Week 15 of the English Premier League sees Chelsea keep the top spot with their eighth win on the spin against a stubborn West Brom side; Sunderland sink to the bottom and much more.
Chelsea got the job done against a stubborn West Brom side to win their eighth consecutive game and keep a three-point gap ahead of Arsenal at the top of the table.
The win shouldn’t have come as a surprise – West Brom hadn’t won at Stamford Bridge in 38-years. It was always going to be a thorny tie for Antonio Conte’s men, with West Brom unbeaten in four and recording their best start to a Premier League season in donkey’s years.
Chelsea’s hero was again Diego Costa. The Spaniard found it difficult to find space all afternoon, but with 15-minutes remaining he out muscled Gareth McAuley on the far right side of the pitch, cut inside the penalty area and smashed the ball into the roof of the net with his left peg. It was Costa’s 44th Premier League goal in 64 games, and his 5th in 6.
Bodog makes Chelsea the even-money favourites to win the Premier League. Costa is the +135 favourite to pick up the Golden Boot; he currently leads that race with 12.
The Champions Are Back
Leicester City looked more like the team that thrilled the world last season delivering a 4-2 thumping to Man City. Jamie Vardy was the star man, scoring his first-ever hat trick for the club, and with it ending a goal drought that has lasted 16 games. Andy King scored the other goal as The Foxes raced into a 3-0 lead as early as the 20th minute. City pulled two late goals back through Aleksandr Kolarov and Nolito. City has only kept two clean sheets in 16 Premier League games and drop seven points behind the leaders Chelsea. Bodog pushes them back to third-favourites for the title at +450.
With Chelsea not playing until the Sunday, Arsenal was sitting at the top of the pile for 24-hours courtesy of a home win against Stoke. The team from the Potteries have not won at Arsenal since the 1980s, and you never thought that run would end even after Stoke took the lead thanks to a Charlie Adam penalty.
Arsenal is made of stronger stuff this season with players like Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil showing more consistency. Walcott grabbed the equaliser – his 100th Premier League goal – just before the break; Ozil looped a header over the Stoke keeper just after the break before Arsenal sub-Alex Iwobi sealed the win 15-minutes from time. Arsenal hasn’t lost a game since losing to Liverpool in the opening game of the season, and Bodog makes them the +400 second favourites to win their first title since 2003-04.
Sunderland Sink to the Foot of the Table
Sunderland’s mini-revival came to an end with a crushing defeat in South Wales. Before the match, under fire boss Bob Bradley called the game a Cup Final, and he will be delighted that his team reacted in the right way to hand him a much needed three points.
Gylffi Sigurdsson was again at the heart of things scoring the first and setting up the second for Fernando Llorente. The Spaniard rounded off the scoring with his second brace in successive home games. The victory lifted the Swans out of the bottom three for the first time in two months, but their move didn’t last long after West Ham picked up a point at Anfield.
Liverpool went into their home game against West Ham knowing that last year they faced them four times and never won a single match. But Anfield is turning into the fortress with Liverpool unbeaten in 21 games, and that extended to 22 after a 2-2 draw against the Hammers.
Adam Lallana opened the scoring in the first five minutes with a smart touch and shot. West Ham of a few weeks ago would have crumbled from that point, but they dug in, and Dimitri Payet scored an equaliser with one of his trademark free kicks in the 27th minute.
Michail Antonio gave West Ham the lead with his seventh goal of the season – the first with his foot – but Liverpool salvaged an equaliser after a howler from Darren Randolph put the ball on a plate for Divock Origi.
Liverpool is +700 to win the league; West Ham is +600 to be relegated.
The Best of the Rest
Manchester United finally picked up three points in front of their home fans with a 1-0 win over Spurs. Henry Mkhitaryan scored his second goal in consecutive games after scoring his first in Europe in midweek. The Armenian was later carried off with a knee injury, but Jose Mourinho is hoping he will be back for the Boxing Day clash with Sunderland.
Burnley has now only lost 3 in 22 home league games after beating Bournemouth by 3-2 – Jeff Hendrick scoring a goal of the season contender in that one. Watford poured more pain onto the palette of Ronald Koeman with a 3-2 win at Vicarage Road to lift them into seventh. And Hull picked up a much-needed point with a 3-3 home draw against Crystal Palace. Wilfried Zaha putting in a solid display in that one with an assist and a cracking goal. And finally, Southampton put their midweek European exit behind them with a win against Middlesbrough. Sofiane Boufal scoring his first Premier League goal.
Premier League Results (Week 15)
Watford 3 v 2 Everton
Swansea 3 v 0 Sunderland
Burnley 3 v 2 Bournemouth
Arsenal 3 v 1 Stoke
Hull 3 v 3 Crystal Palace
Leicester 4 v 2 Man City
Chelsea 1 v 0 West Brom
Southampton 1 v 0 Middlesbrough
Liverpool 2 v 2 West Ham
Man Utd 1 v 0 Spurs
Premier League Table
1. Chelsea – 37
2. Arsenal – 34
3. Liverpool – 31
4. Man City – 30
5. Spurs – 27
6. Man Utd – 24
7. Watford – 21
8. West Brom – 20
9. Everton – 20
10. Southampton – 20
11. Stoke – 19
12. Bournemouth – 17
13. Burnley – 17
14. Leicester – 16
15. Crystal Palace – 15
16. Middlesbrough – 15
17. West Ham – 13
18. Swansea – 12
19. Hull – 12
20. Sunderland 11
Premier League Title Odds (Courtesy of Bodog)
Chelsea Evens
Arsenal +400
Man City +450
Liverpool +700
