Premier League, Week 21: Queens Park Rangers upset Chelsea

Instead, both teams were very bad. The officiating wasn’t much better. Neither side looked like they had the slightest idea how to move off the ball or make attacking passes, but some hilarious defending led to a couple of goals in a 1-1 draw.

Proving that missing your chances will often bite you in the ass, Spurs added a third goal in the 79th minute. Clint Dempsey, who had just entered the match, hit a looping shot from 25-yards out that caught Federici off his line, going in the net just over the desperately extended hand of the goalkeeper.

Credit to Reading for staying in this one (I guess) despite being out shot 34 to 7 by Spurs...on second thought, that’s absurd Spurs, shame on your for not scoring more.

Shortly afterwards, however, the exact same chance occurred again, Pablo Hernandez slotting Routledge clean through past the stationary Villa defence, and the winger made sure on the second time of asking, rounding Guzan and slotting into the net.

Villa were all over the place and by 10 minutes, Swansea could have been out of sight. Michu managed to get clean through but uncharacteristically skewed his shot onto the post, before another usually-reliable finisher, Danny Graham, drilled a shot wide after easily escaping the Villa centre-backs.

The away side started the game on the front foot dominating possession. They played without a real focal point in attack. Berbatov dropped back into midfield time and time again as he rotated the role with Ruiz centrally. This meant Fulham outnumbered West Brom in midfield and could build attack through short passing.

When a West Brom’s attacking corner broke into the feet of Berbatov, the silky Bulgarian picked out Ashkan Dejagah on the right wing with a brilliant long pass. With Ruiz pushing the West Brom defense centrally, Berbatov had plenty of space to finish Dejagah’s low cut back.

Nigel Adkins appears to have reverted back to a 4-1-4-1 formation, a change from the 4-2-3=1 he’d be using the past few matches. Jack Cork moves back in to the defense with Morgan Schneiderlin the lone deep midifelder.

Buckle your seat belts, this could get ugly.

Cameron and Shawcross both return for this game, while N’zonzi is available while Stoke appeal his red card. This should help Stoke considerably, though it won’t alter their strategy. They’re going to sit back, try to hit City on the counter and set pieces, tackle hard, see how much the referee is willing to let go, and just generally be annoying to City’s talented playmakers.

Manchester City injuries and suspensions

Wigan Athletic injuries and suspensions

Manchester United injuries and suspensions

Tottenham won’t be able to pull off their devastating counterattacking game against a side that will presumably defend very deep and hope to snatch a goal through a lucky break or a set piece, but the hosts should still have enough quality to see this one through fairly comfortably.

Date/Time: January 1st 2013, 3:00 pm GMT (10:00 am EST).

Date/Time: Tuesday, January 1st. 12:45 pm GMT (7:45 am EST).

Venue: Hawthorns, West Bromwich, England.