Tuesday 12 September 2017

Premier League Picks Of The Week 4

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 4

The 4th week of the Premier League action saw:

28 goals - most by Manchester City = 5
237 shots - most by Crystal Palace = 23
87 on target - most by Manchester City = 10
118 corners - most by Crystal Palace = 13
212 fouls - most by Newcastle = 15
22 bookings - most by Everton & Newcastle = 3 each
1 red card - Sadio ManΓ© for Liverpool
1 penalty - 1 scored (Jamie Vardy for Leicester)

What a game! Crucial/cruel results: Both Super Sunday games had the least goals, but hell they weren't missing chances nor action! Newcastle recorded their first win 0:1 at Swansea to Rafael Benitez's relief recovering in hospital from an operation, whilst Chris Wood made it two goals in two games for Burnley as they beat struggling Crystal Palace 1:0 at home, more to that below. West Ham recorded their first win of the season on Monday night, beating Huddersfield 2-0 at the London Stadium. Their first defeat brought the high-flying Terriers back down to earth, even-though it took a cruel deflection off Pedro Obiang to break the stubborn deadlock and concede their first goal since promotion to the top flight. It was a nice birthday present for Hammers boss Slaven BiliΔ‡, who would have been under even more scrutiny and fire, having lost all three opening games conceding 10 goals, making him odds-on one of the faves to be sacked first. It was Joe Hart's first league clean sheet in 23 games. The lead soon was doubled thanks to substitute AndrΓ© Ayew turning the ball in from close range, icing on the manager's birthday cake to bag the first three points this season. πŸŽ‚πŸ‘ŒπŸ»πŸ˜ŠπŸ‘πŸ»πŸŽ‚

What a team! Brighton secured their first ever Premier League goals and win in style, high-firing 3-1 at home against West Brom, their first top-flight victory for 34 years, thanks to two goals by Pascal Groß. Crystal Palace on the other hand suffered their fourth defeat in a row, as mentioned above. They went down fighting though, 1-0 at Burnley, recording 23 attempts! The last top-flight team to lose their opening four matches without scoring were Preston North End in 1924-25. And as ridiculous as it is, it was no surprise to then get the news of Frank de Boer's exit after just 77 days. Sad but true. There is no such thing as patience in football nowadays. They obviously didn't watch the match! The team fought and played well. Just one (very costly) error early on by Lee Chung-yong decided the match in the end... But they will say it is the results that count. Former England and Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is set to take over the job at Selhurst Park. And oh, we all love him, don't we! πŸ’©πŸ™ˆπŸ’©πŸ™ˆπŸ’© Meanwhile, much in contrast to that, Watford have no such worries, going from strength to strength, up to fourth in the Premier League table after their impressive display, cracking goals and 0-2 win at Southampton. πŸ‘ŒπŸ»⚽️πŸ‘πŸ»⚽️πŸ‘πŸ»

What a man! And JosΓ© Mourinho was at it again, distracting from his side's disappointing draw with his childish sideline and interview antiques. It was all about the post-match handshake-refusal after a tense draw and clashes with counterpart Mark Hughes as Stoke fought out a 2-2 draw against Manchester United at the Bet365 stadium. Man of the match Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's double for the Potters put an end to the Red Devils' 100% start to the season. And deservedly so! Their keeper Jack Butland starred with brilliant stops and breathtaking saves, whilst the whole back line kept stubborn and solid too, tackle after tackle, challenge after challenge, block after block, chance after chance. Impressive. No matter what the Portuguese boss says. ⚽️πŸ‘ŠπŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»⚽️

What a goal! Harry Kane's 100th Tottenham goal was more oops than woo, but they all count. It looked like an attempted cross from the right but looped over home keeper Jordan Pickford and in. Christian Eriksen doubled the score and Kane added his 101st to make it 0-3 and an easy away win for Spurs at Goodison Park. It could have been 0-6. For all the money they spent and players they signed, Everton are still cracking and crumbling. Worrying. Not a good day for either Merseysiders, see below for more details. N'Golo Kanté scored against his former side Leicester handing Chelsea an edgy away win. Wood scored on his full debut for Burnley thanks to Chung-yong's back-pass giveaway, as mentioned above, handing the Clarets the 1-0 win and heartbreak for the Eagles. Cruel, cruel, cruel. Bournemouth were downed to their fourth consecutive defeat as well, well beaten 3-0 at Arsenal thanks to Danny Welbeck's double. Can't see anyone calling for Eddie Howe's head though! Not even mentioning good old Arséne Wenger. They love him. Really. Right?! 😝😜😘😜😝

What the hell?! The red card at the Etihad divided opinions, both managers JΓΌrgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola mouthing their disapproval in their post-match interviews. WTF? It was a high, dangerous boot by Sadio ManΓ© taking out keeper Edison Moraes. In. The. Face. By the book that is red, full stop. And it doesn't excuse such a pathetic performance. Liverpool got absolutely hammered 5-0 by Manchester City. The defence was non-existent! It ended up being a fun kick-about for the home side. Having their main striker sent off may explain why they didn't score. But too absolutely fold, collapse, give up, dramatically, completely, uncharacteristically as the Reds did - explain me that! Here is my full LFC match report. Rant over and out. ⚽️πŸ‘ŠπŸ»πŸ™ˆπŸ‘ŽπŸ»⚽️

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

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

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

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