First things first today and as it stands Arsenal are second in the table, five points behind Chelsea after 10 games. Yesterday's 1-0 home win over West Ham may not have been a great performance but the three points were gained from a very unlikely source and that's the most important thing.
When I say it was an unlikely source what I mean is that the assist for the goal came from the right foot of Gael Clichy. His attacking efforts in recent seasons have been very limited and usually involve him overlapping the right sided attacking player, before cutting back and passing the ball infield.
Yesterday he managed to cut inside himself and hang a ball up invitingly for Nicklas Bendtner and Alex Song to attack six yards out from goal right in the centre of the goalmouth. Thankfully Song managed to get his head to the ball and he couldn't really miss. West Ham appealed in vain for offside but the goal was quite rightly given and with only two minutes left Arsenal had the three points they desperately needed.
The team selection was as expected with Laurent Koscielny coming in for Johann Djourou but all the other players who started against Man City last Sunday keeping their places. It meant that Theo Walcott was on the bench despite the fact that he scored two goals against Newcastle on Wednesday night in the Carling Cup.
I made my way to the supporters club in Bray to watch the match as it was on Setanta and I refuse to pay extra money to have that channel included in my package. By the time the match had finished I knew exactly why I made that decision as the punditry of Pat Dolan and the co commentating of Stewart Robson were so biased against Arsenal that it was unbelieveable. They are both ex Arsenal players and as was pointed out to me by Arseblogger yesterday, Robson is employed by ATVO.
If Pat Dolan is to be believed then Arsene Wenger is a football snob who doesn't rate Walcott because his touch isn't as good as some of the other players in training. I've heard Dolan complain about how well the youngsters at the club are treated these days compared to when he failed to make the grade at Arsenal. He obviously has a chip on his shoulder and in my opinion he should not be allowed to be a pundit when Arsenal are playing. I missed his comments before the game but I was told he called Maraoune Chamakh a cheat and while I think Chamakh has bought a couple of his penalties quite easily he is far from a cheat.
After listening to Dolan's inane ramblings we were then treated to Stewart Robson's very obvious bias against Arsenal during the commentary. I don't know if he has a chip on his shoulder but he certainly has a very low opinion of most of the Arsenal players. He accused Chamakh of going down easily to look for fouls when he was clearly fouled but when Carlton Cole went down untouched it was clever play from him according to Robson. When a West Ham defender went through the back of Chamakh early on, Robson claimed that there was no foul as he had got the ball. He may have got the ball but it was after he had gone through the player first and that is a free kick and a yellow card in my opinion.
I could write paragraph after paragraph about how biased he was against Arsenal and it's not the first time I have heard his opinions either. We were live on Setanta earlier in the season and he spent the whole game criticising Arsenal players and showing that same bias that is quite incredible for a supposedly neutral observer. When you factor in that he is employed by Arsenal it's actually quite incredible and I will be contacting the club to let them know that I think it's conduct unbecoming of a club employee.
Anyway, enough of my moaning and back to the real business of yesterday's game. I had mentioned yesterday that I hoped Arsenal would set out from the start to put the game to bed early but it was evident fairly early on that no such thing would happen. West Ham put virtually every man behind the ball and invited Arsenal to break them which we found it difficult to do.
In games like that it's usually Cesc Fabregas who makes the difference but he had a poor game by his very high standards and I can't remember ever seeing him caught in possession so often in a game. When we eventually managed to carve West Ham open in the first half Bakari Sagna cut a beautiful pass back to Cesc who looked certain to score from 12 yards out in the centre of the goal. Robert Green made a fine save from Cesc's effort but an on form Cesc would have absolutely buried the ball.
There were plenty of other chances as the game progressed and Green made plenty of saves too in what was probably his best game of the season. Occasionally West Ham looked dangerous but to be honest Lukasz Fabianski had very little to do in the Arsenal goal and we never looked likely to lose our clean sheet. When Walcott came on for Denilson with 25 minutes left Arsenal upped the pace as Nasri moved infield to play alongside Cesc. I thought Denilson had a very poor game and I lost count of how many misplaced passes he had which is very unusual for him.
As the game progressed Cesc picked Walcott out with a ball behind the full back and he raced through on goal. I was sure he would score and he did everything right but his shot to the far corner hit the post and rebounded into Green's arms. At that stage I thought that we wouldn't get the goal we so badly wanted and then the news came through that Chelsea had come back from a goal down to go 2-1 ahead of Blackburn.
It then becamevital that Arsenal got that win and the players pushed forward in wave after wave. To be fair to West Ham they defended very well most of the time and when they didn't Arsenal somehow managed to attempt that extra pass in the box or they just made a mess of things. The tension was unbearable but at least we knew there would be plenty of injury time after all the substitutions, injuries and time wasting.
With just over two minutes to go I suddenly wished that there was no time to be added at all as Song got us that goal I described at the start and the Arsenal players and fans were ecstatic. West Ham tried their best to get an equaliser and it was nerve wracking every time the ball came near our box but thankfully that was fairly rare as Arsenal played possession football as much as they could.
The positive aspect of the game for me was the result and I was fairly impressed with the performance of Song too. Besides his goal he was the Arsenal player who seemed to want the ball all the time and he was also able to find plenty of space to work in. Fabianski again performed well and when Manuel Almunia eventually returns from his elbow injury he cannot walk straight into the team. We managed to keep our second league clean sheet in a row which is no bad thing either.
Sure we didn't play particularly well and quite a few of the players were missing at times but we got the three points to stay second in the league. The defence stayed solid throughout the game and it was a far better result than the one against West Brom when we last played poorly at home. I'll leave it there for today but I'll be back early tomorrow with some more thoughts on the game.
See You Tomorrow.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Arsenal v West Ham Preview.
It's been an eventful week for Arsenal on the pitch. First of all we had a great 3-0 win away to Man City last Sunday to take second place from them in the league. Then we traveled to Newcastle on Wednesday night and beat them 4-0 in the Carling Cup with a team that had nine changes from the one that beat Man City.
There were a lot of positives to be drawn from those games such as the return to fitness and goalscoring of both Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner. We also saw very good performances from Lukasz Fabianski and Wojceich Szczesny in goals in both of those games and it's making most Arsenal fans feel a little better about our goalkeeping options. With Manuel Almunia still out with his elbow injury we are getting the feeling that Fabianski is eventually living up to the manager's opinion of him. We have also seen that his deputy is more than capable of filling in for him if needed.
West Ham are the visitors to The Emirates this afternoon and with them sitting on the bottom of the league table, nothing short of a win will suffice. There seems to be a pattern in Arsenal's home games whereby the opposition defend with every player and Arsenal miss a host of early chances before falling behind to the first decent effort on goal from our opponents. It usually happens somewhere between 30 minutes and half time and Arsenal then spend the rest of the afternoon trying to claw back that goal before looking for a winner.
Wouldn't it be nice if Arsenal came flying out of the traps and banged in two or three goals in the first 20 minutes like we did in seasons gone by. It would make the afternoon so much easier for the armchair supporter or in my case, the supporter sitting in The Strand in Bray with the rest of the Wicklow Gunners. We certainly have the ability to do that and I have a funny feeling that this could be the game where it happens. West Ham have conceded 17 goals so far in the league this season and only scored seven and they are the type of team we should be handing a thrashing to. Their defence has looked very poor and we need to keep that defence under pressure all the time.
The manager will probably keep faith with most of the team that beat City 3-0 on Sunday with the possible exception of fit again Laurent Koscielny for Johann Djourou. There is of course a case for including Theo Walcott as well as he looked so good on Wednesday night and he is scoring goals for fun this season when plays. If Walcott were to play the most likely player to miss out would be either Denilson or Andrei Arshavin. If Arshavin doesn't play it would mean Nasri ill play on the left with Walcott on the right but if Denilson doesn't play I would imagine that Nasri would play alongside Cesc in the middle.
Whichever team the boss picks we all know that they have to play with the correct tempo and passion and go at West Ham as if their lives depended on it. I feel far more confident with Fabianski in goal than I did with Almunia after the Pole's recent very good performances. Sometimes in these games it's a matter of the goalkeeper keeping his concentration as he has very little to do and to me it looks like Almunia drifts a little sometimes.
With Cesc Fabregas and Nasri pulling the strings we have enough creativity in the team to carve open the West Ham defence and it's just a matter of putting some of those chances away. We've already had nine penalties this season and that's a far cry from last season when we couldn't get a penalty at all after the controversy of the Eduardo "dive" against Celtic. I wouldn't be surprised to see Arsenal get another penalty and if we do it will be interesting to see who takes it. Cesc missed one last week and Arshavin is usually next in line after him but Nasri has taken a few already this season and dispatched them with ease.
Before last week's game we had only one clean sheet in eight league games but if we can get another one today it will be three in ten. That's not too bad but it's still not good enough in my opinion and we still have a lot of work to do on our defending. With that in mind I would imagine that Alex Song will continue his policy of pushing forward at every opportunity again today and that will leave our defence just a little bit exposed at times. That's one of the reasons I think Koscielny will play as his anticipation is very good and we will need him to cut things out before they get a chance to develop too much.
I'm predicting a 3-0 win for Arsenal and seeming as it's a home game I think Marouane Chamakh will get among the goals as well as Cesc. Cesc has come in for some rough treatment in the last couple of games and it will be interesting to see if West Ham decide to dish out some more to him today. I've made Cesc the captain of my fantasy team and I hope I haven't jinxed him too much. If you're interested in my opinion on the outcome of all the Premier League games for this week you can see them here.
In other news it would appear that the club are in discussions with Szczesny over a new contract. His contract is up in the summer and the boss said that he wants to extend it and the club want him to sign up too, so hopefully it will all work out. There are also stories of Jack Wilshere, who is still suspended today, being in discussions about a new five year contract too. Let's hope that Wilshere stays for those five years and many more to come as he has the potential to be a sensational player.
For anyone going to the game I hope you have a great time and realise how lucky you are to see our heroes in the flesh while the rest of us Arsenal fans are watching on the TV or tuned into an internet stream that's a minute or so behind. I'd love to be in one of the pubs in the streets around the stadium before and after the game but the way things are going it doesn't look likely this season. That won't stop me following Arsenal with everything I have and writing about them almost every single day.
It's not always an easy thing to do while trying to lead a normal life and the first thing to lose out is usually sleep. With that in mind I'm looking forward to the arrival of official Winter time and a little extra sleep tomorrow morning. I will of course have a full review of the game tomorrow and don't forget to tune in and see what you think of my opinions on the game. Finally for today don't forget to make any changes you need to in your fantasy teams before the deadline this morning.
See You Tomorrow.
There were a lot of positives to be drawn from those games such as the return to fitness and goalscoring of both Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner. We also saw very good performances from Lukasz Fabianski and Wojceich Szczesny in goals in both of those games and it's making most Arsenal fans feel a little better about our goalkeeping options. With Manuel Almunia still out with his elbow injury we are getting the feeling that Fabianski is eventually living up to the manager's opinion of him. We have also seen that his deputy is more than capable of filling in for him if needed.
West Ham are the visitors to The Emirates this afternoon and with them sitting on the bottom of the league table, nothing short of a win will suffice. There seems to be a pattern in Arsenal's home games whereby the opposition defend with every player and Arsenal miss a host of early chances before falling behind to the first decent effort on goal from our opponents. It usually happens somewhere between 30 minutes and half time and Arsenal then spend the rest of the afternoon trying to claw back that goal before looking for a winner.
Wouldn't it be nice if Arsenal came flying out of the traps and banged in two or three goals in the first 20 minutes like we did in seasons gone by. It would make the afternoon so much easier for the armchair supporter or in my case, the supporter sitting in The Strand in Bray with the rest of the Wicklow Gunners. We certainly have the ability to do that and I have a funny feeling that this could be the game where it happens. West Ham have conceded 17 goals so far in the league this season and only scored seven and they are the type of team we should be handing a thrashing to. Their defence has looked very poor and we need to keep that defence under pressure all the time.
The manager will probably keep faith with most of the team that beat City 3-0 on Sunday with the possible exception of fit again Laurent Koscielny for Johann Djourou. There is of course a case for including Theo Walcott as well as he looked so good on Wednesday night and he is scoring goals for fun this season when plays. If Walcott were to play the most likely player to miss out would be either Denilson or Andrei Arshavin. If Arshavin doesn't play it would mean Nasri ill play on the left with Walcott on the right but if Denilson doesn't play I would imagine that Nasri would play alongside Cesc in the middle.
Whichever team the boss picks we all know that they have to play with the correct tempo and passion and go at West Ham as if their lives depended on it. I feel far more confident with Fabianski in goal than I did with Almunia after the Pole's recent very good performances. Sometimes in these games it's a matter of the goalkeeper keeping his concentration as he has very little to do and to me it looks like Almunia drifts a little sometimes.
With Cesc Fabregas and Nasri pulling the strings we have enough creativity in the team to carve open the West Ham defence and it's just a matter of putting some of those chances away. We've already had nine penalties this season and that's a far cry from last season when we couldn't get a penalty at all after the controversy of the Eduardo "dive" against Celtic. I wouldn't be surprised to see Arsenal get another penalty and if we do it will be interesting to see who takes it. Cesc missed one last week and Arshavin is usually next in line after him but Nasri has taken a few already this season and dispatched them with ease.
Before last week's game we had only one clean sheet in eight league games but if we can get another one today it will be three in ten. That's not too bad but it's still not good enough in my opinion and we still have a lot of work to do on our defending. With that in mind I would imagine that Alex Song will continue his policy of pushing forward at every opportunity again today and that will leave our defence just a little bit exposed at times. That's one of the reasons I think Koscielny will play as his anticipation is very good and we will need him to cut things out before they get a chance to develop too much.
I'm predicting a 3-0 win for Arsenal and seeming as it's a home game I think Marouane Chamakh will get among the goals as well as Cesc. Cesc has come in for some rough treatment in the last couple of games and it will be interesting to see if West Ham decide to dish out some more to him today. I've made Cesc the captain of my fantasy team and I hope I haven't jinxed him too much. If you're interested in my opinion on the outcome of all the Premier League games for this week you can see them here.
In other news it would appear that the club are in discussions with Szczesny over a new contract. His contract is up in the summer and the boss said that he wants to extend it and the club want him to sign up too, so hopefully it will all work out. There are also stories of Jack Wilshere, who is still suspended today, being in discussions about a new five year contract too. Let's hope that Wilshere stays for those five years and many more to come as he has the potential to be a sensational player.
For anyone going to the game I hope you have a great time and realise how lucky you are to see our heroes in the flesh while the rest of us Arsenal fans are watching on the TV or tuned into an internet stream that's a minute or so behind. I'd love to be in one of the pubs in the streets around the stadium before and after the game but the way things are going it doesn't look likely this season. That won't stop me following Arsenal with everything I have and writing about them almost every single day.
It's not always an easy thing to do while trying to lead a normal life and the first thing to lose out is usually sleep. With that in mind I'm looking forward to the arrival of official Winter time and a little extra sleep tomorrow morning. I will of course have a full review of the game tomorrow and don't forget to tune in and see what you think of my opinions on the game. Finally for today don't forget to make any changes you need to in your fantasy teams before the deadline this morning.
See You Tomorrow.
Friday, 29 October 2010
Predictions For Premier League Gameweek 10.
It's that time of the week again when I attempt to predict the outcome of all of this week's Premier League games. I'm running a predictions league and my team would seem to be the yo yo team in the league as I'm now down to seventh place after rising to second place only two weeks ago. Sitting proudly on top of the table is Stephen Bradley and at least he's a fellow Gooner which is far more preferable than him supporting another team and winning my league. I'm hoping to have a great week this week and make my way back up the table but if I can't improve on last week's six wrong predictions I'll be dropping further down the table. Here's how the table looks -
Arsenal v West Ham
Arsenal have got their league campaign back on track with successive victories over Birmingham and Man City and they will be looking to continue that form in this game against bottom club West Ham. They are scoring goals for fun at the moment and with Cesc Fabregas back in the team they are a handful for any team.
West Ham are rock bottom of the table and they need some points very soon or their season will be over before it has got going. They can't keep a clean sheet at the moment and are finding it hard to score themselves which is a recipe for disaster against free scoring Arsenal. I can't see anything other than an Arsenal win.
Prediction: 3-0
Blackburn v Chelsea
Blackburn are a tough team to beat at home and they will be happy to welcome Christopher Samba back after suspension for this game. He was sorely missed away to Liverpool last week when Blackburn were flattered to only lose 2-1. If they can play their usual high tempo game when the ball rarely touches the ground they might just have a chance against a Chelsea team who weren't too impressive at home to Wolves last week.
Chelsea are not double holders for nothing and they won't be intimidated by Blackburn's physical approach. With the players they have available to them they can match any team in the league physically but their away form was not great last season and I'm not too sure that it will be any better this time around. I know I'm sticking my neck out a bit but I think Blackburn can get a draw out of this game.
Prediction: 1-1
Everton v Stoke
Everton have put a pretty good run together and they leaking very few goals at the moment. With Tim Cahill in the team they are always likely to score although they are still short of a centre forward who can stay fit and score goals on a consistent basis.
Stoke RFC had a good run recently but it seems to have ended now with consecutive defeats against Bolton and "Manure" and they will be hoping to reverse that trend in this game. So far their away form has been as it was in previous seasons and it's only their home form that keeps them in their usual mid table position. I can see Everton continuing their good run and climbing even further up the table in this game.
Prediction: 2-1
Fulham v Wigan
Fulham have still only won one game this season and now that they are losing games they are slipping down the table. They are still the draw specialists in the league but they need to get another win under their belts. This would seem to be an ideal opportunity for them to do just that.
Wigan have recovered very well from their horrendous start to the season and are looking increasingly more likely to steer clear of relegation trouble. They progressed to the last eight of the Carling Cup too and they will be hoping for another positive result in this game. Despite the fact that Wigan are now very difficult to beat I think Fulham will just about edge a very tight game.
Prediction: 1-0
Wolves v Man City
Wolves welcome their chief destroyer, Karl Henry back for this game and no doubt he will be putting himself about. With Nigel de Jong in the City team it should make for some very tasty tackling and hopefully they will kick each other out of the game and let the real players get on with playing football. Wolves are only ahead of bottom placed West Ham on goal difference and will need to turn recent good performances in to results very soon. Stephen Hunt is back from injury and he could well make a difference for them in the coming months.
Man City will feel the dismissal of Dedryk Boyata at home to Arsenal last week cost them the chance to stay in second place in the league and they will be looking to make up for it in this game. With Carlos Tevez doubtful their hopes could rest with Emmanuel Adebayor and that's not something that any team would want to depend on. I think City are just too good for Wolves and will win this game.
Prediction: 1-3
Man Utd v Tottenham
"Manure" got things back on track with a victory over Stoke RFC last week thanks mainly to Javier Hernandez. With "Shrek" still injured the striking duties will fall to him again and he's in a rich vein of form. Nani is another player that they have become dependant on this season and I have been impressed with him both attacking and defensively. They would like to think that they are very difficult to take points off at Old Trafford but West Brom showed that it's not necessarily the case.
It's a big week for The Spuds with Inter Milan visiting them in the Champions League during the week. I'm sure they will look to attack a suspect "Manure" defence and if Gary Neville is playing, Gareth Bale should tear him a new one. With Van Der Vaart in midfield they will look to put the ageing Van Der Saar under pressure and hope for a few errors from him like the one against West Brom. I think The Spuds can get a draw which would see both teams lose a little more ground on the leaders in all probability.
Prediction: 1-1
Aston Villa v Birmingham
I'm not convinced by Aston Villa at all this season and in my opinion any team with Emile Heskey in it can't be considered good enough to challenge for a top four place. However they should be well up for this local derby and if they can get Stephen Ireland playing to his potential they will improve an awful lot.
Birmingham got a much needed win over Blackpool last week and a win in this game will lift them above Villa in a very tight table. I'm sure the gigantic Nikola Zigic will cause the Villa defence a lot of problems in the air and Brad Friedel will have to be at his usual best to keep him out. Despite the fact that I don't particularly rate Villa I still think they will have too much for Birmingham.
Prediction: 2-1
Newcastle v Sunderland
Newcastle have had an up and down season so far but the away victory at West Ham last week has put them in a healthy position in mid table. With home advantage and a very loud crowd behind them I expect them to throw the kitchen sink at a Sunderland team who have a fairly good defensive record.Newcastle will be looking to Andy Carroll to get them the goals but I'm not sure if he's as good as some people think he is.
If you don't have any Sunderland defenders in your Fantasy team it might be a good idea to buy at least one of them while they're still cheap. They are all the way up in seventh place in the league and a win here would leave them almost challenging the top four. I think that the home advantage will count for Newcastle but that it won't be quite enough as the sides will end up even.
Prediction: 2-2
Bolton v Liverpool
Bolton are apparently sitting pretty in eighth place in the league with Liverpool in the relegation zone. However, a win for Liverpool would have them level on points in a very congested mid table. With their mixture of football and their old style hardness Bolton are not easy to beat but they still don't score enough goals.
Liverpool actually played well last week and maybe they have turned the corner at last. With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in their team they can only stay in the relegation zone for so long and I think that stay will end when they beat Bolton narrowly.
Prediction: 1-2
Blackpool v West Brom
Monday night football is back with the clash between Blackpool and West Brom who were both promoted from the Championship last season. It's very hard to write Blackpool off as they have had some very impressive results so far but I think their lack of real quality is starting to catch up with them.
West Brom continue to impress and their results so far have been excellent. They play attractive football and work very hard for the cause too which is a good combination. In Chris Brunt they have a player who should be in every fantasy team as he costs so little but performs so well. I think West Brom will continue their good run with a hard fought win in an open attcking game.
Prediction: 1-3
That's it for this week's predictions but feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments if you like. You can of course still read my daily blog about all things Arsenal from my point of view and you're welcome to teel me what you feel about my efforts if you feel inclined to do so.
See You Next Week
 | 1 (4) |  |  | _Bradley08 | 365 | +120 | 5 |  |
 | ||||||||
 | 2 (1) |  | | COSGOONER | 340 | +50 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 3 (2) | | | Imjola | 330 | +75 | 5 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 4 (8) | | | Nickmc1980 | 305 | +110 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 4 (11) | | | oakhamgooner | 305 | +140 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 6 (7) | | | essexgooner1965 | 285 | +60 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 7 (4) | | | aranmichael | 270 | +25 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 8 (14) | | | SoFire | 265 | +115 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 8 (17) |  | | senarmy | 265 | +130 | 0 | |
| | ||||||||
| | 10 (2) |  | | AshburtonAmerica | 255 | 0 | 0 | |
 |
West Ham are rock bottom of the table and they need some points very soon or their season will be over before it has got going. They can't keep a clean sheet at the moment and are finding it hard to score themselves which is a recipe for disaster against free scoring Arsenal. I can't see anything other than an Arsenal win.
Prediction: 3-0
Blackburn v Chelsea
 |
Chelsea are not double holders for nothing and they won't be intimidated by Blackburn's physical approach. With the players they have available to them they can match any team in the league physically but their away form was not great last season and I'm not too sure that it will be any better this time around. I know I'm sticking my neck out a bit but I think Blackburn can get a draw out of this game.
Prediction: 1-1
Everton v Stoke
 |
Stoke RFC had a good run recently but it seems to have ended now with consecutive defeats against Bolton and "Manure" and they will be hoping to reverse that trend in this game. So far their away form has been as it was in previous seasons and it's only their home form that keeps them in their usual mid table position. I can see Everton continuing their good run and climbing even further up the table in this game.
Prediction: 2-1
Fulham v Wigan
 |
Wigan have recovered very well from their horrendous start to the season and are looking increasingly more likely to steer clear of relegation trouble. They progressed to the last eight of the Carling Cup too and they will be hoping for another positive result in this game. Despite the fact that Wigan are now very difficult to beat I think Fulham will just about edge a very tight game.
Prediction: 1-0
Wolves v Man City
 |
Man City will feel the dismissal of Dedryk Boyata at home to Arsenal last week cost them the chance to stay in second place in the league and they will be looking to make up for it in this game. With Carlos Tevez doubtful their hopes could rest with Emmanuel Adebayor and that's not something that any team would want to depend on. I think City are just too good for Wolves and will win this game.
Prediction: 1-3
Man Utd v Tottenham
 |
It's a big week for The Spuds with Inter Milan visiting them in the Champions League during the week. I'm sure they will look to attack a suspect "Manure" defence and if Gary Neville is playing, Gareth Bale should tear him a new one. With Van Der Vaart in midfield they will look to put the ageing Van Der Saar under pressure and hope for a few errors from him like the one against West Brom. I think The Spuds can get a draw which would see both teams lose a little more ground on the leaders in all probability.
Prediction: 1-1
Aston Villa v Birmingham
 |
Birmingham got a much needed win over Blackpool last week and a win in this game will lift them above Villa in a very tight table. I'm sure the gigantic Nikola Zigic will cause the Villa defence a lot of problems in the air and Brad Friedel will have to be at his usual best to keep him out. Despite the fact that I don't particularly rate Villa I still think they will have too much for Birmingham.
Prediction: 2-1
Newcastle v Sunderland
 |
If you don't have any Sunderland defenders in your Fantasy team it might be a good idea to buy at least one of them while they're still cheap. They are all the way up in seventh place in the league and a win here would leave them almost challenging the top four. I think that the home advantage will count for Newcastle but that it won't be quite enough as the sides will end up even.
Prediction: 2-2
Bolton v Liverpool
 |
Liverpool actually played well last week and maybe they have turned the corner at last. With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in their team they can only stay in the relegation zone for so long and I think that stay will end when they beat Bolton narrowly.
Prediction: 1-2
Blackpool v West Brom
 |
West Brom continue to impress and their results so far have been excellent. They play attractive football and work very hard for the cause too which is a good combination. In Chris Brunt they have a player who should be in every fantasy team as he costs so little but performs so well. I think West Brom will continue their good run with a hard fought win in an open attcking game.
Prediction: 1-3
That's it for this week's predictions but feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments if you like. You can of course still read my daily blog about all things Arsenal from my point of view and you're welcome to teel me what you feel about my efforts if you feel inclined to do so.
See You Next Week
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)