PREMIERSHIP PREDICTIONS
Premiership Predictions & Correct Scores for the 9th May 2010: (Last Fixtures of the Season)
by Doug Martin
Best Predicted result(s) of the previous weekend: “Chelsea winning at Liverpool & Fulham beating West Ham”
Hi, well those two predictions for last night went well didn’t they? Err, no they didn’t as I got them both wrong. Oh well, such is the life in predicting football matches. So here we are at the end. The title is still undecided between Manchester United & Chelsea. Chelsea have the edge as they really shouldn’t lose at home to Wigan but as we all know football can kick you in the teeth. The 4th place is decided with Tottenham’s 1-0 win at Manchester City on Wednesday night securing their place in the European Cup. Shame about Liverpool missing out. Hopefully for Liverpool fans it will mean the end of their manager as he really has done them a disservice this season & seems to be blaming everyone bar himself. On with the Predictions & I will see you all before the World Cup with predictions for all the cup finals as well as the Playoff Finals. Good Luck & I will produce an Overview of the season gone in due course.
Arsenal are ending the season in bad form. They lost again on Monday, this time at Blackburn 2-1. They have now taken only one point in their last 4 games. This is disappointing & what is even more alarming for them is that Spurs could overtake them if they win at Burney & Arsenal lost this game to Fulham. I don’t think Arsenal will lose this game because despite their bad run they haven’t lost at home. Also Fulham’s away form is not very impressive having not won since the opening day victory at Portsmouth. They have managed a few draws though, including 0-0 at Liverpool as well as draws at Sunderland, West Ham, Wigan & Bolton. Arsenal have only lost twice at home this season, to both Manchester United & Chelsea. I think that Fulham have one eye on their European Final against Atletico Madrid which is a great achievement for the club. They lost 1-0 at home to Stoke on Wednesday in their last home game of the season which suggests their minds are elsewhere. A home win for the gunners.
Result Prediction: Arsenal to win
Score Prediction: Arsenal 3 Fulham 1
Villa have failed to take 4th place after losing at Manchester City 3-1 last Saturday. This is a shame for them but they have still had a good season as they reached the League Cup final as well as the FA Cup semis. They are finding out like every other team that it is very hard to break into the top four let alone win something. They now face a Blackburn side who they have played four times already this season. They knocked them out of both the FA Cup (3-2) & the League cup semi finals over two legs. In the league game at Blackburn they lost 2-1 which is an indication of how strong Blackburn’s home form has been this season. The opposite is the case in Blackburn’s away form with only the one away win at Bolton to show for their efforts even though they have drawn a few recently, ie, at Wolves 1-1 in their last away game. Villa should win this game but they might be a bit deflated after their defeat at Manchester City. Despite this their home form has been good this season with only two defeats to Liverpool & Wigan. A home win but it might be close.
Result Prediction: Aston Vila to Win
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 2 Blackburn 1
Bolton have been safe from relegation for a few weeks now & that showed in their performance at Spurs last week when they restricted their hosts to only a 1-0 victory when a lot of pundits including myself thought they would get well beaten by a higher score. Birmingham ended their home fixtures with a 2-1 victory over Burnley which means that they have now gone 8 months unbeaten at home which is something that nobody will have predicted after they lost at home to Bolton 2-1 in September. As I have mentioned a few times already this season Birmingham’s away form has declined since Christmas. They have only won once away in the league since the New year & that was at bottom club Portsmouth. I think they will lose this game to give Bolton a rare double this season. I must just add that Owen Coyle has kept Bolton up when Burnley could have gained from keeping him by staying up themselves. At least Burnley won’t have financial troubles after their relegation, A home win & I think Bolton will do better in the league next season.
Result Prediction: Bolton to win
Score Prediction: Bolton 2 Birmingham 1
Burnley have been relegated & that is sad as they are one of the founder members of the Football League. At least they are not in financial meltdown but there must be something wrong with top flight football in this country that the only chance that you stand by & large of staying up is to spend millions in the transfer market. If you aren’t prepared to risk the club’s future by doing this then, like Burnley, then you end up going down. This is crazy. Enough of the moan. Tottenham have reason to be happy as they have qualified for the Champions league, all be it a two legged playoff. It wouldn’t be funny if they lost that Play off. Even though they will now be relaxed after their victory at Manchester City on Wednesday night. Burnley’s home form had been good for most of the season but it has now gone crap with heavy defeats to Manchester City & Liverpool. Despite their home form it is Burnley’s away form that has been dreadful with only four points gained away. Hopefully they will be back but if they do come back it won’t be under the management of Brian Laws.
Result Prediction: Tottenham to win
Score Prediction: Burnley 1 Tottenham 3
Chelsea should secure the title by winning this very winnable game against Wigan. In the return fixture before Christmas Wigan inflicted on Chelsea their first defeat of the season by beating them 3-1. I really can’t see a repeat of that scoreline in this game. Chelsea made sure of keeping the title in their own hands by beating Liverpool away 2-0 as I predicted. United kept themselves in the race by winning at Sunderland. Chelsea’s home form this season has been very good with only the one defeat to Manchester City & only one draw against Everton. They have also had some big wins. The last home victory against Stoke by the scoreline of 7-0 hit home this point. I am beginning to feel sorry for Wigan & I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t take many of their fans to this game. Of course you won’t hear anybody in the media point out that that won’t be because of the cost of admission. Wigan have a average away record this season & it must be remembered that they lost 9-1 at Spurs earlier in the season but to the players credit they refunded the Wigan fans costs in going to the game. A home win & some relief for me because I predicted that Chelsea would win the title way back in August.
Result Prediction: Chelsea to win
Score Prediction: Chelsea 4 Wigan 0
Everton’s end of season form has been great. They got a good point in a 0-0 draw at Stoke & if it wasn’t for a late goal being disallowed when replay’s suggested the ref had made a mistake. If Everton had not had such a crap start then they would be in 4th place I suspect & not Spurs. Portsmouth beat Wolves last Saturday which was their first & only double of the season. Bizarrely Since Portsmouth’s form has picked up since they were relegated. They drew at Bolton 2-2 in their last away game by coming from 2-0 down at half time. I don’t think they will win this game at Everton as Everton will be trying to end the season on a high. They should do. Portsmouth despite their relegation have the FA Cup Final to look for. That is a story in itself & I will review their appearance in due course.
Result Prediction: A Everton win
Score Prediction: Everton 3 Portsmouth 1
Hull managed a good 2-2 draw at Wigan on Monday & would have won the game but for Wigan’s late goal. The point was not enough for them to starve off relegation though & they will now be looking foreword to trips to Swansea etc. Hulls’ away form is what has by & large dragged them down as they have failed to win away in the entire season. Even Burnley managed a win & tellingly that was against Hull away a few weeks ago. Liverpool ended their home games for the season with a defeat to Chelsea which was no big surprise to me. Liverpool have been found out this season & the blame for that is with the manager. Even though they have lost at the following already, Portsmouth, Arsenal, Wigan, Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs, Fulham & Sunderland, they should win because they have a good away record against the lesser lights of the Premiership, well apart from Portsmouth & Wigan. An away win but it won’t be much consolation for their fans.
Result Prediction: Liverpool to win
Score Prediction: Hull 1 Liverpool 3
Match 8: Manchester United - Stoke City: (Sunday 9th May: 4pm):
Manchester United kept up the pressure on Chelsea by winning at Sunderland 1-0 last Sunday which means that the title race goes to the final round of games. United should win this game but the problem for them is that Chelsea should beat Wigan at home. United have done well & much better than I thought they would in taking the title race to the last day of the season. The points swing this season has gone towards Chelsea in terms of bad decisions which has made me think again. Oh well, it just goes to prove that you can’t always be right. Stoke had a good win away at Fulham on Wednesday night which has helped improve their away record for the season. Stoke have had a good season despite their 7-0 defeat at Chelsea only a couple of weeks ago. Let’s hope for them & their fans that they don’t get thrashed like they did at Chelsea. If as I suspect that Chelsea win the title then it will have been a disappointing season for them with only the League Cup to show for their efforts. I suspect because of their owners who are asset stripping the club that things might get worse before they get better. I say go & watch FC United who play at Buy’s Ground Gigg lane. They are a proper club & not the monster that Manchester United have become.
Result Prediction: A Home win
Score Prediction: Manchester United 3 Stoke City 0
West ham have stayed up just as I have been saying for the last few weeks mainly because of the utter crapness of Burnley & Hull. West Ham fans have now relaxed but they still managed to lose at Fulham last week as I predicted. They now face in their final game of the season a Manchester City side who blew their 4th place chances by losing at home to Spurs 1-0 on Wednesday night which was not what I predicted. It’s nice to see that no matter how much money you throw at City they still can’t win anything, which Is a shame. Maybe they are cursed? West Ham have been lucky this season because of the bottom three relegating themselves. Next season will be very interesting for both clubs. I think that City will keep their manager simply because it will make them look so stupid if they get rid of him, not that has bothered them in the past. A rare home win for the hammers because I am suspicious of some of City’s players not really giving a shit about playing for the club.
Result Prediction: West Ham to win
Score Prediction: West Ham 2 Manchester City 1
Match 10: Wolves - Sunderland: (Sunday 9th May: 4pm):
Wolves have surprised me by staying up but I am pleased for them as their fan base deserves it after spending so long in the second tier of English football. They may have lost at Portsmouth last Saturday but they were already safe. Hopefully they can now build on staying up & follow Stoke in improving for their second season. Sunderland stayed up easily in the end, mainly due to their great home form. They suffered a rare defeat to Manchester United last Sunday but otherwise their home form has been great. If only they could improve their away form where they have managed only two wins all season at Bolton & Hull. Because of this I think Sunderland will lose this game which should be played in a relaxed manor due to neither side having nothing to play for.
Result Prediction: Wolves to win
Score Prediction: Wolves 2 Sunderland 1
That’s all until next season for Premiership predictions. Hope you have enjoyed my predictions & have managed to benefit from them.
See you all for the cup finals previews & then it’s the World Cup.
Bye for now.
Douglas Martin
6th May 2010
dap martin@hotmail.co.uk
![[Valid RSS]](http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/chix_pix/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
