Liverpool vs Swansea preview

Liverpool will host Swansea in Sunday's English premier leaguie fixture. The Reds have not won any of their last three league  fixtures that included two draws and one defeat. Brendan Rodgers men also lost to Zenit in the UEFA Europa League last Thursday. Liverpool's defence seems to have collapsed. The former strong pairing of Skrtel and Agger seems to have been decoded by their opponents.

Liverpool were beaten 2-0 at home by West Bromwich Albion last Sunday. The defeat ensured that the Anfield club fell to the ninth position on the league table.

Swansea has beaten Liverpool in the Capital One cup earlier in the season. Their impressive league record against Liverpool will propel them to another good showing on Sunday.

Daniel Sturridge is expected to be back from injury.The ex-Chelsea player suffered a thigh injury after is team's 2-2 draw against Manchester City. Luis Suarez must hit the form that made him to score 9 goals in nine matches some few weeks ago. The Uruguayan has been wasteful in front of goal since the beginning of the month.

Michu is one man the Wlesh side will be expected to on the starting line up. The Spaniard is the third highest goal scorer in the league with 16 goals.

Our prediction: Liverpool 1-3 Swansea City
Kick Off: 15: 00 GMT
Date: Sunday 17th Feb. 2013

Swansea vs Liverpool preview

Swansea hosts Liverpool at the Liberty stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Welsh team defeated the Reds by 3-1 in the Capital One cup. Swansea also defeated Liverpool by 1-0 last season.

Brendan Rodgers will face his former side for the first time in the English Premiership after his summer move. Rodgers was admired by Swansea folks during his tenure.

The host
Michu will be the main target of Liverpool defenders on Sunday. The Spaniard has scored 7 league goals and he was also a threat to Liverpool in the Capital One Cup.

The visitors
Lucas Leiva will not be part of the squad. The Brazilian has just recovered from a knee injury,but he still need some time to regain match fitness.
Andre Wisdom could feature for the reigning League cup champions after he was substituted in the Europa League on Thursday night. Glen Johnson will be available for selection on Sunday.

Joe Allen and Gerrard will be in the midfield on Sunday while Luis Suarez will try and add to his 10 goal tally in the EPL. The Uruguayan forward his the top scorer in the league.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last seven league games.

Venue: Liberty Stadium,Wales
Date: Sunday 25th November,2012
Time: 13:30 UTC

Our prediction: Swansea 2-3 Liverpool

Premier League team of the week.

After a second round of games across English grounds, we have compiled a list of eleven outstanding players from the World's most glamorous soccer league.

1. Al Habsi(Wigan Athletic)
The keeper was very reliable for the Latics after the sale of Victor Moses to Chelsea. The keeper prevented the Saints' attackers from putting the ball in the back of the net for the full 90 minutes. Despite Wigan's dominance of the game, he made some stunning saves to deny Southampton a chance to register their first point of the new league season.

2. Glen Johnson(Liverpool)
The English right back was the cynosure of all eyes in the Liverpool defence as he thwarted many goal attempts of the array of strikers that were paraded by Roberto Mancini. Apart from Tevez's first half effort that cam off the bar, Johnson shielded the defence and none of the two lucky goals scored by Man City came from his wing.

3.Thomas Vermaelen(Arsenal)
The Belgian defender was instrumental to the Gunners' second successive clean sheet against Stoke City at the Britannia stadium.

4.Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
The England left back was consistent in his defensive dtuties in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Newcastle United. He was able to prevent the Senegalese duo of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse from operating from his wing.

5. John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)
The Nigerian international was outstanding in the defensive midfield role as the Blues cruised to a 2-0 over Alan Pardew's men. He prevented Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa from unleashing terror on his team's back four.

6. Santi Cazorla(Arsenal)
The Spanish international is enjoying a good start to his premier league career. The former Malaga player didn't show any sign of someone that is just settling down in England. He broke up a lot of Stoke's attacks and helped his team to take full control of the game. Begovic made some heroic saves to deny him a goal at the Britannia on Sunday.

7. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United)
Ex-Borussia Dortmund playmaker, Kagawa was a constant threat in the Fulham defence. He tormented Martin Jol's men and hew as rewarded with a controversial goal that some analysts believed should have been ruled out for an offside positioning. The Japanese international supplied a lot of defence-splitting passes as he propelled United their first win of the season.

8. Michu(Swansea)
Michu scored his third premier league goal in two matches for Swansea. Michael Laudrup's men have now scored eight goals in two outings without conceding a goal. Michu's accurate judgement of the ball and his good ball sense was noticed throughout his team's 3-0 win over West Ham United at the Liberty Stadium.

9. Robin Van Persie (Man United)
The Dutch international and former Arsenal captain announced his arrival at the Old Trafford with a beautiful volley against Fulham on Saturday. Patrice Evra's cross was controlled and volleyed into the top corner of the Fulham net after ten minutes of action.

10. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The Belgian international was a tormentor of Newcastle's defence for 90 minutes of play. Hazard was really hazardous to the opponents. His skills and trickery couldn't be matched by any midfielder from Newcastle. He converted a penalty in the first half before providing his sixth assist in two games for Torres o score for Chelsea.

11 Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
Liverpool played one of their best games in recent times as they were undone by two defensive errors in their game against Manchester City. The 17 year old ex-QPR academy player was a delight to watch for the entire duration of the game. He dribbled the likes of Alex Kolarov and Yaya Toure for a long period of the game. His skills, pace and crosses from the left flank suggested a sign of good things to come for the Jamaican-born starlet. He could have registered his first assist of the EPL, but Fabio Borini missed a glorious chance after Sterling crossed the ball for the Italian striker.

English Premier League review

Sweet Swans
Swansea were fully at home as the Welsh side cruised to a three nil win over West Ham United at the Liberty stadium. Angel Rangel scored the first goal in the 20th minute. His shot bounce under the body of Juusi Jaaskelainen as Michael Laudrup's men triumphed over Sam Allardyce's team.  New signing, Michu scored his third goal of the campaign in the 29th minute after a poor defensive move by a West Ham defender. Danny Graham added the third goal after the restart. Swansea were very delightful to watch as they had 77% of the ball possession. Meanwhile, Matt Jarvis was also impressive for the visitors as he made his debut following his £10 million move from Wolves.

Hazardous Chelsea
 In other games, Chelsea defeated Newcastle United by two unreplied goals at the Stamford Bridge. The reigning Champions League holders finished their business in the first half of the match. Eden Hazard created a lot of hazard for the visitors throughout the encounter. Fernando Torres won a penalty in the 20th minute and Hazard stepped up to slot the ball to the right hand side of Tim Krul. Newcastle struggled to contain the Belgian who orchestrated a well aligned midfield that also comprised of Mikel Obi and Raul Meireles.

Hazard provided a sleek pass to Torres in the closing moments of the first half and the Spaniard finished calmly to seal a third successive premier league win for Roberto Di Matteo's team.

Van Persie's phenomenal finish
Manchester United won their first league win of the season at the Old Trafford stadium. The Reds overcame Martin Jol's Fulham that were without Clint Dempsey who is unsettled at the London club. Damian Duff drew the first blood in the third minute of the game. United reacted to hat early goal in a great fashion. The Red Devils exchanged a lot of accurate passes amongst themselves. Shinji Kagawa and Ashley Young combined well with Van Persie who led the attack in the absence of Rooney who was on the bench. Patrice Evra floated an in-swinger for Van Persie, the former Arsenal goal poacher volleyed the ball into the top corner of the Fulham net to mark his debut at the 'Theatre of Dreams'. Kagawa's controversial goal was allowed to stand while Rafeal added a third goal to make it 3-1 at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Sir Alex Ferguson's men took their foot of the pedal as Wayne Rooney's men came on for Kagawa who was the man of the match. After some minutes of action, Rooney was stretched off as his thigh had a deep cut. The injury will keep him out for the next four weeks.

Other games
Andrea Villas Boas' woes continued at Tottenham. The former Chelsea boss couldn't lead his team to claim all the three points at the White Hart Lane. Spurs struggled to break down West Bromwich Albion's defence for more than an hour of play. The first half ended goalless as the visitors looked solid at the back. In the 75th minute Assou Ekotto gave Tottenham the lead, but his goal was cancelled out in the 90th minute when James Morrison fired the ball home after a sloppy defending by the hosts.

Everton were superb at the Villa Park. The 'Toffees' defeated Aston Villa by 3-1. Paul Lambert's Villa side were very poor and they were lucky not to have lost by a wider margin. Everton took a three nil lead after 45 minutes. Steven Pienaar unleashed a 25 yard shot to give his side the lead inside the opening 10 minutes of the match. Marouane Fellaini made it 2-0 with a good header that came from a corner kick. After the restart, Villa had a man sent off and Distin's header came off the crossbar with the score line at 3-0. The Birmingham based club rallied to score a consolatory goal before the end of the match.

The game between Reading and Sunderland has been postponed till next Tuesday due to a water logged pitch that was caused by a heavy downpour at the Stadium of Light.