Leicester and Arsenal loses

Bojan Krkic put Stoke ahead and Marko Arnautovic added a superb second to condemn Manchester United to their third consecutive defeat in the Premier League.

Bournemouth and Crystal Palace played out a goal-less draw, a result which maintained the unbeaten run in December for both team.

Diego Costa put Chelsea ahead but Troy Deeney to level the score from the penalty spot. Odion Ighalo then put Watford ahead  only for Diego Costa to score his second of the match. Oscar has a chance to put Chelsea back in front but miss from the spot.

Remi Garde's winless run as manager of Aston Villa continues as the Villians were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham. Aaron Cresswell put the visitor ahead but Jordan Ayew converted his penalty to level things up.

Liverpool ended eicester City's 10 games unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory. Christian Benteke scored the only goal of the game.

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Manchester City before goals from Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony gave the home team a 3-0 half-time lead. Kevin de Bruyne added a fourth. Fabio Borini scored a consolation goal for Sunderland.

Sung-Yueng Ki scored the only goal in the match between Swansea City and West Brom. The result snapped the Swans' 7 games winless streak.

Tottenham defeated Norwich 3-0 with two first half goals from Harry Kane and another by Jonathan Howson in the second period.

A late goal by Tom Cleverley ensure Everton leaves St. James Park with all three points.

Southampton inflicted Arsenal's heaviest defeat of the season. Cuco Martina opened the scoring with a brilliant goal. Shane Long  added a second before Jose Miguel Fonte punished the Gunners sloppy defending from a corner. Long rounded off the scoring with his second of the night.
 

Top five performing team *

Arsenal: 7.09
Leicester: 7.03
Tottenham: 7.01
Man City: 6.99
Everton: 6.92

Top five performing players *

Riyad Mahrez (Leicester): 8.26
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal): 7.86
Jamie Vardy (Leicester): 7.69
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal): 7.68
Dimitri Payet: 7.68

* all statistics provided by WhoScored.com

Premier League still in pink health

A week ago, three Premier League clubs were facing the prospect of being knocked out of the Champions League group stage which sparked talks of a waning Premier League.

A week later, three of four teams managed to make it through to the next round with Chelsea and Manchester City topping their group. The only casualty being Manchester United who dropped to the Europa League.

So, is the Premier League still a force to be reckon with?

Based on WhoScored.com statistics, Olivier Giroud and Willian are tied as fourth highest goalscorers with 5 goals apiece.

With 4 assists and an average performance point of 8.39, Alexis Sanchez is fifth in both the assist and performance table.

Four players from the Premier League clubs appeared in the Group Stages Best XI, Petr Cech and Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal are joined by Chelsea's Willian and Cesar Azpilicueta.

This compared to three from La Liga, two from Russia, one each from Germany and France.

The question might have dies off for now, with Arsenal and Chelsea drawing old nemesis in Barcelona and PSG respectively, there are every chance that the only British club left in the competition is Manchester City. Expect it to come to the forefront in the quarter-final draw should this happen.

Leicester City, a breath of fresh air

Most would have predicted Leicester to struggle like last season where they looked set for relegation for most part of the season only to put in a strong end towards the end to drag themselves to safety.

A pre-season which saw three players sacked for racist orgy and the manager leaving as an aftermath of the fiasco, only strengthen the belief.

One can only rubbed their eyes in disbelief, even the most ardent of supporters, when they see the table with a third of the season gone. Top of the table and two points clear of the second place Arsenal.

So what happened that drastically change the club's fortunate?

First is the appointment of Claudio Ranieri. The "Tinkerman" has often been ridiculed for his habit of tinkering with the team's formation and lineup but fact is he ain't too bad a manager.

In his final season at Chelsea, he led the team to a second place finish with the least goals conceded. Most importantly, he laid the foundation, including identifying Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben as the players to sign, for title winning team the following season.

Second is the form for the players, especially Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. While the game is base on the entire team's effort, both are without doubts the standout stars.

Currently the top scorer in the Premier League with 14 goals, Jamie Vardy scored in 11 consecutive games, breaking Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record of 10 games. Vardy also became the first player to do so in a single season (Van Nistelrooy's 10 games was at the end of the 2002–2003 season and the beginning of the 2003–2004 season).

Riyad Mahrez contributed 10 goals to the cause and according to WhoScored.com, the Algerian scored an average point of 8.33, the highest performing player in the Premier League and second to Neymar in the European scene.

The question now is can they maintain the form and break the big four strangle-hold?

One argument is that the fixture list has been kind to Leicester and the litmus test is when they face the big 5. So far, they have only played Arsenal and Manchester United and the results read 1 lost (Arsenal) and 1 draw.

At the point of writing, they are scheduled to play Chelsea. Chelsea has been in such poor form whereby a Leicester won't send shockwave across the country but it will at least somewhat put rest the argument.

While the fans and purists will hope they can do the unthinkable, I guess is that they won't last the distance and I hope my prediction won't return to bite me.

Leicester goes top while Chelsea lost at home again

Marko Arnautovic scored twice within the first 15 minutes to condemn the Manchester City to their second defeat in three games.

Joel Campbell put the host ahead but Olivier Giroud's own goal ensure both teams went into half time on level time. The Frenchman scored on the right end to put Arsenal ahead and Aaron Ramsey ensure the victory.

When Manchester United hosted West Ham, it was the third best home record versus the third best away record. The result was both side cancelling each other out in a 0-0 draw.

Southampton was held to a 1-1 draw at home against Aston Villa. Joleon Lescott put the away team ahead before Oriol Romeu equalised in the second half.

Leicester moved to the top of the table with a 3-0 victory over Swansea City. Riyad Mahrez scored all three goals.

The match between two newly promoted teams saw the home team grabbing all three points. Troy Deeney put the home team ahead and Odion Ighalo added a second in the 90th minute.

FT West Bromwich Albion 1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Spoils were shared between West Brom and Tottenham. Dele Alli put the visitors ahead but were held back when James McClean equalised for the home side.

Chelsea's dreadful season continues as they slumped to another home defeat, their fourth this season. Glenn Murray scored the only goal of the game.

Newcastle grabbed a much needed victory to move above cross-town rival Sunderland in the league table. Martin Skrtel put through his own net before Georginio Wijnaldum confirmed all three points.

Crystal Palace went ahead through Scott Dann before in-form striker, Romelu Lukaku, equalised for the home team.


Top five performing team *
Arsenal : 7.14
Leicester: 7.04
Tottenham: 7
Manchester City: 6.99
Everton: 6.94

Top five performing players *

Riyad Mahrez (Leicester): 8.33
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal): 7.86
Jamie Vardy (Leicester): 7.82
Mousa Dembele (Tottenham): 7.72
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal): 7.68

* all statistics provided by WhoScored.com