Eight matches were played on Saturday in the Premier league in Round 16. At the start of the round, two teams were left unbeaten, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The first game of the day was Bournemouth vs Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth couldn’t provide much of a resistance and were beaten easier than expected. Steve Cook was unfortunate to score an own goal and Mohamed Salah bagged a hat-trick away from home. Jordon Ibe was on the bench for the Cherries and didn’t play. Dominic Solanke wasn’t in the Liverpool 18-man squad. With this win, the Reds go Number 1 in the table and remain unbeaten after 16 rounds.
At the Emirates, Arsenal were hosts to a visiting Huddersfield town team who were looking to move away from the bottom of the standings. It was a tougher than expected game for the Gunners. The game itself was full of controversies. Arsenal had a goal disallowed in the first half and nine players have received yellow cards, including three for simulating.
Dominic Solanke – Player of Liverpool – Vlad1988 / Shutterstock.com
In the end, the Terriers buckled, and Lucas Torreira managed to score for the second game in a row to give Arsenal a win and keep their unbeaten run going. This time, Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi came off the bench at halftime to replace Alexandre Lacazette. Philip Billing was serving a suspension on account of yellow cards and couldn’t assist his teammates.
After losing their last home match to Liverpool, Burnley need a good performance at Turf Moor, against Brighton. Leon Balogun, the Nigerian centre-back who came off the bench for Brighton last time and scored, was in the starting eleven this time. One goal, scored by James Tarkowsky in the first half, was enough to settle the score in this match, giving Burnley a win after a run of eight games without a triumph. It was also enough to move them out of the bottom three for now.
The last match of the day took place at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, where the home team hosted the Tottenham Hotspurs. After a run of five games unbeaten, the Foxes finally gave in to the Spurs who performed well. Super Eagles Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho both started the match. Heung-Min Son put Spurs ahead right before the break while Dele Alli made it 2:0 in the second half for his 50th goal in the Tottenham jersey. Iheanacho was subbed out in the 56th minute. With this win, Spurs go third in the table.
Even before the Sunday games, one thing is clear after this round – Liverpool are the only team left unbeaten this season.