Premier League predos - the results

This week I scored a miserly 5 points, only narrowly beating david who scored 4.
Newcastle 2 - 1 Aston Villa - Newcastle started well and had a two goal lead at half time but after the break Villa dominated, not quite enough to get a point though.
QPR 0 - 0 Man City - the champions were unable to force a breakthrough in a match they dominated.
Stoke 2 - 2 Wigan - An almighty comeback from Wigan ensured the points werre shared.
Sunderland 0 - 0 Swansea - Boring match, scoreless draw.
Arsenal 2 - 2 Liverpool - Most exciting match of the week saw Arsenal score twice in four minutes to comeback from 2-0.
Everton 2 V 1 West Brom - Two goals from Leighton Baines saw Everton to victory against WBA; the first a screamer from the edge of the area, the second a penalty for a foul on Anichebe.
Norwich 1 V 1 Tottenham - A late solo goal from Gareth Bale rescued a point for Tottenham against a spirited Norwich side.
Fulham 3 V 1 West Ham - A superb Fulham performance saw them to an easy victory against a lackluster West Ham.
Man Utd 2 V 1 Southampton - Man Utd were forced to comeback again after an early Saints goal caused by an error from De Gea; Rooney provided the solution though, two goals from him saw Utd to victory.
Reading 2 V 2 Chelsea - The comeback kings were back at it again, coming from two goals down against European champions Chelsea to draw thanks to Adam Le Fondre's late brace after a dominant performance from Chelsea.
How did you do this week? Are you happy with your team's result?
Comments welcome

What to look out for on Transfer Deadline day

Every football fan's favourite day of the year is here; Transfer Deadline day! My friend said to me that Man City had signed Messi. I believed him. That's what the window can do to a normal, sane person - take them and turn them into a monster (a gullible monster that is). Here are some strike focused deals that could be happening on TDD (not necessarily definite):

• Danny Graham from Swansea to Norwich or Sunderland - the striker is a wanted man and either team has a shot with Graham being replaced in the Swansea first 11 by Michu.
• Kenwyne Jones from Stoke to Swansea - This move could see Graham leaving Swansea.
• Gary Hooper from Celtic to Norwich - If Norwich fail to get Graham they might just spring a bid for Hooper.
• Peter Odemwingie from WBA to QPR - Odemwingie has expressed his will to leave but WBA don't seem to want to let him, if the deal is great enough however, they might just let him go.
• Tom Ince from Blackpool to Liverpool or Swansea - Ince has taken the championship by storm this season and Liverpool have made it clear they want him, but it might just have to wait until the summer to go through, and if Liverpool miss out, Swansea are there to take over.
• Jack Butland from Birmingham to Stoke - Stoke have made an official enquiry to Birmingham, but Butland refused Chelsea because he wanted to start and it will be interesting if he snubs Stoke as well.

Other movers could be - Huddlestone, Diame and Olsson.

Any other deals you think will happen...

The Probowl: same old, same old - but with a few twists...

Next week is the Superbowl and, as always the week before holds the Probowl; NFC V AFC, Brees V Brady and Peterson V Foster. As this year could be it's last, there were a few informalities and changes to the event (apart from the score; the NFC smashed the AFC by a landslide 62 points to 35):

1. Players were dropping out feigning injury; noticeable absentees were Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.
2. Players were playing out of position, most obvious in J.J Watt's case where the defensive lineman played wide receiver and dropped a catch from Peyton Manning
3. People were switching sides; Jeff Saturday (who is retiring at the end of the season) played a snap for both the NFC - his actual team - and the AFC - his old team.

Onto the Superbowl...

Premier League Predos

After the upsets and shocks of last week's F.A cup, this week we're back to the normal, stable Premier League. Here are my Predictions:
Aston Villa V Newcastle - With all the trouble Villa are in, Newcastle's seems like a walk in the park - 1-2
QPR V Man City - A repeat of last season's thrilling finale should be a comfortable win for title challengers City against relegation threatened QPR - 0-3
Stoke V Wigan - Stoke's home form has dipped slightly from their early season start, but they should have enough to get past strugglers Wigan - 2-1
Sunderland V Swansea - Sunderland had the weekend off after their early cup exit so they should be fully refreshed, but Swansea have had a blistering season and are on for a cup after reaching the League Cup final - 1-3
Arsenal V Liverpool - Two of the leagues best attacks could lead to an exciting game which Arsenal will edge - 3-2
Everton V West Brom - West Brom have dropped the ball a bit after their great start and Everton are just coming good again - 2-0
Norwich V Tottenham - After Tottenham's surprise defeat at the weekend they will be eager to return to winning ways against Norwich - 1-3
Fulham V West Ham - Two of the leagues worst defenses square off which could mean goals galore - 2-2
Man Utd V Southampton - The league leaders face a team on the brink of relegation; easy win - 4-1
Reading V Chelsea - Reading will look to spring a surprise against an out of sorts Chelsea, but Chelsea will be just to good - 2-3
Would like to know your predos as well...

F.A cup predictions - the results

I didn't do so well this week, scoring only 9 points (1 for a correct winner, 2 for correct goal difference and 3 for correct score). Here is the lowdown on the scores and draw for the next round:
Scores:

Norwich v Luton Town - 0-1 - Possibly the biggest shock of the round as non-league Luton knock out Premier League Norwich.

Oldham v Liverpool - 3-2 - Another massive shock with Liverpool losing to their league 1 opponents after a cracking game full of attacking football.

Macclesfield Town v Wigan - 0-1 - Wigan ground out a win against their non-league opponents, not the most exciting game.

Derby v Blackburn - 0-3 - Michael Appleton's new side pulled off a great win against championship rivals Derby.

Hull v Barnsley - 0-1 - Surprising victory for championship strugglers against giants of their league.

Middlesbrough v Aldershot - 2-1 -this game burst into life in the closing stages with 3 goals in the final ten minutes as striker Lukas Jutkiewicz won out for the Boro.

MIllwall v Aston Villa - 2-1 - A surprise due to the leagues these sides are in, but not on recent form, Millwall are high-flying in the championship with Villa struggling to avoid the drop.

Leeds v Tottenham - 2-1 - A great performance from the Championship side saw them claim an unlikely victory over a strong Tottenham side containing Gareth Bale.

Brighton v Arsenal - 2-3 - Game of the round as two goals from Olivier Giroud and a late winner from Theo Walcott saw Arsenal overcome a spirited Brighton performance that wasn't quite good enough.

Stoke v Manchester City - 0-1 - Boring match that saw City edge through.

Man Utd v Fulham - 4-1 - A classy performance from the red devils saw them ease past a lackluster Fulham side.

Brentford v Chelsea - 2-2 - A spirited performance from league 2 Brentford saw them earn a replay against European champions Chelsea.

Reading v Sheffield United - 4-0 - Reading smashed Utd with a assured performance.

Huddersfield Town v Leicester - 1-1 - A close match that will now go to a replay.

QPR v MK Dons - 2-4 - A great Performance from the underdogs as even two late consolation goals from the rangers couldn't stop them.

Bolton v Everton - 1-2 - A late winner for Everton saw them through to the next round.

Draw:

Arsenal v Blackburn - The Gunners draw a home game against championship opposition.

Huddersfield/Leicester v Wigan - The reward for either Huddersfield or Leicester is a trip to Premiership Wigan.

Luton v Millwall - Non-league Luton draw championship opposition.

Man City v Leeds - The Champions of England draw Leeds at home.

Man Utd v Reading - A repeat of this seasons 4-3 thriller at Old Trafford.

Middlesbrough v Brentford/Chelsea - If Brentford can beat Chelsea they travel to the Riverside, otherwise the blues will go.

MK Dons v Barnsley - The league one side host a championship side.

Oldham v Everton - Oldham's reward for beating Liverpool is another home game against another Mersey team, Everton. 

A special mention for Jup Jamie who scored 10 points with his predictions.

England-India series draws to a close with victory

The England Vs India series has finished and after a test series victory before Christmas, there was an ODI series defeat after it. However, it ended on a high as Ian Bell's unbeaten century, backed up by some fiery pace bowling from Tim Bresnan led England to a comfortable seven wicket win in Dharamasala.
England won the toss and decided to put India in. This proved to be a great decision as India's top order slumped, falling to 79 for 5. All was not lost as a masterful innings from Suresh Raina along with a cameo hit from Praveen Kumar helped India rebuild to 226 all out.
Then it was England's turn. Bell and Cook got off to a good start putting on 53 for the first wicket before cook was bowled for 22. This brought in KP but unfortunately he departed without troubling the scorers too much, falling for 6 as England had a mid-innings wobble. It was down to Bell and relative newcomer Root to rebuild the innings, which they did and by the time Root had a rush of blood and was out for 31 England needed just 84 from 15 overs. In came Morgan and he and Bell saw England through to their target with 16 balls to spare. Morgan finished on 40 not out and bell on 113 not out. Bell was man of the match for his unbeaten century and Raina was man of the series for his four successive half centuries. The series ended 3-2 to India.

Australian Open Final - the review

Well, that was exciting.
Two men on the top of their games battling to be unofficial number one. A Serb who can stretch to all sorts of positions and a Scot who has the heart and courage of a Lion. It was a close match...
The first set went the way of Murray, even though Djokovic generated five break points; he just couldn't take them. It went to a tie-break, which couldn't have gone much better for Murray if he'd planned it himself. 7-2 he took it.
Second set and there was a reversal of roles; Murray generating the chances, Djokovic taking the set. 7-3 in the tie-break.
There were still no breaks of serve right up until the penultimate game of the third set, Djokovic broke and held to ensure he took a two sets to one lead.
Fourth set was all Djokovic, he broke twice and although Murray showed some late Scottish fight, it was all in vain, Djokovic took the set 6-2 and the match 3-1.
All in all it was a good showing from the Dunblane destroyer, but on the day his opponent was just too good,   Djokovic takes his third straight Aussie Open while Murray is left to contemplate what could have been and wait for his next chance to double his Grand Slam titles.

Australian Open Final - the preview

Today we saw Belarussian, Victoria Azarenka defend her Australian Open title, tomorrow we could see Novak Djokovic defend his. Hoping to stop that happening, fresh from his debut Grand Slam title, is Andy Murray.
Both players are going for records; Djokovic will be the first man to win three Australian Open titles in a row, whilst Murray will be the first to win the next Grand Slam directly after winning his first. As well as that, with a win tomorrow, Murray will have the most wins in a Grand Slam by any Brit.
Throughout the tournament, Murray has eased through, before being tested by Roger Federer in the semis, eventually coming through in five sets. On the other hand, Djokovic had struggled to make the semis before coming up with some of his best tennis to see off David Ferrer in straight sets. This means that Djokovic will be well rested for the final, but also that Murray has been able to come through a tough challenge. This should give him confidence to win his second Slam on the trot. Also on his side is the fact that last years winner, Djokovic himself had a five set semi before going on to win the final and that four of the last five winners have come from the second semi..
That is why I think that Murray will win (as I have said from the beginning) in five sets however, if Djokovic does win, it will be in four sets.
Your predictions and opinions are welcome.

My F.A Cup Predictions

Here is a list of all this weekend's cup matches and my predicted results:

Norwich v Luton Town - 4-1

Oldham v Liverpool - 0-3

Macclesfield Town v Wigan - 1-2

Derby v Blackburn - 2-0

Hull v Barnsley - 3-1

Middlesbrough v Aldershot - 2-0

MIllwall v Aston Villa - 1-1

Leeds v Tottenham - 0-3

Brighton v Arsenal - 1-3

Stoke v Manchester City - 0-2

Man Utd v Fulham - 3-0

Brentford v Chelsea - 0-4

Reading v Sheffield United - 2-1

Huddersfield Town v Leicester - 2-3

QPR v MK Dons - 1-0

Bolton v Everton - 1-3

Think I've got some of my predictions wrong, comments are welcome... 

Zaha to Utd... has the world gone crazy?

Today it was confirmed that 20 year old winger, Wilfried Zaha, had signed for Manchester Utd; and, as you probably could have guessed from the post title, I'm left wondering why? There are three reasons why I feel he should not have joined Man U:

1. If he thinks it's a good decision for his career, he's surely wrong. He would go to a team with the ability to buy a world class winger at the snap of their fingers, and already being their fifth choice behind Valencia, Nani, Young and - for the meantime - Giggs.
2. Even for Man U it's the wrong decision. They are being forced by Crystal Palace to buy an unproven youngster for a massive 15 million pounds - and at this time in a recession!
3. In my opinion, Zaha is the next Ronaldo; not in terms of his footballing ability, but instead in his ego. He thinks he is so much better than he really is and that could create rifts in the Utd team dressing room (not that i'm complaining as an Arsenal fan).

So, if it turns out that i'm right and Fergie's wrong, well more fool them! 

Your opinions and comments are welcome.

The Infamous kick 2

Yesterday we witnessed football at its worst. 80 minutes into a league cup semi-final and the unthinkable happened ... again. After Cantona's kick (and its resulting punishment), I never thought I would see anything like it again. However yesterday, on one of the biggest stages of all, an international footballing superstar kicked a ball boy. Yes, you could argue he was time wasting, but then it's the referee's job to deal with it, it is not for the players to take matters into their own hands. That is why I feel that Hazard should receive a long ban and a large fine, he should never, regardless of the stuation, assault a ball boy!

The journey begins

And so, with the letter 'A' written at the beginning of this line, my writing career begins, one that starts as a mere blog will one day (I hope) end with me being a famous sports journalist - well maybe not famous but a sports journalist none the less. This, my friends, is it - the beginning of a long, long journey...