EPL Review: Rafa's Redemption, Wenger Whines, Spurs, and Chelsea Get Swine Flu

Week 10 of the EPL produced more stories than almost every other week so far—from Rafa's job, to Stoke beating Spurs, to Chelsea hammering Blackburn, to Arsenal capitulating against West Ham.

All eyes were on Liverpool for Manchester United's trip to Anfield. The back story of Rafa's job being on the line had captivated almost the entire footballing world. Lose and Liverpool would have had their worst start to a season in some 50 years, and the last time they lost five in a row they were relegated...

It was Rafa who inspired his team into battle against a United team who looked like they didn't know what hit them.

Again, Fernando Torres destroyed Nemanja Vidic, who got sent off against the Reds for the third time in a row.

Torres seems to have gotten into the Serbian's head, and has him psyched out even before the teams take to the pitch. In all truth, Vidic was lucky not to have picked up at least four yellow cards during the game in his fruitless attempts to put the Spaniard off his stride.

Fergie fumed after the encounter about the sending off but he did make some valid points about some decisions by the referee.

“We lost out to one or two major decisions. I felt Carrick in the first half was a penalty kick, but the controversial one that everyone will be talking about is when Carragher brought Michael Owen down on the edge of the box.

“The crowd got Vidic booked, and that put the ref under pressure, but this atmosphere is hard to handle for a referee. Whether he had enough experience or not, I don’t know, but he will certainly learn from it."

But he finished off on the back foot as he gave Liverpool the credit they deserved.

“All in all though, Liverpool were the better team. They created more chances and were better than us on the day.”

A Torres goal and a cool finish by David N'Gog were enough to see United off as Liverpool deservedly won, 2-0.

It was a great win for Rafa, but they are still in the same predicament and need a win next week against Fulham to keep the pressure off Rafa. His statement that Chief Executive Christian Purslow told him to "take one game at a time" is ominous.

Spurs lost 1-0 to Stoke at White Hart Lane. It was a poor result for Tottenham, who dominated the match for 80 minutes before being reduced to 10 men after Aaron Lennon left the pitch with ankle ligament damage. Spurs had already made all their substitutions.

It was hailed by Tony Pulis as "our best ever Premiership result", which does go some way to showing how far Spurs have come in one year under Redknapp.

The Chelsea machine returned to normal service as Blackburn came to the Lions' den that is Stamford Bridge.

But all they did was show up.

But in fairness they did have the best excuse ever. In the run up to the game three of their players contracted Swine Flu. Big Sam then called the FA and Chelsea to get the match postponed, but perhaps seeing a weakened opponent, Chelsea said no...

Chelsea then hammered five past Paul Robinson and Frank Lampard returned to his normal scoring ways by bagging two.

The game finished on a triumphant note for Big Sam, who hoped the Chelsea stars get Swine Flu...

Bolton and Everton played out a highly entertaining game at the Reebok Stadium as Everton came from two down only to lose to an 86th-minute Klasnic goal.

It was a much needed win for Gary Megson, who is always under pressure from the Bolton faithful, regardless of results.

Manchester City continued to stutter in their recent form by surrendering a two-goal lead to Fulham, who look to be returning to the kind of form that saw them qualify for Europe last year.

Next week, they take on Liverpool and Rafa at Craven Cottage.

All of Sunderland's recent good work against United and Liverpool was flushed down the toilet as Birmingham beat Steve Bruce's team, 2-1.

The Blues forced the tempo for much of the match and too many Black Cats players had off days (Darren Bent, in particular).

The ex-Spurs striker really needs the manager's arm around his shoulder all the time and loses his focus on matches if he is expected to be the main goalscorer. However, he is doing very well this year and Sunderland are well-poised to challenge for a top eight position.

Burnley's unbeaten home run was smashed by Wigan as Roberto Martinez's side ran out 3-1 winners with Hugo Rodeallga scoring twice.

The Clarets' away form is really poor so far, and if they are to have any chance of avoiding relegation, they will have to avoid days like these.

Hull and Portsmouth drew, 0-0. Neither side has the strikers to trouble many teams in the EPL. Phil Brown's cause was not helped by "Dozy" Altidore sleeping late and showing up late (and then going on Twitter to say, "I'm sorry").

In Birmingham, the Wolves tied Aston Villa, 1-1...

Wanderers have not beaten Villa since 1979 and that record continued despite a good performance against Martin O'Neill's improving team.

Arsenal gave a big indicator as to why they won't challenge for the title this year against West Ham as they threw away a two-goal lead against Gianfranco Zola's struggling side.

The Gunners raced into a comfortable two-goal lead but were pegged back by the Hammers, who capitalized on defensive mistakes by Arsenal's players as they went to sleep.

Their lazy tackles gave away a free kick, which resulted in the first goal and a late penalty, and they were lucky not to give away another as Gallas blatantly tripped Scott Parker.

The referee then made a mad decision by sending off the Hammers' skipper after a brilliant tackle on Fabregas. Only he can tell you what he was thinking.

Wenger then turned on his players and accused them of blowing a major chance at a title tilt.

“You need to get points when you deserve to get points and sometimes when you don’t deserve to get the points.

“Today, we didn’t get the points when we deserved them, and that means we have not made the maximum of what we should have done.

“It is tight and open and that is why I am convinced that it will be tight until the end. We have a great chance this year but you cannot repeat this kind of performance we had today and not come out with three points.

“We have to keep the positives as we played well and are a strong team. We want to learn to finish these games off, which is basically the most important lesson of the day.”

“West Ham is very happy tonight and I understand that. The free kick and penalty were extremely generous. I don’t think that either should have been given.”

Fergie and Wenger obviously go to the same school of blaming the ref for their poor results...

10 Statements after Game Day 10 of the EPL Season

1) Rafa is still under extreme pressure and they need to qualify for the Group Stages of the Champions League and stay in the top four to keep his job.

2) Fernando Torres is a majestic player, and Liverpool need to achieve the above to hold onto him.

3) What would it take for Stevie G. to leave Liverpool?

4) Spurs lost a game they were expected to win. They've taken huge strides in the last year, but they are still mentally weak.

5) Hull, Portsmouth, and Burnley...

6) Manchester City are looking to offload Robinho...Chelsea or Barcelona?

7) Chelsea should win their appeal with the CAS, so expect a spending spree in January as they gear up for the next 18 months.

8) That Lee fella at Bolton looks decent.

9) Arsenal won't win the EPL, but they could do so in an FA Cup, CL double...

10) Will Liverpool field a strong side in the Carling Cup fourth round against Arsenal? Both managers are under pressure for different reasons to bring home some silverware.