EPL 2014/15 Game Week 23

What a week! A thoroughly enjoyable EPL week in Game Week 22. Liverpool continued their unbeaten and winning streak, Alan Pardew enjoyed another miracle with Palace, Man Utd looked forlorn and yet won, Chelsea convinced us they are now almost a perfect steam-roller machine, Southampton continued to amazed, West ham showed two faces in each half and finally Arsenal gave us a master-class performance having City beaten at the Etihad. Woah!

Hull v Newcastle - The Tigers have lost their claws and teeth. Three losses after a surprise win over Everton is of no help and they are just a game away from being right at the bottom if the bottom two did a little better. Fortunately they are meeting the Magpies with clipped wings sharing an identical three losses. Hull have not scored a single goal in three matches. When Newcastle lost to Southampton they did not looked as bad as when Hull got thrashed by West Ham.The last time Hull hosted Newcastle, they lost. 1-2.
Palace v Everton - You may not believe this - Crystal Palace are now in 12th position and just four points behind Newcastle where manager Alan Pardew came from. They are now unbeaten in five, drew two and won their last three matches and were banging in the goals so this is an in-form team. Just last season for the same match everybody would take Everton but now it is hard not to choose the home side. They met twice in 2014 both at Goodison Park and Everton lost both ties 2-3. Palace win. 3-2.
Liverpool v West Ham - The Reds have been unbeaten in 8 matches now clocking three away wins in a row. Their win over Aston Villa was totally unspectacular but effective. The Hammers were unbeaten in five with Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing in fine form. When they have previously met the results favoured Liverpool 3-1-1. This time it shall be a tough contest. The visitors are capable and a draw may be on the card once again but the host have rediscovered how to play to win again. It should be tight so home ground counts but Liverpool drew Chelsea (1-1) and Bolton (0-0) in Cup ties at home. They are in 8th and 7th in the table. This is Anfield so the Reds may just eke out a win though a draw is probably quite likely. 2-1.

 (Villa v Liverpool):
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=859983214044271&set=vb.266828596693072&type=2&theater
Man Utd v Leicester - Sitting pretty in fourth the Red Devils' play does not reflect their position. In fact, they laboured against QPR and were lucky to have won. Leicester's unbeaten came to an end surprisingly at home to Stoke but remember that 5-3 drubbing Leicester gave to Utd back in September? That was a curse that saw the Foxes in a bad run thereafter. Despite being at the bottom, Leicester are not a bad team. They do not get trounced but tend to lose narrowly. They are capable of surprising Utd by holding them. Looking at Man Utd in their last matches, they laboured and got lucky at Loftus Road (QPR) then were held 0-0 by Cambridge, a learning centre rather than sports centre. Meanwhile, Leicester had Tottenham in the FA Cup away from home. I think it is possible for the Foxes to hold them but Utd may have luck on their side once again. I'll make Man Utd fans a bit happy for awhile. 2-1.

 (QPR v Man Utd):
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=860120540697205&set=vb.266828596693072&type=2&theater
Stoke v QPR - The Potters (named after the pottery industry in Stoke) have completed their turn around with last week's away win at Leicester and now hosting visiting QPR who have not won in at least five matches but they have a reasonable historical record so they need not fear Stoke. They also have a weak travel record and the goals have dried up. 1-0.
Sunderland v Burnley - Both sides are levelled on 22 points in 16th and 17th position. Last season Gus Poyet weaved his magic at the end of the season but the Black Cats had better start now because Burnley look capable of surviving. Though a draw is not good for either, it is what it will be. 2-2.
WBA v Tottenham - The Baggies are winning. So too the Cockerels. WBA have a good an even record against Tottenham and can play a tough game but Spurs certainly have the talents to rise higher and maintain the consistency to achieve more. Both sides will score because WBA have been scoring and Spurs while scoring have been conceding at least a goal per game. I expect Eriksen and Harry Kane to score. 2-3.
Chelsea v Man City - This is the cruncher! Do or die mission for both teams. Chelsea are leading by 5 points and City are their closest challenger. Jose Mourinho must be in love with Arsene Wenger by now after what the Gunners did to City at the Etihad. City are on the decline as they were held by Everton away and then lost to Arsenal at home while Chelsea had Newcastle beaten 2-0 at home and went to Swansea and gave such a clinical display that what we saw was an almost perfect machine purring and dishing out an almost perfect game in that 5-0 win. In 2 matches they have scored 7 goals without reply. Chelsea is no longer boring. A Chelsea win will propel them to an 8 point lead and a City win will narrow it to 2 points. It is Chelsea's League title to lose. I am now curious to see how Chelsea stack up against the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Even as I say this, League One side Bradford City did no other team could do. They went to Stamford Bridge and thumped Chelsea 4-2 after trailing 0-2. It is not the size of the dogs in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dogs! Meanwhile, Manchester City learned nothing as they went down 0-2 at home to championship side Middlesborough. The magic of the FA Cup. Draw. 2-2. 

(Chelsea v Swansea):
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=859904484052144&set=vb.266828596693072&type=2&theater
Arsenal v Villa - The Gunners gave a master class display to win at Man City. It was a different Arsenal we saw. They have now won their last 3 matches and scored 7 goals without reply. Villa have lost their last two matches and have not scored a single league goal since that 1-1 draw with Man Utd six matches ago though they managed to finally score and won against Championship leader Bournemouth 2-1. Arsenal are boosted by their new found confidence. You do the maths. A clear win at the Emirates. 3-0.

(Man City v Arsenal):
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=860514617324464&set=vb.266828596693072&type=2&theater
Southampton v Swansea - The Saints are not third by luck but by grit and design. They are on an unstoppable winning run while the Swans' form have of late been patchy at best. You thought that without Wilfried Bony they would suffer a bit but they were devoid of ideas in midfield and porous in defence. They have not beaten Southampton once n five previous meetings.They further went down and out of the FA Cup when they lost 3-1 at Blackburn even though the Saints too lost at home to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup (2-3). Home win as The Saints come marching in. 2-1.

 Have a good weekend!

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