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Europa League Final: Fulham – Atletico Madrid: (Wednesday, May 12th 19.45pm – Hamburg, Germany)

I don’t think even Fulham know how they have managed to get to their first final of any description let alone a European final since 1975 when they lost the FA Cup Final as a second Division side to West Ham. Fulham started of their European run in July when they knocked out Lithuanian side FK Vetra. Since then they have knocked out Italian giants Juventus, UEFA Cup Holders Shakhtar Donetsk, German Champions of last season Wolfsburg, & of course Hamburg who would have been playing the final on their own ground if they had beat Fulham in the Semi Finals. Fulham also had to get through a difficult group stage where they had to play Italian side AS Roma who are neck & neck with Inter Milan in the battle for The Italian Title. Fulham have never won a major trophy in their history & if they win this game it will be a remarkable achievement. They face Spanish side Atletico Madrid who after a poor start in the first half of the season have managed to improve & now sit in 9th place in the table. They drew 1-1 at the weekend after resting several players for the final. Atletico have had a far better history than Fulham in terms of trophies. They have won the Spanish title on 9 occasions, the most recent in 1996, when they also won the Spanish cup to achieve a Spanish double. They have also won the UEFA Cup (1962) as well as being runners up twice in 1963 (when they were holders) & 1986. They were also runners up in the European Cup final of 1974 when they lost to Bayern Munich after a replay. In fact in this final they came very close to winning because in the first game they went ahead with only 7 minutes of Extra time to play but were pegged back by the Germans who won the replay 4-0.

It seems to me unfair that Atletico are even in the final as they were knocked out of the Champions League this season which included a 4-0 defeat at Chelsea. Fulham have reached the final by playing more games in the completion than the Spanish side but hey that’s modern football for you. I hope Fulham win as it would be great for the fans & the club but I can’t see it. I think that Atletico have more European experience than Fulham & that will tell. A shame & lets hope that Fulham don’t go the same way as Middlesbrough who reached the UEFA final 2006, i.e., relegation to the Championship within a few years.

Result Prediction: Fulham to lose

Score Prediction: Atletico Madrid 2 Fulham 1

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Championship Fixtures: Saturday February 19th: 2011

Match 2: Crystal Palace – Sheffield United : (3pm):

This is the big one in the Championship relegation battle. If Crystal Palace win this game then I suspect that it will be a very big nail in Sheffield United’s coffin. Sheffield United gained a point on Tuesday when they scored late to earn a rare point against Reading in a 1-1 draw. They are still however below Crystal Palace by two points in the last relegation place.

Palace’s little unbeaten run came to an end last Saturday when they lost at out of form Coventry 2-1. As I have said before if Palace are to survive it will be because of their home form which has been very good the last few months or so. Last time out at home they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 & that means they have gone 8 games unbeaten at home going back to October when they lost at home to Swansea.

The last time these teams met Sheffield won 3-2 with a late penalty but I think that the roles will be reversed & Palace will claim the three points and a 5 point lead over United.

Result Prediction: Palace to win
Score Prediction: Crystal Palace 2 Sheffield United 0

Match 3: Ipswich – Hull City: (3pm):

I said Ipswich would win at Doncaster in my preview for the game on Monday but I didn’t think for a minute they would win 6-0. Ipswich have improved ten fold since Paul Jewell took over & have gone unbeaten in 5 games, winning 4 & drawing 1. They have in fact not lost since they went down to a late Millwall goal in a 2-1 defeat in Jewell’s first game in charge.

They now face a Hull side who are on a good run themselves & beat bottom club Preston 1-0 last Saturday. Hull are currently 10th in the table just seven points behind the playoff places. Can they make the playoffs come the end of the season?

I think that as Ipswich are on such a roll that they will win this game but it will be close as Hull are no mugs themselves.

Result Prediction: Ipswich to win
Score Prediction: Ipswich 2 Hull 1

Match 4: Leeds – Norwich: (3pm):

Leeds won at Bristol City last Saturday to cement their position in the playoff places. They are 6th just three points behind second placed Cardiff. Leeds home form is good & Norwich will find it hard to win at Elland road. The last side to take all three points off Leeds at home was Cardiff in a 4-0 win back in October. However a few sides have managed to gain draws such as Middlesbrough & Portsmouth & I think that Norwich will gain a point.

Norwich lost their last away game at Burnley 2-1 which was their first defeat since before Christmas. They recovered from the Burnley defeat to beat Reading 2-1 last Saturday with a late goal (again). These two sides drew 2-2 earlier in the season (a result I predicted) & I can see a similar result in this game.

Both sides should make the playoffs come the end of the season & could even meet each other in the playoffs.

Result Prediction: a score draw
Score Prediction: Leeds 1 Norwich 1

Match 5: Millwall – Middlesbrough: (3pm):

Millwall drew 1-1 at Sheffield United last Saturday which was a case of more points dropped away in their bid to make the playoffs at the end of the season. On the plus side they did score a late goal to gain their point which shows some positive spirit on their part.

Millwall now play Middlesbrough who are being dragged back into the relegation fight after losing their last two games, away at Crystal Palace & last Saturday when they threw away a 3-1 lead at home to Swansea to go down 4-3. Shocking.

Millwall’s home form is bloody great as they have won their last six games at home. Earlier in the season Millwall won 1-0 at Middlesbrough which was the last time they won away in the league. A league double then for the Lions & can they close the gap on the teams above them?

Result Prediction: A home win
Score Prediction: Millwall 2 Middlesbrough 0

Match 6: Nottingham Forest – Cardiff: (3pm):

Forest somehow lost 1-0 at Scunthorpe on Wednesday night which their first defeat bar the FA Cup since they lost at Leicester a couple of months ago.

Both sides are locked together in the table separated by just two points. Cardiff took advantage of Forest’s slip at Scunthorpe by gaining a point in a 1-1 home draw with Reading on Tuesday. Forest need to win this game to leapfrog Cardiff & go back into second place. Last Sunday Forest drew 1-1 at top of the table QPR which was a good result but gave no indication of the shock defeat that was to come at Scunthorpe three days later.

Cardiff seem to be over their bad run around Xmas but I think this game is a step too far for them & that they will lose.

Result Prediction: Forest to win
Score Prediction: Forest 2 Cardiff 1

Match 7: Portsmouth – Barnsley: (3pm):

Portsmouth had a massive win last Saturday against Doncaster away when they won 2-0. It would seem that Ipswich took heed of that result which prompted their 6-0 win on Tuesday. Portsmouth have now gained some breathing space by climbing to 18th in the table, six points above the drop zone.

They now face a Barnsley side who drew 1-1 with Ipswich last Saturday & remain more or less in midtable in 14th place but importantly on 41 points which I feel will be enough for them to stay up. Barnsley have a mixed away record & have lost their last two away games at Leicester & Millwall.

I think that as Portsmouth seemed to have turned the corner they will win this game to pull further away from the drop zone themselves to safety.

Result Prediction: A Portsmouth win
Score Prediction: Portsmouth 2 Barnsley 1

Match 8: Preston – QPR: (3pm):

Leaders QPR take their great form this season to bottom club Preston who look doomed despite a good away point at Watford on Tuesday night. Preston should have won on Tuesday as they were 2-0 up at half time but their defensive weakness was laid open again in the second half as they conceded two second half goals for a point that neither side wanted.

QPR drew at home with Nottingham Forest last Sunday to remain 5 points clear at the top of the table. Rangers have only lost 3 times all season, at home to Watford & away at Leeds & Norwich so I don’t think that Preston will give them much trouble in this betting bonus game.

An away win then & it could be a long time before these two sides meet each other in a league game after this season.

Result Prediction: A QPR win
Score Prediction: Preston 1 QPR 3

Match 9: Reading – Watford: (3pm):

Reading drew 1-1 away at Sheffield United on Tuesday night which was not a good result for them as they needed to win to gain ground in the push for a playoff place. They had lost their two previous games to leaders QPR & Norwich so they need a win against an out of form Watford sides themselves.

Watford could only draw 2-2 at home with Preston as I have already mentioned on Tuesday which means they have now gone 5 games without a win and as a consequence have dropped to 11th in the table some 8 points adrift of the playoff places. Both sides then could do with a win & I think that Reading will shade it as they seem to have been playing the better football of late & have been a tad unlucky in their defeats to QPR & Norwich.

I still think that both sides will fail to get into the playoffs come the end of the season.

Result Prediction: A Reading win
Score Prediction: Reading 2 Watford 1

Match 10: Scunthorpe – Derby: (3pm):

Scunthorpe managed what a lot of sides have failed this season when they beat inform Nottingham Forest 1-0 at home to screw my prediction of a forest win. Ha. Scunthorpe are now just 4 points adrift of safety with two games in hand on the teams around them. Will they stay up is the big question? Well if they di it will be a miracle considering the run they have been on since early November.

Derby are on a dreadful themselves & lost again when they went down 2-0 at home to inform Leicester City last Saturday. Derby’s last home victory was against Scunthorpe when they won 3-2. Since that win Derby have collected only 5 points in the league, one win against bottom club Preston & two draws.

Derby are showing relegation form & I think that since Scunthorpe appear to have turned a corner (Hopefully not using Satnav) then they will win & put even more pressure on poor old Nigel Clough.

Result Prediction: A Scunthorpe win
Score Prediction: Scunthorpe 2 Derby 1

Match 11: Swansea – Doncaster: (3pm):

Swansea had a great away win at Middlesbrough last Saturday when they came from 3-1 down early in the second half to run out 4-3 winners. This was Swansea’s second away win on the bounce after they had won 2-0 at Bristol City. Sandwiched in between those two away wins was their home defeat to Cardiff 1-0. Now Swansea play a Doncaster side who were thrashed 6-0 at home by much improved Ipswich on Tuesday night. Despite this defeat Doncaster should still be ok in terms of avoiding relegation as they have 37 points & would seemingly only need a couple more wins to avoid the drop & another season in the Championship. We will see.

I think that as Doncaster are on such a bad run at Present that Swansea will win this game but you all know hoe football can kick you in the teeth as Scunthorpe showed on Wednesday night when they won for the first time since Christmas when they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0.

A home win then but I can’t see Swansea scoring six like Ipswich.

Result Prediction: A Swansea win
Score Prediction: Swansea 2 Doncaster 0

Football Betting Predictions for the League Cup Final 2011: (Wembley Stadium) 

Arsenal – Birmingham City: (Sunday February 27th: 4pm): 

Arsenal contest this league cup final knowing they have not won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup final when they beat Manchester United on penalties after a bore 0-0 draw. Arsenal have come close to breaking that record since 2005, for instance they reached the league cup final in 2007 but lost 2-1 to Chelsea. They also reached the semi finals in 2008 but were knocked out by Spurs. In other competitions they have reached the Champions League final in 2006 losing 2-1 to Barcelona, an FA Cup semi final defeat to Chelsea in 2009 as well as runners up in the Premiership in 2005 & a couple of third place finishes. So Arsenal will be looking to this game to end their run of no trophies for six years. 

Birmingham won the League cup in 1963 before the final was held at Wembley. They reached the final in 2001when it was held in Cardiff & were very unlucky to lose to Liverpool on penalties after a 1-1 draw (After Extra Time). Blues have reached Wembley several times in the FA Cup final & other lower league competitions. They were runners up in the FA Cup final of 1956 when they lost 3-1 to Manchester City. So Blues are looking to end a jinx of never winning a major trophy at the home of football (The Leyland DAF trophy doesn’t count). 

Arsenal knocked out Spurs away in their first game in this years competition & since then have taken care of Newcastle away, Wigan home & of course Ipswich over two legs in the Semi finals. Arsenal won their last game when they beat Stoke at home on Wednesday to close the gap on Manchester United to one point having played a game more. They also hold a 2-1 lead over Barcelona in the Champions League going into the second leg & are of course still in the FA Cup with a 5th round replay against Orient coming up. They should win that replay & will then face Manchester United away in the Quarter Finals. So Arsenal are fighting on all fronts & it will be interesting to see how they do come the end of the season. 

Birmingham knocked out West ham in the semi finals over two legs & at one point were 3-1 down in the second leg but of course came back. They knocked out lower league teams in the form of Rochdale, MK Dons & Brentford in the earlier rounds before they beat their deadly rivals Aston Villa at home 2-1 in the Quarter finals. Birmingham won 3-2 in the FA Cup on Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday to reach the Quarter finals but are involved in a relegation fight in the Premiership. They are 15th in the table just three points away from the bottom three & lost their last league game 2-0 at home to Newcastle last Tuesday which was a bad result for them. I suspect that Blues will stay up but will lose the League cup final against Arsenal but it will I suspect be close. 

Don’t be surprised if Birmingham take the physical approach towards Arsenal in order to contain them just like Stoke did on Tuesday. 

A narrow win for Arsenal then & how many more trophies can they win by the end of the season? 

Match prediction: Arsenal to win 
Score Prediction: Arsenal 2 Birmingham 1 
Attendance Prediction: 88,000 

Match 1: Aston Villa – Blackburn: (Saturday February 26th: 3pm): 

Villa drew away at Blackpool 1-1 last time out which means that they have now only lost one game in their last seven & the defeat was at Old Trafford against Manchester United. Because they have drawn their last two league games they have dropped down the table to 16th (Below Blues) just three points above the bottom three. However, I think they will be safe as they have improved of late with wins against Manchester City & Wigan away. They are also through to the 5th round of the FA Cup where they play Manchester City away next Week. 

Villa now face Blackburn at home who have a below average away record. Blackburn lost in the FA Cup third round away at Villa when they went down 3-1. Villa also knocked Blackburn out of last years FA Cup & in the League cup when they beat them in the Semi Finals. Blackburn drew their last league game 0-0 at home with Newcastle after they had suffered two defeats to Wigan & Spurs. Blackburn have managed to win at West Brom, Newcastle & Blackpool this season as well as drawing at Manchester City. The list of defeats is long as they have lost at Liverpool, Birmingham, Wigan, Spurs, Stoke, Bolton & Sunderland. 

Villa’s home form is ok with wins against West Ham, Everton, Blackpool & Manchester City. They have managed 5 draws against Manchester United, Chelsea, Bolton, Birmingham & last time out against Fulham. The three defeats at home have come against Arsenal, Spurs & Sunderland. 

Villa’s home form should be enough for the three points in this game. 

Match prediction: Aston Villa to win 
Score Prediction: Aston Villa 3 Blackburn 1 
Attendance Prediction: 35,000 

Match 2: Everton – Sunderland: (Saturday February 26th: 3pm): 

Everton had a great win over Chelsea last Saturday in their FA Cup 4th round replay when they won on penalties after a 1-1 draw (AET). Now Everton turn their attention to the league once more as they attempt to start moving up the table. Last time out in the League Everton lost 2-0 at Bolton which was a bad result for them mainly because of the way they played in the game. 

Everton won their last home game against Blackpool 5-3 which improved their home form to 4 wins. The other three wins came against Spurs, Stoke & Liverpool. They have also drawn against Bolton, Wigan, Manchester United & West Ham. The defeats have come against West Brom, Newcastle & Arsenal. It is because of this average home form that Everton find themselves in the bottom half of the table in 14th place just three points above the relegation places. I feel that Everton are in a false placing in the table & that they will turn the corner. 

Sunderland have slumped a bit in recent weeks & lost again last time out when they went down 2-1 to Spurs at home. Sunderland have now lost three games on the bounce. Last time out away Sunderland threw away a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 at Stoke. Sunderland are 7th in the table & if they are not careful they will miss out on a European place. Sunderland’s away form is better than previous seasons with wins at Chelsea, Aston Villa & Blackpool. They have also drawn at Blackburn, Spurs, Fulham, Liverpool & Wigan. The defeats have come at Manchester United, Newcastle, West Brom & Wolves. 

I think that as Everton’s home form has improved since the new year (Two wins) then they will win this game but Sunderland will probably make it hard for them. 

Match prediction: A home win
Score Prediction: Everton 2 Sunderland 0 
Attendance Prediction: 26,000 

Match 3: Newcastle – Bolton: (Saturday February 26th: 3pm): 

Newcastle won their last game away at Birmingham by the score of 2-0. This result moved them up the table to 9th place which is where I more or less think they will end up come the end of the season. This was a good away result for Newcastle at Birmingham which came after they had drawn 0-0 at Blackburn who are a difficult side to beat at Ewood Park. Newcastle of course drew their last home game with Arsenal 4-4 when they were 4-0 down at half time. 

Newcastle now play a Bolton side who are having a good season & are also through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup after a 1-0 win at inform Fulham last Sunday. It was their second away win in the FA Cup in a week after they had won 1-0 at Wigan in a 4th round replay. The Wigan & Fulham wins were good for Bolton as their away form in the Premiership betting has taken a nosedive in recent months with 6 successive defeats since they won at Wolves 3-2 in mid November. Will Bolton break their jinx at Newcastle? 

Newcastle have improved their home record since the first days of the season. They have beaten Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham & Sunderland. They have also drawn with Wigan, Spurs, Chelsea & of course last time out against Arsenal. The defeats have come against Manchester City, Stoke, Blackburn & Blackpool. 

Earlier in the season Bolton thrashed Newcastle 5-1 & so Newcastle will be looking for revenge & I think they will get it, just. 

Match prediction: Newcastle to win 
Score Prediction: Newcastle 2 Bolton 1 
Attendance Prediction: 46,000 

Match 4: Wigan – Manchester United: (Saturday February 26th: 3pm): 

Manchester United drew away in the Champions League on Wednesday night against Marseille 0-0 away in the first leg of the last 16. They should start as favourites for the second leg. United are also still in the FA cup after beating non league Crawley 1-0 at home last Saturday & should now face Arsenal in the quarter finals at home if Arsenal beat Leyton Orient in their replay. 

United are of course top of the league but the gap has been closed to just one point thanks to Arsenal’s 1-0 against Stoke on Wednesday night. United if they win this game against Wigan should get the lead back to 4 points as Arsenal are not playing due to their appearance in the League cup final against Birmingham on Sunday. 

United have a poor away record by their standards this season. Yes, they have only lost the once at Wolves (Last away game) but they have drawn far too many games. The list of draws then have come at Bolton, Fulham, Everton, Birmingham, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Sunderland & Spurs. They have won three times at Blackpool, West Brom & Stoke. It is United’s home form that is keeping them top as was proved by their last league game when they beat Manchester City 2-1. 

Wigan won their last home game when they beat Blackburn 4-3. It was only their 4th home win of the season & helps explain why they are in the bottom three. Wigan have managed to draw with Sunderland, Fulham, Stoke, Liverpool & Arsenal but have lost to Blackpool, Newcastle, Manchester City & Chelsea. 

Defeat no 5 at home for Wigan methinks. 

Match prediction: Manchester United to win 
Score Prediction: Wigan 0 Manchester United 2 
Attendance Prediction: 21,000 

Match 5: Wolves – Blackpool: (Saturday February 26th: 3pm): 

Wolves of course won their last home game when they famously beat Manchester United 2-1 to record United’s first Premiership defeat off the season. Only in football could the bottom side beat the top side.

Wolves remain in the bottom three however because they lost at Arsenal 2-0 last Saturday & then conceded a late goal at West Brom, well the last kick of the game, to draw 1-1. They will have been bitterly disappointed with the West Brom result & I’m afraid it could have serious repercussions in their attempts to stay in the Premiership this season. 

Wolves now face Blackpool who appear to have turned the corner after 5 successive defeats. They drew at home with Aston Villa & then had a great win over Spurs on Tuesday 3-1. That result has seen them move up the table to 12th, five points & 5 teams above the drop zone. Blackpool have a good away record this season which is in fact better than their home form. 

They have won at Newcastle, Wigan, Liverpool, Sunderland & Stoke. They have also drawn at West Ham & Bolton but have lost at Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa, West Brom, Everton, Manchester City & Birmingham. 

Wolves home form is the only reason they stand a chance of staying up as their away form has only yielded 5 points. At home they have beaten Manchester United, Manchester City, Birmingham, Sunderland, Stoke & Chelsea. The defeats have come against Liverpool, Wigan, Bolton, Arsenal & Aston Villa. 

I think that as Blackpool will be on a high after their win against Spurs that they will win a close but very open game. I hope so as I am attending the game. 

Match prediction: Blackpool to win 
Score Prediction: Wolves 1 Blackpool 2 
Attendance Prediction: 27,000 

Match 6: West Ham – Liverpool: (Sunday February 27th: 1.30pm): 

Liverpool drew their last game at home with lowly Wigan 1-1 which they will have been disappointed with especially as they were 1-0 up at Half time. Liverpool have won their last two away games at Wolves & last time out at Chelsea. These two wins have increased their away wins to three for the season (the other win was at Bolton). However, their away record is still bad with defeats at Manchester United, Manchester City, Stoke, Spurs, Blackpool, Newcastle, Blackburn & Everton. A long list then but Liverpool have turned the corner since Dalglish’s arrival. They are now unbeaten in 6 league games. 

West Ham seem to be heading for the Championship despite still being in the FA Cup after a 5-1 win against Burnley on Monday which takes them into the Quarter Finals. They also of course reached the League cup semi finals. West Ham have a very poor home record with defeats to Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle, Bolton, Chelsea & last time out at home 1-0 to Birmingham. They have managed to beat Spurs, Wolves, Wigan but that is it, just three wins at home. They have on a semi plus side drawn with Fulham, Everton, West Brom & Blackpool. 

I think that as Liverpool have obviously improved under Kenny Dalglish & that West Ham are looking doomed with a bad home record then Liverpool will win this game without too much trouble. 

Match prediction: A Liverpool win 
Score Prediction: West Ham 1 Liverpool 2 
Attendance Prediction: 36,000 

Match 7: Manchester City – Fulham: (Sunday February 27th: 3pm): 

City will be hoping to get back to winning ways after their 2-1 defeat away at arch city rivals United last time out. City are still third in the table but seven points behind Arsenal & eight behind leaders Manchester United. They are more or less out of the title race but should qualify for the Champions League next season which they of course failed to do last season. 

Last time out at home City beat West Brom 3-0. City’s home record is good with only two defeats to Arsenal & Everton against their name. On the plus side they have beaten Blackpool, Aston Villa, Bolton, Liverpool, Chelsea, West Brom, Wolves & Newcastle. They have also drawn with Birmingham, Blackburn & Manchester United. So a good home record against away day draw specialists Fulham the next visitors. 

Fulham have improved since the new year & find themselves 13th in the table. They were in the bottom three at the start of the new year so congrats to Fulham for improving. They did however crash out of the FA Cup last Sunday when they went down 1-0 at home to Bolton. Fulham have a good away record which despite only one win at Stoke has yielded draws at Newcastle, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Wigan, West Ham & last time out away at Aston Villa. 

Fulham drew their last game when they drew at home with Chelsea but it was a game they should have won because they missed a last minute penalty. 

I think City will win as their home form is very good. 

Match prediction: A home win 
Score Prediction: Manchester City 2 Fulham 0 
Attendance Prediction: 46,000 

Match 8: Stoke – West Brom: (Monday February 28th: 8pm): 

Stoke lost again on their travels on Wednesday, this time 1-0 at Arsenal. I suspect they won’t be too bothered as they are into the quarter finals of the FA Cup after beating Brighton easily on Saturday 3-0. They now face West Ham at home which gives them a great chance of making the semi finals for the first time since the 1970’s when they of course had a great side. 

Stoke are happily in midtable where I think they will end come the end of the season. They have a good home record which is why they are happily in midtable rather than fighting off relegation at the bottom. They won their last home game to prove this when they came from 2-1 down to beat Sunderland 3-2. Their other home wins this season have come against Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Everton & Bolton. They have also drawn with Manchester City & West Ham. The defeats have come against Manchester United, Fulham, Spurs & Blackpool. 

West Brom managed a last minute & I mean last minute goal against their local rivals Wolves on Sunday to earn a precious point in their relegation fight. They are just above the bottom three by one point. West Brom have a poor away record with only wins at Arsenal & Everton to their name as well as draws at West Ham & of course Manchester United (The only side to prevent Utd from winning at home this season in the league). The list of defeats is long. They have lost then at Liverpool, Chelsea, Fulham, Aston Villa, Blackpool, Blackburn, Manchester City, Bolton & Wigan. Not good. 

Because of West Brom’s poor away record I am obviously going to go for a Stoke win. 

Match Prediction: Stoke to win 
Score Prediction: Stoke 2 West Brom 1 
Attendance prediction: 27,000 

That’s all for this weekend. I will do a preview for the Chelsea Manchester United game on Tuesday night but apart from that see you all next Thursday. 

Douglas Martin 

24th February 2011 

Welcome to the third European Championship predictions article. So far I have done ok. I have correctly predicted 5 out of 9 results correct. My last Euro predictions resulted in 3 out of 4 correct results. I predicted England & both Scotland & The republic of Ireland to win. Scotland left it late though. England have done much better than I thought in terms of their results & the way they have played. They deservedly beat Switzerland away 3-1 in their last game & to be honest they should have scored more goals in their victory. I was only just out on the correct score as I predicted England to win 2-1.

Friday’s games are looking Interesting & most of the games could go either way.

Just a quick note regarding the weekends Premiership predictions. I managed to predict 5 out of 10 results & the correct score for Chelsea beating Arsenal. I was really pleased with my prediction of Everton to win at Birmingham considering Birmingham hadn’t lost at home since last September & Everton hadn’t won a league game this season. An improvement on the previous weekend.

Good Luck everyone & see you all on Saturday for the next round of games for Tuesday next week. 

Match 1: Czech Republic – Scotland: (Group I): (Friday October 8th: 7.15pm): 

Scotland got a last minute goal in the 5th minute of time added on (Injury time to me & you) to beat Liechtenstein 2-1. This was not an impressive performance but three points is three points. They have four points in group “I” after drawing their first game way 0-0. They now face a Czech side who lost 1-0 at home to Lithuania in their last game which was a very poor result for them.

The Czech’s won this completion in 1976 when they beat West Germany on penalties & also of course reached the final in 1996 when they lost to the same opposition 2-1 in extra time to a golden goal at Wembley. In 2004 they did well again reaching the semi finals but somehow losing to Greece 1-0 when they were by far the better side. Such is football.

They failed to qualify for the last world cup & to be honest the Czech’s seem to be in decline at present. The only problem for Scotland is that they are a shadow of the side they used to be & so therefore I think they will lose this game. Despite gaining four points so far they have struggled & that will be proved by defeat in this game.

Result Prediction: Czech Republic to win
Score Prediction: Czech Republic 2 Scotland 0 

Match 2: Wales – Bulgaria: (Group G): (Friday October 8th: 7.30pm): 

Wales have only played one game so far & that was a 1-0 defeat to Montenegro who followed that up with a 1-0 win in Bulgaria to top the group. Both sides have had their managers resign since. John Toshack has left after feeling that he has taken Wales as far as he can which I’m afraid has not been very far. Bulgaria’s manager resigned after their second successive defeat in the group. They lost 4-0 away to England & then 1-0 at home to Montenegro which I have already mentioned. Bulgaria have now appointed Lother Matthaus the former captain of West Germany manager. This game will be his first in charge & I feel that his presence will make a difference for this game.

Bulgaria have not won a game of any description since November 2009 when they beat the might of Malta 4-1. This could be their first win since then. Bulgaria have been on the slide since the mid 1990’s & it will be interesting to see if their new manager can make a difference.

Sorry to say but I can’t see Wales doing much in this group. The best thing that could happen to Wales would be if the powers that be could bring back the “Home Championships” so that they could earn some money to help their youngsters & as well as bringing back interest. 

Result Prediction: Bulgaria to win
Score Prediction: Wales 1 Bulgaria 2 

Match 3: Republic of Ireland – Russia: (Group B): (Friday October 8th: “Dublin” – 7.45pm):

The Republic sit proudly on top of group “B” after winning both their games so far. They beat Andorra 3-1 in their last game at home & as they somehow managed to concede a goal they denied me a correct score prediction (I had predicted 3-0). This is a big game for both sides. Russia reached the semi finals of the last European Championships playing some good football. It was just their bad luck that they came up against Spain in the Semi finals.

Russia failed to qualify for the last World cup when they were knocked out in the Playoffs by Slovenia. Russia won their first game in this group 2-0 away in Andorra but lost rather surprisingly to Slovakia 1-0 at home in their last game.

I think that the Republic will win this game but it will be very close as Ireland don’t score many goals but then again they don’t concede many either. 

Result Prediction: Eire to win
Score Prediction: Republic of Ireland 2 Russia 0

Match 4: Northern Ireland – Italy: (Group C): (Friday October 8th: “Belfast” – 7.45pm):

This the big one for Northern Ireland. They won their opening game against 1-0 away in Slovenia which was a great backs to the wall victory against a good side with a good home record in recent years. This is the only game that Northern Ireland have played in their group so far unlike Italy who have played two games & won them both. They beat Estonia away 2-1 & then beat the might of the Faroe Islands 5-0 at home.

Italy are not the side that won the World cup 4 years ago as was proved by their dreadful showing in the World cup this summer in South Africa. They failed to win a game came home very early to be welcomed by screaming indifference from Italians. For the time being Italian football is not well with attendances suffering due to crowd violence domestically. 

There will probably never be a better time for Northern Ireland to play Italy in an important game. As we all know Northern Ireland have beaten some good sides at home in recent years. The list includes England, Spain, Sweden & Poland. 

The other reason why I think that Italy will lose is because they appear to have run out of luck at present, i.e., that ability they have to soak up loads of pressure & then score a goal with their first & only attempt on target.

A very narrow win then to the Irish & some serious drinking in Belfast town centre after the game if they do win. 

Result Prediction: Northern Ireland to win
Score Prediction: Northern Ireland 1 Italy 0 

That’s all for this round of games. More fixtures including England on Tuesday so I will see you all at the weekend.

Douglas Martin
5th October 2010
dapmartin@hotmail.co.uk 

The 2009/10 was a second-rate one for Arsenal by the high standards that the fans have come to accept, but overall it was not a bad year. Arsenal achieved a 13th consecutive year in the Champions League with a young and developing team. That’s a great achievement. The Arsenal team also continued to play some exceptional football.

Arsenal went into the new season with a new facelift, two out and one in during the summer of 2009. We sold two players and only saw Thomas Vermaelen come in  Manchester City clearly had too much spending £25 million for the Adebayor. City and £16 million for an out of sorts Toure

Before the opening day of the season we were widely tipped to miss out on the top four, Liverpool were expected to go one better and win the title for the first time in ages whilst Man City had spent huge amounts from which big things were expected. It didn’t work out that way.

The first game of the season was a tricky one away at Everton, the result was something nobody expected as we handed out a 6-1 beating with Cesc Fabrefas running the show and getting one great goal. A fantastic start to the season for Arsenal football club fans.

Champions League qualification was not yet certain, we to beat over two legs. A muscular performance at Parkhead with Thomas Vermaelen looking like a pillar of strength at the back and slotting into the Arsenal side well. A deflected Cesc strike off the back of William Gallas just before half time and then a late own goal. In the return match Arsenal scored three past Celtic to put us into the Champions League proper.

We then hammered Portsmouth at home and went up north to Manchester United where a sensational Arshavin strike was canceled out by a Diaby own goal and a Wayne Rooney goal. After that we went unbeaten until the end of November in the league, pounding in the goals and looking very solid.

December was gritty, we had to grind out wins, not pretty, but it showed good spirit in the squad, and we got those results. Cesc Fabregas started coming into his own, scoring goal after goal after goal. Then game the tough run, four games – Villa (away), United (home), Chelsea (away), Liverpool (home). We needed about six points at least from those games to stay in contention, but we only got four, we had had injuries all season and they were starting to affect us, and our season started to flag.

Then came the moment that our season took a turn, Robin Van Persie had played in a meaningless friendly for his country, Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini took out Van Persie and his ankle. Persie was out for seven months.

When Barcelona came to the Emirates it was a great game  45 minutes of fantastic football, yet they still couldn’t score. Then, in the second half they scored two goals in quick succession. Arsenal had a half-fit Cesc and an injury ravaged side, Walcott equalised and we won a penalty in the last minute. Cesc, with a broken leg scored the penalty to make it 2-2. It marked the end of Aresenal’s season, with our best player out for the rest of the season with a broken leg, and Arshavin  out with a muscle injury. The chances of winning the Champions League or the Premiership disappeared.

Injuries, players that were not good enough and managerial faults… are all to blame for a disappointing season. A season that started so fantastically well had crashed in slow motion by the end of the season. A young team, hungry and ambitious had changed by the end. It is easy to forget everything that happened before the last six weeks of the season, but we had remained in touching distance with the eventual winners the whole team. Over the summer investment into the Arsenal squad looks certain. There has been progress over the past year and, should the core of this squad be improved by one or two decent signings, there is a good chance that Arsenal could overhaul the ageing Chelsea and Manchester United teams next season. Lets hope that season 2009/2010 was the last building year before winning some big trophies next season. Arsenal football club fans get ready for an exciting new season.