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.