Swans End Reds Unbeaten Run

Sports - Football - Premier League - SWA 1:0 LIV

Here are my match notes of a very frustrating display and rare defeat for Liverpool, suffering against stubborn Swansea, losing 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night, ending the Reds' unbeaten run after 18 games.

The first half an hour just saw one shot, way off target high over the bar by Mohamed Salah. That's it.

Swansea kept Liverpool quiet staying in their own half after creating one or two threats themselves with Jordan Ayew the main producer and danger, but nothing close.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain produced the first shot on target after 33 minutes, straight to the Swans keeper Lukasz Fabiański.

Defender Kyle Naughton volleyed way over after the home side's free kick on the right was headed away by Virgil van Dijk.

There were some shaky moments for Joe Gomez. The home side ended the first half on top, corner after corner... AND GOAL! Their first shot on target and it's in, five minutes before the break!

A corner was not cleared, van Dijk headed the ball down straight to Federico Fernandez who provided Alfie Mawson with an easy finish from close range, 1-0! The defenders did it all for the Welsh side!

Again, Liverpool showed how weak they are at the back! Yes, van Dijk didn't help the Reds there either! Jürgen Klopp must have been fuming!!!

Andy Robertson and Ayew clashed, the Red got booked for it despite his protest, not happy, a minute left in this dreadful half.

Joel Matip was the next one in the book for a nasty challenge against midfielder Sam Clucas, frustrations showed on the visitors at the end of the first half...

One minute was added on, Salah on the left, to Sadio Mané, who put it wide! Right-footed, falling, wasted chance.

HT 1-0, as always, Liverpool didn't make it easy for themselves, Swansea holding and then taking advantage well thanks to Mawson. Klopp will have been fuming and wanting to wake the Reds up!!!

The home side could be and probably were very happy at the break. No changes were made by either side.

And the second half mirrored the first, Liverpool nowhere, Salah with another miss well wide, frustrated, Swansea in control, the fans loud and happy.

Robertson was there but not really, in and around the box, but kept missing and messing up chances, passes and crosses. Argh.

Just under an hour gone, Fabianski tapped over Salah's free-kick for a corner, Swansea cleared the threat.

Liverpool were still surrounded and denied by the Swans, every move ending nowhere. Complete opposite to the last match!

The first substitution was made by the home side, 64', Tom Carroll replacing Nathan Dyer.

Liverpool brought on Adam Lallana for the Ox, 68', Klopp looking like he's pulling himself together...

Danny Ings came on for Georginio Wijnaldum who looked disappointed, 73', Klopp giving out instructions... Hands, arms, shouts, all waving and echoing around... There was not much else happening of note.

Ings got a shot off Salah eventually, but Fabianski held on, Liverpool getting closer but still looking shaky, the home side holding firm.

The Swans made their second change, 79', slowly but surely Ayew walked off, Wilfried Bony on, applause all round, deserved.

Gomez put a shot wide, summarising his useless/helpless/poor game.

Salah created another chance after a short corner to van Dijk who directed a soft header to Fabiański, who collected it easily.

Pf. I think all the Reds put in against City looked lost and lacking on Monday night. Who was I being optimistic and thinking we would thrash the Welsh side?! Apologies and applause to Swansea!

Four minutes were added on, the Swans still fighting, Liverpool still missing. Salah put another one wide, nowhere near.

Last minute, the Liberty Stadium was echoing louder than loud. Liverpool on the attack again, Fabianski collected again.

Roberto Firmino headed against the post late on, Lallana unable to make much of the rebound. Fabianski punched the following corner clear... And that was full time.

There was some late drama but the Reds just couldn't give enough, Swansea took it, easy, and topped it, three crucial points in their battle for safety. Deserved.

Swans manager Carlos Carvalhal was understandably over the moon with Swansea's first home win under him and the Portuguese boss summarised the game brilliantly with the quote of the season:

"They (Liverpool) are like a Formula 1 car. But at 4pm in London it will be difficult to speed, they would be a car like any other.

"We (Swansea) needed to make sure there was traffic, we could not let them have open roads to drive in."

Swansea have earned seven points in their four Premier League games under Carvalhal (W2 D1 L1), two more than they'd picked up in their 12 before his arrival (W1 D2 L9).

On the other side, Klopp admitted defeat, feeling like it was pretty much a giveaway:

"I am more frustrated about the performance than the result. We didn't play how we wanted to play.

"We gave them the opportunity to score and then we did exactly what Swansea wanted. Swansea knew that to win they needed our help, and unfortunately we gave it to them."

This was Liverpool's first defeat in 15 Premier League games (W10 D4), and just their third of this season.

But the German boss seems to dislike this Welsh side, having lost three Premier League games against Swansea, more than against any other opponent in the competition.

What a difference a week makes. Next on the list are West Brom in the FA Cup at the weekend, and then Huddersfield in the league next week.

It can only get better, right?

Swansea Goal: Mawson 40'.

Swansea Team: 1 Fabianski; 16 Olssen, 6 Mawson, 33 Fernandez (c), 5 van der Hoorn, 26 Naughton; 17 Clucas, 4 Ki, 8 Fer, 12 Dyer (15 Carroll 64'); 18 Ayew (2 Bony 79'). 5-4-1
Subs not used: 11 Narsingh, 13 Nordfeldt, 27 Bartley, 51 Mesa, 62 McBurnie.

Liverpool Team: 1 Karius; 26 Robertson (booked 44'), 4 van Dijk, 32 Matip (booked 45'), 12 Gomez; 5 Wijnaldum (28 Ings 73'), 23 Can (c); 18 Mané, 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain (20 Lallana 68'), 11 Salah; 9 Firmino. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 7 Milner, 17 Klavan, 22 Mignolet, 29 Solanke, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

HT Stats: SWA 1-0 LIV
Possession: 35%-65%
Shots: 2-4
On target: 1-1
Corners: 3-2
Fouls: 4-6
Yellow cards: 0-2

FT Stats: SWA 1-0 LIV
Possession: 28%-72%
Shots: 3-21
On target: 2-4
Corners: 3-9
Fouls: 5-9
Yellow cards: 0-2

Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Man of the match: Alfie Mawson
Ground: Liberty Stadium
Attendance: 20,886

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, quotes, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report, Sky Sports app, Twitter and SFR match coverage.

My Ashes Cricket Verdict/Rant

Sports - Cricket - Ashes - AUS 4:0 ENG

I realised I haven't done a cricket blog in yonks, so, here we go, here is my little opinion/rant about the last couple of miserable months for England Down Under. (I'm not on about the ODI series that started last weekend obviously, but good old test match cricket.)

Yep, Australia thrashed England to regain the Ashes, and they did so in style, 4-0, whilst the visitors just crumbled to bits again and again, the one draw being the only thing/straws they can clutch onto.

It surprised everyone, despite England not being anywhere near their best, but before the tour Australia looked nowhere near quality and experienced enough to win as strong, confident and comfortable as they did:

First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets

Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs

Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs

Fourth Test, Melbourne: Draw

Fifth Test, Sydney: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs

Here are factors I blame most for this:

The captain

Joe Root is just not good enough. Or rather, he is just too nice/naive. Not ruthless and decisive enough. The skipper just gets starts but no breakthroughs and most of the time it is too late by the time he gets on, the hole is too deep for him to dig England out of alone. The calls he makes in general fielding and other decisions like bowlers, nightwatchmen and follow-ons have just been blatantly and utterly wrong. Clueless. Shambles. All of us ending up scratching our heads.

The coach

The way players fell and fell again, not learning from their mistakes, you know something is wrong, not just with them, but their teachers/instructors/trainers as well. Trevor Bayliss has announced he will step down as England coach next year... 2019?! Too little too late! It's odd to give such long notice, leaving everything and everyone in a bit of a limbo. And what about a bowling coach??? That position's vacant since Ottis Gibson left last summer. If changes are not made where changes are needed, or holes are left, how can one expect improvement?! (And as I was writing and editing this article, Chris Silverwood has taken over and started his job as bowling coach this week. Good luck!!! He'll need it, plus a lot of patience!)

The selectors

Why do they always stick to the same line-up, when they are clearly/obviously/surely past their best and there are better/more in form/confident players out there?! Alastair Cook as an opener fell cheaply too many times, his double century in Melbourne was too little too late. James Anderson is the oldest but was the only bowler who really turned up and made a fight out of it, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes proving expensive at 50 runs per wicket and Moeen Ali just useless with both bat and ball. It was painful to watch at times.

The general mentality

From the start, England made all the wrong headlines, distracting and destroying any kind of team confidence and spirit. From Ben Stokes' Bristol nightclub brawl that saw him excluded from the tour, Ben Duckett's drink pouring episode over/with Anderson, to the Jonny Bairstow headbutt saga, England have been just all over the place, in bits, shattered it seemed. No discipline. No respect. Something I thought cricket always prided itself with over other sports like football where those kind of problems have been/are more common.

Team and man of the tournament

Australia just showed England how it's done, Pat Cummins (23 wickets), Mitchell Starc (my personal pick after taking 22 wickets despite missing the fourth test due to injury) and Josh Hazlewood (21 wickets) with the ball, man of the series Steve Smith with the bat and decisive captaincy. Exemplary. Consistent. Bang on. When it mattered most. Legendary? Only time will tell. But the Aussies can be very happy with themselves after this tournament.

With the ODI tournament England can and have hit out and get a bit of revenge. But it's the test match cricket they are not allowed to neglect and forget as they seemed to have done over the last months. I am worried. Very worried.

Click here for my previous cricket blog - yep, 2011, that's how long ago that was! Told ye! A wonderful year, the one where we won Down Under!!! #Memories

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC website, their Ashes and general cricket news and coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 23

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 23

The 23rd week of the Premier League football action saw:

31 goals - most by West Ham, Tottenham & Liverpool = 4 each
256 shots - most by Tottenham & Man United = 20 each
85 on target - most by Tottenham = 10
90 corners - most by West Brom = 9
222 fouls - most by Crystal Palace = 16
31 yellow cards - most by Southampton = 5
1 red card - Chilwell for Leicester
0 penalties

What a game! What a Super Sunday it was! Liverpool outplayed and -scored league leaders Manchester City, 4-3 at Anfield. Yes, you read right, the unbeatables were beaten for the first time in the league this season. And what a belter of a game it was, the Reds shocking the Sky Blues riding high on top 4-1, before nervously tumbling over the finishing line 4-3, what a game it was, click here for my full match report.
How annoying was the early kick-off at Dean Court in contrast to the Merseyside showpiece?! Alex Iwobi elbowed the ball away in the box for Arsenal against Bournemouth a few minutes before the break, nothing given. Rob Holding with a cheeky shoulder as well, not as obvious, but oh so cheeky, shortly before Arsène Wenger's men took the lead after the break thanks to Héctor Bellerín. Man of the match Callum Wilson levelled the score for the home side and just a couple of minutes later (283 seconds to be exact) Jordon Ibe slashed a low shot under Petr Čech to turn the game on its head and the young Gunners with it. It was the first ever Premier League win for the Cherries against the red London side, red full of embarrassment!

What a team! Leicester were outstanding, Chelsea were nowhere. It ended 0-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to Ben Chilwell's two stupid yellow cards in the space of five second-half minutes, giving the Blues some glimmer of hope, but the Foxes held on to the point in the end. It's the first time in the Blues' history they have recorded three consecutive goalless draws. Tired? Antonio Conte has enough players to choose from, I'm not too sure whether it's them or the Italian who are more tired of their job.
Stoke City announced Paul Lambert as their new boss hours before their match at Old Trafford and the fans' reaction wasn't exactly grateful. The Potters' struggle continued as the Red Devils cruised to a 3-0 win, thanks to some quality saves by David de Gea and play by Paul Pogba setting up scorers Antonio Valencia and Anthony Martial before Romelu Lukaku completed the scoreline. Good luck Paul. You'll need it. Lots of it.

What a man! David Moyes and Roy Hodgson continued their magic, enjoying life in London. West Ham thrashed Huddersfield 1-4 at the Kirklees Stadium, Mark Noble pouncing on keeper Jonas Lössl's messed-up pass to Joe Lolley, Marko Arnautović and Manuel Lanzini's double completing the onslaught after the break. This Hammers win made Moyes just the fourth boss to win 200 Premier League matches after Sir Alex Ferguson (528), Wenger (468) and Harry Redknapp (236). Bakary Sako's powerful cut and drill over Nick Pope's outstretched leg was enough for Crystal Palace to beat Burnley at Selhurst Park, continuing their revival under the former England boss.
Alan Pardew recorded his first win as West Brom manager, ending Albion's 20-game winless run, beating Brighton 2-0 thanks to goals from defenders Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson.

What a goal! Substitute Joselu equalised through defender Alfie Mawson's legs within four minutes of coming on for Newcastle against Swansea, heartbreak for the bottom side after they were leading thanks to Jordan Ayew's header and denied a penalty for an obvious handball, Mohamed Diamé elbowing the ball away from goal. More to the flop quality refereeing below.
Tottenham's 4-0 thrashing of Everton showed individual as well as team brilliance. Son Heung-min opened the scoring finishing off Serge Aurier's cross nicely. The South Korean set up Harry Kane with a fine run to double Spurs' lead, before the record-breaker made it three, converting Eric Dier's pass to take his Premier League total to 98 goals overtaking Teddy Sheringham's club tally. And last but definitely not least Christian Eriksen smashed in Dele Alli's cheeky back-heel pass to make it 4-0. The visitors never got a look into the game, 10-0 shots on target says it all, Big Sam's face and Sammy Lee's antiques on the sideline said it all, not happy.
As little as it counted in the end as detailed above, Lolley's equaliser for Huddersfield against West Ham was a beauty, the run, the take, the curl, the back of the net.

What the hell?! Similar to the denied Swansea and Bournemouth penalties mentioned above, Abdoulaye Doucouré's last-minute leveller for Watford to make it 2-2 against Southampton was an obvious handball. Maradona-esque. How did the referee(s) not see that?! The visitors led comfortably at Vicarage Road thanks to James Ward-Prowse's double in the first half, great team play, great goals, utter dominance. Marco Silva's men fought back after the break, Andre Gray heading one in before the late drama and controversy. Cruel cruel cruel for Mauricio Pellegrino and his men, who are now 10 league games without a win, the Argentine's days numbered as Saints boss.

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

Click here for my previous Picks Of The Week.

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

Reds End City Run In 7-Goal Thriller

Sports - Football - Premier League - LFC 4:3 MCFC

Liverpool ended Manchester City's Premier League unbeaten run in shocking style, gob-smacking and handing Pep Guardiola's men their first league defeat of the season in a seven-goal Super Sunday showpiece-thriller at Anfield.

Former Gunner Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave the Reds the lead with a smacker after just 8:47 minutes, a nice long strike 45 yards from goal between four defenders, across the keeper Ederson and in, boom!

The visitors were stunned, the Kop loud, but five minutes before the break City replied, Leroy Sané smashing in the equaliser past Loris Karius' bottom right, his near-post, not good for Simon Mignolet's replacement.

Up until then, Jürgen Klopp's men were all over their opponents, chasing, tracking and closing down every ball, thrilling to watch, hell to play against. Or pressing, pressing, pressing as others put it.

Liverpool continued the high-powered, energised and full-on style after the break, Man City dominating possession but not play.

And just before the hour-mark, the Red storm of three goals in nine minutes commenced:

Roberto Firmino with a brilliant individual goal, stayed up, kept the ball, and shooooooot, 2-1. The shirt went off. Yep, and Anfield exploded.

Seconds later, Sadio Mané hit the post, a minute before his left-footer into the top left corner made it 3-1, even Martin Tyler got loud!!!

And that wasn't all, not even six minutes later, Mohamed Salah clipped the ball over Ederson and in, after the keeper made an error of a clearance/pass/cross/whatever it was supposed to be, 4-1, vielen Dank!

Rache ist süüüüüß! (= revenge is sweeeeet! In case you're wondering what I'm on about, here's my report on the last time these two sides met.)

But it would have been too good to be true. It cannot be Liverpool FC without a hick-up (or two) and more drama drama drama!

Sub Bernardo Silva (84') and Ilkay Gündogan (91') pulled two late goals back to make it 4-3 and hand the Citizens a glimmer of hope of avoiding defeat and the Reds that all too familiar horrifying feeling of "NOT AGAIN".

GULP. I couldn't watch...

But it was not to be for the league leaders and record-breakers, the home side held onto the lead and bagged the three precious, unexpected, awesome points.

Only two teams have gone longer unbeaten than City's run of 22 matches from the start of the season in Premier League history - Arsenal in 2003-04 (38 games) and Manchester United in 2010-11 (24).

And Guardiola doesn't seem to like Klopp, having lost five times against the German, more than against any other manager.

Andy Robertson was outstanding at the back for the Reds, controlling and frustrating the Citizens, including former Red Raheem Sterling, which was inspiring especially after all the Reds were so worried about being without injured Virgil van Dijk! And Coutinwho?! Life goes on and looks pretty rosy without the Brazilian!

Emre Can's substitution changed the game and showed how much Liverpool relied on him as City came back into the game minutes after he was replaced by James Milner.

And many were surprised to see under-fire defender Dejan Lovren start and given the captain's armband.

But who cares?! WE WON AND SHOWED EVERYONE YES WE CAN! JAWOHL!!!

Liverpool Goals: Oxlade-Chamberlain 9', Firmino 59', Mané 61', Salah 68'.

Man City Goals: Sané 40', Bernardo Silva 84', Gündogan 90'+1'.

Liverpool Team: 1 Karius, 12 Gomez, 32 Matip, 6 Lovren, 26 Robertson, 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 23 Can (7 Milner 79', booked), 5 Wijnaldum, 11 Salah (20 Lallana 88'), 9 Firmino (booked), 19 Mané (17 Klavan 90'+4').
Subs not used: 22 Mignolet, 28 Ings, 29 Solanke, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

Man City Team: 31 Ederson, 2 Walker, 5 Stones, 30 Otamendi (booked), 18 Delph (3 Danilo 31'), 17 De Bruyne, 25 Fernandinho (booked), 8 Gündogan, 7 Sterling (booked, 20 Bernardo Silva 71'), 10 Agüero, 19 Sané.
Subs not used: 1 Bravo, 15 Mangala, 21 Silva, 35 Zinchenko, 55 Diaz.

FT Stats: LFC 4-3 MCFC
Possession: 36%-64%
Shots: 16-11
On target: 7-4
Corners: 5-6
Fouls: 10-7
Yellow cards: 2-3

Referee: Andre Marriner
Man of the match: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Ground: Anfield
Attendance: 53,285

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report, MOTD2, Twitter and Sky Sports match coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 22

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 22

The 22nd week of the Premier League action saw:

29 goals - most by Leicester & Man City = 3 each
269 shots - most by Bournemouth = 26
89 on target - most by Bournemouth = 8
118 corners - most by Bournemouth = 12
202 fouls - most by Brighton = 13
28 yellow cards - most by West Ham, Stoke & Arsenal = 3 each
0 red cards
0 penalties

What a game! I got out of breath watching Brighton against Bournemouth on New Year's Monday lunch time, neither side holding back, end-to-end stuff, brilliant to watch, 41 shots attempted between the two, the most in a single Premier League match so far this season. It ended 2-2 at the Falmer Stadium, a couple of beautiful team goals by the home side, Anthony Knockaert converting José Izquierdo's unselfish pass nicely and Glenn Murray with a smashing shot, Steve Cook heading in the equaliser in-between, lots of close chances for both sides and a scruffy second leveller by Callum Wilson to finish it off for the visitors. Great entertainment, the sides finishing 12th and 13th respectively.
Wednesday night's London derby was a thriller-and-a-half too at the Emirates, it all happened in the second half. Arsenal and Chelsea shared out 33 chances between each other, but it was Héctor Bellerin's injury-time strike that decided the result, a 2-2 draw, a point each. Gunners boss Arsène Wenger was not happy with the Blues' penalty that got them back into the match, Eden Hazard with the spot-kick a couple of minutes after Jack Wilshere had given his side the lead with a stunning high-fired strike. Antonio Conte's men must have thought they had nicked the perfect comeback when Marcos Alonso netted Davide Zappacosta's low cross to make it 1-2 in the 84th minute. But Bellerin spoilt that show with a superb half-volley to grab a point for the home side. Zappacosta saw a shot bang off the crossbar in the dying seconds, but it stayed 2-2. Breathtaking end.

What a team! 38 seconds into the game, Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock unmarked. After the fastest goal in the Premier League this season, Watford had no chance at Manchester City! Marco Silva's side have lost four out of the last five, whilst Pep Guardiola's men made it 20 wins out of 22 league games, 15 points clear at at the top. End of the crises after last week's dip.
At the other end of the table, West Brom are now 20 games without a win as Andy Carroll's double, his first two goals of the season, including the last-minute winner completed a dramatic turnaround for West Ham. Hammers boss David Moyes went mad celebrating the escape out of the drop zone. Baggies manager Alan Pardew was heart-broken by another late defeat, blaming his side's tired minds after only two days rest compared to the opposition's week off. That does not excuse their long miserable run though, which sees them drop down to 19th, level on points with bottom side Swansea.

What a man! Mark Hughes saved some of his players in the thrash against Chelsea on Saturday, to then go on and lose at home against Newcastle a couple of days later, thanks to Ayose Pérez's goal, and their keeper Karl Darlow with some spectacular saves. How much longer will he be Stoke manager as they are sliding down further and further with their worst run in over three decades?! And this result could have been even worse if Ciaran Clark wouldn't have missed a sitter from a couple of yards out... (And as I am editing and publishing this belatedly, my question was answered and the inevitable happened, Hughes sacked after Potters got kicked out of the FA Cup third round at League Two side Coventry City.)
And Crystal Palace are in form with only one loss in the last 11 after they made a great comeback at St Mary's beating Southampton 1-2. Shane Long's first goal in 11 months was not enough as James McArthur and Luka Milivojević replied to turn the game around with a gutsy response and performance. Saints slip down to 17th after nine games without a win whilst Palace are booming. Is Mauricio Pellegrino the right man for the Saints? Roy Hodgson certainly is for Palace! Wow!

What a goal! It was a great right-footed take by Riyad Mahrez to give Leicester the lead against Huddersfield, some sloppy defending beforehand helped though, too. Islam Slimani doubled the lead for the Foxes with his first goal for the club. And Marc Albrighton made it three goals and three points for Claude Puel's men.
Liverpool's Sadio Mané broke the deadlock at Burnley with a smacker from the edge of the box, left-footer on the turn, after a very frustrating hour of football in the pouring rain. There was some late drama with two goals in the last few minutes, but the German boss Jürgen Klopp ended up all smiles. Click here for my full match report.
Antony Martial's opener for Manchester United at Everton was also a great individual unstoppable hit from the edge of the box. Jesse Lingard doubled the Red Devils' lead with a similar smacker into the right top corner of the net. Two great goals, three points for José Mourinho's side, leaving Big Sam loud and fuming, his side not even recording a shot on target, his record against the Red Devils remaining miserable with only one win in the last 22 meetings.

What the hell?! The linesman at Swansea must have his eyes and/or football knowledge tested. Spurs took the lead thanks to Fernando Llorente - who was clearly offside. The visitors had another chance, headed high - with a group of Mauricio Pochettino's men offside! But no flag was in sight. It didn't get any better after the break. Dele Alli, who doubled Tottenham's lead and sealed the three points late on, should have been booked for diving. Davinson Sánchez should have been sent off for a second bookable offence. Referee Bobby Madley and his colleagues had a stinker!!! What a nice welcome to the Premier League it was for new Swans boss Carlos Carvahal in his first home game in charge!!! The pouring rain certainly fit the mood in Wales!!!

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

Tottenham 2:1 West Ham - 1:1 postponed from week 21, Son Heung-min and Pedro Obiang with two stunning long-range strikes. 31-3 shots, 8-1 on target, 7-1 corners, 10-6 fouls, 0-2 yellow cards, Spurs will have been left wondering how the hell they did not get more out of that game!!!

Click here for my previous Picks Of The Week.

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

Late Drama & LFC Winner At Burnley

Sports - Football - Premier League - BUR 1:2 LIV

Late drama with two goals in the final minutes saw Liverpool destroy any kind of Burnley fight back and clinch a 1-2 win at Turf Moor.

The Reds were sloppy in the goalless first half, Sadio Mané especially wasting and giving away the ball a lot.

The Clarets had a couple of chances, tight tight tight, challenging the Reds in their dominance of possession.

The weather did not help, wet wet wet, players slipping all over the place.

The only stop Nick Pope had to make in the first half was against Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

And Simon Mignolet denied Scott Arfield with an easy dive to his right, the only other shot on target before the break.

With an hour gone, finally a breakthrough came for the visitors, Mané turning on the edge of the box and sending a rocket into the back of the net with his left foot to make it 0-1, his eighth goal of the season.

Red youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold stretched Pope to the keeper's top left, a brilliant save with just over 15 minutes left in the game.

Ashley Barnes put a chance wide for the home side late on, testing the Reds again and again.

The Ox got denied by Pope after Liverpool took too long to make something out of the ball in the Burnley box.

Substitute Sam Vokes' header was kept out and away by Mignolet shortly afterwards. The biggest drama was left for last.

Three minutes left on the clock, Vokes' wide header to his right found Berg Gudmundsson who made no mistake of a diving header past the back post to make it 1-1, the Reds defense caught sleeping.

With four minutes added on, Clarets manager Sean Dyche was much more on his toes, whilst Reds boss Jürgen Klopp looked more frustrated.

In the dying seconds, man of the match Dejan Lovren's header off a free-kick found Ragnar Klavan who headed the ball in to make it 1-2.

It was the first goal scored by an Estonian player in Premier League history.

Relief for Liverpool, after recording their 16th game unbeaten, grief for Burnley, losing after they fought so hard till the end.

HT Stats: BUR 0-0 LIV
Possession: 37%-63%
Shots: 6-7
On target: 1-1
Corners: 1-1
Fouls: 2-8
Action areas: BUR 18.3%-57.2%-24.5% LIV

FT Stats: BUR 1-2 LIV
Possession: 42%-58%
Shots: 13-19
On target: 4-5
Corners: 3-9
Fouls: 4-12

Burnley Goal: Gudmunsson 87'.

Liverpool Goals: Mané 61' & Klavan 90'+4.

Burnley Team: 29 Pope, 26 Bardsley, 5 Tarkowski, 6 Mee, 3 Taylor, 17 Berg Gudmunsson, 4 Cork, 16 Defour, 37 Arfield (21 Wells 86'), 13 Hendrick (9 Vokes 71'), 10 Barnes.
Subs not used: 2 Lowton, 18 Westwood, 19 Walters, 22 Lindegaard, 28 Long.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet, 66 Alexander-Arnold, 6 Lovren, 17 Klavan, 12 Gomez, 23 Can, 5 Wijnaldum, 19 Mané (9 Firmino 72'), 20 Lallana (7 Milner 86'), 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain (32 Matin 90'+6'), 29 Solanke.
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 26 Robertson, 28 Ings, 58 Woodburn.

Referee: Roger East
Man of the match: Dejan Lovren
Ground: Turf Moor
Attendance: 21,756

Click here for my last LFC match report.

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

Premier League Picks Of The Week 21

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 21

The 21st week of the Premier League action saw:

16 goals - most by Chelsea = 5
200 shots - most by Chelsea = 21
65 on target - most by Chelsea = 12
91 corners - most by Man United = 10
195 fouls - most by Huddersfield, Burnley, Watford, Crystal Palace & West Brom = 14 each
41 yellow cards - most by Crystal Palace = 5
0 red cards
3 penalties - 2 scored (Willian for Chelsea, Rodriguez for West Brom)

What a game! Swansea turned the game around at Watford with two goals in the last four minutes! André Carrillo had headed the home side ahead early on, before Jordan Ayew netted the equaliser from close range late on and Luciano Narsingh found the winner even later after Heurelho Gomes had saved Nathan Dyer's attempt. It was an explosive end and turnaround, the Welsh side's fourth win from 21 Premier League games, whilst Marco Silva's men slipped to their fifth defeat from six league games.
Bournemouth climbed out of the relegation zone in big style, all the way up to 14th, after beating Everton 2-1 and ending Sam Allardyce's unbeaten run thanks to Ryan Fraser's double. Jordan Pickford saved against Callum Wilson and Jordon Ibe, so, the scoreline could have been much worse. With the win, Eddie Howe's men avoided going nine league games without a win and denied Big Sam being the first Toffees manager to go unbeaten in his first seven Premier League games.

What a team! Crystal Palace should have won against Manchester City, but keeper Ederson denied Luka Milivojević from the spot, giving his side an "air of invincibility about them" as Gary Lineker put it on Twitter. Bang on. The league leaders' winning streak was finally halted after 18 games. Crises? The Sky Blues are still unbeaten and 14 points clear at the top, I don't think Pep Guardiola will have lost much sweat, tears nor sleep. But the ex Barca man was less optimistic, not believing his side are or will stay untouchable nor unbeatable. Let's wait and see, I can't see anything or anyone stopping them at the moment!
Manchester United didn't look like they were at home against Southampton, grinding out a goalless draw at Old Trafford. Boss José Mourinho just complained about the referee Craig Pawson not giving a penalty against Maya Yoshida, ignoring the fact that this draw has stretched his side's winless run to three games, the Red Devils just unable to make or break a real game or an opposition. Saints manager Mauricio Pellegrino will be much happier with this point despite his team now being eight games without a win. Better than nought.

What a man! Mohamed Salah's double turned the game around for Liverpool after Jamie Vardy had given Leicester the lead early on at Anfield. The Egyptian star man completed the perfect comeback with his 16th and 17th Premier League goal, Reds manager Jürgen Klopp calling his side's reaction to going a goal down the best he has ever seen. The Foxes aren't the German's favourite opponent, having lost three times against them already, more than any other club since he took over in October 2015. Liverpool have scored 77 goals in 30 games so far this season, their highest total at this stage of the campaign as a top-flight club. Nicht schlecht! Vielen Dank!

What a goal! Danny Drinkwater's take and shot into the top right corner of the goal to make it 2-0 for Chelsea against Stoke City was like scripted out of a football movie. Beautiful. The game was just too easy for the Blues. Davide Zappacosta made it five slashing the ball in from the edge of the box, wham bang thank you ma'am. Potters manager Mark Hughes was under heavy fire and pressure already, this thrashing will not have helped. Injuries have not helped the old boss either, but resting quite a few because of the tight schedule, fans and board will say enough is enough at some point if their dire run continues this way. 20 points after 21 games is their worst-ever total at this stage of the Premier League.

What the hell?! West Brom should never have come back into the game against Arsenal, the last-minute penalty should not have been. Yes, the ball came off Calum Chambers' arm, but the arm was on the chest, so, the ball would have come off the chest anyways, the arm did not make a difference. He can not beam his arm away! It ended a goal and point each at The Hawthorns, Jay Rodriguez easily beating Petr Čech from the spot, making up for James McClean's own goal off Alexis Sánchez's free-kick. Even Baggies boss Alan Pardew conceded it was a generous decision. It certainly soured Arsène Wenger's record 811th league match as Gunners boss.
And Huddersfield keeper Jonas Lössl said there was contact between him and Burnley's Jeff Hendrick and he said so much to the referee, a clear penalty not given, the game ending goalless at the John Smith's stadium. Terriers boss David Wagner admitted his side's luck staying in 11th, leaving the Clarets winless in their past four games and Sean Dyche more than disappointed, but still in seventh.

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

Tottenham v West Ham was postponed to Thursday 4th January.

Click here for my previous Picks Of The Week.

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