Premier League Picks Of The Week 1

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 1

In the first week of the Premier League action we saw:

31 goals - most by Arsenal & Man United = 4 each
257 shots - most by Southampton = 29!!!
80 on target - most by Arsenal = 10
126 corners - most by Palace = 12
217 fouls - most by Huddersfield & Man United = 19 each
33 yellow cards - most by Chelsea = 4
3 red cards - 2 for Chelsea (Cahill & Fábregas) & Shelvey for Newcastle
1 penalty - 1 scored (Roberto Firmino for Liverpool, see my match report for more details)

What a game! Wow! It certainly returned with a bang! Welcome back to the Premier League! Yeah! We saw 13 goals in the opening two games alone, Arsenal coming back 4-3 against Leicester and Liverpool dropping points 3-3 at Watford! But another game gets my vote: Champions Chelsea shattered down to nine men after two red cards and shocked 2-3 at home by Burnley on Saturday! MOTD was just cracking, goals and action galore! MOTD2 less so but hey, you can't have everything! ⚽👊😜👊⚽

What a team! Newly promoted Huddersfield had a dream start thrashing Crystal Palace 0-3 at Selhurst Park! It was a miserable first game for Frank de Boer, seeing Danish centre-back Mathias Jørgensen's header fly in off his own player Joel Ward before Steve Mounie's double condemned his side to an opening day defeat. David Wagner and his side were celebrated and very happy after their first success on their return to the top flight after an absence of 45 years. But the pundits were quickly distracted and already hailing and crowning the Red Devils as the champs-to-be after their 0-4 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday. It was United's 17th opening day win in the Premier League era, a record. The Hammers have suffered most defeats on the first day = 11. But hold your horses and calm down! It was only day one!

What a man! It was certainly the debutants' day! New Gunner Alexandre Lacazette and Blue striker Alvaro Morata, Red Mohamed Salah, and Red Devil Romelu Lukaku were all on the scoreboard, the last one twice. Super subs Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud made the difference for Arsenal on Friday night with two goals in two minutes, 83' and 85' respectively! And good old Wayne Rooney of course was back on the scoreboard for Everton after 13 years away. He had to! On the other hand, all the red cards = red faces! Shame on Gary Cahill and Cesc Fábregas for Chelsea and Jonjo Shelvey for Newcastle! Needless, unprofessional, you would have thought they know better and it's only day one!!!

What a goal! There were so many of them to choose from, I'll go for the earliest smacker = Lacazette's header after just 100 seconds for Arsenal. Sadio Mané's opener and leveller for Liverpool was a fantastic finish! And Jamie Vardy impressed with a confident and strong double. Eventhough they ended up losers at the Emirates, they resembled the classy, flashy, entertaining Foxes we so loved to watch in the season before last.

What the hell?! Do the officials remember and understand the offside rule?!?!?! Although teams seem to have forgotten how to defend set pieces, Arsenal and Liverpool especially! But come on! It's only day one and the referees are already doing their best/worst to drive everyone mad! Giving or denying or ignoring decisions that look clear to everyone else! See my match report for details... Argh!

My Predictions - Actual Results
Arsenal 2:1 Leicester - 4:3
Watford 2:1 Liverpool - 3:3 or my match report
Chelsea 3:1 Burnley - 2:3
Crystal Palace 1:1 Huddersfield - 0:3
Everton 4:2 Stoke City - 1:0
Southampton 3:1 Swansea - 0:0
West Brom 1:2 Bournemouth - 1:0
Brighton 1:2 Man City - 0:2
Newcastle 2:2 Tottenham - 0:2
Man United 2:1 West Ham - 4:0

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks blog.

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

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 3

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 3

The third week of the Premier League saw:

270 Shots - most by Man United = 29 

22 Goals - most by Arsenal & Chelsea = 3 each

227 Fouls - most by Watford = 18

46 Bookings - most by Watford = 6

0 Reds Cards

6 Penalties - 3 scored, 3 missed

ByTheMinute coverage at its best, even when the match has not got much to write about...

And the ByTheMinute team are also keeping track of all the transfer gossip and news, deadline day tomorrow!

First international break with Big Sam, here is who the new England boss picked and what he had to say.

What a game! The goalless game between West Brom and Middlesbrough did not have much to watch, report or cheer about. I feel with the fans, who should receive a refund for the ordeal. The fans reacted accordingly, calling for Tony Pulis' head. The pressure is already on, just three games into the season, after the side have only recorded one win in the last 13 games and averaging less than a goal a game since Pulis took over in January 2015. Dire.

What a team! Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United form a quite familiar top three, the only sides left with a 100% winning record in the Premier League after three games. Is this how the season will finish, I hear and read many ask. Wait out! Three new managers, 35 games to go... I think it is very premature to crown the champions already!

What a man(ager)! As mentioned above, the top three unbeaten teams, their three new managers, none other than Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte, are untouchable and you cannot get away from them. It seems like none of them can do anything wrong at the moment and could not have asked for a better start to the season. Or could they? Guardiola has been the most honest and realistic, seeing and pointing out where his side is lacking and needs improving... Early days!

What a goal! Star striker Jamie Vardy finally kicked off his season for defending champions Leicester (in case you needed reminding who the actual champions are at the moment after all the hu ha and bla bla about the current top three). And it was a fine finish off Danny Drinkwater's pass, a delicious goal we were used to be fed on a regular basis last season. And surprise surprise, long lost Raheem Sterling also shone with two goals for City. Reborn? Or just an exception? We will see.

What the hell?! Again, the referees are under fire. This time they missed Sergio Agüero's blatant elbow into West Ham defender Winston Reid's throat. I hope and think a ban will take him out of the Manc derby on the 10th September. On the other hand, Arthur Masuaku got away with a late tackle on John Stones when he was already cautioned, so could and should have been sent off, too. So, both sides got away with it, hence you could say justice was evened out. But I wish the referees could use replays, as it is ridiculous to see what players get cautioned for in contrast to what they then get away with! I've ranted enough about that plenty of times, so, to quote a Hammer friend of mine...

"Do referees have a Premier League directive in not sending off the top team's best players? Two weeks ago it was Costa and a blatant hack on Adrian, today its Aguero and a clear elbow in the throat of Reid...if the officials are not seeing these incidents then they are not doing their job, and if the officials are seeing these and taking no action, then they are not just incompetent, but corrupt...no complaints about the result, got beaten by the superior team (just), but something's rotten in the state of Denmark, and its called the FA..."

My predictions - Actual results

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks

Pictures taken from Bing search, BBC match reports & another Bing search