke in 10 meetings in 30 years. When the ball swerved over Sorensen's left leg after he saw it too late and wrong-sided, it was clearly one of those video-collection-blooper moments which gave the visitors the lead. After Stoke had equalised and thought they would escape with a point, an injury-time free kick in by Graham Dorrans saw goalkeeper Sorensen helpless again and Stoke losing two goals and three points to West Brom. OUCH!

Flop news: Harry Redknapp's tax-dodging trial starts this coming week, see what comes out there... I wonder if his pet dog Rosie will be questioned in court, too...

My predictions - Actual results

Norwich 2:1 Chelsea - 0:0

Everton 1:1 Blackburn - 1:1

Fulham 1:2 Newcastle - 5:2

QPR 2:2 Wigan - 3:1

Stoke 1:0 West Brom - 1:2

Sunderland 2:1 Swansea - 2:0

Wolves 1:1 Aston Villa - 2:3

Bolton 2:3 Liverpool - 3:1

Man City 1:2 Tottenham - 3:2

Arsenal 2:2 Man Utd - 1:2

Week 15: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week:

Top game: Chelsea's home win against Manchester City was a pulsating match where both teams went at it and there could have been more red cards than just the one! It was a feisty clash where the home side's top quality, team work and spirit beat City's snorty arrogance. All games had plenty of goals, action and refereeing controversy once again, but Norwich's home win against Newcastle tops the lot! Six goals, five bookings, one red card - it was a cracking game and result, for Norwich anyway.

Top team: Even after their first defeat of the season, City are still 12 points better off than they were at this stage last season and remain top of the Premier League table, two points clear of local rivals United. It will take more than one defeat to sink that massive ship! The promoted teams Norwich and Swansea are flying high mid-table, in 10th and 11th spot, on 19 and 17 points, after enjoying impressive home wins against Newcastle and Fulham respectively.

Top player: Nani and Antonio Valencia impressed me most at Old Trafford. Their runs left everyone far behind, so too their top quality passes, crosses and shots. The Portuguese midfielder scored two whilst his Ecuadorian provided two, Nani's cheeky right-foot opener running past all defenders along the box setting the tone of the match. Maxi Rodriguez showed similar pace and resilience at Anfield but was not rewarded with his name on the scoresheet thanks to some brilliant saves by QPR's Czech goalkeeper Radek Cerny.

Top goal: The opening Chelsea goal by former Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles was a smacker-and-a-half after a beautiful build up run clear and cross by once-again-impressive Daniel Sturridge. Of course Robin Van Persie's left-foot touch off Alex Song's wonderful diagonal pass and unstoppable shot and winning goal against Everton is impossible to overlook. The one goal Wolves got against United is also worth a note as Liverpool fan Steven Fletcher will never forget how wonderful he headed and curled the ball over everyone and into the back of the net.

Top news: I loved this little quote on BBC's Sportsday Live: Qatar's Al Sadd want Fifa to let them field a team of 16 players when they face European champions Barcelona in Thursday's Club World Cup semi-final in Japan. "I've got a plan," Al Sadd's Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati joked. "If they agree to my request we are allowed 15 or 16 players on the field, I think we have a chance!" Nothing's impossible, right?

Flop game: Tottenham's defeat at Stoke was a strong win for them home side with a solid and resilient performance, especially by the back line, however, for Spurs it was a weak performance, by the referee especially. Yes, Chris Foy had a day to forget. I don't know how Emmanuel Adebayor's goal was offside and why Peter Crouch's handball in the build-up to Matthew Etherington's opener was conveniently overlooked, well, convenient for Stoke of course. In this day and age it is an impertinence that there is no back-up system, i.e. video ref to correct all this humbug!!!

Flop team: Bolton worried me sick this weekend! They gave Aston Villa no worries and a too easy win! There was no tracking, lack of defending which left Villa with too much time and space to push forward too freely and easily. Owen Coyle must have said something right at half time because they came out firing in the second half but it did not last long. The Wanderers are bottom of the league with only nine points, 14 points and 14 places worse off than at the same stage last season! Chris Kamara may not agree with me on his blog, but I am really worried for Bolton if they continue like this!

Flop player: There were three red cards this weekend, which could not have painted a bigger contrast: City's Gael Clichy painted a frustrated picture against the pace of Chelsea's Sturridge and saw a second yellow for tripping Ramires; Spurs' Younes Kaboul was harshly dismissed for a challenge on Stoke's Jonathan Walters by an imcompetent Foy who should not have stayed on the pitch himself; and last but not least Dan Gosling was Newcastle's main villain in their defeat with some miserable defending and fouling which lead to his sending off and his depleted side's defeat. How come the referees are not picked up, assessed and/or dropped according to their performances and consistency as the players and teams are?!

Flop goal: As mentioned above, this week there were a bunch of all-too-familiar cases of goals and penalties that should have or should not have been, but thanks to the mood swings and dazzling minds of the referees and their decisions, the goals, penalties and results stand as they are. I know, that gives us the spice to the food we eat, the words to the blogs, reports and articles we right, and the action and controversy to the matches and sport we follow and so thoroughly enjoy but damn! All action and entertainment would not be lost if all the lies, deceit and utter incompetence would be taken out of the game by modern technology! FULL STOP! I think this and could right this EVERY WEEK!!!!!!! The only one left jumping for joy this weekend, was new Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill after his side recorded only their third win of the season, his first match in charge, against Blackburn.

Flop news: Sad news about Darren Fletcher as it looks like we've seen the last of him in the game. Wish him all the best in his recovery, eventhough he plays for United... ;-P

My predictions - Actual results:

Arsenal 3:1 Everton - 1:0

Bolton 1:1 Aston Villa - 1:2

Liverpool 3:1 QPR - 1:0

Man Utd 3:0 Wolves - 4:1

Norwich 1:2 Newcastle - 4:2

Swansea 0:0 Fulham - 2:0

West Brom 3:1 Wigan - 1:2

Sunderland 3:0 Blackburn - 2:1

Stoke 1:2 Tottenham - 2:1

Chelsea 2:5 Man City - 2:1

Week 14: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Top game: Newcastle's 0-3 home defeat to Chelsea was a harsh result to a brilliant game. Both goalkeepers had plenty to do and coped more than well. Tim Krul's superb penalty save was just one of many in a competitve match. Petr Cech made some brill saves too, Newcastle hitting the post and bar. Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at Fulham was a cruel result too, both teams enjoying plenty of chances, but one mistake by Pepe Reina costing the Reds dearly in the end. Of all goalkeepers, you would not have bet on that one making such an error! Juicy thrillers to the neutral eye, cruel world of football to the fans of the losing sides.

Top team: Manchester City were all over Norwich on Saturday, the 5-1 result reflecting their dominance in the game and their five-point and 17-goal lead at the top of the Premier League to runners-up Manchester United proving their command of the league. With Chelsea and Arsenal next up on the fixture list in the Premier League and their crucial, final Champions League group match against Bayern Munich squeezed inbetween the two, the competitions are getting anything but easier.

Top player: Yakubu Aiyegbeni's four goals for Blackburn against Swansea brought his side only their second win of the season and relief to manager Steve Kean after all the pressure, stick and protests against him over the last couple of weeks. Celebrating his second goal with his manager, Yakubu became the first Blackburn player to score four goals in a Premier League match. Even the great Alan Shearer did not do that in his short reign at Rovers. With Sunderland, West Brom and Bolton lined up next on the fixture list, Kean can only hope Yakubu stays in such top-scoring form and get Blackburn sneaking up the table. 

 Top goal: Yakubu's opener at Ewood park was a smacker. The Nigerian striker thumped Gael Givet's pull-back into the top right-hand corner, a sweet finish that lifted the mood and the game for the home side. Heidar Herlguson's header which made it 1-0 to QPR was sweet too. The Icelandic veteran striker met and netted Joey Barton's clip-pass well to score his sixth goal of the season. It was cruel Rangers only got a point out of the match in the end, they were on top and Shaun Wright-Phillips had netted another one with a brilliant volley but was wrongly disallowed as offside. The cruel world of football yet again.

Top news: The final Champions League group fixtures are ahead of us this week which will tell us who will emerge victorious and/or who will qualify and make it through to the final stages.

Flop game: Manchester United's 1-0 win at Villa Park did not have many highlights to show for itself. The goal was an easy one, Villa kept going though, you have to give them that much, but it just showed the lack of force they have, hardly forming any competition against United.

Flop team: Tottenham's 3-0 home win against Bolton could have been a 15-0 thrashing, if it weren't for Jussi Jaaskelainen! Bolton showed poor defending in the game, the goalkeeper sparing them from an absolute beating. Gareth Bale snook one in before Gary Cahill got sent off for synical fowl on Scott Parker. After Bale, Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor were denied by Jaaskelainen, Aaron Lennon made it 2-0, past three defenders who blocked the goalkeeper's view. Defoe then made it 3-0 with all space in the world together with William Gallas, no defender nearby. It is the first time in the Premier League Spurs have won six in the row, thanks to every goalkeepers nightmare, a useless defence as Bolton displayed!


Flop player: How David Luiz stayed on the pitch after hauling down Demba Ba, I don't know! Have to ask referee Mike Dean I guess. The Chelsea defender was the last man against the Newcastle forward and brought him down without touching the ball = red, no? Mr Dean seemed to have it in for Newcastle, with a lot of decision's going against the home side and the 3-0 result looking very harsh reflecting an a very competitve, entertaining, end-to-end-stuff game. But I think Andre Villas-Boas would be the last person to call himself lucky, much in contrast to Alan Pardew, I'm sure to say.

Flop goal: As mentioned above, Wright-Phillips netted a fine goal with a weet right-foot finish for QPR against West Brom but was ruled out as offside, which he was nowhere near of! In the end, that decision meant two dropped points. Clint Dempsey's goal for Fulham against Liverpool was a cruel one too. Former Red Danny Murphy's shot past Glen Johnson was spilled by Reina, unlike him, and Dempsey was there to make it 1-0 with 5 minutes to go. The cruel and crucial world of football - I know I'm repeating myself now!

Flop news: Fabio Capello and England are already making trouble and preparing excuses for Euro 2012 with their decision to stay based in Poland whilst their group matches will be in Ukraine... It's a joke! Even Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister agrees!!!

My predictions - Actual results

Newcastle 1:1 Chelsea - 0:3

Blackburn 0:0 Swansea - 4:2

Man City 4:1 Norwich - 5:1

QPR 2:1 West Brom - 1:1

Tottenham 2:1 Bolton - 3:0

Wigan 2:3 Arsenal - 0:4

Aston Villa 1:1 Man Utd - 0:1

Everton 1:0 Stoke - 0:1

Wolves 2:1 Sunderland - 2:1

Fulham 1:3 Liverpool - 1:0

Week 11: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Top game: Both Man City and Tottenham were made to work very hard for their wins at QPR and Fulham respectively. The goalkeepers had plenty to do, Fulham keeping Brad Friedel the busiest with 20 attempts! All the action and scrambles ended up with Tottenham (and City) on top and a fully entertained crowd on all sides, everyone definitely getting their money's worth.

Top team: Owen Coyle's Bolton shut up the critics this weekend with their 5-0 smashing thrashing of Stoke. Tony Pulis' side obviously have too much on their plate at the moment with the Europa League, so the Potters were literally just brushed away by the Wanderers, who recorded their first home win of the season. I feel sorry for the one but relieved for the other manager, as both are doing their job to the point and very well.

Top player: Aston Villa's Darren Bent and Gabby Agbonlahor were in top form, the prior scoring two and the latter scoring one and providing one in Villa's delightful 3:2 win against Norwich, a perfect watch for England manager Fabio Capello before making his mind up who to pick for the England friendlies against Spain and Sweden.

Top goal: Newcastle right back Ryan Taylor's 25-yard smash against Everton was a sweet one for the born and bread Red from Liverpool. The strike looked to go over but dipped and beat Tim Howard and crashed into the top right-hand corner. It ended up being the decisive difference between the two, the Toons won 2:1 after they got a lucky escape as Everton should have been given a second-half penalty for Dan Gosling's obvious handball.

Top news: International break coming up - England facing World Champions Spain and thorn-in-the-eye Sweden.

Flop game: Apart from the 25th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign and the renaming of the North Stand in his honour, there was not much more to report from Old Trafford in their unusually quiet and unspectacular 1-0 win against Sunderland. Well, still three points in the bag either way, unlike Liverpool...

Flop team: Liverpool's goalless draw against Swansea was frustrating to watch, not just as a Liverpool fan, but as a football fan. It just showed, it doesn't matter how many chances you have or how close you get, if the ball doesn't cross the line you get nothing from it. I'm taking nothing away from Swansea, goalkeeper Michel Vorm especially after his late spectacular save of Glen Johnson's shot, but it is getting more and more frustrating for the Reds!


Flop goal: A couple of own goals to write about this week, Wes Brown netting one for his former employers United, costing his current employers Sunderland two points and Everton defender Johnny Heitinga turning in Danny Simpson's cross to gift Newcastle a goal, both incidents ending up being crucial to the games and results and with it the points. That is the cruel world of football.

Flop news: Sepp Blatter is a joke! And he is (still) FIFA president!!!???!!! And on a different note, Man City have recorded a record loss of nearly £200m! Who ever thought it was all cash sweet and easy nowadays... It's only a matter of time until the sweet bubble will burst and they will all come crashing down HARD!

My predictions - Actual results

Newcastle 2:1 Everton - 2:1

Arsenal 3:1 West Brom - 3:0

Aston Villa 2:1 Norwich - 3:2

Blackburn 1:1 Chelsea - 0:1

Liverpool 2:1 Swansea - 0:0

Man Utd 2:1 Sunderland - 1:0

QPR 1:2 Man City - 2:3

Wolves 2:1 Wigan - 3:1

Bolton 1:2 Stoke - 5:0

Fulham 1:2 Tottenham - 1:3

Week 2: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Plenty of action and controversy this week as the referees' decisions are under the microscope and hefty criticism once again, after overseeing 23 goals, two penalties  (which should have been three), 32 bookings and three sendings off (which should have been four):


Top game: The Tyneside derby had a little bit of everything. Sunderland and Newcastle head-to-head in competitive spirit, showing the good and ugly side of the game, it was certainly not pretty but feisty, the fans definitely got what they paid for.

Top team: QPR made a good bounce back against Everton after their opening day 4-0 thrashing against Bolton. Their 1-0 win at Goodison Park was an amazing result, especially regarding the circumstances after their team was hit by a virus on top of everything else.

Top player: Manchester City's Edin Dzeko was on fire, he looked a totally different player in his side's 3-2 win at the Reebok Stadium. With him on form and Samir Nasri finally signed, the likes of out-of-favour Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy will not be missed much if &and when they finally go.

Top goal: Gabriel Agbonlahor's opener for Aston Villa in their 3-1 win against Blackburn was a supreme take. After good buildup with Darren Bent, the number 11 striker cut one way, then the other, fooled everyone to float and curl the ball past Paul Robinson. Brilliant.

Top news: Champions League group draw, Europa League group draw, only days left for the transfer window to produce a couple more suprises and uproars...

Flop game: I thought Tottenham's trip to Old Trafford would be a bit more of a competition. It was a good match in the first half, but in the second half it was all United, Spurs nowhere to be seen, making no real competition of it, letting United dance all over them. No discredit to United, but it was a boring shame.

Flop team: Arsenal looked like a nervous bunch of nobodies, showing lack of discipline, defensive gaps and leaks everywhere, making it an easy 2-0 win for Liverpool at the Emirates eventhough the visitors were not at their best either. Even Sunday League football looks more competitive and professional then these dragging Gunners.

Flop player: Emmanuel Frimpong's tackle on Liverpool's Lucas Leiva and his consequential sending off was unnecessary and irresponsible. It was one of the rare occasions where the ref got the decision spot-on though. Otherwise, the refs have not been on top of the game, especially Howard Webb at the Stadium of Light, after not giving Sebastian Larsson's handball which stopped Joey Barton's goalbound shot. The linesman disappointed Webb and left Barton outraged, makes a change, then. Why the video replays cannot be used is still a myth to me!

Flop goal: It has been a good week(end) for goalkeepers, the only flop goals were missed penalties and/or good saves! Although, Aaron Ramsey will not feel so lucky with the own goal he conceded against Liverpool...

Flop news: Kenwright blaming the bank for Everton's misery and lack of transfer activity; if you cannot afford it, why keep it?! Does nobody else want it or are you asking for too much, maybe?

My predictions - Actual results

Sunderland 1:1 Newcastle - 0:1

Arsenal 1:1 Liverpool - 0:2

Aston Villa 2:1 Blackburn - 3:1

Everton 3:1 QPR - 0:1

Swansea 1:1 Wigan - 0:0

Chelsea 4:1 West Brom - 2:1

Norwich 0:0 Stoke - 1:1

Wolves 2:1 Fulham - 2:0

Bolton 2:3 Man City - 2:3

Man Utd 4:2 Tottenham - 3:0