EPL - Here I Come...
Tottenham v Stoke City 0-1
Hull v Portsmouth 0-0
Burnley v Wigan 1-3
Birmingham v Sunderland 2-1
Chelsea v Blackburn 5-0
Bolton v Everton 3-2
Liverpool v Man Utd 2-0
Man City v Fulham 2-2
West Ham v Arsenal 2-2
This week's games:
Arsenal v Tottenham
No sooner had I told you that Arsenal is going great guns with the 3 "Ars" in place then they conceded two goals at Upton park after leading 2-0. What a waste. They will come strong again at the Emirates but this Tottenham side was over-achieving when they crashed to Stoke at White Heart Lane. But this is not an ordinary game, it is a London derby as was West Ham's. Leading scorer Jermaine Defoe is missing while Arsenal has outscored everyone but conceding goals. You do the maths. 2-1 to the Gunners.
Bolton v Chelsea
Bolton was a side boasting has-been stars under Sam Allardyce but they were tough as nails. Big Sam is no longer there but they have shown just what they could do. Ask Everton. Captain and striker Kevin Davies epitomise it. Watch defender Gary Cahill too. Chelski was so boring under Jose Mourinho that they could bore Germany to death and are the only team who could beat the Germans every time. They have lost a couple of games but so did Arsenal, Manchester United and more so Liverpool. What they did to Blackburn was Championship form 5 times over. Joe Cole is Brazilian. What lovely skills he possesses. The Blues has to grind through this one. Lampard is scoring from open play again, Joe Cole is back and Didier Drogba is on fire. 1-3 to Chelsea.
Burnley v Hull
Burnley had giant-killing acts last season in their cup run beating the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea and they have already beaten Man Utd this season. Hull is tough and in Geovanni they have a good scorer who did so well last season. 1-1.
Everton v Villa
Both managers will become great with a bit more years and a bit more money. David Moyes has done so well he reminds me of Howard Kendall whose great Everton team of 1985-87 won major honours with players like Neville Southall, Kevin Ratcliffe, Gary Stevens, Adrian Heath, Trevor Steven, Peter Reid, Kevin Sheedy, Graeme Sharp. Villa was European champs too when they beat Bayern Munich with players like Andy Gray, Peter Withe, Gordon Cowans, Tony Morley. Martin O'Neill, European winner with Nottingham Forest is now Villa manager and continue to do wonders with limited resources just like he did with Leceister and Celtic. 2-2.
Fulham v Liverpool
The first thing that Harrods' Mohd Al-Fayed did when he bought Fulham in the lower division and took over Craven Cottage was to appoint Kevin Keegan as Director of Football. Keegan took Fulham from that threshold to rise to the top division just like he did for Newcastle and Manchester City. Everyone in the lower flights with ambition should look for him. Roy Hodgson is now the manager. He is special and a highly experienced bloke who coached: Fulham, Finland, Viking FK, UAE, Udinese, F.C. Copenhagen, Grasshopers, Internazionale, Blackburn Rovers, Internazionale, Switzerland, Neuchâtel Xamax, Malmö FF, Örebro SK, Bristol City, Halmstads BK. Fulham is no minced meat. But if you like me watched Liverpool beat nemesis Man Utd 2-0 you will notice that they were hungrier and always a fraction faster to the ball. Tackles were full-blooded and committed. Jamie Carragher, a pale shadow of himself this season was outstanding. He was not fast but very determined. Lucas played as if his life depended on it and rightly so. Glen Johnson had a decent defensive game but was pegged back curtailing his natural instinct to attack. Dirk Kuyt was possibly Pool's best on the night. Israeli Yossi Benayoun was such a tricky customer and I never understood why he wasn't played more often. He always gave more options and ask questions of opponents. He paved the way to the first goal. Oh now you can see why Fernando Torres is the best in the business with Ferdinand breathing down his neck yet he scored so clinically past van Der Sar just like that and he wasn't having a great game. Benitez is changing Liverpool's play because he drew 11 games too many last season and gave the title away. This season Pool doesn't do draws. They either win or lose. What the heck 1-2 to Liverpool. I am being bias.
Portsmouth v Wigan
Portsmouth was doing well under Harry Redknapp last season but they lost him, Defoe and Crouch to Spurs. With the coffers empty, they are struggling. They could actually play football. Wigan is interesting as they should have more than 10 nationalities playing for them. Mind you they have some more than decent players. Valencia went to Man Utd this year. Wigan plays a good game really. I like to give a point each but Portsmouth is too low on confidence. 1-2. Every time people ask me which team I support I always name the bottom team. The jerseys are cheaper and always in stock.
Stoke v Wolves
These two are from the good old days. Like Sha Na Na once again, Deja Vu. Everybody knew Gordon Banks. Alan Hudson? Banks need no intro but Hudson made only two England appearances. He isn't the burly run till you drop type. When England played Germany and won won 2-0 in a friendly which Hudson featured, he only made two small errors in 90 minutes. They compared his performance to Alfredo Di Stefano. Stoke is doing really well. In Ryan Shawcross they have a defender who defends well and score goals. Some big clubs are going to chase him. Wolves have played stoutly but sometimes courage is not enough. 2-1 to Stoke as the hunter gets hunted.
Sunderland v West Ham
Sunderland is actually a big club but they are there together with Wolves, Stoke, Burnley, Hull, Bolton, Portsmouth and the likes so that they could formed 20 teams and let the big four in fact now the big 7 toy with them to see who could get better results. Like Liverpool beating Stoke to get at Man Utd. West Ham did well at Upton Park and now away at the Stadium of Light facing the Black Cats? 3-2 to the Cats.
Man Utd v Blackburn
Blackburn was Champions under Kenny Dalglish some time ago. They are a tough side to play. David Dunn has been in great form and Man Utd is not. They want revenge for the 0-5 drubbing. Sometimes in life you could walk out of the frying pan into the fire. You may get black and burnt. Whipped mercilessly 5-0 by Chelsea and they have to travel to Old Trafford to face Man U who just got a bloody nose and two black eyes? There is a possible backlash scenario here. Somebody is going to get hurt badly. I am talking about Manchester United. 1-2 to Blackburn.
Birmingham v Manchester City
I remembered Birmingham City blue jerseys with a white strip in the centre because I used to like Trevor Francis. How many of you know that in Manchester there are more people who support the blue side of Manchester than the red? Just like more people of Sengkang support Sengkang-Punggol than people of Punggol. Abu Dhabi City was complacent against Fulham. They are jostling for the big four slot. Time for an away win and Adebayor to score. 1-2.
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These were last week's results:
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