The Losers Predictions of the Weekend

What a fiery week this was (isn’t it always when Manchester is divided)?
The richest club in the world (not through financial savvy), took on then biggest team in the British Isles... And what an outcome that was.
Life has been breathed back into the Carling cup.

In this week of FA Cup games, the only Premier League game taking place is between the cup’s first major casualty and... Hull.

Manchester united vs. Hull City: last season, this game ended in a seven goal thriller. If you stake money on a repeat, you’ll be a fool. Only some weeks back at The Kingston Communications stadium (phew), the game was decided by one Wayne Rooney who now needs just one goal to equal his best ever haul in the premier league. Don’t bet against him hitting the back of the net.
Hull will hope Boaz Myhill can reproduce the performance he delivered at White Hart Lane last weekend to earn them a point.
In my opinion, that will be asking too much of him...
...Home win

Liga BBVA Roundup

Valladolid (17) play host to league champions and bearers of all things good, Barcelona (1). And they’d be missing the services of Manucho who promised to score forty goals. God only knows the scoring rate he’ll have to be on when he leaves his nation and back to Iberia. Having extended their lead at the top, Barça will simply win again to throw down the gauntlet for Real Madrid.

Tenerife (18) welcome (in the opposite sense of the word) Valencia (3) and will try everything possible to dent the best away record in the league. If only Valencia hadn’t dropped points at home to both Madrid and Barça, it could have been different at the top.
Try as they will, Tenerife will succumb to the firepower of the Mestalla paupers (not the players) and maybe the diving prowess of David Villa. Valencia’s front four will be too strong for the home defence. Only an away win will result.

Espanyol (14) vs. Real Mallorca (4): The home side haven’t had it rosy in the past few weeks and now, they host high-flying Mallorca who find themselves in the giddy position of fourth. Sure the Mallorca team is an effective one but they find it difficult to play away from home. That meaning that Espanyol will take all three points from this game.

Madrid (2) will host Malaga (16) in a battle to find out which of the ‘m’ teams is deserving of the name ‘Real’. With Gonzalo Higuain and Rafael van der Vaart out for considerable periods, they star-studded team would have to prove it’s worth, like they almost did at San Mamés. They’ll win their game to stay (albeit just) with Barcelona.


I’m sure that a new team (Mallorca) has stepped into the top four in Spain. That because our dear Sevilla have refused to come out of their slump.
But there is a game at the Riazor that could prove the cracker (not in terms of goals, mind) of the weekend as Deportivo La Coruña host Athletic Bilbao. There is sufficient evidence to believe that the game will end in a stalemate.

In the Serie A, there is the Milan Derby at the San Siro (Giuseppe Meazza stadium depending on your persuasion) and the team in Red and Black have the chance to close the gap on their rivals and the match may peter in an anti-climax with the result being... a draw

The six-horse versus the two-horse predictions of the weekend

After the worst case of snowfall in over thirty years limited us to only three games in the last round of EPL action, we are back, and thankful that the snowfall has greatly reduced.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern part of Iberia, games will certainly go on. But it’s more or less a two horse race now. That’s only the Cules slip up along with the Whites to allow Los Che back in...

English premier League

Stoke City vs. Liverpool: Stoke are on a bad run, their win against Fulham being the first in a long while. But with the paucity of the Liverpool performance in midweek, they may just go on to win their second straight game.
Looking at the away side doesn’t inspire much confidence either. With Gerard, Torres and Benayoun missing, it’s hard to look around the team and find creativity and added to that, Ryan Babel was dropped from the squad...
...Home win

Chelsea vs. Sunderland: Chelsea will be missing their African players in this game and there is one that has been very influential in the attacking third: a certain Didier Drogba. He could just be the difference between both teams.
Sunderland on their part always seem to raise their game when they take on the bigger teams, so we’ll see how that pans out...
...Draw (a frustrating one)

Manchester United vs. Burnley: With all the talk of lack of funds and financial doom this week, United will love to get on the pitch and get a win that will take their minds away from the disappointing game at the St. Andrews. The stand-in captain that has been Patrice Evra has come out to say he’s sure they will win the league. I advise such things be left till May.
The away side were the first team to beat United this season (in the second game, for those who didn’t know) and would not have imagined that by the time the second leg comes along, they’d be going to Old Trafford with a new manager. But so it has turned out to be. Brian Laws got fired by a struggling Championship side and now finds himself in the premier league. How this will end is anyone’s guess...
...Home win

Tottenham Hotspurs vs. Hull city: Not much to be said about this but that the previous tie conjured a spanking and a hat trick for a certain someone. Finally, Peter Crouch has taken his place as the partner for Jermaine Defoe so we should continue to see what we saw at Portsmouth.
Hull is a nothing team without Jimmy Bullard and that should continue at the lane...
...Home win

Everton vs. Manchester City: After a creditable draw at the emirates, they will look to push on from there at home against the in-form Manchester City who the player of the last month in their ranks.
Like has been said previously, when Everton’s players come back from various injuries, they will be back to the force they were last season, but till then, they have to keep pushing.
Manchester City on their part seem to have learnt how to defend. Maybe not, considering they’ve played against three of the poorest scorers in the division.
This promises to be a very good game for the neutral...
...Draw

Aston Villa vs. West Ham United: Villa just took the lead in their Carling Cup against Blackburn in midweek and will want to build on that after some recent losses. They do have some very useful young players in Milner, young and their likes.
West Ham have a treatment room compared to a normal hospital in a zone hit by swine flu (ok, that’s a tad over the top) but the injury list is indeed a long one. But if they are to get out of the relegation zone, it will be wise to get going now.
...Draw

Bolton Wanderers vs. Arsenal: The home side used to be the bogey team for the away side, but not anymore. But with the arrival of a new manager at the Reebok stadium, the new manager effect might just spur the Bolton players on.
Arsenal are on a good run (bar the draw last week) and will take momentum from that game into this. I don’t see them dropping points in this one
...Away win

La Liga BBVA

Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid: The San Mames is one of the more hostile grounds in La Liga and it won’t be an easy game for Real Madrid who have Gonzalo Higuain and Rafael Van der Vaart missing...
...Draw

Barcelona vs. Sevilla: The Catalan side will get the chance the exert revenge on the team that knocked them out of the Kings Cup immediately. But Sevilla are a decent side. But for some recent dodgy home form would be higher up the table than fifth. That shouldn’t should Barça though
...Home win

Real Mallorca vs. Deportivo La Coruña: Two teams that are outperforming themselves. The home side is solid at home while the away side is solid everywhere. They just frustrate their opponents and usually nick the goals. There is going to be only one outcome here...
...Draw (because I have plumped for a draw, Depor will simply go on and win. Just to ruin it for me)

Valencia vs. Villareal: the team in so much debt they have to qualify for the Champions league. On current form, they will... Easily. But they could go and make the league a much more interesting proposition. If only they could improve their home form (they are the best away side in the league). They have to start against a resurgent Villareal (lets’ leave the Kings Cup out). And they sure can do it, with David Silva back from injury...
...Home win

The Weekend Review...

After a weekend after by snowfall and accompanying postponements, only two games took place on Saturday in the English top flight, with none taking place on Sunday. Manchester City kept up their recent winning run to throw themselves firmly in the title mix.

While in normally sunny Iberia, the full set of games took place and with such cold that the players are normally not used to.

The EPL Review

Since only three games took place in the premier league over the weekend, it makes over work that little bit easier.

Arsenal vs. Everton: The home side will consider this as a point gained rather than two points lost when they consider what could have been.

That they say is the mark of champions. To always come back in the face of adversity.

On to the playing staff, when does it get to the point when Arsene Wenger decides that Manuel Almunia shouldn’t be first choice?

He could have done a lot better for Everton’s second

Arsenal fans must really wish Nicklas Bendtner was fit.

If (or when) either of William Gallas or Thomas Vermaelen goes into the treatment room for a long spell, Arsenal could be in some trouble... Oh, they’ve got Sol Campbell. Let’s see how that ends then.

...It has to be said that Everton should go back to being a decent team when they get all (or at least most) of their players back into the team.

Well, it was a decent debut for Landon Donovan.

Birmingham City vs. Manchester United: It is a measure of how far Birmingham City have come that the get a draw against the champions and then talk of how disappointed they were, even though they were totally outplayed by the visitors.

They are presently exceeding expectations, having not lost a game since the defeat by Arsenal.

They will surely fancy chances of being in the scrap for European completion at the business end of the season.

For the away team, they may yet rue this result. The manager may say otherwise, but they had the chance to go top and they fluffed it. They’ve not really hit the imperious levels of the 2007/2008 for a long while now. They can still mount a serious challenge but they would have to be much more consistent.

Manchester City vs. Blackburn Rovers: Manchester City continued their good run under new manager, Roberto Mancini. They are now within striking distance of the top and that should make the league a wee bit interesting.

In Carlos Tevez, they have arguably the league most in-form striker with eleven goals in nine games. He seems to be priming himself for a pivotal role for his country in the world cup.

As for Sam Allardyce and his Blackburn team, they really have to do something quick before they slip into the bottom three.

They can’t win away for or money and it’s not like they are they are pulling up trees at Ewood Park.

That has to change.

During midweek, Liverpool lost to Reading at Anfield. One only wonders when Rafa Benitez will do the honourable thing and quit (We don’t expect him to considering his contract). Liverpool can’t afford to sack him. And they can’t afford to not sack him either. What a dilemma.

Aston Villa took a one goal lead heading to the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final courtesy of a James Milner goal.

And in the Spanish King’s cup, Barcelona were knocked out by Sevilla (who lost at home to a Sergio Canales inspired Racing team), even though they won at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Deportivo La Coruňa completed the job of knocking out Valencia at home.

We look forward to this weekend’s games

The Snowballing Predictions of the Weekend

Oh well, we are back after a thoroughly undeserved break- it wouldn’t be much of a fuss if we deserved it, would it?

This week, we’ve got the previews- we’ve increased our previews to six games- and the news that Patrick Viera has joined Manchester City.

Surely, they are not turning to a club of pensioners. Are they?

Never mind, off we go to the crux of today’s issue...

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND UP

Hull City (19) vs. Chelsea (1): The orange team with an orange manager have been on the downward spiral of late- 2009 was a year of uselessness for the Tigers.

They only got a few results when Phil Brown was the bookies favourite to get the chop and it coincided with Jimmy Bullard’s return to fitness.

Since he went back to the treatment table, they’ve gone back to being dire.

Meanwhile Chelsea have gotten themselves out of something of a slump and seem to be back firing in recent weeks. None the less, they will be missing their African contingent in January. The fixtures could really have been worse this month, but instead they’ve got games you really expect them to be winning.

With Manchester City demanding £7m as compensation for Daniel Sturridge, he has began to show why. And he has all of January to keep doing it...

...Away win.

Arsenal (3) vs. Everton (12): Most Arsenal fans won’t forget their first game of the 2009/2010 season in a hurry. And if you don’t know why, they scored quite a handful of goals, coupled with the debut of a certain Thomas Vermaelen.  They’ve still got problems upfront and problems with Cesc’s hamstrings. Those shouldn’t be worries though given that they will be welcoming back Andrei Arshavin.

Everton are in serious danger of becoming just another team in the premier league. After some wonderful seasons in the past, they’ve really done badly this season. The funny thing is that they’ve battled through adversity (the injuries) and their results haven’t been considered to be disasters.

Landon Donovan has another chance to impress in Europe after messing up the previous ones.

Time to stand up and be counted, Landon.

...Home win.

Wigan Athletic (16) vs. Aston Villa (5): On the opening day of the season, Wigan stunned Villa at Villa Park with a Rodallega belter and the nay sayers came out in full force against Villa. Little did they know that it was an off day for Villa and that Wigan will be very inconsistent under Roberto Martinez. They have the worst defence in the league and have received a fair few thrashings. They look like relegation candidates, except they can string a few good results together.

Aston Villa on their part are a very handy team, haven beaten Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. But they will want to stop the rot that seems to have crept in after a couple of defeats at the Emirates and at home to Liverpool. Their dynamic trio of Ashley Young, James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor have been quite good this season. And they will look to continue on that path.

...Draw.

Birmingham City (8) vs. Manchester United (2): After such a long sequence of games without losing, the blues from the Midlands seem like they can keep this run for a long while yet. They’ve named unchanged starting elevens for all the games they’ve been unbeaten and will continue take trend today at the St. Andrews. Their defence is as solid as it gets so there are no worries for Alex McLeish. Their run has to come to an end one day and I reckon this to be the day.

With the loss at Old Trafford to their great rivals, fuming will be waiting- impatiently- to get his team out and he will want to see a response from them. Considering that their Carling Cup semi-final with Manchester City was postponed due to snow, you’d think he will learn the lesson of taking one game at a time. With Cristiano Ronaldo gone, Wayne Rooney has become the team’s talisman, though he could do much better with his free kicks, he’s well on his way to surpassing his previous best total for number of goals scored in the premier league.

...Away win.

Liverpool (7) vs. Tottenham Hotspurs (4): Anfield seems a place of sadness these days, with the poor form and the lack of funds. They’ve gotten rid of Andrea Dossena and they will use the fund from his transfer to strengthen. On the field, it got better for some time until THAT performance at the Madejski stadium.

Spurs have been doing quite well, with a lot of column inches dedicated to the fact that they are on course to snatch Liverpool’s Champions League. They are very capable of achieving that and with Luka Modric back from injury, they have their playmaker back. But they will miss Aaron Lennon who has created more goals than any other Spurs player this season. But when Jermaine Defoe is in the side, they always feel they can nick something. Peter crouch will like to prove to Rafa Benitez that he shouldn’t have let him go.

...Draw.

Manchester City (6) vs. Blackburn Rovers (13): Roberto Mancini has suddenly made City a team that can defend. That was their problem in Mark Hughes’ time. Going forward they will stand against any team in the premier league. Now that they seem to know how to defend, they will be a very good prospect and with a certain Carlos Tevez in the team, they have one of the form players in the league. All they need is for Roberto Mancini to top making utterances that will get him sacked on the long run.

Since Sam Allardyce said that Blackburn were not in any threat of relegation whatsoever, they’ve actually been dismal and he will want to arrest the rot before it becomes impossible to treat.

Their most creative player this season, David Dunn will be missing. Meaning they will struggle at Eastlands on Monday.

...Home win.

Note: We have stretched the preview to include teams in the top six of the premier league. But as will have noticed, Liverpool haven’t been in that bracket for some time. We will include Liverpool in our previews if they fall outside the top six, since they are a traditional big four club...

SPANISH LEAGUE ROUNDUP

After a break from football in the western part of Iberia, play resumed last week to some truly stunning matches. With Villareal holding Barcelona to a draw (they actually should have won) and Real Madrid failing to beat Osasuna, Valencia cut the gap at the top with a very late victory at home to Espanyol.

At the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Andalucia, Sevilla (5) will host Racing Satander (14) and will want to get back to the top with victory at home. Their home form has been a bit sketchy of late but I reckon they will get the business done.

Over to Xerez (20) who seem to be on a mission to be worst team ever to feature in la Liga, although to be fair they have money problems and other issues which are common place in La Liga. They host Valencia (3) this weekend and frankly, I can’t see beyond an away win.

The Real Madrid (2) fans will be hoping their team can put behind the Osasuna setback and get back to winning ways against Real Mallorca (4). It won’t be an easy task considering how well Mallorca have been doing. But they will do enough to secure a win.

Tenerife (17) will welcome table toppers, Barcelona (1) will hope they can get a win against the odds. That’s where it ends, hope. Barcelona will take them apart in this one and I fancy Tenerife-born Pedro will stick one in.