PREMIERSHIP PREDICTIONS
Premiership Predictions & Correct Scores for 1st to 5th May 2010
by Doug Martin
Best Predicted result(s) of the previous weekend: “Manchester United beating Spurs by the correct score” plus “ Aston Villa beating Hull away & Birmingham at home”
Last week was much improved on the week before as I managed 6 out of 10 for the weekend plus correctly predicting Aston Villa’s win at Hull the previous Wednesday. This gave me a correct prediction result of 7 out of 11. I also correctly predicted the correct scoreline for Manchester United beating Spurs 3-1. The correct results were Villa beating both Hull & Birmingham, Liverpool beating Burnley away, Manchester United beating Spurs, Chelsea beating Stoke, Everton beating Fulham & West Ham beating Wigan at home. We are nearly at the finish now with only two league games left for most sides. The relegation issues have been decided & I am happy to say that two of the clubs I predicted at the start of the season to go down have done me proud, step forward Burnley & Hull. 4th place has not been decided of course or has the title itself. It is neck & neck between United & Chelsea & is anybody’s guess as to who will end up champions. My money is on Chelsea as I predicted them to win the title at the start of the season but it will be close. Enough of the idle chat. See you all next week for the last Premiership prediction article of the season. Bet that makes you all happy?
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Match 1: Birmingham - Burnley: (Saturday 1st May: 12.45pm):
Burnley are down as I predicted at the start of the season. I get no pleasure in being proved correct by Brian Laws taking them down as I have said he would on numerous occasions. The short sited approach by Burnley’s board in his appointment has cost the club dear. I will be hoped that they bounce back. They suffered another bad defeat last Sunday, this time at home to Liverpool 4-0 as I had predicted. They have only won two games under Brian laws management one of which was a 4-1 win at Hull which more or less dragged Hull down with them. They now face a Birmingham side who will be smarting at their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa last Sunday as the penalty decision that went against them was deemed a bit harsh. Birmingham have had a good season even if they are fading a bit towards the end. In Birmingham’s last home game they drew rather disappointingly with Hull 0-0. Can’t see a repeat of that scoreline in this game as Burnley are having a dreadful run in with some heavy defeats. A home win.
Result Prediction: Birmingham to win
Score Prediction: Birmingham 3 Burnley 0
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Match 2: Manchester City - Aston Villa: (Saturday 1st May: 3pm):
Both sides have one thing in common this season & that is their inability to win the big games in order to win silverware. Villa lost the League Cup final to Manchester United & the FA Cup semi final to Chelsea while City lost to Manchester United in the League cup Semi finals. Both sides have also failed to take command of 4th place & make it their own. City have more resources than Villa so their failure is somewhat harder for them to take. Villa are on a good run having won 4 out of their last 5 league games to take them above City into 5th place & just behind Spurs on goal difference. They have however played one more game than both City & spurs. City gained a very creditable 0-0 draw at Arsenal last Saturday but at this stage of the season it must be seen as two points dropped so close is it in the battle for 4th place. Villa have a very good away record this season with 9 away wins under their belt so far. Can they make it 10? City’s home form is good though as they have only lost 2 all season to Manchester United in their last home game & Everton. I think both sides will cancel each other out with a draw & this might let Tottenham take advantage.
Result Prediction: A Score draw
Score Prediction: Manchester City 1 Aston Villa 1
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Match 3: Portsmouth - Wolves: (Saturday 1st May 3pm):
Wolves are safe which I am pleased about. It will be the first time that Wolves have managed to stay more than one season in the top flight of English football since the 1980’s. Last Saturday they gained a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers. They have now remained unbeaten in 7 of their last 8 games, the only defeat in this spell being the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal in the last minute. Admittedly most of these games have ended in draws but if that means that you stay up then so be it. Wolves have basically become hard to beat. They now face a Portsmouth side who despite being relegated for some time have picked up a bit & proved that with a very good 2-2 draw at Bolton last Saturday when they were 2-0 down at Half time. Portsmouth are of course in the FA Cup final which is a major achievement for the club after all their off the field distractions going on for most if not all of the season. I think Wolves having now relaxed will win this game to gain revenge for the shock 1-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Portsmouth at the start of the season which at the time was Portsmouth’s first League victory of the season. I am proud to say that I predicted that result so let’s hope that I am correct in my prediction this time as well.
Result Prediction: Wolves to win
Score Prediction: Portsmouth 1 Wolves 2
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Match 4: Stoke - Everton: (Saturday May 1st 3pm):
Everton are ending the season on fine form as was proved by them coming from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 last Sunday (as I predicted). They are now unbeaten in 9 games & if they hadn’t have had such a bad start to the season then they would be fighting for a 4th place finish. It is to their credit that they have put this unbeaten run together towards the end of the season with very little chance of making 4th place. They now play a Stoke side who got massacred at Chelsea 7-0 last Sunday. I predicted that they would lose but I didn’t think they would get such a beating considering their form so far this season. They also lost their last home game 2-1 at home to Bolton & so are ending the season a bit tamely. No matter, they have done well this season & have not being bothered at all by the threat of relegation & have stayed in midtable for most of the season which is a good effort by the club. I think that as Stoke have relaxed because they are safe & that Everton have not that therefore Everton will win but it will be close as Stoke are hard to beat on their own ground.
Result Prediction: An Everton win
Score Prediction: Stoke 1 Everton 2
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Match 5: Tottenham - Bolton: (Saturday May 1st 3pm):
Tottenham lost gain at Old Trafford last Saturday just as I predicted. This must have been a huge disappointment for them after they had beaten both Arsenal & Chelsea in successive home games prior to the loss at Old Trafford. They are still 4th however, ahead of Villa on goal difference & Manchester City by just the 1 point. They crucially have a game in hand on Villa which could prove vital. With Villa & City playing each other this game against Bolton could see Spurs extend their lead in 4th place. They should win this game as Bolton have not been too clever away from home this season. Bolton are now safe from relegation after their very disappointing 2-2 draw with bottom club Portsmouth last Saturday at home when they were 2-0 up at half time. Spurs drew 2-2 at Bolton earlier in the season & will be hoping for 3 points rather than the one in this game. I agree & I think they will.
Result Prediction: Tottenham to win
Score Prediction: Spurs 3 Bolton 1
Match 6: Fulham - West Ham: (Sunday May 2nd: 3pm):
Fulham are playing the second leg of their semi final against Hamburg on Thursday night in the UEFA Cup & whatever the result they should be proud of themselves. A lot of football fans have been more interested in their European exploits this season than the so called big four simply because they feel they able to relate more to a club like Fulham than the big four. Last Sunday Fulham lost to a very late Everton goal to go down 2-1. Prior to that they drew at home with Wolves 0-0. Fulham are safely in mid table & have not been in any danger of relegation at all this season, mainly thanks to a good home record. They now face a West ham side who have survived the drop into the Championship thanks to a vital 3-2 victory over Wigan last Saturday. I am pleased for West Ham. This game will have a end of season with nothing to play for feel about it & therefore should be an open game. I think that Fulham will just shade it but hopefully they will be celebrating their appearance in their first European Cup final.
Result Prediction: A Fulham win
Score Prediction: Fulham 2 West Ham 1
Match 7: Liverpool - Chelsea: (Sunday May 2nd: 1.30pm):
This is the big one in terms of the title race. Chelsea are just a point ahead of Manchester United & with a better goal difference. This is the hardest game that either side has to play in the run in. Chelsea beat Liverpool earlier in the season at home & will be hoping for a similar result this Sunday. Chelsea lost their last away game 2-1 at Spurs which was only their 5th away & 6th defeat overall in the League. They will be hoping that this is not defeat number 7 as it would almost certainly give the title to Manchester United even though they play a difficult game at Sunderland the same day. Liverpool’s home form is one of the few good aspects of this season, the other being their semi final appearance in the UEFA Cup where they will be hoping to reach the final on Thursday night after losing the 1st leg 1-0 in Benfica. Liverpool have only lost twice at home this season to Arsenal & Aston Villa but they drew at home with Fulham 0-0 in their last home game. They have drawn other games against Birmingham & Manchester City but have lost in cup competitions to Reading (!) & Lyon. I think that Chelsea will rise to the challenge and beat Liverpool in this game & take a giant step towards the title.
Result Prediction: Chelsea to win
Score Prediction: Liverpool 1 Chelsea 2
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Match 8: Sunderland - Manchester United: (Sunday 2nd May: 4pm):
This is a tough game for United. As we all know they are only one point behind Chelsea with Chelsea playing at Anfield against Liverpool. Sunderland have a good home record & have only lost to Aston Villa & Chelsea. It is their home form that has kept them up even though their appalling away form nearly dragged them down into a relegation scrap at one point in the season. Sunderland went some way to making their away form look a little better when they won 1-0 at Hull last Saturday which relegated Hull. It was only their second away win of the season, in fact their first since the opening day win at Bolton. Both Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool have all got beaten at Sunderland this season & United will do well to avoid defeat but I think they will but a draw might not be good enough for them in the title race.
Result Prediction: A score draw
Score Prediction: Sunderland 1 Manchester United 1
Match 9: Blackburn - Arsenal: (Monday 3rd May: 5pm):
Arsenal have now gone three game without a win & I can’t see them making it four in this game despite Blackburn being a difficult side to play against at home. The reverse is the case when they by & large play away as was proved by their 6-2 defeat at Arsenal earlier in the season. Blackburn have held Manchester United, Chelsea & Liverpool to draws at home this season but they did lose to Everton 3-2 in their last home game (as I predicted). I can’t believe that Arsenal will lose again so I am going to go for an Arsenal win to go along with their away wins at Liverpool, Bolton, Portsmouth, Everton, Wolves, Hull, Fulham & Stoke. This game is a total contrast in playing styles & here’s hoping that Arsenal’s style comes out on top. Arsenal will end the season in third place which is an improvement on the previous season when they had to put a late run together to come forth. They have now not won a trophy since their FA Cup final win against Manchester United in 2005. A shame as their football deserves better.
Result Prediction: Arsenal to win
Score Prediction: Blackburn 1 Arsenal 2
Match 10: Wigan - Hull: (Monday 3rd May: 1.30pm):
Wigan are safe despite their 3-2 defeat at West Ham last Saturday. Hull’s 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland meant that Wigan & a whole load of other sides escaped the drop. As I predicted Ian Dowie has taken Hull down with a whimper. They have only one once since he took over & the writing was on the wall when Burnley beat them 4-1 at home which was a shocking result for them especially as Burnley had only managed one point away all season. Hull are obviously playing for pride in this game but as pride hasn’t been enough for them to stay up & fail to record a single away victory all season I really can’t see them winning this game. Hull played at Wigan in the third round of the FA Cup & lost 4-1 after being 1-0 at half time. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a similar result in this game. So ends Hull’s first spell in the top flight of English Football & to be honest I don’t think they will be back in a hurry.
Result Prediction: Wigan to win
Score Prediction: Wigan 4 Hull 1
That’s all until next week. I will do previews for the two Wednesday night fixtures which will go up on the website Tuesday/ Wednesday morning.
Good luck & a special good luck to my team York City in their playoff games against Luton Town. Illness forbids me from attending both games. I will be there in spirit lads.
Douglas Martin
29th April 2010
dap martin@hotmail.co.uk
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