Friday 30 September 2011

Predictions For Premier League Gameweek 7.

It's that time of the week again when I attempt to predict the outcome of the upcoming Premier League games this weekend. I did quite well last week with two perfect scorelines, five correct outcomes, and three incorrect outcomes. It moved me up to third in my prediction league, with a real chance of moving to second.


Hopefully I can do as well this week, but it's never easy to predict how local derbies will turn out and there are two big ones. The weekend starts early on Saturday with the Mersey derby, and it ends on Sunday evening with the north London derby.


Here's a look at how my predictions league stands.

 Pos. Player  Week Total
 1  ahujag  150  495
 2  gooner2194  130  330
 3  JamrockRover  120  310
 4  DK1247  80  275
 5  Smashit_Tuckit  110  265
 6  nawa87  75  255
 7  NickHemmings  60  250
 8  Bradley08  35  230
 9  ReApEr666  95  225
 10  RADOK1993  80  215


Everton Vs. Liverpool


Saturday October 1, 12.45pm BST 


Everton's good start to the season came to an end last week when they lost 2-0 away to Manchester City. They are finding it very hard to score goals at the moment, but they won't need any extra motivation for this game. If they can manage to create some chances I think they could give a shaky Liverpool defence some problems.

At the moment attacking Everton players should be avoided by any fantasy football managers, but some of their defenders might be worth a look at.

Liverpool got back on track last week when they narrowly beat Wolves 2-1, but they were far from impressive. Steven Gerrard is nearing full fitness and they need to get him back in their team as soon as possible. Whether he plays with or instead of Charlie Adam will be the big question when he does return.

At the moment Charlie Adam and Luis Suarez are by far the best bets of all the Liverpool players for fantasy managers. 


Prediction 2-1
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Aston Villa Vs. Wigan Athletic


Saturday October 1, 3pm BST 


Villa's draw away to QPR last weekend meant they remain unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season. They have only won one of their games though, and they have drawn the other five. It leaves them in a mid-table position, but they will see a home game against Wigan as an ideal opportunity to get their second win.

Gabriel Agbonlahor is Villa's outstanding fantasy player so far, but Darren Bent is always a good long term bet if he can regain his fitness.

Wigan started well against the newly promoted teams, but they have now lost their last three league games in  row. Their inability to score goals has almost seen them relegated in previous seasons, and it looks like it will be their biggest problem again.

Franco Di Santo has been Wigan's standout performer so far, but his previous record suggests the goals might dry up for him quite soon.

I think Villa will be too strong for Wigan, and will take all three points.


Prediction 2-0
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Blackburn Rovers Vs. Manchester City


Saturday October 1, 3pm BST

Blackburn's brief comeback with their win over Arsenal came to an end last week when they lost to Newcastle. They're back in the relegation zone, and the pressure is again mounting on their manager Steve Kean. They look very unsure in defence, and unless they sort that out they could be in serious trouble.

Jumior Hoilett is slowly becoming Blackburn's best player from a fantasy perspective, and he could be worth taking a chance on.

City beat Everton last week to draw level with the leaders on points, and they look to be genuine contenders. Unfortunately for them things went very wrong during the week when they lost to Bayern Munich and Carlos Tevez made a fool of himself. They will need to overcome their internal troubles if they are going to continue to challenge in the Premier League.

The suspension of Tevez makes it easier to choose which attacking City players to choose, and Sergio Aguero looks to be a must have player now. Besdides him Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, David Villa, Samir Nasri and Eden Dzeko are all well worth having too. If I had to choose it would be Silva and a defensive player too along with Aguero of course.

I think City should have few problems beating a poor Blackburn team, and getting things back on track.


Prediction 1-3
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Manchester United Vs. Norwich City


Saturday October 1, 3pm BST 


United dropped their first points of the season last week when they drew away to Stoke. Their home record in the league is still magnificent, but FC Basel showed up the weaknesses in their defence on Tuesday night. Without Nemanja Vidic their defence looks shaky, but they have managed to score 22 goals in six games so far.

If both Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez are injured United might not be so strong going forward, but they have plenty of other players who can score too.

Rooney is a must have in his current form if he is fit, and both Ashley Young and Nani look like must have players too. If both Rooney and Hernadez are out this week it could open the way for Danny Wellbeck to have a good week.

Norwich are slowly growing into the Premier League since their promotion, and they have won their last two games. They have put up a very good fight in every game so far, and they should not be written off against any team. However, they will find things very tough away to the free-scoring United.

Norwich play very well as a team, but it makes it difficult to find any individual stars in their team.


I think United will prove to be too strong for Norwich, but they won't have it all their own way.


Prediction 4-1
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Sunderland Vs. West Bromwich Albion


Saturday October 1, 3pm BST

Sunderland brought a lot of players in during the transfer window, but I don't think many of them were any better than the players they replaced. They have started very poorly, but they are still ahead of West Brom in the table. It's a bit early to predict what teams might struggle, but unless something changes soon this could be a relegation six-pointer.

Seb Larsson is still the only Sunderland player to look worth while buying from a fantasy football perspective.

West Brom have only scored three goals in their opening six Premier League games, and they need to start putting some results together. They looked when they lost to both Manchester United and Chelsea at the start of the season, but they haven't been able to build on those good performances. I'm not so sure that they should be playing both Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie in the same team at the moment.

It's very hard to recommend any West Brom players when they are scoring or keeping clean sheets.

I think this game will end all square which won't do either team much good.


Prediction 1-1
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Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs. Newcastle United

Saturday October 1, 3pm BST 


Wolves started the season very well with seven points from their first three games, but they have lost three in a row since then. They played very well against Liverpool last week though, and if they continue to play that well they should finish comfortably in mid-table. They have found it tough to score in their last four games, and Newcastle have looked very good in defence.

Matt Jarvis still looks like the Wolves player most likely to make an impact on any fantasy team.

Newcastle are fourth in the table and they are unbeaten so far this season too. They have the best defence in the Premier League so far, and they are exceeding all expectations at the moment. If they can keep it up they will make their fans very happy, but it could change when they meet the teams above them in a few weeks.

Tim Krul, Ryan Taylor and Steven Taylor are all looking really good and they cost very little, but it's not so easy to know which attacking Newcastle players to buy. Last week I suggested Leon Best might be a good buy, but Demba then scoreda  hat-trick.

I have a funny feeling this game will end all scoreless with very little goalmouth action too. 


Prediction 0-0
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Bolton Wanderers Vs. Chelsea


Sunday October 2, 1.30pm BST

Since they lost the FA Cup semi-final to Stoke last season Bolton have been in free fall. They looked like they might have halted their slide by winning their opening game against QPR 4-0, but they have lost their five games since then. Their cause hasn't been helped by having the toughest opening schedule of any team in the league, but they have to start winning games very soon.

Bolton's best fantasy players so far are Martin Petrov and Ivan Klasnic, but Klasnic is still suspended following his red card against Norwich.

Chelsea are only three points behind the two Manchester clubs, but they have been far from convincing at times this season. Their defence no longer looks as secure as it used to be, but some of their newer attacking players have an awful lot of promise. Fernando Torres looks to be finally settling into their team, but he's now suspended until the end of October.

Jose Boswinga is scoring very well in defence for Chelsea, and he has got plenty of bonus points too. Frank Lampard is scoring well too, but he looks like he might be out of favour, which could open the way for Ramires to start amassing plenty of points.

I think Chelsea will take all three points, and Bolton will remain rooted to the foot of the table.


Prediction 1-2
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Fulham Vs. Queens Park Rangers


Sunday October 2, 3pm BST 


Fulham are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference, and they haven't won a league game yet this season. They are unbeaten at home though, and that advantage could be what they need in this west London derby. It looks like their Europa League campaign could be hindering their chances in the Premier League yet again.

At the moment Danny Murphy, Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora are the best fantasy bets from Fulham, but none of them are doing well enough to include for a while yet.

QPR brought in almost a whole new team towards the end of the transfer window, but those players seem to be gelling very quickly. Since their opening day 4-0 defeat at home to Bolton they have looked very solid at the back, and they have won two of their three away games so far.  Their problems are in the goalscoring department, and they will probably be in the market for a new striker in January.

Joey Barton is still the QPR player most likely to score fantasy points, as long as he can avoid red cards.


I think this will be a vet tight game, and it will end up even.


Prediction 1-1
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Swansea City Vs. Stoke City



Sunday October 2, 3pm BST

Swansea haven't conceded a goal at home yet this season, and  they look very solid in defence at home. They play attractive football, and the Premier League is a better league to watch with them in it. They look like they might just have enough to stay up, but it will be a long hard fight for them to do so.

Michel Vorm and Ashley Williams look like good buys at a good price, especially when Swansea are playing at home.

Stoke were well beaten by Sunderland two weeks ago directly after a Europa League game, and they need to make sure it doesn't happen again against Swansea. They are the opposite to Swansea in footballing style, and the Premier League would probably be a better league without them. They will do all they can to bombard Swansea aerially, and it certainly isn't pretty to watch.

Jonathan Walters is probably the best fantasy bet in the Stoke team, but Matthew Etherington and Peter Crouch look like they could score a few points too.

I think Swansea might just about get all three points with a hard fought narrow victory.


Prediction 1-0
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Tottenham Hotspur Vs. Arsenal


Sunday October 2, 4pm BST 


Tottenham lost their first two league games, and conceded eight goals in the process, but they have bounced back with three straight wins. They have won two of the last three north London derbies, and they have to be favourites going into this game. A win would leave them in a very good position in the league with a game in hand on the teams around them.

Spurs defenders are best avoided in fantasy football, but some of their attacking players are well worth considering. Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor are all looking likely to have good seasons.

Arsenal's poor start to the season is slowly turning around, but this will be a real test of how far they have to go to get back on track. Robin Van Persie's form of last season is slowly returning, and he could be the man to make the difference on the day. A lot will depend on how many of their players can recover from injury in time to play on Sunday.

Both Mikael Arteta and RVP look to be the Arsenal players most likely to add more fantasy points this week.

I always predict an Arsenal win and this week is no different, but they will have to be strong in defence to get the win.

Prediction 2-3
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That's it for today, but feel free to tell me where I have gone right or wrong as the case might be.


It's not too late to join over 850 teams in my Fantasy League and there are prizes for the top three teams at the end of the season. Just go to the site and use the code 125540-42785 to join my league when your team is set up.

To join the predictions league just go to the site and set up your predictions. Then use the code F688F-JCO to join my league. I'll update the league table in my predictions every week.

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I'm also a member of a very good and very active Arsenal group on Facebook which you can join here.
See You Tomorrow.

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