Premier League Notes - Week 9

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 9

The ninth week of the 2019-2020 Premier League season saw:

18 goals - most by Villa, City, Everton and Leicester = 2 each

240 shots - most by Aston Villa = 24

78 on target - most by Everton and Man City = 10 each 

111 corners - most by Arsenal = 12

211 fouls - most by Brighton and Saints = 17 each

40 bookings - most by Spurs, Blades and Gunners = 4 each

1 red card - Mooy for Brighton 

1 penalty - 1 scored (Jiménez for Wolves)

#EVEWHU

The Toffees’ much-needed win after four consecutive league defeats lifted some pressure off under-fire manager Marco Silva. And it would have been a much worse thrashing than 2-0 if it weren’t for Spanish stopper Roberto and some top saves and a bit of help from the woodwork. Their third victory of the season lifted the Portuguese’s side out of the relegation zone and up to 15th. The disappointing Hammers suffered their first defeat on the road of the season, seeing them slip down three places to 11th.

#AVLBHA

The Villans ended a run of 50 winless Premier League games after trailing, Matt Targett with the last-minute winner in injury time (90+4’) making it 2:1 against ten-man Seagulls. Aaron Mooy’s sending off after two daft yellow cards in the space of five minutes turned the game around (35’), the visitors were ahead and dominant at that stage. The hosts didn’t have it easy and had a goal harshly disallowed thanks to VAR as well, but never gave up, kept going and got there and punished their opponents for their late lapse. The game saw 44 shots, the most in the PL since Manchester United v Burnley in October 2016!

#BOUNOR

A hard-earned and deserved clean sheet and away point for the hard-working Canaries despite injuries at the back, both a first for them on the road this season, keeping them 19th, one point from safety. A disappointment and two dropped points for the misfiring Cherries, but they stay in the top half despite the lackluster performance. 

#CHENEW

The Magpies frustrated the hell out of the Blues, until former Sunderland loanee Marcos Alonso broke the deadlock (73’) and bagged the three points and fifth successive win in all competitions to Frank Lampard’s relief, taking his side into the top four, whilst Steve Bruce’s men fall back into the relegation zone.

#LEIBUR

Another harsh and controversial VAR moment as the Clarets’ late leveller was disallowed as Chris Wood was deemed to have tripped Jonny Evans beforehand (82’). The Foxes got their comeback win after Jamie Vardy (45’) and Youri Tielemans (74’) had overturned Wood’s opener (26’), the three points taking them up to third and marking the anniversary of former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s death at the King Power Stadium.

#TOTWAT

More VAR farce, as Dele Alli’s late leveller (86’), which came off his shoulder before he took the shot, was awarded, although the big screen showed “no goal”. After all that confusion, the goal stood for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, the game ended a goal and point each. The home side avoided their fifth defeat in six games, whilst the bottom side are harshly left waiting for their first league win of the season. 

#WOLSOU

Raúl Jiménez had the ball in the net THREE TIMES for the dominant visitors, but only the spot kick counted (61’ pen), cancelling out Danny Ings’ opener (53’), after the other two were disallowed for handball and offside before the break. It’s the Saints’ first league point in five weeks, when they drew against the Red Devils (week 4), leaving them hovering above the relegation zone in 17th, level on points with Newcastle in 18th, just two goals better off.  

#CRYMCI

The first half an hour was competitive, and after City’s surprise results of last week (week 8) and last season (week 18), an interesting encounter was expected. But two goals in 93 seconds changed that very quickly. Gabriel Jesus (39’) and David Silva (41’) put the Citizens in control at Selhurst Park. It ended up a comfortable win for Pep Guardiola’s side, taking them back up to second, five points behind league leaders Liverpool before their match against arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday.

#MUNLIV

VAR was in the limelight again after Marcus Rashford’s opener stood (36’) despite replays showing Victor Lindelöf’s foul on Divock Origi in the buildup. But Sadio Mané’s equaliser was disallowed for handball (44’) although not much contact showed on the screen. Sub Adam Lallana saved a point and the unbeaten run for the Reds with his first league goal in over two years (85’). Jürgen Klopp’s men only showed up and really pushed for the last 20 minutes, not enough to bag all points at Old Trafford, giving the Red Devils way too much space. Frustrating, but hey, it could be worse, the Reds are still top, six points clear of the Citizens, whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men drop down to 14th, only two points away from the relegation zone, 15 points behind their arch rivals. Five of the past seven Premier League meetings between the two have ended level (one win each) - just four of the previous 36 between the sides had been drawn. How times have changed...

#SHUARS

It was a miserable Monday night for the Gunners. The Blades showed what they are made of, taking the lead thanks to Lys Mousset (30’) and closing the game and denying the visitors a way back in, to earn and fully deserve a superb three points. The result takes Chris Wilder’s side up to ninth, whilst Unai Emery’s men drop out of the top four into fifth, two points behind Chelsea. 

My Predictions - Actual Results

Everton 2:2 West Ham - 2:0

Aston Villa 2:0 Brighton - 2:1

Bournemouth 3:0 Norwich - 0:0

Chelsea 3:1 Newcastle - 1:0

Leicester 2:1 Burnley - 2:1

Tottenham 4:0 Watford - 1:1

Wolves 2:1 Southampton - 1:1

Crystal Palace 2:1 Man City - 0:2

Man United 1:3 Liverpool - 1:1

Sheff United 1:2 Arsenal - 1:0

Click here for last week’s Premier League Notes.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 12

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 12

The 12th week of the Premier League action saw:

19 goals - most by Man City = 3

247 shots - most by Leicester = 22

83 on target - most by Huddersfield & Liverpool = 7 each

113 corners - most by Leicester = 12

222 fouls - most by Brighton = 21

30 bookings - most by Chelsea = 4

1 red card - Stephens for Brighton

1 penalty - 1 scored (Martial for United)

What a game! When Manchester City took the lead against United thanks to David Silva in the 12th minute, the Red Devils had attempted only 11 passes in that time and only five of those had been successful. The champions had made 104 with 92% accuracy in the same period. Worlds apart! Sergio Agüero doubled the home side’s lead with a smacker shortly after the restart (48’). Anthony Martial got the visitors’ hopes up for a comeback from the spot (58’) after Romelu Lukaku won a penalty seconds after coming on. But José Mourinho’s men were just outplayed. A massive 44 passes in the buildup formed an awesome move which sub İlkay Gündoğan netted from to make it 3-1 and three points to Pep Guardiola’s side. The result takes the champions to the top, past Liverpool, leading by two points and 13 goals! More to the Reds’ win in the early Super Sunday kick-off, which took them to the top temporarily, below. Chelsea meanwhile dropped two points in a scrappy goalless draw against Everton, squeezed in-between the other top two’s wins on Sunday.

What a team! Newcastle are on a roll after recording consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since April, beating Bournemouth 2-1 at St James' Park thanks to Salomón Rondón’s brace (7’, 40’), Jefferson Lerma with the only reply (45’+6’). It's only the second time this season the Magpies have scored more than one goal in a league match and the three points give Rafa Benítez's men a massive boost, taking them up to 14th, one point clear of the drop zone. Meanwhile the other strugglers Huddersfield fought out a goal and point each against West Ham, putting and keeping the sides into 18th and 13th respectively, Alex Pritchard being the first Terrier to score at home in 726 minutes of action! The relegation battle is on with just four points separating the bottom seven!

Arsenal were oh so lucky to stretch their unbeaten run to 16 matches in all competitions thanks to sub Henrikh Mkhitaryan who found a late leveller (86’) against Wolves to deny Nuno Espírito Santo's side a famous win at the Emirates after Ivan Cavaleiro’s close-range finish had given the visitors a shock lead.

What a man! Leicester remembered their owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabhain before their first home game since the helicopter crash. The goalless draw against Burnley followed after a two-minutes silence at the King Power stadium. Maybe the Foxes deserved more after all their chances and dominance, but for once it mattered less. It is understandable Fulham left their managerial change till the international break. The news broke on Wednesday, former LCFC boss Claudio Ranieri replacing Slaviša Jokanović with the Cottagers rock-bottom in the league table. It was an interesting read and quite a surprise about the PL and dismissals, this is the first sacking of the season,  much in contrast to the last few campaigns where there had already been up to five or six p45s handed out at this stage already!

Defender Juan Foyth turned from the zero last week, conceding two penalties, to the hero this week, scoring the one and only and winning goal for Tottenham (66’) at Crystal Palace on Saturday evening. A career first.

What a goal! Sol Bamba’s last-minute ping-pong winner for Cardiff against 10-man Brighton is massive! Their second win of the season pulled the Welsh side out of the relegation zone in Neil Warnock’s 100th game in charge. More to that goal below...

Southampton were not happy to see Charlie Austin’s goal disallowed (66’)- incorrectly! José Holebas’ late equaliser (82’) rescued a point for Watford, levelling after Manolo Gabbiadini had given the home side the lead from close range (20’). More to the officials’ incompetence below.

There were just 14 seconds between Aleksandar Mitrović’s disallowed header for Fulham and Mohamed Salah’s opener on the counter for Liverpool (41’), the Egyptian’s sixth league goal of the season. Another questionable decision by the officials... Xherdan Shaqiri doubled the Reds' lead with a lovely individual finish from inside the box not long after the break (53’). Jürgen Klopp’s men dominated and had chance after chance but still couldn’t fully capitalise, the final click and boom still missing with some sloppy takes/misses and clumsy connections. But it was still enough to sink the London club to their sixth consecutive league defeat and to the rock bottom of the Premier League. No real surprise about the managerial change mentioned above.

What the hell?! Brighton’s Dale Stephens' sending off at Cardiff was harsh, but his tackle on Greg Cunningham was reckless and dangerous, yes, so, red was correct. If only the officials could be more consistent and make correct decisions like that more often! Oh, and talking about decisions, Bamba did look offside in the buildup to the match-winning goal for the Welsh side, and took his shirt off celebrating without any further consequences... Lucky bugger! Like I said last week, and lots of other weeks, EVERY GOAL IS OH SO CRUCIAL. And consistency is oh so missed! Poor refs, ey?! Austin’s extraordinary post-match outburst at St Mary’s reflects and summarises my feelings about that topic = refs and VAR very well!

AND THE NEWS BROKE TODAY: IT WILL FINALLY BE INTRODUCED HALLELUJAH!!! WE WILL HAVE VAR IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE FROM NEXT SEASON!!! 🎉👊⚽️👊🎉

My Predictions - Actual Results

Cardiff 0:0 Brighton - 2:1

Huddersfield 0:1 West Ham - 1:1

Leicester 2:1 Burnley - 0:0

Newcastle 1:3 Bournemouth - 2:1

Southampton 0:0 Watford - 1:1

Crystal Palace 0:2 Tottenham - 0:1

Liverpool 4:0 Fulham - 2:0

Chelsea 2:2 Everton - 0:0

Arsenal 2:0 Wolves - 1:1

Man City 3:1 Man United - 3:1

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 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 Weeks 9&10

Sports - Football - Premier League - Weeks 9&10

It's been a while since my last football blog and I need to catch up, with my 500th blog as I just spotted. A lot has been going on and happening over the last few weeks, at home and at work, and in the footballing world. These last two weekends have put everything into perspective, for me personally and professionally, and all football fans. Honestly, without football and sports in general, I would not be here, where and who I am!!! Thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved and if you don't have a clue what has been going on, here's a quick recap/summary of the last couple of weeks, Premier League Weeks 9 &10:

PL W9 & W10

26 & 26 goals - most by Man City = 5 & Liverpool & Chelsea = 4 each

260 & 261 shots - most by Newcastle = 27 & Wolves = 26

71 & 86 on target - most by Man City = 10 & Man United = 10

116 & 91 corners - most by Man City, Newcastle, West Ham & Everton = 10 each & Wolves = 10

247 & 216 fouls - most by Wolves = 23 & Leicester = 17

38 & 28 yellow cards - most by Man United = 5 & Burnley = 4

0 & 2 red cards - McDonald for Fulham & Noble for West Ham
0 & 5 penalties - 0 & 4 scored (Wilson for Bournemouth, Milivojević x2 for Crystal Palace, Sigurdsson for Everton)

What a game! (W9) Chelsea's late leveler against Manchester United led to plenty of bust ups and drama, more to that below. Cardiff's first league win of the season was a belter, 4-2 against Fulham, lifting the Welsh side off the bottom and out of the drop zone, whilst the London side slid into the relegation places having conceded 12 goals in their last three games.

(W10) Luka Milivojević scored twice from the spot to earn Crystal Palace a point in a dramatic draw against Arsenal at Selhurst Park, ending the Gunners' 11-game winning run. The Red Devils edged past Everton, boss José Mourinho unusually quiet, sitting most of the match, away from the sideline, keeping himself out of the limelight much in contrast to last week. More to that below.

What a team! (W9) Newcastle's struggle continued after losing at home against Brighton despite having 27 shots on goal, with six of them on target, even out-shooting the league leaders! (It says a lot when manager Rafael Benítez was happy with just a point at Southampton the week after, see W10 results below!) Liverpool kept going and winning thanks to Mohamed Salah's 50th goal in English football, the Reds not impressive but narrowly victorious at Huddersfield.

(W10) Fulham fell to their fourth consecutive defeat with 15 goals conceded, slammed 0-3 at home by Bournemouth with Kevin McDonald sent off for a second bookable offence to add to the Cottagers misery. Defense was just non-existent, falling, crumbling, failing at every turn, take and try for the only side to have conceded in every game this season. No discrediting Eddie Howe's men who stay sixth and have closed the gap above them just to one point.

What a man! (W9) Joe Hart made his first return to the Etihad after ending his 12-year stay at the club in the summer, bagging five goals against his former side. Manchester City outplayed and -scored Burnley convincingly and spectacularly, 24-5 shots, 10-0 on target! Much in contrast to that, Tottenham had their stopper Hugo Lloris to thank for their win after the France keeper made some outstanding saves in their 0-1 win at West Ham. And last but definitely not least, Mesut Özil was the star man for Arsenal in their 10th successive win in all competitions, starting the Gunners' comeback from behind to beat Leicester 3-1 at the Emirates.

(W10) Glenn Murray won the game for Brighton 1-0 against Wolves with his 100th goal for the club after being a doubt for the game with the concussion he suffered last weekend (W9). It was the only shot on target for the home side, the visitors left empty after throwing everything at them! Ross Barkley scored one and set up two as Chelsea thrashed Burnley 0-4 on Sunday. The win made Maurizio Sarri the first Blues boss unbeaten in the first ten Premier League matches in charge of the club. No Hazard? No problem.

What a goal! (W9) Barkley's 96th minute equaliser mentioned above, that grabbed a point for Chelsea against United and rescued the Blues' unbeaten record, was the latest the Red Devils have conceded a goal in the league since October 2009. André Schürrle's spectacular effort for Fulham was for nothing in the end, his side's defense leaking too much and many at Cardiff, as mentioned above. And Watford ended their five-match winless run with two goals in 58 seconds at Wolves. It was a rocket of a shot by Étienne Capoue (20') and a nice slick finish by Roberto Pereyra (21') that ended the hosts' six-game unbeaten run.

(W10) Liverpool conceded at home for the first time in yonks (918 PL minutes to be exact), Callum Paterson denying the Reds a tenth consecutive Premier League clean sheet at Anfield. But the Reds still smashed Cardiff in the end, thanks to Salah (10'), Sadio Mané's brace (66', 87') and sub Xherdan Shaqiri (84') who made a big difference after coming on. And the Hornets secured their best start to the top-flight season thanks to two fantastic individual goals by Pereyra again (10') and Gerard Deulofeu (19') sealing their 3-0 win against miserable Huddersfield. Great running, playing and finishing, something David Wagner's side is missing very dearly and desperately, failing and falling to the bottom of the table.

What the hell?! (W9) I do not know what game Mourinho was watching talking about an unfair result at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea scored a late leveller against United, as mentioned above. It all boiled over with the bust up between the Portuguese and a Blues assistant coach, so I was very surprised to see José say it was all sorted and not making a meal of it after the match. Credit to Sarri, he dealt with the situation very professionally, apologising and sorting it straight away, his counter part could and should learn a lot from the Italian!

(W10) The pitch at Wembley on Monday night was ridiculous, making the game very difficult to play and watch. So many mess ups and misses though, fitting to Tottenham's new stadium plan... Spurs struggling, City just about winning it 0-1 thanks to Riyad Mahrez - who put his hands up to the sky in memory of his former team's owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha who passed away with four others when his helicopter crashed after the Foxes' match on Saturday. Wilfred Ndidi's late equaliser grabbed a point for Leicester against West Ham (89'), but what followed after the match was just devastating... I was and still am lost for words... We all loved that season where the underdogs, black horses, new guys became the champions. Thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. #RIP XxXxX #YNWA

And it's great to hear Tottenham and England legend Glenn Hoddle is doing better after being taken ill on Saturday, suffering a heart attack. At least some good news in all the goosebumps of the weekend. #WalkOn #WithHope #InYourHeart 

My Predictions - Actual Results:
Week 9:
Chelsea 2:1 Man United - 2:2

Bournemouth 2:0 Southampton - 0:0

Cardiff 2:2 Fulham - 4:2

Man City 2:0 Burnley - 5:0

Newcastle 1:0 Brighton - 0:1

West Ham 1:2 Tottenham - 0:1

Wolves 2:1 Watford - 0:2

Huddersfield 0:3 Liverpool - 0:1

Everton 1:2 Crystal Palace - 2:0

Arsenal 2:1 Leicester - 3:1
Week 10:

Brighton 1:1 Wolves - 1:0

Fulham 1:3 Bournemouth - 0:3

Liverpool 3:1 Cardiff - 4:1

Southampton 2:0 Newcastle - 0:0

Watford 2:1 Huddersfield - 3:0

Leicester 1:1 West Ham - 1:1

Burnley 1:2 Chelsea - 0:4

Crystal Palace 0:2 Arsenal - 2:2

Man United 2:1 Everton - 2:1

Tottenham 0:0 Man City - 0:1

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks Of The Week.

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