Premier League Picks Of The Week 31

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 31

The 31st week of the Premier League action saw:

31 goals - most by West Ham = 4

249 shots - most by Tottenham = 26*

78 on target - most by Tottenham = 10*

93 corners - most by Liverpool = 10

208 fouls - most by Everton = 17

33 bookings - most by Watford = 5*

1 red card - Maguire for Leicester

4 penalties - 3 scored (King for Bournemouth, Noble for West Ham, Milner for Liverpool)

What a game! There were not many games this weekend thanks to the FA Cup ties, only three matches on Saturday, but plenty of action and goals, very late goals and awesome comebacks! Huddersfield scored three at West Ham! But still ended up on the losing end yet again as the Hammers hit four, three of them in the last 15 minutes, and turned everything and everyone on their heads at the London Stadium. The Terriers looked like they would climb off the bottom of the Premier League for the first time since December when Karlan Grant's brace (30', 65') had put the visitors 1-3 ahead, adding to Juninho Bacuna's headed equaliser (17') in reply to captain Mark Noble's opener from the spot (pen 15'). But after Angelo Ogbonna's header made it 2-3 with 15 minutes to go, half-time substitute Javier Hernández made all the difference with two goals in seven minutes to make it 4-2 (84', 90'+1'). His boss Manuel Pellegrini showed how decisive changes and experience can be, whilst the Yorkshire club which the Chilean upset remain rock bottom and are still looking for their first win on the road since November. Counterpart Jan Siewert was understandably distraught and angry. Gutted. 

What a team! Chelsea are falling to bits! No discrediting Everton and Jordan Pickford’s strong performance with some solid stops and keeping a clean sheet. But after dominating the first half at Goodison Park, the Blues were well beaten thanks to Richarlison's header off a corner (49') and Gylfi Sigurðsson netting the rebound of his own soft penalty take (72'). As a result, Chelsea failed to capitalise on their game in hand and remain in sixth, one point behind Manchester United in fifth, three behind Arsenal in fourth. Blues boss Maurizio Sarri was chewing his fag end as always, saying his side "have reached their mental limit". Looking at the usual lack of patience at the club, the Italian must be sweating through his hotter than hot seat (although I have said that before, so, am surprised he lasted this long)! Much in contrast to that, Marco Silva was finally able to smile, seeing his side record their first home win in nine weeks after four defeats in the last six home games. Finally.

What a man! It was a roller coaster ride at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon! I covered all the action on Twitter for ByTheMinLFC. It was so easy in the first half for Liverpool, Sadio Mané with the opener, a nice side-footer set up by Roberto Firmino, his 20th in all competitions, 11th in 11 games (26'). But then, after the break, the normally strong duo of super keeper Alisson and stubborn third-skipper Virgil van Dijk messed up and mixed up the ball between each other and handed Ryan Babel the equaliser for still managerless Fulham (74'). But sub and vice-captain James Milner had the last laugh, scoring the winning goal from the spot after the other keeper Sergio Rico had a nightmare of his own, dropping Mohamed Salah's curling shot and fouling Mané in the aftermath, conceding the penalty (81'). The great Egyptian did everything else, but just couldn't hit the back of the net. The Reds still went to the top of the table for the international break, to Jürgen Klopp's relief, the German looking tense watching his league leaders topple the relegation-doomed London side. Too tense. Just two points separating the top two, Manchester City with a game in hand.

What a goal! Matt Ritchie’s last-breath equaliser for Newcastle against his former side Bournemouth handed Rafael Benítez’s men a crucial point. It was a a spectacular take, super volley, into the top corner, no chance for anyone to stop, cover or recover, to make it 2-2 four minutes into stoppage time! Salomón Rondón had put the visitors ahead at Dean Court with a lovely free-kick deep into injury time as well (45'+5). Joshua King turned the game on its head and completed the comeback for the Cherries with his brace (pen 48', 81'). Or so we thought. Benítez was not happy with the officials decisions, especially with the spot kick, but the Spaniard was left more than consoled with a point thanks to the last-second smacker. "The job is not done" he said after the match. His side are sitting in 13th, on 35 points, seven points clear from the drop zone, two behind Everton in 12th. Not done, but more than alright.

What the hell?! In the only other game played over the FA Cup weekend, last man Harry Maguire was sent off after just four minutes at Turf Moor, a straight red for felling down goal-bound Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson. How daft can you be?! Ten-man Leicester still fought on and ended up 1-2 winners against a stubborn Burnley side. Foxes captain Wes Morgan’s 90th minute header handed new boss Brendan Rodgers his second consecutive win, the Northern Irishman full of praise for his side. Sean Dyche on the other hand, is watching his side continue to struggle, tumbling through their fourth successive defeat and falling down to 17th, just two points away from the drop zone. Only Fulham (68) have conceded more goals than the Clarets (59). Worrying.

My Predictions - Actual Results 

Bournemouth 1:1 Newcastle - 2:2

Burnley 2:2 Leicester - 1:2

West Ham 1:0 Huddersfield - 4:3

Fulham 1:3 Liverpool - 1:2

Everton 1:2 Chelsea - 2:0

(Brighton 0:1 Cardiff - 0:2 - see week 34)*

(Man United 0:2 Man City)*week 35

(Tottenham 2:0 Crystal Palace - see week 33)*

(Watford 1:1 Southampton)*week 35

(Wolves 3:1 Arsenal)*week 35

*(Postponed due to the FA Cup ties. All stats added to this week = week 31 after the fixtures have been played.)

Click here for the previous week’s Premier League Picks.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 23

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 23

The 23rd week of the Premier League action saw:

33 goals - most by Wolves and Liverpool = 4 each

236 shots - most by Man United = 20

79 on target - most by Liverpool = 9

112 corners - most by Cardiff and Tottenham = 10 each

201 fouls - most by Chelsea = 15

27 bookings - most by Wolves, Leicester and Tottenham = 3 each

1 red card - Milner for Liverpool

1 penalty - 1 scored (Pogba for United)

What a match! The first match of the weekend, the early kick-off on Saturday at the Molineux, was the craziest! Jota scored a hat-trick for Wolves (4’, 64’, 90’+3’), their first in the top flight since 1977, to make it 4-3 to the hosts against Leicester. The 22-year-old is only the second Portuguese player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League after former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Boss Nuno Espírito Santo was sent off for taking part in the celebrations on the pitch after the injury-time winner. Claude Puel was not happy, his side still ending up losers despite their second-half comeback and it looked like captain Wes Morgan had grabbed a late point for the visitors (87'). "Sacked in the morning" chants were directed at the Frenchman after a dire first half, the result seeing the Wanderers overtake the Foxes, the prior rising to eighth, whilst the latter fall to ninth.

What a team! League leaders Liverpool didn’t make it easy for themselves in the Saturday crunch match against their bogey team Crystal Palace at Anfield, but still got there in the end. The Reds were better after the restart, trailing thanks to some poor defending handing Andros Townsend the opener (34’), the first real break ending up in a goal for Roy Hodgson’s men. The second half was absolute madness, the home front trio all on the scoreboard, but the visitors not giving up that easily, it ended up a nerve-wrenching 4-3 home-victory. Mohamed Salah starred with a brace (46’, 75’), calming the nerves shortly after the break, including his 50th Premier League goal. Team mates Roberto Firmino (53’) and Sadio Mané (90’+3’) joined the great Egyptian on the scoreboard to seal the win for the league leaders. James Tomkins (65’) and Max Meyer (95’) found the gaps on the other side, and James Milner was sent walking by his former PE teacher Jon Moss after seeing two yellow for two late and daft tackles (89’). Boss Jürgen Klopp could breath a sigh of relief after the full-time whistle blew, with the rest of the Reds. The German hailed his world-class striker after celebrating the difficult win against the last side to beat his team at home in the league back in April 2017, jumping and punching into the air with the Kop.

Manchester City kept the gap at the top to four points after their comfortable 0-3 win at managerless Huddersfield on Sunday, including their 100th goal of the season already! 

What a man! And it’s seven wins out of seven games for Manchester United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær - a record maker with six out of six victories in the league! Paul Pogba (pen 27’) and Marcus Rashford (42’) were the match-takers-and-makers again, a penalty and superb goal respectively, sealing the win for the Red Devils against Brighton at Old Trafford. Pascal Groß halved the deficit later on (72’), but Chris Hughton’s side continued their miserable record, making it five defeats in their last eight league matches, keeping them in 13th, whilst United remain in sixth.

Everton’s miserable run on the road continued at Southampton. Wonder-man Ralph Hasenhüttl has won four of his eight games since replacing Mark Hughes (who won three of his 22 matches) at St Mary's. It was a nice opener for James Ward-Prowse (50’), cheeky one for Nathan Redmond - a Lucas Digne own goal in the end actually, the French left-back toe-poking it past his own keeper Jordan Pickford (64’). A Toffee horror show! Gylfi Sigurðsson pulled one back in injury time (90’+1’), but it was too little too late. A tense finish to the fourth victory, the Austrian master taking his team up to 15th, three points clear of the drop zone. Marco Silva on the other hand, is not happy, conceding the Saints deserved three points, his side failing and falling to eleventh.

What a goal! What a run and fine guided goal it was from Fabian Schär, opening the scoring against Cardiff (24’)! It was the Swiss defender’s first goal for Newcastle, helping his side to a crucial win in the relegation battle. And he doubled the lead from close range off a corner (63’). It was the Magpies’ first home win since November, an absolute nightmare for the Welsh visitors. Some brilliant sportsmanship was shown by Ayoze Pérez, kicking out the ball with his side on the attack after defender Joe Bennett looked like he was knocked out cold. The Spanish midfielder tapped in the third in injury time (90’+3’), which sealed the win and points for the home side and a much happier Rafa Benítez with his side climbing out of the drop zone, up to 17th, two points ahead of the Bluebirds.

The late disallowed Burnley goal at Watford, a tap-in by Chris Wood, looked in line = onside! Crucial, cruel - both keepers did well though, Tom Heaton for the visitors and Ben Foster for the hosts, to make sure both sides kept clean sheets and their 2019 unbeaten start intact. Clarets boss Sean Dyche made a good point and his frustration clear on that decision after the match. Still, unbeaten in the last four is not too bad. And only one defeat in eight for the Hornets as well.

It was a deserved victory for the home side at the Vitality stadium after Andy Carroll’s point-blank miss, Callum Wilson’s one-touch smacker (53’) and Joshua King’s tap in (90’+1’), great balls, superb finishes, sealed West Ham’s misery, sweet win and huge points for Eddie Howe, the Hammers falling down to 10th, whilst Bournemouth remain 12th.

What the hell?! Chelsea were below par in the Saturday evening kick-off, no discrediting Arsenal, great result for them to get closer to breaking into the top four. The Gunners fired themselves ahead thanks to Alexandre Lacazette (14’) and on top before the break through captain Laurent Koscielny (39’). The three points keep the East London side in fifth, ahead of United in sixth on goal difference, three points behind the Blues in fourth. It was an extraordinary post-match rant by boss Maurizio Sarri after watching his side struggle and fail to record a single shot on target after the interval - surely, having a go at his team like that, the Italian won’t last much longer?! Reminds me of a certain jobless Portuguese...

Tottenham’s injury-time winner at Fulham, what was the on-loan keeper Sergio Rico thinking?! Taking a short free kick in the box in the dying seconds is asking for trouble, and handed Harry Winks the chance on a golden plate to make it 1-2 at Craven Cottage (90’+3’). Poor Claudio Ranieri, watching his side playing much better, but then still falling and failing to record a point, staying stuck in 19th, seven points from safety. Lucky Spurs. And Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t believe it himself, the win keeping Tottenham in third, five points behind City in second, four points ahead of Chelsea in fourth.

My Predictions - Actual Results 

Wolves 0:1 Leicester - 4:3

Bournemouth 1:2 West Ham - 2:0

Liverpool 3:1 Crystal Palace - 4:3

Man United 2:1 Brighton - 2:1

Newcastle 1:1 Cardiff - 3:0

Southampton 2:3 Everton - 2:1

Watford 3:2 Burnley - 0:0

Arsenal 1:2 Chelsea - 2:0

Huddersfield 0:4 Man City - 0:3

Fulham 1:1 Tottenham - 1:2

Click here for last week’s Premier League Picks.

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