Premier League Picks Of The Week 27

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 27

The 27th week of the Premier League action saw:

255 shots - most by Swansea = 23
36 goals - most by Southampton = 4
223 fouls - most by Middlesbrough = 20
31 bookings - most by Bournemouth = 5
1 red card - Surman for Bournemouth
3 penalties - 2 scored (Gray for Burnley, King for Bournemouth)

What a game! This week Match Of The Day was action-packed! Every game had it in it, goals, tops, flops, controversies, and more goals. My vote goes to the relegation battle between Swansea and Burnley at the Liberty Stadium. It was a great comeback by the Welsh side after some horrendous refereeing gave the Clarets a step back into the game, Anthony Taylor awarding a spot kick Andre Gray netted to make it 1:1 after the ball had clearly come off the arm of his own team mate Sam Vokes. Sean Dyche was not happy with man of the match Fernando Llorente's late winner seeing a foul in the buildup, but did not say much about the penalty incident. Selective memory? Another entertaining encounter was the seven-goal thriller between Watford and Southampton, showing off the best and worst of football, the Saints ending up on top at Vicarage Road bouncing back from their EFL Cup final defeat against Manchester United.

What a team! Chelsea remain unstoppable ten points clear at the top after beating West Ham 1-2 at the London Stadium, continuing their march to the title. I would like to see the mileage manager Antonio Conte covers non-stop on the move, jump, gestures and go on the sideline. Mental. Meanwhile Big Sam is doing his thing, Crystal Palace creeping and crawling out of the relegation zone after recording their second consecutive win, leaving the Hawthorns worthy 0-2 winners.

What a man! All the usual suspects starred and scored again this week, Harry Kane and Dele Alli for Spurs, Romelu Lukaku for Everton, Sergio Agüero for Manchester City, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa for Chelsea... But my hero vote of the week goes to a stopper, Artur Boruc. The Polish keeper kept 10-man Bournemouth in the game at Old Trafford and earned his side a point against Manchester United, saving his fourth out of last seven penalties. The Red Devils were lucky to still have eleven men on the pitch after Zlatan Ibrahimović had elbowed Tyrone Mings in clear frustration about the defender's boot catching his head earlier on. There was one red card, Andrew Surman, who pushed the famous Swedish striker to the ground. How the other two stayed on the pitch in perspective to this, is beyond me!

What a goal! Both Palace goals get my vote, as crucial as they were in the relegation battle, they were top quality to watch! Wilfried Zaha's cracking strike to open the score in the second half was only the second attempt on target in the match, his fifth of the season. Andros Townsend doubled the score six minutes from time, picking up the ball on the left side of his own box and just keeping on going and going and going, past centre back Gareth McAuley and striking the ball low past keeper Ben Foster. Wow.

What the hell?! Well, I will not start about the refereeing standards again, I think I've picked on them enough above, from missed to mixed, it was all just very messed up. Where is the video ref when you need him, ey, FA?!?!?! Apart from all that farce, one certain Frenchman looked very old and resigned at Anfield and I have one question to him: Monsieur Arsène Wenger, pourquoi, warum, why the hell did you leave Alexis Sánchez on the bench?!?!?! In the most crucial game in the battle for the top four against Liverpool (the title race being science fiction for both sides), you leave out your top scorer... ?!?!?!?! The Gunners' boss has well and truly and literally lost it!

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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

Cherries Shock Reds In 7-Goal Thriller

Sports - Football - Premier League - AFCB 4:3 LFC

Bournemouth beat Liverpool for the first time, coming back from two goals down, scoring three goals in the final 14 minutes, to win 4-3 and end the Reds' 15-match unbeaten run.

It was a game of two halves with a dramatic grand finale at the Vitality Stadium.

The visitors started comfortably and dominant, taking the lead in the 20th minute thanks to Sadio Mané's easy tap in, his seventh league goal of the season.

Not even two minutes later, Divock Origi broke free, keeper Artur Boruc storming past him, the Belgian forward striking from a tight angle, the stadium gasping, utter silence, waiting, expecting, goal, 0-2, all the dominance paid off.

Junior Stanislas was the only ray of hope for the home side, creating chances, only to see the ball given away and wasted on numerous occasions.

And the Cherries were in uproar when they were denied a penalty by referee Robert Madley after Nathan Aké was clipped in the box surrounded by Liverpool defenders.

The half-time whistle could not have come soon enough for Eddie Howe's men, and it would have been more than interesting to be a fly on the wall of that dressing room during the interval.

Former Liverpool man Jordon Ibe was brought on in place of Joshua King for the home side after the break, ringing change.

More change was enforced soon after, Stanislas injured thanks to Jordan Henderson's clumsy tackle that put him in the ref's book, to be replaced by Ryan Fraser. Little did they know how much that sub would change for them.

Moments later James Milner conceded a penalty, netted by striker Callum Wilson to make it 1-2. Game on. Liverpool not so dominant anymore, Jürgen Klopp furious on the sideline, warned off by the officials.

Emre Can restored the two-goal cushion a few minutes later, hitting a nice curling shot, scoring his third league goal of the season, stopping the Bournemouth comeback in its track. Or so they thought.

The Reds thought they had the ball over the line off a Milner corner, keeper Boruc taking it, nearly over the line, replays showing it was really close. But all sound and vibration alerts stayed silent, by a millimetre or two.

Then the last sub for the home side Benik Afobe missed a chance to see man of the match Fraser net it after a nice counter by Bournemouth to make it 2-3. Then all hell broke loose for the Reds.

Seconds later defender Steve Cook levelled the score collecting super-sub Fraser's fine cross, turning and converting nicely, 3-3.

Liverpool's defence looked all over the place at this point, keeper Loris Karius forced into a save by Afobe again, Bournemouth bossing it, Klopp looking lost for words.

Origi and sub Adam Lallana had late chances to nick a win, but it was not to be.

The shocking turnaround was completed by the hosts in the third minute of stoppage time, Karius spilling the ball, Aké pouncing on it to make it count, 4-3!

Bournemouth looked the hungrier in the second half, Liverpool all over the place, the complete opposite of the first half. What a turnaround!

The Red bubble was well and truly burst by the Cherries. The Scousers had not conceded for over 5.5 hours and now netted four, costing them three points, seeing them slip down to third, four points behind league leaders Chelsea, one behind Arsenal in second, ahead of City in fourth just on goal difference.

The Christmas fixture list will now look very different to Klopp and his men.

Click here to read my full ByTheMinute match coverage

Bournemouth Goals: Wilson pen 56', Fraser 76', Cook 78' & Aké 90'+3'.

Liverpool Goals: Mané 20', Origi 22' & Can 64'.

Bournemouth Team: 1 Boruc; 15 Smith, 2 Francis (c) (booked 50'), 3 Cook, 5 Aké; 8 Arter, 4 Gosling (9 Afobe 75'); 17 King (33 Ibe 45'), 32 Wilshere (booked 48'), 19 Stanislas (24 Fraser 55'); 13 Wilson. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 7 Pugh, 14 Smith, 23 Federici, 26 Mings.

Liverpool Team: 1 Karius; 2 Clyne, 21 Lucas, 6 Lovren, 7 Milner; 23 Can (booked 87'), 14 Henderson (booked 53'), 5 Wijnaldum; 19 Mané (20 Lallana 69'), 27 Origi, 11 Firmino. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 17 Klavan, 18 Moreno, 22 Mignolet, 53 Ejaria, 58 Woodburn, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

HT Stats:
Bournemouth 0-2 Liverpool
Attempts: 1-5
On target: 0-2
Offside: 0-1
Corners: 1-6
Fouls: 5-4
No bookings
Possession: 41%-59%

FT Stats:
Bournemouth 4-3 Liverpool
Attempts: 12-10
On target: 8-3
Offsides: 1-1
Corners: 4-9
Fouls: 9-17
Bookings: 2-2
Possession: 39.9%-60.1%

Referee: Robert Madley
Man of the match: Ryan Fraser
Ground: Vitality Stadium
Attendance: 11,183

Pictures taken from the BBC match report & stats from Sky Sports live coverage

Click here for my previous LFC match report