Saturday 25 September 2010

fantasy football

I have decide to give tips on fantasy football.

The pundit said this week that striker Dembele would be a good buy but he's injured now and if you brought him in you can't change it without losing points. My last tip is to swap your captain this week if he is a Chelsea player. Go for someone from Man Utd or Arsenal to try and get points on the leaders.

A view on the weekends action

This week I'm going back to the old format based on my reviews.

Man city V Chelsea

Chelsea's first real test for this season and I smell an upset. Don't bank on Chelsea winning this one because we all now how capable City are. And the home advantage comes in very handy. Last season City did the double over Chelsea and that will be playing on both teams minds. On the return leg of that fixture Bridge refused to shake Terry's hand. If Bridge starts for city, because they have problems at the back injury wise, than I hope he does shake his hand. I mean surely he got his revenge after the crap world cup England had. If he doesn't he will be taking it way too far. Ancelloti was so confident that he named his team in an interview a day before the game. I was lucky enough to see the interview on Sky Sports News. The team envolved the regulars like Drogba, Malouda, Anelka, [Kalou is injured so he gets the nod] Essien and Mikel but no Frank Lampard. If he will be on the bench is yet be comfirmed but I read in the paper that he was struggling to recover from his hernia op and may miss Chelsea's next 3 games. If you are lucky enough to have Sky sports than watch this game live. If you don't have Sky sports than go to London with a few mates have a few pints and watch it in a pub. If you choose your pub wisely you might be able to watch it in 3D!!!!!!!

Arsenal V WBA

Arsenal will be disappointed that they let their lead slip in the last minute against
Sunderland. But this should be another win for the Gunners. At home with the confidence of that Carling Cup thrashing of Tottenham it might be another goalfest. I wouldn't be shocked if a number of the lads that played on Tuesday get a place on the bench. WBA also won in the Carling Cup so they will want to continue their form as well.

Birmingham V Wigan

Both teams lost their last game and will be looking to bounce back. Both teams are in the lower half of the table and for Wigan thats not to unusual but Birmingham fans will be annoyed and will want to get out as soon as posable. I don't see much between these two teams and I say draw.

Blackpool v Blackburn

At last Blackpool get to play their 2nd game at home. And the only time they have played at home was a 2-2 draw with Fulham. Thats pretty good seeing that Utd could only manage that as well. They may have been favourites to go down at the start of the season but they are certainly not favourites any more [for me anyway]. Blackburn have come under a lot of stick for the way they play especially after the blatant foul that El Hadge Douif [sorry if I got the name wrong but a player that dirty doesn't deserve his name to be spelt right]. I hope referees cut down on that because its just fouling your way to the goal. I'm going to say that Blackpool will win this won and cause a big upset.

Fulham v Everton

Fulham have had another big injury blow with striker Dembele, who was supposed to fill in for Zamora, has got injured. They are now very short on strikers and I wonder how they will set up. As for Everton and just gets worse and worse and worse. They have been knocked out by Brentford and need to get form or face relegation.

Liverpool v Sunderland

Liverpool have crashed and burned out of the Carling Cup and need to find some form or they have no hope of getting back into the champions league. Sunderland have no more part to play in the Carling Cup after they lost to West Ham. I see a game of two defences today and it might take something special to break the deadlock.

West ham v Tottenham

Two teams with different fortunes in mid-week. West ham won their first game of the season at Sunderland while Tottenham got shown up at White Hart Lane by rivals Arsenal. It is difficult to call but Tottenham are your safest bet .

Bolton v Man Utd

Man utd should win this one. The form they're in it shouldn't be a challenge. Bolton will try their best but I don't see them getting anything from this game.

Wolves v Villa

I understand this is a bit of a derby so both teams will be going all out to win it. If I see a goalie in the box at the end of stoppage time I will laugh my head off. I hope their is a goalie in the box because that always spells goal. Wolves for me but it'll be a great game.

Newcastle v Stoke

Newcastle we be buzzing after becoming the first team to beat Chelsea this season and at Stamford Bridge as well that just makes it all the sweater. Stoke sit 1 place of the relegation zone and will be desperate to get a win here to boost them up the table.

Thursday 23 September 2010

Carling Cup 3rd round part 2

Last nights Carling Cup action was even more exciting than the first. It saw 3 all Prem ties so we would lose 3 Prem clubs. But no one expected Liverpool to go out, like their Mersyside neighbours, to a league in a league below them. Unlike Everton, Liverpool lost to a league 2 divisions below them. Let me tell you about it. Liverpool looked like they had this one in the bag when Jovanovic gave them an early lead. But Northampton scored an equaliser and at 90 minutes they couldn't be separated. So it went to extra time and Northampton took the lead in the Ist period. It looked like Liverpool would be going out but N'gog scored a late goal to send it to penalties. N'gog missed his penalty and so did another Liverpool player, I don't know his name, That gave a Northampton player,another name I don't know, a chance to win the shoot-out. He scored and Liverpool were out. After the game Roy Hodgson apologised to his supporters about the defeat. I think Liverpool will struggle to get back into the top 4 this season because they can't string a good run of wins together.

Chelsea also fell at the first hurdle losing 4-3 to Newcastle. Chelsea took the lead with Van Aanholt's first goal for the club. But Newcastle equalised through Ranger. Just before the break Taylor scored a great free-kick to put the Magpies infront. Aneobi scored at the start of the second half to give Newcastle a 2 goal cushion. Chelsea fought back and Anelka scored a goal to bring the Premiership champions back in the game. When Alex went over in the box, rather cheaply for my liking, Anelka stood up and brought Chelsea level. It looked to be heading for extra time when all of a sudden Aneobi scored in stoppage time to send Newcastle through. This proves for me that Chelsea can be beaten. Yes they didn't play their first team but if you keep on pushing they will crack. If you look at their fixtures so far they have been easy. When they start to play teams closer to them then we will see if they are still champions.

Man City lost away to WBA with a side that had 6 inexperienced youngsters starting. It is a massive blow to City because I see this as one of the tournaments that they could win, as well as the FA Cup. City have had a slow start and will be hoping to turn it round at the Bridge on Saturday.

Villa beat Blackburn 3-1 at Villa Park in a repeat of last years semi-final. It is Villa's first win under their new manager and they will hope that continues for months to come.

Wigan are also through after beating Preston North End 2-1 at the DW. It will be important for Wigan to have a good cup run so that the fans won't have to fear the drop.

Man Utd had a small scare at Scunthorpe. They went behind but managed to turn it round before half time making it 2-1. It ended 5-2 to Utd and they progressed into the next round. Utd will be hard to beat this Carling Cup. Now that
Tottenham, Chelsea, Man city and Liverpool are out. The only team you could see beating them is Arsenal but Wenger always sticks to the young lads even if its the final. While Fergie will play his first team in the final. The question is will he change because he knows he needs silver wear. Against Spurs he played a pretty decent starting XI with reserves on the bench if he needed them. I wonder what he is playing?

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Carling Cup 3rd round part 1

Last night the Carling Cup 3rd round took off. This is the round were the big boys get envolved. There were 3 all premier legue ties so that meant we would lose 3 big contenders. The pick of these ties was Tottenham v Arsenal. And what a game it was. Arsenal took the lead through Henri Lansbury after dominating the first half. Tottenham were quick out of the blocks at the start of the second half and equalised through Robbie Keane. Both teams really started to go for it but no one could find a winner. Extra time it was then and Arsenal cleverly got in behind the Tottenham back line and were awarded a penalty when Nasri was pushed over. Nasri dusted himself of and sent Arsenal back infront. Minutes later Arsenal opened up Tottenham again with Chamakh through on goal this time. A clumsy challenge by Naughton sent Chamakh to the ground and Arsenal had the chance to probably put it beyond Spurs. Nasri stepped up again and put it in the opposite side than the first. Tottenham had one cleared off the line, Nasri showing he can perform at both ends of the pitch. Just when Arsenal fans thought it couldn't get any better Arshavin sent a thunderbolt into the Spurs goal putting the icing on the cake for the Gunners.

In other games West Ham beat Sunderland 1-2 giving them a much needed first win of the season. And Stoke
beat Fulham 2-0 . Wolves were really tested at Notts County. They went behind in the first half but managed to pull it back to
3-1. Then Notts County scored again making it a last few tense minutues before Doyle scored in the 119th minute to seal it for the premier league side.

In the games involving lower teams Millwall's good start to the season has gone up in flames. The weekend before this they were hammered by Watford losing their perfect clean sheet record. They faced Ipswich at home and were defeated 2-1. Mabye all the hipe about Milwall going to the premier league at the first attempt will stop now. Swansea beat Peterborough 3-1 and Being a Portsmouth fan just keeps on getting harder as they lost 2-1 to Leicester.

The big shock of the 3rd round was Everton got Knocked out by Brentford. It was 1-1 afer extra time and Brentford went through 4-3 on penalties. What a result fo Brentford. As for Everton they just can't find their feet this season.

Sunday 19 September 2010

Touchline tittle-tattle

You have all been great about sending in comments to my blog that I don't have time to answer them all separately so I'm going to answer them all in one post.

I'll start with Becky and I don't need Harry to give me any reviews because I managed to watch the game on sky player [because the room I'm in has no Sky Sports 1] but thanks for the offer.As for Regents Park its great to hear that we are winning and that Abraham has joined. As for you who don't know Regents Park was the name of my football team before I got ill. But I'll be back no doubt about it.

Next I move on to Lisa's question about which teams her 2 youngest children should support. The children in question are Lola [age 8] and Rudy [age 6]. Now Lisa supports Man Utd, her husband Ed supports WBA and their oldest son Louis supports Liverpool. I think that Rudy should support Everton to create a rivalry between Louis and him. And Lola should support Man City to create a rivalry between Lisa and her. As for Ed WBA don't really have an absolute team that they hate. They have Birmingham and Aston Villa but that isn't one that Match of the Day goes wild for. Sorry Ed.

Andy has said sorry for Sunderland's late equaliser against my beloved Arsenal and says that they deserved it. My reply to that is....
STOP BOASTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that is all I have to say on the matter.
[Standing up and walking away with a bad mood].

Chris has asked me what Everton need to do to start winning. The answer Chris is simple, SCORE MORE GOALS AND DON'T CONCEDE AS MANY!!!!!!!! Its great that you're the king of comebacks but that is no good to you unless that comeback results in a win. Maybe you should just insist on playing in your away kit. That would probably scare them so much that they would forfeit.

Now to end I am going to make a statement. No one has commented on my new format for A view on the weekends action. If you don't comment I will have to go back to the old one because I will asume that you hated it so much you punished me by not commenting.

Saturday 18 September 2010

My top four

I received a question from Claire about who would win the Premier League and who would finish in the top four. I think it's too early to start picking winners but Chelsea do look unbeatable and if they keep their form I might start tipping them to win the league. As for the top four I reckon the three regulars will cover the top three. The last place will be contested by Tottenham, Man City and Liverpool. It will be tight and may come down to goal difference but it's too early for me to call it now.

Friday 17 September 2010

A view on the weekends action

I have managed to get hold of a laptop and so here is my view on the weekends action

ON TIME!!!!!


Today I'm going to start with Sunday's early kick-off. Its the big one. Man Utd v Liverpool. This is arguably the biggest game of the premier league season. Both sets of fans will be pumped up for it and there will be alot of crunching tackles during the game. For my prediction I'm going to say a draw. My reasons are both teams have had decent starts. If Man Utd had won their mid-week game, like Liverpool, I might of tipped them to win it but they will not be confident after that night and liverpool, who won their mid-week game comfortably, will be slightly more confident. Torres needs to turn up or Liverpool will have to rely on N'Gog up front. Man Utd need to use the home advantage to their advantage. If they can start the game brightly then the crowd will start singing and that is very intimitating for any side. Don't miss this one it is gonna be a cracker. Now back to saturday and to the tea time kick-off. Sunderland host Arsenal at the stadium of light and Sunderland have a decent record against the gunners. But don't let that fool you. Arsenal are the second highest scorer in the league and are coming into this game of the back of a 6-0 win in the champions league. I reckon Arsenal will win but don't write Sunderland off, history is on their side. Stoke play West Ham at home this week and they will be boosted by getting their first win of the season while west ham sit rock bottom without a single point on the board. Stoke should win this one if they don't do anything silly especially seeing that they are at home. I think every Villa fan would admit they've had a torrid start to the season. Bolton though have have had a pretty decent start by their standards and will be looking to capitalise on Villa's bad form. I see Bolton pushing Villa a lot this game but it will be hard as they are away from home. Blackburn v Fulham isn't a very promising game because Blackburn's main tactic is to throw the ball into the box whenever they can. Fulham are without their main threat up front Bobby Zamora and will be without him for many months to come. It will be interesting to see how Mark Hughes changes his attack, personally, I would like to see Dembele in from the start. As I said, don't expect much - the most excitement you might get is ordering your hotdog from the refreshment stand before the game. Everton have proved that it's not over until the fat lady sings with two goals in two minutes to go level against United. You can read my match review in a previous post. Newcastle's 6-0 thrashing of Villa has been followed up by a draw and a defeat. They are not looking like the team that hot promoted by winning the Championship. I reckon Everton may have this one but Newcastle won't go down without a fight. Tottenham host Wolves and last season Wolves did the double over Tottenham. Wolves have also started the season brightly in terms of their football and might trouble Spurs every now and then. Tottenham will be expected to win but if history repeats itself the White half of north London will be very upset. West Brom play Birmingham and I'll admit I have underrated them this season. It turns out they gave much more quality than I first thought. Birmingham have had a solid stArt and will hope to continue it at the Hawthorns. Many people would say this game could be dull but I think this might throw up a few goals. Man City go to Wigan having had a disappointing start to the season. The way they have been playing is very good but the results are very bad. Wigan have started better than I thought they would though this will be tough. They are at home which is a help but the support they get at the DW is very minimal. Blackpool have a tough trip to Chelsea which I don't think they'll get anything out of. They have been good away from home but the last time they went one of the big boys they list 6-0. I expect something like here. As for Chelsea Frank Lampard should make his return after his hernia op.

Please comment on whether or not you prefer the new format of my view on the weekend's action. I you don't I'll happily go back to the mr format. Please be completely honest in your opinion this format was just an experiment yo see which one you preferred.

Thursday 16 September 2010

Dinos concerns

DINO IS RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED BECAUSE THE STADIUM OF LIGHT IS A TOUGH PLACE TO GO. WE DID LOSE THERE LAST SEASON AND SUNDERLAND WILL USE THAT TO BOOST CONFIDENCE. BUT I THINK WE CAN WIN BECAUSE WE ARE THE SECOND HIGHEST SCORING TEAM IN THE LEAGUE AND HAVE ALL THE CONFIDENCE FROM OUR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE VICTORY. BOTH TEAMS HAVE NEW WEAPONS UP FRONT. ARSENAL'S IN THE SHAPE OF CHAMAKH AND SUNDERLAND'S IN THE SHAPE OF GYAN. IT WILL BE A CLOSE INCOUNTER BUT I SHOULDN'T WORRY DINO WE WILL BE FINE

sorry and champions league

I AM SORRY BUT IVE BEEN ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN WITH A TEMPERATURE AND WILL STRUGGLE TO GIVE MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND UNTIL LATE. AS I MENTIONED IN THE TITLE, THIS BLOG IS ALSO ABOUT THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. LIKE THE EURO QUALIFIERS I AM ONLY GOING TO TALK ABOUT SOME TEAMS.THESE TEAMS ARE ARSENAL, MAN UTD , CHELSEA,TOTTENHAM AND THE HOLDERS INTER. LETS START WITH ARSENAL AND THE PERFECT START TO THEIR GROUP WITH A 6-0 WIN AT HOME TO BRAGA. THROUGHOUT THE GAME ARSENAL PLAYED LOVELY FOOTBALL AND SCORED EVERY GOAL IN STYLE, EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST WHICH WAS FROM THE SPOT, AND BRAGA COULDN'T GET A SNIFF OF THE PLAY.CHELSEA ALSO SCORED A FEW WITH A 4-1 WIN AT ZILINA, NEVER HEARD OF THEM MUST BE MAKING THEIR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DEBUT,WHICH IS ALSO A VERY GOOD RESULT. THE ONLY THING THEY WOULD BE UPSET ABOUT IS THAT THEY COULDN'T KEEP A CLEAN SHEET. NOW FOR MAN UTD AND THEY HAD A ALL BRITISH CLASH AGAINST RANGERS. RANGERS HAD ONE PLAN FOR THIS GAME AND THEY STUCK TO IT. EVERY TIME UTD WENT FORWARD RANGERS GOT 10 BLUE SHIRTS BETWEEN UTD AND THE GOAL. MILLER MADE SURE UTD COULD ONLY ATTACK WITH 8 PLAYERS BY OCCUPIEING FERDINAND AND SMALLING. IT ENDED 0-0 AND WAS RATHER DULL. UTD SUFFERED A MASSIVE BLOW AS VALENCIA DISLOCATED HIS ANCLE AND COULD BE OUT FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON. TOTTENHAM WENT 2-0 UP AWAY TO WERDER BREMAN AND WERE CRUISING BUT LET THAT LEAD SLIP IN THE SECOND HALF AND ENDED UP DRAWING 2-2. IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE YOU HAVE TO HOLD ON TO LEADS LIKE THAT AWAY FROM HAME, LIKE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. INTER DIDN'T START THEIR DEFENCE OF THE TROPHY TO WELL BY DRAWING 2-2. IF YOU ASK ME I DON'T THINKY THEY CAN WIN IT WITHOUT JOSE AND WILL BE STRUCK DOWN BY BARCELONA. THIS HAS BEEN MY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW AND I APOLIGISE IF I CAN'T GIVE MY PREDICTIONS BY THE TIME THE GAMES START.

Tuesday 14 September 2010

The weekends action and Monday

I'm sorry I couldn't put this post up earlier but I got sidetracked so here it it is a few days late.

Well its been another action-packed gameweek in the premier league. With the top 2 maintaining their good starts with wins. But if I was to start there I would be being very bias. The only place to start was at Goodison Park were Everton hosted Man Utd. This was a classic and is by far the game of the season so far. Everton started the better team but failed to score when Utd were on the back foot. When they did score, through Steven Piennar, Utd had found their feet and responded with a goal of their own scored by Fletcher. Utd had taken all the confidence with them in the dressing room on to the pitch in the second half and 2 minutes in they took the lead through Vidic. Everton now had to go for it and when they pushed men up from the back for a corner Utd pounced. Scholes picked up the ball on the edge of his box, took it forward a few paces then hit an amazing ball to Berbatov. Distin, who was the only man back for Everton, decided to come for the ball but got the flight of it all wrong and missed it completely. Berbatov was now one on one and buried it in the corner with the outside of his boot. Utd were now cruising and had several chances to score again. Scholes blazed over and so did Nani. While I was watching the game I thought to myself will these misses come back to haunt them. Then I shook myself out of the trance and said ' Everton aren't going to come back from this 'or were they. Even though Arteta scored the goal that gave Everton a point it was Cahill who really saved the day for Everton. First he scored to make the comeback possible Then when the ball was played into the box he headed it down instead of trying a impossible header to grab the glory for himself. Arteta's shot had a bit of luck as it came of Scholes which diverted it past Van der sar. I have talked a lot about this game so I am gonna be quick with the rest of the games. I'll start with Arsenal and a 4-1 win over Bolton means they stay 2nd in the table. I love to see my team scoring goals but the one we conceded was very sloppy. A weak Konscielny back header was intercepted by Lee who took it round Almunia, who was now in no mans land, Lee then chipped it to Elemander who headed home. I think we conceded this goal due to inexperience at the back. Without Vermalean we have a young centre-back pair who need to learn when and when not to do things. Bolton ended the game with ten men and I have to say it wasn't a red card. He basically went through the the back of Chamakh but his studs were down and it wasn't dangerous so I don't know what the ref sent him off for. Chelsea easily defeated West Ham 3-1. The shock from that game was that Essien scored 2 headers. I mean when does Essien score headers? Scott parker scored a great goal but by then it was too late. Fulham may have come away with all three points from their game but they will be without Zamora for at least 4 months after he suffered a horrible injury. He was taken to hospital and needed gas and air to ease the pain. They say he has broken his leg above the ankle. This is a major blow to both Fulham and Zamora as he will find it hard to get into the England squad now. Man City have been very disappointing so far with only 1 win out of 4. They keep on saying the team needs time to gel but its been 3 years since they got that money so I think if the team hasn't gelled by now then something is wrong. As for Blackburn a point is a good result at City and they should be pleased. Blackpool have started amazingly for a team that came up via the playoffs. They have only had one game at home and out of the three away games they've had its won 2 lost 1. If they can keep this up they might even finish without the danger of relegation on the last day of the season. As for Newcastle, they have failed to beat Blackpool twice now in their last 2 meetings and apart from the 6-0 win against Aston Villa it hasn't been a great start to the season. WBA got a great point out of a game they were tipped to lose. Spurs have been delt another injury after Modric was seen on crutches when leaving the Hawthorns. Gyan scored on his debut for Sunderland but the celebrations were slightly dampened by Alcaraz netting a leveler for Wigan. Liverpool carried out a goalless draw at Birmingham. If it wasn't for Reina Liverpool would of lost. I did not get to see Stoke v Villa but Stoke got the win they needed to kick start their season. But for Villa their bad start continues.

Friday 10 September 2010

A view on the weekend's action

Here is my view on the weekends action a day earlier than normal.

Everton v Man Utd

This game has occurred near the later stages of the season in recent years and Utd haven't been as successful as they would have liked in 08/09 they drew 1-1 and last season they lost 3-1. So not really a happy hunting ground. But as I said those games were in the last part of the season, when Everton were finishing strong. Now that they are playing at the start of the season it might be different. Let's face it Everton's start hasn't been good and that will not make them high on confidence. Man Utd on the other hand have started pretty well, not 100% but still pretty good, and are in 3rd place beaten to 2nd by Arsenal because of the 6 they scored against Blackpool. Who knows, when Utd play Blackpool they might score 7. So basically Utd are on a high and will be tough to beat. I will say Utd based on form alone but if Everton keep playing like they do against Utd then Who knows Chris might have a smile on his face by Sunday.

Arsenal V Bolton

Arsenal will be without Walcott for this game which is a real shame cause he was playing so well and was a joy to watch, obviously if you support Bolton its not a shame and more of a relief. As many of you probably Know he got injured playing for England and will be out for 6 weeks. Van persie is also out till october. So Arsenal come into this game missing 2 stars. I would expect Wenger to put Denilson in for walcott and play Fabregas behind the front 2. As for Bolton confidence will be on a high after coming back from 2 goals down with ten me 2 a fortnight ago. They sit 5th probably their best start after 3 games in a long time. I would expect Arsenal to win because they are at home and rarely slip up at home. Though Bolton will certainly make it a challenge and will do whatever they can to stop them.

Fulham v Wolves

I think this will be a alright game with one or to pieces of drama or excellence. Wolves have started well for only their 2nd season in the prem an have saved points from Everton away and won at home to Stoke. So that is alright. Fulham have made a steady start with 3 draws but they have proved no lead is safe untill the final whistle blows after scoring late on twice. First against Man Utd and then the following week at Blackpool. I'll say Wolves on the way they have played this season. But if Fulham can keep the deficit at 1 then I would put money one them rescuing something late on.

Man City v Blackburn

City haven't started the way the way their football suggests they should have. They have got 4 points and have failed to put teams like Sunderland away after bossing the game then conceding a late goal. Black burn have started even worse they won their first game at home to Everton but then lost to Birmingham after taking the lead and then lost to Arsenal having pulled it back. I will say City cause of home advantage and that lots of players have had a good international break.

Newcastle v Blackpool

Newcastle for me. They have started very well only losing to Man Utd away which lots of teams fail to come away with anything. Blackpool have proved they can score goals but have failed to defend. They were poor against Arsenal and conceded a late goal against Fulham. Now you could argue that Arsenal were superb on the day and that they could of been undefendable. But they need to hang on to leads at home if they want to stay up. I'm sorry Blackpool fans but I don't think that you would be able to defeat Newcastle on their own turf.

WBA v Tottenham

I think Tottenham will edge this one. They will be without Defoe though because he has been ruled out for a few months. New signings Van der Vaart and William Gallas might make their debuts and Modric is fit again. WBA don't for me have the talent to defeat an in form Tottenham side.

West Ham v Chelsea

After the start that both teams have made Chelsea should win this one as they have won all their other games. West Ham have played three and lost three and sit rock bottom of the table. Upton Park isn't particularly a fortress either so I will say another high scoring game for Chelsea.

Wigan v Sunderland

Draw for me. Wigan will be boosted after beating Spurs at White Hart Lane because last season they got hammered 9-1. Sunderland are coming off the back of a narrow win home to Man City so will also be on a high. I don't see much separating these two teams and fear a goalless draw.

Birmingham v Liverpool

Liverpool, as I mentioned to Claire, need to score more goals to get higher up the table. They will definitely need to do that against Birmingham as they are stubborn at home. Birmingham will be disappointed after a fortnight ago they lost a 2-0 lead to a 10 men Bolton side. Liverpool should win this if Gerrard and Torres turn up. It might also be a chance for new signing Konchesky to make his debut but Hodgeson will have to drop one of his defenders for him to do so.

If you comment on this post I may not be able to answer in time before the games kick-off as I'm in Brighton this weekend. I have no idea who they are playing!

Thursday 9 September 2010

Sonny side up


This is my fantasy league. If hope you are doing one then best of luck.
CLICK ON THE TABLE TO IN LARGE IT

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Euro 2012 Qualifying

So England have started their qualifying campaign along with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. I am only going to put posts out about these teams. If you want to know about any other nations results please comment and I will include them in the post. I'm going to start with England and 2 wins out of 2 is just the start we needed to make us forget the world cup. But I still think we need to work on a few things. Now I know we scored 4 against Bulgaria but at 1-0 they looked like they might get back into it. Even after we scored the 2nd we nearly let them in the back door and then we would of had a fight on our hands at 2-1. And against Switzerland we were 2-0 up against 10 men and we let them get a foothold. We might not be so lucky in the actual tournament. On to Scotland and they proved last night that just because Spain are in their group doesn't mean they aren't going to give them a run for their money for that 1 automatic place. At 1-1 against Liechtenstein they could of just excepted the point but these men are Scottish and if they don't get it all they don't want any. So Stephen McManus snatched a late late winner to make sure the Scots went back up north happy. Wales have only played 1 game in there campaign but it did end in defeat. They are in a very tough group with England probably going to take the automatic place and you would expect Switzerland to win the play-off. I Don't see Wales at the Euros but who knows. Republic of Ireland have got a great shout at automatic qualification after 2 wins out of 2. Looking at there group they could quite possibly manage it. And last but not least Northern Ireland. They, like Wales,have only played 1 game and, unlike Wales, have got 3 points. I have had a look at their group and the toughest team is Italy. They might not get the automatic place but if Italy take it then they have got a great chance of winning the play-off. A good start for England and the whole of Ireland. Scotland are still unbeaten and have made the 2nd best start possible. Don't worry if your Welsh you have played a game less than everyone else [except Switzerland] and there is a long way to go yet.

Friday 3 September 2010

Chris's Everton worries

Everton's start hasn't been good enough for Europe. They are playing alright but they need to find an end product. What is their goal scoring record after 3 games 1 goal for 3 against. It isn't good enough. I'm an Everton admirer at the way they can always pull something out of the fire against the big boys but they need to beat smaller teams like Blackburn and Wolves and if they want to beat Villa to the Europa league spot they have to beat them. If they keep on playing like they are, something will go their way eventually but if your after Europe you can't wait for that to go your way you have to make it go your way by forcing goals and winning games by big margins. I still wouldn't worry Chris but you do need a win to get your engine started.

A comment from Claire

You are right. At the moment as long as you get the 3 points you can relax. Its later on in the season that goals become important because the top 4 might be decided on goal difference. Liverpool will need to start scoring goals but at the moment they only need to focus on getting all 3 points.