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Premier League Review – Matchday twenty-three

Deke Hardman in Editorial, English Premier League 17 Jan 2018

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Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City will not be going through the campaign unbeaten after Liverpool edged past them in a seven goal thriller at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

The fixture was the stand-out match on matchday twenty-three and didn’t disappoint with Jurgen Klopp’s side taking control after a nine minute spell in the second half which saw them go 4-1 in front.

Late replies from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan proved too little to late with the Reds holding on to climb above champions Chelsea to third place.

Commanding

Despite the defeat, the Citizens still hold a commanding lead over the chasing pack though Manchester United did close the gap to twelve points after thumping Stoke City by three goals to nil at Old Trafford.

New Potters manager Paul Lambert was in the stands watching as Jose Mourinho’s men ran riot, with goals from Antonio Valencia, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku securing the points.

Stoke remain in the bottom three, a point from safety but Lambert will fancy his chances of reviving his new side with their next six fixtures coming against sides outside of the top seven.

Stalemate

Chelsea played out a goalless draw for the third game in succession with 2016 champions Leicester City canceling them out at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues slip down to fourth with a goal difference of one less than Liverpool while Leicester remain comfortably in eighth place.

Tottenham Hotspur were once again rampant, this time thumping Everton by four goals to nil in a game that saw Harry Kane become the club’s all time leading scorer in the Premier League.

Rampant

His brace also saw him hit twenty league goals for the season for the fourth straight EPL campaign, a feat only achieved previously by Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Having initially enjoyed a mini revival under Sam Allardyce the Toffees are now without a win in six and have taken just two points from the last fifteen available to them in the league.

Bournemouth came from behind to beat Arsenal and heap even more pressure on Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who’s side now sit eight points outside of the top four while the Cherries are up to thirteenth.

West Ham United and Crystal Palace continued their respective rises up the table with victories over Huddersfield Town and Burnley respectively.

Both the Hammers and the Eagles are now level on twenty-five points with the same goal difference though it is David Moyes’ side ahead in eleventh place by virtue of goals scored.

West Bromwich Albion won for the first time in twenty-one league games, beating Brighton and Hove Albion while bottom of the table Swansea City were held by Newcastle United.

Finally, Southampton squandered a two goal lead to draw with Watford though it is safe to say the Saints were hard done by, with the Hornets’ equaliser coming after Abdoulaye Doucoure handled the ball into the net.

Mauricio Pellegrino’s men are now just a point above the bottom three and can be backed at a price of 9/2 to be relegated.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deke Hardman


Freelance football writer with a love of the game that goes back to the mid nineties when both his beloved Nottingham Forest and England had genuine hope of acheiving some level of success. A regular contributor to both SoccerNews.com and FreeBetting.com, Deke also dabbles in music journalism with his heart and head still stuck in the latter years of the twentieth century.

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