Premier League Picks Of The Week 21

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 21

The 21st week of the Premier League action saw:

226 shots - most by Tottenham = 21
29 goals - most by Arsenal, Tottenham & Everton = 4 each
247 fouls - most by Everton & Man United = 17 each
31 bookings - most by West Ham = 4
0 red cards - lucky escape for Pogba once again, read below...
2 penalties - 2 scored (Stanislas for Bournemouth & Milner for Liverpool)

Video evidence of:

Pep in shock

Pogba wrestling

Andy's stunner

What a game! Merseyside v Manchester as Sky billed it... The Scousers won! Big time! More at Goodison Park than at Old Trafford, but the reactions showed who was on top and expected more! Everton made their chances count and totally outshone and stunned City, leaving Pep Guardiola in shock suffering his biggest defeat ever. Liverpool lead thanks to consistent and reliable penalty taker James Milner (10/10 for him, 6/6 for LFC), and were in control for most of the match, until Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoilt Jürgen Klopp's show with a late leveller, more to that one below... And in my match report.

What a team! Tottenham were the most convincing contenders if anything or anyone can compete or catch up with Chelsea. The Blues moved seven points clear at the top thanks to Marcos Alonso's double, downing champions Leicester 3-0. But Harry Kane stole the show at White Hart Lane, with a convincing hat-trick, contributing to Spurs' total dominance and 4-0 thrashing of West Brom, which takes Slaven Bilic's men up to second place, level on points with Liverpool in third.

What a man! Chelsea forward Diego Costa and West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet should both be banned/fined/punished for their their disgusting, unprofessional and greedy behaviour! Do contracts mean anything nowadays?! Or is it all just pounds/euros/dollars/whatever the Chinese currency is?! You either love the game or just yourself!!! Both were dropped because of their spoilt-brat antiques leaving both their managers fuming. The bigger point was made and proved with both sides winning, it is not all just about you!!!

What a goal! This weekend saw another awesome, brilliant, beautiful scissor kick, this time starring Andy Carroll for the Hammers, heels over head, as they thrashed Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Olympic Stadium. This season is turning into football porn with stunners like this becoming a weekly feature! See link above to see for yourself.

What the hell?! Ok, I'm maybe not the most neutral reporter, but how the hell did Paul Pogba stay on the pitch after head-locking/choke-slamming Jordan Henderson to the ground?! Oh, and how convenient for United as well, that the linesman did not see a clear offside in the buildup to Ibrahimovic's equaliser, mentioned above! Funny José Mourinho did not mention nor moan nor pick on the referee after the match on this occasion... Click here to see for youself what drives me so mad about United's luck!!! And in my match report.

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports.

Ibrahimovic saves point for United

Sports - Football - Premier League - MUFC 1:1 LFC

Zlatan Ibrahimovic extended United's unbeaten run to twelve league games (5D, 7W) as he levelled the score late on against bitter rivals Liverpool making it 1:1 and a point each at Old Trafford.

Jürgen Klopp and his men will see it more as two points dropped than one point won after showing great control and sternness.

They had taken the lead in the 27th minute thanks to James Milner's spot kick, given against an embarrassingly obvious handball by Paul Pogba, and the visitors controlled the game from then.

The £89m-striker was lucky to stay on the pitch after wrestling Jordan Henderson to the ground, his arm around the Red skipper's throat.

Keeper Simon Mignolet impressed with a strong display, denying Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the first half.

Red Devils' boss José Mourinho had seen enough and left the dugout for the break before time was added on.

Wayne Rooney came on after the interval, replacing Michael Carrick, looking to break Liverpool and the club record.

The Scouser did bring more confidence and threat to the Red Devils, but Klopp knew how to deal with that, bringing on Philippe Coutinho and more stability with it.

The German's face and voice said it all just seconds before the leveller, loud, angry, devilish...

Ibrahimovic equalised in the 84th minute off the rebound after Antonio Valencia powered it in off the post. Replays showed a United player was offside in the build-up.

It's the Swede's 14th goal in his first 20 Premier League matches, equalling Alan Shearer's and Sergio Agüero's records.

And it didn't finish there. Ander Herrera was cautioned in the dying minutes for pulling Roberto Firmino's shirt. Both managers clashed on the touchline as both felt the opponent should have a man sent off.

The Portuguese manager calmed his players down in the final minutes, Sir Alex Ferguson smiling in the stands.

Liverpool felt robbed. Klopp had to breath in and out before answering any post-match questions, clear signs of frustration.

The draw does mean Milner is still unbeaten in the 46 games where he has scored and Liverpool have recorded least defeats of all Premier League teams (two, same as Tottenham).

But every goal and point dropped will hurt as Chelsea are now seven points clear at the top with 17 games to go.

Liverpool Goal: Milner pen 26:37min.

Manchester United Goal: Ibrahimovic 83:09min.

Manchester United Team: 1 De Gea; 36 Darmian (27 Fellaini 76'), 5 Marcos Rojo, 4 Jones, 25 Valencia; 11 Martial (8 Mata 65'), 21 Ander Herrera (booked 90'), 16 Carrick (10 Rooney 46'); 9 Ibrahimovic, 22 Mkhitaryan, 6 Pogba. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 20 S Romero, 17 Blind, 12 Smalling & Rashford.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 7 Milner, 17 Klavan, 6 Lovren (booked 31'), 66 Alexander-Arnold; 5 Wijnaldum (booked 61'), 14 Henderson, 23 Can; 27 Origi (10 Coutinho 61'), 11 Firmino (booked 90'), 20 Lallana. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 11 Gomez, 18 Moreno, 34 Stewart, 53 Ejaria & 15 Sturridge.

HT & FT stats: MUFC-LFC
Possession: 52%-48% & 55%-45%
Attempts: 4-5 & 9-13
On target: 2-1 & 3-4
Corners: 3-5 & 5-7
Fouls: 9-8 & 17-13
Bookings: 0-1 & 1-3

Referee: Michael Oliver
Ground: Old Trafford
Attendance: 75,276

Pictures and stats taken from the BBC match report. 

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 16

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 16

The 16th week of the Premier League action saw:

240 shots - most by Tottenham = 27!
21 goals - most by Liverpool, West Brom and Tottenham = 3 each
234 fouls - most by Watford = 20
27 bookings - most by Sunderland, Manchester United & Leicester = 3 each
2 red cards - Arnautovic for Stoke & Jagielka for Everton
1 penalty - 0 scored (Noble miss for West Ham)

What a game! Everton denied Arsenal the chance to go top again (for the night), ending the Gunners' unbeaten run of 14 games, with a late header to make it 2-1, a dream finish for the Toffees at Goodison Park. Arsène Wenger's men had an on-and-off day, especially at the front, seeing plenty of chances gone and missed, including consecutive shots cleared off the line late on. The win takes Ronald Koeman's men up to seventh, whilst Arsenal have widened gap to Chelsea at the top to six points and fallen to third place, behind Liverpool in goal difference.

What a team! Bournemouth moved to the highest league position in their history = 9th after beating champions Leicester 1-0 at Dean Court on Tuesday. West Brom's win against Swansea moved them back down to 10th, but Eddie Howe can be a very happy man. Pep Guardiola was much happier again too after seeing his side record their first home win in almost three months! The only sour note for City after the 2-0 win against Watford at the Etihad Stadium was Ilkay Gundogan's injury. The German midfielder limped off in tears as he will be out for several months with knee ligament damage.

What a man! Adam Lallana starred for Liverpool, scoring two and creating one goal in the Reds' 3-0 win at Middlesbrough. Just what the Red doctor ordered after their last two winless games. Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford had one heck of a match, sparing his side from a worse thrashing against Chelsea, Cesc Fàbregas sparing the Blues' blushes with his first half goal at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats had plenty of spirit and worried Antonio Conte, that's for sure! And last but definitely not least, Salomón Rondón deserves a shoutout for his hat-trick which saw West Brom beat Swansea 3-1 at the Hawthorns. ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a goal! Mark Noble's penalty was saved by Tom Heaton but the English skipper fired in the rebound which ended up being the crucial winner for the Hammers against Burnley, his eighth Premier League goal of the season. And the big names counted again for Manchester United, Paul Pogba with a man-of-the-match performance and Zlatan Ibrahimovic finding the winner two minutes from time at Crystal Palace. The Red Devils are certainly finding their horns again...

What the hell?!... Marcos Rojo got away with it again, just like against Everton a couple of weeks ago! His challenge on Wilfried Zaha was dangerous and reckless and should have been punished with a red card! Replays showed. Clearly. But he escaped with just a booking. Again. No comment by Mister Mourinho.... Very selective by the Portuguese... Not much to say, just all praise, when the decisions go his side's way... 😡😈😡😈😡

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 11

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 11

The 11th week of the Premier League action saw:

234 shots - most by Liverpool = 28

36 goals - most by Liverpool = 6!!!

239 fouls - most by Sunderland & Tottenham = 17

37 bookings - most by Southampton = 5

1 red card - Pienaar for Sunderland

4 penalties - 4 scored (Benteke Palace, Kane for Spurs, Defoe for Sunderland & Austin for Saints)

What a game! It was goals and action galore at Turf Moor! And it was all topped and finished off by Burnley's last-minute winner! Wow, smashing home form for the Clarets! And finally, Sunderland were rewarded for the hard work and recorded their first win of the season at Dean Court. The more remarkable it was made by the fact that the Black Cats were reduced to ten men for the majority of the game/second half! And strugglers Hull City have recorded their first win since the 20th August and the first three points under Mike Phelan a, who will also be mightily relieved going into the international break.

What a team! Liverpool have gone top of the Premier League for the first time since May 2014 and will be more than happy with that going into the international break. Jürgen Klopp's men absolutely thrashed and took Watford apart, it ended 6-1, it could have been double that! Sadio Mané was the man and made it five in five with his superb goal. It was the fifth time the Reds have scored four goals or more in the league, making them top scorers and overachievers at the moment. Einfach geil! :-D

What a man! Eden Hazard is a changed man for Chelsea scoring in the fourth consecutive Premier League game for the Blues. The Blues are hot and close on Liverpool's heels just one point behind in second. Confidence was high after the 4-0 thrashing of Man United, Everton did not get a word/kick/shout in edgeways. Antonio Conte's 3-4-3 formation was spot on and is flourishing. Put all of that together and you get the result, a comfortable and confident 5-0 win.

What a goal! Yes, you read right, Paul Pogba AND Zlatan Ibrahimov were on the scoreboard for Man United! And the prior's was superb! The result ended a run of four Premier League games without a win for the Red Devils. Whether or not it is a coincidence that they recorded that win with their controversial manager José Mourinho in the stands serving his suspension is interesting and intriguing either way.

What the hell?! Such a shame to see Leicester crumbling away like everyone predicted and Claudio Ranieri scratching his head wondering how the hell... The defending champions have suffered yet another defeat, thanks to Danny Drinkwater's error that led to the second goal to make it 1-2 to West Brom. It's the Foxes first home defeat since September 2015, and unbeaten run of 20 games (13 wins, 7 draws). End of an era.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Bournemouth 2:0 Sunderland - 1:2
Burnley 1:2 Crystal Palace - 3:2
Man City 3:1 Middlesbrough - 1:1
West Ham 1:1 Stoke - 1:1
Chelsea 1:0 Everton - 5:0
Arsenal 1:1 Tottenham - 1:1
Hull City 0:1 Southampton - 2:1
Liverpool 4:0 Watford - 6:1 - click here for my match report
Swansea 1:1 Man United - 1:3
Leicester 2:1 West Brom - 1:2

Click here to read last week's Premier League Picks

All pictures taken from the BBC match reports 

Premier League Picks Of The Week 2

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 2

The second week of Premier League action saw:

253 Shots - most by Liverpool = 26

22 Goals - most by Man City = 4

237 Fouls - most by Watford = 20

34 Bookings - most by Man City & Watford = 4

1 Red Card - 2nd yellow for Arter for Bournemouth

3 Penalties - 3 scored, 0 missed

Paul Merson's rant about Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's team selection and choices

Jeff Stelling promoting Hartlepool to the Premier League and Iain Dowie losing track of the score

David Moyes being blunt about Sunderland's chances

What a game! Burnley's win against Liverpool after their seven-goal thriller-victory against Arsenal last week was impressive but less surprising looking at the Reds' mixed form of last season. Jürgen Klopp's men proved once again possession and stats in general don't mean anything and everything. The Reds have created the most chances in the Premier League so far this season (34), but not converting near enough. From top to flop within days and you don't know which one will turn up next. We will wait and see which one will turn up against Burton Albion in the EFL Cup and then at Tottenham in the next Premier League clash (which I will be covering live on ByTheMinute.co).

What a team! Hull City proved all doubters wrong again after beating Swansea 0-2 at the Liberty Stadium. If caretaker manager Mike Phelan doesn't get the job permanently, then fool them. The relegation favourites could not have wished for a better start to the season, flying high in the top four.

What a goal! Cristhian Stuani's opener for Middlesbrough at Sunderland was a stunner. The Uruguayan opened his account for Boro and the Premier League with an unstoppable long-range smacker against the run of play after 13 minutes at the Stadium of Light. He doubled David Moyes' men's misery just before half time and the home side got a goal back in the second half but were not able to recover. Aitor Karanka's side recorded their first win of the season whilst Moyes' account at the Black Cats is still blank, looking more and more difficult and hopeless.

What a man! Zlatan Ibrahimovic can't do anything wrong at the moment. The 34-year old has scored in both opening games to feed United six point out of six and José Mourinho's ego and big mouth. As if the latter needed that! But it's still early days, LVG won the first two games last season as well and we know what happened next...

What the hell?! Diego Costa got away with it once again!!! Manager Antonio Conte's changes did work the magic and got his side back late on after falling behind at Watford. Second sub Michy Batshuayi pulled a goal with ten minutes left before third sub Cesc Fabregas set up Costa for the winner just before the end. But like last week, Costa got away with it! The 27-year-old should have not been on the field after appearing to dive to try and win a second-half penalty, when he had already been in referee Jon Moss' book. The rules are there for a reason, new and old, so please enforce them!!!

My predictions - Actual results

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks

Pictures taken from BBC match reports (top picture montage taken from Bing Search)