Premier League Picks Of The Week 14

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 14

The 14th week of the Premier League action saw:

32 goals - most by Arsenal = 5
237 shots - most by Man City = 26
91 on target - most by Man City = 12
113 corners - most by Chelsea = 15
207 fouls - most by Everton = 16
22 yellow cards - most by Liverpool = 5
0 red cards
3 penalties - 1 scored (Troy Deeney for Watford, Wayne Rooney for Everton denied by Joe Hart, Manuel Lanzini for West Ham denied by Jordan Pickford)

What a game! Leicester condemned Tottenham to their fourth defeat of the season already. Jamie Vardy's cheeky opener, his 100th league goal, and Riyad Mahrez's curling beauty from the edge of the box were enough for the home side to grab the three points. Harry Kane pulled one back, too little too late though. It's the first time since 2001/02 the Foxes beat Spurs at home, their final game at Filbert Street.
What a comeback it was by Newcastle at the Hawthorns from two goals down, set pieces costing managerless West Brom two goals and two points, seeing them miss the chance of a first league win since August thanks to Ciaran Clark pulling one back and Jonny Evans' late own goal. No such comeback by Watford... José Mourinho's men led 3-0 thanks to Ashley Young's double and Anthony Martial's cool finish, until the 77th minute, when the Hornets hit two back in quick succession, Troy Deeney from the spot and Abdoulaye Doucouré from close range. But too many too good too strong goals, especially Jesse Lingard's stunning fourth, and display by Manchester United meant it ended 2-4 at Vicarage Road keeping the Red Devils in the race, ish, 8 points behind the Citizens. More to them below...

What a team! Arsenal downed Huddersfield, dancing all over and through the visitors again and again, scoring three goals in 3:58 second-half minutes, bringing the total thrash to 5-0 at full time at the Emirates. Olivier Giroud's double and Mesut Özil scoring one and providing two were just a couple of their shining stars. The win and rivals Spurs' defeat takes the Gunners up to fourth, one point behind Chelsea in third, Arsène Wenger doing his best and very well at the moment to keep a big smile against his doubters and local rivals.
And Manchester City just look unbeatable, more to their win below, equalling the top flight record for points after 14 games = 40 points, level with Spurs of 1960-61 (with 3 points for a win), EIGHT POINTS ahead of rivals Manchester United in second, as mentioned above. It will take more than a miracle/disaster to see anyone knock them off the top!

What a man! Wayne Rooney’s hat-trick came 2,272 days after his last (10th September 2011) – the longest gap between two hat-tricks by a player in Premier League history. The Evertonian bossed the show against his former boss David Moyes netting a hat-trick despite getting denied from the spot, penny for either man's thoughts... The third one was a one-touch smacker from the halfway line beating Joe Hart off his line after an attempted clearance. Wow! Ashley Williams made it 4-0 to complete the first perfect match David Unsworth hasn't conceded two or more goals, taking the Toffees up to 13th. Sam Allardyce will be more than happy to take over from here after watching that from the stands at Goodison Park. Moyes' record against his former side looks more than miserable: Played 5, lost 5, scored 0, conceded 12.
Mohamed Salah came off the bench to net two adding to Sadio Mané's opener and make it 0-3 for Liverpool at Stoke and 17 goals for him so far this season. Double wow. The win took the Reds up to 5th. More to that match below...

What a goal! There were so many crackers, as already listed and described above! Burnley impressed once again producing beauty after beauty, a tap in by Chris Wood after lovely team play and slasher into the right corner by Robbie Brady, to overtake Tottenham and go 6th in the table!!! Joshua King did pull one back for Bournemouth, but Sean Dyche's men held on 1-2 at the King Power Stadium making Eddie Howe the 25th different manager to lose a Premier League game on his birthday.
Southampton's leveller at the Etihad was boom bang whack off a corner, Sofiane Boufal from the left to Oriol Romeu, that's how it's done, 1-1 at league leaders City. But Raheem Sterling topped that in the 95:03 minute of five minutes added on, right-footed curler from the edge of the box to make it 2-1 and three points for the Citizens. That means the former Liverpool man has scored a match winner in the 84th minute or later for the third time in a row for Pep Guardiola's men. Triple wow! It's Pep Time.

What the hell?! Just a booking was a lucky escape for Simon Mignolet after his late tackle on last man Mame Biram Diouf who was ahead of Joe Gomez which made it an open goal scoring opportunity. But was he last? Jürgen Klopp didn't think so... I'm sure the crazy German would have gone mental if it would have happened on the other side! It's all going against Stoke City at the moment, Mark Hughes feeling hard done-by, harsh decisions and scorelines, the defeat dragging the Potters down to 16th, 3 points away from the drop zone.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte apologised to referee Neil Swarbrick after being sent to the stands for protesting to the officials who denied his side a corner. Ridiculous. It wasn't a major decision, like a goal or penalty or sending off (like Mignolet's), just a corner! His side dominated, 10-0 shots on target, and ended up beating Swansea, just about, 1-0 thanks to defender Antonio Rüdiger's header. Not a game to brag or rant about really...

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

Click here for last weekend'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 6

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 6

The 6th week of the Premier League action saw:

29 goals - most by Man City = 5
232 shots - most by Man City = 25
82 on target - most by Man City = 9
91 corners - most for Southampton = 9
209 fouls - most by Tottenham = 20
46 yellow cards - most for West Ham, Man United & West Brom = 4 each
1 red card - Serge Aurier for Tottenham
2 penalties - 1 scored (Jamie Vardy denied by Simon Mignolet, Alexandre Lacazette netted for Arsenal)

What a match! It was goals and action galore in the opening match of the weekend! After all the hard work by West Ham to keep Tottenham at bay, the visitors took over at the London Stadium. And it had to be, Dele Alli from the right, headed in by Harry Kane to break the deadlock. Not even a couple of minutes later, the star striker doubled the score, netting the rebound of Joe Hart's save against Alli, his 11th goals in the last five away matches. Hard life for the Hammers, after a strong start, everything went downhill for Slaven Bilić's men when Michail Antonio had to come off injured and be replaced by Andy Carroll with just under half an hour gone. The home side's control fell to bits from then on, the substitute's stupid mistakes and giveaways costing them dearly. Christian Eriksen made it three after the break, Kane hit the woodwork twice before Javier Hernández pulled one back for the home side. It got more interesting after Serge Aurier saw red though, booked a second time for his silly and clumsy challenges, Spurs' first sending off in 84 league games. Cheikhou Kouyaté made it 2-3 with three minutes plus stoppage time to go, setting up a nail-biting finish, including chances, bust-ups, pure drama! But it ended with Spurs on top! A full-on derby that has seen 21 goals in the last 6 meetings! Wow! ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a team! Everton were in bits! There was nothing and no one giving them anything, not even straws to clutch on! Joshua King got a free run and nice free hit to give Bournemouth the lead at Goodison Park. It was over a decade since the Toffees lost four consecutive league matches without scoring (last miserable run like that was August to October 2005). I couldn't see Ronald Koeman survive much longer! So much money! So many players! So little goals, results and points! But Oumar Niasse's late double turned the game on it's head and put all those pressures on hold. For now. What a let-off! What a turnaround! Talk about super-sub! The saviour for both club and boss?!?!?! More to their luck (or lack of) below... 💩👊🏻🙈👎🏻💩
Watford also left it late late late, Richarlison striking in the 90th minute to counter Swansea's fightback and beat them 1-2 at the Liberty Stadium. Both goals by the visitors were defensive howlers, giveaways, backing the impressive, stubborn, consistent form by Marco Silva's men. First for both: The Swans losing the opening three home matches, the Hornets winning the first three away games. Boo(m)! 👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻

What a man! It took Romelu Lukaku  not even 20 minutes to smash in a rebound from close range to give Manchester United the lead at Southampton, making it six goals in the six opening league games for the Red Devil, equalling Louis Saha's record. The Belgian striker became the first to score for three different teams at St Mary's. José Mourinho's men were under pressure, the Saints on top for most of the second period, but made it through the storm, holding on to the three points to continue their top run. 16 points from the opening six games is United's best start to the Premier League since 2011-2. Chelsea downed Stoke 0-4 at the Bet365 Stadium, Alvaro Morata with a hat-trick, his second and Chelsea's third was a lovely run and finish, making it six in six PL games for the Spaniard. In form. ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️
Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet went from zero to hero, conceding a goal and then a spot kick against Jamie Vardy within a couple of minutes, before denying the Leicester striker an equaliser from the spot. The Belgian stopper has saved eight of the 15 PL penalties he has faced for LFC, more than any other keeper, securing the Reds their first win in nearly a month! 👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻

What a goal! Manchester City's opener against Crystal Palace shortly before the interval was a nicely worked goal. Leroy Sané's short free-kick found David Silva, who clipped it over the defence for Sané to stab it in at the near post. It changed the dynamic of the game, Raheem Sterling adding a couple to make it 3-0. Sergio Agüero with his 176th and Fabian Delph into the top corner sealed it with a fourth and fifth respectively. Th-r-ash. Pep Guardiola's side have become the first PL side to score five or more goals in three consecutive games! Wow! Cannot say anyone was surprised. It's been over 10 hours since Palace scored in the league (last one was on 14 May). In that time City have scored 29. The aggregate score of their last six meetings is 21-1, the last home defeat for the Sky Blues against the Eagles was in 1990. Worlds apart! ⚽️🙈⚽️🙈⚽️
Tomer Hemed's hooked finish gave Brighton their second Premier League win in the only Super Sunday game. A top-quality goal, followed by some brilliant defending by the Seagulls, putting everything and everybody on the line, denied Newcastle a comeback, leaving Rafa visibly frustrated. 👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻

What the hell?! Bournemouth were so lucky! Defender Simon Francis elbowed Wayne Rooney in the face, in the box, so, it should have been red and penalty. But the Everton man ended up red in the face, full of blood, fuming after being denied both by referee Martin Atkinson. Ridiculous. At least the Toffees finally got a win, that will have settled some Scouser nerves and tempers at least. Same for their Red neighbours after they finally banked three points at Leicester. But not without any hiccups, threats, flaps, fails and drama. The referee didn't make many Merseyside friends there either... Click here for my full match report. And how Jay Rodriguez didn't get a penalty for West Brom, but Aaron Ramsey did for Arsenal at the Emirates, only referee Robert Madley knows and can explain... Maybe... Hopefully... Consistency? None! The call settled Gunners' nerves as the Baggies were a constant threat to get something back, hitting the post and seeing Monreal clear off the line. The spot kick doubled the score and handed Arsène Wenger's men a much needed clearer lead and win, more than they deserved, Tony Pulis left fuming and wondering... 💩🙈😡🙈💩

My Predictions - Actual Results
West Ham 1:2 Tottenham - 2:3
Burnley 0:1 Huddersfield - 0:0
Everton 2:1 Bournemouth - 2:1
Man City 6:0 Crystal Palace - 5:0
Southampton 2:4 Man United - 0:1
Stoke City 1:2 Chelsea - 0:4
Swansea 0:1 Watford - 1:2
Leicester 2:1 Liverpool - 2:3 or my match report
Brighton 1:0 Newcastle - 1:0
Arsenal 3:0 West Brom - 2:0

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 1

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 1

In the first week of the Premier League action we saw:

31 goals - most by Arsenal & Man United = 4 each
257 shots - most by Southampton = 29!!!
80 on target - most by Arsenal = 10
126 corners - most by Palace = 12
217 fouls - most by Huddersfield & Man United = 19 each
33 yellow cards - most by Chelsea = 4
3 red cards - 2 for Chelsea (Cahill & Fábregas) & Shelvey for Newcastle
1 penalty - 1 scored (Roberto Firmino for Liverpool, see my match report for more details)

What a game! Wow! It certainly returned with a bang! Welcome back to the Premier League! Yeah! We saw 13 goals in the opening two games alone, Arsenal coming back 4-3 against Leicester and Liverpool dropping points 3-3 at Watford! But another game gets my vote: Champions Chelsea shattered down to nine men after two red cards and shocked 2-3 at home by Burnley on Saturday! MOTD was just cracking, goals and action galore! MOTD2 less so but hey, you can't have everything! ⚽👊😜👊⚽

What a team! Newly promoted Huddersfield had a dream start thrashing Crystal Palace 0-3 at Selhurst Park! It was a miserable first game for Frank de Boer, seeing Danish centre-back Mathias Jørgensen's header fly in off his own player Joel Ward before Steve Mounie's double condemned his side to an opening day defeat. David Wagner and his side were celebrated and very happy after their first success on their return to the top flight after an absence of 45 years. But the pundits were quickly distracted and already hailing and crowning the Red Devils as the champs-to-be after their 0-4 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday. It was United's 17th opening day win in the Premier League era, a record. The Hammers have suffered most defeats on the first day = 11. But hold your horses and calm down! It was only day one!

What a man! It was certainly the debutants' day! New Gunner Alexandre Lacazette and Blue striker Alvaro Morata, Red Mohamed Salah, and Red Devil Romelu Lukaku were all on the scoreboard, the last one twice. Super subs Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud made the difference for Arsenal on Friday night with two goals in two minutes, 83' and 85' respectively! And good old Wayne Rooney of course was back on the scoreboard for Everton after 13 years away. He had to! On the other hand, all the red cards = red faces! Shame on Gary Cahill and Cesc Fábregas for Chelsea and Jonjo Shelvey for Newcastle! Needless, unprofessional, you would have thought they know better and it's only day one!!!

What a goal! There were so many of them to choose from, I'll go for the earliest smacker = Lacazette's header after just 100 seconds for Arsenal. Sadio Mané's opener and leveller for Liverpool was a fantastic finish! And Jamie Vardy impressed with a confident and strong double. Eventhough they ended up losers at the Emirates, they resembled the classy, flashy, entertaining Foxes we so loved to watch in the season before last.

What the hell?! Do the officials remember and understand the offside rule?!?!?! Although teams seem to have forgotten how to defend set pieces, Arsenal and Liverpool especially! But come on! It's only day one and the referees are already doing their best/worst to drive everyone mad! Giving or denying or ignoring decisions that look clear to everyone else! See my match report for details... Argh!

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

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks blog.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 22

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 22

The 22nd week of the Premier League action saw:

261 shots - most by Manchester United = 25
30 goals - most by Swansea & West Ham = 3 each
214 fouls - most by Watford = 16
31 bookings - most by Stoke & Spurs = 4
1 red card - Xhaka for Arsenal
3 penalties - 3 scored (Tadic for Saints, Gray for Burnley & Sánchez for Arsenal)

Thoughts and love to the Hull City player Ryan Mason and his loved ones and all the best for his recovery. 🙏🏻

Bournemouth were 23rd in League Two at Obama inauguration in 2008! 😱

Pep loving his post-match interviewer once again... 🙈

What a game! Swansea shocked Liverpool with their first league win at Anfield. Jürgen Klopp's men looked all over the place in the first half, came back in the second half, but could not finish it off and the Welsh side capitalised on the Reds' weakness. Paul Clement looks like he is making the crucial difference in the relegation battle. Meanwhile, Arsenal left it very very late against Burnley to stay in the title race with a hint of a shout. Red cards, penalties, goals, no goals, offsides, not offsides, plenty of controversy once again! More to that below...

What a team! Dire stats left, right and centre: Leicester are the joint-worst defending champions with just 21 points from 22 games (equalling Ipswich's 1962-63 record). Victory remains scarce also for both Bournemouth (just 1 in 7) and Watford (winless in last 7 in the Premier League). Affected and downed most by their crumbling defence or as David Moyes branded conceding goals as a "disease", Liverpool are still looking for their first league win of the year (D2, L1), Middlesbrough remain winless in 5 and Sunderland are back to bottom after their fourth defeat in 5 league games. Meanwhile, Chelsea must be laughing at the top of the table with a seven-point cushion, after a less-than-impressive win but most importantly 3 points gained against Hull.

What a man! Wayne Rooney finally broke legend Sir Bobby Charlton's club record scoring his 250th goal for Manchester United. He bcame the Red Devil's top scorer with a 94th minute free-kick cracker, to make it 1-1 and grab a point at Stoke. It could have been worse for United. Fernando Llorente's double for Swansea downed Liverpool and Andy Carroll's double for West Ham meant two wins in a row for the Hammers with a man on fire. On the other end of the spectrum sits Arsenal's Granit Xhaka after his 5th dismissal in the league since the beginning of last season, more than any other player in Europe's top five divisions. What were you thinking?! 👊🏻💩🙈💩👎🏻

What a goal! Roberto Firmino's leveller for Liverpool was a nice one but all for nothing in the very frustrating end. There were plenty controversial decisions, penalties given, not given, offside given, not given, as mentioned above. Everton's winner should have been disallowed not for Jeff Schlupp's injury antiques, but for offside. Hull should have had a penalty and a free kick in the build up to Chelsea's goals...

What the hell?!?!?! ... And Pep wasn't happy either! The ex Barca boss went mad for a penalty not given for Kyle Walker's push on Raheem Sterling, just because his player didn't go down. Seconds later, Son Heung-min equalised to make it 2-2 after City had beaten Hugo Lloris twice to make it 2-0 thanks to the keeper's howlers. He is not the only one who is unhappy with the referee, Andre Marriner in this case. As listed and repeated above, Arsenal, Hull, Crystal Palace,.... The list goes on and on about decisions that should have gone the other way but the refs didn't or couldn't do anything. Everyone is just left wondering and cursing, replays show who/what/where/how/why - why can it still not be used?!?!?! Pathetic! Annoying! Costly! ⚽️💩🙈💩⚽️

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports.

Ibrahimovic saves point for United

Sports - Football - Premier League - MUFC 1:1 LFC

Zlatan Ibrahimovic extended United's unbeaten run to twelve league games (5D, 7W) as he levelled the score late on against bitter rivals Liverpool making it 1:1 and a point each at Old Trafford.

Jürgen Klopp and his men will see it more as two points dropped than one point won after showing great control and sternness.

They had taken the lead in the 27th minute thanks to James Milner's spot kick, given against an embarrassingly obvious handball by Paul Pogba, and the visitors controlled the game from then.

The £89m-striker was lucky to stay on the pitch after wrestling Jordan Henderson to the ground, his arm around the Red skipper's throat.

Keeper Simon Mignolet impressed with a strong display, denying Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the first half.

Red Devils' boss José Mourinho had seen enough and left the dugout for the break before time was added on.

Wayne Rooney came on after the interval, replacing Michael Carrick, looking to break Liverpool and the club record.

The Scouser did bring more confidence and threat to the Red Devils, but Klopp knew how to deal with that, bringing on Philippe Coutinho and more stability with it.

The German's face and voice said it all just seconds before the leveller, loud, angry, devilish...

Ibrahimovic equalised in the 84th minute off the rebound after Antonio Valencia powered it in off the post. Replays showed a United player was offside in the build-up.

It's the Swede's 14th goal in his first 20 Premier League matches, equalling Alan Shearer's and Sergio Agüero's records.

And it didn't finish there. Ander Herrera was cautioned in the dying minutes for pulling Roberto Firmino's shirt. Both managers clashed on the touchline as both felt the opponent should have a man sent off.

The Portuguese manager calmed his players down in the final minutes, Sir Alex Ferguson smiling in the stands.

Liverpool felt robbed. Klopp had to breath in and out before answering any post-match questions, clear signs of frustration.

The draw does mean Milner is still unbeaten in the 46 games where he has scored and Liverpool have recorded least defeats of all Premier League teams (two, same as Tottenham).

But every goal and point dropped will hurt as Chelsea are now seven points clear at the top with 17 games to go.

Liverpool Goal: Milner pen 26:37min.

Manchester United Goal: Ibrahimovic 83:09min.

Manchester United Team: 1 De Gea; 36 Darmian (27 Fellaini 76'), 5 Marcos Rojo, 4 Jones, 25 Valencia; 11 Martial (8 Mata 65'), 21 Ander Herrera (booked 90'), 16 Carrick (10 Rooney 46'); 9 Ibrahimovic, 22 Mkhitaryan, 6 Pogba. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 20 S Romero, 17 Blind, 12 Smalling & Rashford.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 7 Milner, 17 Klavan, 6 Lovren (booked 31'), 66 Alexander-Arnold; 5 Wijnaldum (booked 61'), 14 Henderson, 23 Can; 27 Origi (10 Coutinho 61'), 11 Firmino (booked 90'), 20 Lallana. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 11 Gomez, 18 Moreno, 34 Stewart, 53 Ejaria & 15 Sturridge.

HT & FT stats: MUFC-LFC
Possession: 52%-48% & 55%-45%
Attempts: 4-5 & 9-13
On target: 2-1 & 3-4
Corners: 3-5 & 5-7
Fouls: 9-8 & 17-13
Bookings: 0-1 & 1-3

Referee: Michael Oliver
Ground: Old Trafford
Attendance: 75,276

Pictures and stats taken from the BBC match report. 

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

Week 16: Premier League Tops & Flops:

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

It was a Super-Sunday-and-a-half! First one the list was the big title clash, the Manchester derby. The first half wasn't too riveting, Fergie's men were all over City after the home side did not take advantage of their early dominance and fell two goals behind thanks to their sketchy and leaky defence. But in the second half, Roberto Mancini's side made a comeback and looked like they would grab a point. However, Robin van Persie had a different idea and netted a free kick deep into injury time, a typical United winner, 2-3, in Fergie time.
The Sunday afternoon kick-offs did not lack any of the excitement either. Everton never gave up and made a great comeback of their own against Tottenham to beat them 2-1 at Goodison Park. And former West Ham players Glen Johnson and Joe Cole returned to Upton Park to haunt their former employers, scoring one each to make it 2-3 to Liverpool and add the Reds to the comeback list of this Sensational-Sunday!

OMG!

I couldn't believe it when I saw Rio Ferdinand hit by a coin, one in a rain of coins I may like to note! I thought those times of abuse and hooliganism were long gone! Fool me! I hope the FA will act promptly and accordingly, banning those idiots from football, for good! What do they think they are doing? It won't change their side or the scoreboard. If anything, it will only change the attendance, minus them hopefully!!!

TOP!

Liverpool were without any senior striker for their clash against West Ham. With Luis Suarez suspended thanks to his five bookings accumulated, it was questionable where the goals might come from for the Reds. Glen Johnson answered that question with a boom-and-a-half! The former Hammer created an unstoppable right-foot blockbuster smacker cracker to open the scoring and mute the home fans and any of his mockers and critics.
Former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was finally on the scoresheet and his compatriot interim manager Rafael Benitez will be more than happy and relieved by that and the first three points he has bagged for Roman Abramovich and Chelsea, who are now third, then points behind league leaders United.

FLOP!

The only disappointment of the weekend was Aston Villa's goalless home draw against Stoke. Both sides created nothing and cancelled each other out through fowls and more fowls. It was not nice to watch and no surprise when Stoke's Ryan Shotton saw red. It maybe was harsh on him as the second tackle did not look like much of a contact, but in this kind of game, it was more of a surprise not more players were cautioned or sent off, such was the physical and abusive style and action.

HERO!

RVP won the game and saved the day for the red side of Manchester, eventhough his free kick did take a big deflection off Samir Nasri. Wayne Rooney was in the right spot at the right time twice for United and made it look all to easy for the Red Devils. But Ashley Young should have been on the scoresheet aswell before half time after he was nowhere near offside when Antonio Valencia created a fine advance and cross from the right. But it all came well for United in the end, at the very end that is, thanks to RVP and the red side of Manchester now sits at the top of the table, six points ahead of their blue rivals.

ZERO!

Mario Balotelli was a waster and Joe Hart a sleeper at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. The feisty Italian misfired anything and everything that came his way before he was rightly taken off by Mancini and the England goalkeeper seemed unmoved for the first and half-asleep by the second United goal. It was cringing to watch. And to top it off, the third and winning goal for United was... Ok, it was a wicked deflection off Nasri, but still! It was on the side the goalkeeper should have and keep covered! But it just didn't seem his day! To avoid such mishaps from happening again, it seems Hart will need an extra cup of coffee or to take a Dextro energy tablet before the next game at Newcastle!

My Predictions => Actual Results
Arsenal 3-1 West Brom => 2-0
Aston Villa 1-1 Stoke => 0-0
Southampton 2-2 Reading => 1-0
Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea => 1-3
Swansea 2-1 Norwich => 3-4
Wigan 2-0 QPR => 2-2
Man City 1-0 Man United => 2-3
Everton 2-1 Tottenham => 2-1
West Ham 1-3 Liverpool => 2-3
Fulham 2-2 Newcastle => 2-1

Week 15: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW! & OMG!

Manchester United went behind for the 14th time in 22 games at the Madejski stadium in a thriller of a game or shall I rather say thriller of a first half! It was a smacking opening goal for Reading after Patrice Evra's giveaway. Anderson found the leveller, a let-down by keeper Adam Federici. Following a Wayne Rooney corner, Jonny Evans was inexplicably bundled over by Reading's number 16 Jay Tabb and a penalty was given. Rooney netted from the spot to turnaround the scoreline from 1-0 to 1-2 within three minutes!

It was once again a typical United turnaround and comeback. Reading made it four goals at 2-2 inside 19 minutes after Adam Le Fondre headed in a corner with all the space in the world, another defensive nightmare. And the total was five goals in 23 minutes after Sean Morrison headed one in to make it 3-2. Rooney, with time and space after some great pace and delivery by Ashley Young and Evra, completed an easy finish to make it all square again at 3-3 after half an hour. Rafael was taken off after being booked and tormented by Reading and Sir Alex brought on Chris Smalling to replace the young Brazilian on 31 minutes.

Robin van Persie walked the fourth goal in for United on 35. And the ball looked over the line on 40 after RVP smacked in the rebound off a fine save but the officials thought it was blocked by Shaun Cummings. However, replays showed the ball was over a yard over the line and the scoreline should have been 3-5! It was only the third time in Premier League history that there have been seven goals in the first half! United only had one substitution left shortly before the break after Anderson had to go off injured with Phil Jones replacing him. It was 3-4 at half time and full time, both teams unable to recreate the thrills and spills of the first 45 minutes.

TOP!

After Jonjo Shelvey's whacking strike had hit the post and Luis Suarez's free kick came off the cross bar after a tremendous hit and bend, it looked like it was not going to be Liverpool's afternoon against Southampton. But Daniel Agger rewarded his side's play when he headed in Glen Johnson's cross and earned his side a well deserved win.
The Manchester Derby is going to be a cracker next weekend with three points on the line and three points being the gap between the two local rivals at the top of the table after City drew at home against Everton!

FLOP!

Rafa Benitez's misery continues at Chelsea after a fine start and goal by Juan Mata was followed by a second half turnaround from the Hammers. The super subs made the difference for West Ham at Upton Park and Carlton Cole, Mohamed Diame and Modibo Maiga took Roman Abramovich's Blues apart in the second half!
Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill will know the feeling too well as the pressure increased on him after his side fell to a 2-1 defeat at Norwich and were left just one point safe the Premier League relegation zone.

HERO!

Two late Miguel Michu goals sank Arsenal at the Emirates and left the Gunners down in tenth position of the Premier League table after their worst start to a season under Arsene Wenger. The Swans meanwhile can be more than happy with their third win out of four, unbeaten since end of October (1-0 at City) and in seventh position..
Jermain Defoe was the hero for Spurs, with his left-foot 2-0, then right-foot 3-0, thank you very much and say no more.
Carlos Tevez saved City a point against battling Everton with his spot kick, see if he can do the same against his former side and local rivals United next Sunday! Their unbeaten run is on the line too!

ZERO!

Tottenham's Gareth Bale was booked for diving, against Fulham's Steve Sidwell, for the second consecutive game. There was a tackle but the forward did perform a scene of a drama queen, which made me cringe. Sandro opened the score for Spurs, through Mark Schwarzer's gloves and in. It was a goal the American goalkeeper would like to forget but will most probably find again and again under one of those blooper lists and clips!

My Predictions => Actual Results
West Ham 1-1 Chelsea => 3-1
Arsenal 1-1 Swansea => 0-2
Fulham 1-2 Tottenham => 0-3
Liverpool 3-0 Southampton => 1-0
Man City 2-0 Everton => 1-1
QPR 0-0 Aston Villa => 1-1
West Brom 2-2 Stoke => 0-1
Reading 0-2 Man United => 3-4
Norwich 2-1 Sunderland => 2-1
Newcastle 2-2 Wigan => 3-0

Week 7: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

OMG!

And once again Luis Suarez added to his Oscar nominations for the best drama queen! The Uruguayan striker stole the show once again with his antiques at Anfield. The 25-year old appeared to be stamped on by Stoke defender Robert Huth earlier on in the goalless game, the German lucky to stay on the pitch, before Suarez himself committed an embarrassing dive in the box, which he also escaped from uncautioned. Tony Pulis may slam Suarez for his drama performance and Rodgers may bemoan the missed chances and the officials' prejudice against his renowned forward, but both manager cannot deny the facts and problems they have to work on and improve on: Stoke's discipline and Liverpool's goal conversion rate (+ Suarez' balance), they are both as bad as each other! 

WOW!

Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney are hitting it off together for Manchester United. The two strikers may not have been on the scoreboard this week, but their hard work is paying off for their side. Both were providers for the first and second goal by Jonny Evans and Patrice Evra respectively. Tom Cleverley's dipping shot made it 3-0 from outside the box on the left bending across and past Steve Harper. It was United's first win at St James' Park since 2009 and a perfect comeback from their home defeat against Tottenham last week. That is something what Sir Alex Ferguson likes to see, I am sure. 

TOP!

Manchester City shut up their doubters this week with a clean sheet and convincing win against Sunderland. Smashing free kicks from Aleksandar Kolarov and James Milner and a sweet Sergio Aguero goal ended Sunderland's unbeaten run in the league and gave Roberto Mancini the satisfaction of being proven right. The Italian manager was over-confident before the game and the three points won will justify this for him. Before this outing, City had conceded 16 goals in all competitions. But with Micah Richards having made a perfect return from injury after being out since April 2011 and added to the back line, the difference showed for City and will surely make it more difficult for Mancini to change - if he would ever consider to that is. So far so much better.

FLOP!

Norwich were thrashed the second time in a row. Last week they conceded five goals against Liverpool, this week they let through four against Chelsea. Manager Chris Hughton has only been in the job for a couple of months, but after seven games, no wins and 17 goals conceded, the worry is obvious, in the back line. Ok, The Canaries have only scored five too, which means they have conceded the most and scored the least in the whole Premier League. So, where shall they start you ask? Front? Middle? Back? The first ten minutes showed they can scare the opposition and score. Striker Grant Holt drilled one past Petr Cech and could not have made a better start for the visitors at Stamford Bridge. But the surprise did not last long. Hughton's men crumbled to bits. They may make good starts, but they have to learn to pull themselves together and hold onto what they have.

HERO!

Arsenal look back on track thanks to a star performance by new boy Santi Cazorla. The midfielder pulled all strings for The Gunners against The Hammers and crowned his performance with a breathtaking strike from 25-yards out to make it 1-3 with seven minutes remaining. Arsene Wenger said Cazorla's slick footwork reminds him of Glenn Hoddle and Theo Walcott, who was also on the score sheet, described him as their "conductor". The Spaniard certainly dictated the game for Arsenal, gliding through the competition, creating and providing for his team mates. I am certainly looking forward to seeing more from him. And so too from Olivier Giroud, who scored a fine first Premier League goal and set up Walcott for his. Promising signs and moves from Arsenal, that is for sure.

ZERO!

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is unpopular enough as it is. After his pathetic attempt to rebrand his club's ground as the Sports Direct Arena, the English billionaire is now reported to be negotiating a sponsorship deal with payday loans company Wonga. This did not go down well with the fans, which is an understatement. And after their side's defence was flawed once again by set pieces and thrashed 0-3 by United, I'm sure the fans won't be off Ashley's case or warm up to him any time soon.

Ashley Cole the twit and John Terry will have time over the international break to think over and take responsibility for their idiotic actions. The club have launched disciplinary proceedings against the prior whilst the latter will be consulting his legal advisers to decide whether to appeal against his four-match ban and £220,000 fine. I say to both, be a man, stand up and take responsibility for your actions! Yes, you were stupid, snot your normal self, so, yes, take the punishment and move on! Sometimes it is the best and only way to learn, the hard way! And the more and better you no next time, not to be such an idiot again! FULL STOP!

My Predictions => Actual Results
Man City 3-2 Sunderland => 3-0
Chelsea 3-0 Norwich => 4-1
Swansea 2-1 Reading => 2-2
West Brom 2-0 QPR => 3-2
Wigan 0-1 Everton => 2-2
West Ham 0-2 Arsenal => 1-3
Southampton 1-2 Fulham => 2-2
Liverpool 2-0 Stoke => 0-0
Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa => 2-0
Newcastle 2-2 Man United => 0-3

Euro 2012 - Group Stage Summary

Sports - Football - Euro 2012 - Picks of the Group Stage

Top game: Portugal's dramatic 3-2 win against Denmark thanks to Silvestre Varela's last-gasp winner kept their qualifying hopes alive whilst the Danes showed their always up for a fight and everything else but easy to beat. Another five-goal thriller saw Roy Hodgson's side beat Sweden 3-2 and end their hoodoo as England had never beaten the Scandinavians in a competitive match before. The win also showed that England are a scoring force even without their main striker Wayne Rooney thanks to Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck. The opening game of the competition between Poland and Greece was the most competitive and aggressive with two goals and two red cards which saw the game end all level, 1-1 in goals and 10-10 in players.

Top team: The big favourites in form of defending champions Spain and runners up Germany have grinded out the required results so far, the latter being the only side with a 100% record of three out of three wins, but both have failed to impress me so far. They were not their usual self, the usual impressive force nobody can stop, hold back nor defend. I thought Sweden were great when they beat France 2-0 and in a confident and stylish fashion, eventhough they were already out of the competition at that point. At least they gave their fans something to cheer for in the end, something for their money and unconditional support. I think sometimes players and sides forget who they are playing for.

Top player: Two of the most expensive players in Europe took their time to get into gear. Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's Fernando Torres did not really feature much in the opening game for their sides with the prior's name not on the scoreboard till the last group game and the latter not even starting in the opening game but making up for it the next match with two out of four goals in the 4-0 thrashing of Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland side. Top scorers so far with three goals each have been Germany's Mario Gomez, Croatia's Mario Mandzukic and Russia's Alan Dzagoev, top providers with three assists each have been England's Steven Gerrard, Russia's Andrei Arshavin and Spain's David Silva. The top goalkeeper with most saves has been Ireland's Shay Given with 17 saves.

Top goal: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's opening goal against France was a stunning strike. I switched over from the England-Ukraine game to check the score and caught a very special goal, the Swedish striker producing an acrobatic right-foot volley which saw Sebastian Larsson's cross from the right bash into the bottom corner of the net, sweet mother of all goals so far in the competition. Welbeck's cheeky flick-in off sub Walcott's cross which saw England beat Sweden 3-2 made Hodgson's changes look genius and his side more than capable to win without their main striker Rooney. The United striker's winning goal against Ukraine was nothing more than a simple tap-in after Gerrard's teasing cross  was spilled by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.

Top news: The quarter-finals are as follows: a) Czech Republic v Portugal, b) Germany v Greece, c) Spain v France, d) England v Italy; semi-finals: Winner A v Winner C, Winner B v Winner D; that means Portugal could face Spain and England could meet Germany in the semis if the results follow the match odds. Mouth-wateringly juicy, or what?! According to those odds, Germany are favourites to win the whole competition followed by Spain with hardly anything between the two - does that mean the final and competition is already decided? Or will there be more surprises and shocks? Can't wait to see the answer to that...

Flop game: The England-France game did not quite live up to its rivalry and competitive hype. There was no major controversy or many decision to make for the referee in a match with few incidences. After Joleon Lescott took the lead for England with a header off Gerrard's free kick on the half-hour mark, City team-mate Samir Nasri equalised for France only nine minutes later beating Joe Hart seeing his effort from the edge of the box go into the bottom corner. The rest of the game did not have much to write about, which was very disappointing, from a neutral point of view as well as for England as they left France in control and too comfortable. Russia's 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic was a joke! It just seemed surreal how the Czech's let themselves be pushed over so easily and blatantly!

Flop team: As mentioned above, the big favourites Germany and Spain have disappointed so far, not result-wise obviously but they haven't been exactly thrilling or nice to the eye. Ireland had a competition to forget although I felt sorry for Given who gave his all and created superb and stunning saves, all for nothing in the end. I think Netherlands were the biggest surprise ending up bottom of their group on zero points with a strong side and a lot of established. World Cup finalists and second in the world rankings, I am sure the Dutch will be the most disappointed fans and side of this competition, eventhough the hosts Poland and Ukraine obviously won't be happy either not being to take advantage of their home advantage, but I don't think anyone expected more from them.

Flop player: Three players have seen red so far, Ireland's Keith Andrews who has also seen the most bookings with three, Greece's Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, the latter two being sent off in the opening game of the competition. Czech's Milan Baros has committed most fouls with 14. And I still we are expecting and still waiting to see the best of Rooney, Ronaldo, Torres... The usual top picks who haven't really turned up so far. All the top players the Dutch have, from Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder to Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel, amongst others, none of them really turned up nor impressed, showing that top names together doesn't mean top team unless they can gel and perform together, that's why it's called team work and a team sport.

Flop goal: For the first time in my memory there has been a decision that has gone England's way! Usually it is always the Three Lions that concede a goal that never was or cry after a goal that was never given or see their hearts broken on the penalty spot. That may still happen, but as so far concerns when Ukraine saw Marko Devic's come off the cross bar and cleared by John Terry I think everyone knew and saw it was over line apart from the referee and his additional assistant who somehow did not see it standing on the line right next to the goal! It is a joke in the age of video replays, but thanks to the technology we have at least we saw that the ball was over the line but that Devic was offside in the buildup before. So, either way, justice has been done, no thanks to the Fifa clowns though!

Flop news: Fifa boss Sepp Blatter glaims goal-line technology is "no longer an alternative but a necessity" following Ukraine's complaint of being denied a goal against England. Really?! I think you're about a couple of decades behind the general public and nearly every other major sport!!! Clown!

My predictions - Actual results

Group A
Poland 2:1 Greece - 1:1
Russia 2:1 Czech Republic - 4:1
Greece 2:1 Czech Republic - 1:2
Poland 2:1 Russia - 1:1
Czech Republic 1:2 Poland - 1:0
Greece 1:4 Russia - 1:0
Group B
Netherlands 2:1 Denmark - 0:1
Germany 2:1 Portugal - 1:0
Denmark 1:1 Portugal - 2:3
Netherlands 1:2 Germany - 1:2
Portugal 1:1 Netherlands - 2:1
Denmark 1:1 Germany - 1:2
Group C
Spain 2:1 Italy - 1:1
Ireland 2:1 Croatia - 1:3
Italy 1:3 Croatia - 1:1
Spain 2:0 Ireland - 4:0
Croatia 2:2 Spain - 0:1
Italy 1:0 Ireland - 2:0
Group D
France 2:1 England - 1:1
Ukraine 2:1 Sweden - 2:1
Ukraine 0:1 France - 0:2
Sweden 0:1 England - 2:3
England 0:0 Ukraine - 1:0
Sweden 1:1 France - 2:0

Final Group Standings

Team P-W-D-L-F-A-Pts

Group A

Czech Rep  3-2-0-1-4-5-6

Greece        3-1-1-1-3-3-4

Russia         3-1-1-1-5-3-4

Poland         3-0-2-1-2-3-2

Group B

Germany     3-3-0-0-5-2-9

Portugal       3-2-0-1-5-4-6

Denmark      3-1-0-2-4-5-3

Netherlands 3-0-0-3-2-5-0

Group C

Spain           3-2-1-0-6-1-7

Italy              3-1-2-0-4-2-5

Croatia         3-1-1-1-4-3-4

Ireland          3-0-0-3-1-9-0

Group D

England       3-2-1-0-5-3-7

France         3-1-1-1-3-3-4

Sweden       3-1-0-2-5-5-3

Ukraine        3-1-0-2-2-4-3