Week 32-36: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Month

Ok, it has been a long time since my last blog again, so here is a summary of all the action, stats and facts of the month of April/last five match weeks in the Premier League: Manchester United started the month at the helm, five points ahead of their City rivals. Wolves were at the bottom, six points behind Wigan, Blackburn and QPR. Bolton had come through a difficult phase strong and on top, outside the relegation zone in 16th but only one point seperating them from the doomed bunch. The month of April panned out to be one of the most twisted, unpredictable, action-packed and decisive months in my Premier League memory, building up to May, the big grand finale in the battle for the title and survival:

Top facts of the month of April:

- 137 goals scored = average of 2.74 goals per game.

- 17 different score lines on the board, top 6 of which were 1-1 (6 times), 0:0 (5 times), 1-0 (5 times), 4-0 (5 times), 2-0 (4 times) and 3-0 (4 times).

- There have only been three games without any bookings, Manchester City 4-0 West Brom, Tottenham 2-0 Blackburn and Liverpool 0-1 Fulham.

Top games:

- Wigan 1-0 Manchester United: United deservedly lost at Wigan after the home side were unjustly disallowed a goal, a header by Victor Moses for an apparent push on goalkeeper David De Gea by Gary Caldwell. The Latics were given a controversial corner which their winning goal came from. A wonderful goal, Maloney collecting the set-piece before curling the ball into the back of the net. Jonny Evans should have been given a second yellow for a dangerous tackle on Maloney. On the other hand, United should have had a penalty for an obvious handball by Maynor Figueroa but as Sir Alex Ferguson said himself, these things even themselves out, they certainly did for Wigan on this occasion! Two points dropped meant the gap at the top was reduced from eight to five points with five games to go.

- Arsenal 1-2 Wigan: After beating the league leaders and defending champions the previous week, Wigan were on a high. Arsenal had comfortably beaten Wolves 3-0 in their own back yard, so must have felt comfortable coming back home. The Wolves stunned the Gunners within the first eight minutes with two early goals by Franco Di Santo and Jordi Gomez and pulled off a famous win at the Emirates. Thomas Vermaelen pulled one back with a powerful header but Wigan held through to pull five points clear of the relegation zone.

- Manchester United 4-4 Everton: Old Trafford was stunned to silence after seeing eight goals and plenty more chances pass their eyes. Is this the one where United let the title slip away? Everton started strong and took the lead thanks to Nikica Jelavic's looping header over De Gea. Non-other than Wayne Rooney equalised for United to spare his side from half-time blushes with Ferguson. At 3-1 and even 4-2 it looked all over and three points in the pocket for the home side, but two late goals in the last seven minutes thanks to Jelavic and Steven Pienaar snatched the points and their share of the spoils for the Toffees. City moved within three points of the league leaders, breathing up their necks before the big derby clash the following week.

- Chelsea 6-1 QPR: The result was of no doubt for the Blues after going 4-0 ahead within 25 minutes. QPR were well and truely blown away at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea needed a boost after the last couple of disappointing results with draws at Arsenal and Fulham and a home defeat against Newcastle. What was of most significance, was the name dominating the score board: Fernando Torres. Finally out of his shell, he claimed the match ball with an impressive hat-trick. Will this finally kick-off his Chelsea career or is it too little, too late? With the Champions League finals coming up, the Spaniard still has time and enough chances to impress the big boss and convince him he was worth the wait (and money).

- Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United: With only three points between the two, this derby was explosive even before the buildup with all hopes on the blue side and all nerves and tension on the red side of Manchester. Everyone was waiting for the big bang, the decider. It didn't quite come that way. United were kept under City's spell for most of the match, Vincent Kompany grabbing the crucial winner on the stroke of half-time. Another goal never looked like coming, the last couple of minutes were the most tense as United tried to break late, but failed. City held through and are now level on points but eight goals ahead of United at the top of the table with two games to go. Who would dare and predict the next turn on the way to the Premier League title?

Top teams: After the summaries above, I will let the stats speak for themselves in this category:

- Top form: Manchester City (LWWWW = 12/15 points), Newcastle (WWWLW = 12/15), West Brom (WLWWD = 10/15),  Fulham (WDWLW = 10/15) and Wigan (LWWLW = 9/15); Everton (DWDWD = 9/15) are the only side who are unbeaten in the last 5 games.

- Top scorers: Everton (15 goals scored), Manchester City (13), Manchester United (10), Chelsea/Wigan/Newcastle (9).

- Top defence: Manchester City (2 goals conceded), Arsenal (3), Newcastle/Tottenham/West Brom (4), Chelsea/Wigan/Liverpool (5).

Top players: Stats speak for themselves here again:

- Top scorers: Everton's Jelavic (6 goals), Newcastle's Papiss Cisse (6), his double sank the Swans, the French striker scoring even when he's falling! Man City's Sergio Aguero (5), United's Rooney (4) and Liverpool's Luis Suarez (4).

- Hat-tricks: Suarez for Liverpool at Newcastle, fine comeback away after their defeat at West Brom, and Torres for Chelsea against QPR as mentioned above.

Top goals: I could reel down the list of Cisse, Aguero, Suarez and Torres again, but here are a couple of picks outside the usual: A brilliant distant winner strike by Mikel Arteta for Arsenal against City, an elegant right-footer from outside the box! Was this the final nail hit into Man City's coffin ending their title challenge? The previous four weeks, there had been a ten point swing, City from two points ahead at the top, found themselves in second, eight points behind United with six games remaining! Stats and red card(s) spoke for themselves! But as mentioned above, more swings were and are still up and coming. Smashing opening strike by Chris Herd, his first goal for Villa, a delicious hit that beat Alexander Doni, who replaced suspended Pepe Reina, who missed his first game since 2007!

Top news: Chelsea have made it into the Champions League final beating Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate and against all odds. And Bayern Munich welcome then Blues to their home ground for the final, after they were surprising winners on penalties against Jose Mourinho's La Liga leaders Real Madrid. The Germans will be the odds-on favourites, but Chelsea have broken big odds before and I don't think anyone would dare to wave them off in this one before the final whistle!

Flop facts:

- 140 bookings made = average of 2.8 yellow cards per game.

- 7 red cards shown = average of 0.14 sendings off per game or one player sent off every 7.13 games or 1.2 players sent off every week.

- Game with most bookings, Blackburn 2-3 Liverpool with 9 bookings and one red card, the visitors recording five of the yellows and their replacement goalkeeper Doni sent off, the most cautions by any team in one game.

Flop games:

- Sunderland 0:0 Tottenham: This was dire to watch. The visitors could have moved up to third place and automatic Champions League qualification, but Redknapp's men failed to press and impress anything or anyone at the Stadium of Light and let Sunderland get away with an easy point. Tottenham dominated possession but failed to break down the stubborn Black Cats who were happy to stand back and play deep, counter-attacking football, not nice to the eye but good for their scoreboard adding one more point to their home record.

- Liverpool 1:1 Aston Villa: It was a breathtaking strike by Herd, as mentioned above, and it deservedly grabbed a point for Villa at Anfield. But it was one of those games, miss after miss after miss again, all too familiar to the Reds. this season. They had a penalty shout denied, but it was Suarez, say no more. Dirk Kuyt cleared the cross bar from two yards out! HOW?!?!?! We will never know... Corner cleared, only as far as Steven Gerrard from the edge of the box, Daniel Agger hit the bar, but then Suarez finally got in with nine minutes left on the clock, it was agonising to watch! I have never seen a goal taking such an ordeal to create and SCORE. Then Andy Carroll headed one straight into Shay Given's gloves. Another late chance was somehow scrambled clear. All in all, the home side had three penalty shouts + 21 chances + 11 corners + ball over the line? = still only one goal, one point at home, two points dropped for Liverpool, AGAIN! ARGH!

- Tottenham 1:2 Norwich: Struggling Spurs faced a fighting Norwich at home and the Canaries didn't give Tottenham a moment's peace and got on with the game. Redknapp's side looked clumsy, confused, lazy: Jermain Defoe broke clear and scored his 16th of the season in 20 appearances, a tidy goal after untidy Ledley King had given Grant Holt a pull on the shirt from behind in the opposite box, but the penalty appeal was conveniently ignored by the referee, which left Norwich furious. Norwich were on the ref's case again after Emmanuel Adebayor brought down Aaron Wilbraham in the box and nothing was given again. But Elliott Bennett scored his first for Norwich and put his side ahead again with a beautiful, precise right-foot hit from 20 yards out on the edge of the box, leaving Spurs nowhere and Norwich rewarded for their fight with two goals and three points.

- QPR 1:0 Tottenham: Adel Taarabt was hero and villain in a match which saw Tottenham struggle to create any form of pressure, dominance or chances yet again. The Moroccan midfielder curled a finely controlled free-kick over the Spurs wall and into the bottom corner to take the lead for Mark Hughes's men against his former side and complete a strong comeback from their defeat at West Brom the previous weekend. With just over ten minutes to go, Taarabt received a second yellow for kicking the ball away, setting up a tense finale with the home side battling to grab at least a goal for one point. But they failed to create and achieve anything once again, an all-too familiar theme and tune lately for Redknapp.

- Liverpool 0-1 West Brom: With over 60% possession, over 20 chances and home advantage, you can guess who won this game: yes, the visitors, giving manager Hodgson a win to enjoy against his former side. With 15 minutes to go, Peter Odemwingie was able to run clear and put the ball past Reina after Glen Johnson lost the ball to Youssouf Mulumbu. It was quite unbelievable, against the run of play, chances and dominance, but then again, looking back at Liverpool's season, it has been nothing unusual, more all-too familiar, at the ground that used to be a fortress. The previous nine draws and two defeats at Anfield made this match seem like a refrain, a chorus to an all-too familiar song which has been set on replay this season.


Flop teams:

- Flop form: Wolves (LLDLD = 2/15 points), Blackburn (LLLWL = 3/15), Sunderland (DLDDD = 4/15), Norwich (DWLLL = 4/15) and Swansea (LLWDD = 5/15). Bolton would be bottom in the form league (LLDLL = 1/15) but won their game in hand against Aston Villa!

- Flop scorers: Aston Villa (2 goals scored excluding their game in hand against Bolton), Sunderland (2), Bolton (4 excluding their game in hand against Aston Villa), Blackburn (4), Norwich/West Brom/Stoke/Wolves/QPR (5).

- Flop defence: Norwich (14 goals conceded), Bolton (12 excluding game in hand), Blackburn (11), Wolves (11), Swansea (10).

Flop players: Sent off: Anthony Modeste (Blackburn), Mario Balotelli (City), Shaun Derry (QPR), Doni (Liverpool heartbreak ahead of FA Cup final), Sebastien Bassong (Wolves), Taarabt (QPR as mentioned above, from hero to zero within minutes), Craig Gardner (Sunderland); City's Yaya Toure has been booked the most (3). Balotelli got away with a dangerous leg-break tackle at the Emirates (after handball, diving, whining, etc.). Brilliant Ben Foster double save for WB who ended up winning 3-0 against 10-men Blackburn after Modeste's stupid, pointless late s.o.!

Flop goals: We have seen four own goals this month, but it is the mis-decisions that hurt most! United beat QPR comfortably thanks to referee's double present (offside + penalty), QPR were robbed! Top saves by Wigan's Ali Al Habsi frustrated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He was unlucky then though when Branislav Ivanovic's offside goal was given! Refs have been usless again this month! These decisions cost team points and for some it could end up in relegation! Wigan's equaliser through super-sub Mohamed Diame got their hopes up for points against Chelsea, but then they lost the game on a last-minute counter-attack, Torres seeing his volley come off the post for Juan Mata to net it. It looked offside again?! Unlucky drama for Wigan! Wigan were robbed! It hurts to see these decisions cost teams dearly whilst any technological help and advances are kept being postponed season by season!

Flop news: Roy Hodgson has been confirmed as new England manager, ending all speculation around Harry Redknapp, I am sure the latter will be a relieved man as much as the prior is proud! I still expect the worst come Euro 2012, it's England we're on about! All my life it has been an impossible job for any man and after seeing how he fared at Liverpool, I don't think Hodgson has what it takes. No one has! Good luck Hodgson!

My predictions - Useless as always! - Actual results:

Week 32:

Swansea 1:2 Newcastle - 0:2

Sunderland 1:2 Tottenham - 0:0

Bolton 0:0 Fulham - 0:3

Chelsea 3:1 Wigan - 2:1

Liverpool 2:2 Aston Villa - 1:1

Norwich 1:1 Everton - 2:2

West Brom 1:0 Blackburn - 3:0

Stoke 2:1 Wolves - 2:1

Man United 3:1 QPR - 2:0

Arsenal 1:0 Man City - 1:0

Week 33:

Everton 1:0 Sunderland - 4:0

Newcastle 2:0 Bolton - 2:0

Tottenham 4:0 Norwich - 1:2

Aston Villa 1:1 Stoke - 1:1

Fulham 2:1 Chelsea - 1:1

Blackburn 0:0 Liverpool - 2:3

Man City 3:0 West Brom - 4:0

Wigan 0:4 Man United - 1:0

Wolves 0:3 Arsenal - 0:3

QPR 2:2 Swansea - 3:0

Week 34:

Norwich 0:1 Man City - 1:6

Sunderland 3:0 Wolves - 0:0

Swansea 0:0 Blackburn - 3:0

West Brom 3:0 QPR - 1:0

Man United 2:0 Aston Villa - 4:0

Arsenal 3:0 Wigan - 1:2

Liverpool 2:0 Fulham - 0:1*

Stoke 0:1 Everton - 1:1*

Chelsea 2:1 Newcastle - 0:2"

Bolton 2:1 Tottenham - 1:4"

*postponed to 1st May

"postponed to 2nd May

Week 35:

Arsenal 2:1 Chelsea - 0:0

Aston Villa 2:1 Sunderland - 0:0

Blackburn 2:1 Norwich - 2:0

Bolton 2:1 Swansea - 1:1

Fulham 2:1 Wigan - 2:1

Newcastle 2:1 Stoke - 3:0

QPR 2:1 Tottenham - 1:0

Man United 2:1 Everton - 4:4

Liverpool 2:1 West Brom - 0:1

Wolves 2:1 Man City - 0:2

Wolves are relegated

Week 36:

Everton 2:0 Fulham - 4:0

Stoke 1:2 Arsenal - 1:1

Sunderland 2:0 Bolton - 2:2

Swansea 3:0 Wolves - 4:4

West Brom 2:1 Aston Villa - 0:0

Wigan 1:2 Newcastle - 4:0

Norwich 2:2 Liverpool - 0:3

Chelsea 2:0 QPR - 6:1

Tottenham 3:1 Blackburn - 2:0

Man City 0:0 Man United - 1:0

Carroll nicks late winner for Liverpool

Sports - Football - Premier League - Blackburn 2:3 Liverpool

Liverpool kept Blackburn in the relegation zone thanks to Andy Carroll's injury-time winner after a dramatic encounter which saw the visitors letting a two-goal lead slip away after seeing their replacement goalkeeper Alexander Doni sent off, one penalty saved by sub-keeper Brad Jones and another spot-kick conceded and put past the Australian keeper.

This fixture was Roy Hodgson's last match last season after the Reds lost 3-1 to the Rovers. Steve Kean's men could not have come into the match more confident having secured more points, scored more goals and won more league matches than the Reds in 2012.

Blackburn's home record looked encouraging with ten points accumulated from their last six matches played, while Liverpool arrived at Ewood Park off the back of four away defeats in a row, having lost six in the last eight Premier League games, and without main keeper Pepe Reina after he saw red against Newcastle for headbutting James Perch.

Last but definitely not least, Kenny Dalglish's men have the Merseyside FA Cup semi-final showdown next on the card. The only encouragement Liverpool could take before the match was that they have won more games away from home this season than they have at Anfield.

So the visitors took command of the game early on when 12 minutes into the game when Craig Bellamy picked up Martin Skrtel's extraordinarily placed clearance. The Welshamn then produced a fine cross himself from the right which was netted by Maxi Rodriguez in the box, just outside the goal line. It was a great counter attack after Blackburn's free kick was eventually cleared from the Liverpool box.

Hardly 90 seconds laters and another great counter attack saw Jonjo Shelvey's shot saved by Paul Robinson, the rebound shot by Carroll blocked by Scott Dann, before Maxi was on the right spot at the right time again to net that rebound which made it two goals in three minutes for the Argentine.

The Reds could not have wished for a better start, but the twist soon followed.

Doni was distraught when halfway through the first half, he saw a straight red card after brining down David Hoilett which will see the Brasilian goalkeeper miss the FA Cup semi-final against local rivals Everton. He went for the ball but caught the Blackburn forward a fraction late, so the referee had no other choice. Cruel but that is the rule.

Ayegbeni Yakubu took a soft penalty kick, a poor take and easy stop for the third-choice-sub-keeper Jones. But the Nigerian striker soon made up for that miss. Ten minutes later, no one picked him up in the box when he headed in David Dunn's free-kick to get one back to make it 2-1, Jones helpess.

The game continued at high pace, end-to-end stuff, the fans and players only able to gasp a couple of breaths at half time.

On the hour mark, Jones looked all over the place and took too much time with the ball when Yakubu approached him and was pushed down, winning a second penalty for the home sides.

The Reds could utter a sigh of relief when the goalkeeper was only cautioned with a yellow, the referee believing the ball was out of Yakubu's reach, so it was not a goalscoring opportunity.

The striker netted this spot-kick though to make it all level at 2-2 and heat up the last 30 minutes - as if the game was not feisty enough already!
Both sides fought on, missed opportunities to grab a winner and it looked like the game was going to end in a stalemate - before injury time.

Liverpool saw their corner cleared, Sebastian Coates followed with a long hoof forward which found Daniel Agger, whose header found Carroll in the box, who made no mistake this time and headed the ball into the back of the net to give the visitors an injury-time lead and winner.

The celebrations showed how much this meant to the under-fire striker, his team mates and fans, especially before their FA Cup clash against the blue side of Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday!

Blackburn: Robinson; Orr (booked 29), Grant Hanley (booked 90), Dann, Martin Olsson; Formica (booked 65) (Rochina 73), Nzonzi, Dunn (Lowe 75), Marcus Olsson; Hoilett (booked 62), Yakubu (scored 35:53 & 60:53).
Subs not used: Kean, Givet, Goodwillie, Petrovic, Pedersen.

Liverpool: Doni (sent off 25); Flanagan (booked 12) (Jones 26) (booked 61), Coates, Skrtel, Johnson (Agger 53); Maxi (scored 12:38 & 15:10) (booked 46) (Jose Enrique 78), Henderson (booked 86), Spearing, Bellamy (booked 71); Shelvey, Carroll (scored 90:41).
Subs not used: Aurelio, Suarez, Kuyt, Carragher.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Blackburn-Liverpool:
Attempts: 5-4 & 7-5
On target: 3-3 & 4-2
Offsides: 0-2 & 2-1
Corners: 0-0 & 4-4
Free kicks: 7-5 & 6-8
Possession: 53%-47% (35), 52%-48% (BBC HT), 53%-47% (Sky HT), 51.2%-48.8% (Sky 2nd half), 52%-48% (BBC FT), 52.1%-47.9% (Sky FT), 50%-50% (Sky FT)

Sky Stats:
Blackburn-Liverpool:
Passing Success: 76.5%-77.1%
Tackles/Success: 14/78.6%-15/60%
Territorial Advantage: 56.3%-43.7%
Action Areas: Blackburn 27%-45%-28% Liverpool

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Man of the match: Ayegbeni Yakubu

Week 31: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

Top games: Villa Park saw a game full of emotions, drama and controversy. It was a great comeback by Aston Villa with two goals in three minutes! But visitors Chelsea never gave up. (Top player) Fernando Torres put the icing on the cake to make it 4:2 and, after his cup scoring spree, finally get his first Premier League goal since 24th September 2011, 18/now 19 games ago. Interim boss Robert Di Matteo seems to be making the difference.
Tottenham recorded a fine win too at White Hart Lane, good entertainment, top quality, by both sides! The scoreline (3:1) is a bit harsh on the Swans, Spurs and Harry Redknapp will be happy though!

Top teams: Sunderland were on top for most of the game against Manchester City, but did not quite get the result they deserved at the Etihad Stadium.
Wigan got a crucial home win against Stoke. The Latics missed so many chances you may have thought it was just not meant to be. But they just never gave up. Brilliant mentality, top football by both sides.
Same goes for Blackburn, just with the wrong result. Brilliant saves by David De Gea were crucial. Then two goals in last ten minutes won it for United and saw Blackburn's hard work undone. Typical late winners for United, now five points clear at the top.

Top players: Papiss Cisse is on the scoreboard again, no one can stop him this season and he got a double against Liverpool. Team mates Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa starred with the striker and are pushing Newcastle closer and closer to the European spot(s).
Tottenham's Gareth Bale danced through the Swans this weekend! Bale covers so much ground, with so much power! the Welsh midfielder has more than helped Emmanuel Adebayor to his double and his side to their first league win in six consolidating their hold on the fourth Champions League spot and going level on points with their city-rivals Arsenal in third.

Top goals: So many beauties to write about this week: Mario Balotelli completed City's comeback with a fine run and smashing one home from far after scoring from the spot. James Collins' header in off long throw for Aston Villa was sweet.
Wolves opener by Michael Kightly was calm, cool, composed and quality as you like. Matthew Jarvis then produced a strong shot to make it 2-1, and top a strong, encouraging performance by his side. Adel Taarabt created a beautiful curl to make it 1-0 to QPR against the Gunners.
Damien Duff's finish to make it 2-0 to Fulham was cool as you like!
And the cross cross by Tottenham's Luka Modric was a killer ball, ment for Adebayor who had gone clear, but was deflected to Rafael van der Vaart who made no mistake and smashed it in, smashing, top quality 1:0.
Manchester United's Antonio Valencia served an even more mouthwatering smasher, brilliant when crosses don't work just score yourself! Then super sub Ashley Young right footed one in on turn, two fine goals.

Top news: Chelsea are the last British side remaining in the Champions League which sees the quarter-final second legs played out this week with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich being the favourites to battle it out and progress to the semis.

Flop teams/defences: Manchester City looked woeful for most of the match! Wolves' dire run continues. So too West Brom. Although they showed fighting attitude... Amongst each other as well!  After dire and absent performances, the last thing these sides needed is to start a brawl amongst themselves!
Arsenal's and Liverpool's defences were absent, then confused, in bits. The Reds are not the Liverpool I used to know, diving, whining, shouting, headbutting!!! Form table 2012: Top 4: United, City, Newcastle, Sunderland! Bottom 4: QPR, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Wolves!!! Liverpool with just 8 points out of 12 games!!!

Flop players: Balotelli's name is rhetorical under this category with his attitude and tantrums. The Italian temper bomb has to learn the game is about his team, not just him!
Andy Carroll had to score! But chose to go down instead, no contact, nowhere near goalkeeper Tim Krul, shame on him! The former Newcastle striker was booked, and rightly so, ashamed he should be!
So should the referee at Blackburn! Howard Webb overlooked a Steven Nzonzi shirt-pull fowl, Blackburn handball in the box and disallowed a goal wrongly too! Absolute shambles!
And last but definitely not least, Pepe Reina's head butt was very uncharacteristically, just stupid! The reaction of James Perch was OTT though, not good allround, but no excuse for Reina, a man of his experience should know so much better, it was so unlike him! After 183 consecutive games for his club, the Spaniard will miss his side's FA Cup semi final clash against local rivals Everton!

Flop goals: Wolves were denied by Adam Bogdan's top goalkeeping , top defending, the crossbar., crap refereeing.. The Bolton penalty was harsh, there was minimal contact only, drama queen Mark Davies made the most of Roger Johnson's challenge! As mentioned above, the disallowed Blackburn goal was nowhere near offside! It was a cruel, cruel result for Blackburn, who drop back into the relegation zone.

Flop news: Aston Villa's captain Stelian Petrov has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia. This year has just been shocking so far! :-( Like Bolton's Martin Petrov revealed under his shirt when he scored: Stay strong Stan! YNWA!

My predictions - Actual results

Aston Villa 2:0 Chelsea - 2:4

Everton 1:0 West Brom - 2:0

Fulham 0:0 Norwich - 2:1

Man City 4:0 Sunderland - 3:3

QPR 1:2 Arsenal - 2:1

Wigan 1:1 Stoke - 2:0

Wolves 1:2 Bolton - 2:3

Newcastle 3:1 Liverpool - 2:0

Tottenham 2:1 Swansea - 3:1

Blackburn 1:1 Man United - 0:2

Week 26-30: Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Month

It has been a while since my last Picks blog and a lot has happened since! So, here are the summary, picks of the best and worst, stats and facts of the last month/5 match weeks of Premier League action:

Top facts:

- 120 goals scored = average of 2.45 goals per game.

- 18 different score lines on the board, top 5 of those were 1:0 (9 times), 1:1 (7 times), 2:1 (5 times), 2:0 (5 times) and 3:0 (4 times).

- There have only been three games without any bookings, QPR 3:2 Liverpool, Fulham 0:3 Swansea and Manchester City 2:0 Bolton.

Top games: These games showed why you should NEVER leave the ground or switch over onto another channel before the final whistle:

- Newcastle 2:2 Wolves: Succeeding Mick McCarthy was not an easy job anyway. Being down 2-0 at half-time heaped the more pressure on Terry Connor which he mastered brilliantly. His first half-time team talk as Wolves manager worked wonders and saw his side come back on the pitch rejuvinated, dominating possession and eventually pulling two goals and a point back from Newcastle. It was a crucial point gained for the visitors in battle to get out of the relegation, but two points dropped for the home side with their eyes on the top four.

- Arsenal 5:2 Tottenham: With just over ten minutes to go in the first half, Tottenham were on top. 2-0 up, dominating possession, they looked to be on course for the first back-to-back league wins at the home of their arch-rivals for 86 years. Everyone, including Arsenal fans and tweeters, were lambasting Arsene Wenger, his tactics, his lack in big signings, senior players, etc. However, it was Harry Redknapp who ended up being the humiliated manager after seeing the Gunners showing great resilience and character with some breathtaking football, thrashing his side 5-2.

- Liverpool 1:2 Arsenal: As so many times this season, Liverpool looked the team on top enjoying most of the possession and chances. It looked just a matter of time, when not if, Liverpool would certainly score and take the lead. In the end, they had missed 16 chances, including a penalty, only getting one on the scoreboard thanks to an own goal by Laurent Koscielny. Robin van Persie was the man for Arsenal, with the equaliser and injruy-time killer-blow to make it 2-1 and three points to the Gunners. This was a prime example, it is goals that count, nothing else.

- Newcastle 1:1 Sunderland: This was a brutal one! It was a bad-tempered derby which saw eight bookings (5:3) and one sending off (Sunderland's Stephane Sessegnon for elbowing Cheick Tiote), two penalties (one for Sunderland, scored by Nicklas Bendtner on 24, and one for Newcastle, missed by Demba Ba on 82, a brilliant save by Simon Mignolet) and late drama (Shola Ameobi's injury time equaliser and Black Cats skipper Lee Cattermole seeing a straight red after the final whistle). Newcastle will be biting the more sour grape dropping a point after missing 36 chances against Sunderland's 13.

- Tottenham 1:3 Manchester United: If there has ever been a scoreline that reflected the game the least, this is one of them! Tottenham were in command for most of the match, eventhough they were missing key players such as Scott Parker (suspended), Rafael van der Vaart (injured) and Gareth Bale (ill). But thanks to a Wayne Rooney header out of nowhere and two outstanding strikes by Ashley Young against the run of play, substitute's Jermaine Defoe's late goal ended up being just a mere consolation. It was a sobering day for Spurs manager Redknapp after emerging as favourite to replace Fabio Capello as England manager.

Top teams:

- Top form: Manchester United (WWWWW =15/15) have overtaken their City rivals and remain at the top of the table, three points ahead of Roberto Mancini's men. Arsenal (WWWWW = 15/15) have also enjoyed a 100% record and have climbed up to third, three points ahead of their arch-rivals Tottenham, shutting up Wenger's critics with this remarkable run and form. Manchester City (WWLWD = 10/15)  are the next best, but after dropping points against Stoke and Swansea, the blue side of Manchester will be disappointed to see their team let the top spot slip, especially ahead of the big Manchester derby end of April.

- Top scorers: Manchester United and Arsenal also share this record (with 13 goals scored each), followed by Manchester City and Newcastle (8 each).

- Top defence: Manchester United and David De Gea have seen the least goals leak through (2 goals conceded), followed by Manchester City/Chelsea/Stoke (3 each) and Arsenal/Swansea/Aston Villa (4 each.)

Top players: Top scorers are van Persie (26 goals scored), Rooney (21), Sergio Aguero (17); there have been hat-tricks for Fulham's Pavel Pogrebnyak against Wolves and Steven Gerrard in the Merseyside derby and not to forget, the old boys Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes impressed too of course whose experience and quality have shown to have lasted past their general sell-by date!

Top goal: Peter Crouch's stunner for Stoke against Manchester City earned his side a point and himself an unforgettable strike and goal.

Top news: Fabrice Muamba is making a great recovery after collapsing in the FA Cup Quarter Final clash against Tottenham at White Hart Lane which was consequently abandoned on the night. It was great to see how the football world got together for Muamba. The horrifying scenes just put everything into perspective and threw the usual rants and tiffs out the window!

It seemed all too familiar after similar happened to my dear friend Jenny Kerwood a month earlier. She wasn't as lucky as Muamba though and died 22 years young. To find out more and contribute, I attach the following link to the Just Giving page set up in memory of Jenny raising money for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) because they raise awareness of cardiac death in the young. Touch wood, fingers crossed and prayers Muamba is better!

Flop facts:

- 130 bookings made = avergage of 2.65 yellow cards per game.

- 10 red cards shown = average of 0.2 sendings off per game or one player sent off every 5 games or two every week.

- 8 yellow cards = the most shown in one game, which has happened twice, both games ending 1:1 between Norwich and Wigan; Newcastle and Sunderland, the latter also seeing one sending off, as mentioned above.

Flop games:

- Wigan 0:0 Aston Villa: This goalless draw was everything else but boring. Both sides enjoyed their fair share of chances (20:13 shots, 6:3 on target), especially the home side. But it just showed why both sides are struggling in the bottom half of the table, Wigan in the relegation zone, second from bottom, and Aston Villa in 15th. Both sides created, but struggled to challenge the goalkeepers. On a good note, this was Wigan's first clean sheet for eight matches - and Villa's for seven games. On a realistic note, they will need to add names onto their scoresheet if they want to survive! Only goals can win you games.

- Sunderland 1:0 Liverpool: This was one of those matches where there was not much happening, not much of note anyways. Both goalkeepers had a day off in this cagey affair, Liverpool creating nothing and Sunderland holding back, not to concede. Sunderland took the lead when Bendtner side-footed in Fraizer Campbell's shot after it rebounded off the post and keeper Pepe Reina's head, nearly as bizarre as the beach ball incident two season ago. With that, the game shut down completely, seeing Liverpool fall to their third consecutive defeat. They have not done this since October 2003 under Gerard Houllier

- West Brom 1:0 Chelsea: This game was dominated by misses. On 82 Gareth McAuley diverted in Liam Ridgewell's miscued shot to secure the points from an open match which ended up costing Andre Villas-Boas his job. 30-19 was the scoreline, in chances, 19-13 on target, the result was 1-0 to West Brom, Chelsea dropping more points making it only three points out of 12 league games for the Blues. Chelsea were outplayed. Daniel Sturridge missed two fine chances but all in all the Baggies dominated and deserved the win. Roman Abramovich could only take so and so much.

- Chelsea 0:0 Tottenham: It has been over 22 years since Spurs last won at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had made great progress since interim boss Robert Di Matteo had taken over from Villas-Boas, reaching the last eight in the Champions League and the semi-finals in the FA Cup. But the high hopes soon deminished in a very disappointing match which lacked effort, chances, competitiveness and any kind of ambition, from either side. Both sides continually gave away the ball and seemed like they just could not get their act together.

- Liverpool 1:2 Wigan: Liverpool's desperate run of league form continued last weekend with Wigan recording their first ever win at Anfield. Shaun Maloney's spot kick gave the visitors the lead before Luis Suarez equalised for the Reds and saw a goal disallowed for hand ball. Gary Caldwell then stunned the Kop with a fine finish to give Wigan the lead back and the win. This defeat made it five losses out of Liverpool's last six Premier League games seeing them fall eight points behind Newcastle in sixth, the Carling Cup win a long distant memory. Wigan meanwhile remain in the relegation zone, level on points with QPR in 18th, one behind Bolton in 17th.

Flop teams:

- Flop form: Since McCarthy's departure, Wolves (DLLLL = 1/15) are still looking for their first win under temporary caretaker Connor, sticking at the bottom of the table, three points behind Wigan. Tottenham (LLLDD = 3/15) have also fallen into a bad, winless patch since their 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle after manager Redknapp's connection with the England job to take over from Capello. Liverpool (LLWLL = 3/15) will feel the Carling Cup victory is long gone with only one win in the last five league games which saw them drop eight points behind Newcastle in sixth. Their only win was a comfortable, encouraging 3-0 Merseyside win, with star skipper Gerrard scoring a hat-trick, so you would have thought that would have given the Reds the kick they need, on top of the cup victory. But Kenny Dalglish's men are still looking for answers to avoid yet another hat-trick of defeats!

- Flop scorers: As mentioned above under flop games, when Aston Villa (2 goals scored) and Wolves (3) met, it was no surprise it ended goalless. They both kept clean sheets which was a first in a while for both of them, but as stats show, both teams have scored the least in the last five games, hence the problem. You cannot win unless you score. And especially Wolves will feel it the hardest, at the stone-cold bottom of the table. Wigan/Bolton/Norwich/Everton/Tottenham (4) are next on the list of lowest goal scorers, the blue side of Merseyside getting the most out of the goal drought with 7/15 points.

- Flop defence: Wolves (16 goals conceded) and Tottenham (10) unsurprisingly top this list having recorded the least points of the lot as noted above. QPR (9) are next on the list and since taking over from Neil Warnock in January, Mark Hughes has only recorded two wins, only making four points in the last five games, which keeps his side in the relegation zone one point behind Bolton in 17th. Hard times for the Welshman which will definitely not get any easier, quite the opposite with eight games remaining.

Flop players: When players see red after scoring, it turns them from hero to zero in anyone's eye, but especially the fans. Norwich's Grant Holt became the third player this season having done exactly that, scoring and then being sent off for a stupid offence, joining Fernando Torres (Chelsea) and Joey Barton (QPR). Djibril Cisse is another QPR culprit, having been sent off for the second time this season after fowling Sunderland's Campbell and seeing his side fall to a 3:1 defeat and into the relegation zone.

Flop goal: QPR's Clint Hill saw his goal disallowed against Bolton eventhough goalkeeper Adam Bogdan's body was clearly inside the goal, seeing the ball over line before making contact with it. This is just another example, one of many, of where technology would and could be crucial and solve the problem, if only it could be used and thereby finally come to effect! This has been going on for so long, I am sick and tired of talking about it and by the time FIFA/UEFA/FA finally introduce it, we will most probably be able to beam the ball over the line anyway, more likely! Pathetic!

Flop news: A student who admitted posting racially offensive comments on Twitter about footballer Fabrice Muamba has been jailed for 56 days. I couldn't believe what I read! Not such a hard guy now, are you? How moronic can you get? He obviously doesn't have a clue and has not learnt what life means - yet. Hope this has opened his eyes!

My predictions - Useless! - Actual results:

Week 26:

Chelsea 1:1 Bolton - 3:0

Newcastle 3:1 Wolves - 2:2

QPR 1:1 Fulham - 0:1

West Brom 1:0 Sunderland - 4:0

Wigan 1:4 Aston Villa - 0:0

Man City 3:0 Blackburn - 3:0

Arsenal 3:3 Tottenham - 5:2

Norwich 0:2 Man United - 1:2

Stoke 2:1 Swansea - 2:0

Liverpool 1:1 Everton - 3:0

Week 27:

Liverpool 1:1 Arsenal - 1:2

Blackburn 0:2 Aston Villa - 1:1

Man City 3:0 Bolton - 2:0

QPR 1:1 Everton - 1:1

Stoke 2:2 Norwich - 1:0

West Brom 1:2 Chelsea - 1:0

Wigan 1:1 Swansea - 0:2

Newcastle 4:1 Sunderland - 1:1

Fulham 2:1 Wolves - 5:0

Tottenham 1:1 Man United - 1:3

Week 28:

Bolton 1:1 QPR - 2:1

Aston Villa 2:2 Fulham - 1:0

Chelsea 3:0 Stoke - 1:0

Sunderland 1:1 Liverpool - 1:0

Wolves 1:1 Blackburn - 0:2

Everton 1:1 Tottenham - 1:0

Man United 2:3 West Brom - 2:0

Swansea 1:1 Man City - 1:0

Nowich 2:0 Wigan - 1:1

Arsenal 3:0 Newcastle - 2:1

Week 29:

Fulham 1:1 Swansea - 0:3

Wigan 1:2 West Brom - 1:1

Wolves 1:2 Man United - 0:5

Newcastle 3:0 Norwich - 1:0

Aston Villa 2:1 Bolton - P:P

Blackburn 2:2 Sunderland - 2:0

Man City 3:0 Chelsea - 2:1

Tottenham 2:0 Stoke - 1:1

Everton 1:2 Arsenal - 0:1

QPR 0:3 Liverpool - 3:2

Week 30:

Chelsea 2:1 Tottenham - 0:0

Arsenal 2:1 Aston Villa - 3:0

Bolton 2:1 Blackburn - 2:1

Liverpool 2:1 Wigan - 1:2

Norwich 2:1 Wolves - 2:1

Sunderland 2:1 QPR - 3:1

Swansea 2:1 Everton - 0:1

Stoke 2:1 Man City - 1:1

West Brom 2:1 Newcastle - 1:3

Man United 2:1 Fulham - 1:0

In case you are wondering about the 2:1 predictions I made in all games last week, that was because I forgot to predict and the auto-predictor put all predictions 2:1. Told ye USELESS! ;-P