Weekend Predictions: Arsenal – Liverpool – Tottenham – Manchester United – Newcastle United – West Ham – Manchester City – Fulham – Aston Villa – Bolton Wanderers – Portsmouth – Chelsea – Wigan – Middlesbrough – Sunderland – Everton – Reading – Blackburn Rovers – Birmingham City – Derby County
The Premier League weekend is likely to be overshadowed by Jose Mourinho’s exit (dismissal) from Chelsea, something that has also overshadowed the minor injury crisis at Liverpool as Daniel Agger and Xabi Alonso are out for 6 weeks following metatarsal injuries.
No chance to breath though, as we’ve got some exciting close fixtures, 2 one-sided drubbings in order, a relegation scrap between clubs playing in the UEFA Cup and for a grand finale, the biggest game of the weekend with the biggest shadow cast over it, the Manchester United – Chelsea game at Old Trafford (biggest for the media, of course – in terms of footballing importance it’s probably your own club’s match).
As always, you can make your own predictions by copy-pasting the list at the end and posting your thoughts in the comments section.
Saturday 22 September 2007
Arsenal (1) vs Derby County (19)
If Tottenham can hit 4 past Derby (and Liverpool 6), you only wonder what an in-form Arsenal will do to them. This could be gruesome, and Derby’s only saving grace is that Arsenal would prefer to pass the ball around a bit before putting it in the back of the net so they’ll have time to count the goals.
In seriousness though, Derby did quite well to beat Newcastle United on Monday and I’m tipping them to do better this time around than they did against Liverpool. Of course, betting on a team to concede less than 6 goals isn’t a vote of confidence, but for the fans, for the manager and for ex-United player David Jones’ sake, I hope it’s not murder.
Liverpool (3) vs Birmingham City (12)
The other one-sided match for the week, and since Liverpool also thrashed Derby, I’m backing them to put at least 3 past Brum.
However, Birmingham have that 2-3 game at Stamford Bridge to guide them and they’ll probably do better than Derby over at Emirates, although the goals seem to have dried up and like I said earlier in the season, the only thing that can save Birmingham is that they could score goals (their defense is shot), and if that doesn’t come off for some reason we’ll see a massacre. Liverpool are good at dismantling poor teams at home (snicker), so no doubts on the result here.
Middlesbrough (13) vs Sunderland (14)
As long as the Sunderland defence can hold steady, I expect them to sneak in a goal. Middlesbrough have been good this season but they look ready to concede at all times and if Keano’s men have any chance of taking a point (or 3) from this one, they’ll need to play out of their skins.
I’m siding with Boro for this game, but these are the games that Sunderland can use to show that they are here to stay and I expect them to give Middlesbrough a good scare. At the very least, this won’t be a repeat of the collapse at JJB Stadium.
Reading (18) vs Wigan Athletic (9)
Reading are in a slump (although they did quit well early on and have been up against some top opposition), and Wigan haven’t done too badly. The real question here is whether Reading can start scoring again because they’re stuck in a rut. Steve Coppell will have to tell his men to go hard at Wigan because that’s the only way to upset their style – Reading don’t have the quality to sit back and pick them apart.
I expect this to be a scrappy draw, although it really is Reading’s game to win.
Fulham (16) vs Manchester City (2)
Manchester City are 2nd in the league (that will change when Liverpool win) and FUlham are 16th, but this will be a far closer game than the points suggest and I don’t think City will find it as easy to score as one might think against Fulham’s defence.
A draw from my view.
Sunday 23 September 2007
All of Sunday’s games are going to be quite close – a good day to watch football but a horrible day for predictions.
Newcastle United (10) vs West Ham United (6)
West Ham are 5th with a game in hand (and are technically within reach of #1) and I’m sure their early form in the league coupled with Newcastle defeat at Derby will turn this into a fascinating game.
I’d back Owen to score against West Ham’s defence but Newcaslte’s central midfield is not as solid as Sam would like it to be and if West Ham gain some momentum they’re quite likely to score.
I’m shading for a Newcastle win here, although a draw will get the media on Newcastle’s back. Not really Sam’s fault though – the team is new and will take time to gell together.
Aston Villa (11) vs Everton (7)
Some people don’t think Everton have it in them to challenge for a Champions League spot this season. Personally, looking at Tottenham’s form and seeing how Everton played last season and how they’ve started this time around, 5th is quite likely for them and if one of the top four slips up (Chelsea are the newest candidates for a wobble) then Everton should be well-placed for a snatch.
Aston Villa haven’t done badly but they’re never going to go for a game and score 3 goals at home (usually when I say this the team goes ahead and does it, so you never know), so I don’t see them in Europe next year. A top-10 place is in their hands, if MON can keep his team defending well.
Another draw.
Blackburn Rovers (8) vs Portsmouth (15)
Blackburn lost midweek away in Europe but that doesn’t take away from their excellent league form and no matter what you say about Pompey, they’re not as defensively strong as they seem to be on paper.
A Blackburn win is on the cards, unless Harry plots another masterstroke.
Bolton Wanderers (20) vs Tottenham Hotspur (17)
20th vs 17th in a game between two managers under extreme amounts of pressure. Nothing to say in this, except that neither side will keep a clean sheet and I fully expect more than 4 goals in this.
Spurs to win though, because Bolton’s morale is worse than their position suggests.
Manchester United (4) vs Chelsea (5)
Damn Mourinho for leaving – with him at least we would have had the pleasure of fun pre and post match quotes. Now we’re stuck with Avram Grant, who says that he’s very much ‘his own man’. Hopefully he’ll do something funny on the touchline, like assault a player or something.
Manchester United for all their troubles are doing better than Chelsea at the moment and a home game, without Ballack or Lampard or Drogba (the three players who helped win the midfield battles last season in the same fixture and thus helped Chelsea equalise) are absent, so I only see one result from this game.
Your Predictions
And now it’s time for your predictions – tell us who you think will shame their ancestors, who will script a famous victory and which club will be laughed at when Sunday night comes.
Copy-paste into the comments and fire away:
Arsenal vs Derby County
Liverpool vs Birmingham City
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland
Reading vs Wigan Athletic
Fulham vs Manchester City
Newcastle United vs West Ham United
Aston Villa vs Everton
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United vs Chelsea
Soccerlens has been nominated for the Bloggers’ Choice Awards. We’re #2, ahead of CaughtOffside (hey Chris!) and I need your help to get us to the top. Stop being the lazy bastards that you are and go vote for Soccerlens.
Arsenal vs Derby County – arsenal to thrash derby
Liverpool vs Birmingham City – liverpool to thrash birmingham
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland – this is a close game but i think home advantage will tip it in brough’s favour
Reading vs Wigan Athletic – nil – nil draw, never team has much fire power
Fulham vs Manchester City – man city by two goals, i think that fulhams few points were almost fluke and have look poor so fair this season
Newcastle United vs West Ham United – newcastle by the odd goal
Aston Villa vs Everton – close one, i think draw
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth – blackburn win
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur – both having terrible starts, i wonder which one will be sacked first? spurs win
Manchester United vs Chelsea – man u to win, chelsea have no way to score and will be poor
Arsenal vs Derby County 7- 0
Liverpool vs Birmingham City 4 – 0
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland 0 – 1
Reading vs Wigan Athletic 1 – 1
Fulham vs Manchester City 1 – 1
Newcastle United vs West Ham United 2 – 1
Aston Villa vs Everton 1 – 2
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth 2 – 2
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 3
Manchester United vs Chelsea 2 – 0
This week match ups is quite to predict the winners. Must check on the odds first before can roughly know who will win. I will get back with some pick of the week after doing some research on the odds.
fyi it was liverpool that put 6 past derby not spurs!!
Well the games this weekend look pretty straightforward… but i think that the man utd – chelsea game will be more than just “your club’s match” i mean we are talking about two title candidates here, right?
Arsenal vs Derby County (3-0)
Liverpool vs Birmingham City (4-0)
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland (1-2)
Reading vs Wigan Athletic (2-2)
Fulham vs Manchester City (1-2)
Newcastle United vs West Ham United (2-1)
Aston Villa vs Everton (2-0)
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth (1-1)
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur (1-3)
Manchester United vs Chelsea (2-0)
hope i get them right… Ahmed, is there any way you (or the guys at squadgod) could make a game ou of this? you know like the one on BBC, but easier to use… it would be really fun
Arsenal vs Derby County 4-0
Liverpool vs Birmingham City 2-0
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland 0-1
Reading vs Wigan Athletic 1-1
Fulham vs Manchester City 0-0
Newcastle United vs West Ham United 2-3
Aston Villa vs Everton 2-2
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth 2-1
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur 1-2
Manchester United vs Chelsea 1-0
yup, corrected that, thanks
Arsenal 4 Derby 0
Not much to say here. Arsenal dispatching Sevilla 3-0 midweek how does Derby have any chance? They won’t repeat that Newcastle performance.
Liverpool 2 Birmingham 1
L’Pool will get it done and they better if they are going to win the Prem but it won’t be pretty.
Borough 1 Sunderland 1
This semi-derby has draw written all over it.
Reading 1 Wigan 0
Wigan is playing better than they are and Reading worse than they are. Time to get things back to how they should be. Plus it’s at Majeski.
Fulham 2 Man City 2
Another case where I don’t think Fulham is that bad and Man City has been lucky with all these 1-0 results.
Newcastle 0 West Ham 2
West Ham looks shockingly good. Only team no one is talking about that could cause a storm and has been on a massive roll lately.
Villa 2 Everton 1
Villa isn’t getting enough credit. O’Neil’s side is scary.
Blackburn 1 Portsmouth 0
Blackburn remains undefeated and now goes into a really easy month of October. If they don’t make the UEFA group stages oh well. They have a shot of ending very high in the table. Credit to Hughes.
Bolton 2 Tottenham 4
Like you said, going to be lots of goals.
Man Utd 0 Chelsea 0
Lot of buzz but this is going to be boring. Both Man Utd and Chelsea looking crappy lately. No Lampard/Drogba makes Chelsea average and Man Utd…Scholes and Giggs having wretched seasons, Nani can create but can’t finish at all, Rooney is not 100% and is overrated anyway. Foruntely, their defense is doing great and they keep getting absolute fluke goals to win games 1-0, cough, Everton and Sporting Lisbon.
Manchester United win 3-0. Chelsea wont be fully focused after Joses departure. They will concede an early goal and then a penalty. United to dominate the game couse they are full of confidence. Without Drogba and Lampard Chelsea cant do anything. On sunday Unitedwill play the best football in the country and show `em why we ar champions. Ronaldo, Rio and Tevez or Rooney(Depends on who starts) to score.
West Ham shockingly good, Villa scarey and Manchester City lucky to win games 1-0. Just remember who beat both of those teams. All schoolboy nonsense written on the back of reading a few match reports but with no real evidence of having watched any of those teams. City will beat Fulham 3-1 and as for the nonsense that just because one team scores x amount they are bound to beat another team y amount that may seem logical but football defeats logic. Just watch Chelsea win it for Jose. Yet another set of excuses and red face from Taggart.
Middlesbrough have been good this season?
W2 D1 L3
7 points from 6 games is little better than relegation form.
pratish he did say tottenham got 4 againest them and liverpool got 6.
“I don’t think City will find it as easy to score as one might think against Fulham’s defence.”
A defence that concede goals in every damn game?
Ouch, you sure rate Man City’s offense ability that low, huh?
They got 2 from West Ham, 1 each from United,Villa,Derby.
3 of those teams will trump Fulham like scrap paper. Now, please tell me that you really watch the Man City games. And not just writing it out of the blue(pun intended).
All of their goals are spread through out their teams, most of that came from midfield. Only one was by a forward. If Sven plays the Full team that is available to him, and gives Bianchi a full time start in the game…
Sorry, It’s hard for me to see Fulham getting the better of Man City Air tight defence. And now that Dunne is back, it’ll be even Tighter.
Fulham is now better than Villa(that took 2-0 over Chelsea), if we go by your rating.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Hope Sven finally uses Bianchi to Put a 3-0 over Fulham to open your eyes.
Arsenal vs Derby County
5-0 to Arsenal-Derby don’t have a chance
Liverpool vs Birmingham City
3-1 Pool
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland
2-2
Reading vs Wigan Athletic
0-0
Fulham vs Manchester City
0-2
Newcastle United vs West Ham United
2-1
Aston Villa vs Everton
2-3
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth
1-1
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur
0-2
Manchester United vs Chelsea
1-1
Fulham to win or at least draw the match. No way for Man City to win. What score i would not know. But ill be against Sven this time around.
Arsenal 4vs0 Derby County
Liverpool 2vs0 Birmingham City
Middlesbrough 2vs1 Sunderland
Reading 1vs1 Wigan Athletic
Fulham 1vs1 Manchester City
Newcastle United 1vs2 West Ham United
Aston Villa 2vs1 Everton
Blackburn Rovers 0vs2 Portsmouth
Bolton Wanderers 1vs3 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United 1vs1 Chelsea
Arsenal 5 0 Derby County
Liverpool 4 0 Birmingham City
Middlesbrough 0 1 Sunderland
Reading 0 0 Wigan Athletic
Fulham 0 2 Manchester City
Newcastle United 0 1 West Ham United
Aston Villa 1 2 Everton
Blackburn Rovers 0 2 Portsmouth
Bolton Wanderers 1 1 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United 2 1 Chelsea
LALALA, ronaldo would save man u frm chelsea.duh 0.o as if u all did hear that one before..
overall, wins for arsenal and liverppool
newcastle westham 1-1?
owen is rmoured to be injured yet again
so bitches and whores, PARTY BABY coz epl’s back!
i think that the websites have been brilliant over the years. but we need to think about trying to teach children who they are speaking to on the internet because there are a lot of different peadophiles and criminals hanging around the streets and they all need to be locked up for my point of view and a lot of other peoples too. thanks ?
Thank god internet got brought out,there’s a lot of people that can go home and relax now they’ve got their lap-top’s instead of rushing around getting tired. They should put lap-tops in every buisness building to help everyone of the workers around britain. Everyone of the workers try their upmost best to keep this country running the way it has been and still dont get any appreciation for it. The government should be involved helping out the workers
Arsenal vs Derby County – 5-1
Looking like an easy win for Arsenal, and rather than Derby’s great performance last week it was more down to Newcastle’s continuous ability to surprise us all. But at least derby look like scoring now(although Steve Howard does NOT)
Liverpool vs Birmingham City – 4-0
Birmingham haven’t turned out to be as good as I first expected and against the top teams I’d expect them to concede 3 goals minimum each time.
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland – 1-2
Sunderland have been putting in some good performances lately and Middlesborough aren’t looking good at the back or up front, but it’s always hard to judge Middlesborough.
Reading vs Wigan Athletic – 2-0
Reading seem like they’re slowly regaining the ability to score and I don’t think they will be relegated this year, and after Heskey’s injury Wigan’s whole gameplan needs to be changed, because there aren’t many better battering rams than him and I can’t think where the goals will come from, I also can’t think why they let Camara leave on loan…
Fulham vs Manchester City – 1-1
When Man City are playing there’s always going to be very few goals, but Fulham look like getting(and conceding) goals regularly, and I can’t see Man City scoring 2.
Newcastle United vs West Ham United – 2-2
Well Newcastle have Michael Owen, on form, against West Ham, so I expect goals from Newcastle, and with the from West Ham are on I can see them getting a few too, (if Bellamy’s not injured I’ll say 2-3)
Aston Villa vs Everton – 3-2
Im not too sure why but I see this being a game with lots of goals, both teams can spread the goals around, and both teams are playing pretty well.
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth – 2-1
Both teams have hugely impressed me but I think that Blackburn have the edge with being at home, although both have goalscoring threats.
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur – 2-3
Both have terrible defences and although I see both scoring more than once I can’t see Bolton outscoring Spurs.
Manchester United vs Chelsea – 2-0
With Ronaldo back on form, and all our strikers almost fully fit I think this could be a match where we actually score more than one, and without Drogba and Frank(hopefully) there aren’t many others that could score against the best defence in the league this season:D
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur
spurs 2 win 3-0 goals from berbatov keane and defoe to come on and score once again
Arsenal vs Derby County
4-0
Liverpool vs Birmingham City
4-1
Middlesbrough vs Sunderland
1-2
Reading vs Wigan Athletic
1-2
Fulham vs Manchester City
2-2
Newcastle United vs West Ham United
1-2
Aston Villa vs Everton
2-1
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth
1-1
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur
2-4
Manchester United vs Chelsea
1-0
Chelsea will be lucky to only lose by three
im glad to see Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool as the big 3. Throughout history they are definately the 3 teams that deserve it.
Awesome to watch Arsenal again as always. Congrats to Ade for his hat-trick (the third was almost Henry’esque!). Next week will come another real test of how much we’ve improved since last season. Can we brush aside West Ham or not?
‘A Blackburn win is on the cards, unless Harry plots another masterstroke.’
That’s a bit like saying they might win or they might not. Aren’t these supposed to be predictions? I guess they could draw too.
Remember the game West Ham vs. Man United when Pardew got the boot… West Ham were jolted and beat United 1-0…
The extreme confidence that chelsea will give up in warm-ups is risky.
It will be a scrappy game and depending on the nature of the first goal (who scores, when, and how — beauty long shot, spot/free kick) the game will either be a 1-1 draw or a high scoring win for one side.
Early ManU goal (well-played goal) will crush Chelsea’s confidence
Early Chelsea goal will bring Chelsea back to life and give players reason to feel better about Grant.
Anything else will be a low-scoring boring game per normal with too much emphasis on not losing.
Newcastle United vs West Ham United: 2-1
Aston Villa vs Everton: 0-2
Blackburn Rovers vs Portsmouth: 2-1
Bolton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur: 2-3
Manchester United vs Chelsea: (if MU scores first and early): 3-1
Manchester United vs Chelsea: (if chelsea scores first): 0-2
-Newcastle United (2) vs (2) West Ham United
west ham have had a good start but newcastle are at home and after losing to derby (haha)i think they’ll need to perform a whole lot better, so a draw for me
-Aston Villa (1) vs (1) Everton
Villa showed they can play well (V chelsea) but they also draw too many games and after evertons game against a team name i cant remember (metalist karkov i think) where they couldnt score a winner im going to go for a draw again
-Blackburn Rovers (2) vs (1) Portsmouth
i’d also want to go with a draw as i think these are 2 teams that have great managers and have brought in some top class players but as blackburn are at home im going to have to go with them just sneaking it
Bolton Wanderers (1) vs (3) Tottenham Hotspur
both doing pretty crap so far, bolton more so but jol seems to be under more pressure after spending alot over the summer, spurs are better on paper and i think there class will get them the win
Manchester United (3) vs (1) Chelsea
im a manchester united fan so i hope united win but going on the starts both teams have made not just the team i wish to win i think it will be a tight one (even though chelsea lost a great manager in mourinho and have 3 of there starting 11 in drogba, lampard and ballack out) but united will come out victorious thanks to Rooney and Ronaldo being back and both getting a goal =D aswell as good ol’ Giggs
Newcastle United (3)- (2) West Ham United
well… after a poor performance against derby newcastle will be well up for it and after west ham’s good run of form they should make it a good game.
Aston Villa (0) – (1) Everton
aston villa will be hard to break down like usual but at times have struggled to score when needed and i think Everton have more individuals in there team who can really influence the game.
Blackburn Rovers (1) – (3) Portsmouth
After an impressive draw at liverpool last weekend Portsmouth confidence will be flying high and although Blackburn are a very good team i think we’ll see the best of Portsmouth and Harry Redknapp.
Bolton Wanderers (1) – (1) Tottenham Hotspurs
I think after a very good performance at Arsenal but unlucky result after not being able to finish chances Tottenhams heads could drop if bolton were to score first and therefore i think this could be Martin Jols last game in charge at White Hart Lane But on the other hand Sammy Lee is under great pressure after a terrible start to the season and i think he’ll be hoping some of the big guns like Anelka and Nolan will fire the team on.
Manchester United (2) – (0) Chelsea
I think Man UTD will go into this game all guns blazing and will get an early goal from tevez if he starts( if not then scholes) if that is to happen then we could see a massacre of chelsea tomorrow ( blue murder ha). But with Man UTD now thinking they have the upper hand after Mourinho left they could slip up and maybe only win about 2 – 0 but either way i see Man utd winning this game.
Hey City Slicker….nice work trying to trash my predictions. Oops, I was right and you were wrong. Guess I just “have no evidence of watching either of those teams.” Like I’m going to write a 3 page essay justifying myself on each game ya moron.
its pathetic wacthing you other teams squirming under our feet Arsenal are completely controlling all of you we have you at our mersey haha this is just too easy
All you have predicted that Chelsea will not win.
It must mean that you all regard Mourinho as a great manager…
You all better watch out because by the end of the season there’ll only be one team at the top, and thats the KOP!!!!
Draws at home to teams like Birmingham won’t get you there, jack.