The Scores- 20/11/12

Well, there were a few surprise results this weekend, and in fact three of the teams who started saturday in the top four lost when they played, which ensured a perfect weekend for Manchester City, who avoided an upset of their own by winning 5-0. Things now look ominous for Aston Villa whom they beat and QPR, whilst Southampton showed some promise in winning the relegation six-pointer against the Rs, and Reading's win saw them climb out of the bottom three.

 

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham

I said: 1-2, +0pts

Del said: 2-1, +1pt

Rami said: 2-2, 0pts

 

 

I was actually in London on Saturday and thankfully avoided the possible trouble from being at Highbury & Islington station at 4 o'clcok, so I could be amused by the sight of a group of Arsenal fans singing: "the same as last year, the same as last year, you're f*cking useless, the same as last year". 

 

I'm have to say, I'm not entirely sure what AVB was doing saying "we keep a smiles on our faces, because I thought we we're excellent... we controlled most of the match" when they clearly didn't. If I was in his position, the first thing I'd want to do is apologise to the fans and let the players know that they weren't good enough, making comments like he did certainly won't help him get the respect of his team. West Ham will be a massive game for them next week to get back into the race for 4th.

 

On the other hand, this will be a very pleasing result for Arsenal, who will be hoping that win can give them the confidence they need to get their season back on track- the same as last year. One who says they can still win the title after that result would be being a little too reactionary in my opinion, and I think significant investment is required soon in world-class players if they want to do that.

 

Liverpool 3-0 Wigan

I said: 0-0, +0pts

Del said: 2-1, +1pt

Rami said: 1-0, +1pt

 

 

That was an important win for Liverpool. For the first time in their season, they've managed to follow up an encouraging result with a win straight afterwards to back it up, and because of the internationals in midweek, and also you never quite know which Wigan team will turn up, it could have not turned out to be their day. Again, I'm not going to jump to conclusions and say that they are going to start firing now, because they've got very difficult trips to Swansea and Tottenham coming up and getting a winning streak together will be vital to their confidence.

 

I do think the team is fully behind Brendan Rodgers by the looks of things though, which is good to see, but would worry about where the goals would come from if either Suarez gets injured or he decides to leave the club, and they are unable to replace him with the same quality. They might not be a one man team but he's the only world-class player they have, he carries that team.

 

Wigan, they've got big clashes coming up at home to Reading and QPR, and only 2pts above the drop zone, they now need to approach their forthcoming fixtures with a renewed sense of urgency. It does make you realise what a difference two weeks can make in football, because when the Latics won at Spurs I thought they'd be completely fine, relegation-wise but in that time you can lose 6pts on teams and the whole complexion of your season can change.

 

Man City 5-0 Aston Villa

I said: 2-0, +1pt

Del said: 2-0, +1pt

Rami said: 3-0, +1pt

 

 

The only really surprising aspect about this game was the distance by which Manchester City won. From what I saw, I think 5-0 probably flattered the Citizens a little bit, Joe Hart had to make a couple of good saves in the first half and Villa's young defence stood pretty firm against most Man City attacks. Their resistance was broken before half-time though, when David Silva forced the ball over the line in what was a bit of scramble, and then after the interval a disputed penalty decision went in City's favour, which Aguero converted with ease- that seemed to open the floodgates.

 

With Man United and Chelsea losing, Manchester City fans couldn't have wished for a better weekend and in many ways this is ideal preparation for two massive games. Firstly their battle to stay in Europe against Real Madrid on Wednesday, and their crucial game at Chelsea on the Sunday.

 

Aston Villa will want to get this hard run of games over with as soon as possible. They've been a little unlucky in the matches against Manchester clubs - certainly in terms of the extent to which City won - they've also got Arsenal coming up but after that Reading, QPR and Stoke will be the true test of whether they are relegation material. Given their inexperience, it looks as though they could be.

 

Newcastle 1-2 Swansea

I said: 2-0, +0pts

Del said: 1-1, +0pts

Rami said: 1-1, +0pts

 

 

It's a second successive home defeat for Newcastle, and they've got to put that to bed soon because they only actually sit 5pts from the relegation zone. I probably don't think there is a genuine danger they will go down, but I say that more as a reflection on how they've underperformed this season than anything else. They will without doubt have had ambitions to be in the top half and, without disrespecting the likes of West Ham and Swansea, these are teams they should normally be beating at home. I agree that football isn't always as black and white (an appropriate phrase as it's Newcastle) as that, but they can't have too many more bad days at the office.

 

I did worry about Swansea this season, I thought they might suffer from a bit of second-season-syndrome, there was a change of manager which could have disrupted them, but to be 10th now is actually an improvement on last season. 7pts clear at this stage is a fantastic achievement, but they've got a run of tough games coming up so they won't want to rest on their laurels by any means at all.

 

QPR 1-3 Southampton

I said: 3-3, +0pts

Del said: 2-0, +0pts

Rami said: 2-2, +0pts

 

 

I'm afraid Hughes has got to go now. In some respects if he does get the sack, I wonder if this result might benefit QPR in the long-run, because it'll mean they get a new manager in quickly, who then has more time to change things around. If they drew this, he might have hung around for a bit longer and the team won't have got that rejuvenation they need to get playing properly.

 

Contrastly, that was a massive win for Southampton, who have got two home games coming up against stuttering Newcastle and Norwich, who are in form, but will hardly need the points as much. They are just 1pt from safety now and can easily climb out of the drop-zone. The self-belief and ability to score goals is evidently still with the Saints, which is always important.

 

Reading 2-1 Everton

I said: 2-2, +0pts

Del said: 1-2, +0pts

Rami said: 1-3, +0pts

 

 

I did think it was only a matter of time that Reading got their first win, but thought beating Everton was too much for tall order. What's more, when Steven Naismyth tapped in to gain an early lead for the Toffees, I was struggling to see Reading getting anything. A couple of goals from Adam Le Fondre though, proved his goalscoring credentials at the top level after being in the lower leagues for so long, and meant Everton dropped to 5th after West Brom won, and the Royals climbed out of the relegation zone at Aston Villa's expense.

 

Following this result, I reckon it'll be interesting to see how the season pans out for these clubs. After more draws than defeats but still being in the relegation zone before today, Reading probably deserved to get their first win of the season at some point, but it'll just make the relegation battle even more interesting. At the moment I wouldn't be prepared to declare any of the bottom 7-or-so teams safe and if QPR do sack Hughes, none of the bottom three teams relegated. I think it'll be pretty close right to the end.

 

For Everton, they should be worried about Arsenal's massive win over Tottenham more than West Brom, who I'm sure won't be anywhere near 4th come the end of the season. They've hit form at exactly the wrong time from the Toffees's point of view, because Arsenal go to Everton in a week or so and this will be a massive test of their resolve to hold onto that Champions League place. Though Moyes has done a wonderful job for us to even be talking about Everton getting 4th, I wonder if it might be too much for them.

 

West Brom 2-1 Chelsea

I said: 1-0, +1pt

Del said: 2-2, +0pts

Rami said: 1-2, +0pts

 

 

The fact that all three of us predicted different outcomes for this match shows you just how tough a game this was going to be for Chelsea. They will have also had half an eye on the game in Turin midweek, plus the big match against Man City after that, and West Brom pounced.

 

Di Matteo felt the need to rotate his team a little bit, which was a risk playing away to a team with the form West Brom are in. My own opinion is that he should have rotated the side earlier on in the season, playing the first 11 in all the Champions League group games and Carling Cup matches against Wolves and Man Utd was bound to catch up with the team at some point. I think this shows quite a bit of shortsightedness from Di Matteo- at this level you simply have to rotate the squad at times, partly to keep all 25 players happy, playing the same people means there's no sense of healthy competition or motivation, but also they can't keep players fresh and at their best like that. They will inevitably suffer at times later on in the season.

 

Let's take nothing away from the awe-inspiring Baggies though. I could wax lyrical about the job Steve Clarke has done here but to be 4th in the table at this stage, when I had them as a potential team for relegation, is beyond all supporters' wildest dreams. Actually, given that Chelsea play Man City next week and West Brom have a more winnable game against Sunderland, they could potentially overtake the Blues and go up to 3rd! The title race is on. It's sensational stuff.

 

Norwich 1-0 Man Utd

I said: 0-2, +0pts

Del said: 0-3, +0pts

Rami said: 0-2, +0pts

 

 

It seems to be one shock result after another at the moment! Chris Hughton's Canaries are now unbeaten in six games in all competitions, and if they can avoid defeat at Everton, they have then got 5 Premiership matches against teams in the bottom half of the table. Like Clarke at the Albion, Hughton has come to Norwich under a lot of pressure to replace Lambert, but he's done a brilliant job. He's a great manager and I hope he gets a bigger job if he finishes at Norwich because he really deserves it. When he's been at Newcastle, Birmingham and Norwich he's always got that extra 10% out of teams and knows just how to motivate them.

 

A word on Manchester United. I don't want to say too much about this result having a knock-on effect for their season, because my opinion on who will win the title seems to change depending on whoever is top! It's only 1pt difference between them and City which will probably all change next week, when United have got QPR at home and City go to Chelsea. In fact, that's the best possible combination of fixtures for the Red Devils, so for the moment they are still my tip to win the title. But on the whole, no matter how well Norwich might have played, this is still a terrible result for United.

 

Fulham 1-3 Sunderland

I said: 1-0, +0pts

Del said: 2-2, +0pts

Rami said: 2-1, +0pts

 

 

I probably wouldn't go as far as saying this was a shock result, but it is a bit of a baffling one that few would have predicted. Sunderland nearly doubled the number of away goals they've scored all season in this one game, away to Fulham, who are normally pretty strong at home, and had earnt creditable draws with Everton and Arsenal in previous weeks.

 

The result puts more pressure on the teams in the bottom third of the division, because defeat for Sunderland would have put their name well into the relegation mixer - they would have been level on points with Reading and Aston Villa - but the win means they are 3pts clear of the drop zone, and also have favourable fixtures coming up.

 

Fulham will be disappointed with the result, and with much more difficult fixtures such as Stoke, Chelsea and Tottenham to come, it might be difficult for them to stay in the top half until January.

West Ham 1-1 Stoke
I said: 0-0, +1pt
Del said: 2-1, +0pts
Rami said: 1-1, +3pts

 

So, let's have a look at the scores. This has certainly been a weekend for surprise results; there have been five games in which none of us got any points, so lets see:

 

 

Del

Correct results- 3

Perfect scorelines- 0

Points- 3

 

Myself

Correct results- 3

Perfect scorelines- 0

Points- 3

 

Rami

Correct results- 1

Perfect scorelines- 1, West Ham 1-1 Stoke

Points- 4

 

It's not been a great week for either of us in terms of points, because none of the games went according to our expectations - the Man City-Villa game being the only one we all got right but few would have had the audacity to go as far as 5-0 - but the fact that you can never tell what's about to happen in football is what makes this beautiful game so beautiful. For getting the Monday night game between West Ham and Stoke right, Rami is this weeks prediction winner with 5pts, and myself and Del finish joint-last with 3pts each.

If you'd like to join in this predictions game for next week, send us your predictions plus a small comment on some of them to:

 

sutton.thescore@gmail.com

 

And I'll put yours' up. Until then, it's goodbye.

Premiership predictions- 15/11/12

Good evening scorers. Well after a disappointing performance, as always, from England in Sweden on Wednesday night, let's look to put that behind us and focus on the positives: it's not got the dullness of a full international weekend and we've got 10 action-packed games coming up for you...

 

The race for 4th looks set to become clearer after the North London derby is over, Liverpool look to build on their point at Chelsea by beating inconsistent Wigan, it's another Manchester club for Villa as they go to the Etihad, the Magpies attempt to paddle out the Swans at St. James's Park, the fight down at the bottom will intensify when QPR slug it out with Southampton, Everton look to hold onto their Champions League place when they travel to the Madjeski, Chelsea, 3pts off the top, surely can't afford any slip-ups at Clarke-inspired West Brom, Man United need to stay top of the table when they face a promising Norwich team in the day's teatime kickoff, Sunderland's slippery slide down the table need to stop - suddenly - at Fulham, and we have the Monday night game that shows admittedly a little less promise, when 4-5-1 long-ball merchants West Ham and Stoke play each other at their own game. Shall we continue?

 

Arsenal vs. Tottenham

Del says: 2-1

Rami says: 2-2
 

To some extent, this match for both teams is about them picking themselves up. Arsenal won't quite know what hit them last week, when they threw away a 2-goal lead against Fulham and missed a penalty to win it in the dying seconds, but then everyone will forget about that if they win this. Olivier Giroud did score a couple of goals last week which might boost his confidence a little, but from what I've seen of him so far this season, he's in as close a league to Marouane Chamakh as Robin Van Persie- he is good, but he's not that good, bearing in mind Arsenal really needed a like-for-like replacement.

 

What won't help Tottenham is that Giroud's international custodian, Hugo Lloris's claims he may leave the club in January due to a lack of first team action. Yes, I personally think Villas-Boas should have fielded him ahead of Friedel, who's now 40, after signing Lloris for £15-odd-million in the summer, but as a player you have to respect your manager's decisions. I also heard he's the France captain- it certainly shows a lot of unprofessionalism for someone who captains their country.

 

Tottenham I thought were a little unlucky to lose the game at Man City but whenever they  win a run of games under AVB they always seem to lose one to knock themselves back a peg, losing at home to Wigan the week before was without doubt a poor result before the City game; they need to get some consistency back if they want to stay with Everton in the race for 4th. 

 

I'm having a tough time calling this one, because neither side look red hot at the moment. They both clearly lack a holding midfielder; Dembele is out for Tottenham and Wenger tends to prefer a more creative midfield with Arsenal, Tottenham's strengths lie in attacking mid as well, so I'm predicting a few missed chances in a pretty open North London derby, that my gut instinct is telling me, if a little timidly, that Tottenham will win 2-1.

 

Liverpool vs. Wigan

Del says: 2-1

Rami says: 1-0
 

Both teams are struggling to get any sort of rythym to their season. I think Liverpool have to win this match if they want to take many positives from this campaign, for the long-term. I think this because a little bit like Tottenham, there have been a few results this season such as the August draw with City, the 5-3 at Young Boys, the 5-2 at Norwich where you think: 'great, they're up and running under Rodgers' but then they can't seem to follow up those results with another win, which is always so important. Again, they got a promising-looking point at Chelsea last week, coming from behind as well, but I'm not going to believe that they're back on track yet until they can put a run of wins together, and even then I don't think European football next season is a realistic short-term aim for them.

What the Reds should be worried about, is that Wigan lost their last game. Martinez's side can be so inconsistent, then again, sometimes they're not inconsistent- they're inconsistently inconsistent. Granted West Brom are doing quite well at the moment, but after the Latics won at Spurs, I really expected them to beat the Baggies at the DW, who had based most of their successes this season on home form. But they didn't put in a strong enough performance and conceded two sloppy goals in the first half, and Kone's goal just before half-time didn't provoke the second-half Wigan onslaught many anticipated. I can't see this being a relegation-related problem for Wigan though, because they have that ability to turn on the style now and again and produce wins out of thin air.

My initial thought for this was 2-1 to Liverpool, but I've had a change of heart. I'm going to go for 0-0, with a few key Liverpool players playing for their countries in midweek it could just be a frustrating afternoon for them, they don't really get enough players into the box at the moment, and Wigan will know they need to up their game after last week, which I think they'll do.

Man City vs. Aston Villa
Del says: 2-0
Rami says: 3-0

This is a comparitively easier one for me to call; I did think Man City were stuttering this season, they somehow haven't looked quite as fresh and vitalised as they did last season, but they are unbeaten this year, they've at least shown a fair bit of grit and determination to come from behind to win at places like Fulham, West Brom, earlier on who've got strong home records and then to do so again beating Tottenham. Despite my lingering doubts about Mancini, they'll be right up there at the end of the season, that's for sure.

Aston Villa fans would do well to remember not to wind-up Mario Balotelli as they did in this fixture last season, when he got himself a goal after a confrontation with one of their fans and then nearly scored an overhead kick! Lambert's side put in a good performance against Manchester United last week, and unbiasedly (as a Blues fan) I think they can take a great deal of heart from that performance, but they needed to go 15/20 minutes without conceding after they got their second goal to properly see the game out. Then again, it's always difficult to do against United, especially with the fantastic attacking options they've got from the bench. They maybe need a little bit more experience in midfield because effectively their team consists of the best young players from the football league and they're a bit like a newly-promoted side in some respects. That calculated but risky gamble with transfer policy from Lambert might cost them points due to lack of experience in the short-term but I like his approach.

I do think Dzeko deserves a start, and could see him getting a couple of goals if he plays. People say that he's best left as a supersub but my own opinion is, if he scores the goals, why not give him the games? You can always revert to just putting him back on the bench if it doesn't work out, but why overcomplicate it? The reality is though, that they've got 4 quality strikers in their ranks and I'm sure whoever Mancini plays will do the business. 2-0.

Newcastle vs. Swansea
Del says: 1-1
Rami says: 1-1

Newcastle may well be frustrated with their performance against West Ham last week. That was strictly speaking the sort of match they should be winning if they want to stay in the top half of the table, particularly at home, but then the Hammers now under Allardyce's mould are proving to be a tough cookie and the Thursday night game in Brugge won't have the Magpies either, so I guess if I was a Newcastle fan I'd be prepared to write that off as a bad day at the office- as long as the team can bounce back.

Swansea have done something quite important in the first quarter-or-so of the season, that something being: they've steadied the ship. They got off to a start that saw them fly through the roof in August with massive wins, they then lost a few games in September which gave their season a bit of a sinking feel, but since then they've won a game, lost a game, and drawn a few. Which is fine, and it just means they've found their place in the season- to be sitting midtable and 7pts off the drop zone at this stage is very impressive for a side only promoted in the last couple of years and has had to deal with the manager shift. Plus the £15 million received for Sinclair may loosen up the pursestrings a bit in January. Things look promising for Swansea.

On the whole though, I think I'll go for a Newcastle win. They've had a whole week to prepare for this game without the distractions the Europa League games bring with them, and they need to get back to winning ways. I'll say 2-0.

QPR vs. Southampton
Del says: 2-0
Rami says: 2-2

Realistically speaking, if they want to stay up, a draw won't be good enough for either side. I think we're now beyond the stage where teams can be disappointed with a result, but relatively encouraged by the general performance, or concede a lot of chances and then be simply relieved to come away with a point- QPR and Saints are now 5 and 4pts off safety. Lets not kid ourselves... it's now a results business and the only result that fits the bill for these teams is a win.

A small part of me hasn't given up for the sides, because QPR have been giving more than they've got in recent weeks, putting in promising performances, but it's more important that you get what you give. I've had a change of opinion on Hughes, after the Stoke game last week I did think he should be given the chance until Christmas to turn things around but he simply hasn't got the best out of the quality players he has at his disposal- being rooted to the bottom is a very poor representation of the amount he's been allowed to spend. I think it's a case of win or else for him.

Again, I do feel that Southampton have the makings of a club that can stay in the division. I saw somewhere a few months ago that they are the 7th biggest spenders in Europe, which seems ludicrous. And that money must be coming from somewhere, because I don't get the impression that Nigel Adkins, (who by the way, should unquestionably keep his job whether Saints go down or not, in my opinion) is the kind of man to spend that money carelessly. The fact that they've got the second-highest 'goals for' rating in the bottom half of the division suggests that the introduction of a proven and experienced defender in January could really help their cause. But like QPR, they can't be happy with a draw in this game.

If these teams agree with me about the win-or-bust nature of this match, I think this has the makings of a great game of football. QPR have a lot of creativity in their midfield, Southampton have a very leaky defence but they are also more than capable of scoring goals. This prediction involves neither team getting the 3pts they need, but I'm going to go for a 3-3 thriller.

Reading vs. Everton
Del says: 0-1
Rami says: 1-3

Everton look very strong at the moment and I would say this will be a big test of Reading's Premier League credentials. The Toffees are 4th at the moment, they look like they've got goals in them so it will be a hard game for Reading, but I do think sides with the ability to stay up will make a real fight of this kind of match, turn their home ground into a fortress and run teams like Everton very close, whereas the sides that go down eventually tend to crumble in these games, show no sense of self-belief, create no chances and get flattened. I'd just be interested to see how this pans out.

The Royals got an unsatisfactory point at home to Norwich last week in yet another draw, a 6th of which from 10 games does suggest that they are involved in a lot of close matches and that they can compete with the big boys - it'll just be so frustrating for them that they can't seem to get that all-important first win in the bag. They should have had it before November time.

Everton have been playing some fantastic stuff of late, but the key for them will be how the Fellaini situation is dealt with. There's no denying he's been a big, big part of what has made that team tick the way he dominates games but he's got itchy feet saying he'd like a move to a bigger club, I wondered how long Everton would be able to hold onto him. Hopefully they can get at least £25 million for the Belgian and Moyes has done so well over the past 10 years with such a limited budget, I'd like to see what he could do with some extra financial muscle- with his scouting ability I'm sure he could find a couple or maybe even three players of Fellaini's quality long-term with that money.

On the whole, I worry that the issue with Fellaini might unsettle Everton a little bit and Reading being at home might be able to sneak another draw, but I can't quite see them winning it, so 2 goals apiece.

West Brom vs. Chelsea
Del says: 2-2
Rami says: 1-2

This game sees both managers return to their old clubs. Steve Clarke was Jose Mourinho's assistant manager when Chelsea won the league twice, and Roberto di Matteo will all too well remember managing West Brom when they lost at Chelsea 6-0 on the opening day of the season back in 2010.

I can't see a repeat of that scoreline on Saturday though, because Clarke's honeymoon period with West Brom appears to have been given extended leave, winning at Wigan last week proof that the Baggies have no intention of falling into a relegation battle after Christmas, as they now sit joint-4th in November, and some 14pts off the bottom 3.

In fact incredibly, a win for West Brom would actually take them to a point behind Chelsea, who perhaps influenced by their Carling Cup selection policy and the significance of their Champions League match with Shakhtar, have dropped 4 crucial points from winning positions in their matches with Swansea and Liverpool, in the wake of their home league defeat to Manchester United.

In essence, Chelsea can't afford any more slip-ups as City and United play teams I would expect them to beat. The Blues will probably be the favourites for this, but my heart is actually telling me this is a winnable game for West Brom, it being played at the Hawthorns. It would be a mistake for Chelsea to expect to win this game comfortably, like they did last season and lost 1-0, I can see there being a sense of de ja vu.

Norwich vs. Man Utd
Del says: 0-3
Rami says: 0-2

If I could offer one piece of advice to Chris Hughton for this match it would be: 'don't score first.' Manchester United have conceded the opening goal in 9 of their 17 games so far this season, in all competitions, of which they've won 7. They have this incredible ability that Ferguson has ingrained into the club to come from behind, but I'd be interested to see whether that continues for the rest of the season, whether they tighten up defensively, start to lose games because of complacency, or carry on coming back from being a goal down.

The one thing they aren't short of, are goalscorers. Van Persie is the league's joint-top scorer, Hernandez has been fantastic in recent weeks which were capped off by his effective hattrick at Villa Park last time out, Ferguson has evidently seen a lot in Danny Welbeck... oh yeah, and they've got Rooney. Welbeck aside in my view, they've got at least three top class strikers, and have also got so many players who can come on in the second half to make a big impact, that has been a massive advantage for them.

Norwich have been showing very positive signs of improvement recently. I remember they got a wonderfully unexpected win against Arsenal a few weeks ago, and in a way that result wouldn't have meant much if they weren't able to back it up with some good results afterwards. Creditable draws, notably when the opposition badly needed wins, away to Aston Villa and Reading sandwiched a hard-fought win at home to Stoke and the Canaries are now sitting comfortably 5pts clear of the relegation zone.

The Red Devils don't seem to be doing things the easy way at the moment, and in some ways I'd be surprised if Norwich didn't score the first goal, but I'm going to stick with Rami on this one and say they can win 2-0.

Fulham vs. Sunderland
Del says: 2-2
Rami says: 2-1

Sunderland came pretty close to taking all the points at Goodison last week, but Fellaini's late show meant they made the short journey back to Wearside empty handed. They need to stop the rot a bit; it doesn't look good that Adam Johnson's goal was the first time anyone apart from Steven Fletcher has scored for them- I just think, what would they do if he gets injured?

Sunderland's inability to score goals is part of the reason why I can't see them getting a second win of the season at Fulham, who in a similar way to West Brom and West Ham, have based their uper-midtableship this season on solid home form- in fact, they've got a better home record than Tottenham and Arsenal. Particularly the likes of Berbatov and Bryan Ruiz have provided Fulham with some guile going forward, that has seen them become the second highest goalscorers in the Premiership.

The Black Cats do have a fairly impressive defensive record, so I think they'll keep Fulham down to goal, but a moment of magic from one of the Cottager's attacking players should be enough to see them nick this game 1-0.

West Ham vs. Stoke
Del says: 1-2
Rami says: 1-1

Normally on my predictions game we finish with the 4pm Super Sunday match, which is usually a massive game involving at least one of the title contenders, but this one is on Monday night, which I don't think is really right for a weekend game but I guess it's for the TV. I don't want to sound too disrespectful to these teams, but I probably won't watch it.

West Ham certainly battled hard for the win at Newcastle, and they look very good for another season in the Premiership now- they've got almost half the number of points they'll need to stay in this league, little over a quarter of the way into the season. Despite having been freshly promoted, a top-half finish looks a more likely way for their season to go than a relegation battle does. And you've got to credit Big Sam for that.

Stoke would do well to be just a little bit more cautious, this being the first of four matches against upper-midtable teams and the 6pt gap between themselves and 18th could change in three weeks. Like West Ham, they're a tough team that are notoriously difficult to break down.

I hate to say it, but I can see this game being a series of uneventful long balls into the box into Carroll/Crouch, who both defences will probably be able to mark out of the game. I'm sorry West Ham and Stoke fans,  but I can only see a goalless draw here.

So, those are my predictions for this weekend! Good luck to you if your team is playing, I'll be away so unfortunately I won't be able to watch Birmingham City play Hull, and the return of Steve Bruce to St. Andrews. Hull are 4th in the Championship so it'll be a tough game for us, but we need to start to put some wins on the board. I'm not sure what's happening with the takeover, either.

My thanks to Del and Rami for their predictions, if you fancy joining in this game which is on every week, (or contact me for any other reason) send your predictions to:

sutton.thescore@gmail.com

Alternatively, you can follow me on twitter:

@_thescore

Have a top weekend, bye for now.
 

Premier League's overrated XI

So this is the start of a series of articles I'm going to do, where I pick a team of players in the Premier League who fit into a certain category. Ideas I've had include: bargain transfers  from that summer, worst haircuts, South American players, worst players, strangest names, baldies... the lot. I'm also open to any suggestions from you for a category I could work through.

 

Now, I've seen a few articles by people if they had to pick an XI of the most underrated players in the Premiership. I'd like to be more nit-picky and do the opposite- pick a team of the most overrated players. So here goes:

 

Goalkeeper

Brad Friedel
A lot of pundits have been giving Friedel some credit lately for keeping Hugo Lloris out of the Spurs team, but I think that's more down to misguided decisions from AVB than anything else. In Friedel's 10 games in the Premiership this season, he's conceded 16 goals - not the best average of 1.6 per game - in fact, the only time Lloris started, in the league, was the only time Tottenham kept a clean sheet. At 40, I think Friedel's too old despite making a few decent saves in recent matches, but he hasn't been able to keep any sort of consistency and I think Villas-Boas should stick with Lloris for the long-term.

Defence

Glen Johnson
A lot of people talk about Johnson being the best right-back in the Premier League, I would disagree, because whilst he gets forward a lot to support the attack, he's not the best tackler from what I've seen of him and is liable to leaving the flank vulnerable.

Rio Ferdinand
Ferdinand is often considered a bit of a no-brainer for this Manchester United team, but really that's because the likes of Vidic, Smalling and Jones aren't available and for what he has in experience, he loses somewhat in his lack of pace- the Tottenham game back in September being the prime example when the likes of Bale just walked through him. The fact that United have the 7th worst defensive record in the Premiership tells you that they need to find a replacement for Ferdinand soon.

John Terry
In a similar way to Ferdinand, John Terry has lost that little bit of pace and he's not the same player he was 2 or 3 years ago. He used to be brilliant at immediately spotting the trouble, running to the danger area and heading it away, whereas now when I've seen him he has been caught in no-man's land a few times when he goes for the headers. He's still a great leader, but not as sharp.

Patrice Evra
He's supposedly 'answered his critics' by scoring a couple of goals this season but for me that doesn't make his defensive issues redundant. His slips have indirectly cost United several goals so far this season, it's becoming a little too easy for a right-winger to beat him and I don't think he's still got the pace.

 

Midfield

Raheem Sterling
I realise how controversial this choice is, and I think to break into the Liverpool first team at the age of 17 and be regarded as a first team player there speaks volumes for him. However, I don't think he is quite as good as people say he is, and if he wasn't a local teenager I'm not sure Liverpool fans would have quite the same affection for him. From 10 games so far this season, he's not got any assists and has only scored 1 goal, and I think he'd just be regarded as another average player if he was 25 and had signed for them for £15 million, but the fact he's come through the academy and is still so young means he gets a lot of extra credit.

David Silva
He was an assist machine last season, but his precision pass for Dzeko on Sunday aside, he's hardly produced the same quality this year- he's only had 1 assist other than that from 8 Premiership games. Again, I think he's a good player and in some respects you have to be a good player to be overrated, but I think his successes from last season means people aren't judging him this year as much as his wages dictate they should.

Lee Cattermole
It's always important to have a midfielder in your team that is strong in the tackle, but in my opinion Cattermole crosses that line by some distance. He's been sent off already this season and whilst you want to intimidate your opposition to some extent, you don't want to give away silly free-kicks. People like him for his ability to get stuck in but I think the majority of his tackles are irrational and he takes about as much away from his team as he adds in my opinion.

Shinji Kagawa
So far, I don't think the Japanese international has justified his £20-odd million transfer fee. With 3 goals and assists combined, he's contributed to little more than 10% of Manchester United's Premiership goals this season and with the likes of Rooney, Cleverley, Scholes, Young, Nani, Anderson and Valencia already in the Red Devils squad, I would question whether they really needed another attack-minded midfielder, yet Ferguson has started him more often than not.

 

Attack

 

Hugo Rodallega

He's now at Fulham on ludicrously high wages, but the Colombian has only scored 24 goals from 117 Wigan games which isn't good enough when you acknowledge that he is considered by many to be a main striker. Why he was linked with a move to Arsenal or Liverpool, I don't know.
Fernando Torres

He might not be in the same situation as he was a couple of years ago when he went something like 10 games without a goal, but 4 goals from 11 games this season isn't the return you'd expect from your £50 million striker; Chelsea fans seem to be simply grateful that he isn't on a goal drought. With so many quality players now like Mata, Hazard and Oscar playing in behind him, and him being the main man up front now Drogba has gone, he should really be banging in about 25 goals a season.

Subs:

Ali Al-Habsi
Aleksandr Kolarov
Martin Kelly
Adel Taarabt
Samir Nasri
Kenwyne Jones

Manager: Roberto Mancini

So there you have it... my overrated Premier League XI. If you have any suggestions for another XI to work out, send 'em my way, either by twitter: @_thescore
Or by email: sutton.thescore@gmail.com

I'll see you all next time for the all-time most disappointing XI... the Jason Lee award.

A reflection on the weekend

Hi scorers. It's Monday morning, it's raining, the weekends is over and it's getting darker by the day. There's a lot to be pessimistic about, but in this article I endeavor to cheer you up a bit and start get you through this long week, because there's always next weekend. Hope your team won, here's a look back at the games:

Arsenal 3-3 Fulham
I said: 1-0, +0pts
Del said: 2-1, +0pts

When predicting this game, I probably didn't take enough account of the fact that Fulham are actually the second highest scorers in the entire table - the arrival of Berbatov  for the Cottagers has more than made up for the loss of Dempsey - but looked past this as Arsenal held the best defensive record in the league at the time. Having said that, once Arsenal went 2-0 up  after 20 minutes with goals from Giroud and Podolski, I thought they'd end up scoring 4 or 5 and I slightly regretted not going for a higher scoreline. With Arsenal fans having probably expected that margin of victory as well, they will have been somewhat disgruntled by Fulham scoring twice before the break - Mannone might have done better in his attempts to keep out Kacaniklic's headed equaliser - and it all seemed to fall apart for Arsenal when Dimitar Berbatov converted a penalty in the second half to put Fulham in front. Giroud tied things up for the Gunners with 10 minutes to go but Arteta's missed penalty in the last kick of the game saw Arsenal get a result which must go down as two points dropped- they are now in 8th in the table and 4pts off the final Champions League spot.

 

 

 

Everton 2-1 Sunderland

I said: 2-0, +1pt

Del said: 2-0, +1pt

Fellaini's classiness, domineering nature and skill on the ball almost single-handedly turned this match in Everton's favour with 15 minutes to play, to give them the 3pts and put them 3 and 4pts clear of Tottenham and Arsenal respectively, neither of whom won this weekend and crucially they play each other next week. The Toffees' dominance in this match paid off when the Belgian struck a sweet strike past Mignolet to cancel out Adam Johnson's first half opener, he then played a world-class flick through the legs of John O'Shea to set-up Jelavic who brilliantly placed the ball in the far corner. A brilliant turnaround win for Everton was no less than what they deserved really, and with games against Reading and Norwich prior to Arsenal's visit of Merseyside, David Moyes might well feel confident of holding onto that 4th spot until Christmas.

 

 

 

Reading 0-0 Norwich

I said: 0-2, +0pts

Del said: 1-1, +1pt

I went a little bit with my gut instinct on this one, with Norwich's recent form and the fact that the pressure was all on Reading, but despite me predicting an away win, this is a much better point for Norwich than it is for the Royals. Them being 5pts clear of the relegation zone and having beaten Stoke last week, meant they could be comfortably satisfied with a draw here, whereas Reading are without a win so far this season, and badly needed the 3pts. To be fair to them, they've drawn 6 and lost 4 of their 10 games which isn't actually bad going, so they've been competing in a lot of matches but have lacked that bit of guile to edge teams out and also the mental strength they need to hold onto wins- they've actually been in front in 4 of their last 6 Premiership matches. At the moment, I've got a feeling it might go down to the last day for Reading, but Norwich look as though they'll be okay.

 

 

 

Southampton 1-1 Swansea

I said: 3-2, +0pts

Del said: 0-1, +0pts

I was routing for Southampton in this match, mainly because of Adkins' defiancy and hoping the fans' support for him is repayed, but also Southampton is always a really nice, welcoming place whenever I've been there and I've got a few friends who support them. But my prediction wasn't entirely hope over reasoned logic; both sides definately have goals in them, whilst neither are the best at the back - Southampton having the leakiest defence in the Premier League - so I expected this to be a higher-scoring match than it turned out to be. Despite a four point distance between themselves and safety, I'm far from ruling Southampton down and out. Yes, they conceded a goal on Saturday which they only had themselves to blame for as a result of comical defending, but if Adkins can fully address their defensive woes - either on the training pitch on in the January transfer window - Southampton would look like a midtable side. If and fully being the words in that sentence on which to place emphasis.

 

 

 

Stoke 1-0 QPR

I said: 0-1, +0pts

Del said: 2-0, +1pt

A lot of people have been saying Mark Hughes should get the sack now because of the amount QPR have spent over the summer on high-quality players, in comparison with where they are in the table (bottom). I can more than understand where these people are coming from, but the Rs have been putting in strong performances of late having given more than they've got in my opinion, so if I was Fernandes I'd be prepared to give Hughes until Christmas to get the results their play is worthy of. Having said that, next week at home to Southampton is an absolutely massive, dog-eat-dog game, and I think we're now beyond the stage where a draw will be good enough for either side - both have to win if they want to stay up, due to the gap at the bottom. As for Stoke, it was probably important for them that they could pinch that goal being, as always, so solid at the Britannia, and go 6pts clear of the relegation zone before they play several upper-midtable sides.

 

 

Wigan 1-2 West Brom

I said: 2-1, +0pts

Del said: 1-2, +3pts

Typical Wigan inconsistency. Having put in impressive performances against, and beaten, West Ham and Tottenham in their last two games I fancied the Latics to continue their run but the fact that they haven't won three consecutive matches since December 2008, and never in Roberto Martinez's era as manager, proves that consistency has always been a difficulty. Having said that, their ability to conjure up unexpectedly great performances and wins now and again will be more than enough to keep them in this division, because you only have to win a few matches to stay up. This is a fantastic result for West Brom, who climb to fifth with what is surprisingly their first away win of the season, and what's more, after Chelsea next week they've actually got some winnable games coming up, so they might be able to enjoy Steve Clarke's honeymoon period for a little while longer.

 

 

 

Aston Villa 2-3 Man United

I said: 0-2, +1pt

Del said: 2-3, +1pt

Well... I predicted a Manchester United win, but saying "with minimal drama" was a miscalculation, as Hernandez's hattrick gave Fergie's side a very late 3pts. Once the Mexican scored their first goal with such a composed, deadly finish and  with over half an hour to play, you sort of knew what was coming. United had to dig deep and come from behind yet again this season, to get the much-needed 3pts. I heard a statistic that every team to have ever won the Premiership title have always been in the top 5 for goals conceded, and that United are currently 13th. As much as this is an impressive, and also telling statistic, their ability to grind out wins means I'm still sticking with my original choice of the Red Devils for this years' title, they've also got to play the likes of Norwich, QPR, West Ham and Reading, all pretty straightforward games, before the Manchester Derby in December. Villa's inexperienced side can take some heart from their performance despite the disappointment of the end result, I think there are some positive signs for them and the young players can only learn from this type of game.

 

 

Man City 2-1 Tottenham

I said: 1-1, +0pts

Del said: 2-1, +3pts

Anything Hernandez can do... Dzeko can do just as well. Just as United's supersub came on and won the game for them the night before, Edin Dzeko came on for City and latched onto a fantastically-weighted pass from David Silva, and poked the ball home for the winner. A lot of people are saying the Bosnian striker is best left as an impact substitute, but I would actually have him in the team ahead of Tevez. The fact that he's scored 6 goals mainly from coming off the bench means he should be given more of a chance from the start, I'd think differently if his main asset was his pace but he's got a great allround ability in my opinion in link-up play, holding the ball up for support and he's also a top finisher. For Tottenham, I think it'll make a big difference once Moussa Dembele comes back to their side, AVB is more than capable of building a team that can get into the Champions League in a couple of years, but it's also important for their general confidence that they don't lose the North London derby next week.

 

 

 

Newcastle 0-1 West Ham

I said: 2-0, +0pts

Del said: 2-0, +0pts

I've got some respect for Kevin Nolan for not celebrating whilst scoring against his old club, and Andy Carroll could have been another prodigal son to get on the scoresheet, but Tim Krul made a few great saves to keep a lacklustre Newcastle side in the game. The Magpies only really got going towards the end of the first half once Nolan had scored, the likes of Ben Arfa and Yohann Cabaye nearly levelling things up, before Demba Ba's powerful header was clawed away by Jussi Jaaskelainen, and it was adjudged not too have crossed the line. All in all, it was a frustrating afternoon for Newcastle, who lacked the creativity to unlock a  stubborn and hardworking West Ham midfield that is typical of Allardyce's sides.

 

 

Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

I said: 3-1, +0pts

Del said: 1-1, +3pts

With City and United winning earlier in the weekend, Chelsea knew they needed to win this match to stay within a point of the Red Devils, and when John Terry marked his return from suspension with a goal 20 minutes in, I thought Chelsea were destined to win. However, Di Matteo's side had a host of chances to put real daylight between themselves and Liverpool which they failed to take, the likes of Mata and Oscar missing guilt-edged opportunities, and the Reds made them pay. Luis Suarez heading in on the goalline from a set play gave Liverpool an equaliser, and at that point I expected Chelsea to throw the kitchen sink at them and probably conjure that ability to find a winner from somewhere, as United and City had done, but if anything the goal encouraged Liverpool and they looked the most likely to win it towards the end, Enrique having a shot from an angle that skimmed just wide of Cech's near post, that nearly won it for them in the dying seconds.

 

 

Those were the results, let's have a look at how the predictions game went. I have to say; I've not got a great feeling about this:

 

Me

Correct results- 2

Perfect scorelines- 0

Points- 2

 

Del

Correct results- 4

Perfect scorelines- 3, Wigan 1-2 West Brom, Man City 2-1 Tottenham, Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

Points- 13

 

I can't believe it. I've been beaten 13-2 by Del, who is this week's winner for the first time. Congratulations to her, I'm going to have to up my game for next week...

 

Don't forget, if you fancy a go at this predictions game, feel free to send in your predictions by email:

sutton.thescore@gmail.com

Or by twitter: @_thescore

 

And I'll put yours up.

 

See you.



Weekend preview- 08/11/12

Hello and welcome to another weekend preview, for gameweek 11, we're now over a quarter of the way into the season and it's already been an interesting start to the season in terms of the race for the title, the relegation battle down at the bottom, and the competition for that last Champions League spot. Del has belatedly sent in her predictions for this weekend's games, so she is this week's contestent. 

We've got several big games on this weekend: the tenacious Toffees look to hold on to 4th by beating goal-shy Black Cats, but Arsenal will be right on their backs if they can beat Martin Jol's Fulham, Southampton, Reading and QPR have must-win encounters against Laudrup-style tiki-taka Swansea, in-form Norwich and tough-tackling Stoke to bridge the gap between themselves and safety, it's a match between two rogues as the Villains prepare to do battle with the Red Devils, the Blues play the Reds, Steve Clarke's overachieving Baggies play entertaining Wigan, Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce go against their old clubs and it's the clash of the bizarre tacticians as '3-at-the-back' Mancini goes against 'Defoe-off' AVB. Phew. I think I need a glass of water. Let's take a look at the games then:

 

Arsenal vs. Fulham

Arsenal haven't exactly covered themselves in glory in recent weeks so I think this will be a  closer scoreline than many predict, given Arsenal's current goalscoring problems and that it's a derby match. Over the past two or three weeks they've been putting in performances that won't have breeded an awful lot of confidence with Gunners fans, and despite having the best defensive record in the Premiership, the likes of Santos, Mertesacker and Vermaelen have looked dodgy at the back of late. On the whole though, I think Arsenal will have just enough to nip the game in the bud and beat what is an experienced Fulham team 1-0.

 

Del says: 2-1

Everton vs. Sunderland

I can't see past a comfortable Everton win here. The Black Cats are okay defensively but they just don't score enough goals and if they're not careful, that problem can affect the overall confidence of the team because once they concede the first goal, there's no belief they can get back into it, and some of their best attacking players in Fletcher, McClean, Sessegnon and Johnson are all out of form. Fellaini will no-doubt boss the game as he always does, and if so I don't think Sunderland can get anything. 2-0 Everton, quite fancy Mirallas for a goal.

Del says: 2-0

Reading vs. Norwich

Chris Hughton's Norwich are hitting a bit of form now, 5pts clear of the drop-zone with 7 from their last 3, and I think playing away from home, combined with not necessarily having to win this game will take the pressure off a bit and it might actually work in their favour psychologically. Contrarily, the Royals must win; they arguably deserved a point at QPR, but the worrying thing from their perspective is that they do rely on keeper McCarthy quite a lot at the back - he made a string of excellent saves last week to preserve the draw towards the end - but if Reading's defence doesn't tighten up, he might not be able to do so for much longer. I'm going to go for a sneaky 2-0 away win, with Norwich scoring a couple of goals on the counter-attack.

Del says: 1-1

Southampton vs. Swansea

This is the cut-off game for Southampton. Lose it, and I'm struggling to see a way back for them to stay in the Premier League, win it, and they'll just be 2pts off safety and the course of their season could look completely different. It's a lot less of a significant match for Swansea, who sit some 7pts away from trouble. Interestingly, these are the top two highest scoring teams in the bottom half of the table, and have scored almost as many goals as Arsenal. That's what makes me think the Saints can still make a fist of this, but they urgently need a win, which I think they'll get in dramatic fashion. 3-2.

Del says: 0-1

Stoke vs. QPR

The fast-paced, attacking last 20 minutes of the Reading game, and Fernandes's refreshing patience with Hughes gives me an inkling that QPR can absolutely turn this around- I certainly can't see them being cemented to the bottom for the rest of the season the way they've been playing lately.  Stoke do need to watch themselves because, like Sunderland, they seem unable to score goals which will frustrate the fans at times, I'm gonna go with my gut and say 1-0 QPR. They've perhaps given a little more than they've got at times in the past few weeks and I think this might be the time they turn it around with a first victory of the season. I'm starting to sound like a QPR fan...

Del says: 2-0

Wigan vs. West Brom

Wigan seem to be playing with a lot of confidence at the moment, considering they only normally get going around March time- they must have had their Easter break early! Martinez is somewhere within the top 5 managers in the country in my opinion, purely because of the way he motivates his teams and gets them playing great football. I get the impression he's a nice, honest guy as well. It's a similar story for West Brom, Steve Clarke's new side look a real happy ship at the moment and fairly strong defensively too, Olsson and McAuley look a decent centre-back pairing and they've got two or three strikers who look capable of scoring at least 10 goals a season, but I'd probably fancy Martinez's men for this. 2-1.

Del says: 1-2

Aston Villa vs. Man United

 

Villa did quite well to nick a win at Sunderland last week and that will distance them from the relegation battle for the time being, before this the first of three very hard matches for them, and I don't think their inexperience can handle that of the Red Devils. I would expect United to have their goal by half-time, it won't be a complete walkover, but they should finish this game off with minimal drama given the attacking quality Ferguson's side have on offer, I can see them winning this by a couple of goals. 0-2.

Del says: 1-3

Man City vs. Tottenham

I have to say... I'm not sure about the credentials of either manager here. It was a poor defensive display from the Citizens against Ajax on Tuesday,  and I am of the opinion Man City can't win the Champions League until Mancini goes- his tactical nous just isn't up to scratch and their summer signings have clearly taken the  quality of the squad a step backwards when Chelsea and United have made big strides. I'm also not sure about AVB at Spurs, taking off Defoe whilst 1-0 down at home to Wigan, with 20 mins to go was a laughable decision. I wouldn't particularly fancy either side for this match, so I'll half-heartedly go with a 1-1 draw.

Del says: 2-1

Newcastle vs. West Ham

This game sees Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce face their former clubs, and with the potentially important factor of the game being playing at an ever-vociferous St James's Park, I'd be confident Newcastle can record a win. West Ham's successes thus far have mainly been based on their home form, which will certainly be enough to keep them in the division, but going to Newcastle will be a whole different ball game for them, especially with Demba Ba amongst the league's top scorers. 2-0 toon.

Del says: 2-0

 

Chelsea vs. Liverpool

I personally think if Liverpool fans and owners are prepared to give Brendan Rodgers a lot of time, he can be a success at Anfield but patience will be of fundamental importance in making it work. I reckon Chelsea will have too much for this in-transition Liverpool team though, they need a win to stay within a game of Manchester United, but also Suarez is the only world-class attacking player the Reds have at the moment, and Chelsea have three or four. 3-1.

Del says: 1-1