Premier League Picks Of The Week 24

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 24

The 24th week of the Premier League action saw:

25 goals - most by Chelsea & Arsenal = 4 each
233 shots - most by Man City & Liverpool = 21 each
90 on target - most by Arsenal & Chelsea = 10 each
99 corners - most by Man City = 18
194 fouls - most by Stoke City = 18
26 yellow cards - most by Brighton, Burnley, Man United, West Ham & Tottenham = 3 each
0 red cards
2 penalties - 2 scored (Agüero for Man City, Vardy for Leicester)

What a game! Arsenal proved like Liverpool did last week, it's all about the team, not the player, life goes on without them. With Alexis Sánchez omitted and Manchester United bound, the Gunners hit four goals in the opening 22 minutes, absolutely stunning and thrashing Crystal Palace 4-1 at the Emirates. A free Nacho Monreal headed in the opener (6') and provided the next two, Alex Iwobi doubling the lead (10') and Laurent Koscielny tapping in the third (13'). Alexandre Lacazette made it four with a beautiful team goal and finish (22') to complete an abysmal start for Roy Hodgson's side. Luka Milivojević did pull one back late on with a nice turn and shot, denying Petr Čech his 200th clean sheet, keeping the stopper stuck on 199. It was Palace's only defeat in the last 12 league games against the Gunners. Arsène Wenger couldn't have been happier with his team's blistering display, but they won't have it that easy every week!

What a team! Manchester City recovered from their first league defeat of the season against Liverpool with a dominant 3-1 win against Newcastle at the Etihad, Sergio Agüero starring with a hat-trick, his 11th for Pep Guardiola's side. Jacob Murphy did cause a little scare when he made it 2-1 with his first goal for the club in his 19th appearance. Rafael Benítez praised his side's reaction and effort, but after only six goals in the last eight games, the Magpies are 15th in the table, just one point away from 18th-placed Southampton. With the takeover talks halted and off the table, the chances of adding to the squad are close to none. At the top of the table meanwhile, City's lead remains 12 points, which takes me to this interesting stat I read, which irritated me at the same time... City aren't Newcastle and United are nowhere near Fergie's greats, I dare say!!!
Here are my match notes of a very frustrating display and rare defeat for Liverpool, suffering against stubborn Swansea, losing 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night, ending the Reds' unbeaten run after 18 games. It was such a disappointment after their breathtaking performance against the league leaders last week, but somewhat expected as the Reds like to let it slip against the lower sides, especially the Welsh side as past results show: Their German boss Jürgen Klopp seems to dislike the Swans, having lost three Premier League games against them, more than against any other opponent in the competition.

What a man! New Stoke City manager Paul Lambert started his reign with a win, his side beating Huddersfield 2-0 thanks to Joe Allen (53') and Mame Biram Diouf (69'), taking them out of the relegation zone, a step in the right direction. The new boss enjoyed and celebrated both goals full-heartedly and made sure all players stayed back to thank the fans for their support. The Terriers meanwhile are winless in the last six league games, having lost three in a row, David Wagner accepting their dire form and position and conceding they have to do more to get out of it, just one point separating them from the drop zone.
Leicester's Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez impressed with startling displays, the prior's penalty and the latter's smooth goal were enough to beat Watford, Marco Silva's side continuing their slump with just one win in the last 11 league matches. The dire run saw the Portuguese sacked on Sunday, the board blaming Everton's approach in November for it! Harsh!!! They quickly appointed a new boss later that day, Spaniard Javi Gracia, the 10th manager to work under the Pozzo family at Vicarage Road since 2012! Something tells me the 18-month contract won't be seen through at this rate! 7 of the bottom 12 have sacked their managers this season and I've got the feeling it's not gonna stay at that...
Both David Moyes and Sam Allardyce drew more frustrated figures this week, not happy men, both West Ham and Everton dropping two points drawing 1-1 against Bournemouth and West Brom respectively, home games they should have or were expected to win. None of the sides will be happy with dropping points. Again. But for the Hammers it continued their unbeaten run in the league (DWDWD), whilst the blue Merseysiders have been sliding a bit longer without a win (DDLLLD). It could have been worse for the Toffees if it would not have been for super-sub's Oumar Niasse's equaliser just 56 seconds after coming on. More to that game below. And the Hammers had Javier Hernández to thank for the point equalising 65 seconds after falling behind, their manager crying out for the former United man to stay. It was Eddie Howe's 100th league game in charge, the third youngest English manager to achieve this, at the age of 40 years and 52 days, the draw extending the Cherries' unbeaten run to five games (DWDWD).

What a goal! Chelsea stunned Brighton with two splendid goals in the opening six minutes at the Falmer Stadium. Eden Hazard opened the scoring with a neat finish from inside the box (3') and Willian doubled the score after some beautiful team and one-touch play in the buildup (6'). The Seagulls did fight back, Ezequiel Schelotto was denied a penalty after being brought down by keeper Willy Caballero who kept out former Citizen Tomer Hemed before Davy Pröpper headed against the post. Hazard sealed the win eventually (77') and Victor Moses added to the total late on to make it 0-4 and three points for the Blues (89'), their first league win in 2018. But as manager Antonio Conte pointed out, his side are unbeaten in 12 games now. Brighton boss Chris Hughton was right, the scoreline was harsh, but the visitors did make it very difficult.
In the only Super Sunday match Davinson Sánchez's awesome own goal put Southampton ahead at St Mary's, sliding and turning in Ryan Bertrand's low cross, before non-other than Harry Kane levelled the score for Tottenham, easy 99th Premier League goal for the England striker. Despite continuing their longest winless streak in nearly two decades, Saints will be happy with the point, the fans were great, Mauricio Pellegrino grateful but realistic (loved his electric chair metaphor about his position), whilst Spurs will be gutted to have dropped two points in the race for the top four.

What the hell?! All the best wishes went to Toffee James McCarthy of course after manager Big Sam confirmed his very nasty injury, a double-fracture! Albion Salomón Rondón was in tears after waving frantically for the referee to stop play and get the medical assistance. No one likes to see anything like that... #goosebumps
Manchester United extended their unbeaten run to eight games in the league, Anthony Martial's second-half strike enough to beat Burnley. But the Red Devils didn't give their fans much to cheer and watch, keeper David de Gea mainly to thank with his 14th clean sheet, more than any other in Europe's big five leagues this season. Sean Dyche's side fought hard, but were condemned to their fourth defeat on the trot for the first time since May 2015. The manager was understandably gutted as they were the only side making a real game out of it, no matter how José Mourinho tried to put it, having a clear dig at them after the match, complimenting the referee. Yep, you read right. The Portuguese was all positive, especially about the officials, of course, looking at the scoreline, but nothing else. Pf.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Brighton 1:1 Chelsea - 0:4
Arsenal 1:1 Crystal Palace - 4:1
Burnley 1:2 Man United - 0:1
Everton 2:1 West Brom - 1:1
Leicester 3:0 Watford - 2:0
Stoke City 2:2 Huddersfield - 2:0
West Ham 3:2 Bournemouth - 1:1
Man City 4:1 Newcastle - 3:1
Southampton 1:3 Tottenham - 1:1
Swansea 1:5 Liverpool - 1:0 or my match report

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 20

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 20

The 20th week of the Premier League action saw:

35 goals - most by Tottenham & Liverpool = 5 each
295 shots - most by Bournemouth & Chelsea = 25 each
103 on target - most by Bournemouth = 10
117 corners - most by Chelsea = 13
206 fouls - most by Southampton = 15
38 yellow cards - most by Burnley = 7
0 red cards
0 penalties

What a game! It didn't even take two minutes for Burnley to take the lead at Old Trafford, Ashley Barnes poking home the ball after a bit of ping pong in the box, messy, Manchester United shocked. Steven Defour doubled the Clarets' lead with a lovely curled unstoppable free-kick over the wall and into the top corner. Mourinwho?! Jesse Lingard pulled one back with a cheeky back-footer shortly after Nick Pope denied the substitute tipping the ball over excellently. But not long after the visitors had a goal disallowed, Fergie Time came, as the same sub netted the equaliser for the Red Devils in the 91st minute, sparing José's side from their first home defeat on Boxing Day in 39 years. Cruel. Lucky. Or both. Still doesn't hide all the negativity around a certain Portuguese...
Arsène Wenger's 810th Premier League match as Arsenal manager equalled Sir Alex Ferguson's total of games at Manchester United and was sweetened by Alexis Sánchez's double to secure three points at hard-fighting Crystal Palace. It was an entertaining derby on Thursday night at Selhurst Park, end-to-end stuff, both sides at each other. Shkodran Mustafi opened the scoring in the first half before Andros Townsend levelled the score shortly after the break. The Chilean Gunner scored two goals in four minutes with just over an hour gone, but James Tomkins' late header set up a tense finish to the game, Roy Hodgson's men not going down easily. The win pushes Arsenal within a point of fourth-placed Liverpool, level with Tottenham in fifth, whilst the Eagles drop to 16th, just one point separating them from the drop zone.

What a team! Liverpool thrashed managerless bottom side Swansea 5-0 at Anfield in the late kick-off on Boxing Day, a dominant home victory that consolidated their place in the top four. Click here for my full LFC match report.
Manchester City less than impressed at Newcastle on Wednesday, the one time I put money on them, Sergio Agüero and co dominated but struggled and just about scraped out a 0-1 win thanks to Raheem Sterling's scruffy goal. Rafael Benítez's tactics showed but didn't bare any fruit, tight tight tight, cover cover cover, but no points to show for it. That's what champions are made of, not always nice, but wins wins wins, their 18th consecutive league win to be exact, moving them 15 points clear at the top, whilst the Magpies are moving closer and closer to the drop zone after recording their fifth consecutive home defeat for the first time since October 1953.

What a man! Harry Kane made it eight hat-tricks and 39 Premier League goals in 2017, a new record, smashing Alan Shearer's 1995 tally, helping Spurs smash aside a poor Southampton side 5-2 at Wembley in the early kick-off on Boxing Day. The Tottenham striker is the first player to score six Premier League hat-tricks in a calendar year, bringing his goals total in all competitions in 2017 to 56, surpassing Lionel Messi (54), Cristiano Ronaldo (53), Edinson Cavani (53) and Robert Lewandowski (53). And it won't get any easier for Mauricio Pellegrino's men with Manchester United next on the fixture list at Old Trafford on Saturday evening. Who needs Virgil van Dijk, ey?!

What a goal! It was all about the misses (and howlers) on Boxing Day afternoon. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting missed from two yards for Stoke at Huddersfield. Jamie Vardy tried to be too clever for Leicester at Watford, through on goal, but his cheeky chip went wide. Kasper Schmeichel will not have liked the one he let squirm through under him to make it 2-1, his own goal handing Watford their first win in six games even though the Hornets only got one shot on target themselves.
Salomón Rondón was through on goal but slipped for West Brom against Everton, stretching his side's winless run to 18 league games. And Asmir Begović's slip whilst trying to clear handed Marko Arnautović an easy equaliser for West Ham at Bournemouth before the Austrian forward netted a late winn... Nope. Bournemouth nicked a point with an injury time equaliser. But was it handball?! And/or offside?! It looked like both...

What the hell?! ... Hammers boss David Moyes was certainly not happy with the controversial equaliser for the Cherries in the 93rd minute, Callum Wilson diverting in Nathan Aké's header, which was disallowed before referee Bobby Madley gave it after speaking to the linesman. Confused? Me too!!! Replays showed it was a close call, a hint of handball and offside. And the linesman did raise his flag, but the referee overruled it. Either way, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe was very happy with his side's spirit, not giving up and scoring for the first time in four league outings despite missing Jermain Defoe due to his ankle injury. The draw still keeps the Cherries in the drop zone and without a win in eight (D4, L4), one point behind West Ham in 17th. Tight.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Tottenham 2:1 Southampton - 5:2
Bournemouth 1:2 West Ham - 3:3
Chelsea 2:0 Brighton - 2:0
Huddersfield 1:0 Stoke City - 1:1
Man United 3:1 Burnley - 2:2
Watford 0:1 Leicester - 2:1
West Brom 0:1 Everton - 0:0
Liverpool 4:0 Swansea - 5:0 or my match report
Newcastle 0:3 Man City - 0:1
Crystal Palace 1:2 Arsenal - 2:3

Click here for my previous Picks Of The Week.

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

Crazy Six-Goal Draw At Arsenal

Sports - Football - Premier League - AFC 3:3 LFC

Three goals in 388 crazy second-half seconds saw Arsenal come back from two goals down, but Liverpool grabbed a third to make it 3-3 and a point each in a gob-smacking encounter at the Emirates on Friday Night Football.

The Reds bossed the Gunners around in the first half and could have been three or four goals up at the break.

Despite losing captain Jordan Henderson early on due to a suspected hamstring injury, James Milner replacing him, the visitors dominated.

But only Philippe Coutinho's first headed goal for the club separated the two sides at half time, both Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah missing a couple of sitters.

The great Egyptian doubled the visitors' lead after the interval with a deflected strike after another one of his great individual runs, recording his 15th league goal of the season.

It looked like Jürgen Klopp's side were going to crush the home side, such was their command.

But suddenly Arsène Wenger's men woke up!

Alexis Sánchez headed in Hector Bellerin's cross from close range before Simon Mignolet failed to save Granit Xhaka's powerful strike from 25 yards.

A couple of minutes later Mesut Özil clipped the ball over Mignolet off Alexandre Lacazette's cheeky back heel to make it 3-2 and turn the game on its head.

Liverpool were gob-smacked. Frozen, zoned-out defence + slow, insecure keeper = three goals conceded in 388 seconds, their confident two-goal lead out the window.

It was end-to-end stuff after that goal-rush, both sides looking to add more to the scoreboard.

The Reds had the final say thanks to man of the match Roberto Firmino's powerful finish, Arsenal keeper Petr Cech could only slow it down but not stop it from bouncing over the line.

So, 3-3 it ended, the point keeping Liverpool in fourth and Arsenal in fifth, a point between the two.

Under Klopp, the Reds have lost 43 points in the league from winning positions, the most of any team in Europe.

There is no doubt in their strike force, the "Fab Four", but it's the back that crumbled and leaked too much once again.

But hey, we're used to goals galore between these two sides!

There have been 27 goals scored in the past five Premier League meetings (10 for Arsenal, 17 for Liverpool), an average of 5.4 goals per game!

Liverpool have scored 54 away goals in all competitions in 2017, their most in a calendar year since 1982 (66).

And since Klopp's first Premier League game in October 2015, the Reds have seen 279 goals in their games (174 scored, 105 conceded), more than any other side.

I don't know whether to cheer or cry or both, because we're so awesome and useless at the same time (front and back respectively, contrast).

Something/someone has to change in January to make sure these insecurities don't end up costing and make us drop out of the top four!

Arsenal Goals: Sánchez 53', Xhaka 56', Özil 58'.

Liverpool Goals: Coutinho 26', Salah 52', Firmino 71'.

Arsenal Team: 33 Cech; 24 Bellerin, 6 Koscielny (c), 18 Monreal (20 Mustafi 45'), 30 Maitland-Niles; 10 Wilshere, 29 Xhaka; 17 Iwobi (booked 58') (23 Welbeck 78'), 11 Özil, 7 Sánchez (14 Walcott 89'); 9 Lacazette. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 13 Ospina, 31 Kolasinac, 34 Coquelin, 35 Elneny.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 12 Gomez, 6 Lovren, 17 Klavan, 26 Robertson; 14 Henderson (c) (7 Milner 13'), 23 Can; 11 Salah, 10 Coutinho (21 Oxlade-Chamberlain 84'), 19 Mané (5 Wijnaldum 80'); 9 Firmino. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 20 Lallana, 29 Solanke, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

HT Stats: AFC 0-1 LFC
Possession: 52%-48%
Shots: 4-8
On target: 0-4
Corners: 3-3
Fouls: 4-4

FT Stats: AFC 3-3 LFC
Possession: 54%-46%
Shots: 11-14
On target: 4-9
Corners: 7-8
Fouls: 9-11
Yellow cards: 1-0

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Man of the match: Roberto Firmino
Ground: Emirates
Attendance: 59,409

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 27

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 27

The 27th week of the Premier League action saw:

255 shots - most by Swansea = 23
36 goals - most by Southampton = 4
223 fouls - most by Middlesbrough = 20
31 bookings - most by Bournemouth = 5
1 red card - Surman for Bournemouth
3 penalties - 2 scored (Gray for Burnley, King for Bournemouth)

What a game! This week Match Of The Day was action-packed! Every game had it in it, goals, tops, flops, controversies, and more goals. My vote goes to the relegation battle between Swansea and Burnley at the Liberty Stadium. It was a great comeback by the Welsh side after some horrendous refereeing gave the Clarets a step back into the game, Anthony Taylor awarding a spot kick Andre Gray netted to make it 1:1 after the ball had clearly come off the arm of his own team mate Sam Vokes. Sean Dyche was not happy with man of the match Fernando Llorente's late winner seeing a foul in the buildup, but did not say much about the penalty incident. Selective memory? Another entertaining encounter was the seven-goal thriller between Watford and Southampton, showing off the best and worst of football, the Saints ending up on top at Vicarage Road bouncing back from their EFL Cup final defeat against Manchester United.

What a team! Chelsea remain unstoppable ten points clear at the top after beating West Ham 1-2 at the London Stadium, continuing their march to the title. I would like to see the mileage manager Antonio Conte covers non-stop on the move, jump, gestures and go on the sideline. Mental. Meanwhile Big Sam is doing his thing, Crystal Palace creeping and crawling out of the relegation zone after recording their second consecutive win, leaving the Hawthorns worthy 0-2 winners.

What a man! All the usual suspects starred and scored again this week, Harry Kane and Dele Alli for Spurs, Romelu Lukaku for Everton, Sergio Agüero for Manchester City, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa for Chelsea... But my hero vote of the week goes to a stopper, Artur Boruc. The Polish keeper kept 10-man Bournemouth in the game at Old Trafford and earned his side a point against Manchester United, saving his fourth out of last seven penalties. The Red Devils were lucky to still have eleven men on the pitch after Zlatan Ibrahimović had elbowed Tyrone Mings in clear frustration about the defender's boot catching his head earlier on. There was one red card, Andrew Surman, who pushed the famous Swedish striker to the ground. How the other two stayed on the pitch in perspective to this, is beyond me!

What a goal! Both Palace goals get my vote, as crucial as they were in the relegation battle, they were top quality to watch! Wilfried Zaha's cracking strike to open the score in the second half was only the second attempt on target in the match, his fifth of the season. Andros Townsend doubled the score six minutes from time, picking up the ball on the left side of his own box and just keeping on going and going and going, past centre back Gareth McAuley and striking the ball low past keeper Ben Foster. Wow.

What the hell?! Well, I will not start about the refereeing standards again, I think I've picked on them enough above, from missed to mixed, it was all just very messed up. Where is the video ref when you need him, ey, FA?!?!?! Apart from all that farce, one certain Frenchman looked very old and resigned at Anfield and I have one question to him: Monsieur Arsène Wenger, pourquoi, warum, why the hell did you leave Alexis Sánchez on the bench?!?!?! In the most crucial game in the battle for the top four against Liverpool (the title race being science fiction for both sides), you leave out your top scorer... ?!?!?!?! The Gunners' boss has well and truly and literally lost it!

My Predictions - Actual Results
Man United 4:1 Bournemouth - 1:1
Leicester 2:0 Hull City - 3:1
Stoke City 1:0 Middlesbrough - 2:0
Swansea 2:1 Burnley - 3:2
Watford 1:1 Southampton - 3:4
West Brom 2:1 Crystal Palace - 0:2
Liverpool 2:2 Arsenal - 3:1
Tottenham 2:0 Everton - 3:2
Sunderland 0:2 Man City - 0:2
West Ham 1:3 Chelsea - 1:2

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

All pictures and stats taken from BBC match reports and MOTD.