PREMIERSHIP PREDICTIONS
Premiership Predictions & Correct Scores for 20th to 21st March 2010
by Doug Martin
Best Predicted result(s) of the previous week: “Wolves winning at Burnley & Sunderland winning for the first time in months by beating Bolton”
Out of 13 games I correctly predicted 8 results & out of those I predicted 1 correct scoreline. Not a bad return at all methinks. The winning correct score was Manchester United beating Fulham 3-0. My Correct results were Sunderland beating Bolton for their first win since before Christmas, Spurs beating Blackburn, Bolton beating Wigan, Arsenal beating Hull (just), Chelsea beating West Ham, Wolves beating Burnley away & Liverpool beating Portsmouth on Monday night. This keeps my average on correct results heading towards 60%.
Enough of the idle talk, let’s get on with this weekends fixtures. Next mid-week I will do a mini article to cover the 5 midweek premiership fixtures plus the Spurs Fulham replay.
See you then & good luck.
Match 1: Arsenal - West Ham: (Saturday March 20th 5.30pm):
Arsenal are right in the title race. They are only two points behind leaders Manchester United/officials FC & behind Chelsea on goal difference. They beat Hull away on Saturday which spelt the end for their manager Phil Brown. Personally I felt brown should have gone much earlier. Arsenal should win this game as West ham are having a bad season. They are just above the relegation places & lost again on Saturday, losing 4-1 at Chelsea despite holding Chelsea 1-1 at half time. They have now lost two on the trot as they lost their last home game 2-1 at home to Bolton. West Ham should stay up only because there are worst sides below them but next season could be even more difficult for them which is a shame as their fans deserve better. In fact it would be nice if the owners dropped their admission prices but I feel there is more chance of hell freezing over. A home win for the gunners.
Result Prediction: Arsenal to win
Score Prediction: Arsenal 3 West Ham 1
Match 2: Aston Villa - Wolves: (Saturday March 20th 12.45pm):
Villa closed the gap on Manchester City in sixth place to just the one point by winning at Wigan on Tuesday night. They are now only three points behind Spurs in 4th place and are right back in the running for a 4th place finish. Villa are having a very good season having reached the League cup final & are still of course in the FA Cup with a Semi final place at Wembley to come. Villa have a good home record having only lost twice at home this season to wigan on the opening day & Liverpool over the Christmas period. I really can’t see them losing this “Derby” game at home to Wolves who won their third away game of the season at Burnley on Saturday (as I predicted). Wolves should just stay up but never the less they are still only three points away from the relegation places in 17th place. This proves how vital their win at Burnley was as they are the team below them in the table. A home win to keep the pressure on the teams above Villa.
Result Prediction: A Villa win
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 3 Wolves 1
Match 3: Everton - Bolton: (Saturday March 20th 3pm):
Everton should have won at Birmingham on Saturday but they threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2. This was still a good away point however, as Birmingham haven’t lost at home since the battle of Hastings! Everton have picked up in the second half of the season as proved by their 3-1 against Manchester United a few games ago. They are however out of all the cups having being knocked out by Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup & of course Birmingham City in the FA Cup. They have probably left it to late to reach a forth place finish come the end of the season. They now face a Bolton side who have much improved since Owen Coyle has joined. They won again last Saturday beating Wigan easily 4-0. In their previous away game they somehow lost 4-0 at Sunderland who hadn’t won since before Christmas. However, they did win their previous away game before then by beating West Ham 2-1. They have now pulled away from the relegation zone & look like staying up. Still think they will lose this game however as Everton are very strong at home at present having beaten Manchester City, Chelsea & Manchester United since Christmas not to mention thrashing Hull 5-1 in their last home game.
Result Prediction: A Everton win
Score Prediction: Everton 2 Bolton 1
Match 4: Portsmouth - Hull: (Saturday March 20th 3pm):
Portsmouth are down & out but who will go down with them? Hull sacked their manager after losing at home to Arsenal on Saturday, all be it to a very late goal. I am very surprised at the timing of the sacking as if Brown was to go he should have gone much earlier in the season or at the end. Hull are second from bottom of the table & are looking like following Portsmouth down to the championship. Hull have failed to win away this season , in fact they haven’t won away since they won at Fulham last March, a year ago. They have managed a few draws at Wolves, Spurs, Bolton & Manchester City. In their last away game they were well beaten at Everton 5-1. You would have thought that this would have been the game that Phil Brown would have been sacked after. Portsmouth have only won five games all season but they did manage a win at Burnley a few weeks ago but since then however, they have lost at home to Birmingham (2-1) and a 4-1 defeat a Liverpool. Defeat no 9 for Portsmouth at home but it will probably won’t be enough to save Hull come the end of the season.
Result Prediction: An away win
Score Prediction: Portsmouth 1 Hull City 2
Match 5: Stoke - Spurs: (Saturday March 20th 3pm):
Stoke are well safe in mid-table. This has been a very good season for them & they have also had the bonus of having had a good run in the FA Cup reaching the Quarter Finals before getting beat by Holders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 2-0. Stoke drew at home with Aston Villa 0-0 on Saturday which was a better result for Stoke than Aston Villa. Spurs are battling for forth place & that is the position they are placed in the current table. Their away form is ok but they are not picking up enough points away at teams in the top half of the table. They have won away so far at Blackburn, Portsmouth, Hull, West Ham & Wigan, all sides in the bottom half of the table. Stoke is a very difficult away game for any side & this has been proved by the fact that Stoke have only lost at home to Chelsea, Manchester United & Arsenal. Everybody else has failed & that is why Spurs will as well.
Result Prediction: Stoke to win
Score prediction: Stoke 2 Spurs 1
Match 6: Sunderland - Birmingham: (Saturday March 20th: 3pm):
Sunderland gained a massive victory against Bolton last week & then followed that up with a 1-1 draw against Manchester City, again at home. They were very unlucky in the draw against Manchester City as they more than deserved a victory & were only denied by a very late City goal. Sunderland should be safe against relegation, mainly because of their home form. They now play a Birmingham side who have wobbled away from home in the last couple of months having lost at West Ham, Chelsea, Fulham & Portsmouth in The FA Cup quarter finals. They did however, win their last away game by gaining revenge over Portsmouth by beating them 2-1 away last mid-week. They then showed some character by coming from 2-0 down against Everton to draw 2-2 on Saturday. I think however that Sunderland will win as they can’t keep on drawing their home games (Bolton aside). A narrow home win.
Result Prediction: a Sunderland win
Score Prediction: Sunderland 2 Birmingham 0
Match 7: Wigan - Burnley: (Saturday March 20th 3pm):
Wigan have lost two games on the trot after they beat Liverpool 1-0 a week last Monday. They got well beat at Bolton 4-0 on Saturday (another correct Doug Martin Prediction) & then lost at home to Aston Villa 2-1 on Tuesday night. They are now 4 points ahead of the drop zone & need a win to put some more daylight against them & the bottom three. So, what better side to play then Burnley who have lost all their away games bar a 3-3 draw at Manchester City. Their away form is relegation form & despite a good home record they are in the bottom three. & looking likely to go down. This is mainly due to their board who refused Owen Coyle money to strengthen the team & when he left they appointed Brian Laws who has no track record in the top flight & had just been sacked by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday who were very concerned & rightly that he would take them down to the third tier. Madness. Burnley’s away form to continue. A wigan win.
Result Prediction: A Wigan win
Score Prediction: Wigan 3 Burnley 1
Match 8: Blackburn - Chelsea: (Sunday March 21st 4pm):
Blackburn have a good home record & have only lost at home to Manchester City & Spurs at home. They now face one of the top three at home for the first time this season. It will be interesting to see how they fair. Blackburn have a bad away record & it is their home form that is keeping them away from trouble. Chelsea lost at home to Inter Milan on Tuesday night to go out of the European cup 3-1 over two legs. How will they react? They won their last league game 4-1 at home to West Ham & are now second to Manchester united by just the two points. Chelsea have only lost 4 times away this season but won their last away game at Wolves 2-0. I think they will win this game to gain some revenge for their league cup defeat earlier in the season even if it was only on penalties after a 3-3 draw. A very different game from that will take place methinks.
Result Prediction: A Chelsea win
Score Prediction: Blackburn 1 Chelsea 2
Match 9: Fulham - Manchester City: (Sunday March 21st 3pm):
Fulham are another side who are having a good season. They face a FA Cup Quarter Final replay at Spurs next week & face Juventus this Thursday in a bid to overturn a 3-1 first leg defeat in the UEFA Cup. I don’t think that they will beat Juventus & go through but it will have been a good run for them in Europe. They are playing well in the league as well & their home form this season has been good. They lost 3-0 at Manchester United on Sunday but their away form has not been that good for some time anyway, not that it is as bad as some other teams in the League this season. They have beaten both Manchester United (3-0) and Liverpool (3-1) at home this season. Earlier in the campaign they drew at Manchester City 2-2 which was a good result for them. City were very lucky to draw at Sunderland on Sunday & I think they are not playing that well of late despite their fantastic 4-2 win at Chelsea. City’s players seem to be getting a bit full of themselves & are an example of players being paid too much & not really giving a shit when they are on the pitch, hence why they will lose this game.
Result Prediction: Fulham to win
Score Prediction: Fulham 2 Manchester City 1
Match 10: Manchester United - Liverpool: (Sunday March 21st 1.30pm):
Manchester United lost at Liverpool earlier in the season 2-0 which is one of their five away defeats so far this season & six overall in the league. They will be looking for revenge, especially as they lost twice to Liverpool last season as well, including a 4-1 home defeat in the latter stages of last season. Liverpool are a much changed animal from last season when they went neck & neck with United for the title & were rather unlucky to come runners up. Liverpool are playing basically the same as last season but have been caught out & if it wasn’t for the ownership problems at the club then their manager would have been sacked long ago with his stupid rotation system not to mention some of his very bad signings. Liverpool only lost twice last season in the league but have lost 9 times already. They lost their last away game 1-0 at Wigan which was a very bad result for them. They lost the first leg of their UEFA Cup tie away 1-0 & this after being dumped out of the Champions League in the first place with several defeats. They were dumped out of the FA Cup by lowly (at the time) Championship side Reading which made everybody laugh apart from the legions of part time Liverpool fans. You know the one’s, they watch games from the pubs, never watch their local clubs & claim that they can never get tickets for games. Where were they all at Wigan then when you could get a ticket easily? Ditto Manchester United fans & I use the word “Fans” very loosely. Both sets of fan, err, I mean Sheep will be watching the game down your local pub. Stay out of the Pub on Sunday. A Manchester United win. If only both sides could lose.
Result Prediction: Manchester United to win
Score Prediction: Manchester United 3 Liverpool 1
That’s all for this weekend.
See you all on Tuesday for next weeks mid week fixtures.
Douglas Martin
17th March 2010
dap martin@hotmail.co.uk
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