Premier League Picks Of The Week 27

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 27

The 27th week of the Premier League action saw:

27 goals - most by Man City = 5
238 shots - most by Chelsea = 20
84 on target - most by Man City = 11
107 corners - most by Tottenham & Man United = 10 each
210 fouls - most by Crystal Palace & Man United = 15 each
25 yellow cards - most by Leicester & Bournemouth = 3 each
0 red cards
3 penalties - 2 scored (Milivojevic for Crystal Palace, has converted more penalties than any other player in the Premier League this season = 5, van La Parra for Huddersfield)

What a game! It was a Super Duper Sunday: Huddersfield bagged their first points of 2018 thrashing Bournemouth 4-1, Alex Pritchard with his first goal for the club, Steve Mounié with a brace, denied a hat-trick by Rajiv van La Parra from the spot in the final seconds of the match. The win pulled the Tigers out of the relegation zone and dropped Newcastle right into it before their clash against Manchester United. Note: Before. The Magpies showed everyone how it's done, the goalkeeping by debutant loanee Martin Dúbravka and defending was out of this world, making Matt Ritchie's goal enough to beat Manchester United. José Mourinho doesn't like St James' Park, D3 L4, nor the current boss there after his 6th defeat in all competitions against the Spaniard (only Pep Guardiola has beaten him more times = 9)! Rafa Benítez was fuming in the first half, decision after decision going against the home side, but got it all back in the second half, their first home win since October taking his side up to 13th! Muchas gracias! And last but definitely not least, Liverpool finished off the triple Super Sunday at Southampton, cruising to a 0-2 win at St Mary's thanks to Roberto Firmino and non-other than Mohamed Salah, taking them up to third, two points behind Man United in second. Click here for my LFC match notes. Vielen Dank!

What a team! Tottenham overpowered Arsenal on Saturday in the lunchtime kickoff, Harry Kane heading in the winner a few minutes after the break. It could have been two or three more if it weren't for Petr Čech, who made a couple of quick, full-stretch, top-class saves. It ended 1-0 at Wembley, no real competition, disappointing arch rival derby, Spurs having just lost one of their last eight Premier League games against the Gunners, W3 D4. Kane's total is 32 goals in all competitions, four more than any other player in Europe's big five leagues and is only the second player to score in four consecutive home Premier League appearances against Arsenal, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink between 1997 and 2001. Arsène Wenger made a double-change to attack and press Mauricio Pochettino's side more in the second half, but it was too little too late, which summarises the Frenchman's profile at the club. Just one shot on target recorded in the whole match, that is just not good enough if you want to compete against the top teams.

What a man! Five goals and three points went to Manchester City against Leicester, Jamie Vardy with the only reply, Kevin De Bruyne starring for the league leaders with three assists, Sergio Agüero with a hat-trick, sorry, four goals, taking him to 14 goals in the last seven home games and 197 in total for the club. Lost track? The Citizens beat the Foxes 5-1, taking them top of the second-half goals table ahead of Liverpool, it was just a nightmare for Kasper Schmeichel! Claude Puel was made to regret his change of formation after the interval (it was 1-1 at halftime). Guardiola has no such regret nor worry whatsoever, his side 16 points clear at the top.
It was a welcome win for David Moyes after goals by Javier Hernández and Marko Arnautović were enough for West Ham to beat Watford and take them to 30 points, five above the drop zone, one behind Bournemouth in 10th, ending their run of four games without a win which had already unsettled some Hammers fans. It was Javi Gracia's first league defeat, keeping the Hornets' away form worrying.

What a goal! A great strike, low drive by Ki Sung-yeung won it for Swansea against Burnley, they are on a roll! The Welsh side moved up to 15th with this win, their third home win in a row in the league, taking them two points clear of the drop zone. Despite sitting in seventh, Burnley have been finding life much more difficult in 2018 with no wins in the last nine games in all competitions and longest winless run in the league with 10 games (D5 L5).
The rest of the goals on Saturday were just bad defending more than good quality shots. No marking whatsoever! West Brom wouldn't care how they come, if only they could hit the back of the net! The Baggies lost to a poor Chelsea side 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Monday night thanks to Eden Hazard's double and Victor Moses. Alan Pardew's men had chances as the Blues were a mess once again, but just couldn't get it on target. Poorer than poor, I'm afraid at this rate they will definitely go down. I would also be very surprised to still see Antonio Conte at the Chelsea helm for much longer, his side playing nowhere near the quality of last season's champions! This result cannot and will not cover nor hide that!

What the hell?! How crucial will Mathew Ryan's penalty save be for Brighton at Stoke City?! It was an unbelievable stop denying Charlie Adam and sparing a point for the home side after Xherdan Shaqiri's strike had cancelled out José Izquierdo's opener. The penalty was softer than soft, the players' dispute of who should take it didn't help I'm sure, Jesé not a happy man and rightly so. Keeper Ryan made the crucial save, Lewis Dunk and Anthony Knockaert tackling and clearing the ball off the line respectively in the dying seconds afterwards. Paul Lambert was understandably gutted after the second-half comeback, his side remaining in the drop zone, whilst Chris Hughton felt justice was done. It was a crazy finish to an otherwise below-par game, that's why I always say and preach NEVER leave a game early!!!
It all happened in the second half at Goodison Park as well, loads of chances for both sides, four goals, Everton ending up on top 3-1 against Crystal Palace, Sam Allardyce a much happier man, especially after last week's thumping they got. It was the first time in the Premier League two former England managers played against each other since late Bobby Robson's Newcaste faced Kevin Keegan's Man City in 2004.

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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