My Premiership Predictions- gameweek 22

Hello scorers. Had a bit of a Christmas break from the predictions game but I'm back now, ready and eager for the second half of the season to begin. This weekend, we've got a crucial game in the relegation battle, with the rotting Villains against the battling Saints, whilst Wigan start the day in the drop-zone, but will be hoping for a draw between the aforementioned teams and a good result themselves at Craven Cottage.

Sunderland v West Ham and Norwich v Newcastle present perhaps less promise in terms of drama, but if Reading have any survival aspirations at all this season, then they simply must beat Steve Clarke's West Brom side.

With Chelsea's potential decline, the race for 4th may be about to become interesting. The jaded Blues have just lost 2-0 to Swansea in the cup and have a trip to tough-tackling Stoke, the Swans will try to build on that result but Everton will stay be favourites in their game on Saturday, whilst 3rd placed Tottenham play against another team to capitalize on Chelsea's poor showings in QPR.

There is without doubt potential for slip-ups in the title race, and I can't wait to see whether the 7pt gap remains the same come Sunday night. United have a north-west derby to contend with against Liverpool, who have won their last 3, and Man City make the trip down to London to play Arsenal, who are still fighting for that Champions League spot.

Joining the debate for these games, as always is Del, and Lee Price, who will be predicting for the first time. Lee is an avid fan of non-league football, a supporter of both West Brom and Weymouth. You can follow him on Twitter: @lee_price17. We also have Kingsley Bates, a Cambridge United fan who you can follow on twitter as well: @KingsleyBates and read his sports blog here: 'KFLB's blog'. The final contestant is Carl Hudson (@jabbinho), a Newcastle United fan.

With 5 of us fighting to become the prediction winner this week, let's move on to the games:

QPR vs. Tottenham

Despite the gulf between the teams in the league, I've not had an easy time calling this one. QPR may be bottom of the table but they got a massive win at Chelsea in new year, the importance of which will stand the test of time. It's always important for a club where relegation is looming, that they can win a game no-one expects them to get anything from. That can give teams a big confidence booster, but we're about to see how they build on that, which will affect my judgement on whether QPR can yet stay up. At the moment I'd be inclined to say the gap is still too grand.

Tottenham are going very well at the moment- they've won their last 4 in all competitions but I'm not sure if they'll stay 3rd throughout the season. The festive fixtures have certainly worked in their favour, but this will be the last of their run of games against relegation-threatened clubs. Next week they've got Man United at home, before two tricky away games at West Brom and Norwich where they could slip up, and then of course soon the Europa League will be back. They need to make sure that they can take full advantage of this comparatively easy series of  games against the bottom clubs.

I'm sure Spurs fans will give Harry Redknapp a round of applause at the game for what he did for them, but I'm going with a Tottenham win. I think it'll be a close game and my decision wasn't as easy as the immediate table suggests it would be, but I think Tottenham have the quality and an effective enough system under AVB to edge this one 1-2.

Del says: 1-3
Kingsley says: 1-0
Lee says: 1-3
Carl says: 0-2

Aston Villa vs. Southampton

I'm not entirely sure where Villa go from here, to be honest. They keep leaking goals and until that changes, I don't know where their next win is going to come from. They got a draw at Swansea but for me, that skates over the fact that they were incredibly lucky not to concede 4 or 5 in that game, no exaggeration, the number of chances Swansea had.

In some ways I admire Paul Lambert for what he's trying to do there, in giving youngsters, and those who have come up through the lower leagues, a chance. What he's failed at is getting these players in a certain defensive order and shape, it doesn't look like they've worked on their organisation in training as much as they need to. Some of the players are running around like headless chickens.

Southampton are looking more competent at the moment. Three draws from their last three games against Arsenal at home, and a couple of away games shows that they can hold their own at this level. Their ability to score goals - having only drawn a blank in 4 matches this season - may help them in their relegation battle in the second half of this season.

This is the game that the young lads at Villa need to step up to the plate, and I've actually got a strange feeling they will. They lost to Bradford in midweek but it may be that not having long to prepare for this match may suit them, because they can get the result out of their system quickly and I think the response will be there. It's a brave call to make given Villa's current predicament, but I'm going to go with my instinct and say 2-0.


Del says: 1-0
Kingsley says: 2-1
Lee says: 1-1
Carl says: 0-0

Everton vs. Swansea

I personally don't understand why Moyes played a partially-injured Baines against Cheltenham. They've got some important Premiership games coming up in their quest for getting into Europe, in my view, the purpose of the cup is to give fringe players a chance and let's face it: Everton probably would have won anyway. 

I reckon January will be a tough month for Swansea. They got a wonderful win at Chelsea in the first leg of the cup semi-final, but I think they could become swept up in the euphoria of that win - understandably so - and face a bit of a hangover from that in this game. With 4 domestic cup matches being played this month for Swansea, that could affect their preparation and fitness when they play hardworking teams like Everton and Stoke, so they could be about to drop a couple of places in the table.

I don't think a slightly lethargic Swansea team will be able to deal with the high-tempo at which Everton play, so I can see a surprisingly comfortable afternoon for the Toffees. Jelavic to grab himself a brace and help the hosts to a 3-0 win.


Del says: 2-0
Kingsley says: 1-1
Lee says: 2-0
Carl says: 2-2

Fulham vs. Wigan

People were talking about Fulham as potential relegation candidates when they went 7 games without a win, but I was never worried about them. I thought this particularly because when Berbatov is playing well, Fulham tend to play well. He links up play brilliantly and his movement is world class, which has been a big factor in Fulham having the best goal difference of all of the bottom 14 teams in the Premiership.

Wigan are in the relegation zone at the moment, but I think they'll defy the odds again and stay up. They may have the second worst 'goals against' record in the league, but when I watch them play, at times some of the football they produce wouldn't look out of place at an established European side, like Shakhtar or Ajax. It's so quick and can be effective- they always look confident and capable of creating chances. 

I think this could be a good game for the neutral and I foresee plenty of goals. Having said what I've said about Wigan, given Fulham's attacking prowess, I would worry for the Latics defensively. I reckon the Cottagers will outscore them in a 3-2 thriller.


Del says: 1-2
Kingsley says: 2-0
Lee says: 0-0
Carl says: 1-0

Norwich vs. Newcastle

I was impressed with Norwich for the manner in which they dispatched Championship outfit Peterborough in the FA Cup last week. I did predict a Norwich win, but with injuries to the likes of Grant Holt and Steve Morison for them, now 4 defeats on the bounce and the game being played at London Road, I thought it might be closer than it turned out. 

It was probably a good thing for Newcastle that they got knocked out of the FA Cup last week. With a smallish squad, several injuries, the latter stages of the Europa League forthcoming and now with Demba Ba leaving, the possibility of a relegation battle, the last thing they needed was more games.

With Ba gone and Cisse out of form, I'm not entirely sure where they're going to get their goals from in this game. Chris Hughton has got his Norwich team fairly organised, though that hasn't been as much the case in recent matches, but I think they're capable of keeping a clean sheet here. However, with  the injuries to first choice strikers, Norwich won't win this game by more than 1-0.


Del says: 2-0
Kingsley says: 1-1
Lee says: 1-1
Carl says: "0-2 Toon of course, Cisse with a brace!"

Reading vs. West Brom

Reading have been in my 'down' list for most of the season, and them beating West Ham 1-0 doesn't change that. The signing of young gun Hope Akpan from Crawley suggests to me that they are already building for the future, and preparing for life in the Championship- if they were serious about doing everything they can to stay up, they would have made an effort to sign more experienced players. In many ways Reading look resigned to relegation.

If West Brom want to ensure that they can finish the season in the top half, they may need to aim for maximum points in their next two matches. After a run of very winnable games during this winter period, they've soon got to play the likes of Everton, Tottenham and Chelsea who ought to provide stern tests for the Baggies and I would expect those games to move them down a peg or two in the table.

I just think West Brom are a bit better a team than Reading, and they have respectable ability in every department. They are reasonably well organised, have a good work ethic and have two or three players going forward who can do the damage. That will probably be enough against a team like Reading, who are of Championship calibre, particularly in defence- I can't see any way back for them. 0-2.


Del says: 1-2
Kingsley says: 1-0
Lee says: 0-2
Carl says: 2-1

Stoke vs. Chelsea

This will be a very hard game for Chelsea. At the time of writing, they've just lost 2-0 at home to Swansea in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg, which will be tricky to recover from. The matches have been coming thick and fast for them- since going to Japan for the Club World Cup, they've always been playing both at the weekend and in midweek, and there haven't been any matches in which Benitez has completely changed his team around.

I would fear for them playing at a place like Stoke, I really would. The Potters are a relentlessly hardworking team that always provide a great physical threat, and the pitch at the Britannia is very narrow, so I wouldn't think that Chelsea's little magicians in Hazard, Oscar and Mata will get any time on the ball. Even if they do, they'll probably be worn out from playing so many matches in quick succession, that they can't do anything special with it, so Torres won't get a sniff.

For me, Chelsea just don't look like a settled team at the moment, partly because of all the uncertainty with Frank Lampard probably leaving, but also this culture of fear and panic that Roman has stupidly created by sacking so many managers. To be honest, it wouldn't be a real shock to me if Chelsea slipped up in this, in fact I can quite easily see them losing to Stoke, who I think will grind a lethargic-looking Chelsea team down. 1-0.


Del says: 0-3
Kingsley says: 0-3
Lee says: 1-3
Carl says: 0-0

Sunderland vs. West Ham

I can see this being the complete opposite to the Fulham-Wigan game. Neither of these sides are goalscorers, particularly with Steven Fletcher out of form for Sunderland, and both are quite compact. Sunderland have lost their last two Premiership games, but those were against big clubs and they did battle well to earn a replay against Bolton last week, so I certainly can't see a rot ensuing for them.

West Ham chairman David Gold has been taken to hospital with pneumonia, irrespective of how good a chairman he had been for Birmingham, I'm sure everyone will wish him a speedy recovery. On the pitch, the Hammers look in fairly good shape, having beaten Norwich 2-1 on New Years' Day, they would have beaten Man United in the FA Cup by the same scoreline had it not been for a late intervention from van Persie.

I'm going to go for a bore draw in this one. Sunderland, being at home and possibly with the lingering fear of a relegation battle, will come closest to winning it and if either side do, I'd expect it to only be by the odd goal. To me though, a goalless draw seems the more likely outcome.


Del says: 3-2
Kingsley says: 2-0
Lee says: 0-1
Carl says: 0-2

Man Utd vs. Liverpool

Man United have scored 17 goals in their last 6 Premiership matches- that's almost 3 per game and when you've got the confidence to go out and score that many goals, eventually the defence will sort itself out. I'm looking at the stats now and although he cost a lot, van Persie has already scored 16 Premiership goals- that's 30% of the goals United have this season, at important times as well, and he contributes considerably more in build-up play. He's become such an important player for them- that man simply oozes brilliance.

You can't really say that Liverpool are finding some momentum for their season, because they're developing a habit of winning two or three games, and then losing the next one. That may be frustrating for their fans, not being able to put a run together, but because they're winning most of their games they have been climbing the table, and are up to 8th now when they were about 12th a month ago.

Just a quick point on the Suarez handball incident- people are saying that "the integrity of the game has been damaged", but I would disagree. Until FIFA step in and make it punishable by a red card that a player dives or handballs etc., cheating will always be part of the game and we'll be having the same conversations until then. There's nothing we as fans can do about this,  and the reality is that players will always do whatever it takes to give their team an advantage at the elite level. It's a sad fact, but ultimately it's a true one.

Liverpool's form, and having a player with the quality of Suarez, means that they can go to Old Trafford and give United an interesting game, and of course anything can happen in a derby. However, United have a player equally as good as Suarez in van Persie, and better strength in depth surrounding him, so 2-1 to Man U.


Del says: 2-3
Kingsley says: 3-2
Lee says: 2-0
Carl says: 4-0

Arsenal vs. Man City

Both United and City have match in which they are capable of dropping points on Sunday, so it'll be interesting to see if there are any changes to that 7pt gap. Since thumping Newcastle 7-3, Arsenal have drawn their last two games in all competitions. They only managed a point at Southampton, Swansea forced a replay out of them in the FA Cup thanks to a late equalizer, so they haven't been able to really continue the momentum that their run of 3 straight wins before that brought them.

If Man City lost this and United won, I'd be prepared to declare the title race 'over', even at this halfway stage. I think United will have learnt from losing the 8pt lead last season, to make sure they never do it again, and Man City don't look very well motivated or have a manager with good enough tactical nous in Mancini, in my opinion.

Having said that, I reckon City will nick a win here. Arsenal arguably need the points just as badly in their quest for 4th place, and I don't think there'll be many goals in it, but I can see Dzeko being the supersub again this season, to give Man City a potentially important 3 points. 0-1.


Del says: 1-3
Kingsley says: 1-3
Lee says: 1-1
Carl says: 2-1

Huddersfield v Blues preview

I’m happy to say that I’ll be one of the thousand-odd Bluenoses making our way up the M1 to Huddersfield on Saturday. I’ve only been to a couple of away games this season, and I’ve not seen us win yet, but I do have a good feeling about this one. Huddersfield are in poor form at the moment, and the return of our strikers ought to be a big plus. I am hopeful that we can come back with all 3 points.

Squad analysis

Despite the unfortunate injury to Packwood, the injury situation generally has somewhat improved since our last match. You’ll probably be pleased to know that Marlon King, who has scored 36% (12) of our league goals this season, is now back in contention. Peter Lovenkrands has also returned to the squad from injury, and though he hasn’t been as effective goalscoring wise this season, he’ll add us another much-needed option going forward. Zigic, who seems to have made the difference for us as an impact sub in previous matches, comes back after his two match ban.

The likes of Callum Reilly and Morgaro Gomis have done well for us in midfield, but I’m looking forward to seeing Jonathon Spector back, because I think he can make the difference for us- we’ve really missed him since he got injured against Wolves. A piece of good news is that Rob Hall has extended his loan spell, which is great for us because his delivery from set plays have been superb, occasionally earning him the man of the match accolade. Hopefully Clark can judge Caddis fit enough for the game, because I’m not sure otherwise who would be playing at right-back now Packwood is injured.

Assuming the aforementioned players will be fit enough, my team would be: Doyle; Caddis, Davies, Pablo, Robinson; Reilly, Spector; Hall, Morrison, Lovenkrands; King

A bit about Huddersfield

Huddersfield aren’t a club famous for their history of success, but they were in fact the first club to win 3 consecutive English league titles in the 1920s, a feat which only Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool have been able to do since. They won the FA Cup in 1922 and were runners-up on various other occasions. Post-war Huddersfield then spent 30 years rarely far from mid-table in England’s top-flight until the 1950s, when a slight yo-yo period ensued. They recovered well from being relegated for the first time in their history in 1952, by attaining promotion at the first time of asking and finishing 3^rd on their return to division one. They couldn’t sustain this however, and their second relegation from the top-flight in 1956 lead to manager Andy Beattie’s resignation.

The next period saw Huddersfield be the founders of two Scottish legends of British football. Replacing Andy Beattie as manager was Bill Shankly, who was to go on to spend 15 successful years at Liverpool, but he couldn’t inspire Huddersfield to success. However, notably under him Huddersfield became the first side in the history of the football league to score 6 goals and lose a match. They led Charlton 5-1 with half an hour to go, with a man advantage before letting the lead slip, but on another occasion they also beat Shankly’s future employers Liverpool 5-0, and with 10 men! Denis Law was the other man, and his £55K transfer to Manchester City financed the building of the floodlights at Leeds Road, although they collapsed due to a gale a year later, they were replaced and are still known as the ‘Denis Law lights’.

They could celebrate promotion back to the first tier in 1970, but this joy was to be short-lived. They spent just two seasons there, before experiencing a rapid decline with three relegations in the space of four seasons. Since then, they’ve been moving between tiers 2 and 3, spending a maximum of 6 years in each, but never being able to properly establish themselves in either league. They’ve made recent steps forward though, as they earned promotion through the play-offs last season and now look pretty good odds for another season in the Championship.

Recent form

After a strong start to their campaign, Huddersfield aren’t in good shape at the moment, at least in the league. They did win in the FA Cup at Charlton last week, but they’ve failed to win any of their previous 10 Championship matches, of which they’ve lost 5. In fact, if the results of their last 10 games had been consistent over the first half of their season, they would actually be bottom of the table and 12pts away from safety.

Apart from Ipswich and all the teams in the bottom 3, they’ve got the worst goal difference in the league, though this is partly due to the heavy defeats they’ve had, such as losing 6-1 and 4-0 Leicester and Milwall respectively. The Terriers poor form suggests that this is very much a winnable game for us.

The dangerman

Huddersfield have struggled to find an established goalscorer this season, the sources of their goals have been particularly widespread- there are about 5 players who have scored a few goals, so they don’t have one solitary talisman. If I was to pinpoint a striker however, it would be Jermaine Beckford. Beckford has come up through the ranks of non-league football, was impressive in scoring 72 goals in 126 games for Leeds in League 1, but he didn’t quite take his opportunity to cut it in the Premiership with Everton.

Although he’s only scored four goals at Huddersfield on his loan spell from Leicester, one of them came when the Terriers visited St. Andrews back in October, and Beckford scored what proved to be the winner. Let’s hope the same doesn’t happen on Saturday, but I’m quietly confident that it won’t.

Previous meeting

On the last match of the 1994-95 division two season, Blues needed just a point at Huddersfield to ensure promotion to division one, and Bluenoses had come in numbers to the newly-built McAlpine stadium expecting a party, Huddersfield had nothing to play for as their play-off place was pre-booked. Though Ian Bennett had to make a fine early save from Jepson’s header, it was Blues who came closest to opening the scoring when Steve Claridge, incidentally now a pundit with the BBC, dinked the ball over keeper Francis from close range, but his shot hit the bar.

However, into the second half Claridge made up for that miss. Donowa’s right hand cross was knocked back by Cooper, and Claridge took a touch and scuffed his shot into the net to put Blues in front, and send fans and of course Barry Fry into raptures. More combination play between Claridge and Cooper allowed Cooper to pass the ball across, before Paul Tait shoved the ball past Francis at the second attempt to put us 2 up. Huddersfield got one back in the dying minutes, but Blues managed to hold on for promotion back to division one. It was to be a season of celebration for both teams, as we won both the second division title and the Auto Windscreen Shield, but Huddersfield were to eventually attain promotion via the play-offs.

My prediction

I think a narrow win for us in this game. If we get a bit of luck with the fitness of our players returning from injury, then we’ll have a squad with more quality that can be more reflective of what we’re capable of. I can’t wait to see Marlon King back because the composure and experience in front of goal he provides is fantastic, and I think we’ve caught Huddersfield at the right time given their winless streak. I’m feeling positive, so will go with a repeat of that match back in 1995- 2-1 to the Blues.

Pack it in

Birmingham City teenage prodigy and academy graduate Will Packwood will now be out for at least the rest of the season, after he picked up a very serious injury in the FA Cup game against Leeds. Before I offer my, possibly controversial, opinion on the incident and what the reaction to it has been, I want to make it clear that I was sorry to hear of the injury for a number of reasons.

Purely from a footballing perspective, it was the last thing we needed. We’ve had a lot of injuries to defenders this season, and I felt that given a bit more time and experience being part of the squad, Packwood had, and indeed may yet still have the potential to make that right-back position his own. He has been industrious and energetic, providing another option for us going forward on the flanks, and though his positional sense and timing of tackles hasn’t always been perfect, he’s been a player who will play his heart out for the team, which is exactly what Blues fans love to see.

Furthermore with him at right-back, that would mean that his fellow-American, Jonathon Spector would be able to play as a ball-winner in midfield, by a long way Spector’s best position in my view. When he has to fill in at right-back though, we have to settle for arguably less quality in the middle of the park.

So it’s a blow from a footballing point of view, but also you have to feel for Packwood, his friends and family as well. It was a horrible injury that must have been painful to pick up, and not being able to play for a whole year will be incredibly frustrating for him. In fact, I decided to send him a tweet and write a comment on the BCFC official Facebook page to offer my support. I was heart warmed to see some concerned Leeds fans writing similar messages and the occasional Villa fan even, to perhaps return our support for Petrov- so they can’t all be complete arseholes!

However, I feel that collectively, we’ve now done enough to make Packwood feel appreciated by us, and think we should simply move on from it. To offer him much more support, in my opinion, would be excessive of what the situation requires of us. On the Blues Facebook page, I saw a suggestion that because Will is number 24, we should give a round of applause in the 24^th minute of the game against Huddersfield.

Now, I first discovered the minute applauding tradition through Club Brugge. In May 2008, their striker Francois Sterchele died in a tragic car accident. His shirt number was 23, so the fans decided to show their respects by giving him a minutes’ applauds on 23 minutes in every match. What a lovely gesture. I was so glad the Blues fans joined in with that both times we played them, to commemorate Sterchele.

I vaguely remember that for one game back in October 2011, just after Gary Speed had inexplicably taken his own life, Leeds fans applauded for the first 11 minutes of their match against Nottingham Forest. Again, it’s a touching sentiment and it was the right thing to do.

However, I’m of the opinion that because that’s how the tradition started (i.e. applauding for the minute that’s the shirt number of the player who died) we shouldn’t change that. If we started to applaud every player who had picked up a long-term injury, it would mean that when someone died, the action wouldn’t be as respectful and special. It would become more of a mundane duty - the opposite of what a minute’s applause is meant to be - and defeat the whole purpose of doing something like that.

There was another suggestion of Huddersfield fans singing: “there’s only one Will Packwood”. That would be a kind thing for them to do, but I’m not sure it would be entirely necessary. The “there’s only one …” chant is one of appreciation of an individual.  Let’s be honest- the majority of Huddersfield fans probably haven’t heard of Packwood until the injury. Why should they sing a song like that about him? It’s fair enough to be sorry a player is injured, but dedicating a song to him isn’t really required of them I don’t think.

Apparently, Clark was quite emotional about Packwood’s injury, which I did admire in him to some extent. It does show the human side to Clark, but what I don’t understand is that he said: “Let’s try and win the game for Will.” Indeed, if it and served as such motivation every time we had a player who picked up a big injury this season, we’d be 10 points clear at the top of the league. Of course it doesn’t work like that.

I suppose it’s understandable that Clark was trying to find a way to motivate his team, but to me dedicating a win to an injured player seems a little extreme. If they had lost the game would they be letting Packwood down? My point here, is that people seem to be acting almost as if Packwood has died, or passed out on the football field. I could even understand these marks of respect slightly more if the injury finished his career. But he’s only out for a season!

Of course it will be hard for him but the reality is that injuries are part and parcel of football. Nobody likes them, but they happen all the time. What worries me is that if these gestures – i.e. a minutes applauds, opposition fans singing about him or the team dedicating a win in their next match to him – do go ahead, then it’ll be like not respecting players who have died as much, because when someone dies the respect will be equal to the respect we give someone when they pick up an injury.

If we go through this process for Packwood, then the slippery slope leads us to doing the same thing for every seriously injured player and that would be a real shame. It would become a regular occurrence and what makes a minutes’ applauds so powerful is that it’s because of choice, rather than principle, that the fans do it. It’s something special and beautiful to watch- I would hate to see that change.

My opinion is, let’s keep things in perspective: Packwood isn’t dead, he wasn’t even actually a key player for us, though I accept that that’s irrelevant from a humanitarian viewpoint, but hopefully he’ll be back playing football the next season. In the meantime, let’s get behind the team and create an atmosphere of confidence and self-assuredness, rather than one of worry and pity that’s more concerned about Packwood than the game itself.

FA Cup 3rd round review

Brighton 2-0 Newcastle
I said: 2-0

I'm pleased to be on target with this one and I think with Newcastle just 2pts away from  relegation, the Europa League coming up for them in February and currently with quite a small squad,  the FA Cup was never going to be on Pardew's agenda. That result ought to act as a confidence booster for Brighton though.

Aldershot 3-1 Rotherham

I said: 1-0

What a strange day for Danny Hylton! Scoring a hat-trick to give his team the win, of which the gloss was taken off slightly getting sent off towards the end. Although both teams are in League 2, predicting an Aldershot win wasn't the obvious choice for me with an 18-place gap between them in the table, but I had a feeling Steve Evans would want to rotate his team in this and place priority on promotion. 

Aston Villa 2-1 Ipswich

I said: 2-1

I wasn't entirely sure how this one would go and didn't feel confident backing either team - Villa had looked poor at the back lately and had the Carling Cup semi-final to prepare for but Ipswich lost their last game 3-0 - so I decided to go with the Premiership club. One goal won't change Bent going in January in my view, he doesn't suit the system and level of work ethic that Lambert wants his team to play with.

Barnsley 1-0 Burnley

I said: 0-2

This result hasn't really helped either team. Barnsley could do without the extra games this season, as they already face a sizeable challenge to stay in the Championship with a few injury problems, but if Burnley have to cope without Charlie Austin for much longer then I could see them slipping into the bottom half as I'm not sure where the goals will come from. Without the excitement of a cup run, they could be in for quite a dull season.

Blackburn 2-0 Bristol City

I said: 3-0

In form like this, you begin to wonder whether Blackburn are better off without a manager. They've won each of the three games they've played since Berg was sacked after Christmas, conceding just one goal. If the fans support him for a change, I think the board should give caretaker boss Gary Bowyer the job, then again Shebby Singh doesn't seem to know what they're doing in the first place.

Bolton 2-2 Sunderland

I said: 2-2

A third perfect scoreline for me... I'm on a roll this weekend. Both teams have Premiership quality squads in my opinion, looking at Bolton on paper they're too good to be where they are in the table, so it would have been wrong for Sunderland to expect to win comfortably. They did well to get themselves back into it and it was a superb strike from Craig Gardner to earn the replay, which I think will be equally close.

Charlton 0-1 Huddersfield

I said: 2-0

It's just Birmingham City's luck that Huddersfield suddenly win a match right before we play them- they'd gone 10 games without a win beforehand and recently lost 6-1 to Leicester. Both teams were suitably far from relegation to afford a run in the cup and it being a winnable home match for them, Charlton will feel disappointed to go out.

Crawley 1-3 Reading

I said: 2-2

Couldn't believe it when I heard Crawley had scored after 14 seconds, and I expected that to spark a goal frenzy. It did, but not in the way I thought it would. Reading quickly equalized and had the better of the chances later, to end Crawley's hopes of another memorable cup run.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Stoke

I said: 1-1

Though by all accounts this was a dour game, both teams can take something from it. The result may encourage Palace that they can compete in the Premiership, if they could attain promotion. Given the tight congestion of fixtures there has been in the Championship over the festive period, a replay may not be ideal for them, but it may increase the confidence, but Stoke will feel that they can probably get the job done on their home turf.

Derby 5-0 Tranmere

I said: 0-0

I thought Tranmere would keep a clean sheet, given that they'd tightened up enormously since losing 5-0 to Swindon. How wrong I was, as it was a repeat of that result which saw 16-year-old Mason Bennett become the latest name on the conveyor belt of exciting young talent at Pride Park.

Fulham 1-1 Blackpool

I said: 3-2

Two midtable teams who wouldn't want to say no to a bit of cup magic, so both teams may be a little disappointed at this result. Fulham were playing at home against lower league opposition and probably should have won, but Blackpool having come so close, will have wanted to see the game out. I've got a feeling that Michael Appleton's seasiders will win the replay, as his players will be the more eager for an exciting trip to Old Trafford.

Hull 1-1 Leyton Orient

I said: 2-0

I don't think people had too many arguments with me when I went for 2-0 in favour of the home team who are 38 places above the visitors, but Bruce rotated a good 3/4 of his team for the match. I would still have expected Hull to win though, so credit to Orient for earning a draw and making Hull panic. Think the replay may go to extra-time if Bruce applies the same team selection policy.

Leeds 1-1 Birmingham

I said: 3-1

I said I didn't want a draw and a replay from the match due to the number of injuries but that's exactly what's happened and our crisis has been made even worse by the loss of Packwood, who could be out for up to a year- my thoughts are with him. That said, I'm glad we didn't get thrashed in this match, because it's important that we maintain our young team's confidence level going into the second half of the season. The replay could really go either way and I wouldn't like to call it, but now I hope we get through. I've got a feeling we could give Tottenham a really good game with a big crowd in the next round.

Leicester 2-0 Burton Albion

I said: 4-0

Luton 1-0 Wolves

I said: 0-1

This game resulted in Solbakken's sacking, which I can't say I disagree with. Wolves gained £25-odd million in the summer when they lost Fletcher and Jarvis, and had £10 million of that to re-invest in the squad over the summer. Given that money, any decent manager would have Wolves right up there near the promotion places, if not in them. It was time for Wolves to press the panic button if they wanted to get into the Premiership, because they were clearly going in the wrong direction. Take nothing away from Luton, who from what I saw on the highlights, had the better of the chances and deserved the upset.

Macclesfield 2-1 Cardiff

I said: 0-4

A massive achievement for Macclesfield. I actually agreed with Malky Mackay when he said that the team he put out was capable of winning against a team midtable in the conference, and I think in this competition you need to give your fringe players the chance to show what they're capable of. I actually remember Barnes Homer, who scored both of Macclesfield's goals, he came through the youth academy at Wolves before becoming a bit of a journeyman striker in America, Scandanivia and non-league in England.

Man City 3-0 Watford

I said: 5-0

I must admit that Mancini was being slightly more pragmatic with his selection policy than I thought he would be. Considering City's need to win the cup for a trophy this season, the rough week he's had with the Balotelli incident and Watford's away form, I would have expected Mancini to want to make sure City won at a canter to put everything behind them. They managed to do that in the end anyway, though, and Watford made it easy enough for them.

Middlesbrough 4-1 Hastings Utd

I said: 2-0

It seems strange to think that Middlesbrough can be in the last 16 of the FA Cup purely by beating Hastings Utd and Aldershot at home. The one good thing about this competition is that you only have to be a bit lucky in a few games, in terms of either the draw or the goals you get, and you can go on a run- the league is much more about consistency. Hastings will be happy to have saved a penalty and get on the scoresheet which will be something to savour for their fans, but the Borough had too much quality for them.

Millwall 1-0 Preston

I said: 0-0

Nottm Forest 2-3 Oldham

I said: 1-0

The loss just re-emphasizes how stupid Forest were to sack O'Driscoll. Looking at the goals the team seemed all over the place at the back, partly due to the red card, but I reckon McLeish will take Forest further away from the play-off places, rather than towards them.

Oxford Utd 0-3 Sheff Utd

I said: 2-1

Not what I expected, but I calculated that Wilson would decide to rotate with such a tight promotion battle. He didn't, so it turned out to be a bit of a sobering afternoon for Oxford, who had in fact won their previous 4 matches.

Peterborough 0-3 Norwich

I said: 0-1

I was quite surprised about this extent to which Norwich won this, because although there was a division between them, the facts suggested that it could be a close game. The Canaries had lost their last 4 and had injuries to their top strikers, Posh had won 4 of their last 5 and had home advantage. I was unsure about Simeon Jackson's credentials to be a Premiership striker, but he ended up scoring to make sure Norwich's cycle of defeats would come to an end.

QPR 1-1 West Brom

I said: 2-0

Kieron Dyer's late equalizer was probably met with an inner-groan from both sets of fans. West Brom were moments away from a place in the next round, but QPR probably wanted the cup over and done with given their relegation struggle. They certainly won't have wanted a replay.

Sheff Wed 0-0 MK Dons

I said: 1-2

Southampton 1-5 Chelsea

I said: 1-3

Senegal not qualifying for the African cup of nations might just be the best thing that's happened to Chelsea this season. With Torres, the general consensus is that everybody desperately wants him to score goals and get back to his Liverpool days but it's not really happening for him. In Demba Ba I think they've found a more potent goalscorer, who's got a bit more bravery when it comes to getting a part of his body in the danger area, where it hurts, to score goals. Torres needs to either accept this challenge and fight for his place, or go back to Spain where he may still have that extra yard of pace.

Southend 2-2 Brentford

I said: 1-1

Tottenham 3-0 Coventry

I said: 3-1

AVB didn't quite field a team of kids and reserves against the Sky Blues, but I think he got the selection right. He was able to give a few fringe players the chance to impress, he used his substitutions wisely and Spurs could still win with some to spare. I believe that Villas-Boas has learnt from his time at Chelsea significantly and I think he's growing into a world-class manager, certainly as a tactician. I suppose it's easy to say this after they've beaten a team like Coventry 3-0 but I think in the long-term, Tottenham under AVB have the potential to contend for the title.

Wigan 1-1 Bournemouth

I said: 2-0

West Ham 2-2 Man Utd

I said: 0-2

I watched the game, and that glorious pass from Ryan Giggs just shows you how much experienced deep-lying playmakers, such as Pirlo, Xavi, Lampard, Giggs and Scholes amongst others still have to offer their teams. The weight of it was inch perfect and it was a clinical finish from the classy Robin van Persie. Good to see Joe Cole do well on his debut as I would have thought he'd have lost a lot of his fitness by now, but I fully expect United to do the job in the replay.

Match preview: Leeds v Blues (FA Cup 3rd Round)

To me, this game feels like a win-win situation for us. If we win, then it would do wonders for the young players’ confidence levels going into the second half of the season, and a run in the cup could be just the job to coat what has been a woefully miserable season for us with a little bit of cheer. But if we lose, then it will free up the fixture list a little and make it easier for our ever-diminishing squad, allowing us to focus entirely on getting our league form right, which is the most important thing.

Looking back…

A brave performance against a Premiership calibre team, I think, in Cardiff, in a match in which our battling display warranted a point. The commitment was there for all to see, I reckon the advantage of not having an out-and-out striker on the pitch, was that we could make ourselves very compact in midfield and make it difficult for Cardiff to find a way through. Ultimately, we lost to a simple mistake from Butland, because we controlled the match for spells and played some excellent football.

It was obvious to anyone who watched the game that we were badly missing our front men, to some extent Lovenkrands and Zigic, but certainly Marlon King. King has provided us with some clinical finishing and priceless experience in front of goal, which certainly wasn’t evident with Redmond and Morrison. Redmond actually played well I thought, he ran around a lot and tried to make a nuisance of himself, but there were too many instances in which we had the ball on the edge of their area and we tried to pass the ball in. He’s certainly not the long-term answer to our forward crisis. The two young lads’ natural positions were on the wing/attacking midfield, so they were used to playing with a striker to run onto their passes, not being the main forward.

Gomis had a good game when he came on for Reilly, and I’d like to see him be given more first team opportunities. Robinson looked solid at left-back and I greatly prefer him in defence to the inexperienced Mitch Hancox, who for all his endeavour, doesn’t have enough positional discipline and timing for tackles which Robinson has in abundance. To be fair to Caldwell, he had one of his better games, but that hasn’t changed my opinion on his lack of pace yet.

Team News

As Hall and Jervis are cup tied, Marcel Henry-Francis and Reece Hales step in from the academy to be in the squad. I really hope those young lads get our full support. With kids, if as fans you support them, they will run through brick walls for the team, because they can provide the team with that extra bit of energy, the secret weapon factor and have the ability to go out and scare people. What I’m asking for, is for us to stay behind them whatever happens, because making a debut for the team at as daunting an atmosphere as Elland Road will be an intimidating experience, but we’ve produced some good players through our youth academy, and hopefully Henry-Francis and Hales will be two more to add to our collection.

Regardless of whether Butland gets a transfer away, I’d like to see Doyle get a game. He’s been incredibly patient, not just this season, but to be at the club for what now must be approaching 10 years shows tremendous loyalty, and he needs the match practice, only having played 1 game all season. I’ve said before that I believe Caldwell needs a rest and Ibanez maybe deserves a run in the team and I still think that, I’d also like to see Spector in central midfield. In a previous article I did some research that showed we seem to perform a lot better when the American is in the centre, he’s the answer to our defensive midfield problems in my opinion. The tenacity and work rate he brings to the team would be slightly wasted at right-back, and Will Packwood has done well enough in that position to become a regular there. I know Mullins is injured at the moment, but I’d much prefer to have Packwood at right-back allowing Spector to move into midfield which is his best position, then have Mullins in central midfield and have Spector filling in as a versatile defender. He’s too good at dominating the midfield to play in defence.

If it were me picking the team, I’d select:

Doyle; Packwood, Davies, Pablo, Robinson; Gomis, Spector; Burke, Morrison, Redmond; Henry-Francis

A bit about Leeds

Founded as ‘Leeds City’ back in 1919, the Whites are a club with an impressive history. They’ve been playing in England’s top flight for the majority of it, and enjoyed probably their most successful period in the 1960/70s. Don Revie was appointed manager in March 1961 with the club in a precarious position financially, and was able to just about keep the club in the second division for two years, narrowly avoiding relegation on the last day in 1962.

Having achieved that, the lack of funding he had available meant that he needed to take Leeds through a transition phase and build through the academy. The likes of Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer arrived at the club as teenagers, they were to become the core of Revie’s successful side, that was to be champions of England in 1969 and 1974, and runners-up several more times.

The respect they gained for their success however, was distorted by their dirty tactics. In one interview, Don Revie admitted that they were are team that “played for results”. Although I must point out, there’s a difference between playing for results and elbowing players in the face, punching them in the kidneys and then rolling over pretending to be injured, as were the strategies Revie implemented, which resulted in the teams nickname: ‘dirty Leeds’.

In 1974, Revie left Leeds in favour of the England job. Brian Clough, who had criticised and outwardly spoken of his hatred for Leeds previously as manager of Derby, was famously appointed and he was to last just 44 days in the job, due to the friction between him and the players. His short stint at the club in fact inspired the David Peace book ‘the Damned United’, later made into a film.

Leeds weren’t to become a major force in English football again until 1992, when an effective midfield quartet of David Batty, Gary McAllister, Gary Speed and Gordon Strachan helped them to win the top division title. It was only to be a short-term success however, as Leeds flirted with European football in the years after that, but the club ended up in debt. Chairman Peter Ridsdale invested heavily in the club to push for playing in the Champions League and reap the benefits of TV money, but this backfired. Players like Seth Johnson arrived at the club on big transfer fees and wages, but failing to qualify for the Champions League meant that they couldn’t afford to pay it and went into a decline.

In 2004, they were relegated from the Premiership and had to sell their big assets, such as Alan Smith, Paul Robinson and Mark Viduka amongst others for reduced fees. Though they showed signs of recovery by reaching the play-off final in 2006, they lost 3-0 to Watford and were in fact relegated the following season.

Because of going into administration, they had to start the 2007-08 campaign with a 15pt deduction in league 1 and many were unsure whether the club would ever see the light of day in the Premier League again. However, they were more than able to rebuild in league 1 and despite the points deduction, they actually reached the play-offs that season. They were promoted back to the Championship in dramatic circumstances on the last match of the season in 2010 under Simon Grayson, having found a potent goalscorer in Jermaine Beckford.

Now, they are out of debt, they look to have established themselves in the Championship, and have exciting new owners from Dubai, as they look to plan to find a route back into the Premier League.

Leeds’ recent form

Not being able to convert what they can do at home, onto the road has been their main problem. They’ve won each of their last 5 home matches in the Championship, so Elland Road looks a fortress. However, they’ve lost 5 of their last 6 away games and if they want to make a promotion push, being able to grind out results away from home will be their biggest challenge.

Their defensive record leaves much to be desired. They’ve conceded 42 goals so far this season, which is more than any other team in the top 16 of the Championship and averages 1.6 per game. Knowing this, and the fact that they’re just outside the play-offs, you might expect Leeds to be prolific goalscorers. However, they’ve in fact only scored 38 goals which is less than the number they’ve conceded- the reason they are where they are is mainly down to not having drawn many games.

The dangerman

Luciano Becchio is by a long way Leeds’s top scorer with 18 goals this season in all competitions. Having come through the youth academy at Argentine side Boca Juniors, he moved to Spain to go to a number of clubs including the Barcelona B team, before Leeds snapped him up having impressed on a trial.

He’s never looked back, having scored a respectable 76 goals in 190 games for Leeds. He looks well on target to grab himself 30 goals this campaign, and at 29 he’s little past the peak of his career. He’s added a lot of quality to this Leeds team, and he’s the man us Blues fans should fear the most when he gets ball in the box.

Previous meeting

In late August 2002, Blues hosted Leeds in search of their first league win of the season. They hadn’t had the easiest of times finding their Premiership feet, but showed signs of promise early-season. They kept the score respectable in a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on the opening day, disappointingly lost 1-0 at home to Blackburn the following week, but nearly won at Everton on the Wednesday night before this game, had it not been for a late deflected goal. Leeds had made an inconsistent start, having beaten Man City and West Brom 3-0 and 3-1 respectively in their first two matches, but they then lost 1-0 at home to struggling Sunderland the next week.

Blues were dominant for most of the first half, with Savage and Cisse beginning to form a forceful midfield partnership. We got our reward with half an hour gone from a corner, when Robbie Savage gave Paul Devlin a lay-off, Devs hitting a beautifully curled, powerful but accurate first-time shot from the edge of the area past Robinson. Incidentally, Devlin is currently still playing football for non-league side Romulus, at the age of 40. Into the second half, and Leeds found a response. Some neat football between Viduka and Lee Bowyer allowed the latter to slice a nice chip past Nico Vaesen to bring the visitors back onto level terms. That wasn’t to be the last we’d hear about either of those players, as Viduka has scored some 7 goals against us in his career when playing for Leeds, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, and         Lee Bowyer was to play for Blues later in his career. We managed to win the game thanks to a marvellous one-two between Stern John and Damien Johnson, who clipped a confident, looping right-foot first time into the far corner.

Blues and Leeds were to finish close to each other that season despite contrasting expecting, and this result may have been the springboard for both. Terry Venables soon realised that his team were in decline and unable to get into Europe, whilst Blues got their first win of the season, a fantastic confidence booster that proved we could more than hold our own at this level.

My prediction

The last thing I want from this game is a draw, with the number of injuries we’ve picked up we really don’t need more games. I’m hoping that we can go up there and put in a good performance like we did against Cardiff, Clark taking a completely careless approach going into this game wouldn’t be fair on the fans who had travelled up, and a win would give us some much needed belief that we can kick on and improve our league form. However, I won’t be too distraught if we lose it, because we could do without the distractions and fitness strains on our small squad that it could potentially bring. I’m going to go with 3-1 to Leeds, but there will be more pressing issues on our mind than the FA Cup.

My FA Cup 3rd round predictions

Happy New Year Scorers!

I genuinely hope that 2013 brings you all the success you can wish for and if it's anything like 2012 was for British sport, then it should be a cracking year. I've had a bit of a Christmas break lately but I'm back on the saddle now, after a heavenly couple of weeks of mulled wine, minced pies and long films.

For a bit of fun, well, this is my idea of fun, I thought I'd do a concise preview of and predict all 32 FA Cup 3rd round games this weekend. Let's have it...

Brighton v Newcastle

I can really see an odds upset here. Brighton have had longer to prepare for this and are off the back of a 3-0 win at Ipswich, whereas Newcastle may have hard time against Everton on Wednesday and have had a lot of injuries. A brave shout to open with I know, but: 2-0 Brighton.

Aldershot v Rotherham

An all League 2 clash. With promotion far from in the bag for the Millers (that's Rotherham by the way), they'll have their league form at the forefront of their minds, whereas Aldershot are at home and are far enough from relegation to afford a run in the cup. 1-0 the Shots.

Aston Villa v Ipswich

Ipswich lost heavily to Brighton on Tuesday, but before that they were in great form under Mick McCarthy. Villa could have the Carling Cup semi-final more prominently on their minds, so they may rotate where possible and they haven't got too much strength in depth with their young team. Will say a win for Villa just about, 2-1.

Barnsley v Burnley

Burnley, sat slap-bang midtable of the Championship, will want a Cup run to avoid a season of near boredom, whereas Barnsley will probably think there to be enough chance of them staying up to take a run in the cup off their priority list. Burnley have got the division's top scorer in Austin injured though, so they won't win by more than 0-2.

Blackburn v Bristol City

Like Barnsley, Bristol City will want to focus on getting out of trouble and like Burnley, Blackburn are mid-table and need a cup run to add some excitement to their season. They've just signed Josh King permanently from Man United and they won their last match 3-0. I'm thinking a repeat of that scoreline for them on Saturday.

Bolton v Sunderland

Yet another club languishing in Championship mid-table are Bolton, who have underachieved this season and promotion ambitions for them will have to be put on hold until next season. Sunderland are starting to find their feet under O'Neill, both teams have talented attacking players so I reckon this could be an entertaining game. 2-2.

Charlton v Huddersfield

These are 2 more clubs in the same position in the Championship, mid-table  who're only 2 places away from each other. Huddersfield concede a lot of goals away from home and lost 6-1 at Leicester in the week, so I think Chris Powell's side will get the better of them. 2-0.

Crawley v Reading

Crawley seem to quite like this competition. They will have fond memories of reaching the fifth round and keeping it down to 1-0 at Old Trafford 2 years ago, and did the same again the next season, reaching the fifth round, twice beating Championship opposition before losing to Premier League Stoke. They can score goals with Billy Clarke in their team so I reckon relegation-threatened Reading will have a hard time, 2-2.

Crystal Palace v Stoke

Palace are averaging closer to 3 home goals per game than 2 and always look a threat with Zaha and Murray in their team. Stoke's defence hasn't looked so tight in recent weeks as it is notorious for being, so Palace can get something from the game, and potentially win it. 1-1 is my prediction though.

Derby v Tranmere

Tranmere have the ability to cause a mini-shock here, they've won their last 3 matches, but then Derby are at home. As Tranmere have tightened up greatly since they lost 5-0 to Swindon, I think they'll keep a clean sheet and take the Rams up to Liverpool, for a replay at Prenton Park. 0-0.

Fulham v Blackpool

Both teams can definately afford to go for this and I think both will come out in this game all guns blazing, which would make for a cracking contest. Berbatov was instrumental in Fulham's win at West Brom, and I think he may be the star of the show again for this one, I'll go 3-2.

Hull v Leyton Orient

Hull are looking in good nick at the moment- they've taken 17pts from their last 7 games and are up to 2nd in the Championship table. Bruce has clearly continued their best defensive record in the league of last season, they look a good shout for promotion. Don't think the Orient will really make them sweat. A comfortable 2-0.

Leeds v Birmingham

I'm not going to this but I don't mind either way really. A cup run would be nice to fill this woeful season with some cheer, but getting more consistent with our league form has to be the priority. Warnock has been known not to favour cup competitions so much, I just hope this doesn't end in a draw- with so many injuries, a replay is the last thing we need. 3-1 Leeds.

Leicester v Burton Albion

A sort of local derby, but the gulf between these teams suggests that Burton will be more bothered about Leicester than Leicester are of them. The Brewers are off the back of a 3-0 thumping at York City, and if they lose by 3 to a team like that, then you'd worry for them about the much greater threat that Leicester will pose. 4-0.

Luton v Wolves

I can't believe that I'm going as far as researching non-league football for my predictions, but here goes. Luton are currently 5th in the Conference, but recently lost 3-1 to Woking. Wolves seem to be very much struggling for consistency in the Championship, and things have grown a little worse lately as they've lost their last 3. I'm going for a Wolves win, but by no means at a canter, 0-1.

Macclesfield v Cardiff

In some ways, Cardiff can afford to go for the cup run. They've got a great history in the competition and promotion to the English top flight for the first time in 51 years is looking increasingly likely. Then again, the fantastic strength in depth of their attack means that they can probably rotate in this game and still win it with some to spare anyway, as they play a distinctly average conference side in Macclesfield. 0-3.

Man City v Watford

Out of the Champions League. Out of the Carling Cup. A second title is looking unlikely. This is probably Mancini's best chance of a trophy this season, and I've got a feeling he'll field almost his strongest line-up. Italian-style Watford are looking good under Zola, but they'll have nothing like what is required to stop City. I'm going to go as far as 5-0.

Middlesbrough v Hastings Utd

To be honest, I didn't even know Hastings United existed as a club before now. Middlesbrough will have not so happy memories of non-league cup scalps when a guy called Gez Murphy scored a late penalty to equalize for Nuneaton Borough a few years ago. Anyone else remember that? No, is it just me? Hastings are hardly thriving in the Ryman Premier League though, they're 17th and have drawn their last 6 matches. I think I'm going to be kind to them, because it will be the biggest day of their footballing lives, and I think they'll rise to the occassion, put in a good shift and keep the score respectable at 2-0.

Millwall v Preston

Preston look to be on course for another season of obscurity, as they sit midtable in League 1. Millwall did win their last match but their quest for a play-off spot seems to be slipping away a little bit. Both are fairly well organized teams and I reckon it could be a bore draw, so 0-0.

Nottingham Forest v Oldham

The Forest board were stupid to sack O'Driscoll, especially with the team not far off the play-offs, and they hardly had grand season ambitions. Their 3-0 defeat to Blackburn shows the tough job McLeish has ahead of him, and as a Blues fan, I genuinely, sincerely hope he fails miserably. Oldham don't look like a side capable of causing a scalp at the moment, though. 1-0 Forest win.

Oxford Utd v Sheff Utd

Sheffield United's 2-2 draw with Doncaster epitomizes how close the promotion race will be, and really I don't think Danny Wilson will be overly concerned about success in the Cup. If he rotates his team for this one, then actually I reckon the game is set up nicely for Oxford to do the damage, because they've won their last 4 games in all competitions. 2-1.

Peterborough v Norwich

There are 6 teams more likely to go down with Reading and QPR than Norwich, and a Cup run would certainly add gloss to the wonderful season they've had so far - which promised so little in September - and the job Chris Hughton has done. They might have lost their last 4 but those were away matches, and home ones against top teams. Posh are in good form, as they've amassed 9 from 4, so this could be close. 0-1.

QPR v West Brom

If Harry genuinely believes QPR can stay up - which I don't think he does, what was he supposed to say in the interview: "yes, we're probably doomed"? - then a run in the cup may actually provide them with some much needed impetus. It could have a fitness-based disadvantage, but the players need to get that winning mentality, winning feeling back to stand a chance. West Brom are safe, though their last win in fact coming in this fixture a few days ago, QPR will go into it with revenge on their mind. 2-0.

Sheff Wed v MK Dons

Should be interesting to see the outcome of this match. The Dons managed to stop their rot of 2 defeats when they won at Notts County on New Year's Day, Wednesday's revival looks to have been put on hold when they lost at home to Burnley. It could go either way, but I'm going with Karl Robinson's side to record a surprise 1-2 away win.

Southampton v Chelsea

The domestic cups are Chelsea's only hopes of a trophy this season, after they failed to win the Super Cup and the Club World Cup as a result of having won the Champions League. Avoiding relegation will be the Saints' biggest concern, so I think a comfortable win for Chelsea. 1-3.

Southend v Brentford

Despite being a league apart, these teams are in similar positions to each other. Both teams are trying to make a promotion push in their respective leagues, though a play-off place seems the most likely outcome for both. They've both got clinical goalscorers, Britt Assombalonga (remember the name) already has 11 for Southend and Brentford's Clayton Donaldson is the League 1 second top scorer. However, neither have won either of their last 2, Southend have lost both and Brentford have drawn both. At the moment I'm thinking a 1-1 draw.

Tottenham v Coventry

This fixture will bring back memories if nothing else. It was the 1987 FA Cup final which saw a shock win for Coventry City, when hardman centre-back Gary Mabbut scored an own goal in extra-time, having in fact scored earlier in the game, to give the Sky Blues a historic victory. As by some way League 1's top scorer, David McGoldrick has the talent to score past not the greatest of Spurs defences, I wouldn't expect history to repeat itself. AVB's team are on a roll. 4-1.

Wigan v Bournemouth

Eddie Howe's impact as manager of Bournemouth seems to have been to make them more compact at the back- they've now kept 4 clean sheets in a row. Wigan will go into the game expecting a comprehensive win but I'm not sure they'll have things entirely their own way over the course of the game. If they don't panic, which a lot of teams do when they don't score early   against smaller clubs, and continue to create the width from the wingbacks, they can probably open up the Cherries defence eventually, but labouredly. 2-0.

West Ham v Man Utd

United will have their eye on the treble and the make-up of their team is not too dissimilar from the one that won it in '99. They've got 4 top strikers, and unlike last season, the team looks more focused going into every match, unlike last season when they blew their 8pt lead in the Premiership. I'd expect nothing like the 4-0 West Ham game that happened in this fixture in the Carling Cup a few years ago, and I'd expect Man U to prevail in this one with relative ease. 0-2.

Swansea v Arsenal

Swansea have done pretty well against Arsenal since promotion. They beat them 3-2 at the Liberty last year, and won in a shock 2-0 at the Emirates this. However, they may have half an eye on the Carling Cup semi-final, whereas Arsenal are still in desperate need of a trophy and if 4th place is starting to look unlikely for them, they may need the cup for Wenger to salvage some credibility. 0-2.

Mansfield v Liverpool

Mansfield got some excellent preparation for this game with a 3-0 win at Alfreton on Tuesday, but let's face it- Liverpool will provide a slightly different proposition. A lot of it may depend on whether Rodgers decides to rotate for this game, because Liverpool haven't got too much strength in depth, but it ought to only affect the manner in which Liverpool win, not whether or not they do. Realistically speaking I wouldn't give the Stags much of a look in, 0-3.

Cheltenham v Everton

I'm a bit undecided as to who I want to win this one. I've got some friends who support Cheltenham, but Everton are one of my favourite teams and I'm a big admirer of David Moyes. Although Cheltenham are 4th in League 2, they lost at Oxford on Tuesday, so I don't think they're set up well enough to go out and cause a shock. I reckon Everton will be typically industrious and efficient in this one, to get the job done. 0-2.

Well, those were all 32 of my predictions. Let's hope the FA Cup 3rd round produces some upsets, I have a feeling it will.