West Brom vs Tottenham, Manchester City vs Liverpool - LIVE Coverage:

Hello everyone, and welcome to my latest blog installment. Today, there are 2 EPL matches on show for everyone to enjoy and the action starts at The Hawthorns, where 9th placed West Brom host 4th placed Tottenham Hotspur at 1:30pm.

Then, at 4pm, title-chasing Manchester City host a stubborn Liverpool side at The Ethiad Stadium in a mouth-watering clash between 2nd and 7th. 

At The Hawthorns: West Brom host Tottenham Hotspur today.

West Bromwich Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur - LIVE

Team Line-ups:

West Brom: Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Popov, Dorrans, Yacob, Morrison, Brunt, Long, Lukaku.
Subs: Myhill, Ridgewell, Thomas, Jones, Rosenberg, Fortune, Tamas. 

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Dembele, Parker, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey, Defoe.
Subs: Friedel, Gallas, Naughton, Huddlestone, Livermore, Sigurdsson, Holtby. 

37 minutes on the clock, and it is currently 0-0 at The Hawthorns. 

14:17: HT - West Brom 0 Tottenham 0

Top scorer Jermain Defoe has been replaced just before half-time by new midfield signing Lewis Holtby after suffering a clash with Shane Long. 

14:33: 
The teams are jogging out onto the pitch, getting ready for the second half to start.

47: CONTROVERSY! West Brom are down to ten men at the start of the second half, after defender Goran Popov seemed to clash with and spit at Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker. 
The referee just instantly showed him the red card!

Stupid: Referee Mark Clattenburg sends Popov off for spitting at Kyle Walker.

51: As a result of the sending off, West Brom manager Steve Clarke is trying to stay solid with a defensive minded substitution.
Maybe not looking for the win now that their main goalscorer is off the pitch...

West Brom SUB:
Romelu Lukaku OFF
Liam Ridgewell ON

57: Tottenham are pressing for the opening goal, with Bale and Lennon attacking the WBA defence, knowing that they have the extra man advantage. The hosts are sticking firm for now..

66: Tottenham have finally made a breakthrough! Gareth Bale with the goal from 20 yards out after a nice counter attacking break with Walker and Holtby found the Welshman in space for shot. His strike went flying into the top corner, out of Ben Foster's reach and the hosts are now trailing 1-0 with 10 men. 

72: Tottenham are comfortable with this 1-0 lead, and can just sit back and relax with the ball.
However, I am sure that manager Andre Villas Boas will want his side to kill off the match with another goal before they sit back..  

77: Tottenham SUB:
Kyle Walker OFF
William Gallas ON

At least 10minutes game time for Gallas, as he replaces Walker and moves into the CB position. 
3-5-2 formation, with Gallas, Vertonghen and Dawson the back three. 

81: West Brom SUB:
Graham Dorrans OFF
Claudio Yacob OFF
Markus Rosenberg ON
Marc-Antoine Fortune ON

Steve Clarke is going for broke now with less than 10minutes to play in this match. Dorrans has already picked up a yellow card, and the hosts are hoping to equalise in this match at least... 

85: However, West Brom cannot score without the ball and Spurs have just realised that.. They are playing keep-ball now, and it is a corner for the away side with 5 minutes left to play. 

86: Tottenham SUB:
Aaron Lennon OFF
Gylfi Sigurdsson ON

It's a shame that someone of Sigurdsson's quality and attacking flair only gets to play the last 5 minutes of a match, but surely this is only a time-wasting tactic from AVB, because he knows Sigurdsson will hardly get to touch the ball.. 
Lennon is replaced after a good showing again on the wing today.

90: The fourth official has signalled for 4 minutes of stoppage time to be added on at The Hawthorns.
4 minutes for West Brom to equalise and salvage something at home. 

90+3: The cameras show Defoe and Friedel on the bench, with Defoe holding a crutch after his collision with Shane Long in the first half. Looks serious... 

90+4: The referee Mark Clattenburg has blown his whistle for the final time to end the match at The Hawthorns. West Brom failed to equalise due to the fact that they were down to ten men for 45 minutes, and as soon as that incident took place, they were chasing the match and Bale's goal made the hosts pay. 

Tottenham have moved within 1 point of 3rd placed Chelsea who lost 3-2 against Newcastle yesterday, while West Brom fail to move up to 7th place if they won today. 

African Cup of Nations Quarter-Final:
Ivory Coast 0 Nigeria 0 - LIVE:

Still goal-less despite Ivory Coast dominating possession and having the best chances, but 5 EPL players are on display at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. 

Manchester City host Liverpool at The Ethiad, as they look to close the gap down to 7 points. 

Manchester City vs Liverpool - LIVE at 4pm:

Team Line-ups:

Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Lescott, Clichy, Milner, Garcia, Barry, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero. 

Subs: Pantilimon, Rodwell, Kolarov, Sinclair, Nasri, Tevez, Maicon.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Enrique, Gerrard, Lucas, Henderson, Downing, Sturridge, Suarez. 

Subs: Jones, Wisdom, Skrtel, Allen, Shelvey, Sterling, Borini.

Both teams will be desperate to win at The Ethiad today, after both drew during midweek against QPR (City) and Arsenal (LFC).

Life after Mario Balotelli starts for City today at home, while new Liverpool signing Phillipe Coutinho does not feature today. 

16:00: The first half has started at The Ethiad.

1: David Silva came close to an early opener, after his half-volley strike had to be acrobatically tipped over the bar by Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

LATEST - Ivory Coast 0 Nigeria 1: Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute with a strike from 30 yards out which should not have beaten Boubacar Barry, but did. Second half just started. 

16:48: HALF-TIME:
Manchester City 1 Liverpool 1

Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko broke the deadlock for the hosts in the 23rd minute, after some nice interplay on the left wing, before James Milner put in a low cross into the box for the striker to slot home.

As you do: Dzeko slots the ball into the net past Reina to give City the lead. 

Former Manchester City striker Daniel Sturridge equalised in the 29th minute with a bullet which flew low past goalkeeper Joe Hart into the net. 

Great strike: Daniel Sturridge scores his 4th goal in Liverpool colours after his £12m switch from Chelsea.

Respect: Sturridge shows respect to his former club by not celebrating his goal against City.

17:05: The referee has blown his whistle to start the second half at The Ethiad Stadium. Could we see a repeat of this fixture earlier in the season with a 2-2 draw, or will City or Liverpool be able to win the match?!

LATEST - Ivory Coast 1 Nigeria 2 FT

The Super Eagles move into the semi-finals, with a 2-1 win over runners-up from last year Ivory Coast. 

51: Liverpool are pressing for another goal now, with Downing looking dangerous on the wing.

56: Manchester City SUB:
Matija Nastastic OFF
Aleksandar Kolarov ON

An attacking minded change for Mancini sees Kolarov a wing-back replacing Nastastic.

61: Cameras are showing Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez warming up on the touchline.

65: Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina will be happy to see the ball go over his roof of the net, as a City counter attack sees Barry's effort over the bar.

69: The referee brandishes a yellow card out for Portugese defensive-midfielder Javi Garcia, who cynically trips over Liverpool's talisman and striker Luis Suarez.
That is his 6th yellow card this season.

70: Sturridge, Downing and Gerrard all pressing the City defence now in the final third, but cannot test Joe Hart as of yet. 

73: WHAT A GOAL! Liverpool are ahead for the first time in the match, and English legendary midfielder Steven Gerrard is the goalscorer! 
Manchester City partially clear a cross, and the ball falls to Gerrard from 25 yards out who unleashes a piledriver past Joe Hart into the bottom corner of the net.

Piledriver: Steven Gerrard scores a spectacular half-volley against City to put Liverpool ahead.

Jubilation: Gerrard celebrates his goal to put Liverpool 2-1 ahead in the 73rd minute.

74: Manchester City SUB:
David Silva OFF
Maicon ON

A defensive change for Mancini, despite City trailing... Maicon is deadly going forward however. 

Liverpool SUB:
Jose Enrique OFF
Martin Skrtel ON

Brendan Rodgers is quite happy to shut up shop for the last 15 minutes of the match and take a 2-1 win. 

76: Gerrard whips a ball into the box from a free-kick... Sturridge heads towards goal.. JUST WIDE!! The ball needed a touch from defender Martin Skrtel, and it narrowly missed his head. That was almost 3-1. 

78: GOAL! Liverpool's lead lasted only 5 minutes, with Argentine striker Sergio Aguero equalising for the hosts! 

A nice through ball was thread through to him by midfielder Gareth Barry and he used electric pace to get past Martin Skrtel before going around Reina from an outrageous angle and striking the ball into the net.

Outrageous angle: Aguero gets past Reina before striking the ball into the far corner of the net.

Tale of two faces: Aguero celebrates his equaliser, while Reina looks shocked. 

What a last 10 minutes we have in store at The Ethiad. Great, exciting match which has just exploded in the last 10 minutes.

84: Liverpool still looking to score again, but Gerrard's effort on goal is blocked well and cleared away by Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott. 

The ball falls to Aguero who does well to weave past two Liverpool defenders before his through ball towards Dzeko has too much power and finds the gloves of Pepe Reina. 

87: Manchester City SUB:
Gareth Barry OFF
Samir Nasri ON

Nasri is replacing Barry, in the hope of coming on and scoring/assisting a late winner... Fresh legs also.

90: The fourth official has signalled for 5 minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the match at The Ethiad. A tense 5 minutes all round then.. 

90+2: Nice 1-2 play by City, with Maicon and Aguero mixing well, before Maicon's effort at goal is blocked by Skrtel and goes out for a corner. Pressure. 

90+5: The referee has blown the whistle to end the match at The Ethiad. Manchester City have come back from 2-1 down to equalise late on thanks to an Aguero goal. 

However, they are still 9 points behind local rivals Manchester United in the chase for 1st place. 

Liverpool also fail on making ground on 6th placed Arsenal, and are still stuck in 7th place.

Thank you for reading my EPL Blog, and I will speak to you all next week! Please spread the word to all of your football-loving friends about my blog! :)
Hopefully you enjoyed today's exciting action as much as I did, and have a nice day!

EPL Super Saturday Coverage:

Hello and welcome to my latest blog post, where I cover the 6 EPL matches that were being played earlier today, including Arsenal vs Stoke and Everton vs Aston Villa.

Early afternoon match:

QPR 0 Norwich City 0

3pm kick-offs:

Arsenal 1 Stoke City 0

This match was played at The Emirates Stadium, as 6th placed Arsenal hosted a tough Stoke side after their enthralling 2-2 draw during midweek at home against Liverpool. 

The main story coming into this match in London was that new Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal would start his first match in the EPL today. 
Arsenal started the match well, with midfielder Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott combinating to give The Gunners pace and skill injection going forward. 

French striker Olivier Giroud was denied a goal with a great save by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in the 31st minute, and the hosts were pressing throughout the match for an opener. Defender Laurent Koscielny was also denied a headed effort as Begovic used his reflexes to stop the shot from going in.

Walcott was fouled just otside the box by Stoke defender Wilkinson, and Podolski stepped up to take the free-kick. His shot was well-struck, and it took a deflection off the wall before bouncing into the net past Begovic to break the deadlock after 77 minutes on the clock.   

Finally: Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski scores a deflected free-kick to break the deadlock in the 77th minute.

8 for the season: Podolski celebrates his goal with team-mates Arteta and Sagna.

Impressive: Arsenal's new £7million left-back signing Nacho Monreal played well today against Stoke.

Everton 3 Aston Villa 3

This match was played at Goodison Park, as 5th placed Everton looked to continue on their quest for Champions League qualification next season with a win at home against strugglers Aston Villa. 

Belgian striker Christian Benteke made sure that the away side got off to the perfect start with a nicely done strike in the 2nd minute with a cool finish past Tim Howard. 

Clinical: Belgian striker Christian Benteke broke the deadlock with a nice finish past Tim Howard after 2 minutes.

Everton's Nigerian striker Victor Anichebe showed why he is keeping Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic out of the team, with a powerful showing to get past two defenders before equalising for the hosts in the 21st minute with a strike past Brad Guzan.

Powerhouse: Victor Anichebe equalised for Everton in the 21st minute after bulldozing past two defenders.

Forward Gabriel Agbonlahor restored Villa's lead with a header inside the box in the 24th minute, before Benteke gave Villa a comfortable 2-goal cushion in the 61st minute with a fabulous header after getting past defender Johnny Heitinga with pace and strength.

Again: Agbonlahor celebrates his header to give Villa the lead again with team-mates Benteke and Weimann.

Anichebe made an assist after setting up Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini to give the hosts a lifeline in the 70th minute with a deflected strike past Guzan, before Fellaini scored again with a last-minute header inside the box. 

Back in it: Fellaini's strike gives Everton hope of a late equaliser with 20 minutes to play.

Tower: Fellaini scores a last-minute header to equalise late on for the hosts.

Comeback: Fellaini celebrates his 2nd goal of the day to seal a point for Everton at home.

Everton somehow cameback from 3-1 down to salvage a draw, while unlucky Aston Villa failed to win AGAIN.     
 
Newcastle United 3 Chelsea 2

Newcastle's new French signings were again on show today at St.James Park, as the hosts looked to provide a shock to 3rd placed Chelsea who drew 2-2 on Wednesday despite going 2-0 ahead. 

Striker Demba Ba broke his nose on his return to St.James Park after a collision with defender Fabricio Coloccini, in the 32nd minute when he tried to take a shot inside the box.

Ouch: Coloccini accidentally kicks former team-mate Demba Ba in his face, and breaks his nose in the process.

The match was still level at this time, but not for long when midfielder Jonas Gutierrez broke the deadlock for the hosts in the 40th minute as Chelsea failed to clear left-back Davide Santon's cross into the box, and Jonas headed the ball straight into the corner of the net.  

Ahead at home: Jonas leaps above the Chelsea defender to head Newcastle ahead at home in the 40th minute.

Chelsea equalised in the 55th minute, when legendary midfielder Frank Lampard unleashed a shot from 20 yards out out of nowhere and the ball flew into the top corner of the net, out of reach for Holland goalkeeper Tim Krul. 

Legendary: Frank Lampard celebrates scoring his 10th goal of the season to equalise for Chelsea to make it 1-1.

In the 61st minute, Newcastle failed to deal with Serbian right-back Branislav Ivanovic's cross into the box, and the ball fell to Juan Mata who had a lovely curling finesse shot that dipped into the bottom of the net to give The Blues the lead.  

Newcastle equalised soon afterwards in the 68th minute, when they went on the counter attack with Cisse, Sissoko and Gouffran all on the attack before Gouffran's shot was parried away by Petr Cech.
The ball span away from the goalkeeper, and Sissoko stumbled before tapping the ball into the net.

 

Moussa Sissoko eventually won the match for Newcastle United in the 90+1st minute, after he got himself into a good position before having a nice 1-2 passing play with Santon.
The ball was laid off for him from 20 yards out, and his strike was low and hard past Cech into the net.

Last-minute: Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko celebrated scoring a late winner for the hosts to sink Chelsea.

The match finished 3-2, with Newcastle and Chelsea playing in an exciting 5-goal thriller.

Reading 2 Sunderland 1

A Jimmy Kebe double ensured all 3 points for Reading at home against Sunderland, despite a penalty goal from Craig Gardner to level the match after 30minutes. 

West Ham United 1 Swansea City 0

On-loan striker Andy Carroll scored the only goal of the match for the hosts at Upton Park in the 77th minute.

Wigan Athletic 2 Southampton 2

4 goals at The DW Stadium today, as Wigan forward Shaun Maloney scored a late equaliser in the 90th minute to ensure a point at home.

5:30pm kick-off:

Manchester United 1 Fulham 0      

English striker Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the match to sink Fulham at home at Old Trafford. United move 10 points clear of local Manchester rivals Manchester City who play against Liverpool tomorrow afternoon at 4pm. 

Thank you for reading my EPL Blog today, and I will be back tomorrow for a double upload including a Double Bill LIVE from 1pm, as Tottenham Hotspur travel to West Brom and Manchester City look to close the gap down to 7 points on EPL leaders Manchester United with a win against stubborn Liverpool. 
Have a nice night, and stay safe! :)

Transfer Deadline Day along with Midweek Fixtures:

Hello and welcome to my latest blog installment, where I analyse all of the EPL matches which were played over the past 2 days during midweek, and all of the LATEST transfers which were done yesterday, on Transfer Deadline Day including Samba to QPR and Becchio to Norwich.

Transfer Deadline Day Done Deals:

Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) to Norwich - £5million pounds 

Strong signing: Norwich have completed the signing of Leeds United striker Luciano Becchio.

Mario Balotelli (Manchester City) to AC Milan - £19million pounds

Thumbs up: Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has completed a £19million move to Italian side AC Milan.

3 young gems: Balotelli poses with his 2 new team-mate strikers, in El Shaarawy and M'Baye.

Yacouba Sylla (Clermont Foot) to Aston Villa - undisclosed fee

New signing: Aston Villa have completed the signing of midfielder Yacouba Sylla. 

Christopher Samba (Anzhi Makchakala) to QPR - £12million pounds: club record fee 

Splashing the cash: Anzhi defender Christopher Samba has returned to the EPL - to QPR.

No excuses: Samba played for Blackburn in the EPL before they were relegated, and already has experience at this level. 

Danny Graham (Swansea) to Sunderland - £5million pounds

Sunderland switch: Danny Graham has finally completed his £5million signing for Sunderland.

Urby Emmanuelson (AC Milan) to Fulham - rest-of-the-season loan deal

Reunion: Urby Emmanuelson has moved to Fulham on a loan deal, and will reunite with former Ajax boss Martin Jol.

Jack Butland (Birmingham City) to Stoke City - £4million pounds, loaned back to Birmingham for the rest of the season.

Promising: Stoke City have pulled off a bargain by signing the future of English football for around £4m. 

Potential: Jack Butland is the future of the England, already being capped at senior level at age 19.

Brek Shea (FC Dallas) to Stoke City - undisclosed fee around £2.5million pounds

Long road: Stoke have finally completed the signing of FC Dallas winger Brek Shea after problems over his fitness and work permit from the U.S.

Kevin Mbabu (Servette) to Newcastle - undisclosed fee

Challenge: Newcastle have signed 17-year-old defender Kevin Mbabu on a three-year deal.

Rory Delap (Stoke) to Barnsley - rest-of-season loan deal

John Stones (Barnsley) to Everton - £3million pounds

Young startlet: Everton have confirmed the £3m signing of England U-19 defender John Stones. 

Nacho Monreal (Malaga) to Arsenal: £6.5 - 8.3million pounds

First and last: Malaga left-back Nacho Monreal has completed his move to Arsenal. 

Settling in: Monreal walks to training today with his new team-mates Arteta and Diaby.

Vital: Arsenal needed to sign someone, after the injury of Kieran Gibbs on Wednesday against Liverpool.

Other transfers around the world during this TW:

Top 5:

5. Alexandre Pato (AC Milan) to Corinthians - £12million

Injury-plagued: Promising Pato has moved back to Brazil after a troubled time at AC Milan. 

4. Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo) to PSG - £30million

Future: Midfielder Lucas Moura is one of the best young talents in world football, and has joined PSG. 

3. Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan) to Galatasaray - £8.4million 

Tug-of-war: Wesley Sneijder has FINALLY transferred from Inter, moving to Turkish side Galatasaray. 

2. Didier Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua) to Galatasaray - free

Complicated: Drogba has reportedly signed for Turkish side Galatasaray, despite claims from his club that he is still contracted to them until 2014. 

1. David Beckham (unattached) to PSG - free

Shock: David Beckham has confirmed that he will play for PSG and will give his salary away to charity. 

EPL Analysis:

Tuesday's Action:

Aston Villa 1 Newcastle United 2

This match was played at Villa Park, as Aston Villa hosted a Newcastle side who were big spenders in the January transfer window - signing 5 French players. 
Two of which started on Tuesday with Moussa Sissoko and Yoan Gouffran both playing their debut matches for the club. 

Moussa Sissoko made an assist on his debut, with a great through ball which split the Aston Villa defence in half while allowing Senegalese striker Papiss Demba Cisse to score a low finesse shot to break the deadlock in the 19th minute.

Newcastle pressed for a second, with midfielder Jonas Gutierrez crossing a ball into the box before defender Ron Vlaar headed the ball away to safety. 

Or so he thought. The ball fell to French midfielder Yohan Cabaye from 25 yards out who took a spectacular strike and the ball flew into the top corner to make it 2-0 in the 31st minute. 

Newcastle right-back Mathieu Debuchy gave away a penalty just inside the box after clipping Gabriel Agbonlahor in the 49th minute, and striker Christian Benteke scored his  goal of the season to pull a goal back for the hosts and give them hope of getting back into the match.

However, Newcastle stayed firm despite many Villa attacking advances, and held on for the 2-1 away win.

QPR 0 Manchester City 0

Stoke City 2 Wigan Athletic 2

This match was played at The Britannia Stadium, as Stoke hosted Wigan in a match that they expected to win comfortably at home.

They started off well and capped off the first 20 minutes with a goal from captain and defender Ryan Shawcross who took advantage of a bounce from a free-kick outside the box to tap the ball into the corner of the net past goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

Midfielder Charlie Adam had a shot from 20 yards out saved by Al Habsi, before the ball fell to English striker Peter Crouch who tapped the ball into the net to double the lead for the hosts in the 48th minute.

FACT: That was Peter Crouch's first goal in 17 matches for Stoke. 

Suddenly, Wigan started to get back in the match, and a lovely counter attacking move was finished off nicely by midfielder James McArthur to halve the deficit and make it 2-1 with 40 minutes to go in the 50th minute. 

Striker Franco Di Santo equalised for Wigan in the 61st minute after a cross was headed back into the penalty area for him to strike on the half-volley past in-demand goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

The match finished 2-2, with Wigan being the happier of the two sides having come back from 2-0 down to draw while playing very quick, easy on the eye, effective football.

Sunderland 0 Swansea City 0

This match was played at The Stadium of Light, as Sunderland hosted Welsh side Swansea City at home. The major story going into this match was whether Sunderland target Danny Graham would play a part, and he did.. 

(EPL ANALYSIS TO FOLLOW)