Premier League
Fulham vs. Arsenal
Some Arsenal fans seem to be
giving Wenger funeral flowers for a doctor’s appointment. I don’t hold him
mainly responsible for their transfer failings this summer, they had plenty of
transfer targets, for many of which a fee had been agreed, but they couldn’t
close the deal. It seems far-fetched to think Wenger handles the contract
negotiations, so I don’t know what else he could do. I think much of their
protests came out of frustration after the defeat to Villa – would they have
happened if Arsenal won 3-1? The performance at Fenerbahce proves that the
team, at least, is still very much motivated to play for Wenger. Fulham got an
opening win at Sunderland (apologies to their fans for the short word!) but I
think this will be Arsenal’s day. 0-2.
Everton vs. West Brom
Martinez should see his first
point at Norwich as one gained, rather than two lost. The performance was
encouraging, as Everton had a lot more of the ball and created more chances.
When a manager brings in a new style of play, it’s always possible that the
players will be unsettled or not used to it, which is why it might have been a
good decision to refrain to playing 3 at the back in his first game. It’s a
case of evolution not revolution, at Everton. I’m convinced Martinez will get
his first win as the Toffees manager, against a West Brom team without key man
Romelu Lukaku from last season, who Anelka and Vydra will struggle to replace.
I wouldn’t rule out a relegation battle for the Baggies this season. 2-0.
Hull vs. Norwich
At the end of the game, Hull fans
seemed admirably content with keeping it down to 2-0 at Chelsea. It’s fair
enough, the odds were always against them in that game and in many ways it was
a case of keeping their goal difference down, in the second half they became a
lot more solid. A good start for the pricey van Wolfswinkel, who had an instant
impact grabbing Norwich a point on his debut, but Hull will be very psyched up
for their first Premier League home game. If they don’t win, then next up
they’ll have a trip to the Etihad, perhaps making the visit of Cardiff after
the international break too much of a crunch game. This is the right
opportunity for them to get their first win, 2-1.
Newcastle vs. West Ham
Winning more games on the road is
the target for West Ham if they want to improve on last season’s 10th
placed finish. At Newcastle, they have a good chance to do it. I didn’t think
Newcastle would roll over against Man City, because the quality in their team
is decent and they’ve had a roundly quiet summer to gel, but perhaps the Cabaye
issue has affected them. West Ham got a confident win against Cardiff, and I
reckon they’ll build on that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Andy Carroll score
against his old club. 0-1.
Southampton vs. Sunderland
Even though you’d probably label
these sides as ‘midtable clubs’, they’re going in different directions, so this
is an easy decision for me. It’s got to be Southampton. The £15 million signing
of striker Osvaldo could be a great capture, a real statement of intent and
he’ll make the best out of the creativity in Southampton’s midfield. Sunderland
I think will go down this season. Di Canio has tried to overhaul the squad too
radically and I think they’ll get off to a bad start, and then, when you’re on
a run of defeats it’s difficult to undo the cycle with too many foreign
players. I’m convinced Osvaldo will score at least once on his debut, and I
would go as far as 3-0 to Southampton.
Stoke vs. Crystal Palace
Although Mark Hughes is looking
to add an attacking edge to Stoke’s play, I still think goals will be an issue,
with the team only scoring 4 in 5 pre-season games. It’s one thing trying to be
more creative, but you’ve got to have players who can take the chances, at the
moment I’m reserved as to whether Stoke have that. It’s early in Palace’s
season and I think they can get a result here, they’ll play with a lot of enthusiasm
for their first away game. They defended quite well against Spurs, which makes
me think they can keep a clean sheet here, and get an important early point.
0-0.
Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
Just a week ago, I was thinking
that maybe Benteke won’t do as well in his second season with the pressure on
him this time. 7 days, and 3 goals later, and I look to be proved completely
wrong. In Liverpool’s play, Enrique and Johnson have a responsibility to get
forward and provide width which wasn’t a problem against Stoke, but could be
against the pace on the flanks of Agbonlahor and N’Zogbia. But I’d have to back
Liverpool to edge it. They have a lot of talent in their team, and Villa had a
testing match against Chelsea in midweek. 1-2.
In an extra note, I would like to
give my best wishes to Stiliyan Petrov, who has taken a break from his role as
Aston Villa U21 assistant manager to focus on recovering from his leukaemia.
Cardiff vs. Man City
I’m thinking this could be the
surprise result of the weekend, I firmly believe Cardiff will get something.
They earned promotion on having an excellent home record, an iron defence at
the Cardiff City stadium, where only twice all season did they concede more
than one goal. The key factor in the extent to which Man City beat Newcastle,
was that they were playing at home and scored an early goal. The rest of the
night was easy. For this game, there’s a possibility of complacency, Cardiff
are likely to keep it tight from the start and if it gets into the second half
with Man City not winning, then it’s going to be difficult for them to find a
way through. Controversially, I think 0-0. The result would hand a great
initiative for Man United or Chelsea to win their game and take an early hold
of the title race.
Tottenham vs. Swansea
Bale who? If Tottenham can
complete the signings of Willian, Lamela and Coentrao, I think even if they
sell their famous Welshman, they will have improved their squad. I don’t think
Swansea will do at all as well as most seem to be predicting, there’s a concern
with them playing in Europe, and buying so many foreign players, that they’ll
lose their level of teamwork and Europa League football could see them struggle
for fitness and injuries at times. I think they’ll start the season with two
successive three-goal defeats, 3-0.
Man Utd vs. Chelsea
A big game, even at this early
stage, and a difficult one to call. In all honesty, I think a point would just
about suit both teams. There is so much pressure on Moyes to replace Ferguson,
it’s most important that he doesn’t lose this game, United must stay solid and well
in the title race until the new year, when the players will be settled under
his leadership. From Chelsea’s point of view, they would probably be content
with a point at Old Trafford, it would keep them top of the table, albeit
having played a game extra. It’s the kind of game that you’ve got the best
chance of getting right by not overanalysing, especially after both teams have
made perfect starts, so 1-1 has to be the most likely outcome.
Championship
Week number four of this
Championship season, as the ‘bedding in’ period continues. The so far
underachieving teams like Blackburn, Bolton and Wigan will, for now, be granted
the excuse of having had a big overhaul of players over the summer, who will
take time to settle. On the flip side, it might also take time to see whether
the good starts for the budding Bs of Blackpool, Burnley and Bournemouth will
continue to boost in the Autumn. The pick of the games this weekend, sees QPR
look to build on their solid start by getting a good result at floundering Bolton.
And on Sunday, it’s an early top of the table clash of style against substance,
as pretty footballing Watford take on a Nottingham Forest team built on
defensive efficiency. Here's my preview to the action…
Bolton vs. QPR
The fixture computer hasn’t been
kind at all to Bolton, this being another difficult game early on. It’s not
until the end of September, that they get a run of games that you’d actually
fancy them to win. For QPR though, it’s been fairly generous and playing three
supposedly midtable teams, they’ve managed to pick up seven points without
catching the eye. Scoring that last minute winner against Ipswich was vital,
because going into two tough matches on the road against last seasons’ home
specialists, Bolton and Leeds, with just the five points would have made life
very difficult. My anti-QPR heart though, says a team of Bolton’s calibre will
be determined to fight for their first win of the season, and I think they can
do it with home backing. I’ll stick my neck out and say 1-0 to the Trotters.
Blackburn vs. Barnsley
I’ve not got much sympathy for
Barnsley after last week, when they surrendered a two goal lead to take just a
point against Charlton. They did put their opponents under pressure at times,
but their organisation for the two goals they conceded was horrific. They can’t
defend like that, and expect to remain afloat in this competition. Just one
point from three games is a poor start for Gary Bowyer’s side, and with all the
changes of managers last season, the one thing he needs to do now, is steady
the ship slightly and get that first win. Against a Barnsley team lacking in
defensive confidence at the moment, this is a good opportunity to do it. 2-0.
Blackpool vs. Reading
An injury time goal at
Middlesbrough put end to Blackpool’s short-lived 100% record. With Reading and then
force of Watford coming up to Bloomfield Road, I think it could be downhill
from here. I find it difficult to say whether it’s been a good, or bad start
for Reading, because you wouldn’t say five points from three games is promotion
form at all. But Bolton away was a tough game, and in some ways the team deserves
respect for finding Watford’s potential weakness in defence and nearly seeing
out a win. I reckon the Royals will bounce back from that disappointment, and
take the points which would move them above their opponents, and likely into
the play-off spaces, which would be good progress. 0-2.
Brighton vs. Burnley
This is a very important match
for Brighton. When a new manager comes in and struggles for the first few
weeks, I find it’s usually the match that comes immediately after their first
win, which is key. A win, and all of a sudden the belief in the team rises and
they can go on a strong run of form. A defeat, and you go back to square one,
and inconsistency sets in. Burnley have had a good start to their season, but
with a small squad it’s going to be difficult for them to keep it up. If they
do lose this game, it’ll be interesting to see how they respond. Leonardo Ulloa
looks like a great forward at this level, so I think he’ll score as well as
Ings, Brighton to bag an all-important 2-1 win to set Oscar Garcia’s Brighton
career alight.
Charlton vs. Doncaster
A difficult decision, but I’d
just about go with Charlton for this. The Doncaster team will have a mixed response
to giving away a two goal lead at Wigan on Tuesday, they would have surely
taken a point before the game, yet to concede an equalizer in the last minute
will have been a kick in the teeth. Charlton on the other hand, came back from
two goals down at Barnsley, but they’re still looking for their first win. With
Doncaster having played their game in midweek, Charlton might just have the
extra energy to nick it 1-0.
Huddersfield vs. Bournemouth
Both teams, expected to struggled
a bit this season, have actually made respectable starts to their campaigns. It
looks increasingly likely that James Vaughan will be Huddersfield’s talisman
for the season. He’s scored each of the Terriers’ four goals so far, but even
if he got injured, I wouldn’t necessarily worry for Huddersfield because they have
a couple of other decent strikers in Stead and Paterson. Four points,
especially having had two difficult opening games, is a good return.
Bournemouth bounced back brightly from their 6-1 thumping at Watford, by
beating promotion candidates Wigan last week, and all of a sudden they’re just
outside the play-offs. Interestingly, if they get a good result in this game,
their next three opponents are Doncaster, Blackpool and Barnsley, which may
assist them to crawl into the play-off places in September. This could well be
an entertaining, open game and I can see a lot of goals. 2-2.
Ipswich vs. Leeds
It’s still an unknown as to which
way Ipswich’s season will be swinging come Autumn. They beat Millwall at home,
as most expected, but lost away against two of the relegated clubs, as most
expected. I think it’s actually a reasonable start, considering Mick McCarthy
brought in 11 new faces this summer. Leeds have a lot of creativity, particularly
out wide, but I’m starting to worry that they might miss Luciano Becchio this
season, even if they keep Ross McCormack he doesn’t tend to play as an ‘out-and-out’
forward. With a strong defence under McCarthy, Ipswich will get a 1-0 win.
Leicester vs. Birmingham
For Birmingham, our defensive
performances have been good, but it was one simple positional error that cost
us against Brighton. I worry that we might rely too much on keeping clean
sheets to pick up points this season, because one (own) goal from three games
is not a good scoring record so far. Leicester have made a very solid start,
getting a couple of away wins and keeping clean sheets in their last two games.
They might not have been too active in the transfer market, but so far, the
signs are that the summer of stability has helped. I can see a third successive
clean sheet for Pearson's men. 1-0.
Sheff Wed vs. Millwall
I wonder if playing away from
home is actually going to be Millwall's best chance of getting something, in
their circumstances. With such a poor atmosphere at the Den, you would think
that it'd only be the true Lions fans who would bother to make the journey up
to Sheffield. It's less likely the fans will get on their backs, because most
of the Millwall fans clearly aren't helping their team at the moment. An
important first point of the season at rivals Leeds for Sheffield Wednesday,
who I would expect to climb the table in the coming weeks. This is the first of
three forthcoming home games, the others against Yeovil and Doncaster, that
they will have a strong chance of winning. I think this might be a draw though,
Millwall have to get their first point from somewhere, surely? 1-1.
Watford vs. Nottm Forest
It might only be the fourth game
of the season, but I'd hardly be exaggerating in saying this match is the
unstoppable force of Watford, versus the immovable object of Nottingham Forest.
Both teams have come out of the blocks very quickly, in different ways. Watford
have scored a massive ten goals in three games, whereas Forest have kept three
straight clean sheets. I'd say that this game might just suit Forest playing
away from home, being already two points clear at the top. It means they can
simply make sure they stay organised, whereas if they were at home and expected
win, Watford's counter attacking ability would be more applicable. This will be
a very even game, so possibly a draw, which Forest would be the more inclined
to settle for. 1-1.
Wigan vs. Middlesbrough
These are two teams who are all
too familiar with the expression '3's a crowd'! Attendances of around 13,000 in
their last home games, despite both recently being established Premier League
clubs. Both teams grabbed late equalizers in their last match, but in games the
teams will have wanted to win. I'm just thinking a draw, because there's been a
lot of changes in Wigan's squad, they're still getting into the season and had
to play on Tuesday night, and in Lukasz Jutkiewicz, Middlesbrough have a player
who could grab them a goal out of nothing. 1-1.
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