Well, it's been a weekend thats bore slightly more significance at the top of the table than the bottom. There have been no teams to climb out of the relegation zone, or sink into it, for that matter. Hopefully we'll know about the relegation battle the teams are in for this time next week, when four of the bottom six teams are going against each other.
You could say a similar thing for the title race, only this weekend has added spice to the forthcoming Manchester Derby, as United's capitalisation on Man City's dropped points means the Citizens will have to win the derby to stay on level terms.
Elsewhere, two parts of North London will be feeling rather different to how they were this time two weeks ago. Following that 5-2 win, Arsenal have failed to win any of their three matches since and their 2-0 home defeat to Swansea had some fans calling for Arsene Wenger's head. Tottenham though, celebrate their 3rd win in succession after that result and have climbed up to 4th in the table with a convincing win at Fulham.
Let's have a look at the games...
West Ham 3-1 Chelsea
I said: 1-0, +1pt
Del said: 2-1, +1pt
James said: 0-1, +0pts
The worrying thing for Chelsea will be that to some, myself included, this result hasn't really come as a major shock. I thought it would be impossible, utterly impossible, for the players at Chelsea to be solely concentrating on this match (which they'd have needed to be against a hardworking West Ham team) when the fans want Benitez out and Abramovich is sacking managers at the press of a button. They just can't feel settled and I was sure West Ham would capitalise. A great result for the Hammers though, who are now 10pts clear of the relegation zone. Big Sam was always going to keep them up so this result is more of a Christmas bonus than anything else, but I'm sure it'll fill their fans' stockings very nicely indeed.
Arsenal 0-2 Swansea
I said: 2-0, +0pts
Del said: 3-0, +0pts
James said: 2-1, +0pts
I may have predicted this a little bit too hastily. No-one could really have said Swansea would come away with a win, but Arsenal have been looking jaded lately. They've had two European away trips in the past month or so and played against Everton on Wednesday night, plus Swansea are fantastic at keeping possession. That frustrated the Gunners, it meant they spent a lot of time chasing the ball wasting more energy and the Swans' lofty position in the table meant they could come to the Emirates under no pressure for a result at all. It's easy to be insightful after the game has finished I spose...
Fulham 0-3 Tottenham
I said: 2-3, +1pt
Del said: 1-0, +0pts
James said: 1-3, +1pt
Defoe has proved me wrong this season. I must admit I had my doubts about him playing on his own up front, because I think for a 4-2-3-1 formation to work, you need a striker more like Adebayor who can work the flanks, do all the donkeywork and get the flick-ons- Defoe is more of a goal poacher. AVB's decision has clearly paid off though; he might not be the hardest working player in the team but you give Defoe the ball in the box and he will score goals. What's also helped is Dempsey playing closely in behind him, Defoe has got a lot of his goals from running onto Dempsey's through balls.
To be fair, I think Villas-Boas probably deserves a fair bit of credit after the scrutiny he came under at the beginning of the season. Now he's had some time to get to know his squad, I actually think if he's given 5 years to stamp his philosophy onto the team, he can turn them into title challengers in the long-term. A fantastic derby win for Tottenham that sees them go up to 4th in the table, but they will need at least a point out of Everton next week if they intend to stay there.
Liverpool 1-0 Southampton
I said: 2-1, +1pt
Del said: 1-1, +0pts
James said: 2-0, +1pt
That was an important win for Liverpool. I slightly picked them apart before the game for not being able to follow up good results with a win, but looking at their results what I've also realised is that they're yet to lose two matches on the spin this season. I think that reflects quite well on Brendan Rodgers as a motivator, because he can't at any point have lost control of the dressing room. They lost to Spurs on Wednesday night, but obviously Liverpool aren't as good a team as they used to be; if they got a point at Tottenham it would be a very good result for them, and that was the case under Hodgson and Dalglish, it shows the short-term decline the club is in. I think supporters need to lower their expectations for the moment and allow Rodgers to build for the future, which he is doing well in my opinion.
Man City 1-1 Everton
I said: 2-1, +0pts
Del said: 2-0, +0pts
James said: 2-0, +0pts
After Tevez's penalty cancelled out Fellaini's scrambled goal, the Citizens had the majority of the play in the second half and from what I saw, arguably deserved more than a draw, but failed to create any clear-cut chances as Everton's defence stood firm. That result means Man City really need a win in the Manchester derby next week- and a defeat would be unthinkable for them. It could all change with a win, because they'd go joint-top and all of a sudden the momentum would be in their favour, a draw would be seen as rather a missed opportunity and a defeat would see them slip to six points behind United. It's crunch time.
QPR 1-1 Aston Villa
I said: 0-1, +0pts
Del said: 1-3, +0pts
James said: 1-1, +3pts
I did predict a Villa win, but if QPR's seasonal ambitions are to stay in the Premiership, then this was a very bad result for them. If they were going to stay up, I think they would need to have won 2 of Harry's first 3 games in charge; so far they've played 2 and drawn 2, and the start they've had means to get draws isn't an option. At the moment, I'm happy to wholeheartedly predict relegation for QPR- feel free to start preparing the humble pie for May.
A win for Villa would have eased a lot of their fans' nerves and made Newcastle and Wigan quiver a little bit, and to draw with the Premiership's bottom club is never exactly an encouraging result, so both sets of fans will have been walking away from the ground with a sense of missed opportunity.
West Brom 0-1 Stoke
I said: 1-1, +0pts
Del: (not predicted)
James said: 2-1, +0pts
Well, Steve Clarke's honeymoon period at West Brom appears to be coming to an end and he's catching a flight back to England getting ready to pay off the wedding. It's been a fantastic season for West Brom so far, and I'd be very surprised if they slipped into a relegation battle in the last few weeks of the season- they're such a hardworking team, lower mid-table looks their most likely finish. Stoke are on over half the number of points needed to stay up and sit comfortably in 9th, and are 10pts clear of the drop-zone which is a great position to be in at this stage.
Reading 3-4 Man Utd
I said: 0-3, +1pt
Del said: 0-3, +1pt
James said: 1-3, +1pt
What a crazy half. The opening 45 minutes had almost everything, as Man Utd fell behind twice but still went in at the break ahead. Robin van Persie should have had a hattrick if you count his fluffed chance in front of an open goal at the end, but United have this habit of just doing enough. The way they are defending at the moment, I've no idea why Ferguson is looking at wingers like Raheem Sterling and Tom Ince, when they've already got Kagawa, Young, Valencia, Nani plus many creative midfielders, and they quite obviously need a centre-back, a replacement for Evra, a defensive midfielder, possibly a goalkeeper...
Because they've come from behind so many times, I don't want to dare myself to say that can't afford to keep doing it, their goalscoring firepower is arguably the best in the world, but they just need to put the money in the right places and strengthen their defence I think.
Norwich 2-1 Sunderland
I said: 0-0, +0pts
Del said: 1-1, +0pts
James said: 1-0, +1pts
I very nearly went with James for a narrow Norwich win, but my thought process was that both teams would more-or-less take a point, both have got quite solid defences and neither score many. It had the makings of a bore draw so I went with goalless- the trouble with that is, you're screwed as soon as anyone scores, and Norwich scored inside the first 10 minutes. Damn, can I have another go? A great result for Norwich that sees them go 7pts clear of the relegation zone and if they can keep the spine of their team injury-free, they look odds-on for another season in the Premier League. It doesn't look so promising for the Black Cats, who play Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City in their next few games.
Let's have a look at the scores this week then:
James
Correct results- 4
Perfect scorelines- 1, QPR 1-1 Aston Villa
Points- 7
Myself
Correct results- 4
Perfect scorelines- 0
Points- 4
Del
Correct results- 2
Perfect scorelines- 0
Points- 2
Congratulations to James Allen, he is this weeks' prediction champion and is the only one of us to guess an exact scoreline. You can have a look at James's football blog 'The Pirates Tale' and follow him on twitter '@ThePiratesTale' by following these links. My thanks also to Del who took part, but really it's next week where all the dramas' at: four of the bottom six teams will be playing each other, Rafa fights for his job, Everton v Spurs will be a key game in the race for 4th and... oh yeah, and I hear there's gonna be a Manchester derby that tells us where the title is probably heading. Yawn.
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