Premier League Picks Of The Week 23

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 23

The 23rd week of the Premier League football action saw:

31 goals - most by West Ham, Tottenham & Liverpool = 4 each
256 shots - most by Tottenham & Man United = 20 each
85 on target - most by Tottenham = 10
90 corners - most by West Brom = 9
222 fouls - most by Crystal Palace = 16
31 yellow cards - most by Southampton = 5
1 red card - Chilwell for Leicester
0 penalties

What a game! What a Super Sunday it was! Liverpool outplayed and -scored league leaders Manchester City, 4-3 at Anfield. Yes, you read right, the unbeatables were beaten for the first time in the league this season. And what a belter of a game it was, the Reds shocking the Sky Blues riding high on top 4-1, before nervously tumbling over the finishing line 4-3, what a game it was, click here for my full match report.
How annoying was the early kick-off at Dean Court in contrast to the Merseyside showpiece?! Alex Iwobi elbowed the ball away in the box for Arsenal against Bournemouth a few minutes before the break, nothing given. Rob Holding with a cheeky shoulder as well, not as obvious, but oh so cheeky, shortly before Arsène Wenger's men took the lead after the break thanks to Héctor Bellerín. Man of the match Callum Wilson levelled the score for the home side and just a couple of minutes later (283 seconds to be exact) Jordon Ibe slashed a low shot under Petr Čech to turn the game on its head and the young Gunners with it. It was the first ever Premier League win for the Cherries against the red London side, red full of embarrassment!

What a team! Leicester were outstanding, Chelsea were nowhere. It ended 0-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to Ben Chilwell's two stupid yellow cards in the space of five second-half minutes, giving the Blues some glimmer of hope, but the Foxes held on to the point in the end. It's the first time in the Blues' history they have recorded three consecutive goalless draws. Tired? Antonio Conte has enough players to choose from, I'm not too sure whether it's them or the Italian who are more tired of their job.
Stoke City announced Paul Lambert as their new boss hours before their match at Old Trafford and the fans' reaction wasn't exactly grateful. The Potters' struggle continued as the Red Devils cruised to a 3-0 win, thanks to some quality saves by David de Gea and play by Paul Pogba setting up scorers Antonio Valencia and Anthony Martial before Romelu Lukaku completed the scoreline. Good luck Paul. You'll need it. Lots of it.

What a man! David Moyes and Roy Hodgson continued their magic, enjoying life in London. West Ham thrashed Huddersfield 1-4 at the Kirklees Stadium, Mark Noble pouncing on keeper Jonas Lössl's messed-up pass to Joe Lolley, Marko Arnautović and Manuel Lanzini's double completing the onslaught after the break. This Hammers win made Moyes just the fourth boss to win 200 Premier League matches after Sir Alex Ferguson (528), Wenger (468) and Harry Redknapp (236). Bakary Sako's powerful cut and drill over Nick Pope's outstretched leg was enough for Crystal Palace to beat Burnley at Selhurst Park, continuing their revival under the former England boss.
Alan Pardew recorded his first win as West Brom manager, ending Albion's 20-game winless run, beating Brighton 2-0 thanks to goals from defenders Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson.

What a goal! Substitute Joselu equalised through defender Alfie Mawson's legs within four minutes of coming on for Newcastle against Swansea, heartbreak for the bottom side after they were leading thanks to Jordan Ayew's header and denied a penalty for an obvious handball, Mohamed Diamé elbowing the ball away from goal. More to the flop quality refereeing below.
Tottenham's 4-0 thrashing of Everton showed individual as well as team brilliance. Son Heung-min opened the scoring finishing off Serge Aurier's cross nicely. The South Korean set up Harry Kane with a fine run to double Spurs' lead, before the record-breaker made it three, converting Eric Dier's pass to take his Premier League total to 98 goals overtaking Teddy Sheringham's club tally. And last but definitely not least Christian Eriksen smashed in Dele Alli's cheeky back-heel pass to make it 4-0. The visitors never got a look into the game, 10-0 shots on target says it all, Big Sam's face and Sammy Lee's antiques on the sideline said it all, not happy.
As little as it counted in the end as detailed above, Lolley's equaliser for Huddersfield against West Ham was a beauty, the run, the take, the curl, the back of the net.

What the hell?! Similar to the denied Swansea and Bournemouth penalties mentioned above, Abdoulaye Doucouré's last-minute leveller for Watford to make it 2-2 against Southampton was an obvious handball. Maradona-esque. How did the referee(s) not see that?! The visitors led comfortably at Vicarage Road thanks to James Ward-Prowse's double in the first half, great team play, great goals, utter dominance. Marco Silva's men fought back after the break, Andre Gray heading one in before the late drama and controversy. Cruel cruel cruel for Mauricio Pellegrino and his men, who are now 10 league games without a win, the Argentine's days numbered as Saints boss.

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

Click here for my previous Picks Of The Week.

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

Déjà Vu Draw For LFC At St James' Park

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

Liverpool were held to yet another frustrating draw, 1-1 against Newcastle at St James' Park, dropping two points against former Red boss Rafael Benitez in the Super Sunday clash.

Philippe Coutinho gave the visitors the lead with just under half an hour gone, a smacker from 25 yards out, giving keeper Rob Elliot no chance.

It was the Brazilian's 17th goal from outside the box in the Premier League - three more than any other player since his debut in February 2013, giving LFC a deserved lead as Jürgen Klopp's men were dominating possession, play and chances, as always.

But that didn't last long, just seven minutes later, former Red Jonjo Shelvey's fine cross found Joselu, who was able to break too easily between Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip, the latter desperately running back, kicking the ball against the Magpie and in, rolling over the line oh so slowly to make it 1-1.

The Merseysiders have conceded nine goals in the last four Premier League games, as many as in their previous 12 matches!

It was so so so agonising for the Reds, chance after chance going to waste for themselves and then the lead given away so easily, ringing very familiar bells after the frustrating draw in Moscow.

Daniel Sturridge got a rare start, wasting chance after chance. The striker has only scored 10 Premier League goals in the two years under Klopp.

Mohamed Salah created plenty, wasted chances too though, Georginio Wijnaldum coming close as well and Sadio Mané back after suspension with not much to shout about.

After the break, Liverpool continued dominating, but Newcastle kept them at bay.

Substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had the best chance late on, heading over, whilst Mohamed Diamé came close for the homeside off a corner in the dying seconds.

The Reds have had 126 shots on goal in six games in September, with only 34 on target and just one win in all competitions.

October started just as frustrating, dropping another two points, although Liverpool haven't lost a Premier League game in October for the last seven years.

I'm going sober for October - please click here to help and sponsor me and Macmillan Cancer Support!

The international break will give everyone a breather - remember how rosy everything was before the last internationals after thrashing Arsenal?

Fingers crossed, there will be no injuries and the Reds can reshuffle, reform and rekindle their fire and form.

They better do so, because the next opponents are: Manchester United!

Newcastle goal: Joselu 36'.

Liverpool goal: Coutinho 29'.

Newcastle team: 1 Elliot, 22 Yedlin, 6 Lascelles, 2 Clark, 19 Manquillo, 23 Merino (14 Hayden 74'), 8 Shelvey, 11 Ritchie, 30 Atsu, 17 Pérez (booked 55') (10 Diamé 90'+1'), 21 Joselu (9 Gayle 79').
Subs not used: 26 Darlow, 27 Gámez, 20 Lejeune, 7 Murphy.

LFC team: 22 Mignolet, 12 Gomez (booked 58'), 32 Matip, 6 Lovren, 18 Moreno, 14 Henderson, 5 Wijnaldum, 10 Coutinho, 11 Salah (21 Oxlade-Chamberlain 84'), 19 Mané (29 Solanke 74'), 15 Sturridge (9 Firmino 74').
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 7 Milner, 17 Klavan, 23 Can.

Match Stats: NUFC 1-1 LFC
Possession: 32%-68%
Shots: 8-17
On target: 5-2
Corners: 1-5
Fouls: 11-6
Yellow cards: 1-1

Referee: Craig Pawson
Man of the match: Philippe Coutinho
Ground: St James' Park
Attendance: 52,303

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats taken from the BBC match report, Twitter and Sky Sports match coverage.