Premier League Picks Of The Week 26

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 26

The 26th week of the Premier League action saw:

35 goals - most by Arsenal = 5
247 shots - most by Brighton, Crystal Palace & Watford = 21 each
92 on target - most by Bournemouth, Newcastle & Watford = 8 each
94 corners - most by Man City = 13
206 fouls - most by Stoke City & Huddersfield = 19 each
36 yellow cards - most by Burnley & Huddersfield = 4 each
1 red card - Bakayoko for Chelsea
5 penalties - 3 scored (Milivojevic for Palace, Kane for Tottenham, Deeney for Watford)

What a game! Two goals in three minutes turned the game around for Southampton just before the break at The Hawthorns after West Brom had taken the lead early on. Ahmed Hegazi had headed the home side ahead 4', Mario Lemina levelling the score with a 20-yard stunner 40' before Jack Stephens' header put the Saints ahead 43'. On loan from Liverpool Daniel Sturridge started for the Baggies for the first time but didn't show much input with just one shot in the game. James Ward-Prowse made it three after the restart before Salomón Rondón pulled one back for the hosts with just under 20 minutes to go. But the points went to the visitors, saving Mauricio Pellegrino's job? This result ended their 12-game winless run, whilst Alan Pardew's men have been plunged down to the bottom of the table.
Bournemouth made a comeback against Stoke City, sub Lys Mousset with the winner 79', his first Premier League goal, after Josh King's low equaliser 70', Xherdan Shaqiri with the early headed opener. This win extended the Cherries' unbeaten run to seven games, the longest current run shared with Tottenham, and moved them up to ninth. It's Paul Lambert's first defeat in charge of the Potters, seeing his side drop back into the relegation zone.

What a team! It took only six minutes for Aaron Ramsey to give Arsenal the lead against Everton, finding all the gaps. Laurent Koscielny doubled the score with a low header, under 15 minutes gone, Big Sam frowning at his defense, Arsène Wenger all smiles. Game over?! A Ramsey smacker from over 20 yards out made it three 19', the January club-record £56m signing from Dortmund netted the fourth 38' (even though replays showed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was offside), and with just over 15 minutes to go Ramsey completed his first career hat-trick (the 20th Gunner to do so in the PL) to make it 5-1 to the home side after substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin had pulled one back for the visitors. It was just what the Gunners' doctor ordered after all the transfer fiasco and bad results. The only bad news for them was that keeper Peter Čech had to go off injured after colliding with Oumar Niasse who hit the post. Apart from that and the one goal, the Toffees were shambles, no contest whatsoever.

What a man! Paul Pogba dropped to the bench for Manchester United's match against Huddersfield, José Mourinho ringing in the changes after last week's disappointing result and display. It worked, Romelu Lukaku breaking the Terriers' bus after the interval. New arrival from Arsenal Alexis Sànchez doubled the lead netting the rebound off his weak spot kick, his first goal for the Red Devils. David Wagner's men couldn't even produce a shot on target and are the 20th consecutive team to lose on their first PL visit to Old Trafford, since Derby County won there 3-2 in 1996-97. The home side cruised to the three points at Old Trafford in the end, reducing the gap to the top to 13 points.
The referee took centre stage at Anfield after Mohamed Salah's double nearly won it for Liverpool if it weren't for Victor Wanyama's thunderbolt equaliser and Harry Kane's late late controversial leveller from the spot after the top striker had missed another dubious penalty minutes beforehand for Tottenham. It all happened in a mad final ten minutes, the game ending 2-2 with plenty of talking points, especially about the officials!!! Click here for my full match report to find out who stole the top scorers' limelights!

What a goal! What a smacker Manchester City's opener at Burnley in the early kick-off on Saturday was! Off a Kevin De Bruyne corner, taken short to Bernardo Silva on the left side, passed across to Danilo 10ish yards outside the box, who nailed it with his right foot curled into the top right corner of the net, giving keeper Nick Pope no chance, one, two, three, bang, unstoppable. Pep Guardiola's men dominated throughout, how Raheem Sterling missed a sitter from just a couple of yards out, only the former Liverpool man knows. His manager reacted furious and took the midfielder off. And the Citizens were made to pay, 82', Johann Berg Gudmundsson whacked in the equaliser at the back post from close range, off sub Matthew Lowton, between two defenders and past keeper Ederson Moraes, who got a glove to it but not more. It's the first time the league leaders dropped points in the final ten minutes in the league this season, but still extended their lead to 16 points before the afternoon matches. Sean Dyche and his men must have been chuffed with the point and style of their comeback despite having now gone nine league games without a win.

What the hell?! After scoring a mesmerising equaliser for West Ham against Brighton, Javier Hernández kicked the ball into his own face. From wow to ouch, top to flop, boom to blooper, lmao! And to add salt to that sour wound, José Izquierdo cut inside and went for it, putting Brighton ahead with a sensational finish, pace, power, pow, wow. Pascal Groß made it 3-1 and three points for the Seagulls at the Amex, manager Chris Hughton's first win in seven. It was the 10,000th match played in Premier League history.
Swansea equalised with their first and only shot on target at Leicester thanks to Federico Fernández, after Jamie Vardy had put the dominant home side ahead, their missed chances proving costly at the King Power Stadium.
And Watford took 10-man Chelsea to pieces on Monday night, thrashing them 4-1 at Vicarage Road, putting Blues manager Antonio Conte on thinner than thin and rapidly melting ice. At least the Italian took the blame after the match questioning his lineup but oddly still maintained his position not feeling any pressure. Pf, has he forgotten who his employer is?!
My predictions went down the drain, drastically and dramatically once again. Who can spell that d-word at the back of the field for me please? Defennse? Defents? Lol! :-P

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

Click here for my previous Premier League Picks Of The Week.

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