Hi and hello football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! As Andy Williams once sung - It truly is "The most wonderful time of the year!" We've had a slew of Premiership games now for three days and we've still got two more to go, how good is that!

Now since we are through the bulk of the matches I thought I'd give a brief assessment of all the teams who have played twice and keeping with the festive theme I've decided grade the teams in Turkey's, Five being the best and one being really bad....... You'll see what i mean.....

Birmingham

One goal scored and zero conceded over the festive period hardly sounds like an amazing achievement but when you consider that those two results kept their run of form going which has been the best run in club history for over 100 years it gives you more of an idea of just what Birmingham are all about and just how solid they are.

On Boxing Day they had Joe Hart to thank largely for picking up a point against title favourites Chelsea, although a kinder assistant referee would have correctly allowed Benitez's goal to stand and maybe Birmingham go on to win that match. I'm sure they were pleased with the point though!

They followed up Boxing Day's draw with Chelsea with a win over Stoke two days later at the Britannia Stadium, just so you know, the only other two teams to beat Stoke there this season were United and Chelsea, so you can see just how good a win that was for Birmingham.

All in all a very productive festive period.

Turkey's - 

                   

 

Blackburn

To judge how well Blackburn did over the festive period is really a matter of opinion and more so if you yourself are a glass half-full/half-empty kind of guy.

For starters, Blackburn were unbeaten over Christmas! But didn't win either......

They showed hart coming back twice against Sunderland! But they were at home and should have done better.......

They got a good draw away to Wigan who had beaten Chelsea there! They threw away the lead against a team that is below them in the league........

I personally think Blackburn should look at it this way - WE SCORED THREE GOALS IN TWO GAMES!!!!!!! WOOHOO. 

The reason I say that is because Rovers had only scored three league goals in the previous seven league games and their lack of fire-power was becoming a serious concern. Hopefully for their sake they can build on this.

Turkey's - 

           

Burnley

It's not been a great couple of months for Burnley and their failure to win either of their two games over the festive period (FP) means that it's now over two months since their last win!

First up was a most winnable home match against Bolton and to be fair, they did well in the end to come away with a point as Bolton had enough chances to become just the second team to beat Burnley their all season. Not a good start.

Two days later they went to Goodison Park to face Everton and put up a plucky display for about 80mins before the home side finally broke through. I don't think too many people will begrudge them this defeat, but failing to beat Bolton at home was a blow.

Turkey's - 

   

Chelsea

Whilst watching the Arsenal v Villa match in the boozer on Sunday a couple of mates of mine pointed out to me a strange phenomenon this season....... Basically whatever team has beaten Arsenal this season has seen their form dramatically dip straight after. Since beating Arsenal Chelsea have only picked up nine out of a possible 18 points and have been knocked out of the League Cup by Blackburn.

So having said this was it really any surprise that they failed to beat Birmingham on Boxing Day? Well yes I would still say it was a surprise! They really had enough chances to win that game but unfortunately they fell to the likes of Soloman Kalou, Daniel Sturridge  and Florent Malouda....... Hardly Messi, Henry and Ibrahimovic.

Their draw against Birmingham basically meant they MUST beat local rivals Fulham at home otherwise both Arsenal and United could go above them if they won their game in hands. It didn't start well for the Blues, conceding an early goal to Zoltan Gera, who BTW is in the top three "Premiership First-names" along Titus Bramble and Zavon Hines, with Zoltan being Number One!

For much of the match Chelsea looked short of ideas and out-of-sorts as Fulham produced a performance that was full of commitment and excellent defending. But like a poor Hollywood action movie, we saw the ending coming a mile off and Chelsea hit back with two goals in the final 20 minutes to pick up a much needed win and re-open the gap at the top of the league.

These two performances were far from vintage Chelsea and had it not been for a dodgy linesman and a lucky own goal things might have been a lot worse for The Blues going in to the New Year.

Turkey's - 

       

Everton

Overall a pretty solid last couple of days for David Moyes and his men. Started out with a good draw away to Sunderland, any time you equalize in the last 10 minutes you've got to be happy with a point! More importantly for Everton though was the fact that they followed up that point away to Sunderland with a home win over Burnley, their first league win since November 8th and their first home win since September 20th........ That was a long time coming and a good way to finish a year which on the whole has been pretty successful for Everton and David Moyes!

Turkey's - 

               

 

 

Fulham

Sometimes in life it's not "How" you do the job that's important but that you "Do" get the job done. For Fulham it's been a pretty frustrating FP as they played very well in both their matches and only have one point to show for it.

Had their Boxing Day match against Spurs in fact been a Boxing match it would have been stopped in Fulham's favour or at the very least The Cottagers would have won unanimously on points as they did everything but put the ball in the back of the net. I'm sure a certain Mr H. Gomes was not of Fulham Christmas card list!

As for the Chelsea game, i thought Fulham were unlucky not to get a point but as I basically said earlier, playing well is all good, but winning is what matters.

Turkey's - 

       

 

Manchester City

Pretty good going for City over the FP and also a very good start for the Roberto Mancini era. For all the furore over the Hughes sacking and how unjust it was Mancini has managed to do in his first two games what Hughes had failed to do in his last 13 and that's get back to back league wins.

Now I know the opposition was only Stoke and Wolves but you can only beat who's in front of you and the fact City won both those games without conceding is also another big plus point as they had only kept four clean sheets previously.

There will be tougher tests ahead for Mancini and City but for now they passed this particular one with flying colours!

Turkey's - 

                   

 

Stoke

Two games played, Two defeats, Zero goals scored......... Pretty ugly.

These FP results have just underlined what has been a glaring problem for Stoke for quite a while now - LACK OF GOALS.

Care to have a guess how many goals Stoke have scored in the last two months?

Answer = Three

What's more amazing is that despite the goal drought of Biblical proportions they are still six places and four points above the dropzone.

All in all a very bad Christmas.

Turkey's - 

   

 

Sunderland

Sunderland are another team suffering form the "Curse of beating Arsenal" and in fact since beating Arsenal Sunderland have failed to win any of the seven games since....... Pretty ugly.

As for their FP games, again it all depends on what your take is, they didn;t lose but they didn't win.

I think what makes it ultimately a bad FP for the Black Cats is the fact they were in the lead of both their games and failed to win them and that;s something Steve Bruce needs to sort of quickly!

Turkey's - 

       

 

Tottenham

You'd think Spurs fans should be pretty happy with their results over the festive period. A good point away to Fulham is nothing to scoff at considering the last team that went their was United and look what happened to them! Then to follow that up with a 2-0 with over another London rival in West Ham and have one of your best players score on his first game back from a broken leg, it should be all good right?

Well this is Tottenham and their fans tend to live on another planet most of the time but even the most level headed Spurs fan I know, Spurs Pete was solemn due to mainly the Fulham result........ I spoke to him on the phone just after Arsenal had beaten Villa -

FG: Hey mate, awesome result for the Gunners hey!

SP: (Sounding glum) Yeah I guess.....

FG: Don't be so down, your point yesterday was good and because of us beating Villa it actually helps you in your race for fourth!

SP: Yeah but you guys won though....

FG: Yeah I know you might not like it when we win but we did you a favour.

SP: How? Now your further away!

FG: Yeah but Villa are nearer.......... Oh wait, you thought you were competing with us?

SP: Well.... Yeah!

FG: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......... HAHAHAHAHAHA....... (Hang up phone)

Again it goes to show no matter how well Spurs do, all that really matters to them is whether or not it's better than Arsenal.

Turkey's - 

                I would have gone with five but since Spurs fans are upset..

 

West Ham

The Spurs defeat might hurt local pride, but ultimately West Ham got the main result they needed over this FP and that was a win at home over Pompey.

Yes it would have been nice to get a point at White Hart Lane or maybe even a win, but West ham fans need to keep focused on the bigger picture and that win over Portsmouth is just the type of result that will keep them in the Premiership.

Turkey's - 

           

 

Wolves

Two defeats to two teams fighting for fourth and in both matches there were incidents that I'm sure Big Mick was unhappy about, more-so in the City game where the goal that killed the game off came from a offside decision so bad that if it had been against my team I'd consider finding out the address of the Assistant Ref, breaking in to his house and forcing him to eat the Football Guy's special Christmas stuffing.......... Or Dog Shit as it's more commonly known.

Turkey's - 

   

 

The Football Guy Prediction League

We've got a bit of catching up to two so let get right to it!

The scoring system is simple -

Perfect Result = 30pts

Correct Result = 10pts

Wrong Result = -10pts

Here's a look at how everyone did for Gameweek 19 -

                          PR       CR      WR      PTS

Jamrock             2          4         4         60

Football Guy      2           4         4        60 

Lawro                 2          4         4         60 

FootyDoc            1          5         4         40

SportBoys          1           4         5         20

And here's how everyone's done so far for Gameweek 20 -

                          PR       CR      WR      PTS

Lawro                3          0         3         60

Football Guy      2          2         2         60 

FootyDoc           2          1         3         40 

JamRock            0          4         2         20

SportBoys          0          4         2         20

Combined Totals -

                        PR       CR      WR      PTS

Lawro                5          4        7       120

Football Guy      4          6        6       120 

FootyDoc           3          6        7         80 

JamRock            2          8        6         80

SportBoys         1          8         7         40

Me and Lawro are starting to catch the leaders! The SportBoys are a looooooooog way back.

Here's the complete table -

                        PR       CR      WR      PTS

JamRock         25        70       86       590   

Footydoc         23        73       84       570

Lawro              22       68       91       430

Football Guy    14       81       86       370     

SportBoys        15       72       93       230

The End

Be back New Years Eve!!

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football Fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, due to the time constraints of the festive period this will have to be just a case of posting up the predictions, but never fear, I'll be back tonight with a recap of how things have gone down for the teams over the Christmas period!

Football Guy's predictions

Tottenham 2 v 0 West Ham

Spurs pick up needed win considering who esle is playing today!

Blackburn 1 v 1 Sunderland

Both teams seem to be drawing quite a bit of late, why go against it?

Chelsea 1 v 0 Fulham

I'm going to keep faith with Chelsea and say they can beat their in form West London rivals at home.

Everton 2 v 0 Burnley

Everton just have to win sooner or later (I know I've said this quite a few time of late) and surely it will be against the league's worst travelling club!

Stoke 1 v 1 Birmingham

Close Encounters of the DULL kind!

Wolves 1 v 1 Manchester City

I'm going to regret showing faith in Big Mick.......

Aston Villa 2 v 2 Liverpool

I'm banking on Villa being a tad shell-shocked after their beating at the hand of Arsenal a couple of days earlier!

Bolton 2 v 1 Hull

Bolton pick up needed three points at home v relegation rival.

Portsmouth 1 v 3 Arsenal

Gunner's keep riding the high that their on right now!

Manchester United 2 v 0 Wigan

More Rooney Power!

The Rest

Right, first off here are the Footy Doc's predictions -

Tottenham 1v1 West Ham

Blackburn 2v0 Sunderland

Chelsea 2v1 Fulham

Everton 2v0 Burnley

Stoke City 1v1 Birmingham

Wolves 1v3 Man City

Aston Villa 0v1 Liverpool

Bolton 2v0 Hull City

Portsmouth 1v2 Arsenal

Man Utd 3v0 Wigan

Next up we have JamrockRover -

Tottenham 2 - 1 West Ham

Blackburn 1 - 1 Sunderland

Chelsea 1 - 1 Fulham

Everton 3 - 1 Burnley

Stoke City 0 - 0 Birmingham

Wolves 1 - 2 Man City

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Liverpool

Bolton 2 - 0 Hull City

Portsmouth 1 - 3 Arsenal

Man Utd 4 - 1 Wigan

And finally,  the SportBoys -

Tottenham v West Ham 3-0

Blackburn v Sunderland 1-1

Chelsea v Fulham 1-0

Everton v Burnley 2-1

Stoke City v Birmingham 0-0

Wolves  v Manchester City 1-1

Aston Villa v Liverpool 2-2

Portsmouth v Arsenal 0-2

Manchester United v Wigan 3-1

Oh and let's not forget Lawro! -

The End

Speak to you all tonight

Hi and hello football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! It's Boxing Day morning here in the broom cupboard at Football Guy Towers and I for one can't wait for the day to unfold, I'm going to go to a good friend of mines to gorge of more festive food whilst watching as much football I can via his satellite system that picks up quite possibly every channel in the known universe! But before I do that I've got to do this weekends predictions, something I had intended to do last night, well that was until I over indulged on Alcohol and Food and passed out in front of the TV watching ESPN Classic........ What can I say, I like to enjoy myself!

Birmingham v Chelsea

This should be a tough game for Chelsea if both teams form over the last month is anything to go by. Birmingham have been on quite a remarkable run of late by their standards picking up an awesome 21pts out of a possible 27pts which is the most in the league over that time!

Chelsea in comparison have picked up only 14pts over the same period and will now be losing their African players for the next couple of weeks as they fly off to the Cup of Nations which means this will be Didier Drogba's last game for quite a while which is quite a good thing for everyone else in the league, but not so good for my fantasy team. Let's hope he leaves with a bang as I have him as captain for this round of games! 

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

Fulham v Tottenham

Let's stop all of this "Bobby Zamora for England" talk shall we, yes the guy has been in a decent run of form in the last couple of games but do you really think he should be playing for England? Maybe a better way of putting it is - Do you think when Zamora's playing days are over and we look back on his career it will say "World Cup Winner"? Basically Bobby Zamora cannot win a World Cup and should he ever do so we might as well forget about the world cup actually meaning anything........ Having said that though Roque Junior and Frank Lebouef both won the world cup so there might yet be hope for Bobby.

In the meantime watch him beat up on his previous employers.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

West Ham v Portsmouth

There are games that can end up defining your season and for West Ham today's Boxing Day clash at home against Portsmouth is one of those games. Basically Hammers fans, if you can't win this one then what makes you think your good enough to be in the Premier League?

As for Pompey, they are going to lose FIVE players to the ACN and will be hurt more than any other top flight team, but actually when you stop to think about it, is losing Arune Dindane really a bad thing?

I think the Hammers will pull out a much needed win.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Burnley v Bolton

Not the most glamours pick of the Boxing Day matches but it could well be the most exciting as combined there has been an average of three goals a game in their last three matches.

For all the talk of how good Burnley are at home they actually have not won there since October so to say it's been a while is an understatement. You also have to go all the way back to September for Bolton's last away win which makes me think this one could well end up a draw....... It is a Derby game after all!

Football Guy's verdict 2-2

Manchester City v Stoke

If you were picking your opponent for your first game in charge you could not go far wrong with Stoke at Home, Stoke being the team that can't win or score away from home. The Potters have actually only managed one away win this season out of nine played with only four goals scored, although they do have four draws and since draws have been city's kryptonite maybe Mancini does have something to worry about.

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Sunderland v Everton

For some reason it feel like Sunderland and Everton are in quite different worlds when it come to how good each teams season has been so far, so it might surprise you to know that there are only three points separating them!.......... Not surprised? OK fair enough......

Everton have won nine and drawn one of the last 10 meetings in all competitions with Sunderland, including the last four in a row which makes Everton for all intense and purpose "The Hammer" and Sunderland very much "The Nail"....... Or Ike and Tina if you prefer....

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

Wigan v Blackburn

I'll be disappointed tonight when I watch Match of the Day if I don't see a guy dressed as Father Christmas in the crowd and a bunch of fat guys with their tops off, this seems like just the game for those kind of shenanigans.

I say "disappointed" not because I've got some sort of fat guy fetish but because without that light entertainment I'll be board still watching the two minute highlight reel they show at the back end of MoTD...... It's still Christmas time God-Dammit and I want entertainment!  

Football Guy's verdict 1-1

Liverpool v Wolves

If Liverpool's season was a 80's wrestling match it would have to be one involving Hulk Hogan with The Red Men playing the role of Hulk. It seemed to me growing up that in every hulkster match he would take a beating so badly he could barely stand and then would be put in to some sort of Sleeper/head-lock to finish him off. The ref would star to lift Hogan's hand and let it drop symbolizing the count and just when it got to that last count Hulks arm instead of dropping would stay risen and he would break out of the hold and run to the ropes and do that "Listening to the crowd thing".

Well Liverpool have been well and truly beaten up so far this season, their arm has dropped as many times as the ref will allow, could this be their "listening to the crowd match"? For their sake I hope it is.

Football Guy's verdict 3-0

Arsenal v Aston Villa

As an Arsenal fan this match scares the hell out of me!

Basically I don't think Arsenal have played well at all for the last month or so and conversely Villa have been playing out of their skin, plus John Carew has knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League twice and is about a foot taller than anybody else on our team........ Say I'm reverse-jinxing if you want but I think Villa are going to complete a first half of the season sweep against the "Big Four"

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

Hull v Manchester United

Who would United have to be playing for you to be confident right now that they would keep a clean sheet? Because there's not many teams worse than hull and I can see them giving United a problem or two Sunday afternoon......... Well that is if Phil Brown can pull himself away from the Oriental Brothel he loves so much.....

Football Guy;s verdict 1-2

The Rest

Right, first off here are the Footy Doc's predictions -

Birmingham 0 v 2 Chelsea

Fulham 1 v 0 Tottenham

West Ham 2 v 1 Portsmouth

Burnley 3 v 1 Bolton

Manchester City 1 v 0 Stoke

Sunderland 1 v 1 Everton

Wigan 2 v 1 Balckburn

Liverpool 4 v 0 Wolves

Arsenal 2 v 0 Aston Villa

Hull 1 v 2 Manchester United

Next up we have JamrockRover -

Birmingham 1 - 1 Chelsea

Fulham 2 - 0 Tottenham

West Ham 2 - 2 Portsmouth

Burnley 2 - 1 Bolton

Man City 2 - 0 Stoke City

Sunderland 2 - 2 Everton

Wigan 2 - 1 Blackburn

Liverpool 2 - 1 Wolves

Arsenal 1 - 0 Aston Villa

Hull City 1 - 3 Man Utd

And finally,  the SportBoys -

Birmingham 1 - 1 Chelsea

Fulham 2 - 1 Tottenham

West Ham 2 - 2 Portsmouth

Burnley 2 - 1 Bolton

Man City 3 - 1 Stoke City

Sunderland 2 - 1 Everton

Wigan 3 - 2 Blackburn

Liverpool 4 - 0 Wolves

Arsenal 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Hull City 1 - 3 Man Utd

Oh and let's not forget Lawro! -

The End

Merry Xmas!!

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Seems like Tuesday hangovers are becoming quite the fashion these days, I blame it on my rather hectic Monday schedule of late in my private life. What I might try to do is write the "Monday" Hangover on Sunday nights that way it's ready for consumption Monday morning as that I think will be easier than trying to find time on a Monday for the foreseeable future!

But regardless of when we recap it, did everyone enjoy their weekend? I really enjoyed it from a footballing point of view as I will discuss in a bit but from a social standpoint it was a mixed bag........ I went to a cracking house party Saturday night about a 3/4 minute walk from the Emirates and got absolutely wasted, I managed to stagger home at 9am Sunday and climb in to bed still wearing my clothes from the party........... Fast-forward about 5/6 hours and I wake up with a surprisingly mild headache but barely able to move a muscle and heart beating so fast I thought it was going to burrow a way out of my chest. Needless to say I was quite concerned and have decided to never again to whatever it was that I did or didn't do at this house party as as hot as I think Brittany Murphy was I have no intention of trying to hit on her in the afterlife!

City and United both ship three

I wonder if this weekends results helped or hindered the sales of Brittany Spears song 3?......... OK, So what if I've been trying to include a reference to that song in the blog every since I first heard it, it's not my fault it's so catchy!

As for City and United - Well for City conceding three goals in a match is nothing new, this was actually the third match in a row they let in three and the fifth overall this season. Not very good considering how much they had spent on defenders and defensive mid fielders, thankfully for City their attack was able to bale them out again scoring three or more for the eighth time this season. This match also proved to be the last in charge for Mark Hughes after 18 months at Eastlands. Overall I think he did a pretty poor job considering how much dosh he had available to him, but I also think he should have been allowed to see out this season and see where he finished, had it been a top four spot then I'd have given him another year at least, but hey, I'm not the one pumping shit loads of cash in to the club and it's not my decision to make. I will say that I find replacing Hughes with Mancini rather bizarre as I don't think the Italian is any sort of upgrade. At a glance it seems I'm talking shit as Mancini has not one, not two but THREE Serie A titles to his name, but on closer inspection those titles are mere paper titles won because other teams were punished as part of the Calciopoli scandal, that saw Juventus stripped of the title and relegated to Serie B. 

Mancini does though have a rather good record in the Italian cup, winning it four time between 2001-2006 with Fiorentina, Lazio and Inter. So maybe City can look forward to a Carling Cup or FA Cup triumph in the near future but unless United and Chelsea get embroiled in some match fixing scandal involving Howard Webb and Mike Reilly don't expect any titles anytime soon.

As for United, I said a few weeks ago that they really have to start losing games due to this injury crises they have at the back, thankfully it's one of the few things that I've managed to get right this season...... WooHoo........ I mean losing to Fulham away is not the worst result in the world, Fulham are a good side and in West london they'll give anyone a game, but being lucky to walk out of Craven Cottage with JUST a 3-0 defeat is very bad news indeed. With games now coming thick and fast over the festive period it's not the time of year you want to be dealing with injuries, just read what Sir Alex thinks of it all - click here. 

Chelsea fail to take full advantage of united slip 

I thought some of the newspapers and football websites were a tad harsh saying Chelsea had "Failed" to take advantage of United's slip up, after all they did increase their lead over the Champions by a point and come the end of the season that point might prove the difference, but it certainly was a missed opportunity to put some real daylight between themselves and United.

Both goals came from spot kicks, both spot kicks for me were wrongly awarded with the decision to award Chelsea a penalty being the worse of the two as Matthew Upson clearly made an awesome challenge on young Daniel Sturidge. Ref Mike Dean did crack me up though making Frank Lampard take the penalty three times before OK-ing it due to players encroaching on the previous two.......... I'm not sure anyone has pointed out to him that players were also encroaching on the third penalty as well? Had he just booked the players encroaching on the first penalty surely that would have solved everything or is that too simple of an idea?

For West Ham this point meant more than you might originally think, it might not have moved them up any places in the league table but it did meant that they avoided being bottom come Christmas day and thus avoiding the curse that has seen every team bottom on Christmas day relegated baring one. West Ham themselves fell foul to this curse back in 2003 when they were last relegated  from the Premiership.

Arsenal the big winners of the weekend

At the time of kick off Arsenal did know that United had lost, but didn't know Rage against the Machine would be Christmas number one, also at the time of kick off Arsenal did know that Phil Brown is a cunt, but didn't know that Chelsea were going to slip up against West Ham making Arsenal's win over Hull all the more important!

Arsenal seem to be developing a worrying trend of starting games slowly and that was in full force on Saturday as for the whole of the first half the Gunners never really got going and were rather lucky to be ahead at half-time due to a rather softly won free kick that was beautifully dispatched by Denilson. I will add though that had that little CUNT Stephen Hunt and Nicky Barmby not reacted like animals to the Nasri incident then there would not have been that much time added on for Arsenal to win that free kick, so up yours up pricks!!

Arsenal in the second half were much better yet almost found themselves pegged back after Steve Bennett gave one of the worst decisions you'll see all season, it's such a bad decisions that I think it's easier to argue that Giovanni fouled Silvestre than the other way round!! Anyway Almunia justly saved the resulting spot kick and Arsenal went on to win comfortably and put themselves just two points behind United and six behind Chelsea but with a game in hand on both.

Mixed fortunes for the chasing pack

Liverpool continued their decent in to oblivion by losing to the worst team in the land 2-0. I will say I thought they were unlucky with the red card on Maschrano, I personally would have given him a yellow for that and I would say that the Yebda challenge on Insua a few minutes later was worse for me but all in all it was another poor poor performance from Liverpool who now look like they are really going to have to go on a long unbeaten run to get back in to real contention for fourth spot.

Side Note - Liverpool's atrocious season is starting to make me believe that Xabi Alonso might well be worth £30m as he is the only noticeable player missing from a team that almost won the league a season ago......... Well unless Sami Hyypia was an awesome bench and dressing room presence!

Villa and Spurs both kept up their good form with tight wins on Saturday, Villa beat Stoke 1-0 at home to make it five straight league wins and cement themselves as the Premierships form team, Spurs beat Blackburn away 2-0 for their second win in a row since losing at home to Wolves which was also their only defeat in their last seven matches.

Side Note - Villa's next game is away to Arsenal on the 27th........ I'm am very scared Arsenal are going to lose this match.......... That's right, I know what I said..........

Elsewhere

A "RESTED" Wolves first XI beat the worlds worst away team ever Burnley 2-0 to move out of the relegation zone and in to the heady height's of twelfth...... Now that might seem way to high for old Mick and his boys but if you look at the table, only Everton of the teams below Wolves would I say were better than them, the rest are as bad if not worse than team so fair play to Mick and Wolves, may you have a merry Christmas!

Speaking of Everton, they proved once again that just because we "think" you are better than your league place shows you still need to prove that to us once in a while. All Everton have proved of late is just how mediocre they really are with their last win coming back at the beginning of November. Birmingham on the other hand keep on getting results and sit in 8th spot in the league, one point in front of Liverpool no less....... Not sure if that's a compliment or an insult to either side........

And finally as if to say "What the fuck is Wigan v Bolton doing on a Monday night" The weather Gods said "NO" and got that match postponed....... Hopefully to a time like 3pm Saturday....... 

The Football Guy Prediction League

The scoring system is simple -

Perfect Result = 30pts

Correct Result = 10pts

Wrong Result = -10pts

Here's a look at how everyone did this week -

                          PR       CR      WR      PTS

Jamrock             1          4         4         30

Footydoc            1          4         4         30 

Lawro                 1          3         5         10 

Football Guy       0          5         4         10

SportBoys          0          3         6         -30

This is now I believe the 3rd week running without be getting a perfect score. I've been very good all season at predicting the outcome of matches just not had that luck when it comes to the all important "Perfect Result"

Here's the complete table -

                        PR       CR      WR      PTS

JamRock         23        62       80       510   

Footydoc         20        67       78       490

Lawro              17       64       84       310

Football Guy    10       75       80       250     

SportBoys        14       64       86       190

So no change to the league table, it means the SportBoys will be bottom on Christmas day, but since there is no promotion or relegation I guess it's not all that important as it is in the Premiership.......

Players you wish you had not made captain.

1. Fernando Torres - 1pt
2. Didier Drogba     - 2pts
3. Steven Gerrard   - 2pts
4. Wayne Rooney   - 2pts

Players you should have made captain.

1. Craig Bellamy        - 14pts
2. Peter Crouch        - 13pts
3. Roque Santa Cruz - 13pts
4. Bobby Zamora       - 12pts
5. Carlos Tevez         - 7pts
6. Frank Lampard      - 7pts

Players you wish you had made captain but never would.

1. Abou Diaby            - 14pts
2. Manuel Amlunia     - 11pts
3. Jordan Henderson - 10pts
4. Denilson                - 9pts
5. Richard Dunne       - 9pts
6. Jody Craddock       - 9pts

 

The Cristiano Ronaldo award for fantasy excellence.

1. Craig Bellamy & Abou Diaby - 14pts

What takes the piss is that this is the 2nd time this season Diaby has won this award...... Who would have thought?

Would like to make a special shout out to Richard Dunne who's just been on a tear up of late and needs to be in eveyones team before he really gets too expensive, he's got 37pts in the last four games...... Pretty awesome!

The End

The preview for the Boxing Day games will come out on Christmas Day so if you can prize yourselves away from TV, Turkey and Family and get yourselves in front of a computer you can check that out, I'll be posting a few special "LIST" in the coming days before new years to make stuff like team of the decade and other stuff like that so stay tuned, other than that, have a very merry Christmas and I'll speak to you all soon!

Hi and hello football fans. it's your late friend Roko The Football Guy. Now I don't mean late as in the "Just Died" sort of way but in the "Crap it's late Friday evening and still no weekend preview" kind of way. The reason for my lateness is that I over-slept this morning and ended up being late for work which meant of course I could not write this before I went to work like I normally do. Anyway, better late then never is what they say around here in the broom cupboard here at Football Guy Towers and that phrase will have to do for you lot!

As you may have noticed the title says "Gameweek 18" yet last weekend it was 16, what gives? Well gameweek 17 was the midweek games and as Lawro did not do a prediction for any of the matches it meant neither did anyone else in the league and basically we've skipped a gameweek. Judging from the predictions I received from everyone and didn't post I doubt anyone will be that unhappy that Lawro cost us a gameweek!

Portsmouth v Liverpool

The question is - How much do we read in to Pompey's good performance midweek away to Chelsea?

Well I think at times Liverpool remind me of a weaker Chelsea and if Pompey can keep improving under Avram Grant then they could give Liverpool a run for their money. But truth be told Pompey are still a poor side and the fact they are at home might end up being more of a hindrance to them as they might get a little bit more adventurous than they should and make Liverpool's life more easier breaking them down.

All in all Liverpool can't afford to slip up this week as all their main rivals for that converted 4th spot have very winnable games.

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

Aston Villa v Stoke

Cast your minds back if you will to the 1st of March 2009, Villa sat in 4th spot five points ahead of Arsenal who had just drawn at home to Fulham. A win over Stoke at Villa PArk would put the Villains a commanding eight points ahead of the Gunner's with just two and a half months left of the season, would Arsenal be able to overcome such a disadvantage? Well thankfully from an Arsenal fans point of view we never had to find out as Villa threw away a two goal lead with two minutes remaining, a result which seemingly ended their season as not only did Arsenal catch and pass them with ease only a few short weeks later but Everton too managed to catch and pass the stumbling Villa before it was all said and done.

Needless to say....... I think Villa owe Stoke a beating......

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Blackburn v Tottenham

I've been think about doing a rolling list of teams in the Premiership who you should NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES bet on until further notice. Should the said list be published today the first name on it would be "Tottenham Hotspur FC" as who the fuck knows what they are going to do next and let's face it, I don't think anyone who reads this blog has THAT much money that they can go around wasting it on a team like that through betting!

Blackburn on the other hand have proved quite well over the last month or so that they can't score much, in fact in their last six games in all competitions they've only managed four goals with three of those coming in one Carling Cup match against a under-strength Chelsea side.

I guess you roll the dice with this match and home you get the result you were looking for!

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

Fulham v Manchester United

Now have United recovered from last weekends defeat to Villa? Well it's quite hard to tell as their only game since was a 3-0 home win over 11 guys who are not good enough to get in the Wolves first team......... Hardly a fair litmus test is it?

Fulham meanwhile managed to secure passage midweek to the last 32 of the Europa League where they joined fellow English side Liverpool who must still be wondering why they are stuck in Macclesfield when they booked a flight to Madrid?!?!

I think United will slip up here as Fulham have played them quite well at the Cottage over the last few years beating them famously 2-0 last season and losing to a late C-Ron goal the year before.

Football Guy's verdict 1-1

Manchester City v Sunderland

Since Sunderland beat Arsenal 1-0 almost a month ago their form has been pretty terrible, they've actually lost three of their last four games with their only point coming from a 1-1 home draw with Pompey, which to be fair must feel like a loss in many ways!

City on the other hand have managed to concede three in their last two matches since beating Chelsea and are winless also since.......... Basically..... DON'T BEAT TITLE CHASERS IN YOU YOURSELF ARE NOT ONE!!!!!

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Arsenal v Hull

Last time Arsenal played Hull at home was the infamous spit-gate game which I was fortunate to be at. Cesc missed that match as we all know and unfortunately it looks as though he's going to miss out again. Now I say "unfortunately" not because Arsenal will struggle to win this match without him but because any fantasy player who owns Cesc with half a brain would have to go with him as Cpt due to the enormous potential of a "FUCK YOU GAME" from the Catalan as he seeks his revenge on Phil "Orange" Brown for his after match slanderous rant about Cesc spitting and Wenger not shaking his hand.

Just so you remember how big of a cunt Phil "Golden" Brown is, watch this - LINK

Only a cunt would act like that!

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Wolves v Burnley

I've got to admit I was pretty angry with Big Mick when I first saw the team he was fielding against United, HOW DARE YOU YOU PRICK! But then I calmed down and realized it's not his fault, he's just a idiot....... Now I've changed my mind yet again and am now of the mind set that fuck it, it's his team and he can play whoever he wants and of course their match against Burnley is more important.

Now for those of you who say it's unfair for him to not try as hard against United than he's obviously going to try against Burnley think about this - If United were away to Chelsea and the score was 0-0 with 10 minutes to go, do you think United would be bombing forward in search of a winner or do you think they would go all out attack knowing a draw would be a good result? Now imagine the same scenario except replace Chelsea with Wolves, do you think United play it the same as they would away to Chelsea? I very much doubt it, so why then should Big Mick field the same team against United away that he would field against Burnley at home?

The only people I feel sorry for are the 3000 fans who travelled to Manchester and ended up watching United pound on Wolves reserves but even so not every game is equal, some are more important than others.

Football Guy's verdict 3-2

Everton v Birmingham

I feel like Birmingham have got to lose sooner or later, their run has been pretty good but I feel it now comes to an end against an Everton team who is due a win!

I've got to say I don't really care too much about this match other than from a fantasy perspective.

Football Guy's verdict 1-0

West Ham v Chelsea

After Chelsea's rather uninspiring victory midweek over Pompey Frank Lampard had this to say - LINK

Now I agree with what he has to say in the article, but how DARE he ignore Arsenal as title rivals and insult me like that! Fat Asshole I've always defended you and this is how you repay me? I'm glad I got your fat ass out of my fantasy team as not only have I been scoring more points since you left but my team plane can now take off on normal runways and not just those designed for mass cargo planes. If you ever insult me like that again I'm gonna shave your dad Frank Lampard Snr's beard off and stick the loose hairs to your eyeballs..... got that? Good!

Football Guy's verdict 0-3

Wigan v Bolton

There would have to be a Monday night game wouldn't there and as if just to spite us all the powers that be have given us a right stinker....... Wigan v Bolton...... I'd rather watch hairy glue dry on a man's eyeballs......

Football Guy's verdict 2-2

The Rest

Right, first off here are the Footy Doc's predictions -

Portsmouth 0v1 Liverpool

Aston Villa 2v0 Stoke City

Blackburn 1v1 Tottenham

Fulham 0v1 Man Utd

Man City 2v1 Sunderland

Arsenal 4v0 Hull City

Wolves 2v1 Burnley

Everton 2v1 Birmingham

West Ham 1v1 Chelsea

Wigan 2v1 Bolton

Next up we have JamrockRover -

Portsmouth 1 - 2 Liverpool

Aston Villa 2 - 0 Stoke City

Blackburn 2 - 2 Tottenham

Fulham 1 - 1 Man Utd

Man City 2 - 0 Sunderland

Arsenal 3 - 1 Hull City

Wolves 2 - 1 Burnley

Everton 1 - 1 Birmingham

West Ham 1 - 3 Chelsea

Wigan 2 - 1 Bolton

And finally,  the SportBoys -

Portsmouth v Liverpool 1-3

Aston Villa v Stoke City 2-1

Blackburn v Tottenham 2-1

Fulham v Man Utd 0-1

Man City v Sunderland 1-1

Arsenal v Hull City 2-1

Wolves v Burnley 2-1

Everton v Birmingham 2-1

West Ham v Chelsea 0-2

Wigan v Bolton 3-2

Oh and let's not forget Lawro! -

The End

Have a good weekend and take care,

Football Guy

     

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! I feel like I've finally recovered from my awesome Birthday weekend which I have to say was the best one I've had in at least five years, everything seemed to go right for me (apart from football predictions..... will come back to that) and it almost felt as if every bad turn I'd had done to me over the past year was being sorted out karmically!

Only thing that was not great for me this weekend turned out to be my football predictions but ultimately coming from an Arsenal fans point of view I'd say my predictions not coming true was a blessing in disguise. Who would have guessed the Chelsea and Manchester City results? OK so maybe City drawing was not that big of a shock but Chelsea slipping up at home despite scoring three is crazy. I was quite happy as I had Drogba as my captain for fantasy and I had just brought in Ivanovic who got two assists!

Chelsea 3 v 3 Everton

It's one thing when you have a problem when you are conceding goals from set pieces the way Chelsea have been of late, but in all fairness the 1st and 3rd goals were not down to bad defending but bad luck...... Or Football Guy Birthday Karma!!! FGBK for short!

For the first you get not one but two deflections, firstly off John Terry which ends up hitting the post and going in off the back of Petr Cech's padded hat........ Pretty unlucky right? Well the 3rd goal was even worse for me, how often do you see a player head a ball straight in to an opposition player and have the ball end up looping over you goal keeper? A big slice of FGBK if you ask me!

On the whole I thought Chelsea played well enough to deserve a victory and on another day would have won easily, but I guess Saturday was just one of those days.

Manchester United 0 v 1 Aston Villa

As far as shocks go this has to be considered the biggest of the weekend. It's shock factor has nothing to do with how good this current Villa side are but rather how bad Villa have historically been against United in the Premiership era. 

Check these stats from Fridays preview of this match -

Villa have never won at Old Trafford in the Premier League.

Lost 13 and drawn one of the last 14 home and away.

Villa's last Premier League win against Man Utd was in August 1995.

United have won 20 and drawn seven of the 27 league meetings.

How could you expect anything other than a United win after this historical domination? FGBK in full force!!

Side Note - Wayne Rooney booked for diving........ Where is the media backlash? Why are we not talking about how big of a cheat he is? Why are we not figuring out ways to stamp this horrible habit out of are beautiful game? Oh wait, Wayne Rooney is English and plays for United...... Right that makes sense.

Bolton 3 v 3 Manchester City 

Here's another genius excerpt from my Friday preview post - 

"It would be just like City to beat Chelsea one week and then slip up to Bolton the next......... Nah, I can't talk myself in to yet another away draw for City."

Here are some other things historically that I could never have talked myself in to -

Investing in Star Wars

Thinking United could win anything with kids

VHS over Betamax

Girls Aloud having a better career than One True Voice

Thinking some reject winger from Juventus could ever become a successful striker

Again, I'm blaming FGBK, and by blaming I mean I'm happy that City slipped up and by happy I mean hysterically laughing at FT!

Side Note - Did you see Craig Bellamy getting sent off for diving despite getting fouled? I guess even ref's don't like him but that don't make it right and the fact it can't be rescinded is a complete joke....... I wonder what Wayne Rooney thinks about it?  

Tottenham 0 v 1 Wolves

My Friday comments keep getting better and better -

"This match has all the makings of a "Pick Jermain as captain for fantasy, watch the goals fly in" game which we all know he seems to love this season. Plus Spurs seem to really like to whoop of crummy teams this season and you don't get much worse than this Wolves side."

Well I still stand by this comment, Jermain should be scoring in this match and Spurs should been whooping on Wolves, it's not my fault they are a bunch of fraudsters cheating their fans out of hard earned money pretending to be good. It would be one thing had Spurs dominated this match, created loads of chances and somehow lost to a lucky goal (see Spurs 0 Stoke 1) but having watched extended highlights of this match it was shocking to see just how little Tottenham managed to create at home to a Wolves side who on average are conceding two goals a game away from home.

Their match Wednesday night against City now becomes all the more important and I have no idea what's going to happen.

Sunderland 1 v 1 Portsmouth

This game was boring as hell and the only good that came from it for me was -

Darren Bent scoring for my fantasy team!

Kabul getting sent off for taking his shirt off after scoring a late equalizer for Pompey........ what a dumdum!

Side Note - I know Pompey are struggling but where the hell were their away fans for this match? It looked like they brought about 20 fans up to Sunderland! Until this changes I don't want to hear anything about how great Portsmouth fans are, it's great to turn up to home games and be loud, but you can't ignore the away games.

Liverpool 1 v 2 Arsenal

Yes we all know Liverpool were better in the first half and Arsenal in the second and yes apparently Arsene shouted at the Arsenal players at half time which apparently inspired the second half revival....... I don't want to talk about that, I want to talk about some important issues that Alan Hansen raised on Match of the Day 2.

Basically said the ref was on Arsenal's side because he did give Gerrard a penalty when Gallas fouled him or Torres a penalty when he dived with Gallas next to him and because he didn't send off Cesc Fabregas for Mascherano going in stud showing to try to win the ball in the foul that led up to an Arsenal goal.

Firstly I agree that Gerrard should have had a penalty their but I don't agree with some Liverpool fans who I spoke to about Gallas having to be sent off as well, the fact the ball had got away from Gerrad does not stop it from being a foul and a penalty but it does stop it from being a goal scoring chance and therefore no Red for Gallas.

Secondly that was a dive for me by Torres and had the shoe been on the other foot I'm sure Mr Hansen would be saying the same thing.

Secondly (Part b) There was a point in the first half where Glenn Johnson broke in to the Arsenal box and went passed a Gallas challenge, now Gallas didn't even come close to making contact with the ball or Johnson and Hansen say's "He could have gone down there" to which Adrian Chiles brilliantly replies "Could have gone down? So your saying he should have dived as there was no contact?" Hansen then had to hurriedly backtrack and I wish Chiles had pushed him further on the matter.

Thirdly WTF is that prick talking about saying Cesc should have got a red for Mashcerano going in studs showing? Is he a fool? I guessing so and if he want's to talk about bad decisions leading to goals then what about Gerrard's dive after running in to Denilson's ass which lead up to Dirk Goal? Don't want to talk about that huh? Or Arshavin getting booked for two nothing challenges on Agger or how Mashcerano committed six different fouls yet only got a yellow, surely after that many fouls a guy needs to be sent off? 

I think Hansens entitlement attitude must have stemmed from Stevie G's attitude all game, you could not tackle him or any other Liverpool player in his vicinity without "Honest" Gerrard waving his hands about and claiming foul play...... I know times are tough Stevie but don't go in to your Inner-Scouse and start trying to steal it's a stereotype that you are just fuelling with your attitude and besides - What's that coming over your wife? Is it a gangster, is it a gangster?

The rest

Sorensen saves yet another penalty but also concedes a goal from over 50 yards out which also make me wonder why that goal is not receiving the same attention Beckham's one got against Wimbledon all those years ago, could it be that Beckham was an Englishman playing for United?........ Right, makes sense.

Blackburn draw 0-0 for the 3rd league match in a row after drawing with Hull, Fulham also drew away to Burnley and Birmingham beat a woeful Hammers side.

The Football Guy Prediction League

The scoring system is simple -

Perfect Result = 30pts

Correct Result = 10pts

Wrong Result = -10pts

Here's a look at how everyone did this week -

                          PR       CR      WR      PTS

Jamrock             3          0         7         20

SportBoys          2          2         6         20 

Lawro                 1          1         8        -40 

Footydoc            0          3         7        -40

Football Guy       0          1         9        -80

Well that was a pretty brutal week for me, but to be honest it actually added to my awesome good weekend!!

Here's the complete table -

                        PR       CR      WR      PTS

JamRock         22        58       76       480   

Footydoc         19        63       74       460

Lawro              16       61       79       300

Football Guy    10       70       76       240     

SportBoys        14       61       80       220

So Jamrock is the new leader and I'm now just 20pts off bottom.......... Need to turn things around fast!

Tonight's predictions

As I'm not sure if Lawro will be doing predictions for the midweek games I thought I'd just post my up quickly and see what happens.

Birmingham v Blackburn

Well since they have drawn their last three 0-0 why should I chose anything different?

Football Guy's verdict 0-0

Bolton v West Ham

Bolton might not have that much going for them but at least they can score a goal or two, not something I'm confident for West Ham about since they lost Carlton Cole.

Football Guy's verdict 3-1

Manchester United v Wolves

Wolves ended a 30 years winless streak in London by beating Spurs on Saturday, it's been almost as long since their last win over United away from home which came in February 1980, a 1-0 win.

Speaking of 1-0, three of the last four meetings between Manchester United and Wolves in all competitions have ended as 1-0 home wins. I think that tell's you all you need to know about what I'm going with.

Football Guy's verdict 1-0

Sunderland v Aston Villa

I think Darren Bent will score as he has scored the last three times he's faced Villa and along the same train of thought, I think Villa will win 2-1 as their last three league victories over Sunderland have been the same result.

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

The Rest

I have all of the other guy's from the predictions leagues resulst, but as I'm not sure if Lawro is going to post I'll wait before I put them up on here.

Be back tomorrow

Football Guy

Hi and hello Football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! I'm in a pretty good mood today, not only is it Friday, but it's also the day before my Birthday, woohoo!

Last year for my Birthday I cracked out a two piece special briefly covering the most important things in English football over the past 25 years and since I won't be doing anything similar this year I encourage you, nay DEMAND all to go check that out - PART ONE - PART TWO.

Also before we get to this weeks predictions I need to quickly update the predictions table -

Here's a look at how everyone did this week -

                          PR       CR      WR      PTS

Lawro                 2          5         3         80

Jamrock              2          3         5         40 

Footydoc             1          5         4         40 

Sportboys           0          5         5          0

Football Guy       0          4         6         -20

Here's the complete table -

                        PR       CR      WR      PTS

Footy Doc        19       60       67       500     

Jamrock          19        58       69       460

Lawro              15       60       71       340

Football Guy    10       69       67       320     

SportBoys        12       59      74        200

It was pointed out to me by the Sportboys that back in early November after Liverpool's Monday night draw with Birmingham I forgot to minus the points for eveyone, that has been updated.

Stoke v Wigan

Wigan have failed to score in their last three league games against Stoke City and James Beattie has scored two goals in three Premier League games against Wigan. Well I guess the Beattie fact does not really matter anymore as it seems his playing days may be numbered after a bust-up last with with manager Tony Pulis.

I was going to consider picking a draw for this match but then I realized that Wigan have not drawn away from home since February and their last away game was the 9-1 beating Spurs gave them........ I think home win!

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Birmingham v West Ham

Normally I would not pick away win here, but considering the news this morning of Dean Ashton's unfortunate retirement I'm going to say the Hammers win this one for him..... Or at least the should put in a top performance because if team-mate losing his career is not enough to motivate you then I don't know what is!

Plus I think the Football Gods are going to pay back Birmingham for their rather fortuitous victory over Wigan last week.

Football Guy's verdict 1-2

Bolton v Man City

It would be just like City to beat Chelsea one week and then slip up to Bolton the next......... Nah, I can't talk myself in to yet another away draw for City.

I've given Gary Megson more backing than most but unfortunately for Gary the time has come for me to turn my back on him. (Turning Round)

yawa niw rof erus.

Football Guy's verdict 0-2

Burnley v Fulham

In a battle of "awesome home form" V "poo away form" why do I feel reluctant to pick the home side? Well maybe it's got something to do with the fact that Burnley have only won once in their last seven games whereas Fulham have only lost once in their last nine league games.

I'm not going to go as far and say Burnley lose this match, but I do think a draw is on the cards.

Football Guy's verdict 2-2

Cheslea v Everton

Neither side was very impressive last week, unfortunately for Everton unimpressive has been a theme for the season so far and a visit to Stamford Bridge a week after a Chelsea loss is not a great way to try to kick start your league campaign.

Chelsea have been dealt a significant blow this week losing Michael Essien for about 11 weeks (including ACN) which will no doubt cost them in the long run but I'm sure won't cause any problems this weekend as Everton seem like a team going now where right now.

Football Guy's verdict 3-0

Hull v Blackburn

A beating from Villa sent Hull came crashing back down to earth last week after a good run of form and to make things worse they lost Jimmy Bullard as well for at least a month. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back from that?

Blackburn are unbeaten in their last three matches in all competitions, but have failed to score in two of those games, I think having David Dunn out is really affecting them and the sooner they get him back the better........ He's also in my fantasy team and was playing really well up until this injury.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Sunderland v Portsmouth

There are three home wins this week that I'm certain off, the first is Chelsea v Everton and this is the second. There is not way Pompey are walking out of the Stadium of Light with anything other than another loss to add to their miserable season so far.

I expect Darren Bent to also come back from this hibernation he's been in since scoring the winner against Arsenal a few weeks back, I think I jinxed him by writing that bit about how he's got a better record than Jermain Defoe, speaking of which.......

Football Guy;s verdict 3-1

Tottenham v Wolves

This match has all the makings of a "Pick Jermain as captain for fantasy, watch the goals fly in" game which we all know he seems to love this season. Plus Spurs seem to really like to whoop of crummy teams this season and you don't get much worse than this Wolves side.

In other news I encourage you all to join me in my Birthday Treble paying over 3/1, just back these three team to win at home -

Chelsea v Everton

Sunderland v Pompey

Spurs v Wolves

I think it's worth a cheeky £10 and will hopefully make my weekend all the more sweeter!

Football Guy's verdict 3-0

Manchester United v Aston Villa

What's annoying me the most about United's recent run of injuries is that it seems to have coincided with their best run of form this season. Who care's about not having Rio or Vidic at the back when right now it seems United could deploy the famous Michael Caine/Bobby Moore combo from Escape to Victory and still beat most teams.

Speaking of United beating teams, there are very few who United like beating more than Aston Villa, especially at Old Trafford. Villa have never won at Old Trafford in the Premier League and have lost 13 and drawn one of the last 14 home and away.

Villa's last Premier League win against Man Utd was in August 1995, inspiring the famous Alan Hansen quote "You'll never win anything with kids." Since then, United have won 20 and drawn seven of the 27 league meetings. Why can't Alan Hansen say that about Arsenal after they lost to Chelsea......... Bastard!

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Liverpool v Arsenal

This game come down to a couple of key points -

• Do Liverpool have enough confidence to win
• Will Fernando Torres play and play well
• Can Arsenal finally win a big game this season

I was speaking to Liverpool fan and friend of the blog The Footydoc last night on Skype and he was telling me how he feels that Liverpool's confidence seems shot to pieces and that they need to get it back fast before the game to fourth spot grows larger than the three points it already is.

Well the probable return of Fernando Torres to the starting line up should go a long way to restoring some of that lost confidence, anytime Torres plays he improves the side he's playing for be that Liverpool of Spain and as an Arsenal fan I'd have been very pleased if this injury had kept him out for just one week longer!

When I say "BIG GAME" I don't mean beating Spurs at home, Arsenal are expected to beat Spurs at home. I mean the United and City away games, I mean the Chelsea home game. All three big games, all three defeats for Arsenal. Until the Gunner's can win one of these games I'm afraid I'll have to keep backing against them.

Football Guy's verdict 1-0

The Rest

I'd like to thank JamrockRover

prompt as usual!

Stoke City 2 - 0 Wigan

Birmingham 1 - 0 West Ham

Bolton 1 - 3 Man City

Burnley 1 - 1 Fulham

Chelsea 3 - 1 Everton

Hull City 1 - 2 Blackburn

Sunderland 2 - 0 Portsmouth

Tottenham 3 - 0 Wolves

Man Utd 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Liverpool 1 - 2 Arsenal

As for the rest, I don't have them yet......... Starting to see a pattern forming!

(EDIT)  Here are the Footy Doc's predictions -

Stoke City 2v1 Wigan

Birmingham 2v0 West Ham

Bolton 1v1 Man City

Burnley 0v0 Fulham

Chelsea 2v0 Everton

Hull City 1v2 Blackburn

Sunderland 3v1 Portsmouth

Tottenham 4v1 Wolves

Man Utd 2v0 Aston Villa

Liverpool 1v0 Arsenal

And here is a reply to my comments about lateness -

"Stick that in your patterns are forming. I have to be at work for 8 and i have to wait til fri to get injury news and im not getting up that early to do the results so you have to wait"

Still waiting on the SportBoys

(EDIT) And finally,  the SportBoys -

Stoke City v Wigan 2-1

Birmingham v West Ham 1-0

Bolton v Man City 2-2

Burnley v Fulham 1-1

Chelsea v Everton 3-0

Hull City v Blackburn 2-2

Sunderland v Portsmouth 2-1

Tottenham v Wolves 4-0

Man Utd v Aston Villa 2-0

Liverpool v Arsenal 1-1

Oh, and here's Lawro's - LINK

Take care

Football Guy

   

Hi and hello football fans, it's time for the top 10 for this months power rankings. To view Septembers rankings click HERE - And for yesterdays 20-11th click HERE.

Lets get straight in to it!

The your Season ended in August division 10th - 8th

No highs or lows

* Last months place in brackets

PR 10th (11th) PL 8th (14th) - Fulham

I was contemplating who should go in my 10th and 9th spots and it came down to Fulham and Sunderland, then I found it tough to work out in which order and I kid you not when I say I spent a good half an hour trying to work it out and it comes down to two things -

1) Where as Sunderland I believe have the capacity to buy a player or two in January I don't believe Fulham's coffers are as deep. The Chairman does not seem to like throwing his money about and especially not when prises are raised in January.

2) They have Bobby Zamora......... What the fuck is all this talk about Zamora for England? Have I missed something? Hearing all this ridicules talk makes me feel like Will Ferrell in Zoolander - "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

PR 9th (12th) PL 10th (8th) - Sunderland

Sunderland strike as the perfect candidate for "Too good to worry about going down, not good enough to dream of Europe" Which basically means their in for another Six months of mid-table mediocrity......... Well look on the bright-side, at least your not crapping your pants that you might go down like last season!

Bruce is building something here and as long as he gets the right kind of support from the board I'm sure Sunderland will keep on progressing.

PR 8th (7th) PL 15th (13th) - Everton

Everton's poor start has cost them quite badly as they now sit 11 points off 5th spot (Europa League) and with a tough quartet of team seemingly battling it out for 4th and 5th I think they have no chance of getting in to that race.

Injuries I think are partly to blame for Everton's poor start to the season but I also think David Moyes has a lot to answer for as well. Take Sunday's game against Spurs for example - At home Moyes decides to go with one up front, that one is none other than Jo, a man yet to score a league goal this season. Now I could understand if he was in a position like Arsenal were all of their strikers were out injured but he had Saha and Yakubu sitting there on the bench, surly at home you've got to play two up front? It's not like they were playing Chelsea for Christ's sake it was Tottenham!!! COme on David, sort it out!!

The Fight for Fourth division 7th - 4th

PR 7th (8th) PL 5th (5th) - Aston Villa

Ultimately my choice for the next four spots came down to a simple "Who do I think has the best team" and Villa unfortunately for them came last..... Or fourth if you will.

I don't have any stats to back up why I think they will finish below Spurs City and Liverpool I just think they will and sometimes you need to go with how you feel.

PR 6th (6th) PL 4th (6th) - Tottenham Hotspur

I was speaking to a Spurs fan over the weekend who was convinced that they would finish above Liverpool and Villa and that the only team they should be worried about who could deny them 4th spot is Manchester City.

Well, my reply to him was that I'm sure City will finish above them because they are a better team and as for Liverpool, in the history of the Premier League Spurs have failed to finish above only two teams, one is United and the other is Liverpool......... So basically I'll believe Spurs will finish above Liverpool when I see it.

PR 5th (5th) PL 6th (4th) - Manchester City

Now I'm 100% sure City will finish above both Spurs and Villa but Liverpool I'm not so sure about. At the time of writing City sit a point above Liverpool with a game in hand, plus this weekend Liverpool play Arsenal whilst City face Bolton so that gap could well increase but ultimately I find it hard to back against one of the "Big Four" not to finish top four unless they are in REAL trouble and as of yet Liverpool are not.

Plus City's games against the bigger sides are tougher I feel in the second half of the season, they have to visit both the Emirates and Stamford Bridge, both places I'm sure would love to see them beaten.

Basically I think City have a great chance at a top four finish, but right now I'd still back Liverpool.

PR 4th (4th) PL 7th (3rd) - Liverpool

Here's my argument for Liverpool's fourth spot finish -

1) Out of the teams chasing fourth Liverpool have had by far the worse luck with Injuries, there does not seem to be a match played that involves Liverpool without one of their players being stretched off, and despite all of these set-backs they sit only three points behind Spurs who currently occupy 4th.

2) Liverpool are out of the Champions League which means in the 2nd half of the season they should have very little to distract the from their real goal of a top for finish. Yes I know they will still be in the FA Cup and Europa League but do you really think they will take either competition seriously? I don't!

3) Out of the three other teams battling it out with Liverpool for fourth spot only once have Liverpool finished a season behind any of them and that was Aston Villa way back in the inaugural season of the Premier League. Now of course there is a first time for everything but I like to keep backing a streak until it comes to a end.

The Title Race division 3rd - 1st

PR 3rd (3rd) PL 3rd (7th) - Arsenal

Now there are a lot of "If's" involved but as of right now Arsenal are still in the title race.

If Arsenal can beat Liverpool this weekend and win their game in hand they would only be two points behind United and five behind Chelsea...... Very much in the hunt.

If Arsenal can keep on wining the games they really must win like they have been and not start stocking up on the draws they will continue to be in the title race.

If they can bolster their squad with a bit of bulk in January they will continue to be in the title race.

If the can withstand all these injuries they will continue to be in the title race.

That's quite a few if's, but not enough to stop me hoping!

PR 2nd (2nd) PL 2nd (2nd) - Manchester United

What can I say about United? Written off by me, every defender baring Patrice Evra out injured, a midfield devoid of a current world class player and yet they sit there two points behind a team that has been described as a machine by more people than just me.

Should United win the league this season I think I might just give up on the Premiership until Sir Alex either retires or dies as there really would be no point watching any more. 

I'm figuring playing against these kind of odds has to backfire against you sooner or later, but then again there injured defence has to come back sooner or later and with January looming they've got to spend a chunk of that C-Ron money they got this summer sooner or later.

PR 1st (1st) PL 1st (1st) - Chelsea

I think Chelsea's defeat to City last week was just a blip on their march to the title. I think that that will be the pattern over the next couple of months, Chelsea march to six or seven wins in a row then a blip, and if that's the case I don't think anyone will be able to keep up with them.

Plus now they have that Transfer embargo lifted of them they could be in the market again in a months time adding a few spare parts to this monstrous machine.

The rest of the leagues only hope is for a repeat performance of last seasons mid season collapse but that's basically like hoping Mike Tyson does not break your face after you insult his mother, he might not give you a kicking, but chances are your dead meat!

Take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! Things are going to be working a little different this week here at football guy towers, regular readers will have noticed that there was no Monday Hangover yesterday.......... Why I hear you ask? Well it's a simple reason, I only watched one match this past weekend so it would be rather tough for me to comment on what happened when I didn't even watch the highlights! Don't worry, it will be back next Monday and the Prediction League will be updated this Friday. This week you all finally get to see my latest Power Rankings, letting you know just where I think all 20 teams in the Premier League will finish at the end of the season. 

To check out what my thoughts were the last time I did a Power Ranking back in September click HERE.

The Power Rankings

Right, for those of you who don't know, this is basically where I think teams will finish the season and I will be doing one every month of so during the course of the season up until about March/April.

As always we shall start at the bottom.

The Mick McCarthy division 20th

The name speaks for itself.

* Last months place in brackets

PR 20th (18th) PL 18th (12th) - Wolves

Back in September I was ready to believe that it might just be possible for Mick McCarthy to keep Wolves in the Premier League.......... Two and a half months later I've come back to my senses and know for sure that under Big Mick Wolves are going down!

Back in August I wrote -

"If McCarthy were smart he would resign, approach some other Championship team and guarantee that he will get them in the Premiership if the give him a couple of million Pound bonus for doing so.

Everyone has a skill and McCarthy's is not keeping team in the top flight but getting them there."

I'm faxing this to him as we speak in hope of getting some soft of commission.......

The Basement division 19th - 15th

For those teams looking to escape the drop.

PR 19th (17th) PL 19th (17th) - Bolton

Bolton........ It's not looking good. You just lost to the only team I rank below you in the power rankings........ Not good at all.

I'm sure the one Wolves fan out there who reads this will be wondering why a team they just beat and are above in the league table should be above them in these power rankings, well here's why -

I think Bolton have a marginally better attack and defence than Wolves, I also think that Bolton have a difference maker or two like Matty Taylor who on any given day my just smack in two from 30 yards and win you the game, but most importantly their manager is Gary Megson not Mick McCarthy which in the grand scheme of things is not "that" much of an upgrade but God dammit it's still "IS" an upgrade!

PR 18th (20th) PL 20th (20th) - Portsmouth

Had it not been for last weeks revelations about Pompey failing to pay their players I'd probably have moved them up one spot as I was sure they would buy a decent striker or two in January, but since they are finding it hard to pay wages where are they going to find the money to buy extra players?

Turns out this "Rich Arab" might not quite be all what Pompey fans were hoping for........ They were hoping for McDonald's but instead got mamas home-made burger as described my Eddie Murphy. 

PR 17th (19th) PL 16th (19th) - Hull

Gotta hand it to Hull, they've shown a little fight over the past month or so and surprisingly it started just after the previous chairman was forced out....... No doubt Phil "Golden" Brown will take all the credit and I guess I can't blame him as he takes the blame when things go wrong.

It's a shame Jimmy Bullard had to go and win last months "player of the month" award as I'm sure it brought on this new knee injury that has stuck him down for the next 8 weeks......... In other news Hull's recent good form coincided with the return of Jimmy Bullard from his previous injury............

PR 16th (16th) PL 14th (15th) - Wigan

I think I've finally worked out who Wigan are -

A poor team than can occasionally surprise a good team with their physical approach.

Plus any team that can concede nine goals to any other team has to be battling to stay in the Premiership come April/May.

PR 15th (14th) PL 13th (9th) - Burnley

Now we all know Burnley are pretty good at home and pretty shit away, problem is that that home form has been a little too good so far and I think it's only a matter of time before they start to slip.

I know it's nothing new to have a team that's good at home and poor away but the difference is SO great for Burnley that I believe things will start to go south....... I can't believe the same team who has only conceded six goals in seven home games can concede 27 in eight away games.

Basically what I'm saying is that Burnley are pretty poo but their super defence at home as covered it up....... I expect that to change.

The Looking over my Shoulder division 14th - 11th

Those teams who should be safe but should keep an eye out on what's going on behind them.

PR 14th (9th) PL 17th (16th) - West Ham

I think West Ham so far this season have been a little unlucky with how the fixtures have panned out. We all know home form is important to survival in the Premier League and the same way I think Burnley's home form is overrated I believe that West Ham's is underrated, check this out -

Out of the eight home games the Hammers have played so far six of the opponents have been Fulham, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United......... those same six teams happen to comprise six of the top eight in the league.........

Basically, when West Ham's fixtures get better at home expect them to start rising up the table.

PR 13th (13th) PL 12th (18th) - Blackburn

Blackburn have all the makings to be safe in mid-table obscurity. Their home form is sold enough (just one defeat), but their away form on paper at least looks horrible, one win and the rest being defeats, but when you find out that four of those six defeats were at Goodison, The Emirates, Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge you start to be more forgiving!

Side Note - Whenever I've watched Blackburn this season they seem to play really well and either win or lose unluckily......... Maybe I should point this out to Fat Sam and get on the Rovers pay-roll!

PR 12th (10th) PL 11th (10th) - Stoke

I've not got much to say about Stoke from a footballing standpoint, we all know who they are and how they play.

Side note - The Football Dad over the past six months or so seems to have developed a love for all things Ricardo Fuller....... I have no idea why but he keeps saying how good he is and that if his head had been more screwed on as a younger lad he could have gone on to great things........ Now I don't know about any of that tosh that's coming out of his mouth, but I do know that he's said more nice things about Ricardo Fuller over the past six months than he has said about me my whole life......... Maybe it's time I bulked up, got a earing and some tattoo's and move to Stoke.

Side note two - Tony Pullis wears that damn hat so much that when I eventually see him not wearing it I'm shocked to see he's bald........ How does this surprise me every time?

PR 11th (15th) PL 9th (11th) - Birmingham

I feel like a broken record every-time I write about Birmingham so as not to waste time I'll just copy & paste what i wrote in September - 

I very much like Birmingham's defence........ I very much dislike Birmingham's attack.

Other things I like and dislike -

I like the first Matrix Film - I dislike the 2nd and 3rd Matrix film

I like Cutters Choice rolling tobacco - I dislike Drum rolling tabacco. I've quit smoking.

I like Lady Gaga's ass - I dislike Lady Gaga's face

I like Fifa - I dislike Pro Evo (This has only been the case since they started releasing them on the next gen consoles, before that Pro Evo was king)

I like Black Sambuca - I dislike White Sambuca - Wait, that's a lie...... I love ALL SAMBUCA!!!

End of part one

come back tomorrow for the top 10!

take care

Football Guy

Hi and hello football fans, it's your old pal Roko The Football Guy, what's going down? I hope all is well wherever you are! As always it's another busy day here in the broom closet as Football Guy Towers, especially so today due to me hoping to have my hair cut at some point this morning. Not sure if I will actually have the time, but we'll see how things go.

Portsmouth v Burnley

You'd think of all the ways to try to motivate a team at the foot of the table, NOT paying their wages would be quite low on the list........ I guess not a Portsmouth.

Well the team may be bottom of the league and their players might have picked up less money last month than you or me, but it's not all doom and gloom, they've got Burnley at home Saturday lunchtime!! The same Burnley side who's away record looks like this -

W 0   

D  1

L   6

GS 8

GA 25

Pompey might well go down this season, but surly they can beat Burnley at home?

Football Guy's verdict 3-1

Arsenal v Stoke

What the fuck happened to all of Arsenal goals? Could someone please answer that?

Obviously Van persie being out has hurt the Gunners, but what happened to all the goals that were going from midfield? What happened to the goals Vermaelan and Gallas were scoring? Why am I asking so many questions? Hope I will get an answer by Monday!

Side Note - I read an interesting stat earlier in the week about the Arsenal - Chelsea match last Sunday. The Chelsea players were on average 5in taller and 10Kg heavier than the Arsenal players....... That strikes me as a massive difference...... I know Arsene like to buy footballers with technical ability but is it possible to get one or two players like that who are say 6,2ft+ who are not Abou Diaby? PLEASE!?!!?!?!

Football Guy's verdict 1-1

Aston Villa v Hull

The big question here is -

Do I ride Hull's new found good form or do I do the sensible thing and go for a home win?

Well since I've backed Arsenal to slip up against Stoke I think I should play it safe here.

Football Guy's verdict 2-1

Blackburn v Liverpool

Now should Liverpool be worried that Blackburn put in a good performance Wednesday night against Chelsea or happy that they played 120 minutes?

Well either way this should be a tough match for Liverpool as Blackburn, despite their poor start to the season have only lost once at home.

On a separate point, I'd be worried if I were a Liverpool fan about Rafa's "Turning Point" comments from last week as that type of verbal defence was a favourite of his predecessor Gerard Houilier.

Anyway, the fact's are Liverpool HAVE won two on the spin and Blackburn DID play 120 minutes three days earlier, I'm going for an away win...... Just about.

Football Guy's verdict 0-1

West Ham v Manchester United

Upton Park and West Ham in general have not been the kindest opponents for United over the years and I'm half tempted to go with a draw but have been basically put off it due to my knew buddy Carlton Cole being injured. For The Hammers to get a draw they would need to score a goal or two and I don't trust anyone else at Upton Park to deliver the goods other than Carlton........ Cole not Banks.

The core of the United team had the week off and I think it should be enough to see them through this one.

Football Guy's verdict 0-2

Wigan v Birmingham

The Latics are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games at the DW Stadium yet Birmingham are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games. This is their best run since October 2004 and the reason I'm finding this match so hard to decide on.

I would Ideally like a 1-0 Birmingham victory with Steve Carr scoring the winner and Joe Hart saving a penalty but I'd also like to beat the crap out of Russell Brand and steal his missus Katy Perry but I don't think that's very likely, in fact what's probably going to happen is that it will be a 1-1 draw and I'll never ever meet Russell Brand or Kety Perry.

Football Guy's verdict 1-1

Wolves v Bolton

Are Wolves the worst team in the league? Well they've not one a match since September, they've not picked up a point since October and they've not kept a clean sheet since........ errrr well since they were last in the Premiership some 4/5 years ago.

Bolton have actually been better on their travels so far this season and I expect them to get a point this weekend.

Football Guy's verdict 2-2

Manchester City v Chelsea

Both these team have beaten Arsenal 3-0 in the past seven days......... Should be a good match then?

Errrr No...... You know have City have draw seven straight league matches, well that ends on Saturday, Chelsea are going to take them apart.

Football Guy's verdict 1-3

Fulham v Sunderland

Sometimes working out who's going to win a match can be a simple as this -

Fulham = Good at Home

Sunderland = Bad away

Nine out of 10 times Fulham win this match and nine out of 10 cats would agree with me.

Football Guy's verdict 2-0

Everton v Tottenham

Spurs proved yet again on Tuesday night that no matter who a "Big Four" team field, Spurs can't beat them away.

Thankfully then for Spurs Everton are playing more like they are trying to crack the bottom four than the top four and should prove to be easy fodder for this awesome Tottenham team.

(The last paragraph was brought to you by The Lillywhite Observer - No1 for Spurs news)

Football guy's verdict 1-2

The Rest

Right, first off here are the Footy Doc's predictions -

Portsmouth 3v1 Burnley

Arsenal 3v0 Stoke City

Aston Villa 1v0 Hull City

Blackburn 0v2 Liverpool

West Ham 0v2 Man Utd

Wigan 1v0 Birmingham

Wolves 1v1 Bolton

Man City 2v1 Chelsea

Fulham 2v0 Sunderland

Everton 1v0 Tottenham

Next up we have JamrockRover -

Portsmouth 2 - 1 Burnley

Arsenal 2 - 0 Stoke City

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Hull City

Blackburn 1 - 2 Liverpool

West Ham 1 - 3 Man Utd

Wigan 1 - 1 Birmingham

Wolves 1 - 2 Bolton

Man City 2 - 2 Chelsea

Fulham 1 - 0 Sunderland

Everton 2 - 1 Tottenham

And finally,  the SportBoys -

Portsmouth 2 Burnley 2

Arsenal 2 Stoke City 1

Aston Villa 2 Hull City 1

Blackburn 1 Liverpool 1

West Ham 0 Man Utd 2

Wigan 2 v Birmingham 1

Wolves 2 v Bolton 2

Man City 1 v Chelsea 2

Fulham 2 v Sunderland 0

Everton 1 v Tottenham 3

Oh, and here are Lawro's as well - LINK

The End

Take care,

Football Guy