Week 26: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

Swansea wiped QPR away, showing the big gaping gap between the two sides. The Welsh side are having everything else but the second season syndrome, sitting comfortably in the top half of the table, in eighth place, whilst Harry Redknapp has been assigned to a lost cause, sitting at the bottom of the table, seven points from safety. QPR were shambolic and the Swans were able to make the most of it.

OMG!

Manchester City's defeat against Southampton was shocking! No discrediting the Saints and their strong display and stubbornness, but the Champions looked the shadow of the fighting team and players they used to be and they still have! Are Roberto Mancini's men missing Mario Balotelli = some ATTITUDE?! Gareth Barry's header into the back of his own net completed a nightmare afternoon for City, widening the gap to rivals United at the top to twelve points. Southampton meanwhile move into 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone, after their first win under Mauricio Pochettino.

TOP!

As mentioned above, United are now twelve points ahead of their City rivals after a routine-win against Everton. I feel and think that is a more than comfortable gap/seat/throne at the top of the table, their name and with it their 20th title already engraved on it! Looking at the next five opponents on both sides' (Premier League) fixture list, I feel and think again, that by the time the two rivals meet in April, the title race will already be over and decided. I hope not, for entertainment sake and value, but have to stay realistic.

FLOP!

No discrediting West Brom, but their win at Anfield was nearly comical. Liverpool had so many chances, including a penalty, all off target. Ben Foster was on form and did his job too, that's for sure, same goes for his defence. But the Reds went down to ninth, one point behind West Brom in eighth, even though they could and should have been a couple of goals ahead and settled the game by half time! The result means Liverpool are still to beat a team currently in the top half of the Premier League table this season.

HERO!
 
Gareth Bale scored and starred yet again, two goals and three points for Tottenham in a highly competitive game against Newcastle. This brought his total to 13, four goals in three league games, not bad for a midfielder! And he could have had a double-hat-trick if he had netted all chances! But Andre Villas-Boas and the fans at a packed White Hart Lane will have forgiven him after leaving the ground all smiles and three points richer in fourth, one point behind Chelsea in third and four points clear of bitter rivals Arsenal in fifth.

ZERO!

England keeper Joe Hart's blooper which conceded the second goal epitomised City's fall against the Saints, the blue Mancs looked like a sinking ship, a hobbling runner from start to finish. As mentioned above, Barry's headed own goal put a very sour icing on a very bitter cake for City. The first goal came after a Barry giveaway too! It was just a collection of total shambles! Mancini's men have Chelsea next on their (Premier League) fixture list, who have made a fine comeback from their own set of shambles with a 4-1 thrashing of Wigan. I'm curious which side will step up and make a match rather than a mess of it next weekend!

My Predictions => Actual Results:
Tottenham 1-0 Newcastle => 2-1
Chelsea 2-1 Wigan => 4-1
Norwich 0-0 Fulham => 0-0
Stoke 0-0 Reading => 2-1
Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal => 0-1
Swansea 2-2 QPR => 4-1
Southampton 2-3 Man City => 3-1
Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham => 2-1
Man United 2-2 Everton => 2-0
Liverpool 2-0 West Brom => 0-2

Liverpool through to Wembley final

Sports - Football - Carling Cup - Liverpool 2:2 Man City

Liverpool's hard work payed off, another Steven Gerrard penalty and Craig Bellamy's fine curl shot seeing their side through to the Carling Cup final with a 2:2 draw on the night at Anfield, 3:2 on aggregate, to take the Reds to Wembley and end their 16-year absence.

Joe Hart's heroics for City were all to no avail in the end after the England goalkeeper had created some breathtaking saves against Gerrard, Bellamy, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Dirk Kuyt and Martin Skrtel.

In both halves, City made comebacks out of nowhere and gave them hope they could pull themselves out and through somehow.

First, after 30 minutes of Liverpool dominance, the home side creating chance after chance and seeing a Bellamy goal disallowed for offside, Nigel de Jong smacked one in from outside the box, a right-foot slip-curler, top-strike giving City the lead against the run of play.

But the lead did not last long, when on 39 Micah Richards handled the ball inside his box and conceded a penalty. The defender did not know much about it, it went so quick and before he or City knew it, Gerrard netted the penalty and took Liverpool into half time level on the night, leading 2:1 on aggregate.

The second half showed the same trend, Liverpool dominating and outclassing City until halfway through the half Edin Dzeko blasted one in off Aleksandar Kolarov's beauty of a cross from the left to give City another unpredictable lead.

Five minutes later, man of the match Bellamy killed off any City excitement or hope, curling Glen Johnson's cross into the left corner after a nice one-two cross exchange.

City tried to press late on but never looked too much of a threat to Pepe Reina, not seeing another comeback out of nowhere.

It was a fair result after a tense thriller, which saw Liverpool through to the final where they will meet Bellamy's former side Cardiff at Wembley on Sunday 23rd February.

But before the Reds get too excited, they should check their fixture list: with Manchester United up next at Anfield in the FA Cup fourth round, February will see Liverpool welcome Tottenham home and meet United again at Old Trafford this time in the Premier League before the big Carling Cup final against the Welsh side (followed by Arsenal at home in the league!).

It will be make or break time for Kenny Dalglish over the next few weeks, the Reds expectantly waiting for their first trophy since 2006.

Liverpool Goals: 1.: 39:53 min Steven Gerrard (8) penalty, 2.: 73:36 min Craig Bellamy (39).

Liverpool: Reina; Glen Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique (booked 64); Henderson, Adam, Downing, Gerrard (booked 5); Bellamy (Kelly 87), Kuyt (Carroll 91). (4-4-2)
Subs not used: Doni, Coates, Shelvey, Carragher, Maxi.

Man City Goals: 1.: 30:51 min Nigel De Jong (34), 2.: 66:38 min Edin Dzeko (10).

Man City: Hart; Richards, Savic (Aguero HT), Lescott, Kolarov (booked 56); De Jong (Adam Johnson 78), Barry, Zabaletta; Silva, Nasri, Dzeko. (4-3-3)
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Hargreaves, Milner, Clichy, Rekik.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Liverpool-Man City
Attempts: 8-2 & 7-4
On target: 6-1 & 5-3
Offsides: 4-0 & 2-1
Corners: 8-1 & 4-1
Free kicks: 2-4 & 5-3

Sky Stats:
Liverpool-Man City
Possession: 38%-62% (19.min), 40.5%-59.5% (1st half), 35.1%-64.9% (2nd half) & 37.9%-62.1% (FT)
Passing Success: 74.6%-86.7
Territorial Advantage: 55.5%-45.5%
Action Areas: Liverpool 12%-41%-47% Man City (59.min)

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Man of the match: Craig Bellamy

Week 13: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

The most devastating news of the week was without a doubt Gary Speed's death by apparent suicide. My thoughts and condolences go to his family and friends. I saw Football Focus on BBC on Saturday where I watched him chatting about the game and reminiscing about his successful career. The more of a shock it was when the news came on Sunday. I just cannot shake off the thoughts of WHY?!?!?!
R.I.P. Gary Speed!

Top game: Liverpool's 1:1 home draw against Manchester City was a delight to watch. The visitors dominated the first half but were kept at bay by a very well organised homeside, the back line especially, as solid and reliable as ever. The second half was much more of a competition, Liverpool taking over the attack, hammering the City back line and goal with everything they had. Lucas Leiva and Luis Suarez were the stars of the show with intimidatingly sparkling displays. The draw was a fair result in the end, both top sides not deserving to lose.

Top team: Liverpool are unbeaten in ten matches since the 4-0 defeat away to Tottenham in September which sees them in the sixth spot of the league on 23 points, two behind Chelsea in fifth who have lost three out of their last five games and three behind Newcastle in fourth. Manchester City kept their unbeaten season record intact with their second draw added to their eleven wins taking them to 35 points which keeps them at the top of the league still five points ahead of their United rivals. You have to go back 15 Premier League games to find the last time City failed to score at least twice. Looking at those records and the table, December promises to be a mouthwatering month with some decisive fixtures and some surprises guaranteed, I am sure.

Top player: Joe Hart kept the goal saving his team's grace and ensuring them a point. His display with many breathtaking and exemplary saves serves very well as an ideal model for every goalkeeper to follow and be led by. Andy Carroll and Suarez were kept wondering what the hell they had to do to get a goal. In this case, Hart wouldn't even have let the ball be beamed through! Pepe Reina had a good game too proving his experience and status in the team but was not challenged anywhere near as much. Petr Cech and Tim Krul made some beautiful and crucial saves too for Chelsea and Newcastle respectively - it seemed to have been a goalkeepers' weekend!

Top goal: City's opener against Liverpool was a set-piece like out of the book. David Silva's inswinging corner was met decisively by Vincent Kompany. It looked like a fine header at first but on the second viewing the came off his shoulder and beat Reina. Javier Hernandez was in the right place at the right time too when he netted Wayne Rooney's volley which had ricocheted off Steven Taylor - although I have to say it looked very close to being offside. Both were not exactly breathtaking goals, but just nice goal exactly how they should be done!

Top news: A lot of cup action on and off the pitch this week: Carling Cup quarter finals and the semi finals draw; Europa League football with the group stage slowly but surely reaching its final stages; and last but not least the Euro 2012 group draw.

Flop game: Swansea's goalless draw against Aston Villa was hard enough to watch, I cannot and don't want to try to imagine how difficult and distressing it must have been for the players to get a game together after receiving the news of Gary Speed's apparent suicide. The images, tears and emotions of his close firend Shay Given marked the game and day. I would not have blamed them if they would have called the game(s) off on the day. It just puts everything into prespective and shows that football isn't everything.

Flop team: Chelsea did find back to their winning ways with their 3-0 home win against Wolves but I feel they should not try to fool themselves that everything is back to perfect. Wolves are fourth from bottom, hovering over the relegation zone and made the win nearly too easy for Chelsea. The Blues face Liverpool in the Carling Cup quarter final next and then have a trip to Newcastle to look forward to in the Permier League on Saturday. Those displays and results will show how much Andre Villas-Boas has learnt and changed from their defeats.

Flop player: Mario Balotelli proved himself as the ticking timebomb he is. It took him 17 whole minutes after coming on as a substitute to see two yellow cards and get the marching order after his elbow met Martin Skrtel in the air. Roberto Mancini was not happy with the decision but Kenny Dalglish correctly suggested for the Italian striker to 'look into the mirror' to find who was responsible. Too many times has his attitude cost him and his side and Mancini certainly showed his discontent to the player when he left the pitch so cannot deny his player's contribution to his own downfall.

Flop goal: The penalty decisions of this weekend have baffled me. How was Aaron Lennon's dive a penalty for Tottenham against West Brom when there was no contact made by Nicky Shorey? How was Rio Ferdinand's clean tackle on Ben Arfa a penalty when he obviously got the ball? And I think Victor Moses went down a bit too easily on Sebastian Larsson's tackle too to win a penalty for his Wigan side against Sunderland. Too many times do the referee's fall for the theatrical drama performances of the players and don't look at the physical facts and then they scare away from making the right decisions when it matters most! It makes me sick!

Flop news: Steve Bruce has become the first manager of the season to be axed, Sunderland are now eyeing up Martin O'Neill as his successor. I think it was a rather harsh move by the club, I can think of plenty of other managers that are (or I thought they were) walking on much thinner ice (Villas-Boas at Chelsea, Steve Kean at Blackburn, Roberto Martinez at Wigan, ...).

My predictions - Actual Results

Stoke 3:2 Blackburn - 3:1

Bolton 1:2 Everton - 0:2

Chelsea 0:0 Wolves - 3:0

Man Utd 2:2 Newcastle - 1:1

Norwich 3:1 QPR - 2:1

Sunderland 3:1 Wigan - 1:2

West Brom 0:2 Tottenham - 1:3

Arsenal 2:1 Fulham - 1:1

Swansea 2:0 Aston Villa - 0:0

Liverpool 2:2 Man City - 1:1

New Season, New Tops and Flops...

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

TOPS:

Game: The White Hart Lane crowd saw no goals between Tottenham and Manchester City, but that gives no indication of the level of action, entertainment, thrills and spills they enjoyed to watch. Spurs could have and should have had six or seven goals! City pressed on a bit late on in the match, but all in all, no real contest though, Spurs were on top from start to finish, proving their true quality.

Team: Blackpool are on my dad's and my relegation-prediction list, see below, but looked everything else but that at the opening weekend. They stole the show against Wigan, without a doubt. It was not a good start for Wigan though, they will struggle if they continue in this kind of fashion, dire, broken and hollow; Blackpool certainly won't! If...

Man: Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald has done a great job so far after Martin O'Neill's sudden departure from Villa Park. To take over so confidently and make the team look and win so confidently and comfortably, beating West Ham 3-0 at homee, I give him ten out of ten for that! That's what I call team spirit!

Goal: David Jones' free kick from just outside the box to make it 1-0 for Wolves against Stoke was a perfect example how to do it. Like every boy tries it in the park, flick up and shoot, mostly making a mess of it, wasting and missing it, he got it spot on, volleyed it in giving his team the deserved lead, a delight to watch again and again.

FLOPS:

Game: Chelsea v West Brom was just a mismatch. Despite all the goals, the game looked like a strawl in the park for the Blues, they will certainly not have it this easy again! West Brom be warned! Play like this and they won't get a single point or goal in the Premier League this season!

Team: The bottom three, West Ham, Wigan and West Brom, make a miserable trio at the top of the relegation likelies list. For all their big spending and oooos and aaaas, City looked out of Tottenham's league. It's only thanks to their keeper Joe Hart and his countless number of top notch saves that they knicked a point and did not have to join the Misery Club of the opening week.

Man: Stephen Carr and Joe Cole will both want to forget their starts to the season, that's for sure! The Birmingham skipper was unlucky conceding an own goal and a penalty against Sunderland whilst the Liverpool debutant just had one of those idiotic moments with an act of unnecessary stupidity, a dangerous tackle, seeing red for it just before half time, letting his team down and making their job everything else but easier.

Goal: Poor Pepe Reina! 90th minute, just at the end of a strong, hard-fought contest, looking like it was going to be a close win for his side... He is the only Liverpool player to play in every match, with solid display after solid display, one of the best goalies in Europe... He nearly completed a clean opener to the season, and his first clean sheat against the Gunners, when he shot himself in the face with a cruel own goal! OUCH! It happens, always when and to whom you least expect it!

My dad's and my predictions...

Relegation:
My dad: Blackpool, West Brom, West Ham
Moi: Blackpool, West Brom, Wolves

Champions (dark horses):
My dad: Arsenal (Chelsea)
Moi: Chelsea (Spurs)

First week of predictions:
My Dad 9:3 Me (:-/)