Birmingham 2-2 Brighton
D.Alli(Perisic) 32, M.Gomez(Matuidi) 61; Callejon(Benzema) 3, Falcao(Payet) 88
MOTM: Blaise Matuidi
Even contest for the most part, Birmingham happy to let Brighton have possession in the early stages but Callejon and Walcott were able to find a lot of space between the lines at times which was causing porblems. At the other end Birmingham’s threat came from the flanks, particularly the left side, whilst Alli’s ability to get into the box unposed meant that Brighton’s CBs didn’t have it all their own way. Brighton’s late change got them a draw.
Tottenham 3-3 Newcastle
Icardi(Sane) 42, Sane(Modric) 64, D.Alves 87; M.Salah(Coutinho) 11, Kane(Mane) 16, M.Salah(Florenzi) 90
MOTM: Mohammed Salah
One of the games of the season, both teams set up to attack their opponents and both able to take advantage of individual weaknesses, with the WB/SS working well for Tottenham up against the Newcastle FBs, particularly when Spurs were able to break the high press and expose the opposition back line. Newcastle on the other hand were able to outwork Tottenham in midfield and Coutinho in particular was able to find pockets of space that he could use, especially when looking to get Salah in down the side of Luiz.
Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
Aspas(Costa) 48; Aubameyang(Eriksen) 67
MOTM: Ilkay Gundogan
A bit a dab affair this one with Wolves gazillion midfielders nullifying this a bit, which is lucky as neither defence looks particularly strong. Wolves were able to control the possession but didn’t create enough, at times struggling to really stretch the game, where as Arsenal had the opposite issue.
Portsmouth 3-2 Aston Villa
Lewandowski(De Bruyne) 31, Alexis(Ghoulam) 42, Mertens(O.Dembele) 87; Cavani(Di Maria) 27, Di Maria(Cavani) 56
MOTM: Marco Verratti
Another really tight game this one and two really fantastic sides. Villa’s side looked more balanced in this formation for me, even if it still a struggle to get Griezmann and Hamsik into the same team. Portsmouth on the other side of the fence have arguably the best team and squad in the league right now and its a surprise they aren’t closer to Leicester in the table. In the end two sides that were hard to split, but Portsmouth’s extra firepower off the bench swung it in their favour just about.
Hull City 1-3 Leicester
Fekir(FK) 20; Ronaldo(Guedes) 53, Ronaldo(Marcelo) 75, Costa(Richarlison) 83
RED: Arkadiusz Milik
MOTM: Thiago Alcantara
A game in which Hull showcased their attacking qualities at the beginning as well as some defensive nativity that comes with young age. In the early stages Hull’s dynamic attacks caused problems for Leicester but eventually the league leaders kicked into gear and Ronaldo’s movement in the box was too much. The red card did a lot to help them on their way to victory, a daft elbow from Milik on Ramos, understandable, but a red nevertheless.
Week 21 results
posted on 19/2/18
Everton 1 - 0 Stoke
Stoke almost certainly doomed to relegation after a narrow loss against Everton, they fought hard and had there chances but when your down at the bottom and nothing going your way maybe its time to start preparing for next season, a Raheem Sterling goal was enough to seal the points for the home side
Raheem Sterling (Kovacic,54)
MOTM - Sterling
posted on 20/2/18
Chelsea v Liverpool
A tough game for Liverpool but one they set up well for, Milinkovic-Savic is key in making it a midfield three/five when out of possession and it frustrates Chelsea. Chelsea do have the firepower in Mbappe, Aguero and Neymar, but with Liverpool almost having 10 men behind the ball at times it led to them being crowded out.
Chelsea's midfield had a lot of possession though, and this is how the breakthrough came, as the Dabbing Mulumbu picked up the ball 30 yards out, all Milinkovic-Savic could do was deflect his shot past the wrong footed Pope in goal, 1-0 Chelsea.
Liverpool kept the game tight into the second half, staying in the game at 1-0, the tactical change came with Gaya on for Zagadou, he made an instant impact as when overlapping Lemar, his cross wasn't cleared, and Sabitzer was on hand to fire in the equaliser.
Chelsea's turn to make changes now, as Tolisso, Jesus and Poulsen came on for Rakitic, Pogba and Aguero, however this upset the momentum Chelsea had built in the first hour of this game, as it gave Liverpool's midfield trio the opportunity to grab hold of more of the possession, Chelsea did push for the winner with Neymar dropping deeper but it wasn't to be as Liverpool held out for a very good point.
Full time:
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
Pogba (Rakitic) 34; Sabitzer (Gaya) 63
MOTM: Fabinho