Norwich 0-0 West Ham
Norwich's start to the season had seen them claiming just 2 points from their first 3 matches and going into their match with West Ham they'd have fancied themselves to have a decent chance at claiming all 3 points. Likewise West Ham, who had claimed 6 points from their first 3 games will have also seen this as a winnable game.
Early on it seemed as if the fans were in for a treat with both teams looking really threatening. The best early chance fell to West Ham after some excellent work by Ricardo Vaz Te and later in the half the West Ham penalty area became a pinball table. Sadly however the key talking point of the first half was a hugely controversial decision by Chris Foy who rules that a foul by James Collins was committed just outside the penalty area.
Despite the first half being thoroughly watchable the game failed to continue in the same vein in the second half and sort of petered out after the 60 minute mark with both teams looking increasingly happy to have a point. Despite this Norwich did have a few good chances late after youngster Harry Kane came on to the pitch but sadly he failed to really find his shooting boots and hit several very tame efforts.
Whilst the second half was disappointing the worst part about it was the fact that neither of West Ham's wide men could find a good ball with Vaz Te repeatedly messing up and either miss hitting crosses or just shooting mindlessly. A real disappointing display by the Portuguese attacker.
With 3 draws from their first 4 games Norwich are becoming difficult to defeat but they really seem to lack any type of attacking threat. Harry Kane looked like the most promising threat for the home team but his shots had no power or sting on them and they otherwise looked terrible up front. Defensively Norwich are tough, much more so than they showed on the opening day of the season, but they need to add goals sooner rather than later.
West Ham showed plenty of promise through parts of the game but with no Andy Carroll they lacked a focal point of their attacks.
Showing posts with label West Ham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label West Ham. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Premier League Week 4-Preview and prediction (Norwich v West Ham)
With the recent international games the Premier League has been on a bit of a hiatus though returns this weekend as Norwich host West Ham in the early kick off. Whilst it's not a headline game it will likely be seen as a huge 6 pointer with both teams expected to be battling relegation and one that is almost certainly worth some interest from football fans.
Whilst expectation at Norwich was low, following the loss of manager Paul Lambert (who went to Villa) it's fair to say that the Canaries haven't actually done that badly. Whilst they were slaughtered on the opening day (losing 5-0 at Fulham) they have held their own with both QPR and most recently Tottenham (drawing both of those games 1-1) as they have earned both their first home and away points of the season.
Despite having conceded 7 goals so far this season Norwich's big problem seems to be up front where they lack a true goal scorer, instead having an attack built up of various threats as opposed to an out and out threat. The likes of Grant Holt will bag goals but will struggle to find the target on a regular basis however Robert Snodgrass (who looked sensational in his last match for the club) will create chances for the attacking line.
With Chris Hughton looking to hit the ground running following the internationals Norwich could pose a threat here, but only if they can get in the goals against a West Ham team that look unwilling to give many away (with only Swansea having scored against West Ham this season). This is the problem, Norwich can't score and West Ham don't really concede, in Norwich win it'll only be by a single goal.
Last year Norwich were very average at home, but they were an average team. Their Premier League position of 12th overall was a solid mid-table finish and their home form was reflective of that with 27 home points from their 19 home games (surprisingly the same as Liverpool).
Last time out (a fortnight ago!) West Ham looked excellent in defeating Fulham 3-0 with the Fulham defensive lining looking completely unable to cope with the West Ham attack. Sadly however the forefront of that attack was Andy Carroll who will be absent (due to injury) from this game leaving the West Ham attack looking like a bit of a rag-tag collection. Whilst Kevin Nolan will get goals he's not a pure goal scorer, Ricardo Vaz Te has goals in him but seems to lack Premier League class and Carlton Cole is a joke even amongst West Ham fans. The loss of Carroll (after just 1 game) is genuinely huge.
At the back West Ham have been solid conceding just 3 goals so far this season (in 3 Premier League games) though notably all 3 goals came in their only previous away fixture. This is a stark contract to their form last season where defensively they were rock solid away from home (conceding just 22 away goals in 23 games) and slightly less secure at home (29 goals conceded). If we were to look at last season's numbers however we'd have to favour West Ham here on the back of 13 away wins however was that in the championship, not in the Premier League.
Whilst there is Premier League quality running through the West Ham squad there are questions about the depth of the squad and the absence of Carroll really does bring that issue up. Players like Nolan, Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun can all grab goals and show sparks of something extra but the squad looks like it's only ever going to be 2 injuries away from a crisis.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 1-1
Expected Line Ups:
Norwich-Ruddy, Bassong, Garrido, R.Martin, Barnett, Johnson, Howson, Snodgrass, Holt, Morrison (4-4-2)
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, Tomkins, Diamé, Benayoun, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Notes:Norwich have the same amount of points (2) as they had after the same amount of games (3) last season.
West Ham have only lost 2 of their last 24 competitive fixtures (one of those being their 3-0 loss to Swansea)
Players to watch out for-
Norwich:
Robert Snodgrass-Talented Scot Robert Snodgrass looked very out of sorts on the opening day of the season though has looked like the key to everything Norwich have done in their most recent Premier League matches. He looks like he's going to be the driving force going forward for the Canaries and whilst he may not be an out and out goalscorer himself he will create chances for others as well as bagging a fair few himself. He really is the key to the attack.
John Ruddy-Goalkeeper John Rudd started the season with a nightmare at Fulham however he has been very good since then. Whilst he hasn't kept a clean sheet this season he's a very under-rated keeper and is doing a fine job behind a weak defense. He may not have a lot to do here, but he will need to keep his concentration.
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Norwich defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat in front of goal and has already bagged himself some goals this season and will be high on confidence going into this match.
Matt Jarvis-The former Wolves Winger Matt Jarvis has that level of of class that sees him not only able to open up the defense but also create a shed load of chances. Whilst Andy Carroll will be missing Jarvis will be able to look up and find either Carlton Cole or Kevin Nolan in the penalty area giving him some solid targets to aim for in attack.
Whilst expectation at Norwich was low, following the loss of manager Paul Lambert (who went to Villa) it's fair to say that the Canaries haven't actually done that badly. Whilst they were slaughtered on the opening day (losing 5-0 at Fulham) they have held their own with both QPR and most recently Tottenham (drawing both of those games 1-1) as they have earned both their first home and away points of the season.
Despite having conceded 7 goals so far this season Norwich's big problem seems to be up front where they lack a true goal scorer, instead having an attack built up of various threats as opposed to an out and out threat. The likes of Grant Holt will bag goals but will struggle to find the target on a regular basis however Robert Snodgrass (who looked sensational in his last match for the club) will create chances for the attacking line.
With Chris Hughton looking to hit the ground running following the internationals Norwich could pose a threat here, but only if they can get in the goals against a West Ham team that look unwilling to give many away (with only Swansea having scored against West Ham this season). This is the problem, Norwich can't score and West Ham don't really concede, in Norwich win it'll only be by a single goal.
Last year Norwich were very average at home, but they were an average team. Their Premier League position of 12th overall was a solid mid-table finish and their home form was reflective of that with 27 home points from their 19 home games (surprisingly the same as Liverpool).
Last time out (a fortnight ago!) West Ham looked excellent in defeating Fulham 3-0 with the Fulham defensive lining looking completely unable to cope with the West Ham attack. Sadly however the forefront of that attack was Andy Carroll who will be absent (due to injury) from this game leaving the West Ham attack looking like a bit of a rag-tag collection. Whilst Kevin Nolan will get goals he's not a pure goal scorer, Ricardo Vaz Te has goals in him but seems to lack Premier League class and Carlton Cole is a joke even amongst West Ham fans. The loss of Carroll (after just 1 game) is genuinely huge.
At the back West Ham have been solid conceding just 3 goals so far this season (in 3 Premier League games) though notably all 3 goals came in their only previous away fixture. This is a stark contract to their form last season where defensively they were rock solid away from home (conceding just 22 away goals in 23 games) and slightly less secure at home (29 goals conceded). If we were to look at last season's numbers however we'd have to favour West Ham here on the back of 13 away wins however was that in the championship, not in the Premier League.
Whilst there is Premier League quality running through the West Ham squad there are questions about the depth of the squad and the absence of Carroll really does bring that issue up. Players like Nolan, Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun can all grab goals and show sparks of something extra but the squad looks like it's only ever going to be 2 injuries away from a crisis.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 1-1
Expected Line Ups:
Norwich-Ruddy, Bassong, Garrido, R.Martin, Barnett, Johnson, Howson, Snodgrass, Holt, Morrison (4-4-2)
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, Tomkins, Diamé, Benayoun, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Notes:Norwich have the same amount of points (2) as they had after the same amount of games (3) last season.
West Ham have only lost 2 of their last 24 competitive fixtures (one of those being their 3-0 loss to Swansea)
Players to watch out for-
Norwich:
Robert Snodgrass-Talented Scot Robert Snodgrass looked very out of sorts on the opening day of the season though has looked like the key to everything Norwich have done in their most recent Premier League matches. He looks like he's going to be the driving force going forward for the Canaries and whilst he may not be an out and out goalscorer himself he will create chances for others as well as bagging a fair few himself. He really is the key to the attack.
John Ruddy-Goalkeeper John Rudd started the season with a nightmare at Fulham however he has been very good since then. Whilst he hasn't kept a clean sheet this season he's a very under-rated keeper and is doing a fine job behind a weak defense. He may not have a lot to do here, but he will need to keep his concentration.
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Norwich defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat in front of goal and has already bagged himself some goals this season and will be high on confidence going into this match.
Matt Jarvis-The former Wolves Winger Matt Jarvis has that level of of class that sees him not only able to open up the defense but also create a shed load of chances. Whilst Andy Carroll will be missing Jarvis will be able to look up and find either Carlton Cole or Kevin Nolan in the penalty area giving him some solid targets to aim for in attack.
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Premier League Week 3-Write up West Ham v Fulham
West Ham 3-0 Fulham
What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago West Ham were humiliated by Swansea 3-0 though this weekend, with new loan signing Andy Carroll up top, West Ham looked a completely different side.
Going into this match up the sub story was that of two strikers. Andy Carroll who had joined West Ham from Liverpool on loan for the rest of the season and Dimitar Berbatov who had been signed by Fulham from Manchester United, though only one of them started and only one of him had any real say in the match.
Whilst Carroll may have been a £30+ million flop at Liverpool he made an immediate impact for West Ham setting up Kevin Nolan inside a minute as the Hammer's took an early lead. It wasn't long until Carroll was involved again...and again. Through out the first half West Ham kept hitting it up and Carroll kept winning the ball time and time again as he frustrated and irritated a Fulham defense that looked petrified.
It was due to the clear fear in the Fulham defense that West Ham netted their second goal. After a cross was cut out for a Hammer corner the Fulham defense were at 6's and 7's and Winston Reid charged through the area to net a thunderbolt header to dobule the lead with less than half an hour gone. By then it seemed as if West Ham were in control and just over 10 minutes later they secured the 3 points after the ball was have cleared to Matt Taylor who's shot just seemed to split the Fulham defense.
Despite having the 3 points in the bag West Ham didn't have the perfect afternoon as both Andy Carroll and Guy Demel limped off in the second half, however Carroll seemed to be taken off more a precautionary messaure than anything too serious. For Big Sam it wasn't just the performance of Carroll that will have pleased him but the whole squad. Kevin Nolan's role in the team was again crucial to the Hammers positives, and he's now netted his second of the season and Ricardo Vaz Te looked exceptional. With both Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun expected to be in the West Ham squad for their next match we may well see West Ham looking more and more like a team that have the quality to stay up.
Fulham's Martin Jol will certainly be very unhappy at his side who didn't look like a side who opened their Premier League season with a 5-0 win. They looked terrified at the back and up front they looked toothless barring the occassional flash from Damien Duff and second half substitute Dimitar Berbatov (who aside from one or two moments was anonymous). The few positives that Jol can take from the game are that Keiran Richardson looked pretty creative and Steve Sidwell never gave up on the match despite being out numbered and out played in the middle. A poor performance and a poor result for Fulham.
What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago West Ham were humiliated by Swansea 3-0 though this weekend, with new loan signing Andy Carroll up top, West Ham looked a completely different side.
Going into this match up the sub story was that of two strikers. Andy Carroll who had joined West Ham from Liverpool on loan for the rest of the season and Dimitar Berbatov who had been signed by Fulham from Manchester United, though only one of them started and only one of him had any real say in the match.
Whilst Carroll may have been a £30+ million flop at Liverpool he made an immediate impact for West Ham setting up Kevin Nolan inside a minute as the Hammer's took an early lead. It wasn't long until Carroll was involved again...and again. Through out the first half West Ham kept hitting it up and Carroll kept winning the ball time and time again as he frustrated and irritated a Fulham defense that looked petrified.
It was due to the clear fear in the Fulham defense that West Ham netted their second goal. After a cross was cut out for a Hammer corner the Fulham defense were at 6's and 7's and Winston Reid charged through the area to net a thunderbolt header to dobule the lead with less than half an hour gone. By then it seemed as if West Ham were in control and just over 10 minutes later they secured the 3 points after the ball was have cleared to Matt Taylor who's shot just seemed to split the Fulham defense.
Despite having the 3 points in the bag West Ham didn't have the perfect afternoon as both Andy Carroll and Guy Demel limped off in the second half, however Carroll seemed to be taken off more a precautionary messaure than anything too serious. For Big Sam it wasn't just the performance of Carroll that will have pleased him but the whole squad. Kevin Nolan's role in the team was again crucial to the Hammers positives, and he's now netted his second of the season and Ricardo Vaz Te looked exceptional. With both Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun expected to be in the West Ham squad for their next match we may well see West Ham looking more and more like a team that have the quality to stay up.
Fulham's Martin Jol will certainly be very unhappy at his side who didn't look like a side who opened their Premier League season with a 5-0 win. They looked terrified at the back and up front they looked toothless barring the occassional flash from Damien Duff and second half substitute Dimitar Berbatov (who aside from one or two moments was anonymous). The few positives that Jol can take from the game are that Keiran Richardson looked pretty creative and Steve Sidwell never gave up on the match despite being out numbered and out played in the middle. A poor performance and a poor result for Fulham.
Premier League Week 3-As it Happens (Saturday)
Full time
Manchester 3-1 QPRThe Champions were again forced to play incredibly hard to claim the 3 points and whilst 3-1 was perhaps reflective of City's domination they did still not look like a team who were comfortable of themselves.
Goal!
Carlos Tevez finally seals the points for Manchester City after Edin Dzeko completely mis-hits his shot.
Manchester City 3-1 QPR
Y.Toure (16)
Zamora (59)
Dzeko (61)
Tevez (90)
Manchester City Free KickCity have a free kick in a great position...and we have 5 minutes stoppage time to go.
Manchester City Substitution
Samir Nasri is replaced by Abdul Razak as we enter the final minute of normal time.
QPR Substitution
Djibril Cisse comes on to replace Esteban Granero with about 5 minutes left as QPR continue to seek an equaliser.
Yellow Card
Bobby Zamora is booked after a few nibbles at Carlos Tevez
Manchester City Substitution
David Silva is replaced by James Milner with around 10 minutes left to play
QPR Free Kick
QPR take a free kick that seems to go through everyone and Ryan Nelson gets a second great opportunity inside 5 minutes. Manchester City are looking garbage at the back.
QPR Corner
Despite being thoroughly outplayed QPR are only a goal down and Ryan Nelson almost draw QPR level. Squeaky bum time for Roberto Mancini?
Manchester City
Kolo Toure replaces Pablo Zabaleta
Yellow Card
Jack Rodwell picks up a harsh yellow card
QPR Substitution
Keiron Dyer comes on to replace Alejando Faurlin
QPR Substitution
Anton Ferdinand is replaced by Nedum Onuoha
Goal!
Well that didn't last long. Edin Dzeko puts Manchester City back in the lead just minutes after QPR's equaliser. Again it seems City's attack has bailed out their defense.
Manchester City 2-1 QPR
Y.Toure (16)
Zamora (59)
Dzeko (61)
Goal!
Well who'd have thunk it? QPR have managed to equalise thanks to a close range header by the heavily bandaged Bobby Zamora! Game on?
Manchester City 1-1 QPR
Y.Toure (16)
Zamora (59)
Wow!
Manchester City come as close as a team can with an excellent shot that hits the underside of the bar and comes out. Beautiful shot and my my are QPR lucky.
Manchester City Chance
It has taken next to no time for Manchester City to make an impact in the second half as Carlos Tevez swings his foot through the ball and really stings the hands of Robert Green.
And we are off for the second half at the Etihad stadium.
Half Time
Manchester City 1-0 QPR
How is this just 1-0? Manchester City have knocked at the door repeatedly but have only managed to bag themselves 1, which they really will be disappointed by.
Yellow Card
Aleksander Kolarov picks up the first booking of the match just before half time.
QPR Corner
QPR get a corner as we edge towards half time and despite it being solid it comes to nothing.
Penalty Appeal
Manchester City are looking for a second and appeal for a handball in the area, it's again waved away
QPR Free Kick
QPR get a free kick in a promising position but it's wasted and Manchester City counter and create a great chances that gets wasted.
Manchester City Corner
Manchester City come close once again though it gets turned behind for yet another corner.
Lovely!
Manchester City play the ball wonderfully into an excellent position but make a pass too many and QPR clear the danger.
Manchester City Free Kick
Manchester City look to double their lead but a free kick, from a promising position, is wasted.
Manchester City Corner and Goal!
The previous corner has lead us to another one...and that one has lead us to a Yaya Toure thunderbolt past Rob Green. The deadlock has been broken.
Manchester City 1-0 QPR.
Y.Toure (16)
Manchester City CornerNormality is resumed with Manchester City getting yet another corner.
QPR Corner
A challenge by Jack Rodwell sees the ball hurtling towards his own net from 40 yards and Joe Hart is called into action to tip it over his own bar. QPR's corner comes to nothing.
Manchester City Corner
...you guess it, another Manchester City corner. This one here doesn't have the same threat as the previous on. That's the FIFTH QPR corner in a little over 10 minutes.
Manchester City Corner
...and another City corner...this one comes close with QPR needing to clear off the line...
Manchester City Corner
We are still inside the first 8 minutes and City have had their 8th corner! It comes to little but further shows their dominance.
Penalty Appeal
QPR are seriously under the cosh here and a ball-hit-hand incident is appealed for by the blue, the referee doesn't give it but it looks like the 0-0 will not last long.
Manchester City Corner
We are only 4 minutes into the match but City have now had 2 corners, this one being a much better corner than the first one.
Manchester City Corner
We're only 90 seconds into the match and Manchester City already have their first corner of the match. It comes to nothing but they are showing their intentions from the off.
...and we're off at The Etihad!
Despite the 15:00 kick offs starting slowly they ended up being rather solid overall. We had a combined 12 goals shared between the 4 games, we also had 2 penalties and 2 red cards as well as a number of notable injuries. All in all there was enough entertainment there for the neutral.
Whilst the winning runs of both Swansea and Everton came to an end the nightmares for Andre Villas-Boas has continued with the fans at White Hart Lane booing loudly at the end of their draw. Spurs are really struggling with just 2 points from 3 and when you remember the fans never wanted Harry to go they are likely to make their feelings on AVB well known.
So far today we've had it all-Goals (15), Penalties (2), Red Cards (2), injuries (a very nasty one for Neil Taylor), an angry Irishman (Martin O'Neill), controversy and some excellent debut's (Andy Carroll and Steven Fletcher), will this continue in our late game? Stay here and find out as Manchester City host QPR. (Full match preview here)
Full time
Swansea 2-2 Sunderland
Full time
West Brom 2-0 Everton
Full time
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Norwich
Full time
Wigan 2-2 Stoke
RED CARD
Just minutes after Gareth Bale gets booked Tottenham go down to 10 with Tom Huddlestone being shown red.
Yellow Card
Gareth Bale becomes the first yellow card at the Tottenham v Norwich game
Goal!
Everton's excellent start to the season has come to a clear end with Gareth McAuley doubling West Brom's lead.
West Brom 2-0 Everton
Long (66)
McAuley (83)
Goal!
Tottenham lead lasted less than 20 minutes as Robert Snodgrass has equalised for Norwich. Pressure must surely be building on Andre Villas-Boas.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Norwich
Dembélé (69)
Snodgrass (85)
Goal!
Stoke will not be denied it seems as gentle giant Peter Crouch equalises for the second time against Wigan
Wigan 2-2 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Walters (40)-Pen
Di Santo (49)
Crouch (76)
RED CARD
Chico is very, very unfortunately sent off for a silly challenge on Louis Saha who really over-sold the challenge. Poor sportsmanship from Saha.
Yellow Card
Marouane Fellaini joins several team mates as he too is booked
Yellow Card
Phil Neville has his name taken by the referee
Sunderland Substitution
Steven Fletcher's hopes of a hat-trick are ended early and he is replaced by Louis Saha.
Goal!
Swansea's super signing Michu strikes again, scorin his 4th Premier League goal in just 3 matches as Swansea's relentless pressure pays off
Swansea 2-2 Sunderland
Fletcher (41, 45)
Routledge (45)
Michu (66)
Goal!
Moussa Dembélé gets his Tottenham career off to a great start putting his new team in the lead!
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Norwich
Dembélé (69)
Yellow Card
Everton's defender Sylvin Distin joins fellow Toffee's defender Tony Hibbert in the referees book.
Goal!
West Brom take an unexpected lead against Everton thanks to a Shane Long goal.
West Brom 1-0 Everton
Long (66)
Yellow Card
Swansea's Ashley Williams goes into the referee's book.
Angry Irishman!
Martin O'Neill is furious on the sideline feeling that his team deserved a free kick. Instead it's Swansea with a free kick at the other end.
Tottenham Substituion
Tottenham bring on Emmanuel Adebayor to replace Gylfi Sigurdsson as Spurs look to shake up their awfully toothless looking attacking.
West Brom Substitution
Steven Reid has picked up a booking just minutes ago though now has to be taken off with Billy Jones replacing him
Yellow Card
We are having a spate of activity in the Wigan v Stoke match with James McArthur now receiving a booking.
Yellow Card
Stoke pick up their second yellow card of the season as Dean Whitehead receieves a booking.
Goal!
Wigan reclaim the lead thanks to a Franco Di Santos goal early in the second half.
Wigan 2-1 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Walters (40)-Pen
Di Santo (49)
Yellow CardSteve Reid picks up West Brom's first yellow card of the day just after the restart against Everton.
We are now back under way at all the 15:00 kick offs, with the Swansea v Sunderland game the final one to restart.
Half Times
Swansea 1-2 Sunderland
Wigan 1-1 Stoke
Tottenham 0-0 Norwich
West Brom 0-0 Everton
Despite a VERY slow start to the 15:00 kick offs things ended with a flurry of activity. The first 30 minutes saw more injuries than goal line activity with Neil Taylor's injury at the Liberty Stadium being the worst. The final 10 or so minutes saw no less than 4 goals, 3 of those coming at the Liberty Stadium, as Sunderland twice took the lead against Swansea with the other goal being Stoke's equaliser from the spot against Wigan.
Goal!
Steven Fletcher bags his second of the game to put Sunderland in the lead deep in to stoppage time. A free kick is floated across and Fletcher sweeps up the pieces.
Swansea 1-2 Sunderland
Fletcher (41, 45)
Routledge (45)
Penalty Appeal
Sunderland go straight down the other end and appeal for a penalty themselves but again the rfeferee waves play on.
Penalty Appeal
Swansea appeal for a penalty for a handball but the referee waves play on.
Yellow Card
We have our first yellow card in the Wigan v Stoke game as Marc Wilson gets his name taken
Goal!
Swansea equalise as we head into 6 minutes of stoppage time. Wayne Routledge almost rips the net open after linking up well with Nathan Dyer and Michu.
Swansea 1-1 Sunderland
Fletcher (41)
Routledge (45)
Goal!
Swansea concede their first goal of the season as a defensive mistake lets Steven Fletcher in to open the scoring just 5 minutes before half time.
Swansea 0-1 Sunderland
Fletcher (41)
Goal!
Stoke get a penalty with just a few minutes left until the break and Jonathan Walters converts to level the scores.
Wigan 1-1 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Walters (40)-Pen
Sunderland Substitution
Lee Cattermole who took a knock a few minutes ago limps off to be replaced by David Naylor. Note-Cattermole suffered a dead leg.
Yellow Card!
Tony Hibbert is shown as yellow card in theWest Brom v Everton match
Wigan Substitution
Jean Beausejour limps off with David Jones replacing him. Starting to look like a painful set of games today.
So we are 30 minutes into the 15:00 kick offs and we've had 1 goal between the 4 matches, 1 yellow card and 2 notable injury based substitutions...not great so far.
Yellow Card!
Craig Gardner receives the first yellow card of the day in the Premier League.
Everton Substitution
Darron Gibson goes off after what appears to be a pulled hamstring. He is replaced by Tony Hibbert.
OUCH! and Swansea Substitution
Neil Taylor is in a lot of pain as Swansea host Sunderland and you knew from when he went down that he was in pure agony. He's being stretchered off and will, eventually, be replaced by Ben Davies. Don't expect to see Taylor back in a hurry, this is a bad one and he will almost certainly be out for several weeks, if not longer.
Penalty Appeal
Nikica Jelavic goes down under a challenge and Everton appeal for the penalty against West Brom. The referee just tells them to get on with it.
Goal!
Wigan take the lead against Stoke in the first goal of the early kick offs thanks to an early Shaun Maloney penalty.
Wigan 1-0 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Penalty Appeal
Swansea have a penalty appeal in the opening few minutes turned down as they host Sunderland.
And now we are off in the 15:00 kick offs!
Full Time
West Ham 3-0 Fulham
An excellent win for West Ham who not only managed to keep a clean sheet but also bag 3 goals in part thanks to the excellent Andy Carroll who single handedly gave Fulham's defense a nightmare before he was substituted off. Sam Allardyce has to be happy at not just the result but also the perfomance which was a massive improvement over what they've done in their preview Premier League games this season.
For Fulham it just seemed like they took a long, long time to get out of the blocks and although their was some positives, notably Keiran Richardson's performance before he was taken off, it was an awful performance for Fulham.
Woodwork
Fulham looking for a concellation goal and Hugo Rodellaga comes close as his shot hits the wood work.
West Ham Corner
Diamien Duff takes a shot that is turned behidn by Jussi Jääskeläinen as we head into the final minute of normal time.
Fulham Corner
Fulham come as close as they've come as James Tomkins has to turn the ball around his own net. The corn comes to nothing as West Ham break quickly.
West Ham Substitution
Guy Demel limps off with a little more than 10 minutes left and it replaced by Robert Hall.
LOVELY!
Fulham play some fantastic football before it ends with a soft shot that is easily saved by Jussi Jääskeläinen. Fulham now showing some promise but we have only got around 15 minutes left.
Fulham Corner
Dimitar Berbatov earns Fulham a corner. Fulham have some solid pressure but it's finally cleared.
West Ham Substitution
Andy Carroll isn't being risked and is taken off for treatment and an early shower with Carlton Cole replacing him.
West Ham Substiution
James Tomkins comes to replace James Collins
Injury Worry!
Andy Carroll is down and in pain
West Ham Corner
Andy Carroll earns West Ham a corner after again frustrating the Fulham defense. After some messy defending Carroll gives Fulham a free kick in their own area for them to clear.
Fulham Substitution
Keiran Richardson's Fulham debut comes to an early end as Alexander Kačaniklić comes on to replace him with around 30 minutes left.
West Ham Corner
West Ham get a corner following the the throw in (see below) and after rattling around the Fulham penalty area the visitors finally get a chance to clear it via a free kick.
West Ham Free Kick
West Ham get a free kick just off centre and just outside the D. Matt Taylor strikes it hard but it's saved for Mark Schwarzer who loses it for a second before it's cleared for a throw in.
Flag!
Dimitar Berbatov is found in space but the linesman flags him off side. Harsh decision.
Fulham Substutition
As expected Dimitar Berbatov comes on the start of the second half with the Bulgarian replacing Mladen Petric.
Half Time
West ham 3-0 Fulham
A dream start at Upton Park for Andy Carroll who not only created a goal inside a minute but has genuinely given the Fulham defense a real nightmare. Fulham have looked scared at the back and have been beaten every time the ball goes through the air. Even on the attack Fulham look poor with only a couple of half chances in the first half.
Big Sam will be the happiest man in London right now, not only has his pursuit of Andy Carroll proven to be successful and already paid off but his team finally seem capable of scoring goals, even if the likes of Winston Reid and Matt Taylor aren't there to score.
For Fulham's manager Martin Jol he'll be asking what's gone wrong since Damien Duff put his side 1-0 up against Manchester United last weeknd, in fact Fulham haven't scored a goal (barring Nemanja Vidic's own goal) since then whilst conceding 6. Fulham fans will be hoping that Jol brings on Dimitar Berbatov to change things up front as they need to change something drastically in the second half.
Fulham CornerFulham get a second successive corner, this one is countered quickly by West Ham but the attack goes over.
Fulham CornerFulham get their first corner just as we enter stoppage time, it's cleared behind.
GOAL!
West Ham effectively seal the points before half time as a poor clearance only goes to Matt Taylor who makes it 3.
West Ham 3-0 Fulham
Nolan (1)
Reid (29)
Taylor (41)
GOAL!
West Ham double their lead following the corner with Winston Reid nodding in the corner.
West Ham 2-0 Fulham
Nolan (1)
Reid (29)
West Ham Corner
Fulham are slowly starting to prevent the crosses that keep finding Andy Carroll sadly these only tend to go out for corners.
West Ham Corner
The corner by West Ham is swiftly cut off by Mark Schwarzer.
Penalty Appeal
Andy Carroll goes up...then down in the Fulham penalty area, the hitman appeals but gets nothing.
Ooops!
Just out side the Fulham penalty area Kevin Nolan swings...and he misses!
Fulham Chance
Brede Haangeland plays in a delightful long ball to Damien Duff in the West Ham penalty area but the Fulham attacker can't convert the chance.
West Ham Corner
West Ham seem intent to build on their good start but again their corner amounts to nothing.
Shot!
Ricardo Vaz Te attempts to beat Mark Schwarzer at his near post but the shot is saved.
West Ham Corner
West Ham get the first corner of the match but it's a poor one by Mark Noble.
Shot!
Mohamed Diame comes close to doubling the lead as Mark Schwarzer is called into action to tip it over the bar.
Shot!
Jussi Jääskeläinen is forced in to action as Keiran Richardson takes his first shot in a Fulham shirt. The keeper's handling skills were less than impressive as he let it slip away from him but no one in white was following in.
GOAL!
Andy Carroll has made an immediate impact at West Ham with a knock on going to Kevin Nolan who hits it across Mark Schwarzer and opens the scoring inside a minute!
West Ham 1-0 Fulham
Kevin Nolan (1)
..And we are off at Upton Park!
So we've finally seen off the dreaded transfer window and now we are back just to what happens on the pitch. We start today at Upton Park as West Ham, with Andy Carroll in tow, host Martin Jol's Fulham.
Whilst Andy Carroll is expected to start we're expecting Dimitar Berbatov to start on the bench however Kieran Richardson is expected to make his debut for Fulham having signed from Sunderland.
Manchester 3-1 QPRThe Champions were again forced to play incredibly hard to claim the 3 points and whilst 3-1 was perhaps reflective of City's domination they did still not look like a team who were comfortable of themselves.
Goal!
Carlos Tevez finally seals the points for Manchester City after Edin Dzeko completely mis-hits his shot.
Manchester City 3-1 QPR
Y.Toure (16)
Zamora (59)
Dzeko (61)
Tevez (90)
Manchester City Free KickCity have a free kick in a great position...and we have 5 minutes stoppage time to go.
Manchester City Substitution
Samir Nasri is replaced by Abdul Razak as we enter the final minute of normal time.
QPR Substitution
Djibril Cisse comes on to replace Esteban Granero with about 5 minutes left as QPR continue to seek an equaliser.
Yellow Card
Bobby Zamora is booked after a few nibbles at Carlos Tevez
Manchester City Substitution
David Silva is replaced by James Milner with around 10 minutes left to play
QPR Free Kick
QPR take a free kick that seems to go through everyone and Ryan Nelson gets a second great opportunity inside 5 minutes. Manchester City are looking garbage at the back.
QPR Corner
Despite being thoroughly outplayed QPR are only a goal down and Ryan Nelson almost draw QPR level. Squeaky bum time for Roberto Mancini?
Manchester City
Kolo Toure replaces Pablo Zabaleta
Yellow Card
Jack Rodwell picks up a harsh yellow card
QPR Substitution
Keiron Dyer comes on to replace Alejando Faurlin
QPR Substitution
Anton Ferdinand is replaced by Nedum Onuoha
Goal!
Well that didn't last long. Edin Dzeko puts Manchester City back in the lead just minutes after QPR's equaliser. Again it seems City's attack has bailed out their defense.
Manchester City 2-1 QPR
Y.Toure (16)
Zamora (59)
Dzeko (61)
Goal!
Well who'd have thunk it? QPR have managed to equalise thanks to a close range header by the heavily bandaged Bobby Zamora! Game on?
Manchester City 1-1 QPR
Y.Toure (16)
Zamora (59)
Wow!
Manchester City come as close as a team can with an excellent shot that hits the underside of the bar and comes out. Beautiful shot and my my are QPR lucky.
Manchester City Chance
It has taken next to no time for Manchester City to make an impact in the second half as Carlos Tevez swings his foot through the ball and really stings the hands of Robert Green.
And we are off for the second half at the Etihad stadium.
Half Time
Manchester City 1-0 QPR
How is this just 1-0? Manchester City have knocked at the door repeatedly but have only managed to bag themselves 1, which they really will be disappointed by.
Yellow Card
Aleksander Kolarov picks up the first booking of the match just before half time.
QPR Corner
QPR get a corner as we edge towards half time and despite it being solid it comes to nothing.
Penalty Appeal
Manchester City are looking for a second and appeal for a handball in the area, it's again waved away
QPR Free Kick
QPR get a free kick in a promising position but it's wasted and Manchester City counter and create a great chances that gets wasted.
Manchester City Corner
Manchester City come close once again though it gets turned behind for yet another corner.
Lovely!
Manchester City play the ball wonderfully into an excellent position but make a pass too many and QPR clear the danger.
Manchester City Free Kick
Manchester City look to double their lead but a free kick, from a promising position, is wasted.
Manchester City Corner and Goal!
The previous corner has lead us to another one...and that one has lead us to a Yaya Toure thunderbolt past Rob Green. The deadlock has been broken.
Manchester City 1-0 QPR.
Y.Toure (16)
Manchester City CornerNormality is resumed with Manchester City getting yet another corner.
QPR Corner
A challenge by Jack Rodwell sees the ball hurtling towards his own net from 40 yards and Joe Hart is called into action to tip it over his own bar. QPR's corner comes to nothing.
Manchester City Corner
...you guess it, another Manchester City corner. This one here doesn't have the same threat as the previous on. That's the FIFTH QPR corner in a little over 10 minutes.
Manchester City Corner
...and another City corner...this one comes close with QPR needing to clear off the line...
Manchester City Corner
We are still inside the first 8 minutes and City have had their 8th corner! It comes to little but further shows their dominance.
Penalty Appeal
QPR are seriously under the cosh here and a ball-hit-hand incident is appealed for by the blue, the referee doesn't give it but it looks like the 0-0 will not last long.
Manchester City Corner
We are only 4 minutes into the match but City have now had 2 corners, this one being a much better corner than the first one.
Manchester City Corner
We're only 90 seconds into the match and Manchester City already have their first corner of the match. It comes to nothing but they are showing their intentions from the off.
...and we're off at The Etihad!
Despite the 15:00 kick offs starting slowly they ended up being rather solid overall. We had a combined 12 goals shared between the 4 games, we also had 2 penalties and 2 red cards as well as a number of notable injuries. All in all there was enough entertainment there for the neutral.
Whilst the winning runs of both Swansea and Everton came to an end the nightmares for Andre Villas-Boas has continued with the fans at White Hart Lane booing loudly at the end of their draw. Spurs are really struggling with just 2 points from 3 and when you remember the fans never wanted Harry to go they are likely to make their feelings on AVB well known.
So far today we've had it all-Goals (15), Penalties (2), Red Cards (2), injuries (a very nasty one for Neil Taylor), an angry Irishman (Martin O'Neill), controversy and some excellent debut's (Andy Carroll and Steven Fletcher), will this continue in our late game? Stay here and find out as Manchester City host QPR. (Full match preview here)
Full time
Swansea 2-2 Sunderland
Full time
West Brom 2-0 Everton
Full time
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Norwich
Full time
Wigan 2-2 Stoke
RED CARD
Just minutes after Gareth Bale gets booked Tottenham go down to 10 with Tom Huddlestone being shown red.
Yellow Card
Gareth Bale becomes the first yellow card at the Tottenham v Norwich game
Goal!
Everton's excellent start to the season has come to a clear end with Gareth McAuley doubling West Brom's lead.
West Brom 2-0 Everton
Long (66)
McAuley (83)
Goal!
Tottenham lead lasted less than 20 minutes as Robert Snodgrass has equalised for Norwich. Pressure must surely be building on Andre Villas-Boas.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Norwich
Dembélé (69)
Snodgrass (85)
Goal!
Stoke will not be denied it seems as gentle giant Peter Crouch equalises for the second time against Wigan
Wigan 2-2 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Walters (40)-Pen
Di Santo (49)
Crouch (76)
RED CARD
Chico is very, very unfortunately sent off for a silly challenge on Louis Saha who really over-sold the challenge. Poor sportsmanship from Saha.
Yellow Card
Marouane Fellaini joins several team mates as he too is booked
Yellow Card
Phil Neville has his name taken by the referee
Sunderland Substitution
Steven Fletcher's hopes of a hat-trick are ended early and he is replaced by Louis Saha.
Goal!
Swansea's super signing Michu strikes again, scorin his 4th Premier League goal in just 3 matches as Swansea's relentless pressure pays off
Swansea 2-2 Sunderland
Fletcher (41, 45)
Routledge (45)
Michu (66)
Goal!
Moussa Dembélé gets his Tottenham career off to a great start putting his new team in the lead!
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Norwich
Dembélé (69)
Yellow Card
Everton's defender Sylvin Distin joins fellow Toffee's defender Tony Hibbert in the referees book.
Goal!
West Brom take an unexpected lead against Everton thanks to a Shane Long goal.
West Brom 1-0 Everton
Long (66)
Yellow Card
Swansea's Ashley Williams goes into the referee's book.
Angry Irishman!
Martin O'Neill is furious on the sideline feeling that his team deserved a free kick. Instead it's Swansea with a free kick at the other end.
Tottenham Substituion
Tottenham bring on Emmanuel Adebayor to replace Gylfi Sigurdsson as Spurs look to shake up their awfully toothless looking attacking.
West Brom Substitution
Steven Reid has picked up a booking just minutes ago though now has to be taken off with Billy Jones replacing him
Yellow Card
We are having a spate of activity in the Wigan v Stoke match with James McArthur now receiving a booking.
Yellow Card
Stoke pick up their second yellow card of the season as Dean Whitehead receieves a booking.
Goal!
Wigan reclaim the lead thanks to a Franco Di Santos goal early in the second half.
Wigan 2-1 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Walters (40)-Pen
Di Santo (49)
Yellow CardSteve Reid picks up West Brom's first yellow card of the day just after the restart against Everton.
We are now back under way at all the 15:00 kick offs, with the Swansea v Sunderland game the final one to restart.
Half Times
Swansea 1-2 Sunderland
Wigan 1-1 Stoke
Tottenham 0-0 Norwich
West Brom 0-0 Everton
Despite a VERY slow start to the 15:00 kick offs things ended with a flurry of activity. The first 30 minutes saw more injuries than goal line activity with Neil Taylor's injury at the Liberty Stadium being the worst. The final 10 or so minutes saw no less than 4 goals, 3 of those coming at the Liberty Stadium, as Sunderland twice took the lead against Swansea with the other goal being Stoke's equaliser from the spot against Wigan.
Goal!
Steven Fletcher bags his second of the game to put Sunderland in the lead deep in to stoppage time. A free kick is floated across and Fletcher sweeps up the pieces.
Swansea 1-2 Sunderland
Fletcher (41, 45)
Routledge (45)
Penalty Appeal
Sunderland go straight down the other end and appeal for a penalty themselves but again the rfeferee waves play on.
Penalty Appeal
Swansea appeal for a penalty for a handball but the referee waves play on.
Yellow Card
We have our first yellow card in the Wigan v Stoke game as Marc Wilson gets his name taken
Goal!
Swansea equalise as we head into 6 minutes of stoppage time. Wayne Routledge almost rips the net open after linking up well with Nathan Dyer and Michu.
Swansea 1-1 Sunderland
Fletcher (41)
Routledge (45)
Goal!
Swansea concede their first goal of the season as a defensive mistake lets Steven Fletcher in to open the scoring just 5 minutes before half time.
Swansea 0-1 Sunderland
Fletcher (41)
Goal!
Stoke get a penalty with just a few minutes left until the break and Jonathan Walters converts to level the scores.
Wigan 1-1 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Walters (40)-Pen
Sunderland Substitution
Lee Cattermole who took a knock a few minutes ago limps off to be replaced by David Naylor. Note-Cattermole suffered a dead leg.
Yellow Card!
Tony Hibbert is shown as yellow card in theWest Brom v Everton match
Wigan Substitution
Jean Beausejour limps off with David Jones replacing him. Starting to look like a painful set of games today.
So we are 30 minutes into the 15:00 kick offs and we've had 1 goal between the 4 matches, 1 yellow card and 2 notable injury based substitutions...not great so far.
Yellow Card!
Craig Gardner receives the first yellow card of the day in the Premier League.
Everton Substitution
Darron Gibson goes off after what appears to be a pulled hamstring. He is replaced by Tony Hibbert.
OUCH! and Swansea Substitution
Neil Taylor is in a lot of pain as Swansea host Sunderland and you knew from when he went down that he was in pure agony. He's being stretchered off and will, eventually, be replaced by Ben Davies. Don't expect to see Taylor back in a hurry, this is a bad one and he will almost certainly be out for several weeks, if not longer.
Penalty Appeal
Nikica Jelavic goes down under a challenge and Everton appeal for the penalty against West Brom. The referee just tells them to get on with it.
Goal!
Wigan take the lead against Stoke in the first goal of the early kick offs thanks to an early Shaun Maloney penalty.
Wigan 1-0 Stoke
Maloney (5)-Pen
Penalty Appeal
Swansea have a penalty appeal in the opening few minutes turned down as they host Sunderland.
And now we are off in the 15:00 kick offs!
Full Time
West Ham 3-0 Fulham
An excellent win for West Ham who not only managed to keep a clean sheet but also bag 3 goals in part thanks to the excellent Andy Carroll who single handedly gave Fulham's defense a nightmare before he was substituted off. Sam Allardyce has to be happy at not just the result but also the perfomance which was a massive improvement over what they've done in their preview Premier League games this season.
For Fulham it just seemed like they took a long, long time to get out of the blocks and although their was some positives, notably Keiran Richardson's performance before he was taken off, it was an awful performance for Fulham.
Woodwork
Fulham looking for a concellation goal and Hugo Rodellaga comes close as his shot hits the wood work.
West Ham Corner
Diamien Duff takes a shot that is turned behidn by Jussi Jääskeläinen as we head into the final minute of normal time.
Fulham Corner
Fulham come as close as they've come as James Tomkins has to turn the ball around his own net. The corn comes to nothing as West Ham break quickly.
West Ham Substitution
Guy Demel limps off with a little more than 10 minutes left and it replaced by Robert Hall.
LOVELY!
Fulham play some fantastic football before it ends with a soft shot that is easily saved by Jussi Jääskeläinen. Fulham now showing some promise but we have only got around 15 minutes left.
Fulham Corner
Dimitar Berbatov earns Fulham a corner. Fulham have some solid pressure but it's finally cleared.
West Ham Substitution
Andy Carroll isn't being risked and is taken off for treatment and an early shower with Carlton Cole replacing him.
West Ham Substiution
James Tomkins comes to replace James Collins
Injury Worry!
Andy Carroll is down and in pain
West Ham Corner
Andy Carroll earns West Ham a corner after again frustrating the Fulham defense. After some messy defending Carroll gives Fulham a free kick in their own area for them to clear.
Fulham Substitution
Keiran Richardson's Fulham debut comes to an early end as Alexander Kačaniklić comes on to replace him with around 30 minutes left.
West Ham Corner
West Ham get a corner following the the throw in (see below) and after rattling around the Fulham penalty area the visitors finally get a chance to clear it via a free kick.
West Ham Free Kick
West Ham get a free kick just off centre and just outside the D. Matt Taylor strikes it hard but it's saved for Mark Schwarzer who loses it for a second before it's cleared for a throw in.
Flag!
Dimitar Berbatov is found in space but the linesman flags him off side. Harsh decision.
Fulham Substutition
As expected Dimitar Berbatov comes on the start of the second half with the Bulgarian replacing Mladen Petric.
Half Time
West ham 3-0 Fulham
A dream start at Upton Park for Andy Carroll who not only created a goal inside a minute but has genuinely given the Fulham defense a real nightmare. Fulham have looked scared at the back and have been beaten every time the ball goes through the air. Even on the attack Fulham look poor with only a couple of half chances in the first half.
Big Sam will be the happiest man in London right now, not only has his pursuit of Andy Carroll proven to be successful and already paid off but his team finally seem capable of scoring goals, even if the likes of Winston Reid and Matt Taylor aren't there to score.
For Fulham's manager Martin Jol he'll be asking what's gone wrong since Damien Duff put his side 1-0 up against Manchester United last weeknd, in fact Fulham haven't scored a goal (barring Nemanja Vidic's own goal) since then whilst conceding 6. Fulham fans will be hoping that Jol brings on Dimitar Berbatov to change things up front as they need to change something drastically in the second half.
Fulham CornerFulham get a second successive corner, this one is countered quickly by West Ham but the attack goes over.
Fulham CornerFulham get their first corner just as we enter stoppage time, it's cleared behind.
GOAL!
West Ham effectively seal the points before half time as a poor clearance only goes to Matt Taylor who makes it 3.
West Ham 3-0 Fulham
Nolan (1)
Reid (29)
Taylor (41)
GOAL!
West Ham double their lead following the corner with Winston Reid nodding in the corner.
West Ham 2-0 Fulham
Nolan (1)
Reid (29)
West Ham Corner
Fulham are slowly starting to prevent the crosses that keep finding Andy Carroll sadly these only tend to go out for corners.
West Ham Corner
The corner by West Ham is swiftly cut off by Mark Schwarzer.
Penalty Appeal
Andy Carroll goes up...then down in the Fulham penalty area, the hitman appeals but gets nothing.
Ooops!
Just out side the Fulham penalty area Kevin Nolan swings...and he misses!
Fulham Chance
Brede Haangeland plays in a delightful long ball to Damien Duff in the West Ham penalty area but the Fulham attacker can't convert the chance.
West Ham Corner
West Ham seem intent to build on their good start but again their corner amounts to nothing.
Shot!
Ricardo Vaz Te attempts to beat Mark Schwarzer at his near post but the shot is saved.
West Ham Corner
West Ham get the first corner of the match but it's a poor one by Mark Noble.
Shot!
Mohamed Diame comes close to doubling the lead as Mark Schwarzer is called into action to tip it over the bar.
Shot!
Jussi Jääskeläinen is forced in to action as Keiran Richardson takes his first shot in a Fulham shirt. The keeper's handling skills were less than impressive as he let it slip away from him but no one in white was following in.
GOAL!
Andy Carroll has made an immediate impact at West Ham with a knock on going to Kevin Nolan who hits it across Mark Schwarzer and opens the scoring inside a minute!
West Ham 1-0 Fulham
Kevin Nolan (1)
..And we are off at Upton Park!
So we've finally seen off the dreaded transfer window and now we are back just to what happens on the pitch. We start today at Upton Park as West Ham, with Andy Carroll in tow, host Martin Jol's Fulham.
Whilst Andy Carroll is expected to start we're expecting Dimitar Berbatov to start on the bench however Kieran Richardson is expected to make his debut for Fulham having signed from Sunderland.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Premier League Week 3-Preview and prediction (West Ham v Fulham)
For the second week running the newly promoted West Ham will get the weekend off to a start featuring in Saturday's early kick off as they host fellow London rivals Fulham. Despite both teams winning their opening league fixtures, both lost last time out and will be looking to get back on the winning path at the others expense.
West Ham's opening day victory over Aston Villa seems to have flattered to deceive with Villa taking a 3-1 drubbing last weekend to Everton whilst the Hammers were rolled over by Michael Laudrup's exceptional Swansea team. Despite the loss to Swansea however West Ham did show some promise, especially from set pieces where they came close a number of times and they do appear to have goals in them.
Having won 2-0 in a mid-week League Cup match (against Crewe) West Ham may go into this match with some momentum however it appears one of those goal scorers, Nicky Maynard, is on his way out (expected to go to Cardiff). Though hopefully, regardless of whether Maynard moves or not West Ham will have rebuilt some of their confidence or Big Sam may find his players really doubting themselves, especially in front of goal.
With Matt Jarvis having made his Premier League debut for the Hammers and looking excellent it does appear that West Ham will create chances, but the bigger question is have they got someone to finish the chances? It seems as though this is biggest issue with the Hammers and although they scored freely in the Championship last year (81 goals, 2nd most) with Ricardo Vaz Te and Carlton Cole they do appear to be struggling this season. Vaz Te, an excellent Championship player, has struggled to score in the Premier League in the past and Cole's Premier League record is around 1 goal in every 5 appearances.
Despite having a number of Premier League level players they really do lack an out and out Premier League goalscorer, something that could really comeback to haunt them. It's the same problem that saw West Ham relegated 2 years ago when they scored a mere 43 Premier League goals (the 3rd worst) with their top League scorer being Demba Ba with just 7 goals. In fact West Ham's attack was so toothless that only 4 players scored 5 or more goals in their 38 League games.
Whilst West Ham are struggling for goals Fulham on the other hand are one of the Premier League's highest scoring teams with 7 goals from their 2 games far. They opened their league season with an excellent 5-0 over Norwich and were unlucky not to steal a point in their 3-2 loss to Manchester United weekend. Whilst they did lose in midweek (1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday) in the League Cup Martin Jol's intention will be for a successful Premier League campaign, not a League Cup one.
Like West Ham it doesn't appear that Fulham are done with the transfer market and whilst they have recently lost Mousa Dembele (selling him to Tottenham) it appears as if Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov is on his way to raven Cottage. Rumours are also circulating that Keiran Richardson could also join Fulham before the transfer window closes in just over a day. If Jol can secure both of these signings than it will be a major coup for the Dutchman.
Despite selling Dembele (who gave Manchester United a headache last weekend) Fulham have a really promising team. Not only is Damien Duff looking close to his best but Mladen Petric looks deadly in front of goal and Alexander Kačaniklić looks like a very shrewd signing. Fulham could be a handful for anyone in the Premier League.
Going into this match both teams will be wanting to show they are a good team though out of the two only Fulham appear to be a good team, I'll be expecting an away win.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 0-2
Expected Line Ups:
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, McCartney, Diamé, Noble, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Fulham-
Schwarzer, Hangeland, Hughes, Kelly, Briggs, Duff, Diarra, Kacaniklic, Sidwell, Petric, Ruiz (4-4-2)
Notes:The summer signings haven't yet finished for either team and it looks likely that Andy Carroll will be loaned to West Ham for the season whilst Dimitar Berbatov is set to sign for Fulham (note this preview is being written on Thursday) however it's unlikely either will be registered in time to play.
West Ham have only lost 2 of their last 23 competitive fixtures (one of those being their 3-0 loss to Swansea)
Fulham have only beaten West Ham once at Upton Park in the Premier League
Players to watch out for-
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Fulham defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat in front of goal and acts not only as a poacher but also as a solid threat in the air meaning that he will need to be marked well at set pieces.
Ricardo Vaz Te-The Portuguese forward was one of, if not the, Player of the Season for West Ham after signing from Barnsley mid way through the season. His goal record for the club is tremendous and his work rate is through the roof, he will always pose a threat to defenses and he will be looking to open his scoring sooner rather than later for the season.
Fulham:
Mladen Petric-The new Striker Mladen Petric has looked a star since signing for Fulham and with 2 goals already this he looks like an excellent threat. He gave the Manchester United defense a head ache at times last time out and was unlucky not to have scored past David De Gea. Expect the West Ham defense to be given a real nightmare against him.
Damien Duff-The Irish Winger retired from international football at the start of the new season though has proven that there is still life in the old dog with a goal in both Premier League games that he has played in so far, giving him the same return as he had in the entire of last season. Duff will give the Hammers fits if he gets the ball.
West Ham's opening day victory over Aston Villa seems to have flattered to deceive with Villa taking a 3-1 drubbing last weekend to Everton whilst the Hammers were rolled over by Michael Laudrup's exceptional Swansea team. Despite the loss to Swansea however West Ham did show some promise, especially from set pieces where they came close a number of times and they do appear to have goals in them.
Having won 2-0 in a mid-week League Cup match (against Crewe) West Ham may go into this match with some momentum however it appears one of those goal scorers, Nicky Maynard, is on his way out (expected to go to Cardiff). Though hopefully, regardless of whether Maynard moves or not West Ham will have rebuilt some of their confidence or Big Sam may find his players really doubting themselves, especially in front of goal.
With Matt Jarvis having made his Premier League debut for the Hammers and looking excellent it does appear that West Ham will create chances, but the bigger question is have they got someone to finish the chances? It seems as though this is biggest issue with the Hammers and although they scored freely in the Championship last year (81 goals, 2nd most) with Ricardo Vaz Te and Carlton Cole they do appear to be struggling this season. Vaz Te, an excellent Championship player, has struggled to score in the Premier League in the past and Cole's Premier League record is around 1 goal in every 5 appearances.
Despite having a number of Premier League level players they really do lack an out and out Premier League goalscorer, something that could really comeback to haunt them. It's the same problem that saw West Ham relegated 2 years ago when they scored a mere 43 Premier League goals (the 3rd worst) with their top League scorer being Demba Ba with just 7 goals. In fact West Ham's attack was so toothless that only 4 players scored 5 or more goals in their 38 League games.
Whilst West Ham are struggling for goals Fulham on the other hand are one of the Premier League's highest scoring teams with 7 goals from their 2 games far. They opened their league season with an excellent 5-0 over Norwich and were unlucky not to steal a point in their 3-2 loss to Manchester United weekend. Whilst they did lose in midweek (1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday) in the League Cup Martin Jol's intention will be for a successful Premier League campaign, not a League Cup one.
Like West Ham it doesn't appear that Fulham are done with the transfer market and whilst they have recently lost Mousa Dembele (selling him to Tottenham) it appears as if Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov is on his way to raven Cottage. Rumours are also circulating that Keiran Richardson could also join Fulham before the transfer window closes in just over a day. If Jol can secure both of these signings than it will be a major coup for the Dutchman.
Despite selling Dembele (who gave Manchester United a headache last weekend) Fulham have a really promising team. Not only is Damien Duff looking close to his best but Mladen Petric looks deadly in front of goal and Alexander Kačaniklić looks like a very shrewd signing. Fulham could be a handful for anyone in the Premier League.
Going into this match both teams will be wanting to show they are a good team though out of the two only Fulham appear to be a good team, I'll be expecting an away win.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 0-2
Expected Line Ups:
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, McCartney, Diamé, Noble, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Fulham-
Schwarzer, Hangeland, Hughes, Kelly, Briggs, Duff, Diarra, Kacaniklic, Sidwell, Petric, Ruiz (4-4-2)
Notes:The summer signings haven't yet finished for either team and it looks likely that Andy Carroll will be loaned to West Ham for the season whilst Dimitar Berbatov is set to sign for Fulham (note this preview is being written on Thursday) however it's unlikely either will be registered in time to play.
West Ham have only lost 2 of their last 23 competitive fixtures (one of those being their 3-0 loss to Swansea)
Fulham have only beaten West Ham once at Upton Park in the Premier League
Players to watch out for-
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Fulham defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat in front of goal and acts not only as a poacher but also as a solid threat in the air meaning that he will need to be marked well at set pieces.
Ricardo Vaz Te-The Portuguese forward was one of, if not the, Player of the Season for West Ham after signing from Barnsley mid way through the season. His goal record for the club is tremendous and his work rate is through the roof, he will always pose a threat to defenses and he will be looking to open his scoring sooner rather than later for the season.
Fulham:
Mladen Petric-The new Striker Mladen Petric has looked a star since signing for Fulham and with 2 goals already this he looks like an excellent threat. He gave the Manchester United defense a head ache at times last time out and was unlucky not to have scored past David De Gea. Expect the West Ham defense to be given a real nightmare against him.
Damien Duff-The Irish Winger retired from international football at the start of the new season though has proven that there is still life in the old dog with a goal in both Premier League games that he has played in so far, giving him the same return as he had in the entire of last season. Duff will give the Hammers fits if he gets the ball.
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Swansea v West Ham
Swansea 3-0 West Ham
Things went from good to better for new Swansea manager Michael Laudrup who's team will sit atop the Premier League for at least a couple of hours having won the early kick off of the day. The Swans have not only collected a maximum 6 points from their opening 2 games but also netted an impressive 8 goals which conceding 0 and looked very impressive so far.
Early in the match it was West Ham who looked impressive starting fast with new signing Matt Jarvis almost setting up Kevin Nolan inside 90 seconds or so. Quickly however West Ham's impetus faded and Swansea grew into the game before grabbing the lead thanks to a huge blunder by Finnish keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen who effectively tipped a Angel Rangel shot into his own net. It took little time for West Ham to shoot themselves in the foot for a second time as James Collins (who was awful throughout the game) allowed Michu an easy opportunity to double the lead and he duly took it netting his 3rd Premier League goal in just 2 games.
West Ham finished the first half they way they started it, looking very dangerous. They had 3 corners one after the other as the Swansea defense struggled to cope with the threat in the air. They came close during this spell of pressure with Carlton Cole having a shot cleared off the line by Neil Taylor though couldn't breach the defense as Swansea held on for dear life hoping to go into the half time without conceding.
Thankfully for Swansea the half time effectively killed West Ham's threat and the visitors rarely looked like scoring in the second half with the nearest they came being a chance that Carlton Cole tried to bicycle kick but missed completely. Whilst West Ham looked like an ever more toothless team Swansea looked to increase their lead and came close a number of times before Danny Graham sealed the game with the 3rd goal of the match. After this the game was all but over and West Ham were greeted to some rather unflattering chants by the Swansea fans who were willing to describe the West Ham players in a way they saw fitting.
For Swansea this is a perfect start to their season and one that no one could have expected. 6 points and 8 goals is just something no Swansea fan would have dreamed of though it's something that will see them marking their cards. It's amazing to think that the story of Scott Sinclair not even being on the bench will be completely forgotten following this result and the Swans won't care if he stays or not.
Although Michael Laudrup will be understandably chuffed to pieces it's fair to say that Sam Allardyce won't be anywhere near as happy. Last week his team didn't look anything special but still easily beat Aston Villa, this weekend however his team looked genuinely awful. Matt Jarvis aside there was little positive to take from this game for West Ham who perhaps feel lucky it was only 3-0 following a nightmare for their defense. It's fair to say the Hammers will just want to put this behind them and look towards their next match.
Notes-
Michu becomes the Premier Leagues Highest Scorer so far with 3 goals
This match featured 6 yellow cards, tied most for a fixture this season.
Although the opening goal was originally put down as an own goal, it appears the "dubious goals panel" has awarded it to Rangel.
Things went from good to better for new Swansea manager Michael Laudrup who's team will sit atop the Premier League for at least a couple of hours having won the early kick off of the day. The Swans have not only collected a maximum 6 points from their opening 2 games but also netted an impressive 8 goals which conceding 0 and looked very impressive so far.
Early in the match it was West Ham who looked impressive starting fast with new signing Matt Jarvis almost setting up Kevin Nolan inside 90 seconds or so. Quickly however West Ham's impetus faded and Swansea grew into the game before grabbing the lead thanks to a huge blunder by Finnish keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen who effectively tipped a Angel Rangel shot into his own net. It took little time for West Ham to shoot themselves in the foot for a second time as James Collins (who was awful throughout the game) allowed Michu an easy opportunity to double the lead and he duly took it netting his 3rd Premier League goal in just 2 games.
West Ham finished the first half they way they started it, looking very dangerous. They had 3 corners one after the other as the Swansea defense struggled to cope with the threat in the air. They came close during this spell of pressure with Carlton Cole having a shot cleared off the line by Neil Taylor though couldn't breach the defense as Swansea held on for dear life hoping to go into the half time without conceding.
Thankfully for Swansea the half time effectively killed West Ham's threat and the visitors rarely looked like scoring in the second half with the nearest they came being a chance that Carlton Cole tried to bicycle kick but missed completely. Whilst West Ham looked like an ever more toothless team Swansea looked to increase their lead and came close a number of times before Danny Graham sealed the game with the 3rd goal of the match. After this the game was all but over and West Ham were greeted to some rather unflattering chants by the Swansea fans who were willing to describe the West Ham players in a way they saw fitting.
For Swansea this is a perfect start to their season and one that no one could have expected. 6 points and 8 goals is just something no Swansea fan would have dreamed of though it's something that will see them marking their cards. It's amazing to think that the story of Scott Sinclair not even being on the bench will be completely forgotten following this result and the Swans won't care if he stays or not.
Although Michael Laudrup will be understandably chuffed to pieces it's fair to say that Sam Allardyce won't be anywhere near as happy. Last week his team didn't look anything special but still easily beat Aston Villa, this weekend however his team looked genuinely awful. Matt Jarvis aside there was little positive to take from this game for West Ham who perhaps feel lucky it was only 3-0 following a nightmare for their defense. It's fair to say the Hammers will just want to put this behind them and look towards their next match.
Notes-
Michu becomes the Premier Leagues Highest Scorer so far with 3 goals
This match featured 6 yellow cards, tied most for a fixture this season.
Although the opening goal was originally put down as an own goal, it appears the "dubious goals panel" has awarded it to Rangel.
Premier League Week 2-As it Happens (Saturday)
Full Time
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
Chelsea have returned to the top of the Premier League having secured a maximum 9 points from their 3 games so far.
Stoppage time
David Luiz is in the wars again down in his own penalty area as the 4th official's board shows a minimum of 4 minutes stoppage time.
Chelsea Substitution
Frank Lampard comes on to replace Raul Meireles with less than 3 minutes of normal time remaining.
Newcastle Chance
Demba Ba has the best chance for Newcastle but he can't beat Petr Cech from close range.
Chelsea Corner
Ryan Bertrand's powerful shot is judged as having touched Tim Krul before going behind giving Chelsea a corner. It comes to nothing.
Newcastle Substitution
Yohan Cabaye comes off as Newcastle make their final change bringing on James Perch.
Free kick
Chelsea get another promising free kick and after a short discussion betweem Raul Meireles and David Luiz over who's going to take it, Raul Meireles blasts it over the bar.
Newcastle Substitution
Davide Santon has been replaced by Sylvain Marveaux with around 15 minutes left.
Free kick
Chelsea get a free kick in a nice position but David Luiz hits it over the bar.
Free kick
Ryan Taylor delivers an excellent free kick that seemed to almost be perfect bu no Newcastle attacker could get the touch it needed.
Chelsea Substitution
Juan Mata is replaced with 25 minutes left by Ramires
Newcastle Corner and Subsitution
Ryan Taylor comes on to replace Danny Simpson prior to Newcastle taking a corner that incidentally taken by Taylor. Much better than the previous one but Chelsea cut it out without too many worries.
LOVELY!
Fernando Torres is having a bit of fun now as he starts to abuse the Newcastle defense with his skill. His cross to Eden Hazard gets intercepted but idea was wonderful. This, football fans, is Torres getting back to his best.
Newcastle Corner
Newcastle get a corner...but it's awful and very easy for Chelsea to clear. It's positive however that they managed to make something happen up front.
After starting the second half well Chelsea have slowed and appear to be letting Newcastle get back into the game somewhat.
Second Half
We're off for the second half now at Stamford Bridge as Newcastle try to fight back from 2 down.
Half Time
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
Despite a very slow start to the match which so very few chances being created the game warmed up nicely midway through the half. Whilst Eden Hazard will likely grab the headlines once again for me, it seems like Fernando Torres has started to look his old self. It was Torres who was fouled leading to the penalty (that Hazard put away) and it was Torres who was terrifying the Newcastle defense. The link up play between Hazard and Torres has been the difference and I wouldn't be surprised to see either of them adding a 3rd Chelsea goal in the second half.
Roberto Di Matteo may have been concerned when Raul Meireles and David Luiz went down one after the other though they both soldiered on and finished off the half looking perfectly fine. If anything Di Matteo will have to be happy at the performance of both Hazard and Torres who have been so influential in the half. The Chelsea defense hasn't really been tested as their Midfield has generally neutralised all the Newcastle attacks and as a result Chelsea are bossing the game.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has a lot to do in the half time team talk, he will really struggle to turn this around especially considering how good Chelsea are looking. He has got some positives to take from the match so far as Hatem Ben Arfa looks threatening when he has managed to get the ball though generally he's struggled to get much of it due to Chelsea's Midfield which have controlled much of the match. Pardew will need to hope that Chelsea drop the pace for his team to have a chance.
Goal!
Since being booked Fernando Torres has looked like a man posessed and some excellent interplay with Eden Hzard results in an excellent finish for Torres who is showing glimpses of being back to his best.
Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
Hazard (22)-Pen
Torres (45)
Corner
Chelsea may feel like they deserve another penalty but instead they receive a corner, the corner however goes to waste.
Stoppage time
We will have 4 minutes of stoppage time at Stamford Bridge due to lengthy stoppages following incidents involving Raul Meireles and David Luiz.
Newcastle Chance
Newcastle get their first chance but it's hit straight at Petr Cech who makes an easy save.
Yellow Card
The referee shows the first yellow card of the game as he books Fernando Torres for diving. Whilst the Spaniard was caught he went down very extravagantly from just a minimal touch by Fabricio Coloccini.
Chelsea Chance
Eden Hazard looks to slide in Fernando Torres but the ball gets cut out. The Chelsea attack are starting to open the Newcastle defense up almost at will now.
Ouch!
Raul Meireles looks to be in some pain and Frank Lampard warms up. After being off for a minute or two Raul Meireles returns to the pitch.
Penalty and Goal!
We finally have life in this game as Chelsea go from defending the corner to attack and Fernando Torres goes down in the penalty area. With no Frank Lampard on the pitch the honour is given to Eden Hazard who slots home his first Premier League goal.
Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
Hazard (22)-Pen
Newcastle Corner
The first notable set piece of the match see's Newcastle gaining a corner, but it goes to waste.
Very little to report from the first 15 minutes at Stamford Bridge as the Midfield battle has so far dominated the match. Chelsea have looked the better team but have yet to create a clear cut goal scoring opportunity instead needing to take long range shots. So far it's been under-whelming but it does feel like the match could see a goal is one of the attacking players springs into life.
BREAKING NEWS
Wayne Rooney will be out for 4 weeks following his nasty gash suffered late in the match against Fulham
And we're off at The Bridge!
So with the 6 fixtures done and one postponed we just have one match left to go today with the late kick off and that will see European Champions Chelsea facing Newcastle in what promises to be a real 6 point battle. A full preview of that game can be read here. As with the early kick off this will be more in depth than our 3PM kick offs.
Full time
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Full time
Southampton 0-2 Wigan
Full time
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton
Full time
Tottenham 1-1West Brom
Goal!
West Brom leave it late but they steal a point thanks to a very late goal by James Morrison.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 West Brom
Assou-Ekotto (74)
Morrison (90)
OUCH!
Wayne Rooney is left with a nasty gash on his leg following an accident as he attempts to block a shot. It looks deep and painful and Manchester United will be hoping that it looks worse than it is.
Full time
Norwich 1-1 QPR
Goal!
With just minutes left Wigan secure the points against The Saints as they double their lead thanks to Arouna Kone.
Southampton 0-2 Wigan
De Santo (51)
Kone (89)
Yellow Card
Steven Reid becomes the 3rd player to be booked at White Heart Lane where West Brom are looking for an equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur
Yellow Card
Anton Ferdinand gets his name taken into the referees book joining team-mate Clinton Hill in the Norwich v QPR match
Yellow Card
It's a mixed bag now for Karim El Ahmadi who adds a yellow card to his goal, getting booked just minutes after giving Aston Villa a life line.
Goal!
Is the most unlikely of comebacks on at Villa Park? I'll admit that it's unlikely but Karim El Ahmadi's goal will give the Aston Villa fans some hope with about 15 minutes left to play.
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton
Piernaar (3)
Fellaini (31)
Jelavic (44)
Ahmadi (75)
Goal!
Finally the deadlock is broken at White Heart Lane with Benoît Assou-Ekotto putting Tottenham Hotspur in the lead.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 West Brom
Assou-Ekotto (74)
Goal!
The points aren't in the bag for Manchester United after all as Nemanja Vidic scores an embarrassing own goal and now we appear to have a game on our hands at Old Trafford.
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Kagawa (36)
Rafael (41)
Vidic (64)-O.G.
Red Card!
Things go from bad to worse for Aston Villa. If it wasn't bad enough being 3-0 to Everton they are now also a man down thanks to a straight red being shown to Ciaran Clark.
Goal!
The deadlock is broken at St Mary's with Southampton conceding against Wigan thanks to a thunderbolt by Franco Di Santo.
Southampton 0-1 Wigan
De Santo (51)
Yellow Card
The first yellow card of the second half is shown in London as Tottenham Hotspur's Jan Vertonghen is booked against West Brom.
HALF TIME
It's now half time in all of the 3PM kicks offs so here are the scores at the breaks:
Manchester United 3-1 Fulham
Aston Villa 0-3 Everton
Norwich 1-1 QPR
Southampton 0-0 Wigan
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 West Brom
Goal!
With just minutes to go until half time Everton effectively finish the game off thanks to Nikica Jelavić who makes it 3-0 against Aston Villa
Aston Villa 0-3 Everton
Piernaar (3)
Fellaini (31)
Jelavic (44)
Goal!
...and now it is 3-1 to Manchester United as Rafael does manage to get one that does count.
Manchester United 3-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Kagawa (36)
Rafael (41)
Goal! No
Manchester United think they have a third when Rafael pops the ball in but it's ruled out due to an offside...
Goal!
Normal service has resumed at Old Trafford thanks to Shinji Kagawa who scores his first for Manchester United after tidying up the pieces following a Tom Cleverly.
Manchester United 2-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Kagawa (36)
Yellow Card
Brede Hangeland gets shown the first card at Old Trafford.
Goal!
Everton's Belgian star Marouane Fellaini just can't help but steal the headlines and manages to double the lead for the Toffees against Aston Villa
Aston Villa 0-2 Everton
Piernaar (3)
Fellaini (31)
Yellow Card
West Brom's Youssouf Mulumbu receives the first yellow card in the Tottenham Hotpsur v West Brom game.
After 4 goals in the opening 15 minutes of the 3PM kick off's we've only seen 1 goal in the following 15 minutes as things have calmed down a little across the league.
Yellow Card
The first yellow card of the 3PM kicks off's is shown to QPR defender Clint Hill.
Penalty and Goal!
QPR get a questionable penalty after Djibril Cissé is brought down in the penalty area. The Frenchman takes the spot kick but Norwich keeper John Ruddy saves it. Sadly for Ruddy his effort isn't enough and Bobby Zamora bangs in the rebound.
Norwich 1-1 QPR
Jackson (11)
Zamora (19)
Goal!
In a game between last weekends whooping boy's Norwich take the lead thanks to Simeon Jackson. QPR really have had a nightmare start to the season.
Norwich 1-0 QPR
Jackson (11)
Goal!
Manchester United score their first goal of the season as they equalise against Fulham thanks to an excellent goal by Robin Van Persie who opens his Manchester United account with a beauty.
Manchester United 1-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Goal!
Everton surprised us all on Monday night when they beat Manchester United 1-0 it hasn't take them long to take the lead again this time over Everton thanks to Steven Pienaar.
Aston Villa 0-1 Everton
Pienaar (3)
Goal!
Things go from bad to worse for Manchster United who have already conceded against Fulham who, like Swansea have gotten off to an excellent start to the season
Manchester United 0-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
15:00
We now have kick off in our 3PM kick offs however we have one casualty with the Sunderland v Reading game postponed due to a water logged pitch. Again due to the number of games on at once I will merely be updating goals and cards for these games.
Full-Time
Swansea City 3-0 West Ham This will not be the result that West Ham fans were expecting on their way to way to Wales this morning though they have no one to blame but their own players who were poor. Despite a bright start, especially by new signing Matt Jarvis, they simply couldn't live with Swansea for much of the game who bossed it from the middle. Despite Swansea playing well with Michu being a threat throughout the game West Ham's woes were all self inflicted with some awful defending, especially by James Collins who was genuinely awful. As well Collins having a bad game veteran keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen also failed to cover himself in any glory. It was a well deserved win for the Swans who will be the top of the League until the 15:00 kick offs finish.
Full Match report can be read here
West Ham Corner
With about 5 minutes left West Ham get a corner but it leads to nothing and Swansea start a break.
Swansea Substitution
Swansea make their final substitution bringing on Ben Davies for Neil Taylor. This is the senior debut for Davies.
Yellow Card
A clear hand ball by Winston Reid is punished with a yellow card.
Swansea Substitution
Wayne Routledge is replaced with 10 minutes left by Luke Moore as Swansea look to run down the clock
Chant
The Swansea fans have started the always popular "You're shit and you know you are" chant towards West Ham who are doing little to prove otherwise at the moment.
Swansea Substitution
Swansea make their first substitution of the day as Kemy Agustien replaces Jonathan de Guzmán.
West Ham Substitution
West Ham make their 3rd and final substitution of the the day as Mohamed Diamé is replaced by Alou Diarra.
Yellow Card
Chico Flores becomes the second Swansea player into the referees book after he pushes his luck once too often. The resulting free kick is on target but Michael Vorm makes a very comfortable save.
Freekick
Swansea get a free kick in a nice position following a foul on Nathan Dyer though the drifted ball drifts too far and it leads to nothing. It appears as if Swansea want another one.
GOAL!
Swansea appear to have secured the game and the 3 points as Danny Graham takes advantage of some poor defending and nets past Jääskeläinen who has looked unexpectedly poor today. Yet another defensive mistake has cost West Ham.
Swansea 2-0 West Ham
Jääskeläinen (20)-O.G.
Michu (29)
Graham (64)
West Ham Substitution
Sam Allardyce takes off the rather poor looking Carlton Cole and replaces him Modibo Maïga
Swansea Chance and Corner
Swansea again go close to a 3rd before the ball is turned behind for another corner. Like the previous Swansea corners they don't really cause much panic in the West Ham area.
Yellow Card The day keeps getting worse for James Collins who not only gifted Swansea their second but has been booed every time he touches the ball by Swansea fans who remember he used to be at Cardiff. He's now picked up West Ham's third booking of the day.
Swansea Chance
Danny Graham beats the offside trap and looks to have a great chance against Jääskeläinen tough his shot falls just wide of the post as Swansea go close to increasing their lead.
Yellow Card
West Ham pick up the first booking of the second half with Kevin Nolan joining team mate Carlton Cole in the book. Swansea hoof the resulting free kick up the other end but the flag goes up against them.
West Ham Chance
The ball bounces around the Swansea penalty area and Carlton Cole goes for the spectacular bicycle kick though completely misses the ball which is easily collected by Michael Vorm.
Swansea Corner
The Swans get the first corner of the second half as Jääskeläinen is forced into action turning the ball behind from a sided footed effort by Swansea.
West Ham Substitution
West Ham make a half time substitution bringing on Ricardo Vaz Te to replace James Tomkins. A very positive change by Sam Allardyce.
...and we're off for the second half!
Half Time
Swansea 2-0 West Ham
Swansea may have started and ended the half on the back foot though it's what they did in a 10 minute spell in the middle of the half that separates the 2 teams at the break. Although both goals will go down as defensive mistakes with Jääskeläinen turning the ball into his own and James Collins making a blunder to let Michu in for the second, Swansea certainly do deserve their lead.
Michael Laudrup will be be very happy at his team leading and that Michu has netted his 3rd goal in 2 games, however he will be worried about the threat West Ham showed just prior to have time when they had a series of very threatening corners.
Whilst Sam Allardyce will feel annoyed at the defensive mistakes which have cost West Ham he will certainly feel encouraged by the promise his men showed just prior to the end of the half. He will also feel very happy about Matt Jarvis who has looked very bright on the ball and could have have had a goal and an assist himself.
This game maybe 2-0 but it's certainly not over yet.
West Ham Corner
A third West Ham corner inside about a minute, this time it's cleared off the line as Swansea hold on to their 2 goal advantage.
West Ham Corner
West Ham's previous corner gives the Swansea defense nightmares and it gets turned around for another.
West Ham Corner
A poor pass by Chico lets West Ham in with a chance before it's knocked behind for their first corner.
Yellow Card
West Ham now pick up their first booking as hitman Carlton Cole catches Swansea's Chico with his arm in an area challenger.
Swansea Corner
Swansea come close to a 3rd before Jääskeläinen makes a save and turns it over for a corner. The corner leads to nothing.
West Ham Chance
A free kick from the middle of the pitch provides Matt Jarvis with half a chance, the ball then sits loose in the Swansea penalty area before it's hoofed away. The second goal seems to have awoken West Ham.
Yellow Card
Just seconds after doubling their lead Swansea pick up the first booking of the match courtesy of Angel Rangel who gives away a free kick. The Swans clear the trouble.
GOAL!
Swansea double their lead as Spaniard Michu scores his 3rd goal in 2 games. The attacking midfielder could have been booked a few minutes earlier for a rash challenge and seems to have rattled West Ham's Kevin Nolan now he's rattled the whole West Ham team.
Swansea 2-0 West Ham
Jääskeläinen (20)-O.G.
Michu (29)
GOAL!
The home team open the scoring as Angel Rangel's shot deflects in from veteran keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen and this will likely go down as an Own Goal, the first of the season. Whilst West Ham started very brightly Swansea have played well and taken a deserved lead.
Swansea 1-0 West Ham
Jääskeläinen (20)-O.G.
Swansea Corner
Swansea get their second corner of the match, this time from their left, though like the previous one it leads to nothing.
West Ham Injury
West Ham's Winston Reid takes a knock after clashing with a team mate. He appears shaken but all right and after going through the formality of leaving the pitch soon returns.
Swansea Corner
Swansea get the first corner of the match though it leads to nothing an West Ham clear it.
West Ham Chance
Matt Jarvis makes an early impact as his cross is almost inch perfect for Kevin Nolan sadly for the Hammers their captain can't convert. Bright start for the visitors.
Swansea v West Ham
And we have Kick Off in the early Premier League game and the first game of "Week 2".
A week ago we were all excited about the Premier League kick and who would have expected what we saw last weekend. On just the opening day we had an amazing 19 goals in the Premier League, with 2 matches featuring 5 goals and since then we've had a further14 goals including another 5 goals match and a 6 goal game. Lets be honest honest, goals have been flying in in fact we've had an average of 3 a match!
As well as the goals we've seen a lot of penalties (a surprising 7 penalties already) 2 red cards, several notable upsets and of course the late season signings, of which their has been a spate of in recent days. It's one of those signings that the eyes of the Premier League will be on in the early kick off with West Ham new boy Matt Jarvis now expected to start against Swansea. Jarvis, West Ham's record signing will be hoping to make an immediate impact for his new team and I wouldn't put it beyond him. Though lets see as we get ready for kick off!
An early preview of the early match, written last night can be read here.
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
Chelsea have returned to the top of the Premier League having secured a maximum 9 points from their 3 games so far.
Stoppage time
David Luiz is in the wars again down in his own penalty area as the 4th official's board shows a minimum of 4 minutes stoppage time.
Chelsea Substitution
Frank Lampard comes on to replace Raul Meireles with less than 3 minutes of normal time remaining.
Newcastle Chance
Demba Ba has the best chance for Newcastle but he can't beat Petr Cech from close range.
Chelsea Corner
Ryan Bertrand's powerful shot is judged as having touched Tim Krul before going behind giving Chelsea a corner. It comes to nothing.
Newcastle Substitution
Yohan Cabaye comes off as Newcastle make their final change bringing on James Perch.
Free kick
Chelsea get another promising free kick and after a short discussion betweem Raul Meireles and David Luiz over who's going to take it, Raul Meireles blasts it over the bar.
Newcastle Substitution
Davide Santon has been replaced by Sylvain Marveaux with around 15 minutes left.
Free kick
Chelsea get a free kick in a nice position but David Luiz hits it over the bar.
Free kick
Ryan Taylor delivers an excellent free kick that seemed to almost be perfect bu no Newcastle attacker could get the touch it needed.
Chelsea Substitution
Juan Mata is replaced with 25 minutes left by Ramires
Newcastle Corner and Subsitution
Ryan Taylor comes on to replace Danny Simpson prior to Newcastle taking a corner that incidentally taken by Taylor. Much better than the previous one but Chelsea cut it out without too many worries.
LOVELY!
Fernando Torres is having a bit of fun now as he starts to abuse the Newcastle defense with his skill. His cross to Eden Hazard gets intercepted but idea was wonderful. This, football fans, is Torres getting back to his best.
Newcastle Corner
Newcastle get a corner...but it's awful and very easy for Chelsea to clear. It's positive however that they managed to make something happen up front.
After starting the second half well Chelsea have slowed and appear to be letting Newcastle get back into the game somewhat.
Second Half
We're off for the second half now at Stamford Bridge as Newcastle try to fight back from 2 down.
Half Time
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
Despite a very slow start to the match which so very few chances being created the game warmed up nicely midway through the half. Whilst Eden Hazard will likely grab the headlines once again for me, it seems like Fernando Torres has started to look his old self. It was Torres who was fouled leading to the penalty (that Hazard put away) and it was Torres who was terrifying the Newcastle defense. The link up play between Hazard and Torres has been the difference and I wouldn't be surprised to see either of them adding a 3rd Chelsea goal in the second half.
Roberto Di Matteo may have been concerned when Raul Meireles and David Luiz went down one after the other though they both soldiered on and finished off the half looking perfectly fine. If anything Di Matteo will have to be happy at the performance of both Hazard and Torres who have been so influential in the half. The Chelsea defense hasn't really been tested as their Midfield has generally neutralised all the Newcastle attacks and as a result Chelsea are bossing the game.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has a lot to do in the half time team talk, he will really struggle to turn this around especially considering how good Chelsea are looking. He has got some positives to take from the match so far as Hatem Ben Arfa looks threatening when he has managed to get the ball though generally he's struggled to get much of it due to Chelsea's Midfield which have controlled much of the match. Pardew will need to hope that Chelsea drop the pace for his team to have a chance.
Goal!
Since being booked Fernando Torres has looked like a man posessed and some excellent interplay with Eden Hzard results in an excellent finish for Torres who is showing glimpses of being back to his best.
Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
Hazard (22)-Pen
Torres (45)
Corner
Chelsea may feel like they deserve another penalty but instead they receive a corner, the corner however goes to waste.
Stoppage time
We will have 4 minutes of stoppage time at Stamford Bridge due to lengthy stoppages following incidents involving Raul Meireles and David Luiz.
Newcastle Chance
Newcastle get their first chance but it's hit straight at Petr Cech who makes an easy save.
Yellow Card
The referee shows the first yellow card of the game as he books Fernando Torres for diving. Whilst the Spaniard was caught he went down very extravagantly from just a minimal touch by Fabricio Coloccini.
Chelsea Chance
Eden Hazard looks to slide in Fernando Torres but the ball gets cut out. The Chelsea attack are starting to open the Newcastle defense up almost at will now.
Ouch!
Raul Meireles looks to be in some pain and Frank Lampard warms up. After being off for a minute or two Raul Meireles returns to the pitch.
Penalty and Goal!
We finally have life in this game as Chelsea go from defending the corner to attack and Fernando Torres goes down in the penalty area. With no Frank Lampard on the pitch the honour is given to Eden Hazard who slots home his first Premier League goal.
Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
Hazard (22)-Pen
Newcastle Corner
The first notable set piece of the match see's Newcastle gaining a corner, but it goes to waste.
Very little to report from the first 15 minutes at Stamford Bridge as the Midfield battle has so far dominated the match. Chelsea have looked the better team but have yet to create a clear cut goal scoring opportunity instead needing to take long range shots. So far it's been under-whelming but it does feel like the match could see a goal is one of the attacking players springs into life.
BREAKING NEWS
Wayne Rooney will be out for 4 weeks following his nasty gash suffered late in the match against Fulham
And we're off at The Bridge!
So with the 6 fixtures done and one postponed we just have one match left to go today with the late kick off and that will see European Champions Chelsea facing Newcastle in what promises to be a real 6 point battle. A full preview of that game can be read here. As with the early kick off this will be more in depth than our 3PM kick offs.
Full time
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Full time
Southampton 0-2 Wigan
Full time
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton
Full time
Tottenham 1-1West Brom
Goal!
West Brom leave it late but they steal a point thanks to a very late goal by James Morrison.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 West Brom
Assou-Ekotto (74)
Morrison (90)
OUCH!
Wayne Rooney is left with a nasty gash on his leg following an accident as he attempts to block a shot. It looks deep and painful and Manchester United will be hoping that it looks worse than it is.
Full time
Norwich 1-1 QPR
Goal!
With just minutes left Wigan secure the points against The Saints as they double their lead thanks to Arouna Kone.
Southampton 0-2 Wigan
De Santo (51)
Kone (89)
Yellow Card
Steven Reid becomes the 3rd player to be booked at White Heart Lane where West Brom are looking for an equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur
Yellow Card
Anton Ferdinand gets his name taken into the referees book joining team-mate Clinton Hill in the Norwich v QPR match
Yellow Card
It's a mixed bag now for Karim El Ahmadi who adds a yellow card to his goal, getting booked just minutes after giving Aston Villa a life line.
Goal!
Is the most unlikely of comebacks on at Villa Park? I'll admit that it's unlikely but Karim El Ahmadi's goal will give the Aston Villa fans some hope with about 15 minutes left to play.
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton
Piernaar (3)
Fellaini (31)
Jelavic (44)
Ahmadi (75)
Goal!
Finally the deadlock is broken at White Heart Lane with Benoît Assou-Ekotto putting Tottenham Hotspur in the lead.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 West Brom
Assou-Ekotto (74)
Goal!
The points aren't in the bag for Manchester United after all as Nemanja Vidic scores an embarrassing own goal and now we appear to have a game on our hands at Old Trafford.
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Kagawa (36)
Rafael (41)
Vidic (64)-O.G.
Red Card!
Things go from bad to worse for Aston Villa. If it wasn't bad enough being 3-0 to Everton they are now also a man down thanks to a straight red being shown to Ciaran Clark.
Goal!
The deadlock is broken at St Mary's with Southampton conceding against Wigan thanks to a thunderbolt by Franco Di Santo.
Southampton 0-1 Wigan
De Santo (51)
Yellow Card
The first yellow card of the second half is shown in London as Tottenham Hotspur's Jan Vertonghen is booked against West Brom.
HALF TIME
It's now half time in all of the 3PM kicks offs so here are the scores at the breaks:
Manchester United 3-1 Fulham
Aston Villa 0-3 Everton
Norwich 1-1 QPR
Southampton 0-0 Wigan
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 West Brom
Goal!
With just minutes to go until half time Everton effectively finish the game off thanks to Nikica Jelavić who makes it 3-0 against Aston Villa
Aston Villa 0-3 Everton
Piernaar (3)
Fellaini (31)
Jelavic (44)
Goal!
...and now it is 3-1 to Manchester United as Rafael does manage to get one that does count.
Manchester United 3-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Kagawa (36)
Rafael (41)
Goal! No
Manchester United think they have a third when Rafael pops the ball in but it's ruled out due to an offside...
Goal!
Normal service has resumed at Old Trafford thanks to Shinji Kagawa who scores his first for Manchester United after tidying up the pieces following a Tom Cleverly.
Manchester United 2-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Kagawa (36)
Yellow Card
Brede Hangeland gets shown the first card at Old Trafford.
Goal!
Everton's Belgian star Marouane Fellaini just can't help but steal the headlines and manages to double the lead for the Toffees against Aston Villa
Aston Villa 0-2 Everton
Piernaar (3)
Fellaini (31)
Yellow Card
West Brom's Youssouf Mulumbu receives the first yellow card in the Tottenham Hotpsur v West Brom game.
After 4 goals in the opening 15 minutes of the 3PM kick off's we've only seen 1 goal in the following 15 minutes as things have calmed down a little across the league.
Yellow Card
The first yellow card of the 3PM kicks off's is shown to QPR defender Clint Hill.
Penalty and Goal!
QPR get a questionable penalty after Djibril Cissé is brought down in the penalty area. The Frenchman takes the spot kick but Norwich keeper John Ruddy saves it. Sadly for Ruddy his effort isn't enough and Bobby Zamora bangs in the rebound.
Norwich 1-1 QPR
Jackson (11)
Zamora (19)
Goal!
In a game between last weekends whooping boy's Norwich take the lead thanks to Simeon Jackson. QPR really have had a nightmare start to the season.
Norwich 1-0 QPR
Jackson (11)
Goal!
Manchester United score their first goal of the season as they equalise against Fulham thanks to an excellent goal by Robin Van Persie who opens his Manchester United account with a beauty.
Manchester United 1-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
Van Persie (10)
Goal!
Everton surprised us all on Monday night when they beat Manchester United 1-0 it hasn't take them long to take the lead again this time over Everton thanks to Steven Pienaar.
Aston Villa 0-1 Everton
Pienaar (3)
Goal!
Things go from bad to worse for Manchster United who have already conceded against Fulham who, like Swansea have gotten off to an excellent start to the season
Manchester United 0-1 Fulham
Duff (3)
15:00
We now have kick off in our 3PM kick offs however we have one casualty with the Sunderland v Reading game postponed due to a water logged pitch. Again due to the number of games on at once I will merely be updating goals and cards for these games.
Full-Time
Swansea City 3-0 West Ham This will not be the result that West Ham fans were expecting on their way to way to Wales this morning though they have no one to blame but their own players who were poor. Despite a bright start, especially by new signing Matt Jarvis, they simply couldn't live with Swansea for much of the game who bossed it from the middle. Despite Swansea playing well with Michu being a threat throughout the game West Ham's woes were all self inflicted with some awful defending, especially by James Collins who was genuinely awful. As well Collins having a bad game veteran keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen also failed to cover himself in any glory. It was a well deserved win for the Swans who will be the top of the League until the 15:00 kick offs finish.
Full Match report can be read here
West Ham Corner
With about 5 minutes left West Ham get a corner but it leads to nothing and Swansea start a break.
Swansea Substitution
Swansea make their final substitution bringing on Ben Davies for Neil Taylor. This is the senior debut for Davies.
Yellow Card
A clear hand ball by Winston Reid is punished with a yellow card.
Swansea Substitution
Wayne Routledge is replaced with 10 minutes left by Luke Moore as Swansea look to run down the clock
Chant
The Swansea fans have started the always popular "You're shit and you know you are" chant towards West Ham who are doing little to prove otherwise at the moment.
Swansea Substitution
Swansea make their first substitution of the day as Kemy Agustien replaces Jonathan de Guzmán.
West Ham Substitution
West Ham make their 3rd and final substitution of the the day as Mohamed Diamé is replaced by Alou Diarra.
Yellow Card
Chico Flores becomes the second Swansea player into the referees book after he pushes his luck once too often. The resulting free kick is on target but Michael Vorm makes a very comfortable save.
Freekick
Swansea get a free kick in a nice position following a foul on Nathan Dyer though the drifted ball drifts too far and it leads to nothing. It appears as if Swansea want another one.
GOAL!
Swansea appear to have secured the game and the 3 points as Danny Graham takes advantage of some poor defending and nets past Jääskeläinen who has looked unexpectedly poor today. Yet another defensive mistake has cost West Ham.
Swansea 2-0 West Ham
Jääskeläinen (20)-O.G.
Michu (29)
Graham (64)
West Ham Substitution
Sam Allardyce takes off the rather poor looking Carlton Cole and replaces him Modibo Maïga
Swansea Chance and Corner
Swansea again go close to a 3rd before the ball is turned behind for another corner. Like the previous Swansea corners they don't really cause much panic in the West Ham area.
Yellow Card The day keeps getting worse for James Collins who not only gifted Swansea their second but has been booed every time he touches the ball by Swansea fans who remember he used to be at Cardiff. He's now picked up West Ham's third booking of the day.
Swansea Chance
Danny Graham beats the offside trap and looks to have a great chance against Jääskeläinen tough his shot falls just wide of the post as Swansea go close to increasing their lead.
Yellow Card
West Ham pick up the first booking of the second half with Kevin Nolan joining team mate Carlton Cole in the book. Swansea hoof the resulting free kick up the other end but the flag goes up against them.
West Ham Chance
The ball bounces around the Swansea penalty area and Carlton Cole goes for the spectacular bicycle kick though completely misses the ball which is easily collected by Michael Vorm.
Swansea Corner
The Swans get the first corner of the second half as Jääskeläinen is forced into action turning the ball behind from a sided footed effort by Swansea.
West Ham Substitution
West Ham make a half time substitution bringing on Ricardo Vaz Te to replace James Tomkins. A very positive change by Sam Allardyce.
...and we're off for the second half!
Half Time
Swansea 2-0 West Ham
Swansea may have started and ended the half on the back foot though it's what they did in a 10 minute spell in the middle of the half that separates the 2 teams at the break. Although both goals will go down as defensive mistakes with Jääskeläinen turning the ball into his own and James Collins making a blunder to let Michu in for the second, Swansea certainly do deserve their lead.
Michael Laudrup will be be very happy at his team leading and that Michu has netted his 3rd goal in 2 games, however he will be worried about the threat West Ham showed just prior to have time when they had a series of very threatening corners.
Whilst Sam Allardyce will feel annoyed at the defensive mistakes which have cost West Ham he will certainly feel encouraged by the promise his men showed just prior to the end of the half. He will also feel very happy about Matt Jarvis who has looked very bright on the ball and could have have had a goal and an assist himself.
This game maybe 2-0 but it's certainly not over yet.
West Ham Corner
A third West Ham corner inside about a minute, this time it's cleared off the line as Swansea hold on to their 2 goal advantage.
West Ham Corner
West Ham's previous corner gives the Swansea defense nightmares and it gets turned around for another.
West Ham Corner
A poor pass by Chico lets West Ham in with a chance before it's knocked behind for their first corner.
Yellow Card
West Ham now pick up their first booking as hitman Carlton Cole catches Swansea's Chico with his arm in an area challenger.
Swansea Corner
Swansea come close to a 3rd before Jääskeläinen makes a save and turns it over for a corner. The corner leads to nothing.
West Ham Chance
A free kick from the middle of the pitch provides Matt Jarvis with half a chance, the ball then sits loose in the Swansea penalty area before it's hoofed away. The second goal seems to have awoken West Ham.
Yellow Card
Just seconds after doubling their lead Swansea pick up the first booking of the match courtesy of Angel Rangel who gives away a free kick. The Swans clear the trouble.
GOAL!
Swansea double their lead as Spaniard Michu scores his 3rd goal in 2 games. The attacking midfielder could have been booked a few minutes earlier for a rash challenge and seems to have rattled West Ham's Kevin Nolan now he's rattled the whole West Ham team.
Swansea 2-0 West Ham
Jääskeläinen (20)-O.G.
Michu (29)
GOAL!
The home team open the scoring as Angel Rangel's shot deflects in from veteran keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen and this will likely go down as an Own Goal, the first of the season. Whilst West Ham started very brightly Swansea have played well and taken a deserved lead.
Swansea 1-0 West Ham
Jääskeläinen (20)-O.G.
Swansea Corner
Swansea get their second corner of the match, this time from their left, though like the previous one it leads to nothing.
West Ham Injury
West Ham's Winston Reid takes a knock after clashing with a team mate. He appears shaken but all right and after going through the formality of leaving the pitch soon returns.
Swansea Corner
Swansea get the first corner of the match though it leads to nothing an West Ham clear it.
West Ham Chance
Matt Jarvis makes an early impact as his cross is almost inch perfect for Kevin Nolan sadly for the Hammers their captain can't convert. Bright start for the visitors.
Swansea v West Ham
And we have Kick Off in the early Premier League game and the first game of "Week 2".
A week ago we were all excited about the Premier League kick and who would have expected what we saw last weekend. On just the opening day we had an amazing 19 goals in the Premier League, with 2 matches featuring 5 goals and since then we've had a further14 goals including another 5 goals match and a 6 goal game. Lets be honest honest, goals have been flying in in fact we've had an average of 3 a match!
As well as the goals we've seen a lot of penalties (a surprising 7 penalties already) 2 red cards, several notable upsets and of course the late season signings, of which their has been a spate of in recent days. It's one of those signings that the eyes of the Premier League will be on in the early kick off with West Ham new boy Matt Jarvis now expected to start against Swansea. Jarvis, West Ham's record signing will be hoping to make an immediate impact for his new team and I wouldn't put it beyond him. Though lets see as we get ready for kick off!
An early preview of the early match, written last night can be read here.
Friday, 24 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Preview and prediction (Swansea v West Ham)
Our first game of Week 2 is the early kick off on Saturday which sees Swansea hosting the Hammers as both teams put their 100% winning records on the line in what looks to be a really interesting match up. A win for either team could take them to the top of the table for an hour and this is likely to active as an incentive with both teams wanting to get the season off to a start.
On the opening day Swansea were the surprise package as they secure an unexpected 5-0 away win against QPR, the influence of new manager Michael Laudrup and Spanish attacker Michu were immediately felt by the fans. Whilst that was an unexpected victory for the Swans it will have raised expectation for a team that lost not only it's manager (Brendon Rodger) but also it's talisman (Joe Allen) over summer. Many had expected Swansea to take a while to settle under the new manager in Laudrup but he needed little time to introduce himself to the Premier League with his team looking sensational.
Finishing 11th in the Premier League last season, Swansea were a solid team enough team to not get dragged into the relegation battle though their home form did leave something to be desired with the club securing just 31 points in 19 games at home. Whilst they were hard to beat at home the Swans didn't win at home regularly enough with 8 wins, 7 draws and 4 losses however defensively they were incredibly with just 18 goals conceded at the Liberty Stadium (the 8th best home defense, just 1 goal behind tied 4th) and an amazing 8 home clean sheets. Defensively they were brilliant. Offensively however Swansea struggled a bit scoring just 27 home goals (11th most) and with Scott Sinclair wanting away, Gylfi Sigurdsson gone and Joe Allen sold to Liverpool it may be fair to say that goals weren't expected this season. Despite they the club seem to have signed an out and out goal scorer in Michu and Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham have plenty of goals in them too, so goals shouldn't be too much of a problem this year.
Despite making a number of signings, many of which are available, Laudrup will not have Ki Sung-Yueng available due to the lateness of his signing and he will also not have Itay Shechter who who has been signed on loan. He will however have Michu and Jonathan de Guzman both available with Chico Flores doubtful, however Flores is likely to be replaced by fellow new boy Kyle Bartley. They should, even with one or two players missing, still have an enterprising line up.
On the other side of the pitch we have the newly promoted West Ham may not have been hugely exciting in securing a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa last week but they did pick up the all important 3 points. With Sam Allardyce in charge and a team full of proven Premier League players it was surprising to me that so many folk were tipping the Hammers for relegation because on paper they are probably a solid "lower mid table" team that should survive even if they don't really do anything great. With the likes of Jussi Jääskeläinen, Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Jack Collison and recent signing Matt Jarvis they have very well known Premier League quality and with Ricardo Vaz Te they have an exceptionally hard working attacker.
Last season West Ham finished 3rd in the Championship before gaining promotion via the play-offs. It was away from home that West Ham were at their best with some West Ham fans wishing they could play away every week. In 23 away matches West Ham secured 45 points, winning 13 away matches and drawing 6 to give them the best away record in the league. Their quality away from home was just in results but their overall performance having the tied best away defensive record (22 goals against)and the second best attacking record (40 goals for). If they can keep this sort of away form in the Premier League they could be a real threat though it's unlikely they can prove to be this effective away in the top flight.
Sam Allardyce has brought in some notable Premier League level names including Jääskeläinen, Collinson and Jarvis however his squad still appears thin on the ground. The players Allardyce has got are talented and are mostly proven at this level however the question is "has he got enough of them?" Whilst it might not be a huge problem this early in the season it's almost certainly going to be a problem unless Allardyce can bring in some more signings just to shore up the squad. With a near full team available "Big Sam" may view this as a chance to pick up at least a point.
With Swansea playing at home in the Premier League for the first time under Laudrup I expect the Swans to pick up the 3 points. This is unlikely to be as impressive as the performance against QPR but another excellent showing for the Swans.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 2-0
Expected Line Ups:
Swansea-
Vorm, Rangel, Williams, Tate, Taylor, Michu, Guzman, Britton, Dyer, Routledge, Graham (4-4-2)
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, McCartney, Diamé, Noble, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Notes:As mentioned above Swansea's new signing Ki Sung-yeung is unavailable due to completing his move too late for the game
West Ham new signing Matt Jarvis is expected to start on the bench after completing his move from Wolves
West Ham's away record was mentioned above but amazingly they are on a 10 game unbeaten run, however they have lose their last 4 Away Premier League fixtures.
Players to watch out for-
Swansea:
Michu-The attack minded Midfielder made a quick start to his Premier League career by scoring inside 10 minutes and adding another in the same game as he made his mark on the league. Expect him to again be a goal threat and whether he bags another one or not he'll be a threat. Expect West Ham to try and keep him out of the game and if they do it's likely he'll tie up two players.
Nathan Dyer-Like Michu, Dyer started the Premier League season in style bagging himself a brace against QPR, expect him to once again be a threat as he tries to out perform what he managed last season (5 league goals and 6 in total). With pace and real threat towards goal, Dyer will keep the Hammers defense on their toes with or with the ball.
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Swansea defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat in front of goal and acts not only as a poacher but also as a solid threat in the air meaning that he will need to be marked well at set pieces.
Ricardo Vaz Te-The Portuguese forward was one of, if not the, Player of the Season for West Ham after signing from Barnsley mid way through the season. His goal record for the club is tremendous and his work rate is through the roof, he will always pose a threat to defenses and he will be looking to open his scoring sooner rather than later for the season. If Swansea let him have the ball he could well net one here.
On the opening day Swansea were the surprise package as they secure an unexpected 5-0 away win against QPR, the influence of new manager Michael Laudrup and Spanish attacker Michu were immediately felt by the fans. Whilst that was an unexpected victory for the Swans it will have raised expectation for a team that lost not only it's manager (Brendon Rodger) but also it's talisman (Joe Allen) over summer. Many had expected Swansea to take a while to settle under the new manager in Laudrup but he needed little time to introduce himself to the Premier League with his team looking sensational.
Finishing 11th in the Premier League last season, Swansea were a solid team enough team to not get dragged into the relegation battle though their home form did leave something to be desired with the club securing just 31 points in 19 games at home. Whilst they were hard to beat at home the Swans didn't win at home regularly enough with 8 wins, 7 draws and 4 losses however defensively they were incredibly with just 18 goals conceded at the Liberty Stadium (the 8th best home defense, just 1 goal behind tied 4th) and an amazing 8 home clean sheets. Defensively they were brilliant. Offensively however Swansea struggled a bit scoring just 27 home goals (11th most) and with Scott Sinclair wanting away, Gylfi Sigurdsson gone and Joe Allen sold to Liverpool it may be fair to say that goals weren't expected this season. Despite they the club seem to have signed an out and out goal scorer in Michu and Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham have plenty of goals in them too, so goals shouldn't be too much of a problem this year.
Despite making a number of signings, many of which are available, Laudrup will not have Ki Sung-Yueng available due to the lateness of his signing and he will also not have Itay Shechter who who has been signed on loan. He will however have Michu and Jonathan de Guzman both available with Chico Flores doubtful, however Flores is likely to be replaced by fellow new boy Kyle Bartley. They should, even with one or two players missing, still have an enterprising line up.
On the other side of the pitch we have the newly promoted West Ham may not have been hugely exciting in securing a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa last week but they did pick up the all important 3 points. With Sam Allardyce in charge and a team full of proven Premier League players it was surprising to me that so many folk were tipping the Hammers for relegation because on paper they are probably a solid "lower mid table" team that should survive even if they don't really do anything great. With the likes of Jussi Jääskeläinen, Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Jack Collison and recent signing Matt Jarvis they have very well known Premier League quality and with Ricardo Vaz Te they have an exceptionally hard working attacker.
Last season West Ham finished 3rd in the Championship before gaining promotion via the play-offs. It was away from home that West Ham were at their best with some West Ham fans wishing they could play away every week. In 23 away matches West Ham secured 45 points, winning 13 away matches and drawing 6 to give them the best away record in the league. Their quality away from home was just in results but their overall performance having the tied best away defensive record (22 goals against)and the second best attacking record (40 goals for). If they can keep this sort of away form in the Premier League they could be a real threat though it's unlikely they can prove to be this effective away in the top flight.
Sam Allardyce has brought in some notable Premier League level names including Jääskeläinen, Collinson and Jarvis however his squad still appears thin on the ground. The players Allardyce has got are talented and are mostly proven at this level however the question is "has he got enough of them?" Whilst it might not be a huge problem this early in the season it's almost certainly going to be a problem unless Allardyce can bring in some more signings just to shore up the squad. With a near full team available "Big Sam" may view this as a chance to pick up at least a point.
With Swansea playing at home in the Premier League for the first time under Laudrup I expect the Swans to pick up the 3 points. This is unlikely to be as impressive as the performance against QPR but another excellent showing for the Swans.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 2-0
Expected Line Ups:
Swansea-
Vorm, Rangel, Williams, Tate, Taylor, Michu, Guzman, Britton, Dyer, Routledge, Graham (4-4-2)
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, McCartney, Diamé, Noble, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Notes:As mentioned above Swansea's new signing Ki Sung-yeung is unavailable due to completing his move too late for the game
West Ham new signing Matt Jarvis is expected to start on the bench after completing his move from Wolves
West Ham's away record was mentioned above but amazingly they are on a 10 game unbeaten run, however they have lose their last 4 Away Premier League fixtures.
Players to watch out for-
Swansea:
Michu-The attack minded Midfielder made a quick start to his Premier League career by scoring inside 10 minutes and adding another in the same game as he made his mark on the league. Expect him to again be a goal threat and whether he bags another one or not he'll be a threat. Expect West Ham to try and keep him out of the game and if they do it's likely he'll tie up two players.
Nathan Dyer-Like Michu, Dyer started the Premier League season in style bagging himself a brace against QPR, expect him to once again be a threat as he tries to out perform what he managed last season (5 league goals and 6 in total). With pace and real threat towards goal, Dyer will keep the Hammers defense on their toes with or with the ball.
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Swansea defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat in front of goal and acts not only as a poacher but also as a solid threat in the air meaning that he will need to be marked well at set pieces.
Ricardo Vaz Te-The Portuguese forward was one of, if not the, Player of the Season for West Ham after signing from Barnsley mid way through the season. His goal record for the club is tremendous and his work rate is through the roof, he will always pose a threat to defenses and he will be looking to open his scoring sooner rather than later for the season. If Swansea let him have the ball he could well net one here.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up West Ham v Aston Villa
West Ham 1-0 Aston Villa
Sam Allardyce's West Ham may have been the latest team to earn their Premier League berth having come up through the Play Off Final (where they defeated Cardiff City) though, in the eyes of many they are the promoted team with the best Premier League pedigree having a number of players with Premier League experience as well as "Big Sam" at the helm. In Villa they faced a team that have really failed to gain any continuity in recent seasons with managers being chopped and changed on a regular basis, this was the first game in charge for new manager Paul Lambert, who was brought in to replace Alex McLeish.
The first half was a tedious affair with little to talk about until West Ham's captain Kevin Nolan put the Hammers ahead after a controversial move that saw the linesman flag for offside and then getting over-ruled by the referee. Whilst the referee was right, as the ball had flicked off a Villa defender it didn't make it any easier to swallow for the Villa players.
The goal allowed West Ham to shake the shackles and in the second half they looked the much better team and had several notable chances, though they failed to convert any of them. Thankfully for Hammers fans Villa failed to make them pay for their missed chances and aside from a long range shot by new signing Ron Vlaar Villa posed no threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen goal as West Ham kept a clean sheet.
Sam Allardyce will be proud of his players for picking up the win, and whilst this may not have been the football that West Ham fans want to see they will agree the 3 points are what they needed much than an eye catching performance. With a good core of players, including Nolan, Vaz Te, Noble, Collins and Jaaskelainen it'll be a surprise to me if West Ham do flop. Whilst Sam hasn't brought in many new players (though he did re-sign former player Collins) he hasn't the sort of squad that should have enough experience to keep them up.
Whilst I feel West Ham are good enough to stay up I do have serious worries about Villa who on this performance certainly need to sign at least 1 more player as they simply didn't create enough chances. If you don't create chances you will struggle to score. Whilst they have brought in a number of solid players most of them seem to have been defensive players other than Brett Holmann who didn't look 100% today. The lack of continuity at Villa has to be a worry for fans who will be hoping that Lambert can turn the teams fortunes around after last years relegation battle.
Sam Allardyce's West Ham may have been the latest team to earn their Premier League berth having come up through the Play Off Final (where they defeated Cardiff City) though, in the eyes of many they are the promoted team with the best Premier League pedigree having a number of players with Premier League experience as well as "Big Sam" at the helm. In Villa they faced a team that have really failed to gain any continuity in recent seasons with managers being chopped and changed on a regular basis, this was the first game in charge for new manager Paul Lambert, who was brought in to replace Alex McLeish.
The first half was a tedious affair with little to talk about until West Ham's captain Kevin Nolan put the Hammers ahead after a controversial move that saw the linesman flag for offside and then getting over-ruled by the referee. Whilst the referee was right, as the ball had flicked off a Villa defender it didn't make it any easier to swallow for the Villa players.
The goal allowed West Ham to shake the shackles and in the second half they looked the much better team and had several notable chances, though they failed to convert any of them. Thankfully for Hammers fans Villa failed to make them pay for their missed chances and aside from a long range shot by new signing Ron Vlaar Villa posed no threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen goal as West Ham kept a clean sheet.
Sam Allardyce will be proud of his players for picking up the win, and whilst this may not have been the football that West Ham fans want to see they will agree the 3 points are what they needed much than an eye catching performance. With a good core of players, including Nolan, Vaz Te, Noble, Collins and Jaaskelainen it'll be a surprise to me if West Ham do flop. Whilst Sam hasn't brought in many new players (though he did re-sign former player Collins) he hasn't the sort of squad that should have enough experience to keep them up.
Whilst I feel West Ham are good enough to stay up I do have serious worries about Villa who on this performance certainly need to sign at least 1 more player as they simply didn't create enough chances. If you don't create chances you will struggle to score. Whilst they have brought in a number of solid players most of them seem to have been defensive players other than Brett Holmann who didn't look 100% today. The lack of continuity at Villa has to be a worry for fans who will be hoping that Lambert can turn the teams fortunes around after last years relegation battle.
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