'Come on you Fulham!' and other things.

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 Bilbao over 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)