Premier League Picks Of The Week 22

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 22

The 22nd week of the Premier League action saw:

29 goals - most by Leicester & Man City = 3 each
269 shots - most by Bournemouth = 26
89 on target - most by Bournemouth = 8
118 corners - most by Bournemouth = 12
202 fouls - most by Brighton = 13
28 yellow cards - most by West Ham, Stoke & Arsenal = 3 each
0 red cards
0 penalties

What a game! I got out of breath watching Brighton against Bournemouth on New Year's Monday lunch time, neither side holding back, end-to-end stuff, brilliant to watch, 41 shots attempted between the two, the most in a single Premier League match so far this season. It ended 2-2 at the Falmer Stadium, a couple of beautiful team goals by the home side, Anthony Knockaert converting José Izquierdo's unselfish pass nicely and Glenn Murray with a smashing shot, Steve Cook heading in the equaliser in-between, lots of close chances for both sides and a scruffy second leveller by Callum Wilson to finish it off for the visitors. Great entertainment, the sides finishing 12th and 13th respectively.
Wednesday night's London derby was a thriller-and-a-half too at the Emirates, it all happened in the second half. Arsenal and Chelsea shared out 33 chances between each other, but it was Héctor Bellerin's injury-time strike that decided the result, a 2-2 draw, a point each. Gunners boss Arsène Wenger was not happy with the Blues' penalty that got them back into the match, Eden Hazard with the spot-kick a couple of minutes after Jack Wilshere had given his side the lead with a stunning high-fired strike. Antonio Conte's men must have thought they had nicked the perfect comeback when Marcos Alonso netted Davide Zappacosta's low cross to make it 1-2 in the 84th minute. But Bellerin spoilt that show with a superb half-volley to grab a point for the home side. Zappacosta saw a shot bang off the crossbar in the dying seconds, but it stayed 2-2. Breathtaking end.

What a team! 38 seconds into the game, Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock unmarked. After the fastest goal in the Premier League this season, Watford had no chance at Manchester City! Marco Silva's side have lost four out of the last five, whilst Pep Guardiola's men made it 20 wins out of 22 league games, 15 points clear at at the top. End of the crises after last week's dip.
At the other end of the table, West Brom are now 20 games without a win as Andy Carroll's double, his first two goals of the season, including the last-minute winner completed a dramatic turnaround for West Ham. Hammers boss David Moyes went mad celebrating the escape out of the drop zone. Baggies manager Alan Pardew was heart-broken by another late defeat, blaming his side's tired minds after only two days rest compared to the opposition's week off. That does not excuse their long miserable run though, which sees them drop down to 19th, level on points with bottom side Swansea.

What a man! Mark Hughes saved some of his players in the thrash against Chelsea on Saturday, to then go on and lose at home against Newcastle a couple of days later, thanks to Ayose Pérez's goal, and their keeper Karl Darlow with some spectacular saves. How much longer will he be Stoke manager as they are sliding down further and further with their worst run in over three decades?! And this result could have been even worse if Ciaran Clark wouldn't have missed a sitter from a couple of yards out... (And as I am editing and publishing this belatedly, my question was answered and the inevitable happened, Hughes sacked after Potters got kicked out of the FA Cup third round at League Two side Coventry City.)
And Crystal Palace are in form with only one loss in the last 11 after they made a great comeback at St Mary's beating Southampton 1-2. Shane Long's first goal in 11 months was not enough as James McArthur and Luka Milivojević replied to turn the game around with a gutsy response and performance. Saints slip down to 17th after nine games without a win whilst Palace are booming. Is Mauricio Pellegrino the right man for the Saints? Roy Hodgson certainly is for Palace! Wow!

What a goal! It was a great right-footed take by Riyad Mahrez to give Leicester the lead against Huddersfield, some sloppy defending beforehand helped though, too. Islam Slimani doubled the lead for the Foxes with his first goal for the club. And Marc Albrighton made it three goals and three points for Claude Puel's men.
Liverpool's Sadio Mané broke the deadlock at Burnley with a smacker from the edge of the box, left-footer on the turn, after a very frustrating hour of football in the pouring rain. There was some late drama with two goals in the last few minutes, but the German boss Jürgen Klopp ended up all smiles. Click here for my full match report.
Antony Martial's opener for Manchester United at Everton was also a great individual unstoppable hit from the edge of the box. Jesse Lingard doubled the Red Devils' lead with a similar smacker into the right top corner of the net. Two great goals, three points for José Mourinho's side, leaving Big Sam loud and fuming, his side not even recording a shot on target, his record against the Red Devils remaining miserable with only one win in the last 22 meetings.

What the hell?! The linesman at Swansea must have his eyes and/or football knowledge tested. Spurs took the lead thanks to Fernando Llorente - who was clearly offside. The visitors had another chance, headed high - with a group of Mauricio Pochettino's men offside! But no flag was in sight. It didn't get any better after the break. Dele Alli, who doubled Tottenham's lead and sealed the three points late on, should have been booked for diving. Davinson Sánchez should have been sent off for a second bookable offence. Referee Bobby Madley and his colleagues had a stinker!!! What a nice welcome to the Premier League it was for new Swans boss Carlos Carvahal in his first home game in charge!!! The pouring rain certainly fit the mood in Wales!!!

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

Tottenham 2:1 West Ham - 1:1 postponed from week 21, Son Heung-min and Pedro Obiang with two stunning long-range strikes. 31-3 shots, 8-1 on target, 7-1 corners, 10-6 fouls, 0-2 yellow cards, Spurs will have been left wondering how the hell they did not get more out of that game!!!

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.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 4

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 4

The 4th week of the Premier League action saw:

28 goals - most by Manchester City = 5
237 shots - most by Crystal Palace = 23
87 on target - most by Manchester City = 10
118 corners - most by Crystal Palace = 13
212 fouls - most by Newcastle = 15
22 bookings - most by Everton & Newcastle = 3 each
1 red card - Sadio Mané for Liverpool
1 penalty - 1 scored (Jamie Vardy for Leicester)

What a game! Crucial/cruel results: Both Super Sunday games had the least goals, but hell they weren't missing chances nor action! Newcastle recorded their first win 0:1 at Swansea to Rafael Benitez's relief recovering in hospital from an operation, whilst Chris Wood made it two goals in two games for Burnley as they beat struggling Crystal Palace 1:0 at home, more to that below. West Ham recorded their first win of the season on Monday night, beating Huddersfield 2-0 at the London Stadium. Their first defeat brought the high-flying Terriers back down to earth, even-though it took a cruel deflection off Pedro Obiang to break the stubborn deadlock and concede their first goal since promotion to the top flight. It was a nice birthday present for Hammers boss Slaven Bilić, who would have been under even more scrutiny and fire, having lost all three opening games conceding 10 goals, making him odds-on one of the faves to be sacked first. It was Joe Hart's first league clean sheet in 23 games. The lead soon was doubled thanks to substitute André Ayew turning the ball in from close range, icing on the manager's birthday cake to bag the first three points this season. 🎂👌🏻😊👍🏻🎂

What a team! Brighton secured their first ever Premier League goals and win in style, high-firing 3-1 at home against West Brom, their first top-flight victory for 34 years, thanks to two goals by Pascal Groß. Crystal Palace on the other hand suffered their fourth defeat in a row, as mentioned above. They went down fighting though, 1-0 at Burnley, recording 23 attempts! The last top-flight team to lose their opening four matches without scoring were Preston North End in 1924-25. And as ridiculous as it is, it was no surprise to then get the news of Frank de Boer's exit after just 77 days. Sad but true. There is no such thing as patience in football nowadays. They obviously didn't watch the match! The team fought and played well. Just one (very costly) error early on by Lee Chung-yong decided the match in the end... But they will say it is the results that count. Former England and Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is set to take over the job at Selhurst Park. And oh, we all love him, don't we! 💩🙈💩🙈💩 Meanwhile, much in contrast to that, Watford have no such worries, going from strength to strength, up to fourth in the Premier League table after their impressive display, cracking goals and 0-2 win at Southampton. 👌🏻⚽️👏🏻⚽️👍🏻

What a man! And José Mourinho was at it again, distracting from his side's disappointing draw with his childish sideline and interview antiques. It was all about the post-match handshake-refusal after a tense draw and clashes with counterpart Mark Hughes as Stoke fought out a 2-2 draw against Manchester United at the Bet365 stadium. Man of the match Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's double for the Potters put an end to the Red Devils' 100% start to the season. And deservedly so! Their keeper Jack Butland starred with brilliant stops and breathtaking saves, whilst the whole back line kept stubborn and solid too, tackle after tackle, challenge after challenge, block after block, chance after chance. Impressive. No matter what the Portuguese boss says. ⚽️👊🏻👏🏻👍🏻⚽️

What a goal! Harry Kane's 100th Tottenham goal was more oops than woo, but they all count. It looked like an attempted cross from the right but looped over home keeper Jordan Pickford and in. Christian Eriksen doubled the score and Kane added his 101st to make it 0-3 and an easy away win for Spurs at Goodison Park. It could have been 0-6. For all the money they spent and players they signed, Everton are still cracking and crumbling. Worrying. Not a good day for either Merseysiders, see below for more details. N'Golo Kanté scored against his former side Leicester handing Chelsea an edgy away win. Wood scored on his full debut for Burnley thanks to Chung-yong's back-pass giveaway, as mentioned above, handing the Clarets the 1-0 win and heartbreak for the Eagles. Cruel, cruel, cruel. Bournemouth were downed to their fourth consecutive defeat as well, well beaten 3-0 at Arsenal thanks to Danny Welbeck's double. Can't see anyone calling for Eddie Howe's head though! Not even mentioning good old Arséne Wenger. They love him. Really. Right?! 😝😜😘😜😝

What the hell?! The red card at the Etihad divided opinions, both managers Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola mouthing their disapproval in their post-match interviews. WTF? It was a high, dangerous boot by Sadio Mané taking out keeper Edison Moraes. In. The. Face. By the book that is red, full stop. And it doesn't excuse such a pathetic performance. Liverpool got absolutely hammered 5-0 by Manchester City. The defence was non-existent! It ended up being a fun kick-about for the home side. Having their main striker sent off may explain why they didn't score. But too absolutely fold, collapse, give up, dramatically, completely, uncharacteristically as the Reds did - explain me that! Here is my full LFC match report. Rant over and out. ⚽️👊🏻🙈👎🏻⚽️

My Predictions - Actual Results
Man City 2:2 Liverpool - 5:0 or my full LFC match report
Arsenal 2:1 Bournemouth - 3:0
Brighton 1:1 West Brom - 3:1
Everton 2:2 Tottenham - 0:3
Leicester 2:2 Chelsea - 1:2
Southampton 2:1 Watford - 0:2
Stoke 1:2 Man United - 2:2
Burnley 3:3 Crystal Palace - 1:0
Swansea 1:1 Newcastle - 0:1
West Ham 0:0 Huddersfield - 2:0

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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

Liverpool come back to thrash Stoke 4-1

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

Liverpool broke down a stubborn Stoke side coming back from a goal down to beat Potters, comfortably in the end, 4-1 at Anfield.

Jon Walters had headed the visitors ahead from close range, beating keeper Simon Mignolet all too easily, exposing the hosts' vulnerability at the back once again.

Former Reds Peter Crouch and Joe Allen caused the home side's back line all sorts of problems, adding to the defensive headache.

But after a too familiar iffy and shaky start, Jürgen Klopp's side got into gear, with Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino scoring, turning the game around and giving the hosts the lead before the break.

That turned both side's half-time team talk on its head. And things went from bad to worse for Mark Hughes' men after the break.

First Giannelli Imbula turned the ball into his own net off Divock Origi's cross, before Ryan Shawcross inexplicably put the ball back, intended for keeper Lee Grant, but straight to Daniel Sturridge instead, who netted the gift gratefully to make it 4-1.

It was the striker's first Premier League goal of the season, Liverpool's 100th under Klopp, just seconds after he had replaced Origi.

That makes it 86 league goals for the Reds in 2016, their most in a calendar year since 1985. And the year isn't over yet, Manchester City being the next visitors to come to Anfield on New Year's Eve.

Liverpool Goals: Lallana 34', Firmino 44', Imbula OG 59' & Sturridge 70'.

Stoke City Goal: Walters 12.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 2 Clyne, 6 Lovren, 17 Klavan, 7 Milner; 14 Henderson (c), 20 Lallana (23 Can 69'), 5 Wijnaldum; 27 Origi (15 Sturridge 70'), 19 Mané, 11 Firmino (18 Moreno 79'). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 21 Lucas, 53 Ejaria & 58 Woodburn.

Stoke City Team: 33 Grant; 8 Johnson, 17 Shawcross, 15 Martins Indi; 18 Diouf (14 Afellay 75'), 21 Imbula, 6 Whelan (32 Sobhi 66'), 4 Allen (booked 36'), 3 Pieters; 25 Crouch (12 Bony 84'), Walters. 3-5-2
Subs not used: 16 Adam, 22 Shaqiri, 24 Given, 27 Krkic.

Match Stats: Liverpool-Stoke City
Possession: 64%-36%
Attempts: 20-6
On target; 6-2
Corners: 8-2
Fouls: 9-6
Bookings: 0-1

Referee: Michael Oliver
Ground: Anfield
Attendance: 53,094

Pictures and stats taken from the BBC match report.

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

2nd Half Notes: LFC 1-0 SCFC

Sports - Football - Premier League - 2nd Half Notes: LFC 1-0 SCFC

SCFC kick off 2nd half!

47. Coutinho runs & sends the ball wide, fine bright start by the Reds again!

50. Clearance made by Toure!

54. Begovic clears another golden chance, denying Henderson.

59. Stoke enjoying more possession the start of the second half, less pressure from the home side, more even game.

61. Coutinho turn & pace, puts ball through to Sturridge who runs too far on the left again & is denied by Begovic again.

62. Gerrard corner headed wide by Aspas.

63. Stoke changes: 7 Pennant & 16 Adam on for 26 Etherington & 6 Whelan, Hughes has had enough of the new boys.

64. Aspas shot comes off the post, think Begovic got a touch, what a save, LFC denied AGAIN! Corner defended well...

65. Enrique puts chance high.

68. Pennant takes Stoke free kick from right, ball eventually falls to Huth who puts a scruffy kick through to Mignolet who holds on to it! Gerrard is down injured! Physio comes on... The skipper's ok!

71. Walters hot straight to Mignolet. 72. 1st LFC change: 9 Aspas is replaced by 31 Sterling, applause all round!

74. Sturridge fires one through, angled across, wide.

76. Toure booked for a late tackle, Mignolet collects ball.

78. Free kick to the Reds bang front of goal outside the box, what a smacker by Gerrard, the rocket was stopped by Begovic, whipped around for a corner. Ball goes ping-pong & out, awkward one, put out by Begovic for another corner, cleared. Action areas: 19-44-37.

81. Last Stoke change, 25 Crouch off for 9 Jones, applause all round again, nice one for the former Red.

82. Adam high chip punches out for a corner by Mignolet, LFC defending nervously, ball eventually goes out for a goal kick.

84. Toure & Agger come up from the back for a Gerrard corner, the latter thinks he got pushed there. Another corner, with pace into Begovic's gloves.

86. LFC press on but come to nothing, frustrating finish for the home side, nervous to keep hold of this lead!!!

88. Free kick to Stoke, will this be the sucker punch... 

PENALTY for handball against Agger & Mignolet SAVES it!!! To his right! What a finish!!! Corner, free kick, Mignolet... This is killing me! Another corner to visitors... Or they think so... Goal kick taken...

And the players are at each others' throats! Ref's doing a good job talking to both captains, calming them down... What a game!!! Free kick to LFC near the halfway line...

3 minutes added on... Coutinho sends a chance wide... Corner to LFC, they're wasting time... Another corner... YNWA echoing around the KOP!

Last time LFC won opening game of the season at home was 12 years ago against West Ham...

Goal kick, Walters has it... OMG... Stoke still attacking... Cleared...

And that's FT after 4 minutes added on, Mignolet has saved LFC's 1-0 win against a stubborn Stoke with a heroic penalty save! Sturridge's goal won the game, Begovic's man-of-the-match performance with save after save was all for nothing in the end. Rodgers & co can & will be very relieved! And I can breath again...

1st & 2nd half stats: LFC v SCFC:
Attempts: 10-3 & 11-4
On target: 6-2 & 3-3
Offsides: 1-0 & 0-0
Corners: 3-4 & 6-3
Free kicks: 5-3 & 5-6
Possession: 78%-22% (10min), 61%-39% (30min), 58%-42% (HT), 55%-45% (FT)
Other stats: 45-44-11 action areas (30min), 19-44-37 (78min)

LFC team: 22 Mignolet; 3 Enrique, 5 Agger, 4 Toure (booked 76th), Johnson; 14 Henderson, 21 Lucas, 8 Gerrard; 10 Coutinho, 15 Sturridge, 9 Aspas (31 Sterling - 72nd). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 1 Jones, 6 Alberto, 24 Allen, 29 Borini, 47 Wisdom, 33 Ibe.

SCFC team: 1 Begovic; 3 Pieters, 4 Huth, 17 Shawcross, 20 Cameron; 8 Palacios, 15 N'Zonzi (booked 45), 6 Whelan (16 Adam - 63rd); 26 Etherington (7 Pennant - 63rd), 25 Crouch (9 Jones - 81st), 19 Walters. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 29 Sorensen, 5 Muniesa, 12 Wilson, 33 Jerome.

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Man of the match: Asmir Begovic
At Anfield

HT Notes: LFC 1-0 SCFC

Sports - Football - Premier League - HT Notes: LFC 1-0 SCFC

LFC kick off the game!

7. First corner to LFC, cleared, dominating possession & chances early on, Stoke on the counter, Cameron run from the left side, wins a corner.

8. Huth strike off the post! Not a happy moment for Mignolet, scare for LFC!

11. Sturridge heads in perfect Gerrard free kick! Goal disallowed offside, JUST right! Close one!

13. Corner by Gerrard, Toure header off the bar! Rebound put high & out by Sturridge, close again for LFC! Pressure's on Stoke!

14. Sturridge is in again, goes wide, shoots in from left, well saved & pushed away by Begovic! What a game!!!

16. LFC pressing on to Stoke's box, visitors keep blocking out stubborn Reds.

17. Former Red Crouch concedes free kick.

18. Crouch goes down in the box against Johnson, nothing given, good decision by the ref, was a bit drama queen by the giant!

19. Mignolet continuing his nervy start giving the ball away...

20. Coutinho to Aspas in the box, not a good pass, ball goes too far & out for a goal kick.

23. Coutinho sends another chance high, fine cross from Lucas on the right.

27. The game has calmed down a lot! Kick-about in the midfield, no real threat by either side...

29. Terrific save by Begovic off Enrique, lovely buildup, Gerrard hammers rebound high. 45-44-11 action areas! 61%-39% possession! All LFC!

35. Henderson denied by Begovic, fantastic run, cut in to the keeper, still no breakthrough for LFC!

37. Sturridge smacks one in from the right after a fine run into the box, another block by Begovic!

GOAL! 36:50min And Sturridge gets the breakthrough from outside the box, through the defender's legs & past Begovic. FINALLY! 1-0

42. What a save by Mignolet! Superb blast-shot from outside the box by Walters! Corner comes to nothing. First real test for the new keeper, definitely passed that one!

45. Lucas booked for reckless challenge against N'Zonzi, free kick from edge of the box, out for a corner. Looked like the ball came off Huth actually... Correction: Booking went to N'Zonzi for unsporting behaviour.

46. Lucas denies Stoke off the line! Shawcross with the flick-on off the corner! 1 minute added on this action-packed half! Another corner for Stoke, taken quickly, half time whistle goes!

Wow! I can breath! Daniel Sturridge with the goal giving the home side the lead after LFC dominated play with some lovely interplay & buildups & both sides hit the bar & put on the pressure.

1st half stats: LFC-SCFC
Attempts: 10-3
On target: 6-2
Offsides: 1-0
Corners: 3-4
Free kicks: 5-3
Possession: 78%-22% (10min), 61%-39% (30min), 58%-42% (HT)
Other stats: 45-44-11 action areas (30min)

LFC team: 22 Mignolet; 3 Enrique, 5 Agger, 4 Toure, Johnson; 14 Henderson, 21 Lucas, 8 Gerrard; 10 Coutinho, 15 Sturridge, 9 Aspas. 4-3-3
Subs: 1 Jones, 6 Alberto, 24 Allen, 29 Borini, 31 Sterling, 47 Wisdom, 33 Ibe.

SCFC team: 1 Begovic; 3 Pieters, 4 Huth, 17 Shawcross, 20 Cameron; 8 Palacios, 15 N'Zonzi (booked 45), 6 Whelan; 26 Etherington, 25 Crouch, 19 Walters. 4-3-3
Subs: 29 Sorensen, 5 Muniesa, 7 Pennant, 9 Jones, 12 Wilson, 16 Adam, 33 Jerome.

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Week 12: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

The contrast was gobsmacking and mind-boggling between the two Manchester sides. City were top-class sweeping aside Aston Villa, whilst United flopped to a shock defeat at Norwich, with two hat-trick candidates in Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez for the prior whilst the latter were held back at Carrow Road and obviously missed Wayne Rooney. 
It was a surpirse to see Roberto Mancini's side use alternate penalty takers, especially with a hat-trick on the line. It is maybe a good tactic to keep the goalkeeper guessing, on his toes and/or confused. But I would have thought a striker on a hat-trick would have his objections against not being the penalty taker. It was good team play in the end though.
And Anthony Pilkington's brilliant header was a smacker for Norwich and a deserved winner against Sir Alex Ferguson's men. The former United trainee pulled ahead of Chris Smalling before looping a header over Anders Lindegaard on the hour mark. Comeback kings United are used to going behind and still bag the three points later on, but this time it was not to be and the Red Devils fell to their third defeat of the season and into second place, one point behind league leaders City.

OMG!

The weekend was packed full of surprises and sides chuffed to finally be back on the winners list with Arsenal, Reading and Southampton, plus Norwich, Swansea and West Brom! I would love to see what the odds were for these results! 
Reading got their first win of the season with a great comeback from being a goal down and deserving the three points for their stubbornness and commitment. 
Steve Clarke has done a great job at West Brom and they should have now shut up all their doubters with their convincing win against Chelsea. Their formation worked a treat with striker Peter Odemwingie nodding in the winner to continue his side's impressive run and shoot them up into the fourth Champions League qualification spot.

Swansea impressed in a 2-1 triumph at St James' Park which took them to tenth and above Newcastle in the Premier League table. Man-of-the-match Miguel Michu was a constant threat with a clever interplay and display and he was rewarded when he provided the opening goal with a fine header. The Swans then made sure victory was theirs with their second goal coming from a fast break, that presented Danny Graham with a chance to shoot at goal. Tim Krul pulled off a brilliant save but Jonathan de Guzman netted the rebound.

TOP!

Southampton's performance was impressive and mouthwatering. Nigel Adkins knew his men would do a good job and not sit back and so they did. After the Saints went ahead, a lot of sides would have sat back kept the back line strong to keep the lead. But that did not happen in this fixture. The visitors kept themselves forward, on attack and pressure up on the home side. It was a delight to see and watch and a fully deserved win and three points for the promoted side. If they keep up this work ethic, I don't think they will struggle to stay up.
And I have to give Fulham a mention after they kept fighting on, even after going down to ten, then nine men! Defender Brede Hangeland's sending off was harsh and substitute's Mladen Petric late injury after he had scored the equaliser did not help. But in the end Sunderland's stubbornness prevailed and the visitors ended up two goals to the good. It will be a hard lesson and feel harsh for Martin Jol's men, but the spirit is there.

FLOP!

QPR and Mark Hughes have to be really worried! Hughes' men lacked confidence, desire and a plan in their defeat against Southampton and were left still looking for their first win of the season stuck at the bottom of the table with just four points from 12 games and five points from safety. Much in contrast to Fulham mentioned above, there is a difference between a hard fought defeat and being outplayed and not showing or giving much for it.

HERO!

Liverpool finally found the winning way thanks to a certain Mister Suarez once again! The Uruguayan starred with two goals against Wigan and provided one for man-of-the-match Jose Enrique, his first for the club. This took Suarez's tally for the season to 13 goals for Liverpool and bagged his side only their second home win of the season in the Premier League to lift them up to 11th spot in the table.

ZERO!

Emmanuel Adebayor went from hero to zero within minutes at the Emirates. The Togolese striker scored against his former employers, giving Tottenham a well deserved lead as they had started the game well on top. But minutes later, he threw the game out of the window for Spurs letting emotions get the better of him when he saw red for his lunge on Santi Cazorla. They still played and fought on, the scoreline was harsh on them. But hopefully the lesson was learned by Adebayor! His stupidity let the Gunners back into the game and they made the most of it, netting five goals and bagging three points on their local rivals.

My Predictions => Actual Results
Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham => 5-2
Liverpool 2-1 Wigan => 3-0
Man City 2-1 Aston Villa => 5-0
Newcastle 2-1 Swansea => 1-2
QPR 2-1 Southampton => 1-3
Reading 2-1 Everton => 2-1
West Brom 2-1 Chelsea => 2-1
Norwich 2-1 Man United  => 1-0
Fulham 2-1 Sunderland => 1-3
West Ham 2-1 Stoke => 1-1  

In case you noticed and wondered, I once again forgot to put through my predictions, hence, all games were set to 2-1 automatically...

*All images taken from the BBC website's match reports

Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Top game: Manchester City against Chelsea was the battle of the riches. It was not the best display by the referee with some crucial errors that led to both City goals. It was a competitive encounter that could have gone either way, but City created most of the pressure and got Petr Cech sweating most throughout the match.

Top team: Manchester City ended up on top. Chelsea keeper Cech struggled to keep up with the pressure. Mark Hughes will be very happy to finally bank a win after the long run of draws and fans starting to doubting the credibility of the side and manager.

Top player: Shay Given was man of the match at the City ground, with a brilliant display and decsisive penalty save against one of the most consistent penalty takers Frank Lampard. Chelsea are starting to shake and leak, to the relief of their rivals and other title competitors. The race is long from over.

Top goal: Wolves' opener stunned Bolton. The more stunned they were when Nenad Milijas turned from provider to scorer with a devil of a strike for the second goal. From over 20 yards outside the box the swing left Jussi Jaaskelainen with no chance. Beauty.

Flop game: Liverpool's goalless draw against Blackburn was and is only worth a yawn...

Flop team: The team with the worst home record faced the side with the dimnest away record - and Portsmouth ended up on top. Burnley looked better but have to keep working on their travelling display.

Flop player: What was Steven Gerrard thinking? At least Martin Atkinson called it right as a dive and gave a free kick against him. But Phil Dowd was not as alert when Hermann Hreidarsson tried out his theatricals on him. Players do not help making the job easier for the referees, in a time where a growing majority call for video referees and stiffer penalties against whiners and divers, i.e. drama queens.

Flop goal: As mentioned above, Wolves' opener stunned Bolton, but looked offside, with three Wolves players clear of the defenders. In the end is was good fortune and play for Wolves and hard luck for Bolton. They had more than enough chances to not only equalise but to run away with all three points, Ivan Klasnic enjoying but missing most of the chances, the one goal he got on target was just not enough.

My Predictions - Actual Results

Arsenal 1:0 Stoke - 2:0

Aston Villa 2:0 Hull City - 3:0

Blackburn 0:0 Liverpool - 0:0

Man City 2:2 Chelsea - 2:1

Portsmouth 2:1 Burnley - 2:0

West Ham 1:1 Man Utd - 0:4

Wigan 1:0 Birmingham - 2:3

Wolves 2:3 Bolton - 2:1

Everton 1:1 Tottenham - 2:2

Fulham 3:0 Sunderland - 1:0