Premier League Fans, let’s get caught up.
Match Week 14 is officially in the books. It was an exciting weekend of games with two big London Derbies and the Merseyside Derby as well. Traditional rivalry games with lots of emotion. And one of the craziest and most unbelievable finishes I have ever seen….no really….I am not kidding. If you did not see the end of the Liverpool vs. Everton game, check it out below. It was a stunner.
Match Week 14 Recap
The feature match this week was the clash in London between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur…a clash of #3 and #5 in the table. It was an interesting match up. Tottenham coming off a huge win last week against Chelsea. A very talented team who has been on the verge of being a championship club but just can’t quite get there. Huge wins followed by confusing losses. Arsenal in their first year with new coach Unai Emery, trying to rebuild themselves into a Top 4 club. Lots of history and great tradition, but has not been a contender for the Premier League title since 2004/2005.
Let’s check out some highlights.
Arsenal is starting to believe, watch out for them the rest of the way. A real statement win for Arsenal.
The other amazing game this weekend was Liverpool vs. Everton. Liverpool in 2nd in the table and needing to stay close to put some kind of pressure on Manchester City, try to not let them run away with the title again. Everton having one of their better starts to a premier league season and winners of 5 of their last 6. Could Everton make a big statement and take down Liverpool. Could Liverpool continue to keep pace with Man City.
Make sure to watch till the end, it will be worth it.
I mentioned it at the top, but I don’t think I have ever seen anything like that goal. Not sure what the Everton GK was thinking. Seemed a pretty easy decision to just pop it back out of play. Maybe he was worried about a corner kick?? Or better yet, why touch it at all, it was over the post, would have either hit the netting or the back side of the cross-bar and ricochet out of play. But to try and catch it? Pickford actually keeps the ball in play and with his touch causes the ball to pop straight up and hit the cross-bar a second time….never seen that. And to top off the craziness, there is Origi, right in front of net to header/shoulder it into the net with just seconds remaining before the whistle. A stunner for Liverpool and a crushing blow to Everton. A cruel ending and not deserved. A draw was a fair result. When you add the Everton header earlier in the game that was somehow kicked off the line as it was going across, wow! Tough, tough loss for Everton.
In other games the winners were:
West Ham 3-0 over Newcastle United.
Brighton 2-1 win over Huddersfield..
Chelsea with a nice solid win over Fulham, 2-0.
Cardiff City with a big win over Wolverhampton 2-1..
Manchester City with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
Leicester City with a 2-0 win over Watford.
Crystal Palace wins 2-0 over Burnley.
Only 1 draw this week, but it was significant. 18th place Southampton went up 2-0 and held on for a 2-2 draw against #7 Manchester United who dropped more points. Man U is danger of missing out on European football next year, Europa League or Champions League.
Manchester City still look unstoppable. They are still crushing everybody.
Race for the Title and Champions League Top 4
Win-Loss-Tie
1. Manchester City 12-0-2 38 Points
2. Liverpool 11-0-3 36 Points
3. Chelsea 9-1-4 31 Points
4. Arsenal 9-2-3 30 Points
5. Tottenham 10-4-0 30 Points
6. Everton 6-4-4 22 Points
Manchester United, Leicester City, Bournemouth, and Watford round out the Top 10.
Relegation Zone
There are now 7 teams within 3 points of the 18th position and fighting to stay up. Crystal Palace and Cardiff City both with wins and a critical 3 points. Crystal Palace now at 12, Newcastle United at 12, Cardiff City at 11 and Huddersfield with 10 points sitting just outside the relegation zone. The new bottom three:
18. Southampton 1-7-6 9 Points
19. Burnley 2-9-3 9 Points
20. Fulham 2-10-2 8 Points
There are now 3 distinct groups in the table. The Top 5 teams are all at 30 points or higher and starting to separate themselves from the pack. The mid table teams range from 15-22 points and are ranked from 6th to 13th in the table. The bottom group, fighting to stay up, range from 8-12 points and rank 14th to 20th.
Match Week 15 Preview
Game of the Week.
#7 Manchester United vs. #4 Arsenal. This a a huge game for both teams. Arsenal coming off the huge win against Tottenham and now go right back into a big match against Manchester United. Back to back huge games. Emotional games. Statement games. It would really put the league on notice that Arsenal is back. Manchester United needs a big win. They have struggled all year but are hanging around in 7th. This could catapult them up the standings or signify they are mid table this year. A month ago we all thought Mourinjo was just days away from being fired….he survived. A bad draw against Southampton and then a loss to revitalized Arsenal might put him back on the watch list. It should be very interesting.