Premier League Picks Of The Week 18

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 18

The 18th week of the Premier League action saw:

29 goals - most by Huddersfield, Man City & Liverpool = 4 each
263 shots - most by Chelsea = 24
93 on target - most by Man City = 11
104 corners - most by West Ham = 9
234 fouls - most by Tottenham = 20
40 bookings - most by Brighton & Tottenham = 4 each
3 red cards - Ndidi for Leicester, Deeney for Watford, Hogg for Huddersfield
6 penalties - 3 scored (Mooy for Huddersfield, Noble for West Ham, Rooney for Everton)

What a game! Huddersfield ended their goalless and winless away run in style thrashing Watford 1-4 at Vicarage Road, the first top-flight meeting between the two. It was the Terriers' first away win and goal since 12th August when they started the Premier League campaign with a convincing 0-3 win at Crystal Palace. Elias Kachunga scored his first Premier League goal, Aaron Mooy doubled the lead from close range. The Hornets' poor discipline showed again, captain Troy Deeney shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle with just over half an hour gone, the third successive game and fourth time this season Marco Silva's men were reduced to ten men. Laurent Depoitre made it three after the break smashing the ball in after José Holebas slipped. Huddersfield skipper and former Hornet Jonathan Hogg was then sent off, second yellow, and Abdoulaye Doucouré pulled a goal back for Watford with a superb half-volley from 25 yards out. But Mooy made it two for him and four for the visitors, sealing the win from the spot, taking David Wagner's side up to 11th on 21 points, one point behind Watford in 10th. Sehr gut!

What a team! Newcastle have lost eight of their last nine Premier League games (D1, L8) after Arsenal's Mesut Özil's brilliant volley was enough to beat the Magpies at the Emirates, their longest winless run in the league since May 2015 (10). Their fourth straight defeat saw Rafael Benítez's men drop into the relegation zone and the Spanish boss crying out for "something in January". It is sad when there is more happening off the pitch than on the pitch. Gunners boss Arsène Wenger meanwhile has Özil to thank, the German's moment of magic was the only thing that brightened up a dull afternoon in London.
At the other end of the table, Manchester City outclassed Tottenham, beating the London side 4-1 at the Etihad, recording their 16th successive Premier League victory, topping and bossing the table eleven points ahead of local rivals Manchester United. The Red Devils won 1-2 at West Brom on Sunday to avoid the gap getting even bigger. It was not the most convincing win though... ZzZ

What a man! Man of the match Kevin De Bruyne bossed the show at the Etihad, scoring City's second, winning the (missed) penalty and making six key passes. In contrast to the top Belgian, Dele Alli was nowhere to be seen for Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino's men lucky to end the game with eleven men after some reckless challnges. Spurs are now without a win in 10 away games against the "big six" (4D, 6L).
Man of the match at the Vitality Stadium was Mohamed Salah,becoming the first Liverpool player to score at least 20 league and cup goals in a single season since Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge in 2013-14, and the first to score 20 goals before Christmas since the great legend Ian Rush in 1986-7. The extraordinary Egyptian touched the ball 48 times with an 80% pass success rate, scored a fine individual goal and put in four crosses in Liverpool's 0-4 win at Bournemouth, keeping the Reds unbeaten in the last 12 matches in all competitions. Click here for my full match report.
And last but not least, Wayne Rooney has made it ten goals in his last nine Premier League games for Everton, missing one but netting the other spot kick to seal the comeback and 3-1 win against bottom side Swansea on Monday Night Football. The Toffees are continuing their revival under Big Sam, having now won four of their past five games, which has taken them up to ninth in the table. What crises?!

What a goal! Crystal Palace hadn't scored in their last ten league games on the road before downing Leicester 0-3 in convincing fashion at the King Power Stadium Saturday lunch time. I certainly didn't predict that! Their last away goals were on their 1-2 win at Anfield under Big Sam in April, the longest such goalless away run by any top-flight side since 1949-50. Under fire Christian Benteke certainly made up for his penalty screw-up last weekend, scoring the opener and setting up man of the match Wilfried Zaha to double the lead with a lovely stepover move and shot. Birthday boy Wilfred Ndidi's second yellow for simulation hit the Foxes and threw away any chance of a comeback, Bakary Sako making it three goals and three points for the visitors in the final seconds of the game. Roy Hodgson has worked wonders, his side unbeaten in the last seven league games (3W, 4D), with three consecutive away clean sheets for the first time in the league, rising up from the bottom dumps to 14th. Claude Puel's men remain eighth in the table, nowhere near as impressive as in the midweek thrashing of his former club Southampton.

What the hell?! There were plenty of penalties this week (some mentioned above)! Glenn Murray missed from the spot for Brighton, the goalless draw against fifth-placed Burnley taking his side's winless run to seven matches, the last win was their 1-0 victory at Swansea on 4th November, keeping the south-coast club in 13th. Stoke boss Mark Hughes wasn't happy with referee Graham Scott after he pointed to the spot for West Ham's Manuel Lanzini's dramatic tumble. Hammers boss David Moyes blamed fatigue. Either way, the game ended 0-3 to the visitors at the Bet365 Stadium after kick-off was delayed for an hour due to a power outage. This defeat means the Potters have now lost five out of their last six and conceded the most goals in the Premier League, leaving just one point and one place above the relegation zone. All that can't come from refereeing decisions, the "Hughes out" shouts getting louder and louder...
Romelu Lukaku and José Mourinho have issues! The United forward opened the scoring against his former side West Brom, celebrations muted again like last time, his boss showing no reaction whatsoever, sitting stone cold frozen in the dugout. Your team just scored ffs! It is well known that the Portuguese has been flirting with PSG, mark my words, I've got the feeling his days in Manchester are counted! He doesn't seem to like or enjoy it there much! Depressing!

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

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks.

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

Liverpool Boss It 0-4 At Bournemouth

Sports - Football - Premier League - AFCB 0:4 Liverpool

Liverpool bossed the show and cruised to a 0-4 win at Bournemouth to move up to fourth in the Premier League table on Super Sunday.

Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a bit of magic after hitting the post with a free-kick earlier on.

The Brazilian made it five goals in five games after a fine run, moving too quick for the Bournemouth defenders, before slotting the ball past Asmir Begović.

Dejan Lovren doubled the score for the visitors at the Vitality Stadium soon after with a fine header.

Star man Mohamed Salah made it 0-3 before half-time after Jermain Defoe had hit the post for the home side.

The great Egyptian produced one of his excellent quick runs before netting his 11th goal in 11 games, and his 20th of the season.

The man of the match became the first Liverpool player to score at least 20 league and cup goals in a single season since Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge in 2013-14, and the first to score 20 goals before Christmas since the great legend Ian Rush in 1986-7.

Roberto Firmino got the deserved fourth with a diving header to seal the win 0-4 and extend the Reds' unbeaten run to 12 matches in all competitions.

The convincing victory was much needed after disappointing draws at home against Everton and West Brom and took Jürgen Klopp's men up to fourth, above Arsenal and Burnley, but still 18 points behind league leaders Manchester City.

Eddie Howe's side meanwhile, stay 16th in the table, only one point above the relegation zone, after their sixth game without a win (3D, 3L).

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last nine league games (6W, 3D), their best run since an 11-match run ended in November 2016.

They are the first team in top-flight history to win four consecutive away games by a margin of at least three goals.

Next for the Reds is a trip to London on Friday night, where they will face Arsenal at the Emirates.

One can only hope they keep the confidence from this win and if they play against the Gunners as they did in the reverse fixture or last season's stunning opener, they should be fine and able to extend that thrashing away record.

Liverpool Goals: Coutinho 20', Lovren 26', Salah 44', Firmino 66'.

Bournemouth Team: 27 Begovic; 15 Smith, 2 Francis (c), 5 Aké (booked 10'), 11 Daniels (3 S Cook 56'); 33 Ibe, 16 L Cook, 6 Surman, 7 Pugh (24 Fraser 45'); 17 King (19 Stanislas 31'); 18 Defoe. 4-4-1-1
Subs not used: 1 Boruc, 4 Gosling, 8 Arter, 9 Afobe.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 12 Gomez, 6 Lovren, 17 Klavan, 26 Robertson; 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 14 Henderson (c), 5 Wijnaldum; 11 Salah (20 Lallana 71' (booked 73')), 9 Firmino (29 Solanke 76'), 10 Coutinho (28 Ings 87'). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 7 Milner, 10 Mané, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

HT Match Stats: AFCB 0-3 LFC
Possession: 45%-55%
Shots: 3-11
On target: 1-5
Corners: 1-2
Fouls: 4-3
Yellow cards: 1-0

FT Match Stats: AFCB 0-4 LFC
Possession: 44%-56%
Shots: 6-21
On target: 2-7
Corners: 2-3
Fouls: 5-10
Yellow cards: 1-1

Referee: Andre Marriner
Man of the match: Mohamed Salah
Ground: Vitality Stadium
Attendance: 10,780

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report and Twitter.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 17

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 17

The 17th week of the Premier League action saw:

21 goals - most by Leicester & Man City = 4 each
238 shots - most by Tottenham = 25
88 on target - most by Leicester = 11
99 corners - most by Tottenham = 10
209 fouls - most by Watford = 18
15 yellow cards - most by Palace, Everton, Bournemouth & West Ham - 2 each
2 red cards - Cleverley for Watford, Shelvey for Newcastle
0 penalties - :-o

What a game! It was an easy record-breaking 15th consecutive Premier League win for Manchester City after beating Swansea 4-0 at the Etihad thanks to David Silva's double, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero with the other goals and some brilliant exemplary football - unstoppable top dogs!
West Ham saw their goal disallowed for offside after some woeful defending by Arsenal - lucky Gunners! Petr Čech nearly handed the Hammers the lead but was lucky to see his defender clear the ball off the line after the keeper was unable to punch it clear. Former Manchester United striker Javier Hernández hit the bar after some more poor defending with a poor clearance, the visitors lucky to see the ball bounce off the bar, off the line and away. It ended 0-0 and a point each at the London Stadium. Arséne Wenger was again a very fortunate man to see his side get anything at all after a useless performance, but still making it no win in the last three league games. David Moyes on the other hand can be and is "really enjoying" life in East London after beating champions Chelsea at the weekend and holding the Gunners to a point. Revival.

What a team! It was all late drama on Tuesday night! What a late turnaround for Crystal Palace, and what a resurrection by Roy Hodgson, undefeated in the last six! The dramatic 2-1 win against Watford at Selhurst Park took the London side out of the relegation zone for the first time this season, at least temporarily after Tuesday night, off the bottom at least and just goal difference separating them from safety after Wednesday's matches. Tom Cleverley's late sending off for a second yellow card started the downfall for Marco Silva's side (87'). The Hornets leaked two goals in the final minutes, Bakary Sako (89') and James McArthur (90'+2) turning the game on its head and three crucial points into the home side's bag, the only win in the bottom half of the table this week!
And Burnley are flying higher and higher. Sean Dyche's side broke into the top four, at least for the time being after their 1-0 win against Stoke City on Tuesday night thanks to Ashley Barnes' late match winner at Turf Moor. This is the highest position the Clarets have been in the top flight since 1975! And even after the Wednesday matches, only goal difference separates them from the Champions League. Just imagine that!!!
Much in contrast to the other two matches on Tuesday night, it was all too easy and no competition for Chelsea, 1-3 winners at Huddersfield, keeping up the pace with second-placed Manchester United. This defeat was the fifth in the last six matches for the Terriers, nicht gut for David Wagner.

What a man! Romelu Lukaku has been under fire to say the least for his dip in form, so, when he gave Manchester United the lead with a header against Bournemouth, the unexpected non-celebration was weird. Nearly rude. Spoilt. Or something's up. Attitude. It was enough to give the Red Devils the win and three points at Old Trafford, even though the Cherries made much more of the match, actually played, and had more chances against an average side. Yes average. Apart from man of the match David de Gea, no one really showed up, did their job. José Mourinho's side have been less than impressive lately - his antiques off the field and in front of the microphones and cameras have failed to distract from that. Me at least. Attitude. Attitude. Attitude. Where's the quality? For that you have to look to the blue side of Manchester. Full stop.

What a goal! Top: Riyad Mahrez gave Leicester the lead at Southampton with a cheeky left-footer after a great individual run. Shinji Okazaki doubled the Foxes' lead and Andy King made it three, Claude Puel's men are in form and showing some of their good old fab football again we saw 2015-16. Maya Yoshida pulled one back for the Saints, but Okazaki sealed it making it four on the counter, 1-4 at St Mary's and four wins on the trot in the league. Too easy. Mauricio Pellegrino however, has not been questioned and under fire anywhere near as much as other bosses have been after such disappointing displays and results.
Flop: Wayne Rooney was on the spot for Everton after Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow spilled Aaron Lennon's header. Jonjo Shelvey's sending off just added to Rafael Benítez's misery. All the takeover malarkey off the field should not affect the play on the pitch and can definitely not be used as an excuse for such clumsy defending and just bad football.
Serge Aurier fooled the Brighton keeper too to give Tottenham the lead with a mishit cross from the right, similar to Willian's accidental equaliser for Chelsea against Liverpool in Week 13. Son Heung-min sealed the points for Spurs late on to make it 2-0 at Wembley, the Seagulls unable to form any kind of competition. Shame.

What the hell?! It's getting a little repetitive, oh what a surprise, oh shock, oh wow, Liverpool changes, rotation rotation rotation. As long as it brings results, boss Jürgen Klopp knows best... Or does he?! The Reds missed lots of chances and had a goal disallowed. Was it a goal? Nope, handball and booking for Dominic Solanke instead, obvious, replays confirmed, so, 0-0 it ended at Anfield, a point each. It was a deserved point for West Brom as they worked hard and stuck to their plan very well, bagging Alan Pardew's second point out of the three matches he has been in charge. Loris Karius made a couple of crucial top-quality saves to avoid a worse result for the Reds. The German manager was of course not happy, the post-match interviewer didn't get to feel the fumes this time though (unlike after the draw against Everton), no complaints, accepting the result, his side were just not good enough. Verdammt noch mal!

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

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match reports, Twitter, Sky Sports News and SFR live match coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 16

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 16

The 16th week of the Premier League action saw:

27 goals - most by Tottenham = 5
237 shots - most by Crystal Palace = 24
85 on target - most by Tottenham = 11
102 corners - most by Tottenham & Liverpool = 12 each
216 fouls - most by West Brom = 18
39 yellow cards - most by West Ham, Crystal Palace & West Brom = 5 each
1 red card - Zeegelaar for Watford
3 penalties - 2 scored (Milivojevic for Palace, Rooney for Everton)

What a game! Brilliant goals, breath-taking football, action-packed, entertaining, the game had everything at St James' Park. But Newcastle once against ended up on the losing side, 2-3 against Leicester this time, a late Ayoze Pérez own goal costing the Magpies dearly. Foxes boss Claude Puel is doing what Rafael Benítez is looking for, getting the team together and the best out of his players.  The Spaniard has seen his side slump down to 16th collecting just one point from the last seven matches, whilst the Frenchman can be very happy with 14 points taking them up to eighth.
After all the massive build-up all week to the Double Derby Super Sunday - both games weren't the thrillers of the century but certainly hard-fought and no love was lost between any of the sides, that's for sure. Everton got a lucky point at Anfield after utter dominance from Liverpool. Top scorer Mohamed Salah could and should have had a hat-trick, team mate Sadio Mané blew a handful of chances, too. And after all that, it had to be Wayne Rooney who grabbed the point netting his first ever goal against the Reds in the derby from the spot off a very controversial penalty, which both managers disagreed about, to say the least. Click here for my match notes, a lot happened!
League leaders City bossed the show at Old Trafford beating United 1-2 in the later kick-off. The Red Devils only had 35% possession, their lowest figure at home in the Premier League since 2003-4. Brazilian stopper Ederson's stunning double-save topped the lot for me. Everyone is always on about David de Gea, this time the other side stayed in the game and collected the points thanks to the top keeper. More below.

What a team! Tottenham have become the first side in English top-flight history to win four consecutive league games against the same opponent by four or more goals. They must love Stoke City for that, this time crushing their favourite opponent 5-1 at Wembley, including a Harry Kane double. Home sweet home, just when everyone thought Mauricio Pochettino's side were struggling.
City's win at Old Trafford took their winning run to 14 games which is the record best for the most consecutive wins in a single Premier League season and joint-best in the English top-flight alongside Arsenal's run between February and August 2002. United's first home defeat in 41 games takes Pep Guardiola's men 11 points clear at the top. Unstoppable? José Mourinho apparently/allegedly tried to stop the Citizens' party but failed...

What a player! West Ham keeper Joe Hart must have sank in his seat watching his replacement Adrián make some brilliant stops against the champions, more to that game below.
Huddersfield record signing Steve Mounié's double ended his side's run of four consecutive defeats with a 2-0 win against Brighton, leaving manager David Wagner full of praise and deservedly so.
And Wilfried Bony found a late winner to lift Swansea off the bottom of the table after beating West Brom to bank three precious points and ease the pressure on boss Paul Clement.
Charlie Austin made it eight in his last 11 league starts for Southampton, four in his last three, capitalising on Per Mertesacker's giveaway. Arsenal were shambles in the first half in the earliest kick-off on Sunday and could have been four or five goals down at the break. Oriol Romeu hit the bar in the second half. And then of course substitute Olivier Giroud levelled the score in the 88th minute with a superb header, equalling Red Devil Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's record for the most goals by a substitute in the Premier League. It ended 1-1 but could and should have been 6 or 7-1. Lucky lucky lucky Arsène Wenger.

What a goal! It was a sweet finish by Marko Arnautović that gave West Ham the lead against Chelsea and deserved as well. The Hammers stunned the Blues who were all over the place and the home side stayed strong when Antonio Conte's men did recover and form a threat. And unlike against Manchester City, David Moyes' men were able to hang on to their first win under the former Everton and United boss.
Jermain Defoe's equaliser for Bournemouth against Palace was something else. The angle, the distance, it all looked against him, but he tapped it up and in to make it two for him and 2-2 on the scoreboard.
Salah's opening goal for Liverpool was a cracker, his 13th league goal and 19th in all competitions, topping all charts and awards for the Reds, but it was not enough to win it for them as mentioned above. Manager Jürgen Klopp certainly thought Everton's equaliser should have never happened... The German failed to admit his side could and should have killed off the game way before that incident after dominating the derby through and through.

What the hell?! All the diving and whining and complaining by Chelsea at the London Stadium made me sick! The Blues were so lucky just to get away with one booking! Both Mancunian sides were just as bad as each other on Sunday as well being drama queens, and as mentioned above it continued after the match. And I was also annoyed by all the discussions and doubts about Watford's Marvin Zeegelaar's sending off, manager Marco Silva criticising the decision like blaming his side's defeat at Burnley on it. It was a two-footed, dangerous tackle! Accidental or not, it is a red.
Both penalties for Palace against Bournemouth were softer than soft, but what was Christian Benteke thinking?! His boss Roy Hodgson was not happy. First penalty taker and scorer Luka Milivojević and team mate Jeffrey Schlupp were wondering and questioning the striker's decision. Why did they let him take the injury-time spot kick? The Belgian striker has yet to score for the London side this season and it was his third miss out of five from the spot for Palace. And I hope and think it was the last as it cost them two crucial points in the relegation battle.

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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

Rooney Grabs A Point From The Spot

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

Here are my live match notes, stats and facts:

Pre-match surprise: Coutinho and Firmino dropped to the bench, part of six changes for the Reds!!! (See the full line-ups at the bottom of these live match notes.)

15' 76%-24% possession, Reds pushing, Toffees leaving too much space at times, Big Sam going ballistic on the sideline, even Jürgen Klopp was taken aback next to the big raging boss.

23' 93%-46% passing accuracy, quality and dominance but still no real danger nor breakthrough.

29' 5-0 attempts, 0-0 on target, on top but somewhat disappointing so far for the Reds.

36' first BOOKING of the derby goes to Sigurdsson for a late tackle on Henderson, studs on ankle, ouch.

42' second BOOKING Gueye, late tackle from behind on Senegalese team mate Mané, free kick for the home side on the left -

GOAL - Salah fights his way through from the right, lifts and swerves a beauty up, away and into the left corner with his magical left foot, keeper no chance, 1-0!

Two minutes added on.

MISS - Mané skips past the last Toffee, runs in from the left, has three other Reds free in front of goal to choose from, but the Senegalese striker puts it wide instead. Should have been 2-0!

HT LFC 1-0 EFC
Possession: 80%-20%
Shots: 12-1
On target: 1-1
Corners: 3-0
Fouls: 4-6
Yellow cards: 0-2

Two CHANGES made by Big Sam after the break, Lennon and Schneiderlin on for Davies and Niasse. Rooney has gone from useless right-back to up front. Will it bring Everton into the game?

49' Salah header JUST wide, brilliant Milner cross. Liverpool continuing the way they were going, on top, dominant.

50' Sigurdsson puts the ball wide from the left, no real threat.

52' Fifth corner to the Reds, looking dangerous, Toffees struggling, crumbling, sixth corner, headed away, threat still not cleared, all Liverpool at the moment.

55' Seventh and eighth Liverpool corner, Salah fires it high from the edge of the box. 15-1 shots, but just 1-1 on target.

63' 77%-23% possession, I don't know how that has gone down, it's still all Red, one-way traffic. 35-2 touches in the opposition box.

65' Pickford was just watching there as Gomez headed the ball over off a free kick on the left, close one.

67' First CHANGE made by Klopp, Firmino replaces goal scorer Salah. Calculated gamble by the German boss, the commentators ask.

73' 11-1 corners, first one for the visitors, the fans cheer as if they've scored, nothing from it.

76' PENALTY TO EVERTON Lovren pushed down Calvert-Lewin in the box, no one else near, no threat as they were running towards the corner, clumsy one, soft one, a present. The visitors' first penalty at Anfield since 1988!!!

77' ROONEY EQUALISES from the spot, his first EVER goal in the Merseyside derby, Liverpool punished for their misses and clumsiness.

80' CHANGE Klopp brings on Coutinho for Oxlade-Chamberlain in response to that equaliser, Lovren had been booked for the penalty offence.

82' CHANGE Solanke is replaced by Ings, final dice thrown by Klopp.

82' Last CHANGE for Everton as well, Rooney handing the captain's armband over to Jagielka.

85' Schneiderlin BOOKED for felling down Milner. Coutinho to take the resulting free kick, Pickford saves and collects it to his top right. 22-3 shots, only 3-2 on target.

88' Lovren heads another Liverpool corner high. He will be kicking himself for giving away the win.

Four minutes added on, Firmino on the stretch, ball goes out for a goal kick. Henderson fires high late on, disappointing.

Full time whistle blows, Lovren still protesting to the officials, but he can moan as much as he likes, he has given the win away with the penalty foul. 1-1 and one point each, all the dominance and chances don't count for anything!

Positive note: Liverpool remain unbeaten in the last ten matches in all competitions and have equalled their longest-ever unbeaten run against the Toffees in all competitions = 15 games, set between March 1972 and April 1978.

FT LFC 1-1 EFC
Possession: 79%-21%
Shots: 23-3
On target: 3-2
Corners: 2-1
Fouls: 8-11
Yellow cards: 1-3

Klopp's post-match interview!!! Wow! The German normal and usually smiley one didn't take the questions about the spot kick lightly!!! No matter how angry he is about the referee, he can't ignore his side's weaknesses and how they couldn't take the game away from Big Sam's side. Next: West Brom at Anfield on Wednesday!

Liverpool team: 22 Mignolet, 12 Gomez, 6 Lovren (booked 76'), 17 Klavan, 26 Robertson, 14 Henderson (c), 7 Milner, 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain (10 Coutinho 78'), 19 Mané, 11 Salah (9 Firmino 67'), 29 Solanke (28 Ings 82'). 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 5 Wijnaldum, 23 Can, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

Everton team: 1 Pickford, 43 Kenny, 15 Martina, 30 Holgate, 5 Williams, 17 Gueye (booked 42'), 29 Calvert-Lewin, 26 Davies (12 Lennon HT), 10 Rooney (c) (6 Jagielka 82'), 18 Sigurdsson (booked 36'), 19 Niasse (2 Schneiderlin HT, booked 85'). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 33 Robles, 4 Keane, 27 Vlasic, 31 Lookman.

Referee: Craig Pawson
Man of the match: Jonjoe Kenny
Ground: Anfield
Attendance: 53,082

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report, Twitter and Sky Sports live match coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 15

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 15

The 15th week of the Premier League action saw:

27 goals - most by Liverpool = 5
257 shots - most by Arsenal = 33
91 on target - most by Arsenal = 16
106 corners - most by Arsenal = 12
189 fouls - most by Watford = 16
30 yellow cards - most by Watford = 4
2 red cards - Sanchez for Tottenham, Pogba for United
2 penalties - 2 scored (Hazard for Chelsea, Murray for Brighton)

What a game! Arsenal suffered their first home defeat at the Emirates since January, losing 1-3 against 10-man Manchester United. The Gunners fell two goals behind after 11 minutes and couldn't recover after those errors, no matter what they threw at the Red Devils. The defeat sees Arsène Wenger's men drop out of the Champions League qualification places to fifth. More to the fiery encounter below.
Watford were unlucky just to get a point against Tottenham, referee Martin Atkinson not making (m)any friends at Vicarage Road. Less than a minute after the home side felt Richarlison was fouled, but nothing was given, Son Heung-min levelled the score from the counter. Christian Kabasele had headed the Hornets ahead from a corner and the home side fought hard to stay in the match. Too hard and physical according to some, but the officials ignored all appeals and calls on both sides. Mauricio Pochettino felt it was long overdue for some decisions to go his side's way, avoiding any further word about Davinson Sánchez's red card for an elbow. Spurs have now gone four league matches without a win, unable to deal with Marco Silva's side's fighting spirit.

What a team! Man City are still topping the lot with an eight-point cushion - next weekend's derby is going to be interesting! The odds on an 8-0 win to the league leaders against West Ham were lower than the visitors nicking a 0-1 win at the Etihad, which said it all!!! But the Hammers started so well and worked so hard though and got a surprise lead in the first half thanks to Angelo Ogbonna's header. However, it was no surprise they got knackered and leaked the goals in the end, Nicolás Otamendi (57') and David Silva (83') handing the Citizens their record-equalling 13th PL win in a row in Pep time.
Crystal Palace have moved off the bottom of the table for the first time this season and have been replaced by Swansea after the Welsh side's 2-1 defeat at Stoke. Mark Hughes was a very relieved man seeing his side showing much more "courage and character" as he put it after the Potters recorded their first win since October, first home win since September. The pressure is up and going more and more against Paul Clement. Despite failing to score for the 10th away game in a row for the first time since Manchester City in 1950, the Eagles were happy with the point at West Brom, Alan Pardew full of praise for his side too.
Huddersfield are sliding down the table, Everton making it two wins and six goals in two games and Big Sam very happy after his first match in charge beating the Tigers 2-0 at Goodison Park.

What a man! Man of the match at the Emirates David de Gea made the most saves in a single match in Premier League history = 14, including a breathtaking double-save against Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sánchez. 33 attempts made by the home side, 16 on target, but just one goal to show for on the scoreboard. José Mourinho's side produced just 8 shots, 4 on target, but 3 goals meant 3 points. It was a thriller and a very harsh lesson to the London side, despite having the extra man for the last 15ish minutes after Paul Pogba was sent off for a dangerous tackle.
Man of the Match at Stamford Bridge Eden Hazard made a big difference for Chelsea as the Blues came back from a goal down to beat Newcastle 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. The former Premier League Player of the Year levelled the score with an angled strike and sealed the win from the spot after striker Álvaro Morata had given the Blues the lead. This result made it ten wins for Antonio Conte's side in the league, whilst Rafael Benítez's Magpies have seen no wins in the last six and been dragged down to 15th, 5 points from the drop zone.

What a goal! All FIVE Liverpool goals just over-rolled Brighton... Great team play, counter attacking, running, passing, smashing. Mohamed Salah wasn't on the scoreboard for a change but was more than involved. The Egyptian has played part in 15 goals in the first 15 PL games for Liverpool, more than any other player for the club (12 goals, 3 assists). Man of the match Philippe Coutinho's cheeky low free kick that went under the wall made it four and settled any nerves and fears of a comeback like Sevilla in the Champions League. And unlucky Lewis Dunk put the ball into his own net it sealed the deal 1-5 at the Amex Stadium. The Brighton defender is only one away from Martin Škrtel's record for the season (= 4 in 2013/14). The Reds meanwhile have moved into the top four of the Premier League for the first time since August after scoring 15 goals in their past four away games in all competitions. BOOM!

What the hell?! There were lots of questionable refereeing decisions once again, as (some) mentioned above... Penalties... Bookings... Red cards... The inconsistencies are just mad! I could fill books with all the errors (and arguments FOR video reviews and WHY THE HELL they still haven't been introduced)! Bournemouth defender Adam Smith said in the post-match interview referee Jonathan Moss admitted his booking for diving was a mistake instead of a giving a penalty - too little too late as the game against Southampton ended 1-1!!! And as it is Cherry's fifth yellow card of the season he will be suspended for the next game. It's ridiculous that it cannot be retracted. It is rare an official so openly concedes a mistake, so, something should be done!!!
And a little LOL to cheer up and finish things off: I loved Gary Lineker's MOTD running order prank on Twitter, LMAO!

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

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks.

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

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.