Premier League — Week 21

West Ham 2-0 up, maybe we should have gone for the Dour one over Ancelotti after all.

3-0

Eddie Howe has to be under some pressure now. I think Bournemouth could go down. Watford have come alive and will fight to stay up, Villa are fighting, Moyes has made an immediate impact and should keep West Ham up. Norwich will probably go down as well. I certainly wouldn't rule out Newcastle dropping like a stone into the relegation places, and Burnley and Brighton are not safe. So, for me, Bournemouth are the ones (after Norwich) I'd tip to go down. They are unlikely to sack Howe (after all he did for them) and will give him every chance of keeping them up, which I think will be the deciding factor for them to go down. I'm very glad we never got him in to manage us.

Arsenal have finally showed up and are putting us into the bottom half, leading 2-0 against Man Utd. It shows though, that the top 6 race is still not over, not with defeats for Spurs and (presumably) Man Utd. Arsenal will be just 2 points ahead, and with just 5 points to Spurs who sit in 6th, it is possible.

Steve that's a bit unfair questioning Eddies position. He has lost nearly all of his squad over the last few months and is just getting them back now. They will be calm and will come good later in the season.

Arteta has made a massive impact at Arsenal and produced three performances that their fans have really enjoyed. They threw it away against Chelsea, surely they won't tonight.

Could someone please tell me just what's so "Premier" about this league???.

Btw,Congratulations to Bangor 1876,first year in and can't stop winning games...take a bow lads!.

Sigh.

Got told a rather frightening fact over the last couple of days. If the RS were to win their next eleven games, then they could win the league at Goodison if they also beat us. We have to hope and pray that they draw or lose a few games before we play them. If they were to win the league at Goodison then we would never ever hear the last of it.

Matthew, what's Premier is the hype driven by cliche ridden punditry, an over the top media and the inexhaustible quest for more money. In reality most of its pretty average.

According to the BBC amongst other outlets they claim that LFC have become only the third side in PL history to go unbeaten for a full year. Now forgive me if I'm being stupid but their last league defeat came on Thursday 3rd January 2019 at the Etihad and today is the 2nd January 2020, so how does that equate to a full year?

Another VAR blunder? In the Sheffield Unt, v WHU game tonight, West Ham scored in the last minute but the goal was disallowed because of hand ball way back in the play, accidental hand ball to me. Van Dyke did the very same Liverpool v Wolves, it never even went to VAR.

I'm not a lover of Moyes but felt very sorry for him when that goal was counted out, terrible decision to me, God knows how Moyes felt about it.

Was it a handball, or a nudge on the Sheffield United player by Rice, Dave? I thought the Sheffield United player headed it then received a push by Rice. If it was a push then it's a very harsh decision on West ham. It was a nothing bit of contact.

Matthew #6 and Peter #9 - it's the only league in Europe with everyone of it's clubs in the knockout rounds of all European competitions. Last season we had the winners, the runners up and one of the two beaten semi-finalists from the Champions League. The Europa League final was an all Premier League affair. So if the Premier League is average, then what is La Liga? Serie A? Bundesliga? Ligue 1? The rest? The Premier League has never been so dominant and I would say the quality at the bottom which continues to get results against those teams dominant in Europe as Spurs, Arsenal, and Man Utd struggle, shows just how strong this league is.

Rob (12), I think it was ruled out for handball, a very harsh decision. Moyes and the WHU players did well to control their emotions, even though you could see how upset they were by VAR and it's verdict.

Rob (12), I think it was ruled out for handball, a very harsh decision. Moyes and the WHU players did well to control their emotions, even though you could see how upset they were by VAR and it's verdict.

The problem with last nights VAR decision against WHU is that VAR actually got it right if you apply the laws of the game. Any handball intentional or not that leads to a goal is a foul. What depresses me most is watching that outburst of pure emotion when snatching a last minute, vital goal being stamped all over and replaced by celebration from opposing fans due to the VAR decision going in their favour. It'll never work for me - even when it gets it right!

Anthony, the RS winner against Wolves the other week also had a handball by Van Dijk, intentional or not, in the build up to the goal, but VAR only looked at the actual goal itself by Mane. VAR can't be seen to be ruling a RS goal out for handball now, can it.

Yes, it looks as if the decision last night was in compliance with VAR rules - handball by attacking side, intentional or not, leading to a goal...

It's the bloody inconsistency in application of the rules.

Brent (18), not sure, but isn't this a new law of the game rather than a VAR rule?
Basically if the ball hits a hand/arm of a player (intentional or not) whose side ultimately goes on to score a goal, then it should be disallowed (VAR or no VAR).
With this rule I don't understand why defending players don't just deliberately play the ball on to an opposing player's hand/arm in order to get him/her self out of a tight situation.

Steve, I thought it was VAR but you could be right.

What a side Manchester City are, what a great player De Bruyne is. How regrettable that the stupid bastards are 17 points behind Klopp's New Model Army.

So Liverpool played yesterday, then they play Thursday, an extra day to recover, and then they play Sunday against Shrewsbury (certainty to be their kids again) and then they play the following Wednesday against West Ham to get back level with everyone else for games played.

Anyone else think it's as if Klopp is in charge of when they play? Even when it looks like the fixture list is going to be rammed for them, like it has been for Man City, their games just spread out to give them maximum recovery time, ie Christmas where they again played games over the longest period.