Premier League Picks Of The Week 15

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 15

The 15th week of the Premier League action saw:

262 shots - most by Arsenal = 21
36 goals - most by Leicester = 4
232 fouls - most by Man United = 19
42 bookings - most by Crystal Palace, Southampton & West Brom = 4 each
0 red cards
4 penalties - 4 scored (Sigurdsson for Swansea, Benteke for Crystal Palace, Snodgrass for Hull City & Adam for Stoke)

Find out what made Claudio Ranieri happy and who he welcomed back...

What José Mourinho and Man United needs and preferences were...

And where Pep Guardiola's looking...

What a game! Leicester's stunning 4-2 victory against Manchester City gets my vote! It ended the Foxes' winless run of five games, finally showing some resemblance of last season's champions. Claudio Ranieri's men were very much helped by Sky Blues' chaotic defending, Pep Guardiola is right feeling the need to look inside... His side looked battered and bruised in and especially after this encounter!

What a team! Arsenal were temporary table toppers on goal difference after their comfortable 3-1 win against Stoke at the Emirates on Saturday, making them unbeaten in 14 Premier League games. The Gunners are in great form after smashing five against the Hammers and four against Basel and look to keep the competition going at the top. And they will need to keep it up as Chelsea extended their winning streak to nine games running, taking them top again, three points ahead, after their 1-0 win against West Brom on Sunday.

What a man! Jamie Vardy finally ended his ten-game run without a Premier League goal with a hat-trick! Welcome back, with a triple-bang! Theo Walcott has earned a shoutout as well after netting his 100th club goal for Arsenal. Meanwhile, Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be gutted after netting his first Premier League goal, and winning goal for Manchester United against Tottenham, becoming the first Armenian to score in the Premier League, just to see the joy turn to pain when he had to be taken off injured.

What a goal! Jeff Hendrick's stunning half-volley into the top corner from 25 yards helped Burnley end their run of three Premier League defeats as they beat Bournemouth 3-2 at Turf Moor. George Boyd's slam into the bottom corner off Andre Gray's back-heel to make it 3-1 was top-quality, too. Unlike against Liverpool last week, the Cherries did too little too late and could not perform the perfect comeback this time.

What the hell?! David Moyes blamed the penalty given against Jason Denayer's handball that opened the scoring for the Swans for his sides downfall and thought it was controversial. The former Everton and United boss obviously didn't see what happened at the KCOM stadium. No contact was made by Palace's Scott Dann in the box, Hull's Robert Snodgrass apologised after the match for the dive and embarrassed he should be, even his manager Alan Pardew said. Ridiculous once again that refs still cannot use video replays!!! The poor defending didn't help any of the sides, neither the Black Cats nor the Tigers or the Eagles.

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC Match Reports.

Liverpool brush champions aside 4-1

Sports - Football - Premier League - LFC 4:1 LCFC

The new expanded Anfield enjoyed their team outplay and easily beat Premier League champions Leicester 4-1 in the first home game of the season for the Reds.

It was nearly perfect for Jürgen Klopp's men, a strong, dominant and in control performance, except for Lucas Leiva's giveaway to Jamie Vardy just seven minutes before the break. It was a shocker.

Before that muck up, Roberto Firmino had opened the scoring off James Milner's pass, stepping inside Robert Huth before netting the ball into the bottom corner.

Skipper Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge combined well, the latter's heel cheekily finding Sadio Mané to score on his home debut and make it 2-0 with just over half an hour gone.

The team and crowd were on fire, to be quenched by Lucas' inexplicable blooper of a pass, intended for keeper Simon Mignolet, but ending up perfectly across goal, fit for Vardy, an easy tap in for the profound striker.

This gave Claudio Ranieri's men hope and a breath of fresh air, however, Liverpool got their act together again in the second half, Adam Lallana making it 3-1, firing a shot into the top corner.

And to wrap up the win, Firmino doubled his score and made it 4-1 thanks to an unselfish Mané, who rounded an oncoming Kasper Schmeichel, to pass the ball to the Brazilian, who made no mistake of beating the Leicester defence to steer it in.

The score is harsh in the Danish stopper who made seven saves in an otherwise strong performance, but shows how crushing the Reds were, wearing and tearing down their opposition. So much so, Klopp lost his glasses in all the excitement, once again. Someone contact his optician/insurance/provider...

Liverpool Goals: Firmino 13' & 89', Mané 31' and Lallana 56'.

Leicester Goal: Vardy 38'.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 20 Clyne, 32 Matip, 21 Lucas, 7 Milner; 20 Lallana, 14 Henderson (c) (booked 44'), 5 Wijnaldum (35 Stewart 76'), 19 Mané (18 Moreno 90'+3'); 15 Sturridge (10 Coutinho 76', 11 Firmino. 4-4-2
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 16 Grujic, 17 Klavan, 27 Origi.

Leicester Team: 1 Schmeichel; 17 Simpson (2 Hernandez 34'), 5 Morgan, 6 Huth (booked 82'), 28 Fuchs; 26 Mahrez, 13 Amartey (booked 28'), 4 Drinkwater, 11 Albrighton (23 Ulloa 65'); 20 Okazaki (7 Musa 45'), 9 Vardy. 4-4-2
Subs not used: 3 Chilwell, 10 King, 21 Zieler, 22 Gray.

Match Stats: Liverpool-Leicester
Attempts: 17-12
On target: 11-3
Corners: 1-7
Fouls: 4-8
Bookings: 1-2
Possession: 62%-38%

Referee: Craig Pawson
Man of the match: Roberto Firmino
Attendance: 51,232

Pictures taken from BBC match report

Click here for my previous LFC match report