Premier League Picks Of The Week 11

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 11

The 11th week of the Premier League action saw:

34 goals - most by Man City = 6

255 shots - most by West Ham = 22

92 on target - most by West Ham = 10

115 corners - most by Leicester = 12

208 fouls - most by Brighton = 17

34 bookings - most by Watford = 5

0 red cards

3 penalties - 3 scored (Nevez and Jiménez for Wolves, Ings for Southampton)

What a game! West Ham were on fire! Burnley had Joe Hart to thank it only ended 4-2 to the Hammers and just a brace for man of the match Felipe Anderson. The win was fully deserved and takes Manuel Pellegrini’s side up to 13th in the table, two places above the struggling Clarets.

Arsenal and Liverpool fought out a draw, Alexandre Lacazette’s late equaliser (82’) nullifying James Milner’s powerful strike (61’), both sides keeping their unbeaten runs going, the prior's 13 matches in all competitions and the latter's 11 in the league. Not bad at all. It was a thrilling encounter, even the Emirates was loud and lively, but it could have ended very differently had the referee got all calls right, more to the Reds’ frustrations below.

What a team! It was a very emotional day and game for Leicester at Cardiff on Saturday, the club still grieving and remembering their owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the other four people who lost their lives in the helicopter crash on 27 October. The Foxes stuck together, played their hearts out and when Demarai Gray scored the winner, his shirt off revealing Vichai's name underneath, everyone came together, tears all round. Even the referee showed he didn’t like to book the offender in this case, but I don’t think anyone cared. The Welsh side, ground and fans did well sharing and caring, commemorating in silence before the match and showing lots of respect during and after the game as well. #RIP XxXxX #YNWA

What a man! Richarlison has already scored more goals this season for Everton than he did in the whole of 2017-18, the Brazilian’s brace helping the Toffees to a 3-1 win against Brighton, ending the Seagulls’ three game winning run.

It wasn’t Tottenham defender Juan Foyth’s day, conceding two penalties and making it a nervous finish in the super-late kick-off on Saturday night at Wolves. Spurs still ended up 2-3 winners, Mauricio Pochettino defending Dávinson Sánchez’s replacement and resting the Colombian defender ahead of their crucial Champions League group match.

What a goal! Marcus Rashford’s 92nd-minute winner for Manchester United at Bournemouth was his second injury-time winning goal in the Premier League for the club - no player has more for the Red Devils, equalling Paul Scholes and Robin van Persie.

Ayoze Pérez’s goal was enough for Newcastle to record their first win of the season, beating Watford 1-0 after suffering numerous injuries and riding their luck at times, it finally swung their way, the three points dragging the Magpies out of the drop zone.

Fulham’s Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s headed own goal handed Huddersfield their first win of the season and their first home goal in 659 minutes, Tom Ince’s injury-time winner against Watford on 14 April being the last time the Terriers found the net at the John Smith’s stadium. The result lifted David Wagner’s men off the bottom.

What the hell?! I really think the officials need to Google the offside rule! Sadio Mané’s goal against the Gunners should have stood! The draw was a fair result in the end, but still... There were plenty more incidents over the weekend where the officials' decisions were questionable, especially offside calls and fouls, but it would be too much and long and too repetitive to list and moan on and on... And start that argument about video refs again... ARGH!!!

Manchester City meanwhile crushed Southampton to pieces 6-1, and Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 3-1 thanks to Álvaro Morata’s brace, both sides leaping past and above Jürgen Klopp’s side, the Citizens with a two-points lead at the top, whilst the Blues are level on points. Goals will be the main difference, Pep Guardiola’s team on +29 difference, Maurizio Sarri’s men with +19, the Reds on +16, showing EVERY SINGLE GOAL will be very crucial in the title race!!!

My Predictions - Actual Results

Bournemouth 2:1 Man United - 1:2

Cardiff 1:2 Leicester - 0:1

Everton 2:0 Brighton - 3:1

Newcastle 1:3 Watford - 1:0

West Ham 1:0 Burnley - 4:2

Arsenal 1:1 Liverpool - 1:1

Wolves 2:2 Tottenham - 2:3

Man City 4:1 Southampton - 6:1

Chelsea 3:1 Crystal Palace - 3:1

Huddersfield 0:0 Fulham - 1:0

Click here for last week’s Premier League Picks.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 7

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 7

The 7th week of the Premier League action saw:

22 goals - most by Tottenham & Man United = 4
256 shots - most by Arsenal & Everton = 23
75 on target - most by Arsenal = 11
92 corners - most by Everton = 9
188 fouls - most by West Ham = 15
24 yellow cards - most by West Brom & West Ham = 3 each
0 red cards
1 penalty - 0 scored (Berahino denied by Forster for Stoke)

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What a match! It was a routine win for Arsenal beating Brighton 2-0 on Sunday at the Emirates, a nice 21st anniversary present for their boss Arsène Wenger. The second goal was sweet, Alexis Sánchez's back-heel pass finding Alex Iwobi nicely to make it 2-0 and three points for the Gunners, taking them up to fifth in the table, just three goals behind the champions. The French manager has now won Premier League matches against 45 different clubs - a record! Man City totally outplayed Chelsea, beating the Blues 0-1 at Stamford Bridge, which keeps them in fourth place on goal difference. It was disappointing to watch, no competition at all, the result not quite reflecting the Citizens dominance, staying top of the league on goal difference.

What a team! Crystal Palace lost again, surprise surprise. Just like their local rivals, it was too easy for United as well, winning comfortably 4-0 and it could have been more. The thrash took the Red Devils just one goal behind the top. Watford showed strength and stubbornness once again, grinding out a result, a late late late equaliser, 2-2 at West Brom. In contrast to that, Bournemouth and Leicester shared their miserable form, no goals, a point each. And why Everton don't like Sundays: They lost their last five Premier League matches on this day by an aggregate score of 1-13! Burnley meanwhile remain unbeaten away from home after beating the Toffees convincingly 0-1 at Goodison Park, the win taking them up to sixth on 12 points from seven games with more away points than in the whole of last season. Ronald Koeman's side meanwhile are down in 16th on seven points. Contrast.

What a man! Harry Kane can't stop scoring! The star striker made it 0-3 to Tottenham within 23 minutes at Huddersfield, in style! Floating and bossing it! The 24-year-old Spurs forward has 13 goals in September, equalling the record in a single month by Lionel Messi (March 2012) and Cristiano Ronaldo (October 2010). Romelu Lukaku continued his top run too, adding a late goal to make it 4-0 to United and keeping his scoring streak going. Daniel Sturridge got a rare start for Liverpool and had scored five goals in the four previous league starts at St James Park, seven in total against Newcastle, making them his favourite opponent. But the out-of-form striker did not impress on Sunday, wasting chance after chance. Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring with a smacker from outside the box, the Reds seemingly in total control. Until the defence mucked it all up again, Joel Matip desperately running back after leaving a big gap between him and Dejan Lovren, kicking the ball against Joselu, for it to roll over the line oh so slowly to make it 1-1. So so so agonising for Jürgen Klopp's men once again, here is my full match report. The only positive stat: The Reds haven't lost a Premier League game in October for the last seven years according to Martin Tyler. Yay?

What a goal! Richarlison's last-breath equaliser for Watford, completing the comeback from two goals down to save a point at West Brom, in the 95th minute, was his second consecutive 90+th minute goal. Peter Crouch scored a late winner as well for Stoke City, three goals in seven appearances for the 36-year-old striker, two of those as a sub, prove he has still got it. Diafra Sakho's last-minute winner for West Ham against Swansea relieved the London Stadium and manager Slaven Bilić of all tension and despair. For now. Marcus Rashford's top-quality free kick, made it too easy for Marouane Fellaini to net, putting United on top, temporary at least. Kevin De Bruyne's finish for City against a less-impressive Chelsea, the build-up and conversion, was just top-quality! Boom!

What the hell?! Dele Alli was rightly booked for his diving antiques in Tottenham's comfortable win at Huddersfield. After his England middle-finger ban, you would think he would try to stay out of trouble. Manager Mauricio Pocchetino rightly came out strong saying the 21-year-old has to learn and work on his attitude. Do these players forget they are being watched?!?!?! It made a change to the officials act and react correctly. Bournemouth were denied an obvious handball by Leicester's Danny Simpson! And Lovren had his shirt pulled to bits, again, nothing given. The refs are just blind, ignorant and/or oblivious. When will the FA introduce something called VI-DE-O that will show the officials within seconds whether their decision can stand or not. And how many times do I rant about it!!! FFS!!!

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures, stats and facts taken from the BBC match reports, MOTD, Twitter, Sky Sports and SFR match coverage.