Soccerword's Premiership Team of the Week - 09

We're going with a 3-4-3 formation for this week's team:

Goalkeeper: Boaz Myhill (Hull City)

Defenders: Michael Turner (Hull City), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Martin Laursen (Aston Villa)

Midfielders: Xavi Alonso (Liverpool), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Kieran Richardson (Sunderland), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Robinho (Man City), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Vilal), Marlon King (Hull City)

West Brom 0 - 3 Hull City
Hull City continued their improbable start to their first Premier League season with a convincing three-goal win at West Brom. Kamil Zayatte put Hull in front just after half time with a precise volley from a corner kick. Later in the second half, Marlon King lobbed a brilliant pass into the path of Geovanni, who delivered a diving header to extend the lead. And it was Marlon King who controlled a long pass, skipped past a defender, and slotted the ball home for a three-goal victory. Promoted via the playoffs last season, many pundits had predicted relegation or a last place finish for the Tigers. But they have surprised everyone with their confident play and are currently in third place, level on points with second place Chelsea.

Chelsea 0 - 1 Liverpool
Liverpool won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, ending Chelsea's 86 game home unbeaten streak in the Premier League. Xavi Alonso gave the Reds an early lead when his shot deflected off Jose Bosingwa and found the back of the net. And Liverpool made sure the one goal advantage was enough, with Jamie Carragher particularly impressive in defense. The win puts Liverpool into first place, three points ahead of Chelsea, and solidifies their status as serious title contenders. The Reds have had cup success under manager Rafael Benetiz but are still looking for their first Premier League title. This season could very well be the break through Liverpool fans have been waiting for. At the very least, the Reds look like they will push Chelsea all the way to season's end.

Soccerword's Premiership Team of the Week - 08

We're going with a 3-4-3 formation for this week's team:

Goalkeeper: Craig Gordon (Sunderland)

Defenders: Michael Turner (Hull), Juliano Belletti (Chelsea), Paul McShane (Hull)

Midfielders: Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United), Rory Delap (Stoke), Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man United), Amr Zaki (Wigan), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

Stoke City 2 - 1 Tottenham
The most exciting and dramatic game of the weekend featured two teams at the bottom of the Premier League table, and the result was another bad one for Spurs. With manage Juande Ramos' job on the line, it went from bad to worse for Tottenham. Two red cards, two penalties conceded, a severe injury to Vedran Corluka, and another dismal result.

Stoke City took the lead after Gareth Bale brought down Tom Soares in the penalty box. Bale was shown a red card for the foul, and then Danny Higginbotham put away the spot kick for a 1-0 Stoke lead. Despite being down to 10 men, Spurs were able to pull level thanks to a favorable decision from the referee. It looked like Darren Bent was offside when he tapped in the tying goal, but the referee allowed the goal to stand.

In the second half, Stoke took the lead again. After a few clever passes in midfield, Mamady Sidibe played in a perfect cross from the left wing, and Rory Delap was on hand at the far post to slot the ball home. Delap's long throws into the box and Stoke's set pieces increasingly caused problems for Spurs keeper Gomes, who appeared to suffer a slight leg injury. But the injury problems for both clubs would get much worse than that.

First, Stoke keeper Sorenson had to leave the game after a sliding save in which he collided with Alan Hutton before being kneed in the head by one of his defenders. Sorenson walked unsteadily off the pitch, bleeding from a head wound. But worse was to come. Spurs defender Vedran Corluka injured his ribs during a goal mouth scramble and had to go to the sideline for treatment. It looked like he may not return to the match as the rib injury was obviously painful, and after what happened next, I'm sure Corluka wishes he had been taken off. On virtually the next play of the game, another long ball into the box, Gomes jumped to collect the ball and struck Corluka in the chin with his knee. The impact knocked Corluka unconscious. After a lengthy spell of treatment on the pitch, Corluka was stretchered off to an awaiting ambulance.

Because of the multiple injuries, 11 minutes of stoppage time were added, and the drama continued. Tom Soares earned another penalty for Stoke when he was brought down in the box by Jonathan Woodgate. Ricardo Fuller's spot kick deflected off the right post, rolled across the face of the goal, and then came off the left post, right into the path of Rory Delap, who fired a shot off the crossbar. Later, with time winding down, Fuller had a shot rebound off the crossbar too. Finally, after 11 extra minutes, the final whistle blew to signal a dramatic, vital win for Stoke and another disappointing result for Tottenham. Chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" were heard during the match, directed at Spurs boss Ramos. We'll have to wait to see if that happens.

Here are the top 25 performers in the English Premier League this season, according to the Actim Index:

1 Gabriel Agbonlahor - Aston Villa - 136
2 Frank Lampard - Chelsea - 135
3 John Carew - Aston Villa - 126
4 Neves Denilson - Arsenal - 124
5 Jermain Defoe - Portsmouth - 119
6 Shaun Wright-Phillips - Man City - 112
7 Deco - Chelsea - 109
8 Lucas Neill - West Ham - 108
9 Ashley Young - Aston Villa - 106
10 Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool - 105
11 Kevin Davies - Bolton - 102
12 Matthew Etherington - West Ham - 101
13 Amr Zaki - Wigan - 99
14 Gareth Barry - Aston Villa - 98
15 Emmanuel Adebayor - Arsenal - 95
16 Peter Crouch - Portsmouth - 95
17 Scott Parker - West Ham - 93
18 Jose Reina - Liverpool - 92
19 Nigel Reo-Coker - Aston Villa - 92
20 Jose Bosingwa - Chelsea - 90
21 Petr Cech - Chelsea - 90
22 Valon Behrami - West Ham - 89
23 Ayegbeni Yakubu - Everton - 89
24 Martin Laursen - Aston Villa - 87
25 Alvaro Arbeloa - Liverpool - 86

According to the Premier League website, "Actim Stats are a collection of team, player and match statistics. They are derived from all the actions that take place during a match, including goals, shots on target, corners, assists, clean sheets, fouls, off-sides, passes, tackles, blocks and clearances. The raw data can be used to generate a wide range of tables and statistics such as player profiles, team and player head to heads and form guides."

http://www.premierleague.com

Actim Stats are produced by PA Sport, a division of the PA Group, on behalf of Football DataCo.

Manchester City 2 - 3 Liverpool
Much like their match against Chelsea, Man City came out swinging and took an early lead against Liverpool. Steven Ireland capitalized when Liverpool defenders could not clear the box, slamming the ball into the back of the net. In the 41st minute, Javier Garrido curled a perfect free kick into the top corner of the goal to give the home side a 2-0 half-time lead. But Liverpool responded like champions in the second half, and Fernando Torres scored twice. Steven Gerrard played a pass through the legs of a defender to Alvaro Arbeloa, and Arbeloa's cross was steered into the net by a sliding Torres. Later, Gerrard's corner kick was headed into the goal by Torres at the near post. City were reduced to ten men when Pablo Zabaleta was sent off for a tackle on Xabi Alonso, but the Reds were down a man as well when Martin Skrtel had to be stretchered off with a leg injury after Liverpool had already made all three of their substitutions. Because of the extensive treatment Skrtel required on the pitch, six minutes of injury time were announced. In injury time, Torres' shot deflected off a defender and fell to Dirk Kuyt in front of goal. Kuyt slammed the shot home to give Liverpool a dramatic win. The Reds remained tied on points with Chelsea at the top of the table, but in second place on goal difference.

Chelsea 2 - 0 Aston Villa
Some had suggested that Villa may end Chelsea's home unbeaten streak in the league, but the Blues dominated this game from start to finish. Joe Cole ran onto a pass from Frank Lampard and fired the home side into the lead in the 21st minute. Nicolas Anelka grabbed the second goal after Villa keeper Brad Friedel had stopped shots from Anelka and Michael Ballack. Chelsea could have easily scored more goals but several shots were either saved by Friedel or hit the woodwork. The win keeps Chelsea in first place in the Premiership.

Tottenham 0 - 1 Hull City
Hull City have been the surprise club of the season, and after today's win their fans will be hoping they can play in north London every week. Geovanni scored a brilliant long-range shot last win in Hull's victory at Arsenal, and he did it again this weekend at White Hart Lane. The free-kick goal came in the 9th minute and it was all the visitors needed and they held off Spurs with fine defending, especially from Michael Turner (formerly of Brentford). The win takes the Tigers to third place in the Premier League, one point ahead of Arsenal. Let me repeat that: Hull City are in third place in the Premiership! Spurs are still winless, in last place, and Juande Ramos' job must be in serious jeopardy.

Soccerword's Premiership Team of the Week - 07

We're going with a 3-4-3 formation for this week's team:

Goalkeeper: Boaz Myhill (Hull City)

Defenders: Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Man United), Michael Turner (Hull City)

Midfielders: Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Joe Cole (Chelsea)

Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Geovanni (Man City)