Sunday FA Cup picks

Hhhhmmm well Leeds didn't do me any favours yesterday by drawing with Arsenal and then Middlesbrough managed to disappoint. Oh well win some lose some.

Today the really big game will be the match up between Manchester United and Liverpool. I'm not buying that Dalglish will provide the turnaround even though it offers a ray of light to the Liverpool fans. My calls are pretty straight-forward this Sunday:

United to beat Liverpool
Chelsea to beat Ipswich
Manchester City to beat Leicester (although this one makes me nervous)
Spurs to beat Charlton

and then for good measure South Africa to beat India in the first T20 cricket fixture.

Don't forget - if you haven't opened an sports betting account you can open one at Sportingbet or Voltbet.com and be betting from as little as R5 a punt!.

Happy punting.

What a day in the EPL!

Yes please! Liverpool down, Aston Villa wins and believe it or not Fulham even managed to give Manchester United carrots.

I missed this last night but I believe that Mark Hughes has been sacked as the Manchester City boss… the year hasn’t really worked out for them in quite the way their big spending backers would have liked.

Just on the subject of managers, I am not totally up to speed on what managers signed what but somebody was saying last night that part of the reason why Rafa Benitez can’t be fired as the Liverpool manager is because he signed a new contract last year and Liverpool would need to pay him out a massive amount if they tried to fire him now?

English Premiership predictions

After my absolute debacle in the English Premiership last weekend I am going to have to try and redeem myself.

Let's see if this week brings a bit better luck.

Saturday fixtures:

• Arsenal vs. Tottenham - Arsenal to win 2-0 or 2-1
• Bolton vs. Chelsea - Chelsea to win 3-0
• Burnley vs. Hull - Hull to win 1-0
• Everton vs. Aston Villa - Draw 1-1 or 2-1 to Villa
• Fulham vs. Liverpool - Liverpool to win 2-1 or 3-1
• Portsmouth vs. Wigan - Portsmouth to win 1-0
• Stoke vs. Wolves - Stoke to win 2-1
• Sunderland vs. West Ham - West Ham to win 1-0
• Manchester United vs. Blackburn - Man Utd to win 3-0
• Birmingham vs. Man City - Draw

Weekend Premiership selections

Lots of fun and games in the Premiership again this week and the big United vs. Liverpool clash is promising to be a cracker.

One gets the sense if Liverpool drop points here their championship bid could be seriously dented.

I am probably going to raise the ire of the Manchester City and Liverpool fans but calling it as I see it....

Below are my predictions for the Premiership for Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday fixtures

Wolves vs. Aston Villa - Villa to win 1-0 or 2-0 (and money on James Milner as the first goal-scorer)
Birmingham vs. Sunderland - 1-0 Birmingham
Burnley vs Wigan - 0-0
Hull vs Portsmouth - Hull to win 1-0 or 2-0
Tottenham vs Stoke - Tottenham win 1-0 or 2-0
Chelsea vs. Blackburn - Chelsea to win 3-0 or 4-0

Sunday fixtures
Bolton vs. Everton - Everton to win 1-0
Liverpool vs Man Utd - Man Utd to win 2-0 or 3-0 or 3-1
Man City vs Fulham - Either 1-1 draw or 0-1 to Fulham
West Ham vs Arsenal - 2-0 win for Arsenal

English Premiership Predictions

Another weekend of the English Premiership is here.

After Manchester Uniteds shock loss during the week, we expect Fergie to have read them the riot act and I wouldn't be surprised if they bounce back hard.

Arsenal were good last weekend and Portsmouth are probably not relishing their trip to take on the Gunners.

For the Sunday game we're backing Chelsea to trip up against Fulham for a draw and for Monday we're betting with our hearts not our heads to say Villa will trip up Liverpool

These are the picks for the Saturday through to Monday games and recommended score-lines:

Saturday
Wigan vs Manchester United - United Win: 2-0
Arsenal vs Portsmouth - Arsenal win: 3-0 / 4-0
Birmingham vs Stoke - Stoke win: 1-0
Man City vs Wolves - Draw: 1-1
Hull vs Bolton - Hull win 1-0
Sunderland vs Blackburn - Draw: 1-1

Sunday
West Ham vs Tottenham - Spurs win 2-1
Burnley vs Everton - Everton win 1-0
Fulham vs Chelsea - Draw: 1-1, 2-2

Monday
Aston Villa - Win 1-0 or 2-1

Predictions for the season

By Tom Mallows

The waiting is over, are you ready?

The 2009/10 season is upon and with the World Cup at the end of it it promises to be an exciting year. But what will happen in the Premier League? Well I'm going to get my crystal ball out and make a few bold (if almost certainly inaccurate) predictions:

First off I reckon Burnley and Wolves will stay up. Burnley have an excellent manager in Owen Coyle who I believe has a David Moyesesque ability of getting the best out of his players. They have a small squad so injuries could prove crucial but I believe they will do enough. Wolves are reaping the rewards for being patient with boss Mick McCarthy. He has built this side slowly over the past 3-4 years, bringing youngsters in and seeing them develop. After missing out on the playoffs last year previous regimes would have got rid, but by giving McCarthy the time to build a side they will be ok this season.

Players to watch:
Burnley's Chris Eagles and Wade Elliot
Wolves' Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Michael Kightly.

The sack race:
Paul Hart. He is on to a loser with crisis club Pompey who are rapidly becoming the new Leeds. I reckon he will be gone by October but whoever comes in will not have enough to save them.

Relegation

They will be joined by Hull and Birmingham. The Tigers collapsed spectacularly last year and I believe that poor form ill continue now the novelty of the Premier League has worn off. Birmingham I feel are still haunted by relegations past and are desperate to lose that yo-yo club tag. But I have to say I have been under whelmed by the players they have brought in so far and fear for Boss Alex McCleish, Another one who could be gone before the clocks go back.

Surprise package - al la Fulham last season.

Hmmm I'm going for West Ham. They have not spent a lot of money but Zola comes across as an astute coach and with the benefit of a full pre-season with his players, I believe they can push for a Europa League spot.

Get those passports ready
The usual suspects will again buzz around the top six. I feel Spurs will do better this year after the nightmare start last time round. Villa will continue to improve and Everton will be as consistent as ever, though doubts remain over the depth of their squad, especially with the extra games in the Europa league this season. However the trump card is Man City who I believe will join the pack but fall just short of a Champions League spot this time round.
5th City
6th Everton
7th Villa
8th Spurs

Champions?
Well I feel Arsenal will just be happy to maintain that flow of Champions League cash and bag 4th. Liverpool I don't feel have strengthened their squad enough and still rely too heavily on Torres and Gerrard. If either of them gets injured I don't feel they have enough back up. Man United also have had a 40 goal hole blasted into their side with the departures of Tevez and Ronaldso. Owen Obertan and Valencia are good, but not good enough to make up the gap. Second place for me. That leaves Chelsea, who would have made a decent fist of things last season if it wasn't for that nightmare winter under Scolari. Ancelotti seems like a canny boss who should get the best out of his talented, if aging players. They are my tip for the top.

1st Chelsea
2ndMan United
3rdLiverpool
4th Arsenal

Agree? disagree? Please leave your comments below, all I can say is my predictions last year proved wildly wrong so you have every right to question my guesses this time round!

Weekend English Premiership predictions

From The Betting Hub blog

The eagerly anticipated start of the new season of the English Premiership is here and it is being viewed as potentially one of the most open in many years.

Chelsea and Manchester United are viewed as the favourites but neither side appears to have the same quality and "steel" they have had in previous years.

These are our picks and our recommended score margins in brackets for todays fixtures:

Chelsea vs Hull - Chelsea win (2-0, 4-0)
Aston Villa vs Wigan - Villa win (2-0)
Blackburn vs. Man City - Draw (1-1)
Portsmouth vs Fulham - Draw (0-0)
Stoke vs Burnley - Stoke win (2-0, 2-1)
Wolves vs West Ham - West Ham win (0-1)
Bolton vs Sunderland - Sunderland win (0-1)
Everton vs Arsenal - Everton win (1-0, 2-0, 2-1)

And for Sunday
Manchester United vs. Birmingham - Man Utd win (2-0, 3-0)
Tottenham vs. Liverpool - Tottenham win (1-0, 2-1)

Happy hunting punters!

Sent packing!

So Kaizer Chiefs managed to put one over the Manchester City side with a victory yesterday.... This tour by Manchester City has given some serious kudo's to South African football as a follow-up to the achievements in the Confederations Cup. As for Man City, one has to wonder whether Mark Hughes is starting to feel some heat after all of his pre-season spending.

Admittedly Robinho didn't play much part in this tour and he is a game-maker and breaker on his own but there should have been enough fire-power in the City side to take on and beat sides like chiefs and Pirates.

Homeground advantage with the blaring Vuvuzela's probably played a big part and maybe there's a message in that for next year when the World Cup starts - MAKE A HELLUVA LOT NOISE FOR YOUR LOCAL SIDE!

Well done Chiefs and Pirates for sending the foreigners packing with their tails between their legs - a great advert for South African football!

Manchester City - the new Middlesbrough?

There is no question about it - Manchester City equipped with a big cheque book from their Middle Eastern investors have reshaped the English (perhaps global?) football landscape.... but the question is - will it just be a flash in the pan?

Manchester City have signed a host of big name players and irritated the hell out of the traditional powerhouses like Manchester United and Liverpool by taking players from under their noses.

HOWEVER - a part of me is reminded of Middlesbrough about 10 years back - these guys went all out and signed a host of big-name stars. They promised a lot but at the end of the day they couldn't get them to fire on all cylinders and a year or two later they were facing relegation.

I think there is too much firepower in this Manchester City to go quite the same way but bundling a big name team together may not bring the results that the new owners (and I guess the fans) are expecting... If you look at the great club teams over history, almost all have been built around a longer term strategy.

Manchester United spent a long time building their squad and bringing through the youngsters and giving them a few years to mature as a team.

Will be interesting to see what Manchester City delivers in 2009....

Football using dirty money?

By: Tom Mallows

There were some interesting reports in the English press this week suggesting that football has now become the top target for money launderers seeking to wash their dirty cash.

They cited a report from a unit of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which said "Football clubs are indeed seen by criminals as the perfect vehicles for money laundering," because football is "an obvious candidate to examine money laundering through sport,” due to its global scale.

It believes the massive money that flows in and out of tax havens, huge and irrational transfer payments, inflated agent fees and betting networks can all help criminals wash their cash clean. With the rewards of success and the price of failure so massive the report also says that clubs are less likely to report money laundering for fear of tarnishing their image and losing lucrative corporate sponsors.

The report also mentions an on-going investigation involving a club in Italy where "Proceedings for money laundering, insider trading, extortion, unfair competition and other offences are ongoing."

It is perhaps no surprise given the vast sums of money that are changing hands in football. Only this summer Spanish football giants Real Madrid broke the world transfer record twice, splashing out £56 million on Kaka and then £80 million on Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Now I am not suggesting in any way that those transfer deals are dodgy, but it is an example of how vast sums of money can change hands across vast distances very quickly.

The desperation of clubs to compete may also lead to them forgetting their morals when it comes to the true source of their transfer kitty. Similarly those clubs who over-stretched themselves and face financial oblivion will be less choosy when it comes to picking a new owner who promises riches to bail them out and push on for success.

This was shown at Man City a few years ago when Thakasin Shinawatra took over at Man City, despite been wanted in his own country for corruption and human rights charges. He has since sold up and moved on.

The Premier League may have introduced a ‘fit and proper persons’ test, which will attempt to weed out any unscrupulous prospective owners, but should that go further with a full and proper investigation of football’s finances?

Whenever there is a large amount of cash there will be people looking to make a quick buck and football is no exception. I just hope the powers that be can nip any corruption in the bud as it would be a shame to see such a global sport irreversibly tarnished by crime.

If you can’t beat them, join em?

By Tom Mallows

So the first major transfer of the summer has been completed - in double quick time. I have to admit I thought the Gareth Barry saga would drag out across another close-season, but I suppose when you are offered 100k a week it won’t take you long to make up your mind.

The Barry move is only to be the start of a summer of lavish spending from Man City who have had a wallet full of Arab cash burning a hole in their pocket since last September.

But opinion appears to be divided as to whether what they are doing is good for football. On one hand people would like to see the top four face competition. The same four teams have comfortably shared the same spots in the Premier League table in the past few years to the detriment of the league. Any club who is looking to challenge that exclusive club should be applauded.

Recent financial results have shown the worryingly high level of debt the top four carry and if the Champions League umbilical cord was snatched away from them it would be interesting to see whether they could survive. Some would be happy to see them pay for their irresponsible fiscal policy.

But on the other hand is City’s lavish, some say reckless, spending just adding to the problem? Some of the fees they have spent – or are prepared to spend – are beyond the reaches of many small countries let alone football clubs.

If, for example, City oust Arsenal from that top four spot, hooray! Someone different people will say. But what then? City will just become the another one of the villainous ‘big four’ selfishly hogging the Champions League honey pot and buying whoever they want – another Chelsea in other words. Is that good for the Premier League?

We need to curb this cycle of reckless, obscene spending not add to it before it spirals out of control. The more clubs who gamble with big money the harder they will fall when things go wrong – imagine Leeds and times it by ten.

What happens if owners get bored and decided to call their money in? After all football clubs appear to be the latest fashion accessory at the moment, but don’t forget things go out of fashion.

We need to get back to the old adages of hard work, organisation and good skillful management. Otherwise the so-called ‘best league in the world’ will be decided purely on the size of your wallet, if that is not already the case!

Premiership predictions

Another weekend of the Premiership is here and things are getting really exciting at the top of the table.

Sports Trader makes its Premiership predictions.

The Chelsea / Liverpool clash is being dubbed as the "Make or Break" fixture - particularly for Liverpool - but we've got some interest in the Manchester United / Everton fixture which we believe could surprise....

Saturday fixtures:

Bolton v Tottenham - Draw
Middlesbrough v Blackburn - Middlesbrough win
Fulham v Portsmouth - Fulham Win
Arsenal v West Ham - Arsenal win
Hull v West Brom - Hull win
Aston Villa v Wigan - Villa win
Man Utd v Everton - Draw

Sunday fixture:
Chelsea / Liverpool - Chelsea win

We're looking for a draw in the Manchester United / Everton fixture and that would throw the championship wide open.

If Liverpool go down and the rest of our fixtures play out correctly, the Premiership will read as follows:

1. Manchester United - 51 points (23 games)
2. Chelsea - 51 points (24 games)
3. Aston Villa - 50 points (24 games)
4. Liverpool - 48 points (24 games)
5. Arsenal - 45 points (24 games)

Helluva interesting table if it plays out like this....

Open transfer window

Clubs appear to be quite circumspect during this transfer window period but here are a couple of the trades that have caught the eye so far:

Wayne Bridge moving from Chelsea to Manchester City
Zoran Tosic from Partizan Belgrade to Manchester United
Adem Ljajic from Partizan Belgrade to Manchester United

Will update this as the new deals are announced....

'How we deal with this will shape our future'

On the emphatic scoreline…
"We had a good focus and I believe it is a flattering victory for Manchester City today. We conceded in stoppage time [at the end of the first-half] and before that they had not created much. We were quite in control but after the goal the game turned and they played on the counter-attack. We played into their hands.

"We lacked the maturity to deal with being in a dominant situation and not getting caught; it was a free-kick to us, then a goal for them. After that the third goal was a soft penalty."

On keeping to his principles…
"It is a defeat but I feel in the game it was a 0-0 with whoever scored first gaining the advantage. I believe in good passing rather than putting a man up there waving his hands in the air."

On a scrappy first goal …
"I think the first goal was a miss-kick rather than a lack of fight. We had too many players focussing on one ball, that was our problem then."

On the absentees…
"I won’t talk about William Gallas. He is just a player who did not play today so we don’t need to talk about that or any of the other nine players who missed the game."

On moving forward from here …
"I think we had enough focus and gave everything. It is not always negative and we have to take the positives and keep the belief. In a big club you have to go through these periods, and how we deal with it will shape our future."

On the importance of self assessment …
"I always look at myself, even when we win. We are not in a blaming culture at our club and we must stand up to our own responsibilities."

Source: Arsenal media

Premiership Picks – 15/16th November 2008.

The English Premiership is shaping up nicely into a very open championship race early on.

After 12 rounds the top 6 is shaping up nicely:

Chelsea - 29

Liverpool - 29

Arsenal - 23

Man Utd - 21 (11 games)

Aston Villa - 20

Hull – 20

Saturday 15 November

Bolton v Liverpool – Liverpool win

Man Utd v Stoke - Man Utd win

West Ham v Portsmouth - Draw

Fulham v Tottenham – Tottenham win

Arsenal v Aston Villa – Aston Villa Win

Blackburn v Sunderland – Blackburn Win

Newcastle v Wigan - Draw

West Brom v Chelsea – Chelsea win

For me, clash of the weekend has to be the Arsenal vs. Aston Villa fixture. Apart from being an ardent Aston Villa fan, I just think the hot and cold nature of Arsenal makes them vulnerable. Backing Villa to surprise here.

Manchester United has a tricky game against Stoke, who tripped up Arsenal not so long ago. My gut instinct is to say back the draw, but hhhhmmm Man Utd at Old Trafford seems like a step too far.

Personally – I wouldn’t want to be West Brom this weekend. Chelsea were stung in midweek by Burnley in the Carling Cup and they might want to make an example of the WBA team.

Sunday 16 November

Everton v Middlesbrough – Everton win

Hull v Man City – Hull win

I like Everton. They’ve started to come good and they’re a plucky side in much the same way that Hull have been. Going to back them for a win here.

While both Hull and Man City have been on a bit of a slippery slope since starting the season with a bang, I’m backing Hull to take the win. Man City have manager issues which need to be resolved before the players start delivering the results on the field….

Source: Sports Trader blog

Robinho rocks for Man City

Manchester City and their one man wrecker Robinho were on a mission today. Three nil passed Stoke is not a bad result... now if only the can get a few other players to contribute to the effort and this side would be mean!