Premiership Weekend Roundup: December 1-2

Liverpool 4-0 Bolton
Another game, another whackload of goals for Liverpool. Particularly impressive in this case because it came against a Bolton team that had given Manchester United quite a bit of trouble last week. They didn't show much sign of such tenacity here, though, allowing Liverpool the lion's share of possession from the outset and eventually capitulating from a corner with Sami Hyypia's header. Bolton did have an excellent chance to get back in the game towards the end of the first half when Jamie Carragher collided with Pepe Reina and left Nicolas Anelka with an open goal, only for him to unbelievably send his shot wide. But after that it was all Liverpool, with Fernando Torres adding another goal just before the halftime and two more -- a Steven Gerrard penalty and a late tap-in from Ryan Babel -- in the second half.

Steven Gerrard is unquestionably back in form and was the outstanding player yesterday -- involved in creating the first three goal -- with an honourable mention for Fernando Torres, who would have been even better if his finishing had been consistently as good as it was for his only goal. Torres's performances in the past few games are possibly the strongest argument in favour of making sure that Rafa Benitez has ample transfer funds, because if he's going to spend it on players like that, it's well worth it. Not to mention Jamie Carragher going off with bruised ribs partway through the second half, just as a reminder of how thin their options are at centre back right now. I'm not advocating just throwing money around foolishly, but surely it would make sense to bring in some cover there.


As for the other matches: Arsenal proved that they can play well without Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea were mediocre but won anyway, Newcastle and Tottenham both imploded, and the rest of the games really aren't worth mentioning. Oh, and United play this afternoon.


Other results
Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal
Chelsea 1-0 West Ham
Blackburn 3-1 Newcastle
Tottenham 2-3 Birmingham
Portsmouth 0-0 Everton
Reading 1-1 Middlesbrough
Wigan 1-1 Manchester City
Sunderland 1-0 Derby