QPR 0-0 Tottenham
I said: 1-2
Del said: 1-3
Kingsley said: 1-0
Lee said: 1-3
Carl said: 0-2
None of us got a point on this! I watched this match in the pub on TV before Blues played Huddersfield, and unfortuanately it wasn't a very entertaining game from the bits I saw. Most people thought Spurs would win, but really it's not a particularly good result for either team. With Man United next week and Everton and Arsenal still in the race for 4th, Tottenham will have wanted to take advantage by winning this kind of match. QPR are still 5pts adrift of safety, which isn't an unassailable gap, but after winning at Chelsea, they will have really wanted to follow that up. Then again, a draw at least salvages some momentum for them- it was important that they didn't lose the game.
Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton
I said: 2-0
Del said: 1-0
Kingsley said: 2-1
Lee said: 1-1
Carl said: 0-0
Perhaps surprisingly given their current defensive state, no-one thought Villa would lose this, and three of us thought they'd keep a clean sheet. They did lose to a wrongly awarded penalty, in my opinion, I'm going to write an article at some point this week on why I think Villa will stay up, so stay tuned. A great result for Southampton which they badly needed, because in the next 4 weeks they've got to play Chelsea, Everton, Man United and Man City, so I wouldn't necessarily expect them to stay out of the relegation zone for too long.
Everton 0-0 Swansea
I said: 3-0
Del said: 2-0
Kingsley said: 1-1, +1pt
Lee said 2-0
Carl said: 2-2
From what I saw on Match of the Day, I'd be confident if I was an Everton fan that Jelavic will start firing soon. He might not have scored in 6 league games now, but his movement against Swansea was genius and it looks like he's getting in the right positions, his snapshots just didn't come off for him. Everton created so many chances which they would have easily taken on another day, but the draw has to go down as a missed opportunity to catch up on Spurs.
Fulham 1-1 Wigan
I said: 3-2
Del said: 1-2
Kingsley said: 2-0
Lee said: 0-0, +1pt
Carl said: 1-0
Wigan probably needed that point more than Fulham did, to keep themselves out of the drop zone. That should be confidence booster for them going into 3 crucial games against Sunderland, Stoke and Southampton. Fulham need to bolster their defence this January. They've scored more home goals than Tottenham and Everton, which is an impressive feat and the arrival of Berbatov has helped them greatly with that, but if they want to get into the top half they have to stop giving cheap goals away.
Norwich 0-0 Newcastle
I said: 1-0
Del said: 2-0
Kingsley said: 1-1, +1pt
Lee said: 1-1, +1pt
Carl said: 0-2
An important point for both teams. Norwich needed to stop the rot after 4 successive league defeats, but Newcastle couldn't afford to lose it either. This being just a third clean sheet of the season for the Magpies, you can tell where their problems lie and with the probable loss of Coloccini, I would still worry for them defensively. The signing yesterday of Loic Remy will go some way to restore Demba Ba's goals though.
Reading 3-2 West Brom
I said: 0-2
Del said: 1-2
Kingsley said: 1-0, +1pt
Lee said: 0-2
Carl said: 2-1, +1pt
I looked on my Sky Sports app at half four and saw it was 0-2, I felt quite satisfied with myself for calling it right, only to find out 20 minutes later that Reading had won it 3-2. I still think Reading will go down, but with that superb fightback, they've now given themselves a chance and some self-belief. To be fair to them they are more than capable of scoring goals, but they have to improve defensively, maybe the arrival of Stephen Kelly from Fulham will provide them with a bit of experience.
Stoke 0-4 Chelsea
I said: 1-0
Del said: 0-3, +1pt
Kingsley said: 0-3, +1pt
Lee said: 1-3, +1pt
Carl said: 0-0
I have to say, I didn't foresee that result. I thought that a tired Chelsea team - having played on every Wednesday and every Saturday since their trip to Japan - would be outfought by Stoke who are normally so competitive, especially at home. Why Chelsea are thinking of getting rid of Frank Lampard I don't know- the experience he adds to that team is invaluable and whoever signs him will certainly be getting a very, very good bargain buy.
Sunderland 3-0 West Ham
I said: 0-0
Del said: 3-2, +1pt
Kingsley said: 2-0
Lee said: 0-1
Carl said: 0-2
A 3rd win for Sunderland in 5 Premiership matches makes their relegation troubles seem such a long time ago. When they lost to Norwich in early December, many critics were suggesting that a severe relegation batle would ensue for them, but since then they've picked up a lot of points, boosted by that 3-0 win over Reading. They'll be completely fine now, as they've definitely found their goalscoring feet.
Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool
I said: 2-1, +3pts
Del said: 2-3, +0pts
Kingsley said: 3-2, +1pt
Lee said: 2-0, +1pt
Carl said: 4-0, +1pt
Given that the north-west derby is a match that always holds so much passion and intensity, and that Liverpool had won their last 3 matches, I believed that United had just as much chance of slipping up in this match as City did at Arsenal. I watched the game, and was surprised that Danny Welbeck was given the man of the match award. I thought Ferguson was right to start with him alongside van Persie, because he offers more than Hernandez in terms of stamina and closing down. However, if it were me I would have had Cleverley for his link-up play, van Persie for his goal, Evra for his assists and Vidic for his goal and general organisation of the defence before I'd get to Welbeck.
Arsenal 0-2 Man City
I said: 0-1, +1pt
Del said: 1-3, +1pt
Kingsley said: 1-3, +1pt
Lee said: 1-1
Carl said: 2-1
When I found out Szczesny had saved the penalty, I did think Arsenal had a chance because playing with 10 men can have a knock-on advantage that teams become more psyched up and the penalty save could have enhanced that. They weren't able to firm up though and once Milner scored I didn't give Arsenal much of a chance. The suspension of Kompany won't help City though, going into matches which will be key to their chances of catching United.
Let's take a look at the scores:
Kingsley
Correct results- 6
Perfect scorelines- 0
Points- 6
Lee
Correct results- 4
Perfect scorelines- 0
Points- 4
Correct results- 1
Perfect scorelines- 1, Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool
Points- 4
Correct results- 3
Perfect scorelines- 0
Points- 3
Carl
Correct results- 2
Perfect scorelines- 0
Points- 2
Congratulations to Kinglsey Bates, who is this weeks' winner with 6 points. My thanks also to Lee, Carl and Del for taking part, I'll see you next time for the predictions, including the crunch games between Tottenham and Man United, and Chelsea and Arsenal.
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