Good day everyone,

I hope you are all well and enjoyed the weekend's football, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things sports. Today we will be looking at the recent round of matches in the English Premier League, which only had 4 games being played due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Villa-Burnley game being called off just two hours before kick-off. If you would like to read my preview on the weekends games, you can find it here: English Premier League Match Day 18 Preview

Weekend Predictions & Final Results

So in terms of the predicted scores, I unfortunately only got 0/4 correct this week. In terms of match-winner/loser, I managed to predict 2/4 correctly in this shortened match day weekend.

Predicted: Leeds 2-1 Arsenal

Result: Leeds 1-4 Arsenal

Raphina - Martinelli x2, Saka, Smith-Rowe

The first game of the weekend turned out to be full of excitement and chances. Martinelli opened the scoring with Saka picking out Lacazette, who in turn manages to squeeze the ball on and the Brazilian applied a magnificent finish into the top corner. His second was just as good, with Xhaka playing a perfect pass into his path for Martinelli to dink his effort over the keeper. Raphina had an excellent chance to get one back for Leeds, but after shimmying past Tierney and White, his effort was just wide. Saka then added the third for Arsenal, as Ramsdale played a long ball forward to start the move, and it ended with a deflection from Saka's shot to go into the net right before half time. Late in the second half Ben White took the youngster Gelhardt out in the box, and Raphina calmly slotted home his third penalty of the season to give Leeds a faint glimmer of hope. Soon after Odegaard ensured it was game, set and match by playing in Smith-Rowe who blasted his shot into the back of the net and settle the match. Arsenal definitely showed they can play away from home, and put my prediction way off. Of all the teams chasing that final top-four place, Arsenal seem to be the most capable with their form and style and I think they will be there at the end of the season. As for Leeds, things just seem to go from bad to worse for them. They will need to take the next week to really regroup and get themselves focused on the fight ahead.

Predicted: Newcastle 1-4 Man City

Result: Newcastle 0-4 Man City

Dias, Cancelo, Mahrez, Sterling

The richest game in world football certainly was an exciting one, and Man City had their defenders to thank for their victory. Early on Newcastle once again proved why they are in such a bad position, with their defenders gifting a goal to the Citizens. A mix up between the keeper and Clark meant the ball Cancelo had managed to hook across goal from the end-line ended up as a simple header for Ruben Dias with both Newcastle players missing it. Lack of communication of maybe a lack of confidence? Near the half hour mark, Cancelo again popped up, this time to dance past Willock and sending a superb long range effort into the top corner. Eddie Howe will be very disappointed in the officials once again, as a very clear penalty should have been given when Ederson wiped out Fraser but the ref waved play on. Soon after the hour mark a beautiful ball into the box by Zinchenko saw Mahrez glide in and finish with aplomb. For their fourth, Jesus ran to the by-line and cut the ball to the far post, where Sterling was running in and had a simple tap in for himself. City will be top for Christmas and will look to continue their fine form after the festivities. As for Newcastle, expect a lot of transfer rumours in January to improve their standings.

Predicted: Wolves 1-1 Chelsea

Result: Wolves 0-0 Chelsea

Before this game began Chelsea made an approach to the Premier League to have this game cancelled, with the application being submitted on Saturday night. Another case of Covid-19 has been discovered, along with the four of Lukaku, Werner, Hudson Odoi and Chilwell who were already missing since the Everton game. The league rejected their request, and the game went ahead as scheduled. Perhaps out of frustration or to make a point, Chelsea only named four outfield subs on their bench even though I would suspect they have plenty of eligible youth team players. The game was as expected, tight with both teams defending well. Wolves thought they had an early lead, when Podence side-footed home at the far post, but VAR ruled that Jiminez had been offside in the build-up. Chelsea turned it on in an attempt to break the deadlock, but a very resolute Coady should be praised for his efforts at the heart of the Wolves defence. At the other end Jiminez will be regretting scuffing his lines when presented with opportunities to score and set up his teammates. The result means Chelsea have once again dropped points, and really seem to be off the pace when it come to the title challenge. The are comfortably in third by if they keep dropping points they might find themselves in a battle for Champions League places. As for Wolves, another good point gained which sees them 8 point off Arsenal in fourth while having a game in hand. They will have real belief of getting themselves European football next season if they can keep picking up the points.

Predicted: Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool

Result: Tottenham 2-2 Liverpool

Kane, Son - Jota, Robertson

A couple of big surprise in the Liverpool team sheet before kick off, with their midfield consisting of youngster Morton along with veteran Milner, and no sign of Thiago or Henderson. Thiago turned up a positive Covid-19 result so he automatically had to be excluded, while Henderson was unwell and kept out for precaution. Dele Alli returned for Spurs, and the match started well for Liverpool with Roberston having a very early header go just wide. Alexander Arnold also saw a snap shot well saved, and Morton showed his range of passing, before Spurs found themselves in the game. Konate made a last ditch tackle to stop Kane, by almost immediately after a carbon copy situation happened and this time Kane slotted it past Allison. Kane potentially should have seen red for a lunge on Robertson, and Jota will feel hard done not to have won a penalty. End to end is how to first half went, and about 10 minutes before the break a driving run by Mane saw the ball cleared to Robertson, who crossed for Jota to finish with a sweet header. The second half started similar to the first, with Kane missing two excellent chances to score before the hour mark. What a moment in the 69th minute, Dele Alli goes down from a light push, and Liverpool counter quickly. Lloris clears after Salah mistimes his header, the ball goes to Alexander-Arnold who crosses in for Robertson to nod the ball into an empty net. Five minutes later and a through ball sees the ball bounce off Allison and leaves Son with an empty net to slide the ball into. A minute later Robertson received a red card for a dangerous tackle. The game kept its high tempo for the final 20 minutes but a draw was the final score. Liverpool will be disappointed to drop points in the title race, but it was against a top side. Spurs meanwhile will feel like they could have done more to win, but it was a great performance for their first game in 2 weeks, and Kane getting his first home goal of the season.

Table After Match Day 18

A look at the top half of the table, and with only four games taking place there has not been much changes in the standings. Interestingly enough, the top three all managed to fulfil their games, with City the only one winning. They sit 3 points clear as we approach the halfway point of the season.

As for the bottom half, another loss for Newcastle, although they have the Transfer window to look forward to and are only 3 points off Watford in 17th. Leeds are slipping towards the relegation spots also, but no other teams from the bottom half were in action over the weekend thanks to Covid-19.

Top Goalscorers After Match Day 18

1 - M. Salah - Liverpool - 15 Goals   
2 - D. Jota - Liverpool - 10 Goals
3 - J. Vardy - Leicester - 9 Goals   
4 - Raphina - Leeds - 8 Goals
5 - S. Mané - Liverpool - 7 Goals
6 - B. Silva- Man City - 7 Goals   
7 - C. Ronaldo - Man Utd - 7 Goals   
8 - E. Dennis - Watford - 7 Goals   
9 - Son - Tottenham - 7 Goals  
10 - M. Mount - Chelsea - 7 Goals   
11 - E. Smith-Rowe - Arsenal - 7 Goals

I hope you found some enjoyment in my post and managed to see the few weekend games that actually went ahead. We have Carabao Cup quarter finals this week, assuming the games wont be called off, and after that we return next weekend for the Boxing-day matches. Have a great Christmas and hopefully we can all get to enjoy a lot of festive football over the holidays.

Have a great day.

Peace. CryptoGod-1.

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