International friendlies today with quite a large number of games to be played all across Europe. It's notoriously difficult to pick a winner in these games yet they often see quite a large number of goals, so only under/ over tips today!
Cyprus v Serbia (14:00) over 1,5 goals (1.33)
Romania v Uruguay (18:30) over 1,5 goals (1.45)
Denmark v Russia (18:45) under 2,5 goals (1.67)
Germany v France (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.35)
Italy v United States (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.42)
Poland v Portugal (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.42)
England v Holland (20:00) over 1,5 goals (1.41)
Yesterday's predictions:
Swindon v Burton 1 Morecambe v Dagenham & Redbridge 1
Finally, an absolutely incredible comeback from Gillingham who took on Hereford yesterday. The hosts were 2:4 down 10 minutes before the final whistle...watch the action here!
....and quite a shocking story from Peru to begin with! Club Deportivo Universidad de San Martín de Porres was a team formed in 2004, normally they would have to start in the lowest tier but because of their strong financial backing were able to buy Club Sport Coopsol's licence to play in the Peruvian top flight. Between 2007 and 2010 San Martin have won 3 league titles so one could think they must have been doing well both on and off the pitch. Quite on the contrary, citing financial difficulties the team was dissolved just over a week ago! San Martin is a perfect example of the malaise Peruvian football has recently found itself in which resulted in almost all teams fielding junior players in the first game of the new championship - this, in turn, was due to the fact senior players have gone on strike as their wages have not been paid for months...
'Get me out of here!' San Martin's Martin Arzuaga.
Now, onto the Sunday fixtures:
Cardiff v Liverpool 1:3 [if Liverpool are so joyful after beating the 6th side in the Championship on penalties to win a not-so-much respected trophy and Dirk Kuyt is eager to exclaim that this sort of stuff is exactly the reason he's moved to Anfield then I fear for King Kenny's side even more than I have before...] Arsenal v Tottenham 2 to score 2 goals or more ['Harry for England' suddenly doesn't look half as exciting as it did before the game] Norwich v Manchester United 2 [WHAT a way to mark your 900th appearance for one of the greatest clubs in the world. Ryan Giggs, I salute you]. Stoke City v Swansea under 2,5 goals Cagliari v Lecce 1 Napoli v Inter 1 [Inter - 7 defeats in the last 8 games and no goals scored in February. Quite a stat, they just keep beating records week in week out at the moment!] Villareal v Athletic Bilbao both teams to score Rayo Vallecano over 4,5 goals Real Sociedad v Mallorca 1 Valencia v Sevilla 1 at halftime and fulltime Atletico Madrid v Barcelona over 1,5 goals in the 1st half Bayern Munich v Schalke X Borussia Dortmund v Hannover 1 at halftime and fulltime Śląsk Wrocław v Legia Warszawa X at halftime 1 at fulltime Wisła Kraków v Korona Kielce 1 Excelsior Rotterdam v Ajax Amsterdam 2 at halftime PSV Eindhoven v Feyenoord Rotterdam over 2,5 goals AZ Alkmaar v SC Heerenveen both teams to score Racing Genk v Club Brugge over 1,5 goals Sporting Lisbon v Rio Ave 1 FC Porto v Feirense Marc Janko to score at any time
12/21 on Sunday, decent...however I could do with less surprises next time!
International friendlies coming tomorrow so stay tuned.
Chelsea v Bolton (15:00) X at faltime (3.00) Newcastle v Wolverhampton (15:00) 1 (1.56) QPR v Fulham (15:00) over 2,5 goals (2.16) WBA v Sunderland (15:00) both teams to score (1.81) Wigan v Aston Villa (15:00) X (3.40) Manchester City v Blackburn (17:30) 1 to score 3 goals or more (1.57) Birmingham City v Nottingham Forest (15:00) 1 (1.61) Bristol City v Blackpool (15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.97) Middlesborough v Reading (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.52) Huddersfield v Exeter (15:00) 1 (1.53) Bournemouth v MK Dons (15:00) 2 at halftime (3.50) Aldershot v Barnet (15:00) 1 (2.06) FC Koeln v Bayer Leverkusen (14:30) 1:3 (17.00) Wolfsburg v Hoffenheim (14:30) 1 to score 2 or more goals (1.97) AC Milan v Juventus (19:45) X (3.25) Real Betis v Getafe (17:00) 1 (2.06) Malaga v Real Zaragoza (19:00) over 1,5 goals (1.29) Auxerre v Saint-Etienne (18:00) X at halftime, 2 at fulltime (6.80) VV Venlo v Heracles Almelo (18:45) both teams to score (1.57) NEC Nijmegen v FC Groningen (19:45) over 2,5 goals (1.86) Celtic v Motherwell (15:00) 1 to score 2 or more goals (1.39) Kilmarnock v Hibernian (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.34) Hearts v Dundee United (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.40) FC Basel v Zurich (16:45) 1 (1.83) Polonia Warszawa v Widzew Łódź (17:00) 1 (1.71) 15/25, quite decent considering at least 4 of the other results (Newcastle, Birmingham, Celtic and Polonia) were shockers. All in all some good predictions, particularly pleased with the few draws I've got right :) This being said, there was a CLEAR goal for Milan wrongly disallowed, at that point they were still 1:0 up in the first half...
Moving onto today's fixtures:
Cardiff v Liverpool (15:00) 1:3 (13)
Arsenal v Tottenham (13:30) 2 to score 2 goals or more (2.23)
Norwich v Manchester United (13:30) 2 (1.53)
Stoke City v Swansea (15:00) under 2,5 goals (1.78)
Cagliari v Lecce (14:00) 1 (1.96)
Napoli v Inter (19:45) 1 (1.91)
Villareal v Athletic Bilbao (11:00) both team to score (1.90)
Rayo Vallecano (15:00) over 4,5 goals (4.00) Real Sociedad v Mallorca (17:00) 1 (2.26)
Valencia v Sevilla (17:00) 1 at halftime and fulltime (3.05)
Atletico Madrid v Barcelona (20:00) over 1,5 goals in the 1st half (2.46)
Bayern Munich v Schalke (14:30) X (4.80)
Borussia Dortmund v Hannover (16:30) 1 at halftime and fulltime (1.91) Śląsk Wrocław v Legia Warszawa (13:30) X at halftime 1 at fulltime (6.20)
Wisła Kraków v Korona Kielce (16:00) 1 (1.70)
Excelsior Rotterdam v Ajax Amsterdam (11:30) 2 at halftime (1.68)
PSV Eindhoven v Feyenoord Rotterdam (13:30) over 2,5 goals (1.53)
AZ Alkmaar v SC Heerenveen (16:30) both teams to score (1.55)
Racing Genk v Club Brugge (17:00) over 1,5 goals (1.28)
Sporting Lisbon v Rio Ave (18:15) 1 (1.50)
FC Porto v Feirense (20:15) Marc Janko to score at any time[no odds available]
First off, the Europa League games + Friday tips summed up:
Athletic Bilbao v Lokomotiv Moscow over 2,5 goals Club Brugge v Hannover over 1,5 goals Twente Enschede v Steaua Bucharest 1 PAOK Saloniki v Udinese 1 PSV Eindhoven v Trabzonspor over 2,5 goals Standard Liege v Wisła Kraków X at halftime Valencia v Stoke 1 at halftime and fulltime Anderlecht v AZ Alkmaar under 2,5 goals Atletico Madrid v Lazio 1 Besiktas v Braga over 2,5 goals
Manchester United v Ajax Amsterdam 1 at halftime Metalist Kharkiv v Red Bull Salzburg 1 at halftime and fulltime Olympiakos v Rubin Kazan over 1,5 goals Schalke v Viktoria Plzen 1 Sporting Lisbon v Legia Warszawa 2 to qualify
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Hamburg 1 at halftime and fulltime
Den Bosch v Helmond Sport over 2,5 goals [out of 9 games played today only one has seen under 2,5 goals. FFS]
Telstar v FC Zwolle over 2,5 goals
Sparta Rotterdam v Willem II Tilburg over 2,5 goals
Ruch Chorzów v Lech Poznań 1 10/20, not much to say really apart from the usual sigh of disappointment at some of the games being oh so very close to what I've thought would happen :/
Onto the selected Saturday games:
Chelsea v Bolton (15:00) X at faltime (3.00)
Newcastle v Wolverhampton (15:00) 1 (1.56)
QPR v Fulham (15:00) over 2,5 goals (2.16)
WBA v Sunderland (15:00) both teams to score (1.81)
Wigan v Aston Villa (15:00) X (3.40)
Manchester City v Blackburn (17:30) 1 to score 3 goals or more (1.57) Birmingham City v Nottingham Forest (15:00) 1 (1.61) Bristol City v Blackpool (15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.97) Middlesborough v Reading (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.52) Huddersfield v Exeter (15:00) 1 (1.53)
Bournemouth v MK Dons (15:00) 2 at halftime (3.50) Aldershot v Barnet (15:00) 1 (2.06)
FC Koeln v Bayer Leverkusen (14:30) 1:3 (17.00)
Wolfsburg v Hoffenheim (14:30) 1 to score 2 or more goals (1.97)
AC Milan v Juventus (19:45) X (3.25) Real Betis v Getafe (17:00) 1 (2.06)
Malaga v Real Zaragoza (19:00) over 1,5 goals (1.29) Auxerre v Saint-Etienne (18:00) X at halftime, 2 at fulltime (6.80)
VV Venlo v Heracles Almelo (18:45) both teams to score (1.57) NEC Nijmegen v FC Groningen (19:45) over 2,5 goals (1.86) Celtic v Motherwell (15:00) 1 to score 2 or more goals (1.39)
Kilmarnock v Hibernian (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.34) Hearts v Dundee United (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.40)
FC Basel v Zurich (16:45) 1 (1.83) Polonia Warszawa v Widzew Łódź (17:00) 1 (1.71)
Manchester City fans were reportedly chanting "You're not incredible" to Hulk during the game at Etihad yesterday. Porto are going to lodge a complaint with UEFA about this which strikes me as absolute nonsense, particularly when one takes into consideration that Porto fans have allegedly been racially abusing Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli during the first leg in Portugal. If it's found to have been the case one might all but wonder if Porto's complaint isn't just be a cover-up, designed to divert people's attention from the serious allegations of racial abuse.
Admittedly there was no snow in Manchester City yesterday but Hulk looked rather worried anyway.
Yesterday's games:
FC Basel v Bayern Munich X at halftime, 1 at fulltime Marseille v Inter Milan under 2,5 goals Manchester City v Porto both teams to score Siena v Catania 1 Saint-Etienne v Lorient 1 [0:0 at halftime and an electric second half which saw 6 goals!] Sochaux v Lille 2 Caen v Auxerre 1
5/7, I'm rather pleased with that! Onto today's Europa League games now:
Athletic Bilbao v Lokomotiv Moscow (18:00) over 2,5 goals (1.78)
Club Brugge v Hannover (18:00) over 1,5 goals (1.32)
Twente Enschede v Steaua Bucharest (18:00) 1 (1.48)
PAOK Saloniki v Udinese (18:00) 1 (2.60)
PSV Eindhoven v Trabzonspor (18:00) over 2,5 goals (1.73)
Standard Liege v Wisła Kraków (18:00) X at halftime (2.30)
Valencia v Stoke (18:00) 1 at halftime and fulltime (2.08)
Anderlecht v AZ Alkmaar (20:05) under 2,5 goals (2.06)
Atletico Madrid v Lazio (20:05) 1 (1.55)
Besiktas v Braga (20:05) over 2,5 goals (2.18)
Manchester United v Ajax Amsterdam (20:05) 1 at halftime (1.94)
Metalist Kharkiv v Red Bull Salzburg (20:05) 1 at halftime and fulltime (2.22)
Olympiakos v Rubin Kazan (20:05) over 1,5 goals (1.46)
Schalke v Viktoria Plzen (20:05) 1 (1.30)
Sporting Lisbon v Legia Warszawa (20:05) 2 to qualify (6.20)
Tonight's clash between Basel and Bayern Munich has a sub-plot to it. A sub-plot that goes by the name Xherdan Shaqiri, 21-year old midfielder and Swiss international.
The young lad himself.
He's impressed for Basel in the Champions League group stage where they've eliminated Manchester United in very dramatic circumstances on the last day. And now, only about 2 weeks, ago he's signed for - and there's no prizes for getting this one right - Bayern Munich for around €10m. It will be very interesting to see how he's going to play; Bayern have been far from dominant as of late and Basel stand a very good chance of knocking them out. However, supposing this does indeed happen and young Xherdan plays a decisive role then it remains to be seen how he's going to be welcomed by the Bavarian faithful...
In other news, yesterday's game:
Napoli v Chelsea 1 to lead 2:0 at halftime[had it not been for the weird bump on the ground and subsequent failed clearance by Cannavaro then it would have gone in, Chelsea have been very tame in terms of end product in the first half] CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid Ronaldo to score at any time Barnsley v Birmingham City 2 Blackpool v West Ham United over 1,5 goals Charlton Athletic v Rochdale 1[this is the second time Charlton flop at home to a side from the Greater Manchester area...] MK Dons v Bury 1 Bologna v Fiorentina X at halftime Dundee United v Kilmarnock over 1,5 goals
5/8.
As usual, more games today - here goes:
FC Basel v Bayern Munich (19:45) X at halftime, 1 at fulltime (15.50)
Marseille v Inter Milan (19:45) under 2,5 goals (1.72)
Manchester City v Porto (17:00) both teams to score (1.82)
FC Nantes v Metz 1 Real Zaragoza v Betis Sevilla over 1,5 goals Vitoria Guimaraes v Benfica 2[Benfica haven't lost a single league game up until last night...]
There's obviously quite a number of games to make up for this tonight :)
Napoli v Chelsea (19:45) 1 to lead 2:0 at halftime (18.00) [so to answer the title question, he is - figuratively speaking, of course - very likely to].
CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid (17:00) Ronaldo to score at any time (1.79)
Barnsley v Birmingham City (19:45) 2 (2.08)
Blackpool v West Ham United (20:00) over 1,5 goals (1.32)
Charlton Athletic v Rochdale (19:45) 1 (1.60)
MK Dons v Bury (19:45) 1 (1.52)
Bologna v Fiorentina (19:45) X at halftime (2.06)
Dundee United v Kilmarnock (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.38)
The question is: what do Roberto Baggio, Claude Makelele, Jermaine Jenas and Anton Ferdinand have in common?
No, it's not fantastic finishing.
Unfortunately, it's not good tackling either (as much as some people would love this to be true)
And it most definitely isn't a place in the list of top 100 footballers of the recent 20 years.
They were all born on 18 February! What a fact, just had to share this with everyone.
Now, onto yesterday's tips:
Reading v Burnley 1 Fiorentina v Napoli X Inter Milan v Bologna 1:1[now I'm fairly certain Inter are throwing games] Heerenveen v NAC Breda 1 FC Zwolle v MVV Maastricht over 2,5 goals
FC Volendam v Willem II Tilburg over 2,5 goals
ŁKS v Polonia Warszawa 2
4/7... Fiorentina's recent form deceived me into thinking they're past their crisis. Inter v Bologna game doesn't require a commentary and if Zwolle can be held to a draw by Maastricht then their stay in the Eredivisie will be VERY shortl-lived.
Before embarking on another batch of tips, check out this fantastic goal by Andre Santos scored in the 88th minute of the Legia v Sporting game in Europa League this Thursday:
Golaco, as the Brazilians say!
Nuff talk, there's a lot of games taking place today:
Chelsea v Birmingham City
(12:30) X at halftime (2.82)
Everton v Blackpool (15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.79)
Millwall v Bolton (15:00) Darius
Henderson to score at any time (3.15)
Norwich City v Leicester (15:00)
1 to score 2 goals or more (1.74)
Sunderland v Arsenal (17:15) 1
(3.10)
Hereford United v Swindon Town
(15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.93)
Southampton v Derby County
(15:00) 1 (1.52)
Leeds United v Doncaster (15:00)
over 1,5 goals (1.26)
Nottingham Forest v Coventry City
(15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.40)
Real Madrid v Racing Santander
(19:00) 1 to score 4 goals or more (2.00)
Sevilla v Osasuna (21:00) X
(3.90)
Hertha Berlin v Borussia Dortmund
(14:30) Robert Lewandowski to score at any time (1.75)[bwin]
Kaiserslautern v Borussia
Moenchengladbach (14:30) 2 (2.42)
Marseille v Valenciennes (20:00)
1 (1.58)
Feyenoord v RKC Waalwijk (17:45)
John Guidetti to score at any time[no odds available]
Roda Kerkrade v Heracles Almelo
(19:45) over 2,5 goals (1.62)
Lokeren v AA Gent (17:00) 1
(3.40)
Sint-Truiden v Lierse (19:00)
over 1,5 goals (1.38)
Interesting day across Europe yesterday, apart from Metalist Kharkiv, Man United and Valencia no team have a clear advantage going into the second leg.
Lokomotiv Moscow v Athletic Bilbao 2:1 Ajax Amsterdam v Manchester United 2 AZ Alkmaar v Anderlecht over 2,5 goals Lazio v Atletico Madrid X at halftime Legia Warszawa v Sporting Lisbon 1 Red Bull Salzburg v Metalist Kharkiv 2 Viktoria Plzen v Schalke under 3,5 goals FC Porto v Manchester City red card Hannover v Club Brugge both teams to score Steaua Bucharest v Twente Enschede over 2,5 goals Stoke City v Valencia 2 no clean sheet Trabzonspor v PSV Eindhoven X Udinese v PAOK Saloniki Antonio di Natale to score at anytime Wisła Kraków v Standard Liege over 1,5 goals
6/14.
Today's games:
Reading v Burnley (20:00) 1 (1.87)
Fiorentina v Napoli (19:45) X (3.30)
Inter Milan v Bologna (19:45) 1:1 (9.20)
Heerenveen v NAC Breda (19:00) 1 (1.33)
FC Zwolle v MVV Maastricht (19:00) over 2,5 goals (1.51)
FC Volendam v Willem II Tilburg (19:00) over 2,5 goals (1.65)
Leverkusen v Barcelona 1:3 Lyon v APOEL Nicosia X West Ham United v Southampton 1 [WHU really enjoy getting early send-offs, don't they. Almost as if Big Sam didn't have the time to tell them playing with 10 men for 70 or 80 minutes is really rather difficult] Portsmouth v Ipswich Town
over 1,5 goals Brighton v Millwall
1 Coventry v Leeds United over 1,5 goals Notts County v Exeter under 2,5 goals Huddersfield Town v Sheffield United
both teams to score [only the third time in 30 games the home team failed to score] Scunthorpe v Rochdale
over 1,5 goals
2/9, despicable. I've missed every single one of them by just 1 goal, too :/
Today's games:
Zenit St. Petersburg v Benfica (17:00) over 1,5 goals (1.52)
Let's begin by summing up the predictions from the last couple of days, shall we?
Wolfsburg v Freiburg 1 Twente v Heracles Almelo 1 Manchester
United v Liverpool 1
Blackburn
v QPR over 2,5 goals
Bolton
v Wigan 1
Everton
v Chelsea X [even worse than I've thought...]
Fulham
v Stoke Clint Dempsey to score at any time
Sunderland
v Arsenal 1 [there's simply no way of knowing with Arsenal, is there?]
Swansea
v Norwich over 1,5 goals
Tottenham
v Newcastle over 2,5 goals
Wolverhampton
v WBA over 1,5 goals
Aston
Villa v Manchester City 2
Ipswich v
Middlesborough over 1,5 goals
Leeds v
Brighton over 1,5 goals
Reading v
Coventry 1
Blackpool v
Portsmouth 1
Exeter v
Sheffield Wednesday 2
Sheffield
United v Wycombe Wanderers1
Yeovil v Scunthorpe over 2,5 goals [postponed]
Udinese v AC
Milan Antonio di Natale to score at any time
Inter Milan v
Novara Diego Milito to score at any time [Inter throwing games again?]
Osasuna v
Barcelona X either at halftime or at fulltime [10 points adrift of Real Madrid, pretty much game over fro Barca in La Liga then]
Real Betis v
Athletic Bilbaoover 2,5 goals
Espanyol v
Zaragoza 1
Valencia v
Sporting Gijon Roberto Soldado to score at any
time
Real Madrid v
Levante over 3,5 goal
Borussia
Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen Shinji Kagawa to
score at any time
Borussia
Moenchengladbach v Schalke 1
Montpellier v
Ajaccio 1
Rennes v
Sochaux 1
AZ Alkmaar v
Exelscior Rotterdam 1
Roda Kerkrade
v NEC Nijmegen over 2,5 goals
PSV v De
Graafschap 2 not to score [when one team is 4:0 up at half-time expect the other to score this one, annoying goal in the second]
RKC Waalwijk v
Heerenveen over 2,5 goals
Feyenoord v
Vitesse Arnhem John Guidetti to score at any
time
Racing Genk v
Lokeren over 2,5 goals
Benfica v
Nacional Oscar Cardozo to score at any time
Porto v Uniao
Leiria 1 to score over 1,5 goals
Celtic v
Inverness C.T. 1 to win both halves Gillingham v Southend over 2,5 goals Napoli v Chievo X
Siena v Roma 1
Real Sociedad v Sevilla 1
25/42, few surprises as well so not a bad batch of results, this!
Fulham 2 - 1 Stoke City
I have always loved the Premier League and going to a game while based in England have always been one of the top priorities. A student's budget has been a major problem and constraint thus far; yet when I've been presented with an opportunity of watching Fulham take on Stoke at the Cottage at a relatively modest price, it's taken me about 4 seconds to decide it's a great excuse for getting out of Exeter for the weekend and, also, finally living the proverbial dream. All this paired with seeing some of the league's finest talent - Clint Dempsey, John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch among others (I felt like I had to include at least one Stoke player in that list...) - have got me really excited for the game.
After a four hour long bus journey - being sat next to a girl constantly reading Olly Murs' Twitter updates and trying to strike up a conversation about the reasons behind my trip to London when she's blatantly interested in only telling you all about Olly's concert is a bit annoying - and a much shorter journey on the District line to Putney Bridge, I've finally arrived at the place to be where I've met up with Henry, my partner-in-crime for the day. Another 15 minutes walk - already surrounded by the Fulham faithful - and we've got to the ground. A piece of advice here: if you're thinking about taking a little shortcut through a patch of grass behind the Putney End stand, as opposed to walking for around two more minutes, then for the love of God, do walk this tiny bit more, PARTICULARLY after it's snowed. Having mud drying on your shoes is not as cool as it may sound.
We've sat behind one of the goals which, truth be told, was not the prime spot to watch the game from a more tactical point of view, yet the proximity to the pitch more than compensated for that. Also, all the goals have been scored on 'our' goal so we've got to see Clint Dempsey do his trademark 'binocilars' celebration from a short distance. Oh yeah, and the music choice was far more fitting than the 'Zorba the Greek' at Exeter.
Both teams emerge onto the playing arena. In the words of the one and only Ray Hudson 'the gladiators of today, man'.
The opening minutes of the game have been indicative of the way both Fulham and Stoke would play - Martin Jol's side trying to work things all the way from the back, with many passes in the middle of the park; Stoke much more direct and keen to employ the long ball. Fun fact: Stoke complete the least passes in the entire league. No Rory Delap has meant Stoke would find it very, very difficult to score goals and it's proved to be the case. A bit sad when a player means so much to a team when his biggest asset has nothing to do with actually kicking the ball.
Fulham's approach paid off when a cross has been cleared straight into Riise's path and he's decided to unleash his famous, left-footed drive. It's been a rather tame effort yet luckily for him Pavel Pogrebnyak has been able able to control it and bury it into the roof of the net. 1:0! We've had a little debate about the big Russian and we've agreed it can either go fantasically well for him or he'll be yet another flop, no middle ground. Seems like the former thus far!
Still inside the opening 30 minutes and suddenly Fulham have gone 2:0 up, quick one-two thirty yards away from Sorensen's goal and Clint Dempsey - who else - goes gor glory. The ball hits the woodwork and bounces off the keeper's back and into the net. Comedy stuff but no one cares!
Celebrating the second goal.
The first half has seen one more good chance when Damien Duff has gone one-on-one but hit Sorensen from a tight angle. I have to admit that at that point I've been really impressed with Moussa Dembele. This man simply never loses the ball, he's great control and Messi-esque balance (which, considering he's about 3 feet taller, is not tat easy), crisp passing and good vision. Given the right position - which seems to be right behind the striker, with two other attacking midfielders on each side - he can achieve A LOT. On the other hand I've been expecting more from Bryan Ruiz. I mean, the man has been described as the second best player in the Eredivisie just after Luis Suarez (despite all the recent drama surrounding his actions he still is a really good fotballer). He's been mostly preoccupied with fixing his hair though.
Fixin' mah hair, dawg.
Stoke have stepped up a gear in the second half although their attacks have been largely ineffective. Peter Crouch and Matthew Upson have missed two decent chances that, quite unsurprisingly, have both come from set pieces. The introduction of Jermaine Pennant on the right wing and Ricardo Fuller up front have livened things up and finally produced a goal 15 minutes from time when a good cross from the former Zaragoza man (where his biggest contribution to the club and the city has been a ridiculous parking ticket that definitely has not covered the sum dished out for him by the Spanish club) has met the head of Ryan Shawcross who's flicked it into the far post.
The kid in front of me was a Stoke fan so naturally he's got all excited when he's finally seen a goal, something he's only heard about in bed-time stories up until this point.
Fulham haven't really done much in the second 45 minutes, trying to soak up the pressure and play on the break - an understandable choice of tactics when you're 2:0 at half-time and have definitely been the superior team. Their resolute defending has often left Peter Crouch offside and frustrated Kenwyne Jones to no end (absolutely woeful 60 odd minutes by the way). Danny Murphy, Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey exchanged a lot of quick passes and...well, that seemed to be just enough for that Stoke team. It's been a wise choice from Jol as there's no point in trying to kick The Potters - you just won't beat them at their own game. One of the victims of such rough play has been our man Pogrebnyak...
...whose injury has been serious enough to warrant a substitution a few minutes later. Great debut though!
Tony Pulis' team have hoofed the ball in but Brede Hangeland has always been there to cover and when Dickson Etuhu have come on for Danny Murphy you've just known that despite the constant pressure from Stoke simply too much hinges on their wingers' delivery and this has been erratic for most of the time.
Token second half picture.
For all this pressure it's been Fulham who've created the best chance of the latter stages of the game; Sorensen have stormed out of the penalty area to clear a long ball yet he's only managed to hit it against Dempsey's back. The Texan has driven a low shot on an open goal from a pretty tight angle but has only managed to hit the post. Cue sighs of disbelief all around the Cottage when everyone's realised 6 points in Fantasy Football have just gone amiss...
Fulham winning by only a single goal is probably a very flattering score to a severely underwhelming Stoke. It could have easily been 3 or even 4 for Fulham and I doubt anyone would have been even remotely surprised. Their first half performance left Stoke needing to come up with something creative and this is one of the areas where they have absolutely nothing to provide. Having said that, Fulham have not been mesmerising - they have simply done just enough to win on the day. The highlights of the game have definitely been the quick' link-up-and-change-position' kind of game employed so deftly by Murphy, Dembele, Dempsey, Ruiz and - once he's got the hang of it - Pogrebnyak. Stoke's best player has been their twelfth man - the supporters have been in full voice for most of the game and have largely been responsible for a pleasant atmosphere at the Cottage.
Finally, onto some tips for tonight:
Leverkusen v Barcelona (19:45) 1:3 (13)
Lyon v APOEL Nicosia (19:45) X (4.40)
West Ham United v Southampton (19:45) 1 (2.42)
Portsmouth v Ipswich Town (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.33)
Brighton v Millwall (19:45) 1 (2.2)
Coventry v Leeds United (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.33)
Notts County v Exeter (19:45) under 2,5 goals (1.89)
Huddersfield Town v Sheffield United (19:45) both teams to score (1.70)
Scunthorpe v Rochdale (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.31)
This is probably the most
interesting gameweek in the Premier League thus far, so many games to
look forward to it's ridiculous. I'll be at one of them (Fulham v Stoke)
so expect some exquisite tactical analysis and a gripping
minute-by-minute write-up to follow.
First, to round the midweek stuff up.
Hearts v Celtic 2 Barcelona v Valencia
2:1 (2:0...close!) Hertha Berlin v Borussia Moenchengladbach
2 (Moenchengladbach did win although only in extra time) AC Milan v Juventus
X Middlesborough v Sunderland
2 (same story as in the Hertha v Borussia game) ADO Den Haag v AZ Alkmaar
over 2,5 goals Nacional Madeira v Sporting Lisbon X
2/6 with some audacious bids.
Now, onto A LOT of fixtures for the weekend. Boom!
Manchester
United v Liverpool (11.02, 12:45) 1 (1.91)
Huge
game at Old Trafford to kick off the proceedings in the EPL. Is Evra
going to shake hands with Suarez? Is Andy Caroll going to finally
prove his worth the money he's beeen bought for? Is Craig Bellamy
going to run rampant around the shaky United back line? Based on the
recent form and the fact they have lost to Liverpool at Anfield just
a few weeks ago I'll go with United to win this contest.
Blackburn
v QPR (11.02, 15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.89)
Very
important game at the other end of the league. Steve Kean has
emphasised that whenever things looked absolutely terrible for his
team they have always managed to find a way to bounce back. Last
week's thumping at the Emirates presents itself as a great
opportunity to live up to Kean's words...it's a vital game for QPR as
well as their season took yet another blow last week, just when
things finally started to turn themselves around (new manager, decent
signings). Goals aplenty in this one, even despite the cold.
Bolton
v Wigan (11.02, 15:00) 1 (2.1)
Bolton
simply have to win. What better time than against a team that is on a
eleven game-long run without a win?
Everton
v Chelsea (11.02, 15:00) X (3.4)
Tricky
fixture for AVB's Chelsea, although it could be argued that every
single game is a tricky one for The Blues. Everton are enjoying some
new-found confidence, which Leighton Baines quickly credited to the
signings of Nikica Jelavić, Steven Pienaar and Darron Gibson. If
their recent win over Manchester City is anything to go by they
should beat Chelsea as well but following a recent visit Abramovich
paid to the training ground Chelsea are bound to fight as if their
lives depended on it. Who knows, Villas-Boas might have received an ultimatum from the club owner...
Fulham
v Stoke (11.02, 15:00) Clint Dempsey to score at any time
(2.64)
All
I wanna see is goals...is that a ludicrous expectiation when one of
the teams involved is Stoke?
Sunderland
v Arsenal (11.02, 15:00) 1 (3.85)
It
looks like people now sort of expect Sunderland to win...and they
duly deliver! With Sessegnon enjoying superb form (I've been saying
all along he's been really good at PSG!), aided by McClean, Colback,
Gardner and others it seems like The Black Cats are on the right
track to finish in the top half of the table, if not challenge for
Europe! Arsenal, on the other hand – depsite the 7:1 demolition of
Blackburn – should find it difficult once Robin van Persie is up
against two defenders and a defensive midfielder tracking back;
Sunderland's plan should also be to deny Oxlade-Chamberlain any space
to roam (which he enjoyed so much v 10-men Blackburn). If these
conditions are fulfiled I see no reason why Sunderland should not get
all 3 points.
Swansea
v Norwich (11.02, 15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.33)
This
game could be billed as the clash of 2 of the Premier League's most
entertaining new comers. Brendan Rodgers is doing his best to make
Swansea play attractive, passing football (and with great results, it
has to be said!) and Paul Lambert's direct, attacking style is a
breath of fresh air in the usually boring world of newly promoted
sides. Expect a few goals in this one.
Tottenham
v Newcastle (11.02, 17:30) over 2,5 goals (1.73)
Harry
Redknapp for England? We will probably find out about what the FA
have in store for us relatively soon but for now 'Arry should focus
on beating the fellow over-achievers (or am I being patronising
here?), Alan Pardew's Newcastle. His appointment mid-way last season
has raised a lot of eyebrows although he's done more than enough to
prove he is the right man for the job. The two Cisse's upfront will
not have the easiest of jobs against a very resolute Spurs' defence
but they have proved they can cause problems to virtually any team in
both the EPL and in Bundesliga. On the other side we've got the
creatively lethal attacking force of Tottenham. This one has all the
potential to become one of those 'Premier League classics' we love to
come back to for years to come.
Wolverhampton
v WBA (12.02, 13:30) over 1,5 goals (1.32)
Six
pointer. A win would mean the world for both teams, guests could
finish the weekend as high as 13th in the table and the
hosts could in theory go four points clear of the dreaded relegation
zone.
Aston
Villa v Manchester City (12.02, 16:00) 2 (1.72)
Villa
find it hard to get results agaist top opposition (beating Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge is a point in case about Chelsea's erroneous form)
and City will have the benefit of knowing United v Liverpool score;
in case the former don't win, The Citizens will have the chance to go
4 or maybe even 5 points clear, a margin that could provide them with
enough confidence and momentum to run away from their biggest rivals.
Also, Villa are not exactly good at defending set pieces so I think
Man City – with Kompany, Lescott and Dzeko – stand a good chance
to score from one.
Ipswich v Middlesborough (11.02,
15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.31)
Leeds v Brighton (11.02, 15:00)
over 1,5 goals (1.31)
Reading v Coventry (11.02,
15:00) 1 (1.53)
Blackpool v Portsmouth (11.02,
17:20) 1 (1.71)
Exeter v Sheffield Wednesday
(11.02, 15:00) 2 (2.12)
Sheffield United v Wycombe Wanderers
(11.02, 15:00) 1 (1.45)
Yeovil v Scunthorpe (11.02,
15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.96)
Udinese v AC Milan (11.02,
17:00) Antonio di Natale to score at any time (1.70) [bwin]
Inter Milan v Novara (12.02,
14:00) Diego Milito to score at any time (1.75) [bwin]
Osasuna v Barcelona (11.02,
19:00) X either at halftime or at fulltime (2.00) [bwin]
Real Betis v Athletic Bilbao(11.02, 21:00) over 2,5 goals (2.04)
Espanyol v Zaragoza (12.02,
11:00) 1 (1.63)
Valencia v Sporting Gijon
(12.02, 17:00) Roberto Soldado to score at any time (1.50)
Real Madrid v Levante (12.02,
20:30) over 3,5 goals (1.74)
Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen
(11.02, 14:30) Shinji Kagawa to score at any time (3.00)
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Schalke
(11.02, 17:30) 1 (2.54)
Montpellier v Ajaccio (11.02,
14:00) 1 (1.35)
Rennes v Sochaux (11.02, 20:00)
1 (1.47)
AZ Alkmaar v Exelscior Rotterdam
(11.02, 17:45) 1 (1.11)
Roda Kerkrade v NEC Nijmegen
(11.02, 18:45) over 2,5 goals (1.70)
PSV v De Graafschap (12.02,
13:30) 2 not to score (1.70) [bwin]
RKC Waalwijk v Heerenveen
(12.02, 13:30) over 2,5 goals (2.64)
Feyenoord v Vitesse Arnhem
(12.02, 15:30) John Guidetti to score at any time [no odds
available]
Racing Genk v Lokeren (11.02,
17:00) over 2,5 goals (1.72)
Benfica v Nacional (11.02,
20:30) Oscar Cardozo to score at any time [no odds available]
Porto v Uniao Leiria (12.02,
20:15) 1 to score over 1,5 goals (1.28) [bwin]
Celtic v Inverness C.T. (11.02,
15:00) 1 to win both halves (1.78)
Because as Mitchell and Webb succintly put it - football, football, football.
QPR v Wolverhampton 1[you're 1:0 up and play far better than the other team so what better thing to do than get a red card and weaken your team...thanks, Djibril] Stoke v Sunderland over 1,5 goals [real snowstorm there!] Manchester City v Fulham Sergio Aguero to score at any time Cardiff v Blackpool over 2,5 goals Coventry v Ipswich over 2,5 goals Birmingham v Southampton 1[another game heavily affected by the adverse weather conditions] Huddersfield v MK Dons over 1,5 goals Sheffield Wednesday v Yeovil over 2,5 goals Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol Fernando Llorente to score at any time Getafe v Real Madrid both teams to score[Real conceded in their last 6 games...] Schalke v Mainz Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to score at any time Hertha Berlin v Hannover X[funnily enough that was the only game on Saturday that didn't end in a draw] HSV v Bayern Munich over 2,5 goals PSG v Evian Thonon Gaillar 1 Montpellier v Brest 1 ADO Den Haag v AZ Alkmaar over 2,5 goals [postponed]
8/16.
Few games being played today so there goes:
Hearts v Celtic (19:45) 2 (1.77) Barcelona v Valencia (20:00) 2:1 (10) Hertha Berlin v Borussia Moenchengladbach (18:00) 2 (2.40) AC Milan v Juventus (19:45) X (3.35) Middlesborough v Sunderland (19:45) 2 (2.12) ADO Den Haag v AZ Alkmaar (18:00) over 2,5 goals (1.83) Nacional Madeira v Sporting Lisbon (20:15) X (3.31)
Aston Villa v QPR both teams to score Blackburn v Newcastle over 2,5 goals Bolton v Arsenal 1 Fulham v West Bromwich Albion Clint Dempsey to score at any time Sunderland v Norwich 1 Leicester v Middlesborough over 1,5 goals Napoli v Cesena Edinson Cavani to score at any time Bologna v Fiorentina X [postponed] Lazio v AC Milan over 1,5 goals Udinese v Lecce Antonio di Natale to score at any time
Valencia v Barcelona 1 Istanbulspor v Karabukspor 1 [postponed] Galatasaray v Antalyaspor 1 Trabzonspor v Bursaspor
7/12, decent. Due to freakish weather conditions across Europe quite a few games in a number of leagues have been postponed with more being postponed now (Bournemouth v Exeter is a case in point, apparently the pitch is frozen - awful. Also the majority of the fixtures in League Two has already been postponed). Even Turkey has been affected, Kamil Grosicki from Sivasspor has said that it's got as cold as -22C in a game just a few days ago.
The two games played yesterday have gone as predicted:
Heerenveen v Roda Kerkrade 1 (1:0, 1:1, 2:1, 2:2, 2:3, 3:3, 4:3 - quality stuff!) Nurnberg v Dortmund 2
Today's predictions:
Arsenal v Blackburn (13:00) X (6)
QPR v Wolverhampton (15:00) 1 (2.10)
Stoke v Sunderland (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.45)
Manchester City v Fulham (17:30) Sergio Aguero to score at any time (1.99)
Cardiff v Blackpool (15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.80)
Coventry v Ipswich (15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.95)
Birmingham v Southampton (17:20) 1 (2.20)
Huddersfield v MK Dons (15:00) over 1,5 goals (1.30)
Sheffield Wednesday v Yeovil (15:00) over 2,5 goals (1.72)
Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol(17:00) Fernando Llorente to score at any time (2.10)[bwin]
Getafe v Real Madrid (19:00) both teams to score (1.80)
Schalke v Mainz (14:30) Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to score at any time (1.85)[bwin]
Hertha Berlin v Hannover (14:30) X (3.55)
HSV v Bayern Munich (17:30) over 2,5 goals (1.69)
PSG v Evian Thonon Gaillar (18:00) 1 (1.36)
Montpellier v Brest (18:00) 1 (1.6)
ADO Den Haag v AZ Alkmaar (17:45) over 2,5 goals (1.73)
Manchester United v Stoke 1 Tottenham v Wigan 1 Nottingham Forest v Burnley over 1,5 goals Blackpool v Coventry City over 1,5 goals Southampton v Cardiff over 1,5 goals Charlton v Bury 1 MK Dons v Sheffield Wednesday over 1,5 goals Parma v Juventus over 1,5 goals [postponed due to heavy snow]
Icy what happened there...
If only Charlton showed a bit more composure it would have been a perfect day!
In other news, an encouraging story from Zimbabwe where the local FA banned over 65 players due to a long-standing investigation into match-fixing. You can read more here.
Also, as January draws to an end, the monthly stats are as follows:
76 correct out of 122 games predicted, meaning I've got a grand total of 62% tips right.
Today's fixtures:
Aston Villa v QPR (19:45) both teams to score (1.92)
Blackburn v Newcastle (20:00) over 2,5 goals (2.06)
Bolton v Arsenal (20:00) 1 (5.4)
Fulham v West BromwichAlbion (20:00) Clint Dempsey to score at any time (2.64)
Sunderland v Norwich (20:00) 1 (1.87)
Leicester v Middlesborough (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.36)
Napoli v Cesena (19:45) Edinson Cavani to score at any time (1.70)[bwin]
Bologna v Fiorentina (19:45) X (3.1)
Lazio v AC Milan (19:45) over 1,5 goals (1.39)
Udinese v Lecce (19:45) Antonio di Natale to score at any time (1.60)[bwin]
