The Boxing Day provided us with some greatly entertaining matches. Machester United easily brushed aside Sunderland's challenge at the Stadium of Light, leaving Roy Keane with some serious work to do in order to raise his team's morale after a crushing defeat. Arsenal looked shot-shy and fatigued as they drew away to a resilient Portsmouth team. Moving on, Rafael Benitez and his players should be deeply ashamed of themselves as they needed a stoppage time Gerrard-goal to defeat woeful Derby County. It was Chelsea and Aston Villa that provided us with the most pulsating and intriguing match. In a game that had everything (great goals, awful mistakes, red cards, dubious penalties), Gareth Barry scored from the penalty spot in stoppage time to hand Villa a deserved draw. The following are all the results from the Boxing Day fixtures.

Sunderland 0-4 Manchester United (0-2)

Portsmouth 0-0 Arsenal (0-1)

Chelsea 4-4 Aston Villa (2-1)

Derby 1-2 Liverpool (0-4)

Birmingham 3-0 Middlesborough (1-1)


Everton 2-0 Bolton (3-0)

Tottenham 5-1 Fulham (3-1)

West Ham 1-1
Reading (2-0)

Wigan 1-0 Newcastle (1-1)

Manchester City 2-2 v Blackburn (3-1)

Last time, I got FOUR results right but ZERO perfect scores.


Here is what I think will happen in this weekend's fixtures.

West Ham v Manchester United 1-3

Everton v Arsenal 1-1

Chelsea v Newcastle 2-0

Manchester City v Liverpool 1-1

Birmingham v Fulham 3-1

Sunderland v Bolton 2-1

Portsmouth v Middlesborough 1-0

Tottenham v Reading 3-1

Wigan v Aston Villa 2-2

Derby v Blackburn 1-3

At the weekend the big four all won. Therefore, there were no significant changes at the top of the table. Arsenal were lucky to get another victory over Spurs as Keane missed a penalty. United were lucky too in their match against Everton, as Ronaldo fired in a late winner from the penalty spot. Liverpool beat Portsmouth at Anfield easily and Chelsea ground out another narrow win, this time over Blackburn. Here are all the results, and my predicted scorelines are in brackets.

Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (3-2)

Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City (2-1)

Bolton 3-0 Birmingham (1-0)

Fulham 1-1 Wigan (2-2)

Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth (1-1)

Middlesborough 1-2 West Ham (2-1)

Reading 2-1 Sunderland (2-1)
Manchester United 2-1 Everton (3-0)

Newcastle 2-2 Derby (4-1)

Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea (1-1)

I got FIVE results right and ONE perfect score.


Now we are in the middle of the festive season, with games coming thick and fast. There are 9 fixtures on the Boxing Day, with only Man City and Blackburn playing their match on Thursday. Manchester United face Sunderland at the stadium of light which promises to be a fiesty affair. Despite all of Roy Keane's efforts, I expect United to get the 3 points they need. Arsenal make a short trip to Fratton Park where Portsmouth have not been excellent this season. I think the Gunners to be victorious in this encounter by a single-goal margin. Liverpool travel to Pride Park to face Derby, and I can't see anything but a comfortable win for Liverpool. Chelsea meet Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. As Chelsea's home form is impeccable, I expect them to continue this run and grind out another result against Villa, playing in a boring and dull way again. Here all my predictions for the Boxing day fixtures.

Sunderland v Manchester United 0-2

Portsmouth v Arsenal 0-1

Chelsea v Aston Villa 2-1

Derby v Liverpool 0-4

Birmingham v Middlesborough 1-1

Everton v Bolton 3-0

Tottenham v Fulham 3-1

West Ham v
Reading 2-0

Wigan v Newcastle 1-1

Manchester City v Blackburn 3-1

FIFA world player of the year awards were held last week. As expected, Kaka won the award getting 1047 votes. Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo got 504 and 426 votes, coming second and third respectively. This has led to a hot debate in the footballing world about whether Kaka really deserves being the world player of the year. To help answer this question, lets have a brief look at each of these players achievements over the past year.

Although Kaka won the Champions League With AC Milan and was the top-scorer of the competition with 10 goals, his name was nowhere to be seen in the top scoring charts of Serie A and his side finished way off the pace. He also failed to win any domestic cups. He is an integral member of the Brazil national team but did not take part in their Copa America campaign (which Brazil won), claiming he was too 'tired' after a 'long and hard' season with AC milan. Coming to this season AC milan lie in an unbelievable 12th place in the Serie A table and have failed to register a win in their 7 home games. Surely, if Kaka is such a great player, he would have helped his team to attain much better results.

Lionel Messi is a great prospect for the future but I don't think he is the finished article yet last season, Barcelona went out in the early stages of the Champions league and did not win any of the domestic cups. They also failed to win the Spanish League, losing out to their bitter rivals Real Madrid on goal difference. Although Messi played well in many matches and scored some spectacular goals, he regularly went missing in big matches that really mattered and missed large parts of the season due to injuries. He failed in the Copa America with Argentina too, as Brazil defeated them comprehensively in the final. Giving him the second place ahead of Ronaldo is outrageous as he failed to win ANYTHING last season.

On the other hand, Christiano Ronaldo enjoyed a phenomenal season at Manchester United scoring an incredible 23 goals in all competitions as Manchester United had a real go at the treble. He played a great rolein the United's title-winning campaign last season and they came very close to winning the FA Cup too. He helped United to reach the Champions League semi-final as well. This season, Ronaldo has already scored 16 goals and is well on his way on surpassing his previous season's tally of goals. Moreover, he took his club form to the international stage helping Portugal to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals.

So it is clear that It was Ronaldo who deserved the FIFA world player of the year accolade ahead of Kaka ,who I think is hugely over-rated. I think Kaka got the award just because Milan defeated Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Champions League. In that tie, United played without many of their regular players, including their whole first-choice defensive like-up. On the other hand AC Milan had the luxury of all their star players for the European matches as they were out of all other competitions and had no chance of winning their league. I think FIFA its should review system of giving out the awards, because if awards continue to be dished out to wrong players, they will soon lose their importance and status.

Here's how I did with my predictions last week. Predictions are in brackets.

Birmingham 1-1 Reading (2-1)

Derby 0-1 Middlesborough (1-1)

Manchester City 4-2 Bolton (1-0)

Portsmouth 0-1 Tottenham (2-1)

Sunderland 1-1 Aston Villa (1-2)

West Ham 0-2 Everton (1-1)

Wigan 5-3 Blackburn (1-1)

Fulham 0-1 Newcastle (2-2)


Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United (0-1)

Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (1-1)


Coming to this weekend, the north-London derby is the biggest fixture. Under Juande Ramos, Tottenham have a real chance of upsetting Arsenal. Manchester United face Everton on Sunday and despite Everton's excellent recent form, I feel United will be too strong for them. Chelsea face a tough to Ewood Park to meet Blackburn Rovers, and I think Chelsea can struggle against them. Portsmouth have the best away record in the league, and they now come
against Liverpool at Anfield. Although Liverpool can easily beat them, I am going for a draw in this match. Here are all of my predictions for this weekend's round of matches.


Arsenal v Tottenham 3-1

Aston Villa v Mancheste City 2-1

Bolton v Birmingham 1-0

Fulham v Wigan 2-2

Liverpool v Portsmouth 1-1

Middlesborough v West Ham 2-1

Reading v Sunderland 2-1

Manchester United v Everton 3-0

Newcastle v Derby 4-1

Blackburn v Chelsea 1-1

The draw for the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions' league has just finished and these are all the ties drawn out.

Celtic v Barcelona
Lyon v manchester united
Schalke v Porto
Liverpool v Inter Milan
Roma v Real Madrid
Arsenal v AC Milan
Chelsea v Olympiakos
Fenerbahce v Sevilla

Arguably,the pick of the ties are Liverpool against Inter and Arsenal taking on Milan. They are certainly going to be great battles. The matches take place in February and March. Like all football fans,I can not wait for them.

The draw for the UEFA Champions League first knockout round takes place today. The rules for the draw are simple; group winners have to play group runners-up but a team can't face another team from their own country or qualifying group.
The group winners are:
Porto
Chelsea
Real Madrid
AC milan
Barcelona
Manchester United
Inter Milan
Sevilla

Then group runners-up are:

Liverpool
Schalke 04
Olympiakos
Celtic
Lyon
Roma
Fenerbahce
Arsenal

Therefore, Manchester United can meet either Schalke, Olympiakos, Celtic, Lyon and Fenerbahce in the next round. Chelsea opponents will be selected from Roma, Olympiakos, Celtic, Lyon and Fenerbahce.

As Liverpool and Arsenal finished second they have got a much tougher draw. They will have to play either Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan or Inter Milan. Also, Liverpool and Arsenal can face Sevilla and Porto respectively. I really hope there will be ties like Liverpool v AC Milan and Arsenal v Real Madrid in the next round. I will be posting the ties as soon as I get to know them.

As I predicted, Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-0 last night to book their place in the last 4 of the Carling Cup, a feat they also managed last year. Both sides missed great chances to open the scoring in the first half. But finally Chelsea got lucky in the second half when Lampard's strike deflected in off Carragher. Liverpool's chances of a comeback were over when Peter Crouch was sent off for his horrible tackle on Mikel. Towards the end, Shevchenko also got on the scoresheet when his shot went in at the near post. All in all, it was a comfortable victory for the Blues. But Chelsea fans should not take too much heart from this win. Liverpool were poor last night and it is the upcoming busy festive period that will be their real test. Same is the case with Liverpool, who really need to chalk up some victories to get their season back on track and please their American owners.

The draw for the semi-finals took place after the match. It sees Arsenal meeting Tottenham Hotspur again and Chelsea taking on Everton, who have looked quite good this season. I expect both ties to be tight contests and fun to watch and I for one will not be surprised if Everton are able to get past Chelsea and Spurs are able to take revenge from the Gunners for beating them at the same stage last season. Both first and second legs of the ties will take place in January and they are certainly ones to look forward to.

Last night, quarter-finals were played in the Carling Cup. In the first match, Arsenal travelled to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers. Bit of a rivalry has developed between the two sides in recent years which results in steamy encounters between them Continuing with his policy of fielding his reserves in the Carling Cup, Arsene Wenger again played a very young side, making 11 chances to the team that played against Chelsea at the weekend. The youngsters justified their selection racing into a 2-0 lead within half hour courtesy of great finishes by Diaby and Eduardo. But you can never rule out a Blackburn comeback these days and Santa Cruz gave them hope, scoring just before half-time. Blackburn gained the initiative in the second- half, and Santa Cruz duly equalised from a Derbyshire cross, taking his tally to an incredible 5 goals in 2 matches. Denilson was sent off near the end of regulation time for a terrible challenge on Dunn, which maked a Blackburn victory even more likely. But all of Blackburn's efforts prooved to be in vain, as Eduardo scored again in extra-time sending the Gunners into the semi-final for the second year in a row.

In the second quarter-final, Tottenham defeated Manchester City at Eastlands, thereby ending City's 100% home record. Jermain Defoe put Spurs ahead as early as the fifth minute, ane Steed Malbranque made sure of the victory 8 minutes from time. Tottenham's task of achieving a win was made much more difficult when referee Steve Bennet sent off Didier Zokora in the 20th minute, but Spurs managed to hang on to seal a place in the last 4 of the cup keeping a clean sheet at last (thanks in no small part to Paul Robinson's fantastic saves).

Tonight, Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the last quarter-final of the Carling Cup. I expect the managers of both teams to field fairly strong line-ups as both of them need a win desperately to restore pride and confidence after damaging defeats at the hands of their rivals at the weekend. I think the match will be quite cagey at first, but become more open as the match progresses due to the fact that it is a cup-tie. Steven Gerrard is out of the match which is a big blow to Liverpool. Everyone knows that Liverpool are just not the same team without their talismanic captain. Moreover,Chelsea are at home and I expect somebody from their midfield to come up with the goods(their strikers are hopeless,apart from Drogba).Therefore,I am going for a Chelsea win. Let's see whice side delivers the knock-out blow to the other one tonight.

'Grand slam' Sunday failed to be a spectacle in terms of quality, but it did provide us with a couple of intriguing and intense matches. In the first match, Manchester United pulled off a smash-and-grab single-goal victory at Anfield over Liverpool. In the following match, Arsenal beat Chelsea comprehensively, also by a 1-0 scoreline.

The first match, in the words of SAF, was a typical United-Liverpool clash. In these kind of matches, passion and emotion takes precedence over other things. This often results in a dull, scrappy affair and this is what happened this time as well. There were no openings and clear-cut chances in the first-half, except when Edwin van der Sar inexplicably decided to come off his line two times, both times colliding with his own defenders. On the first occassion, Anderson cleared off the line and Evra's exceptional last ditch defending kept Liverpool from scoring the second time. The first half was poised to end goalless when Liverpool's defence switched off from a corner, allowing Tevez to expertly turn in a Rooney shot.

In the second half, United seemed content to soak up the pressure and play a counter-attacking game. Again, Liverpool failed to make any decent chances. Their main threat was Ryan Babel who came on for Harry Kewell. He gave Evra something to think about and his long-range shot, which was inches wide of the post, was as good as it got for Liverpool. Wayne Rooney got a chance to kill the game once and for all from a brilliant Ronaldo cross but he miss with only the goalkeeper to beat. But United did not pay for this miss, hanging on for another memorable win at Anfield.

This match prooves that United not only have attacking flair in their team, but also a great defensive line-up which could be relied upon in big matches. It also shows Liverpool don't have enough creativity to open up resolute defences. Kuyt, despite his high work-rate, is not the ideal partner for Torres up-front and Benitez should start with Crouch instead of Kuyt as much as possible.

The second game between Arsenal and Chelsea was also a highly passionate affair. Ashley Cole's return to his old club was the highlight of the match. He was jeered everytime he touched the ball and suffered great abuse at the hands of the Gunners faithful.
The first half was devoid of any quality and tackles were flying everywhere. First Terry went in hard at Fabregas ,then Eboue caught Terry late with his foot. Terry was unable to continue playing and subsequent scans have revealed a broken metatarsal. Eboue got injured himself,leaving the field on a stretcher.Coming back to the match, Arsenal took the lead at the stroke of half-time. Surprisingly,Cech failed to deal with a routine corner,allowing Gallas to head home gleefully.

The second half was much more open and free-flowing. Shaun Wright-Phillips got an excellent oppurtunity but missed, summing up his poor display. Overall, Arsenal dominated the game and had many great chances to score a second goal to put the game beyond Chelsea's reach, but each time they failed to convert spectacularly. In stark contrast, Chelsea did not trouble Almunia a great deal. Therefore, Arsenal truly deserved the win.

This win is a huge boost for Arsenal.It has prooven the maturity and resilience of Arsene Wenger's young team.At the same time,the loss is a huge blow to Chelsea's title aspirations. Chelsea extended Avram Grant's contract just before the match, but the results against the top teams so far have shown he is not the right man for the job. John Terry will be out for at least six weeks following his injury which has further compounded Chelsea's misery. I would also have to say that both teams did not show any genuine quality throughout the match. It was Cech's mistake that handed the game to Arsenal.

So,what conclusions can be drawn about the title race from 'Grand Slam' Sunday? Firstly,Liverpool (now 10 points behind Arsenal and 9 points behind United),even at this early stage,can be ruled out of the race because of their lack of consistency. In my view,United are the firm favourites.They have too much quality and are looking unstoppable.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea, on Sunday's evidence, would have to greatly improve their game if they are to seriously challenge United. If this does not happen, I can see United picking up their 10th premiership crown come next May.

Today is a big day in the premiership. That is why they are calling it 'Grand slam Sunday'. The 'Big Four' are in action, first Manchester United travel to Anfield to face Liverpool and then Chelsea entertain Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Although these two matches will not be title deciders, they are certainly going to give us a good look at how the title-race is going to unfold in the next few months.

LIVERPOOL V MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester united are on a real good run at the moment. They had a little hiccup when they were defeated by Bolton but since then they have returned to winning ways. They also got a highly creditable draw against Roma in midweek with their second string side. When they get their attacking game going, they are simply awesome and entertaining to watch. For me, United have to control Torres and Gerrard. In this regard, Hargreaves' fitness is crucial to United because he can neutralise Gerrard easily.

Liverpool are also on a high after thumping Marseille in midweek. But they have got to find a level of consistency, Reading were easily able to beat them in their last Premiership match. Winning in this match is much more important to Liverpool, and they would have to take the game to United to have any chance of doing so.

The bottomline is, Man Utd will win the match if they play their normal attacking game. If they get too defensive and invite pressure, anything can happen. I am going for United to win the match by a single goal as United have had a week off and Liverpool will be fatigued after their midweek exploits.

Prediction: 0-1


ARSENAL V CHELSEA

Arsenal are having a blip these days. They have only taken a single point from last 2 games. This dip in form can be attributed to
the absence of Fabregas, Flamini, Van Persie and Hleb in the last few games and shows that Arsenal's second-choice players are not up to the mark. This game is very important to Arsenal because if they lose, then their title ambitions are going to suffer a massive blow.

Chelsea have been continued to be successful under Avram Grant,but they have not really been tested yet. Only time they faced a very good side(Man Utd) they were comprehensively beaten.This match is Grant's big test,and a chance to show everyone that he can lead Chelsea to glory.

I think this is going to be a nice entertaining match as Arsenal, being the home side, will go all-out at Chelsea (unlike Liverpool who will be happy to play much more cautiously). Drogba's absence could be the deciding factor in this match. Without him,Chelsea just don't look like scoring. But I do think Chelsea will boss the midfield, even more so if Fabregas and Flamini do not play. Therefore, I am going for a draw.

Prediction: 1-1

Finally, my exams are over and I will be posting much more regularly on this blog. Another premiership weekend is nearly upon us and its time for me to give my predictions again. But first have a look at last week's results and predictions.

Aston villa 1-3 Portsmouth (1-1)
Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland (3-0)
Everton 3-0 Fulham (3-1)
Manchester United 4-1 Derby (4-0)
Newcastle 2-1 Birmingham (2-0)
Reading 3-1 Liverpool (0-2)
Middlesborough 2-1 Arsenal (0-2)
Bolton 4-1 Wigan (1-0)
Tottenham 2-1 Manchester City (2-1)
Blackburn 0-1 West Ham (2-1)

I got SIX results right and ONE perfect score.

Now here are this week's fixtures and what I think will happen in each one of them. Everyone is focusing their attention on the big clashes between Liverpool v Manchester United and Arsenal v Chelsea. I have not included my predictions of these matches because I will be writing a detailed preview tomorrow.

Birmingham v Reading 2-1

Derby v Middlesborough 1-1

Manchester City v Bolton 1-0

Portsmouth v Tottenham 2-1

Sunderland v Aston villa 1-2

West Ham v Everton 1-1

Wigan v Blackburn 1-1

Fulham v Newcastle 2-2

Although my exams are still going on, I could not restrain myself from giving my predictions for this week's Barclay's English Premier League matches. The title race is really hotting up, and Arsenal have now played their game in hand, the situation at
the top is much clearer. Arsenal are 4 points clear of the second-placed Manchester United with 37 points, who are 2 points ahead of Chelsea. Liverpool lie in 4th place with 30 points (they have a game in hand).

But first have a look how I did with my predictions last weekend.(Predictions are in brackets).

Chelsea 1-0 West Ham (3-0)

Blackburn 3-1 Newcastle (3-0)

Portsmouth 0-0 Everton (0-0)

Reading 1-1 Middlesborough (2-0)

Sunderland 1-0 Derby (2-0)

Wigan 1-1 Man City (1-1)

Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal (1-1)

Liverpool 4-0 Bolton (3-0)

Tottenham 2-3 Birmingham (3-1)

Manchester United 2-0 Fulham (4-0)

As you can see, I got SEVEN results right and TWO perfect scores.


Now here's what I think will happen this weekend in the Premiership.

Aston Villa v Portsmouth 1-1

Chelsea v Sunderland 3-0

Everton v Fulham 3-1

Manchester Utd v Derby 4-0

Newcastle v Birmingham 2-0

Reading v Liverpool 0-2

Middlesbrough v Arsenal 0-2

Bolton v Wigan 1-0


Tottenham v Manchester City 2-1

Blackburn v West Ham 2-1

Unfortunately,my mid-term exams are just around the corner. So most probably, I will not be posting anything new in the next week. But I assure you I will be back after this little break. Until then, Goodbye.

There have been persistent rumours flying around in various tabloids for over three months now that Ronaldinho is looking to leave Barcelona and Chelsea and AC Milan are interested in signing him.Although Barca have not officially confirmed these reports,there is a feeling in the footballing world they might be willing to do business.

So, should Ronaldinho leave Barca? If he goes to Chelsea, I don't think he will be successful there. Premiership is much more fast-paced than La Liga, and he has never experienced anything like it before. I also doubt he will be able to handle the physical nature of the Premiership. Furthermore, Chelsea have failed to get the best out of International Superstars before (read Shevenko and Ballack). They have consistently under-performed and have failed to settle at all. The same fate could meet Ronaldinho at Stamford Bridge. If Ronaldinho does move to Chelsea,it is likely to be more of a marketing gimmick and less of a serious effort to improve the team by Roman Abramovich.

However,if Ronaldinho picks the San Siro as his next destination,he will be more likely to succeed. This is because the Serie A is slower-paced and technical in nature. Moreover, AC Milan already have a number of Brazilians in their ranks. Ronaldinho has a good understanding with them and they will help him to settle there. Also, Brazilians have usually found Serie A much more favourable than the Premiership.

But the main question is should Barcelona sell Ronaldinho? The fact is, Ronaldinho is past his peak. He has failed to recapture his best form of 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons (Barca's title winning campaigns). He is still capable of producing moments of magic every now and then, but his general play has slowed down considerably. By holding the ball too much, he hampers Barcelona's fast-paced attacks. In addition,his work-rate and team-ethic is not of the highest quality. Barca can afford to lose him because they already have Eto'o, Henry, Messi and up-coming youngsters Kirkic and Giovanni. If Barca offload him now, they will get at least £50 million in transfer fees. This is serious money, and Barca can reinvest it in their squad. But if Barca put off his transfer for a season or two , his value is likely to drop greatly. I think therefore,looking at the bigger picture,Barca SHOULD sell Ronaldinho, either in the January transfer window or in the summer.

So,what do YOU think? Should Barca stick with Ronaldinho? Or if a parting of the ways will be best for both parties?

Another Premiership weekend is around the corner.Here is my take on all the matches.

Chelsea v West Ham

Chelsea have been undefeated at home for quite a long time. Moreover, they have been in good form of late and West Ham are terrible away from home. Therefore, I am going for an easy Chelsea win.

Prediction: 3-0


Aston villa v Arsenal

Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Sevilla in midweek. Usually, they don't react positively to being defeated. Coupled with the fact that Aston villa have been very good this season (they even beat Chelsea) a draw looks the most likely outcome.

Prediction: 1-1


Liverpool v Bolton

Although Bolton have been undefeated under Gary Megson, I think Liverpool would be too strong for them. Recently, Liverpool have been performing really well and I back them to burst Bolton's bubble.

Prediction: 3-0


Manchester United v Fulham

Manchester United are so strong at home that they have conceded only one goal at home all season. On the other hand, Fulham's defence is one of the worst in the league. Rooney's return will boost United, and I think Fulham are in for an Old Trafford mauling.

Prediction: 4-0


Blackburn v Newcastle

Newcastle's form has been awful, and Sam Allardyce has failed to improve their woeful defence. In contrast, Blackburn have been very good this season (although Villa defeated them 4-0 in their last match) and I expect them to beat Newcastle easily.

Prediction: 3-0


Wigan v Manchester City

Manchester city have been winnimg games for fun at their home, but their away form has not been as good. I think Steve Bruce will have his team fired up, and they will manage to get a point out of this game.
Prediction: 1-1


Tottenham Hotspur v Birmingham City

Slowly but surely,Spurs are improving under Juande Ramos and they have not lost a single game under him. Although their defence still looks vulnerable,I think they are going to beat Birmingham.

Prediction: 3-1


Sunderland v Derby

This is a huge relegation battle and a six-pointer for sure. Despite all of Paul Jewell's efforts, I expect Sunderland to get all three points from this game simply because they have more quality than Derby.

Prediction: 2-0


Portsmouth v Everton

Both sides have improved this season,and both are evenly matched.Therefore,I think it's going to end all square at Fratton Park.

Prediction: 0-0


Reading v Middlesborough

Unless Southgate conjures up a miracle, Boro are
going to be relegated this season. Reading usually beats the
sides around them at home, and think they will continue this
run against Boro.
Prediction: 2-0

It was not easy. It was not pretty. But Manchester United did manage to defeat Sporting Lisbon thanks to Christiano Ronaldo's free kick in the penultimate game of the group phase of the Champions league. This result ensures that United will top their group, allowing Sir Alex Ferguson to rest his star players in the game against Roma.

I thought United would come out firing all cylinders in order to get back to winning ways after the defeat at Bolton, but instead it was Sporting who completely dominated the first half. They took a deserved lead when Abel's ambitious shot went in at the near post. Whenever Kusczak has been asked to play, he has always given steady performances but he was at fault for this goal.

In the second half, Sir Alex brought on Tevez and Giggs for the ineffective duo of Nani and Fletcher and this changed the game to a great degree. United equalised when Ronaldo's shot was turned in by Tevez, and continued to look dangerous afterwards but they did not get any further reward for their efforts. It looked like the game was going to end into a draw when deep into stoppage time, Anderson was fouled and Ronaldo scored from the resulting free kick. It was all over for Sporting.

Ronaldo takes free kick in an unusual way. He does not try to bend the ball with the inside of his foot. Instead, he puts his foot accross the ball, hitting it with his laces. He is the number one choice for taking United's free-kicks,but usually he just hits them into the wall or miles above the goal,leaving fans banging their heads in frustration.But this time he got it absolutely right.This free kick had everything-pace,curl,did,swerve.It was simply unstoppable. Let's see if Ronaldo is more accurate from from free-kicks from now on.

To sum it up,it was nowhere near a vintage United perfomafance, but a great result nevertheless. Moving on, United can now fully concentrate on the Premiership for a month. They will need to improve their performance if they are to get another winning-run going.Rooney's return against Fulham on Monday ought to help them achieve this.

In what was the most surprising result of the Premiership weekend, Bolton managed to defeat Manchester United thanks to a solitary strike by Nicolas Anelka early in the game. Nobody was expecting this, but it is these kind of upsets that make the Premiership so exciting and unpredictable.

United were very poor in the first half. Bolton's golden moment came as early as the 11th minute. Gerard Pique (playing in place of Vidic) left Anelka unmarked from a Campo free-kick, leaving him free to score an easy goal. Even after that, it was Bolton who looked more likely to score. The most interesting thing in first half was the continued scuffles between Patrice Evra and Kevin Davies. Davies was lucky to be still on the pitch come half-time. Ferguson let the referee know this (in his typical style) which resulted in him being sent off to the stands. In the second half, United improved considerably. The substitution of Anderson for Pique near the hour mark (Hargreaves switched to right back) revitalised United and from then onwards, They completely dominated the game. First Jaaskelainen saved a Hargreaves free-kick, and then Tevez missed a gilt-edged chance to score from Evra's cross.Had Tevez scored at this point,United would have probably gone on to win the game.And when Hargreaves missed a chance to score from a free-kick late in the game,it was all over for United.

To be honest,each and everyone of United's players looked below par except Hargreaves.He looks a great player and he is now showing why Man utd were so eager to sign him.But still,I think United deserved to get a point out of this game.

The main reason behind United's defeat was Ronaldo's absence.Without United did not look the same side.This result shows just how much United rely on Rooney and Ronaldo.Their presence in the team is necessary if United want to win any silverware this season.Fortunately,both are on the brink of returning to the first-team.The international break also contributed to United's loss.Although not many of United's players took part in the internationals,but still,the break disrupts the team's rhythm.Moreover,the refereeing standard was poor in the match and many decisions went against United.As I have said before,Davies should have been sent off in the first half.

From Bolton's point of view, it was a great result. This could mark the turning point of their season, and the Bolton fans must be optimistic that they could now avoid relegation.

For United, it is necessary that they do not dwell on this defeat. United can't afford anymore slip-ups if they are to remain in touch with Arsenal at the top of the table. Let's see if they can bounce back in the Champions league against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.


The following are the results of the rest of EPL matches.In brackets are the scorelines I predicted.In total,I got EIGHT out of TEN results correct.

Newcastle 0-3 Liverpool (1-1)

Arsenal 2-0 Wigan (4-0)

Derby 0-2 Chelsea (0-3)

West Ham 1-1 Tottenham (2-2)


Everton 7-1 Sunderland (2-0)

Boro 0-3 Villa (1-2)

Man City 2-1 Reading (2-0)

Fulham 2-2 Blackburn (2-2)

Birmingham 0-2 Portsmouth (1-2)

On Wednesday night, stage was set for England to qualify for Euro 2008. They were playing at Wembley. They only needed a draw in their last qualification game. They were playing against Croatia, who are not exactly world world-beaters, are they? It looked so easy. Yet, England failed.

It was a complete nightmare for England fans. The players looked nervy from the start, giving a performance that was completely spineless. Croatia scored two goals inside the first 15 minutes and from then onwards England faced an uphill struggle. Although first Lampard (from a dubious penalty) and then Crouch (from a Beckham cross) scored in the second half to give England hope, Croatia substitute Petric scored 13 minutes from time to condemn England to defeat and bury their Euro 2008 hopes once and for all. At the end of the day, it was evident that England had been outplayed and outclassed by a team far better than them. It was one of the worst England performance I have ever witnessed.

News of Steve McClaren's sacking arrived half an hour after the match, the confirmation of which duly arrived next morning. He has been criticised everywhere (and rightly so) so I will not discuss his clueless management anymore. It would be sufficient to say that he has prooved to be worse than Eriksson, taking the England team backwards.

Now England must appoint a competent manager. A manager who has international pedigree, who has got experience of winning titles, who is not afraid of making big decisions. Obviously, the name of Jose Mourinho comes into the mind and he is the fans' favourite to take the England job. But it is up to the FA to select the right man.

And speaking of the FA, they must also take responsibility of England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. They appointed McClaren, when everyone could see he was not the right man for the job.

Moreover, England players should take the blame too. They have constantly under-performed (or are they just over-rated) and have let their nation and fans down badly. The time for England's so-called Golden-Generation is certainly over.

Therefore, chance should now be given to the youngsters. Players such as Agbonlahor, Young, Bentley and Walcott have done very well at club and U-21 level and I think they are ready to step up to the first team. Moreover, selection should be based on current form and not on past performances and popularity. The FA should also find out whether a complete overhaul of England's football system is needed. If the answer is in affirmative, they should not hesitate to take drastic actions to do so. Lastly, I would like to say that if the FA does not carry out these steps, England could soon find itself in international wilderness.

(Any comments are welcome.)

After a two-week international break, Premiership is back this weekend. Today, Manchester United visit Bolton Wanderers in a 3pm kick-off. Man Utd are joint top of the league with Arsenal (Arsenal have played one game less) whereas Bolton are stuck in the relegation zone and are third from bottom.

As far as the team news is concerned, Man Utd are still without long-term absentees Gary Neville (maybe he will never return and just retire) ,Mikael Silvestere, Park Ji-Sung ,Paul Scholes and Ben Foster. There are also doubts surrounding the availability of Nemanja Vidic and Carlos Tevez. Vidic might not return to England in time to feature in the game. On the other hand, Tevez is in Manchester but Sir Alex might not pick him because he has just returned from South America after playing in two World Cup qualifiers. Bolton have El-Hadji Diouf back after a one-game suspension. But its the likely return of Nicolas Anelka to their team that will give them a major boost.

Having said that, Bolton have been very poor this season. They have improved under Gary Megson, but they are still not winning games. In stark contrast, Man Utd are in great form, having won 9 of their last 10 games. In my view, Bolton don't have enough quality to trouble Man Utd. Even without Rooney, Man Utd's attacking personnel is just too hot to handle for most teams. Everything points to a Man Utd victory, and that is exactly what I am predicting.

My Prediction: 0-2


These are my predictions for
other Premiership games being played this weekend.

Arsenal v Wigan
4-0

Newcastle v Liverpool
1-1

Derby v Chelsea
0-3

West Ham v Tottenham
2-2

Everton v Sunderland
2-0

Middlesborough v Aston Villa
1-2

Manchester City v Reading
2-0

Fulham v Blackburn
2-2

Birmingham v Portsmouth
1-2

(I will be writing previews of every premiership weekend, so don't forget to read it every week.Comments
are welcome.)

A recent rumour has surfaced that Manchester United and Barcelona are in talks over a swap deal which would result in Sameul Eto'o coming to Man Utd and Louis Saha plus £5
million going the other way. Most people think this rumour is pure crap and I tend to agree with them. There are 3 reasons which make me think this.

1, It is unlikely that SAF would be interested in signing Samuel Eto'o. He is not the kind of striker United need. Moreover, he is known to be a player that undermines team spirit. United don't need such kind of influence on their team right now.

2, It is unlikely that Barca would want to add Saha to their squad. They already have Henry, Ronaldinho, Messi, Dos Santos, Kirkic and Gudjohnsen as their strikers. At best, Saha would be a regular on their bench. Why would Saha want to be used as a substitute continuously?

3.Swapping Eto'o for Saha and £5 million only sounds ridiculous.Eto'o should be valued around £30 million whereas Saha's maximum value should be approximately £8 million(as he is injury-prone).
So this deal sounds totally unrealistic.

I would be very surprised if this rumour turns out to be true.If the deal goes through,it will be one of the major surprises of the January transfer window.

As we are in the middle of the international break, it is a good time to review Man utd's season so far. Although we are out of the Carling cup, we are second in the Premiership behind Arsenal (Arsenal have a game in hand) and we have qualified for the knockout round of the champion's league .Therefore,it would not be wrong to say that Man Utd's season so far has been quite excellent.But the start of the season was not rosy at all.United took only two points from the opening 3 games of the season and doubts regarding the team's competence started to surface.Some fans even thought that this season could be a total failure. The hype surrounding the big-money summer arrivals died down completely.Finally, United got things up and running with a 1-0 victory over Spurs. United followed this up with a string of 1-0 victories. Although the fans were happy to get points in the bag, the lack of goals concerned them.Where was the attacking,beautiful,free-flowing football that United played last season?Sir Alex Ferguson assured us that the goals were going to come,but not everyone was convinced.
But SAF's belief in his squad prooved to be right as the players turned on the style against Wigan in a 4-0 victory. United won the next three games too, scoring 4 goals in each game. Then Arsenal managed to halt our winning streak with their stoppage time equaliser but we won the next two games (against Dynamo kiev and Blackburn) as well.
SAF has said that the present squad is the best squad he has ever assembled in his 21 years at the helm.Therefore,I think that the present team should win at least two trophies this season to fulfil its potential.In my view,Manchester United is still the firm favourite to win the Premiership this season(Arsenal have yet to hit a bad patch and Chelsea and Liverpool are quite a few points adrift).Furthermore,I have a feeling this might be our year in Europe.We will have a great chance of winning the FA cup this season as well.

Hi,
Welcome to my new blog,Footy Review.Here I would be posting my views on various happenings in the world of football.As I am a Manchester United fan,my main focus will be my favourite club.Therefore, this is mainly going to be a Manchester United Blog .But I will also write about other clubs and teams as well.