Premier League Picks Of The Week 31

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 31

The 31st week of the Premier League action saw:

13 goals - most by Liverpool = 5
94 shots - most by Crystal Palace = 18
43 on target - most by Liverpool = 10
33 corners - most by Everton = 9
72 fouls - most by Stoke City = 13
11 yellow cards - most by Huddersfield = 3
1 red card - Charlie Adam for Everton
1 penalty- 1 scored (Milivojevic for Crystal Palace)

What a game! There were only four Premier League games on this weekend thanks to the FA Cup quarter finals. But there were still plenty of goals and controversies, as detailed below:

What a team! Crystal Palace are escaping the relegation battle, climbing out of the drop zone after their 0-2 win at Huddersfield thanks to former Hammer James Tomkins' opener from close range and Luka Milivojević's spot kick. Their first win in eight games took Roy Hodgson's men up to 16th thanks to the other sides' FA Cup commitments as mentioned above, whilst David Wagner sees his Terriers stay in 15th but just three points above the relegation zone after drawing a blank in eight of their last 11 league games. Man of the match Wilfried Zaha made a big difference and must have been so glad to be back for the Eagles - especially under these lovely, snowy, windy conditions! In the nine games without the winger, the London side failed to claim even a single point!

What a man! Liverpool's star and once again man of the match Mohamed Salah underlined his quality with a quadruple seeing the Reds thrash Watford 5-0 at Anfield without much effort. The Egyptian danced and pranced through, in, around and all over Javi Gracia's men, into the record books and to the top of the league scoreboard with 28 goals, and 36 in 41 games in all competitions. Roberto Firmino's remarkable back footer has to be mentioned as well! And Loris Karius kept another clean sheet. I am sure Jürgen Klopp could not have been happier - despite the weather! The Kop kept echoing and bouncing throughout. The Reds have averaged 2.2 goals per game under their German boss, their highest ratio at home in the Premier League under any manager. Just awesome. The win took the Scousers up to third and opened a seven-point gap over Chelsea in fifth. Geht doch!

What a goal! Bournemouth's Junior Stanislas' late free-kick winner condemned West Brom to their seventh consecutive league defeat, keeping them stuck rock bottom 10 points from safety with seven games to go. Jay Rodriguez hooked in Salomón Rondón's header to give the visitors the lead shortly after the break at Dean Court. But with under 15 minutes to go, man of the match Jordon Ibe bounced the equaliser past keeper Ben Foster and broke the Baggies down before the Cherries went on to win and break the visitors' hearts. Alan Pardew is surely in a dead-end job as I've been blogging nearly every week, his side having lost 24 points from leading positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other team. Eddie Howe meanwhile, is a much happier man, having watched his team pick up 16 points from losing positions in the league, more than any other side, and moving up to 10th with this win.

What the hell?! Stoke's Charlie Adam's red card was super harsh, especially under the difficult weather conditions and certainly helped Everton to their win. His team mate Xherdan Shaqiri wasn't happy and confused the French commentators with his protests, making them think he was sent off. The snow and the lines made the game unforgettable that's for sure! And despite the sad attempt by the Potters to make it even harder for their opponents by not clearing the snow out of the keeper's box like theirs, the Toffees ended on top thanks to Cenk Tosun's brace (69' & 84'), the win keeping Big Sam's men comfy on 40 points in ninth. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's leveller (77') was spoilt by his injury and ended up being to no avail, Paul Lambert's men having recorded just one win in their last 12 Premier League games, keeping them stuck in 19th, three points away from safety.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Bournemouth 1:1 West Brom - 2:1
Huddersfield 2:1 Crystal Palace - 0:2
Stoke City 2:1 Everton - 1:2
Liverpool 3:0 Watford - 5:0

Games postponed due to FA Cup quarter finals:
Burnley v Chelsea
Leicester v Arsenal
Man City v Brighton
Swansea v Southampton
Tottenham v Newcastle
West Ham v Man United

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match reports, MOTD, Twitter and SFR coverage.

Nightmare thrashing for Reds at White Hart Lane

Sports - Football - Premier League - Tottenham 4:0 Liverpool

Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel saw red as nine-man Liverpool were thumped 4-0 at White Hart Lane by a bright, confident, dominant and inspirational Tottenham side who came back fighting after they were thrashed 5:1 by Manchester City in their last home game with man of the match Emmanuel Adebayor scoring two.

Luka Modric took the lead for Tottenham early on in the game (7.) with a smacking screamer of a strike from the edge of the box into the top right hand corner of the goal giving Pepe Reina not even a smell of it.

That gave the tone of the game with Liverpool all over the place and after seeing their defender Daniel Agger going off injured things went from bad to worse for the Reds. Adam was sent off for his second bookable offence after he left a high foot on Scott Parker with his eyes on the ball but it was a dangerous tackle leaving Liverpool down to ten.

Sometimes a sending off can pull a side together and get them better focused and organised, not in Liverpool's case. Jordan Henderson and Skrtel were driven mad by Adebayor and Gareth Bale and their quick breaks and runs, the latter being booked for his frustration and risky tackle on the man of the match.

Tottenham stayed on top, creating but missing chance after chance. Luis Suarez had the most frustrating day, mostly alone up front with hardly anything or anyone coming his way and to put the icing on the cake for him and his side he was also added to the referee's book just before half time for his sarcastic applaud to a linesman.

It was a horrible half for Liverpool, with Agger off injured, Adam sent off, Bale exposing Skrtel again and again and looking certain to crack him again at some point. And it did come worse for the Reds.

After creating a couple of semi-chances/lucky free kicks thanks to Andy Carroll and Suarez, Liverpool cracked and crumbled to bits. Skrtel saw his second yellow for bringing down Bale after he once again made mockery of Henderson and broke through too easily.

Minutes later Jermain Defoe made it 2:0 after breaking through and past Jose Enrique, sending a beautiful right-footed shot into the net on the turn, putting salt on Liverpool's wounds. 90 seconds later Reina added to the nightmare after spilling Defoe's shot from the edge of the box giving Adebayor an easy one to slot in to make it 3:0.

A double change followed for Liverpool with 20 minutes to go, Craig Bellamy and Jay Spearing coming on for Stewart Downing and Suarez to avoid the worst more than anything else, like another sending off and/or a worse thrashing as they were already getting. Too little, too late.

Tottenham had an easy kickabout for the last 10-15 minutes with some lovely combinations and plenty of missed chances, making 3:0 look like a modest scoreline as to what it could and should have been.

Adebayor finished the game off in the last minute of injury time by smashing the ball in with his right foot, an emphatic finish and diagonal shot past Reina to make it 4:0 and a thrilling win for Spurs. The Londoners were superior in every respect, in all dimensions and areas. This was certainly a match to remember for Harry Redknapp and his men.

For Liverpool on the other hand, this has been a match to forget, their biggest Premier League defeat for 8.5 years, seeing the first sendings off under Kenny Dalglish's current reign. Their defeat at Stoke was cruel with decisions going against them and the Reds fighting hard and coming so close. This game today was a fully fledged thrashing, beat-up, smash-up with Liverpool all over the place, disorganised, crumbled to bits. This leaves a lot to think about and work on for King Kenny and his boys.

Tottenham: Friedel; Walker, Kaboul, King (Bassong 84.), Assou-Ekotto; Kranjcar (Van der Vaart HT), Parker, Modric (scored 6:22), Bale; Adebayor (scored 67:39 & 92:47; booked 24.), Defoe (scored 66., Giovani 84.)). (4-4-2)
Subs not used: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Corluka, Livermore.

Liverpool: Reina; Skrtel (booked 36., sent off 63.), Carragher, Agger (Coates 27.(booked 39.)), Jose Enrique; Henderson, Lucas, Adam (booked 12., sent off 28.), Downing (Bellamy 70.); Suarez (booked 49., Spearing 70.), Carroll. (4-4-2)
Subs not used: Doni, Maxi, Coates, Kuyt,  Robinson.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Tottenham-Liverpool
Attempts: 6-0 & 8-3
On target: 3-0 & 5-0
Offsides: 1-3 & 1-1
Free kicks: 7-5 & 4-7
Corners: 3-0 & 0-1
Possession: 56%-44% (17.min) & 55%-45% (FT)
Action areas: 12%-50%-38% 

Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Man of the match: Emmanuel Adebayor

Liverpool see another flurry of goals in Asia

Sports - Football - Pre-Season-Friendly - Malaysia XI 3:6 Liverpool

Liverpool enjoyed a mixed game against the Malaysia XI, enjoying most of the possession and goals, but not without some scares, twists and turns.

Nine goals meant good entertainment again, although most of them were thanks to some clumsy defending, the Reds most certainly getting the season warm-up, training, workout and preparation they were looking for.

Liverpool opened the scoring thanks to a soft penalty after Andy Carroll went down a bit too easily in front of Mahali Jasuli with the littlest of little contact made.

But the spot kick was given and Charlie Adam netted both the first take and the retake to give him his first goal for the Reds.

The visitors kept dominating play and possession until they were stunned shortly before half time, just like in their first friendly against Guangdong FC, by a sweet right-footed free kick by the Malaysian skipper Mohd Safiq Rahim into the right corner of the net, to make it 1-1 at half time, no chance for the goalkeeper to stop it.

The second half was clumsier, Liverpool bringing on a whole new 11 again, both sides leaving big gaps, leaving plenty of space for David Ngog and Maxi Rodriguez to net two each on the one side of the pitch and super-sub Mohd Safel Mohd Sali to net two on the other side, all of them all too easily with all the space in the world.

Red Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt blasted in a nice Alberto Aquilani cross to make it 3-6 and put the icing on a very sweet, action-packed cake just before the full-time whistle.

Again, everyone contributed, gave their best, maybe trying to squeeze in a little too much, a little bit too hard which made play very spacey and chaotic at times, but it was still a good watch and a good chance to see everyone.

Aquilani impressed me late on with his contributions, good crosses, a little bit more daring and risky play but good creating and taking of chances which makes it the more questionable and interesting whether he will be added to the summer sales list or not.... The number 99 on his shirt may be too much of a giveaway though...

Malaysia XI: Ramli; Mahali Jasuli (booked 26), Putra, Mohd Shas, Ahmad (booked 21, Ismail 73); Bakhtiar, Rohidan (Sali 77, scored 79 & 82), Rahim (scored 42, Faruqi 63), Subramaniam; Yahya (Ramian 39), Shaarani (Saad 63).

Subs not used: Che Mat, Nasril Nourdin, Ashari, Muslin Ahmed, Remeli, Haidi Zainal, Suppiah, Shamsuddin, Shaari, Rizal Fahmi.

Liverpool: Jones (Gulacsi 46, Hansen 70); Robinson (Insua 46), Agger (Wilson 46), Carragher (Kyrgiakos 46), Flanagan (Kelly 46); Adam (scored pen. 26, Aquilani 46), Coady (Kuyt 46, scored 94), Spearing (Poulsen 46), Meireles (Maxi 46, scored 75 & 91), Cole (Shelvey 46); Carroll (Ngog 46, scored 69 & 70).

Subs not used: Pacheco, Wisdom.

1st & 2nd half stats:

Malaysia XI-Liverpool
Attempts: 4-7 & 6-9
On target: 3-4 & 3-6
Offsides: 0-2 & 0-1
Corners: 1-1 & 1-1
Free kick: 6-5 & 1-4
Possession: 32%-68% (10)

My man of the match: Alberto Aquilani

Pre-Season Friendly, match summary: Malaysia XI 3-6 Liverpool

Sports - Football - Pre-Season-Friendly - Malaysia XI 3:6 Liverpool

Liverpool enjoyed a mixed game against the Malaysia XI, enjoying most of the possession and goals, but not without some scares, twists and turns. Nine goals meant good entertainment again, although most of them were thanks to some clumsy defending, the Reds most certainly getting the season warm-up, training, workout and preparation they were looking for with David Ngog and Maxi Rodriguez netting two each, Dirk Kuyt contributing with one and Charlie Adam getting his first thanks to a penalty. Full match report soon to follow...

Text commentary of the game (min):

- (1) Liverpool kick off the first half.

- (3) First couple of minutes the visitors enjoy most possession, press forward but attack disolves in the box.

- (4) First free kick goes to Liverpool, from the left wide outside the box, Charlie Adam with the delivery, comes around but is eventually smashed away by the defence.

- (6) Foul by Joe Cole on nr 3 defender Mohd Shas, free kick to Malaysia XI.

- (8) Andy Carrol misjudges role of the ball and plays it out on the right, slightly unfortunate, slightly runs it over.

- (11) Possession all Liverpool the first ten minutes: Malaysia XI 32%-68% Liverpool.

- (11) Carroll's shot off Adam's nice diagonal cross is punched away brilliantly by the Malaysian goalkeeper Ramli, good jump to his left, and he also blocks Meireles's follow up shot nicely.

- (12) Free kick to Liverpool, Carroll fouled from 25 yards.

- (13) Adam can't get the depth on the ball, free kick curls high and wide.

- (14) Free kick to Liverpool, nothing from it.

- (17) Joe Cole shoots with his left, softest of soft shots, easy stop for goalkeeper.

- (18) Joe Cole is offside in the box, didn't time his run, a bit over-enthusiastic there.

- (20) John Flanagan gives away a free kick not too far from the halfway line, long ball ends up out, goal kick for Brad Jones.

- (21) Free kick to Liverpool, Adam caught late by Ahmad, the nr 2 is the first name in the book.

- (25) PENALTY to Liverpool, Carroll has gone down, controversy, the Malaysia XI is not happy with that decision, the nr 4 Mahali Jasuli is the one behind Carroll who goes down a bit too easy. There is an arm out, littlest of little contact, but spot kick is given.

- (26) Penalty netted by Adam but has to be retaken, Adam nets the second even better, more confident with his left into the left corner, goalkeeper wrongsided, soft penalty gives Liverpool the lead. Malaysia XI 0:1 Liverpool. Mahali Jasuli is booked for his troubles.

- (29) First corner for the home side, easy pick up for Australian goalkeeper Jones.

- (33) Good dominance by Liverpool, strong defending and header out by Mohd Shas leads to Liverpool's first corner, the ball eventually hit wide by Raul Meireles, clumsy, could and should have made more of that.

- (37) Foul by Adam on nr 23, free kick to Malaysia XI, ends up in Jones' arms without much pressure.

- (38) Meireles going close, good stop by the Malaysian goalkeeper.

- (39) Malaysia XI change: Izzaq Faris Ramian on for Abdul Hadi Yahya.

- (42) Free kick to the home side, just outside the goal, belter, Jones beaten, 1:1. Fantastic free kick by skipper Mohd Safiq Rahim, right footer into the right corner, no chance for the goalkeeper.

- (47) Another free kick taken by Rahim, headed wide by Bakhtiar.

- (48) Free kick put high over goal by skipper Rahim.

HALF TIME. MALAYSIA XI 1:1 LIVERPOOL

- (46) Second half kicks off with whole new Liverpool XI.

- (51) Liverpool dominate start of the second half, in control, had a couple of chances, Dirk Kuyt drilling a free kick against the wall before David Ngog put one wide after racing clear of the defence.

- (52) Jonjo Shelvey puts one wide.

- (59) Christian Poulsen gives away a free kick, produces a corner, Malaysian skipper takes command but comes to nothing, the Reds clear the danger.

- (63) Two substitutions for the home side, Shahrizal Saad comes on for Fakri Shaarani and skipper Safiq Rahim makes room for Ismail Faruqi.

- (65) Kuyt crosses to Aquilani, who cannot reach it for Ngog to eventually puts a volley wide.

- (69) Simple tap in for David Ngog after the defence fell asleep and let Insuas low cross through, too easy, 1:2.

- (70) Ngog nets another one, this time a strong right foot into the back of the net from just inside the box, although he had all the space in the world to do it, good pass by Alberto Aquilani, 1:3.

- (73) Another substitution for the homside, Farisham Ismail comes on for Muslim Ahmad.

- (75) Aquilani opens up back four, good ball across, easy again to net for Maxi Rodriguez, easy dig in to make it 1:4.

- (77) Decent stop by the Liverpool goalkeeper, outstretched to his right. Another substitution for the home side, Mohd Safee Mohd Sali on for Amar Rohidan.

- (79) Martin Hansen will not be happy, spills one out for sub Sali to net it easy, 2:4.

- (80) Another one for Sali, Liverpool all over place, losing it late on like in the last friendly, the sub races through and scores his second, 3:4.

- (86) The home side attacking, pressing for an equaliser, the goalkeeper Hansen not showing himself from his strong side here, Liverpool ending this game very shakey.

- (89) Game calming down now, Liverpool back in possession, comfortable.

- (91) Rodriguez heads another one in, that settles it, good ball into the box by Aquilani, four yards out, 3:5. Four minutes added on though...

- (94) Aquilani tries a shot from far, goalkeeper had to stop that one, not bad, seconds later Dirk Kuyt blasts an Aquilani cross right in there, goalkeeper has no chance, 3:6.

FULL TIME. MALAYSIA XI 3:6 LIVERPOOL

Malaysia XI: Ramli; Mahali Jasuli (booked 26), Putra, Mohd Shas, Ahmad (booked 21, Ismail 73); Bakhtiar, Rohidan (Sali 77, scored 79 & 82), Rahim (scored 42, Faruqi 63), Subramaniam; Yahya (Ramian 39), Shaarani (Saad 63).
Subs not used: Che Mat, Nasril Nourdin, Ashari, Muslin Ahmed, Remeli, Haidi Zainal, Suppiah, Shamsuddin, Shaari, Rizal Fahmi.

Liverpool: Jones (Gulacsi 46, Hansen 70); Robinson (Insua 46), Agger (Wilson 46), Carragher (Kyrgiakos 46), Flanagan (Kelly 46); Adam (scored pen. 26, Aquilani 46), Coady (Kuyt 46, scored 94), Spearing (Poulsen 46), Meireles (Maxi 46, scored 75 & 91), Cole (Shelvey 46); Carroll (Ngog 46, scored 69 & 70).
Subs not used: Pacheco, Wisdom.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Malaysia XI-Liverpool
Attempts: 4-7 & 6-9
On target: 3-4 & 3-6
Offsides: 0-2 & 0-1
Corners: 1-1 & 1-1
Free kick: 6-5 & 1-4
Possession: 32%-68% (10)

Pre-Season Friendly, 1st half summary: Malaysia XI 1-1 Liverpool

Sports - Football - Pre-Season-Friendly - Malaysia XI 1:1 Liverpool

Liverpool enjoyed a mixed half against the Malaysia, enjoying most of the possession and dominating the opposition's area, going ahead on a penalty thanks to Charlie Adam, to then be stunned shortly before half time by a cracker of a free kick by the Malaysian skipper Mohd Rafiq Rahim to take his side to half time at 1:1, all level with Liverpool.

Text commentary of the first half (min):

- (1) Liverpool kick off the first half.

- (3) First couple of minutes the visitors enjoy most possession, press forward but attack disolves in the box.

- (4) First free kick goes to Liverpool, from the left wide outside the box, Charlie Adam with the delivery, comes around but is eventually smashed away by the defence.

- (6) Foul by Joe Cole on nr 3 defender Mohd Shas, free kick to Malaysia XI.

- (8) Andy Carrol misjudges role of the ball and plays it out on the right, slightly unfortunate, slightly runs it over.

- (11) Possession all Liverpool the first ten minutes: Malaysia XI 32%-68% Liverpool.

- (11) Carroll's shot off Adam's nice diagonal cross is punched away brilliantly by the Malaysian goalkeeper Ramli, good jump to his left, and he also blocks Meireles's follow up shot nicely.

- (12) Free kick to Liverpool, Carroll fouled from 25 yards.

- (13) Adam can't get the depth on the ball, free kick curls high and wide.

- (14) Free kick to Liverpool, nothing from it.

- (17) Joe Cole shoots with his left, softest of soft shots, easy stop for goalkeeper.

- (18) Joe Cole is offside in the box, didn't time his run, a bit over-enthusiastic there.

- (20) John Flanagan gives away a free kick not too far from the halfway line, long ball ends up out, goal kick for Brad Jones.

- (21) Free kick to Liverpool, Adam caught late by Ahmad, the nr 2 is the first name in the book.

- (25) PENALTY to Liverpool, Carroll has gone down, controversy, the Malaysia XI is not happy with that decision, the nr 4 Mahali Jasuli is the one behind Carroll who goes down a bit too easy. There is an arm out, littlest of little contact, but spot kick is given.

- (26) Penalty netted by Adam but has to be retaken, Adam nets the second even better, more confident with his left into the left corner, goalkeeper wrongsided, soft penalty gives Liverpool the lead. Malaysia XI 0:1 Liverpool. Mahali Jasuli is booked for his troubles.

- (29) First corner for the home side, easy pick up for Australian goalkeeper Jones.

- (33) Good dominance by Liverpool, strong defending and header out by Mohd Shas leads to Liverpool's first corner, the ball eventually hit wide by Raul Meireles, clumsy, could and should have made more of that.

- (37) Foul by Adam on nr 23, free kick to Malaysia XI, ends up in Jones' arms without much pressure.

- (38) Meireles going close, good stop by the Malaysian goalkeeper.

- (39) Malaysia XI change: Izzaq Faris Ramian on for Abdul Hadi Yahya.

- (42) Free kick to the home side, just outside the goal, belter, Jones beaten, 1:1. Fantastic free kick by skipper Mohd Safiq Rahim, right footer into the right corner, no chance for the goal keeper.

- (47) Another free kick taken by Rahim, headed wide by Bakhtiar.

- (48) Free kick put high over goal by skipper Rahim.

HALF TIME. MALAYSIA XI 1:1 LIVERPOOL

Malaysia XI: Ramli; Mahali Jasuli (booked 26), Putra, Mohd Shas, Ahmad (booked 21); Bakhtiar, Rohidan, Rahim (scored 42), Subramaniam; Yahya (Ramian 39), Saarani.
Subs not used: Che Mat, Nasril Nourdin, Ashari, Mohd Sali, Muslin Ahmed, Remeli, Haidi Zainal, Suppiah, Shamsuddin, Shaari, Ismail, Rizal Fahmi.

Liverpool: Jones; Robinson, Agger, Carragher, Flanagan; Adam (scored pen. 26), Coady, Spearing, Meireles, Cole; Carroll.
Subs not used: Gulacsi, Hansen, Maxi, Pacheco, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Wilson, Ngog, Poulsen, Shelvey, Kelly, Wisdom, Aquilani, Insua.

1st half stats:
Malaysia XI-Liverpool
Attempts: 4-7
On target: 3-4
Offsides: 0-2
Corners: 1-1
Free kick: 6-5
Possession: 32%-68% (10)