Week 13: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

The most devastating news of the week was without a doubt Gary Speed's death by apparent suicide. My thoughts and condolences go to his family and friends. I saw Football Focus on BBC on Saturday where I watched him chatting about the game and reminiscing about his successful career. The more of a shock it was when the news came on Sunday. I just cannot shake off the thoughts of WHY?!?!?!
R.I.P. Gary Speed!

Top game: Liverpool's 1:1 home draw against Manchester City was a delight to watch. The visitors dominated the first half but were kept at bay by a very well organised homeside, the back line especially, as solid and reliable as ever. The second half was much more of a competition, Liverpool taking over the attack, hammering the City back line and goal with everything they had. Lucas Leiva and Luis Suarez were the stars of the show with intimidatingly sparkling displays. The draw was a fair result in the end, both top sides not deserving to lose.

Top team: Liverpool are unbeaten in ten matches since the 4-0 defeat away to Tottenham in September which sees them in the sixth spot of the league on 23 points, two behind Chelsea in fifth who have lost three out of their last five games and three behind Newcastle in fourth. Manchester City kept their unbeaten season record intact with their second draw added to their eleven wins taking them to 35 points which keeps them at the top of the league still five points ahead of their United rivals. You have to go back 15 Premier League games to find the last time City failed to score at least twice. Looking at those records and the table, December promises to be a mouthwatering month with some decisive fixtures and some surprises guaranteed, I am sure.

Top player: Joe Hart kept the goal saving his team's grace and ensuring them a point. His display with many breathtaking and exemplary saves serves very well as an ideal model for every goalkeeper to follow and be led by. Andy Carroll and Suarez were kept wondering what the hell they had to do to get a goal. In this case, Hart wouldn't even have let the ball be beamed through! Pepe Reina had a good game too proving his experience and status in the team but was not challenged anywhere near as much. Petr Cech and Tim Krul made some beautiful and crucial saves too for Chelsea and Newcastle respectively - it seemed to have been a goalkeepers' weekend!

Top goal: City's opener against Liverpool was a set-piece like out of the book. David Silva's inswinging corner was met decisively by Vincent Kompany. It looked like a fine header at first but on the second viewing the came off his shoulder and beat Reina. Javier Hernandez was in the right place at the right time too when he netted Wayne Rooney's volley which had ricocheted off Steven Taylor - although I have to say it looked very close to being offside. Both were not exactly breathtaking goals, but just nice goal exactly how they should be done!

Top news: A lot of cup action on and off the pitch this week: Carling Cup quarter finals and the semi finals draw; Europa League football with the group stage slowly but surely reaching its final stages; and last but not least the Euro 2012 group draw.

Flop game: Swansea's goalless draw against Aston Villa was hard enough to watch, I cannot and don't want to try to imagine how difficult and distressing it must have been for the players to get a game together after receiving the news of Gary Speed's apparent suicide. The images, tears and emotions of his close firend Shay Given marked the game and day. I would not have blamed them if they would have called the game(s) off on the day. It just puts everything into prespective and shows that football isn't everything.

Flop team: Chelsea did find back to their winning ways with their 3-0 home win against Wolves but I feel they should not try to fool themselves that everything is back to perfect. Wolves are fourth from bottom, hovering over the relegation zone and made the win nearly too easy for Chelsea. The Blues face Liverpool in the Carling Cup quarter final next and then have a trip to Newcastle to look forward to in the Permier League on Saturday. Those displays and results will show how much Andre Villas-Boas has learnt and changed from their defeats.

Flop player: Mario Balotelli proved himself as the ticking timebomb he is. It took him 17 whole minutes after coming on as a substitute to see two yellow cards and get the marching order after his elbow met Martin Skrtel in the air. Roberto Mancini was not happy with the decision but Kenny Dalglish correctly suggested for the Italian striker to 'look into the mirror' to find who was responsible. Too many times has his attitude cost him and his side and Mancini certainly showed his discontent to the player when he left the pitch so cannot deny his player's contribution to his own downfall.

Flop goal: The penalty decisions of this weekend have baffled me. How was Aaron Lennon's dive a penalty for Tottenham against West Brom when there was no contact made by Nicky Shorey? How was Rio Ferdinand's clean tackle on Ben Arfa a penalty when he obviously got the ball? And I think Victor Moses went down a bit too easily on Sebastian Larsson's tackle too to win a penalty for his Wigan side against Sunderland. Too many times do the referee's fall for the theatrical drama performances of the players and don't look at the physical facts and then they scare away from making the right decisions when it matters most! It makes me sick!

Flop news: Steve Bruce has become the first manager of the season to be axed, Sunderland are now eyeing up Martin O'Neill as his successor. I think it was a rather harsh move by the club, I can think of plenty of other managers that are (or I thought they were) walking on much thinner ice (Villas-Boas at Chelsea, Steve Kean at Blackburn, Roberto Martinez at Wigan, ...).

My predictions - Actual Results

Stoke 3:2 Blackburn - 3:1

Bolton 1:2 Everton - 0:2

Chelsea 0:0 Wolves - 3:0

Man Utd 2:2 Newcastle - 1:1

Norwich 3:1 QPR - 2:1

Sunderland 3:1 Wigan - 1:2

West Brom 0:2 Tottenham - 1:3

Arsenal 2:1 Fulham - 1:1

Swansea 2:0 Aston Villa - 0:0

Liverpool 2:2 Man City - 1:1

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

Premier League Tops and Flops

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Top game: The top two's clash was the biggest focus of the day, especially as the result went against the run of play and once again a referee was put under scrutiny and questioned by an unhappy Alex Ferguson. He had a point, but his team ended up with niente, that is the way life goes sometimes.

Top team: Arsenal are the one to watch at the moment. Both Chelsea and Manchester United have shown their lacks and weaknesses but the Gunners have been thrashing left, right and centre. I am just curious how they will play against one of the top two - having lost against Manchester United and City early-on in the season but grown from strength to strength since then. I cannot wait for their clash against their London rivals Chelsea end of this month.

Top player: Shay Given once again saved his side from defeat. He let three through but kept so many out, City could have ended up thrashed. They can call themselves lucky they have drawn their last five Premier League matches, because without their keeper most of those draws would have ended up in defeats.

Top goal: A super substitution by under-fire Hull City manager Phil Brown turned the game around for the home side and eased the pressure on him, for the international break at least. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored the crucial winner with just a couple of minutes to go, the fans were understandably relieved. Cameron Jerome's screamer against Liverpool wins my vote, breathtaking. Birmingham were unlucky not to have left Anfield with all three points after that diamond of a goal.

Top manager: Sam Allardyce rang two changes with his side trailing 1-0 at half time against Portsmouth and what a difference they made: Jason Roberts and Benni McCarthy replaced Morten Gamst Pedersen and El-Hadji Diouf, the prior scored two, the latter being the provider for the last. It could hardly have gone better for the Blackburn manager.

Flop game: Wigan recorded the lowest home attendance anywhere in the league this season, not good. The top-two clash was definitely not under the top-two matches this weekend, looking at the lack of chances, action, etc., it was definitely not the most entertaining for the neutral eye.

Flop team: Chelsea disappointed. Most predicted a thrash, but Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba wasted the few chances they had. They got lucky to get away with a win. Liverpool tried and tried their best, chance after chance, but were lucky to get a penalty and away with a point. Birmingham held them well. Liverpool will have to dig deep if they want to get out of the hole they have fallen into - with just four points out of the last five games.

Flop player: Dirk Kuyt disappointed for Liverpool. He wasted a lot of chances by not being aware of what and whom is around him. Liverpool had a lot of chances, which they saw going to waste. A lot of fans are ringing for change - but I just question where it will come from and who it could be, because I cannot think of anyone who could work wonders on this side under the turmoil-cirumstances on and off the pitch.

Flop goal: Should Chelsea's goal have stood? Darren Fletcher got the ball but did aggressively push into Ashley Cole, free kicks have been given before for similar tackles. Same goes for the offside appeal against Drogba - he got no touch and had thereby no direct influence in the run of play, it would have gone in one way or the other. It was harsh against Manchester United who were the better and dominant side, but how many times have United seen such decisions fall their way - it is tough luck sometimes.

Flop manager: Rafael Benitez left the changes very late once again against Birmingham. He was forced to bring on not top-fit Steven Gerrard earlier than planned due to injury to Albert Riera. But the run of the matches and results of late just show he has to change something about his tactics, if it is not too late already.

My Predictions - Actual Results

Aston Villa 2:0 Bolton - 5:1

Blackburn 3:1 Portsmouth - 3:1

Man City 4:0 Burnley - 3:3

Tottenham 2:0 Sunderland - 2:0

Wolves 0:3 Arsenal - 1:4

Chelsea 1:2 Man Utd - 1:0

Hull City 0:1 Stoke - 2:1

West Ham 2:2 Everton - 1:2

Wigan 0:0 Fulham - 1:1

Liverpool 2:1 Birmingham - 2:2

Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Top game: The obvious picks would be Liverpool's sorry defeat against Fulham, Arsenal's thrashing of Tottenham and Chelsea's show time win at the Reebok Stadium - but Portsmouth's crucial and convincing 4-0 win against an eratic Wigan will have a massive and the biggest impact on a side that has been cursed and given up on by most.

Top team: Birmingham were brilliant allround, in attack and defence, so too Fulham. And have Portsmouth risen from the dead with their win, or was it just a one-off? I hope not, it was great to watch.

Top player: Aruna Dindane's hat-trick and Shay Given's saves made both of them the most crucial players for their sides - the prior giving Portsmouth the win and three much-needed points; the latter making save after save, sparing Manchester City from defeat and saving a point for them.

Top goal: Nicolas Anelka, Deco and Didier Drogba co-starred in Chelsea's fourth goal. They made it look like a show time choreography, well rehearsed and put on stage, showing up Bolton how deluded they were of their hopes and chances against the show makers.

Flop game: Everton against Aston Villa was the dullest of all games, but still had two goals and two red cards in it. That indicates a lot to how highly-pitched the Premier League is.

Flop team: It was a day, week and month to forget for Liverpool - the confident win against Manchester United has been the only exception, but seemed far far away, on a different planet with this display. Tottenham were just as disappointing when you expected the upmost against their local rivals.

Flop player: Drogba was once again the drama queen of the game. A top quality, world-class player like him should not be in need of such poor and childish actions to take advantage of the opposition. It is just sad to watch divers and whiners and it is even sadder he is not the only one and that they all represent their team, the league, the sport. They should be more aware of the responsibility.

Flop goal: Why was Nikola Kalinic's goal not given for Blackburn?! It was nowhere near offside as replays showed! It would have been his first goal for the side, not that it would have made much of a difference to the result as Manchester United rode the show and deserved the win.

Flop referees: The weekend saw a record of nine red cards! There were a lot of iffy decisions amongst them, the referees did everything else but hold back, giving the impression they had it in for the whole Premier League lot!

My Predictions - Actual Results

Arsenal 4:3 Tottenham - 3:0

Bolton 2:2 Chelsea - 0:4

Burnley 2:1 Hull City - 2:0

Everton 2:1 Aston Villa - 1:1

Fulham 0:2 Liverpool - 3:1

Man Utd 4:1 Blackburn - 2:0

Portsmouth 2:1 Wigan - 4:0

Stoke 2:1 Wolves - 2:2

Sunderland 4:2 West Ham - 2:2

Birmingham 1:1 Man City - 0:0

West Ham 2:1 Aston Villa - 2:1