Weekend Review - 1 May 2011

Arsenal vs Manchester United

How come when we lost hope in Man Utd when the stats are against them, they conjure up miracles to win an away tie against Schalke and virtually secure a final ticket to Wembley. And not just a simple miracle, Man Utd is simply want to prove all the doubters wrong by camping in Schalke's half peppering shots at Manuel Neuer. In a way, he didnt let Man Utd chalk up a cricket score.

The next 3 matches will determine how Man Utd fate lies, in terms of Premier League. The semi-final Champions League is a welcome distraction.

Arsenal is all but out of the Premier League title running as they are currently 9 points behind us. Chelsea is 6 points behind us. If Man Utd slip up these 2 games, we have to bite our nails in Blackpool and Blackburn. Out of sudden, there is so many possiblities of where the Premier League title is going.

All we need is only 7 points to secure the title. Or lesser if Chelsea held to a draw to Tottenham tomorrow.

Arsenal Team News: Lukas Fabianski and Thomas Vermaelen are out.

Man Utd Team News: Paul Scholes is suspended.

Odds and Analysis: A level ball handicap match. I think avoid this match as Arsenal will want to salvage some pride. Perhaps a hard-fought draw which dont benefit the punt.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Fixture Focus - Spurs (30 Apr 2011)

Chelsea FC vs Tottenham Hotspur

One team is fighting to retain its Premier League championship throne, while the other team is fighting to retain its Champions League qualification.

Only one will emerge advantageous.

After a slew of draws against purported easy opponents, we are seeing our re-entry into Europe's most prestigious competition next season getting dimmer. With Manchester City and Liverpool looming over the fixture horizon, nothing less than a string of victories all the way to the end of the season will guarantee a place to the mainland.

Spurs will be travelling west of the capital to meet Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where we had never won before since the inception of the EPL. With a number of our players injured, especially at the backline, we would see Bale playing at leftback and Kaboul at rightback, with the usual stalwarts Dawson and Gallas in between. With Bale out of the midfield formation, Lennon, Modric, Sandro and Van der Vaart may make up this area. Lastly, any 2 of our strike trio would be in front.

Ancelotti will be going for broke against us, especially so that they are the only challenger to Manchester United for the EPL championship. Playing their usual 4-4-3 formation, with players such as Luiz and Torres (at least in blue) playing against us for the first time, this would be a slightly different Chelsea that we had played at the Lane.

Expect this match to be a cracker.

COYS!!!!

Midweek Outlook (26 Apr 2011)

   Schalke 04 vs Manchester United  

It's seems like our tactic these days is to force an away draw (hopefully with an away goal as well), then bring them home for the kill.

Gone are the days of dominance where we just kill then at their own home ground and then leisurely qualify in the return-leg.

On a brighter note, we are closer to the Premier League title as we beat 1-0. Would have been title in the bag (well, almost) had Chelsea not have a resurgance and replace the sputtering Arsenal for the title challenge.

3 wins in the last 4 games is all we need. Perhaps the game against Chelsea on 8 May 2011 would be the title decider?

Coming to this game, Fergie isn't too confident coming into this game. We have been very sucky against German teams losing all 4 of our last encounters.

Despite the fact that the Germans are labeled as the underdogs in this fixture, I seriously have my doubts if it is going to be so one sided.

Berbatov will certainly not be featuring today, making way for Rooney to partner Hernandes up front in what is likely to be a 4-4-2 formation.

ManUtd, despite being the visitors have to give a 0.25-ball handicap with a relatively easier 1.925 decimal odds to beat it. Punters are skewed at 53% in favour of ManUtd and the 1X2 odds for a away win is even lesser than a home victory.

I seriously have my doubts if ManUtd can pull off a win here. A draw would have been a fantastic results but it would mean losing the Asian Handicap.

I say stay away from this punt. The Away Jinx still looms precariously over our heads.

JayWalk's 2010/2011 Track Record to-date (25 Apr 2011) : P115-W59-L56

- Voxeros

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 30 Apr - 1 May 2011

EPL 61: SAT 30/4 West Bromwich Albion vs Aston Villa at 10.55pm SIN/HKT

EPL 62: SUN 1/5 Arsenal vs Manchester United at 8.55pm SIN/HKT

GAME ON!

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
Submissions after kick-off will not be admissible. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
This Prediction League will be played here but if in the event this blog goes down, we will automatically carry on the league over to the personal blog of Voxeros at http://www.JayWalkOnline.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Game 23 - 24 Apr 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

It was a small turnout this weekend with significant fewer entries yet the majority has failed to capitalise on that advantage to score some points in their absence.

Congrats to Mr White for pulling further ahead with ihawk98 hot on the heels and keeping the former's lead at bay at 9 points.

Congrats also to me for being the third and last 3-pointer with a chalk on the Marksmen Board to boot.

Housekeeping Notes: All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.
 

EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) 8plus1 (28 - 29 Aug 2010)
2) KingMeng (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
3) ihawk98 (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
4) ollopA (16 - 17 Oct 2010)  

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
7 Games - ihawk98
6 Games - Mr. White
5 Games - KingMen, Bedokian, Everton, Voxeros
4 Games - redherring
3 Games - 8plus1, ollopA, ianrush, cool402, necroastr
2 Games - edwinsng, weimeng
1 Game - Arrenn

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw) 1-point each for correct score on each side.  

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blogspot Blackout
The EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://www.jaywalkonline.com/.

Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners 

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng

EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13

EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush

World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng

EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 - Voxeros

EPL 2008/2009 - Everton

EPL 2009/2010 - ihawk98

World Cup 2010 - Raynaldo

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.

2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.

3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

Fixture Focus–Spurs (EPL, 23 April 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich Albion 

Crunch time for us is here.  After a pulsating North London Derby on Wednesday night, we entertain a West Brom team that was on a six match unbeaten run after Roy Hodgson (yes, that same one that managed to get himself fired at The Kop) until the streak was broken by Chelsea last weekend.

In all honesty, Spurs would not be in this position where we are fighting to overtake Manchester City for 4th place if we can play top quality football against the lower teams in the league.  The past 3 matches that we played against a team starting with the letter “W” all ended in draws.  AND WE CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER DRAW!

We need all 3 points and if we play at the same tempo and tenacity that we showed the Arsenal in midweek, we can definitely do damage against the Baggies.  This has to be an all out attack since we are playing at home.  Bale is unlikely to start and if he is rested, I like to see ‘arry play Lennon on the right, Huddlestone and van der Vaart in the middle and Modric on the left.  None of that stupid nonsense where Lennon played on the left when he came on to replace Bale last Wednesday.  Play the players in their preferred position is my motto.

Again, no distractions about the other teams or future fixtures.  We just need to focus on getting the 3 points this Saturday so we keep the pressure up against City.

We can do this! COYS!!!

Weekend Review - 23 Apr 2011

Manchester United vs Everton

We are still 6 points infront with 5 games left to play. After this game with Everton, we have a double header with Arsenal and Chelsea. And both teams are level on points due to Arsenal failure to win against Spurs few days ago. Out of sudden, we have Chelsea and Arsenal in the title race.

With one eye on mid week European Cup semi final match against Schalke, Fergie will rest certain key players tonight. Last match against Everton, we threw away 2 goals to draw the match. It was one of the away matches that lost points on it.

Man Utd Team News: Paul Scholes is suspended. Rafael is out of the match.

Everton Team News: Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta, Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini are out.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 1 ball handicap. Go for Man Utd win and go 9 points clear.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Fixture Focus–Spurs (EPL, 20 April 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal  

Another superb North London Derby is upon us. 

One year ago, a Danny Rose thunderbolt and Gareth Bale won us 3 precious points at the Lane.  This season, we beat the Arsenal at the Emirates with a tremendous 3-2 come from behind victory.  For Champions League footy next season, we must win key matches like today’s.  We have beaten them twice over 12 months and perhaps it is the turning point for us against our long time rival.

After the epic 1-1 draw deep into injury time on Monday night, Arsenal will go all out to win as they need to close the gap at the top of the league.  A full strength foursome comprising Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott and van Persie will want lead the charge up front.  It remains to be seen how they feel after playing 8 minutes of injury time at the end of the 2nd half just on Monday night.

Spurs had the weekend off to rest after crashing out of the Champions League midweek last week.  We also have our fearsome foursome in Bale, van der Vaart, Modric and Lennon to count on.  It would be interesting to see whether ‘arry plays Huddlestone or Sandro in midfield.  The team knows what is at stake and all I can ask is that we focus on THIS game only.  No more distractions.  Fourth is ours to claim back if we just FOCUS!!!  The psychological advantage is on Spurs as we have all to play for and the weekend to rest. 

We can do this! COYS!!!

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 23-24 April 2011

EPL59: SAT 23/4 Wolves v Fulham at 9.55pm SIN/HKT

EPL60: SUN 24/4 Bolton v Arsenal at 10.55pm SIN/HKT

GAME ON!

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
Submissions after kick-off will not be admissible. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
This Prediction League will be played here but if in the event this blog goes down, we will automatically carry on the league over to the personal blog of Voxeros at http://www.JayWalkOnline.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Midweek Outlook (19 Apr 2011)

   Newcastle United vs Manchester United  

Just when we are speculating the most far-fetched possibility of a treble season, we were quickly shot down to Earth with a 0-1 defeat at Wembley in the hand of our Citizen neighbours.

Not much disappointment there for we didn't think it was going to come true anyway. Still, it would have been better to exit the tournament earlier than just a step from the final. Oh well. *shrugs*

As it turns out, we are still pretty sucky playing away from Old Trafford. Just when we pulled an upset at Upton Park trailing 0-2 initially, thinking that we finally ended the away-game jinx, we are thrown right back into the cursed abyss with a 1-2 defeat at the hands of the dreaded Citizens.

Looking forward, we will be traveling to Newcastle to face the Toon Army. History is on our side on this one for Newcastle has not beaten us since 2001.

In terms of fire power, Andy Carroll has jumped ship to Liverpool and Kevin Nolan is doubtful today. It is more cheerful on our side for we have a spoilt choice of Rooney (back from suspension), Bubba and Hernandez to choose from. Scholes is off suspended but I don't think that is going to make any impact on our plans going forward.

Bookies are making ManUtd give a 0.75-ball handicap and a confident 1.85 handicap to overcome it. The punters seem to agree with their 80% share of the bets on ManUtd to clear the Asian Handicap.

I am still very wary of the Away Game Jinx but looking at the fact that we play ahead of Arsenal by a day, the psychological advantage we have over the Gunners the day before if we can pull 9 points ahead is tremendous. I believe Fergie and the boys are thinking along the same line with me and as such, I expect a hungry and more spirited display when the kick-off whistle is blown.

For all you know, Arsenal will crumble at White Hart Lane and we'd be two steps forward towards the title with just one game.

Oh heck, let's go for ManUtd. *throwing caution to the wind*

JayWalk's 2010/2011 Track Record to-date (06 Apr 2011) : P115-W59-L56

- Voxeros

Results - Game 16 - 17 Apr 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

We have our first century of the season! Congrats to Mr White for being the only 6-pointer this week and being the first to hit 100.

Currently pulling to a 8-point lead and only 6 games to go, this season's Prediction League winner is getting increasingly hard to pry away from Mr White.

Still 6 games is still a long way to go and any thing can happen. We shall see!

Also, congrats to necroastr for scoring another one on the Marksmen Board and quietly creeping up the league table.

Housekeeping Notes: All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.
 

EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) 8plus1 (28 - 29 Aug 2010)
2) KingMeng (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
3) ihawk98 (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
4) ollopA (16 - 17 Oct 2010)  

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
7 Games - ihawk98
6 Games - Mr. White
5 Games - KingMen, Bedokian, Everton
4 Games - redherring, Voxeros
3 Games - 8plus1, ollopA, ianrush, cool402, necroastr
2 Games - edwinsng, weimeng
1 Game - Arrenn

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw) 1-point each for correct score on each side.  

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blogspot Blackout
The EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://www.jaywalkonline.com/.

Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners 

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng

EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13

EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush

World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng

EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 - Voxeros

EPL 2008/2009 - Everton

EPL 2009/2010 - ihawk98

World Cup 2010 - Raynaldo

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.

2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.

3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

Weekend Outlook (16 Apr 2011)

   Manchester City vs Manchester United  

Let's face it.

THIS IS THE FA CUP FINAL.

Without too much disrespect to the clubs in the other semi-final namely, Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers, the eventual winner of the FA Cup will come from this end of the semi-final. They are just lucky to draw each other to get in an extra game in this tournament to give their kitty purse a nicer bulge.

It is strange just a couple of months ago, we were lamenting how weak this year's ManUtd is and even comtemplating giving up the various cups in order to pull enough resources together to push for the 19th title.

So how suddenly, we are thrust into the front seat for another Treble season is beyond everybody. We have said time and again, this year's ManUtd pales in comparison to the one in 1999 and if I may add, we captured the Treble with a lot of effort.

This year's squad was supposedly the lesser and yet everything seem so optimistic.

We are 7 points clear at the top in the EPL with Arsenal having an extra game-in-hand. The situation right now in the EPL is that the season is not for ManUtd to take but rather, for Arsenal to give on a silver platter. Every point that Arsenal drops hereon will edge us closer to the title. 2 more losses in their last 7 games and it's a premature end of their title chase right there and then. A draw won't help much either.

Arsenal will be claiming their game-in-hand while we are engaged in Wembley today but it will be against Liverpool, a recently resurging team whom just recently hammered ManCity 3-0 last week. Still, I don't think Liverpool can pull off a win on Arsenal soil, just like they have failed in the past 10 years. A draw, in my opinion, would be a more likely result which is just as good for us.

Looking ahead, Arsenal and ManUtd both have domestic mid-week fixture, with us visiting Tyneside for an away game against Newcastle United while Arsenal will be travelling across town to visit arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur.

Call it good timing for it appears that we are peaking at the right time. Our injuries are healing with Ferdinand and Valencia back on the pitch. Hargreaves and Owen should be out of the door at the end of this season.

While we will be without the services of Wayne "Spectacular Overhead Winner" Rooney, it is offsetted by the absence of Carlos Tevez today due to injury. We have Hernandez and Berbatov to start in front but ManCity Dzeko will certainly not be up to our mark in terms of fire power.

Bookies are giving them ManCity 0.5-ball handicap and a 2.10 decimal odds for us to overcome it. On the 1X2, it looks like it will be a draw but wager is skewed 72% in ManUtd's favour to win in 90 minutes.

This game will be played in Wembley which means neither side will have home advantage over the other. However, given that ManCity has never played in the "New" Wembley, after moving back from Cardiff while the old Wembely was torn down and redeveloped, we are more at home than the Citizens.

I will take ManUtd for the win in 90 minutes as ManCity has not won away from home for the last 6 games.

JayWalk's 2010/2011 Track Record to-date (16 Apr 2011) : P112-W58-L54

Image Credit: http://livesoccer-tv-channels.blogspot.com

- Voxeros

Results - Game 09 - 10 Apr 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

Apologies for the late publishing of this week's results as there was an error and zhun zhun on the day I am traveling.

Anyway, all is rectified and good now.

Congrats to Mr White for powering forward to a 4-point lead. Congrats also to necroastr for being the other 6-pointer of the week.

Cheers.

Housekeeping Notes: All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.
 

EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) 8plus1 (28 - 29 Aug 2010)
2) KingMeng (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
3) ihawk98 (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
4) ollopA (16 - 17 Oct 2010)  

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
7 Games - ihawk98
6 Games - Mr. White
5 Games - KingMen, Bedokian, Everton
4 Games - redherring, Voxeros
3 Games - 8plus1, ollopA, ianrush, cool402
2 Games - edwinsng, weimeng, necroastr
1 Game - Arrenn

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw) 1-point each for correct score on each side.  

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blogspot Blackout
The EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://www.jaywalkonline.com/.

Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners 

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng

EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13

EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush

World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng

EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 - Voxeros

EPL 2008/2009 - Everton

EPL 2009/2010 - ihawk98

World Cup 2010 - Raynaldo

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.

2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.

3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 16-17 April 2011

EPL57: SAT 16/4 Birmingham v Sunderland at 9.55pm SIN/HKT

EPL58: SUN 17/4 Arsenal v Liverpool at 10.55pm SIN/HKT

GAME ON!

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
Submissions after kick-off will not be admissible. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
This Prediction League will be played here but if in the event this blog goes down, we will automatically carry on the league over to the personal blog of Voxeros at http://www.JayWalkOnline.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Fixture Focus - Spurs (13 April 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Real Madrid Club de Fútbol

(Champions League Quarter Final, 2nd Leg)

It was a night to forget at the Bernabeu where we were thrashed 4-0 (2 incidentally by an ex-gooner who was on loan from a team with whom we are fighting for 4th this season) and got 1 man sent off. And now the fight has been brought to our home front.

Let's start off with the visitors first. Mourinho is returning to London with caution on his mind. Though the Los Galacticos were 4-0 up, he is still wary of a Spurs comeback. With Barcelona coming up in the next 2 consecutive games (La Liga and Copa del Rey) and possibly as a Champions League opponent, Mourinho will probably try to minimise damage from us and play a defensive game. He has Ronaldo fully fit and ready, Benzema coming back from injury and Kaka found his groove back. That's a potent combo our porous defence need to deal with.

Spurs will be without suspended Crouch, so my guess is we will go for a traditional 4-4-2. The probable line-up would be - Gomes - Assou-Ekotto, Gallas, Dawson, Corluka - Bale, Sandro/Huddlestone, Van der Vaart/Modric, Lennon - Defoe, Pavlyuchenko. We missed 1 flying wing in the Bernabeu, and with no game in the weekend, I would say Lennon would be ready and available.

Will our dream end here, or will a miracle happen? Enjoy while it still lasts.

COYS!!!!

Midweek Review - 12 April 2011

Manchester United vs Chelsea

7 points in front and play a game more, we are 6 games away from clinching the Premier League title. Although this weekend there is FA Cup semi final clash between Man City, we also have Premier League matches where Arsenal will play their game in hand against Liverpool.

Following that, we will visit Newcastle and round up April with Everton going to Old Trafford.

May is the decider where we have 2 important games with Arsenal and Chelsea back to back. If we clear these 2 with a big IF, we can await the trophy after the match against Chelsea.

Tonight game against Chelsea, we will see Rooney back in action. And this is where the ample rest advantage kicks in. Chelsea struggle to win against Wigan and they have to restort to using the same 11 for the Champions League against Man Utd. Whereas Man Utd stroll past Fulham, Fergie take out Antonio Valencia and Nani earlier to prepare the 2nd leg. What a big difference where depth also play a critical role at this stage of campaign.

Man Utd Team News: Rafael is the only absentee.

Chelsea Team News: Full team to choose from

Odd and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 0.25 handicap. Take Man Utd for the win.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Weekend Review - 9 Apr 2011

Manchester United vs Fulham

Woah, Man Utd away form changes overnight and they have won twice in a row on the road. Now 2 home games in 3 days, I do believe we can set our expectation higher, no?

Given that Rooney is suspended for tonight's match and the FA semi-final showdown with Man City, for uttering vulgarities on worldwide media coverage in West Ham match, I would say is not a big loss as he could be rested if we progress further in Champions League and FA Cup. Ironic, he scored all the goals except for Javier Hernandez last goal against West Ham, in the last 2 matches. In a way, he peak at the right time as well.

Got Berbatov and Javier Hernandez, scared what?

Man Utd Team News: Wayne Rooney is suspended.

Fulham Team News: Diomansy Kamara and Philippe Senderos are out injured.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 1 ball. Currently points are more important than goals at this stage of competition. I would advise not to punt.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Fixture Focus–Spurs (EPL, 9 April 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Stoke City

The best way to recover from a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Real Madrid is to demolish the opposition at home. I am not sure if ‘arry feels the same way but all warm blooded yiddos would agree with me. RIGHT?!!! Agree!

Stoke is not your typical promoted side and thankfully, they are also not a team that starts with a “W”. Our results against West Brom, West Ham and Wigan clearly showed that we are still not a consistent Top 4 side. With Stoke, we are going to have to deal with the long throws of Rory Delap and the overlapping runs of former Spurs player Matthew Etherington. And I do hope that Gomes returns to his spectacular shot stopping.

It was back in April 2010 where Spurs had a string of awesome results against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and culminating in the win over Manchester City at the Eastlands. We need to rediscover that form again this season. The players must clear their heads and just focus on one match at a time. The stress of the Bernabau and trying to finish in the Top 4 again are playing games in our heads I believe. One match at a time…that’s all.

No distractions, just play 90 mins of the kind of football we know we are capable of.  ‘Azza, Charlie and Niko are doubtful while Pienaar is out.  The coaches just need to pick a team from the quality we have that would give us the best chance to win THIS MATCH.  That’s it.  No need to worry about the next match yet. 

We can do this!  COYS!!!

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 9-10 April 2011

EPL55: SAT 9/4 Wolves v Everton at 7.40pm SIN/HKT

EPL56: SUN 10/4 Aston Villa v Newcastle at 10.55pm SIN/HKT

GAME ON!

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
Submissions after kick-off will not be admissible. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
This Prediction League will be played here but if in the event this blog goes down, we will automatically carry on the league over to the personal blog of Voxeros at http://www.JayWalkOnline.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Midweek Outlook (06 Apr 2011)

   Chelsea vs Manchester United  

And so we are in the hunt for the Treble, albeit reluctantly on my end. Yes. We put in a majestic display at Upton Park that brings back memories of the 1999 squad but the cynic in me questioned if that level of form is actually sustainable?

Did we turn the tide and peaking right at the time that we should be? Or was that just a one-time fluke?

I hope that it is the former but after 31 games in the EPL, I can't say that with much confidence.

Coming back from 0-2 and to storm to a 4-2 victory is the type of mental strength and determination that I hope to see in a team of Championship calibre. Had we have this type of hunger earlier in the season, we probably would have wrapped up the EPL title by now. Better yet, with that in the bag, we could then focus our resources on chasing the ECL and the FA Cup. Then and only then, would I be hopeful that a second Treble is a possible reality.

On the squad front, Rooney, despite rumours of a two-match ban as a result of abusive language at Upton Park, should be playing today as the ban is only applicable to domestic matches. (Can someone verify this?)

Ferdinand and Anderson have both been spotted on the training pitch but I think Fergie should still deploy Smalling to partner Vidic as match fitness is lacking for the veteran defender.

Speaking of Vidic, this will be the man to watch as Chelsea may bait him into receiving a card or two and then have to play 10-men against the home side. With a red card, it may also mean suspension from the return leg.

Bookies are giving ManUtd a 0.5-ball handicap with a 1.80 decimal odds to beat it. On the 1X2 front, the tip has moved from a draw to a ManUtd win. Wager is 62% in favour of ManUtd to win the handicap but not necessarily win the game.

Numbers aside, I have a few concerns coming into this game. Chelsea beat us 2-1 just recently and the shadow of the defeat should still linger in everybody mind. I am afraid that this may affect the team psychologically. Then again, we lost because were caught off-guard by a recently resurging Chelsea and perhaps we won't be fooled again a second time? Besides, if we do well, we should be able to handle them better come return leg as well as the EPL game on 08 May 2011.

This should be an exciting match with both teams in terribly good form of late. It is a pity however, that at the end of this round, there will only be one English representative left in the European arena.

My take on today's game is a draw at best as I do not think that we have shaken off the away-game jinx. Perhaps, we will return to the age-old strategy of forcing a draw and hopefully steal an away goal or two, then bring them back to Old Trafford for the kill.

JayWalk's 2010/2011 Track Record to-date (06 Apr 2011) : P110-W56-L54

- Voxeros

Fixture Focus - Spurs (5 Apr 2011)

Real Madrid Club de Futbol vs Tottenham Hotspur
(Champions League Quarter Finals, 1st Leg)

This Tuesday, we will be travelling to one of the famous stadiums in Spain – the Santiago Bernabeu, home of our next Champions League opponent, Real Madrid. Throughout our European campaign, this will be our first La Liga opposition.

Defensively, Spurs is literally down and out. We are reduced to just 2 central defenders, Dawson and Bassong, who featured in the game against Wigan just 2 days before. In our middle, however, we have some good news in the form of Bale and Lennon, whom the latter had just featured as a substitute at the DW Stadium, along with Modric, Van der Vaart and Sandro, but Pienaar is ruled out. Huddlestone had just returned from fitness and I foresee that he will be at the bench.

Real Madrid will be without Benzema, Marcelo and “fancy-foot” Ronaldo, (heard the latest news that CR7 will eventually start against us). For sure that Higuain will play, as well as ex-Chelsea man Carvalho, who will have the task to stop Crouch, a likely starter. Over the weekend, Real had lost to Sporting Gijon, which marked the “Special One’s” first home defeat in 9 years.

After a slew of horrendous showing against the 3 teams from the bottom of the EPL (which ironically, all began with the letter “W”), it is time to pick ourselves up again. I believe this is it (although I may sound a bit delusional here).

COYS!!!!!

Results - Game 02 - 03 Apr 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

Quite a reshuffle at the top with Cool402 emerging at the top after the weekend. An excellent 8-point haul and another notch on the Marksmen Board with ianrush who too, have 8 points to reach 3rd spot.

Well done.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) 8plus1 (28 - 29 Aug 2010)
2) KingMeng (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
3) ihawk98 (02 - 03 Oct 2010)
4) ollopA (16 - 17 Oct 2010)

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
7 Games - ihawk98
6 Games - Mr. White
5 Games - KingMen, Bedokian, Everton
4 Games - redherring, Voxeros
3 Games - 8plus1, ollopA, ianrush, cool402
2 Games - edwinsng, weimeng, necroastr
1 Game - Arrenn


Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blogspot Blackout
The EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://www.jaywalkonline.com/. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402
Euro 2008 - Voxeros
EPL 2008/2009 - Everton
EPL 2009/2010 - ihawk98
World Cup 2010 - Raynaldo

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.

2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.

3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

Weekend Review - 2 Apr 2011

West Ham United vs Manchester United

With the final international break out of the way, we are in the final run for all 3 fronts. April is such a hectic schedule that we have 7 matches in 21 days and that is one match in every 3 days.

We play a game more than Arsenal and Chelsea, yet we are 5 points clear. Media have been speculating that the title is for Man Utd to lose. We have to play both Arsenal and Chelsea in the final run and im not very optimistic at all. Unless Man Utd awful away form can change overnight.

This week, we go to Upton Park to face West Ham where they are hovering at bottom half of the table. Had this team is managed by Harry Redknapp, this team should be at the same spot as Tottenham.

Injuries-wise, we received 2 boosts where Vidic and Ferdinand will be back. Hopefully their presence will last till the end of the season.

West Ham Team News: Unbelievably, they have a clean bill of health.

Man Utd Team News: John O'shea, Rafael, Jonny Evans are out.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 0.75 handicap. Take Man Utd for the win.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.