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Arsenal came back down to earth with a massive bump last Sunday in losing 3-0 at home to Chelsea. Chelsea defended really well & were simply to physical for them. A problem that continues to haunt Arsenal when they play the top sides. This defeat followed hard on the heels of the 1-0 defeat at Sunderland & they look to be out of the Title race with these two defeats. They will still come above Liverpool though, not that that is going to be hard. Stoke got a good point at Blackburn on Saturday in a game that will not be remembered for long, I.e. about two minutes after the final whistle went. Stoke are having a good season & their manager Tony Pullis must be awarded a medal for his achievements in not only getting them promoted but keeping them in the Premiership as well. A close game because Arsenal are low on confidence & stoke are a hard side to play against. Arsenal’s skill should just see them through in the end.

Result Prediction: Arsenal to win

Score Prediction: Arsenal 2 Stoke City 1

Hull are improving as was proved by their 1-1 draw at Manchester city last Saturday. This result was the complete opposite of last seasons fixture when they were beat 5-1. Hull are now unbeaten in four games since they lost at Burnley at the end of October. This run of results has enabled them to climb to the lofty position of 15th in the table. They are however only four points off Bolton in the final relegation spot. It is obvious where they would be if they had not had a good November in terms of results. Aston Villa drew at Home with Spurs last weekend which wasn’t too bad a results for them as it prevented Spurs from opening a bigger gap above them in the fight for forth place. They should win this game & should be in good spirit as they won 4-2 at Portsmouth in the League cup on Tuesday night to book a place in the semi finals of that competition. I also noticed that Stuart Downing scored on his first start for the club which has to be a plus. A home win for Villa.

Result Prediction: Aston Villa to win .

Score Prediction: Aston Villa 3 Hull City 1

How on earth Liverpool have climbed to 5th in the table above Aston Villa & just behind Spurs is beyond me. They won the Merseyside derby last Sunday at freefalling Everton but rode their luck a few times in defence. So ended Liverpool’s bad run, a run in which they have been knocked out of the Champions League, The League Cup & of course the Premiership Title. I think they will win this game as their confidence has started to make a comeback. They are unbeaten in 5 games now, albeit three of those games draws. Blackburn are having what most people would call “An average season” & to prove that they will lose this game but thankfully for them they will always manage to pick up enough points of clubs in the bottom half of the table to finish around mid-table.

Result Prediction: Liverpool to win

Score Prediction: Blackburn 0 Liverpool 2

Manchester City as everyone knows have drawn their last seven league games. Their latest draw against Hull was a bad result as these are the sort of teams that City need to beat if they are to make a top four finish in the Premiership. Chelsea meanwhile are having a great season as was proved by their fantastic result at Arsenal last Sunday. They are five points ahead of Manchester United having lost only two games all season in all competitions. They are still in the Champions League & the League cup. They have now won eight of their last nine games & have not lost since mid October (at Aston Villa). Can’t really see past a Chelsea victory in this game which means more stupid media pressure on Mark Hughes but since when have our media ever been anything but..

Result Prediction: Chelsea to end Manchester City’s unbeaten run

Score Prediction: Manchester City 0 Chelsea 2

Portsmouth lost their opening game under their new manager 4-1 at home to Manchester United (as I predicted) & followed that with another home defeat, this time to Aston Villa in the League cup (4-2). Will they manage to prevent three home defeats on the spin? Burnley have settled well in the Premiership & their home form is excellent but as everybody knows their away form is bad but it is improving. They got their first point on the road with a 3-3 draw at Manchester City which was also the first time they had scored away from home as well & then they scored three more goals on their next away outing only to lose 5-3 at West Ham. Something has to give & I think Burnley will record their first away win of the season. Bad times on the south coast.

Result Prediction: Burnley to win

Score Prediction: Portsmouth 1 Burnley 2

West ham had a great victory last week beating Burnley 5-3, a result which dragged them out of the bottom three and they are now above Bolton by a massive two points. West Ham have now scored eight goals in two games but their defence is letting them down. It’s all right conceding three goals against Hull & Burnley each but when you are playing Manchester United It’s not a good omen. Manchester United beat Portsmouth last Saturday to keep in touch with Chelsea at the top & with Arsenal losing it is looking like another two horse race for the title. West Ham’s defence to have another bad day.

Result Prediction: Manchester United to win .

Score Prediction: West Ham 1 Manchester United 3

Wigan recovered from their 9-1 defeat at Spurs by beating Sunderland 1-0 last Saturday. To say Wigan blow hot & cold would be a massive understatement. One week they beat Chelsea & then lose to Portsmouth (0-4) Mad. Birmingham are improving and that is reflected in their league position as they are now 11th after their 1-0 away win at Wolves last Sunday. They are now unbeaten in five league games since their 3-1 defeat at arsenal in mid October. Could this be something to do with the new owners? Their home gates are up as well. This has taken me by surprise as I was predicting them to go down. Fait do’s they are proving me wrong. Good to see as clubs like Birmingham city are real football clubs, in fact all clubs are apart from “Manchester United”, “Liverpool” & “Chelsea”. A score draw.

Result Prediction: A Score draw

Score Prediction: Wigan 1 Birmingham 1

This is a big game for both sides which is stating the obvious a bit. Wolves need to get some points on the board after three successive defeats. The defeats to Arsenal & Chelsea were to be expected but the home defeat to Birmingham was a worry. Bolton are in a similar position but not as bad as Wolves. Bolton are ahead of Wolves by two points & victory for them in this game could lift them out of the relegation zone. That is not the case with Wolves because they are four points away from safety. Wolves haven’t won since they beat Fulham at home in late September, while Bolton last won when they beat Everton 3-2 last month. A narrow home win for Wolves methinks which will put more pressure on Gary Megson.

Result Prediction: Wolves to win their first game since September

Score Prediction: Wolves 1 Bolton 0

Everton are another club on a bad run & their defeat at home to Liverpool last Sunday put another wound into their attempts to rescue their season. They have only won once in eleven games now. A very bad run. They are out the League cup & virtually out of Europe after being beat twice by Benfica. It is worth noting that their only victory was a 2-1 win at fellow strugglers West Ham. They are now in a relegation fight as their league position shows as they are only three points ahead of the drop zone. Spurs are the opposite of Everton as they are having a good season and are in 3rd place just ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool & Aston Villa. Spurs got a good 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last Saturday after they had the freakish result against Wigan. They are proving difficult to beat on their travels having already won at Portsmouth, West Ham & Hull as well as draws at Bolton & Villa. I think that Spurs will win this game to add more woe to Everton.

Result Prediction: Spurs to win

Score Prediction: Everton 1 Spurs 2

Fulham are having a good season unlike other clubs we have already mentioned. Too be honest so are Sunderland. This game in theory should then be a good one. Fulham could only draw at home with Bolton last week but they did at least come from behind to gain their point. Fulham are sitting in 10th place. They should have some of their injured players back for this game & should just have enough to beat Sunderland. Sunderland to be fair are playing much better than the last two seasons & are in no problem of going down. They have beaten both Liverpool & Arsenal at home but their away form is non too clever even though they did get a very good 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. An Entertaining game & a close one but Fulham to shade it.

Result Prediction: Fulham to win a close game

Score Prediction: Fulham 2 Sunderland 1

That’s it for this week boys & girls. See you next week.

Douglas Martin

2nd December 2009

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