EPL Prediction League

There wont be any prediction league games due to FA Cup.

Results - Games 28 Feb - 01 Mar 2009 EPL Prediction League 2008/2009

We trod on to another weekend as the elusive Perfect-10 escapes me once again. #$@#$%!!

Another bumper crop of Markmen this week as we have 6 of us getting onto the board with delay pulling away with 8 correct predictions.

Congrats, everybody.

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) redherring (20 Oct 2008)
2) weiming (19 Jan 2009)

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
8 Games - delay
7 Games - weimeng
5 Games - hotdog, ihawk98, ianrush, everton, voxeros
4 Games - david.hvp, limyengchuan, necroastr, redherring, edwinsng
3 Games - cool402
2 Games - Bedokian
1 Game - cha dum yen

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://jaywalk.blog-city.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

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 (1 Mar 2009)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United
(Carling Cup Final)

Since Spurs is out of the UEFA Cup proper, Harry and his boys have 2 things to concentrate now - further survival in the league, and the immediate defence of the Carling Cup. It would be important for Spurs as this is their only chance of a re-entry ticket back to European competitions, which is why Harry is staking every able-bodied man in this game.

Manchester United, on the other hand, is a paradox - they have been traditionally fielding their youngsters in this cup games. Now that they are in the final, it seems, from news reports, that they would be doing the same, too, though he did lament that "It is not an easy decision" (source - ESPNStar).

Whatever the outcome, and whatever their past records between them, tonight's game would be a good game.

Bring them on! COYS!!!!!

Weekend Outlook (01 Mar 2009)

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

"...It's really hard to guess the lineup when you know for sure that the manager doesn't take the League Cup seriously..."

- JayWalk, 01 Mar 2009

Despite finishing with a goal-less draw at mid-week, I think it was nevertheless a good result. Only pity was that we didn't score any away-goals which essentially passed that particular advantage over to the Nerazzurri.

The game was pretty even for both sides and our defence deserves special mention for the Italians couldn't find a way even remotely near the goal.

0-0 is a dangerous result to bring home coz it may all be over as long as the opposition scores a goal on our own turf. However, given how well we managed to lock down the defence, I don't see how Inter-Milan is going to beat us on our own soil. They had the chance to put us away at San Siro but they didn't. Time to make them pay for it.

JayWalk The Talk: It's really hard to guess the lineup when you know for sure that the manager doesn't take the League Cup seriously.

On one hand, we are on course for the domestic Grand Slam of Charity Shield, League Cup, FA Cup and of course the all important EPL title.

On the other hand, it is hard to justify committing the A-Team and risk them running out of steam when we take on Newcastle the following mid-week.

But one thing is for sure. Brown, Rafael and Evans are out. Van der Sar is not featured in this tournament which means our No.2 or No.3 keeper will be playing this final. Most likely Fosters since Kuszczak's form has been terrible of late.

I think the team line-up will be a half-and-half configuration with the senior players flanked by the juniors. So I think we should see Vidic, Ferdinand, Giggs, Rooney and Neville leading their juniors unto the Wembley pitch.

The rest of the A-Team should fill the substitutes' bench as a precaution.

Knowing that Fergie is not going to put 100% into the game, Redknapp would be most unfortunate not to capitalise on that. Keane, Cudicini, Chimbonda and Palacios are all cup-tied while Defoe and O'Hara are both injured.

Bummer for Harry.

JayWalk The Walk: ManUtd has to give a 0.75-ball handicap but a slightly daunting 2.00 decimal odds to beat it. In English, it means that the bookies are deciding if ManUtd will win by 1 goal or 2.

In other words, ManUtd to win.

It is kinda ironic for Spurs to throw the UEFA Cup tournament just so that they can concentrate on this cup final which will book them a place in next year's UEFA Cup tournament.

The way I see it, Spurs is going to Europe regardless of today's result. ManUtd is a definite shoo-in for the ECL next year which leave the UEFA Cup spot by virtue of winning the League Cup to the runner-up. Only question is if Spurs will be playing the UEFA Cup as a Premiership team or a Championship team?

Verdict? I agree with the bookies' number where the result will be a win in favour of ManUtd. Just a question of 1-goal or 2-goal margin. I say 1-goal margin as ManUtd will want to wrap this up quick and go back to rest ahead of the Newcastle game.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 28 Feb - 1 Mar 2009

EPL47: SAT 28/2 Everton vs West Brom at 8:40pm SIN/HKT

EPL48: SUN 1/1 West Ham vs Manchester City at 8:25pm 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)

Blogger/Blogspot Blackout
This 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 the personal blog of Voxeros at
http://jaywalk.blog-city.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 (27 February 2009)

Spurs vs Shakhtar Donetsk(Round of 32, 2nd Leg)

As stated in my post on the 1st leg of this fixture, Spurs did take a "come what may" attitude in the Ukraine and got beat 2 - 0.  After securing a 2 - 1 away victory at Hull's KC Stadium, the majority of the first team starters will be rested for this UEFA clash for the all important defense of the Carling Cup this coming Sunday against Manchester United.
 
The expected line up for Spurs is: Cudicini, Gunter, Chimbonda, Huddlestone, Dawson, Zokora, Parrett, Bostock, Bentley, Dos Santos, and Campbell.

I will be surprised if this team can overturn the two goal deficit and secure our progress in this competition.  And if they do, then the second stringers deserve all the accolades coming to them after the match.

COYS!!!

Midweek Review (24 Feb 2009)

Inter Milan vs Manchester United

"...with the buffer of 7 points, Man Utd can take their eyes off and concentrate on the European front."

- Gary, 24 Feb 2009

The moment we saw Thomaz Kuszczak is playing, we know that Fergie is going to field his best 11 for the Champions League tie against Inter Milan. There were no goalkeeper in the sub bench either. WTH!! There goes the European record of clean sheet!!

I would say with the buffer of 7 points, Man Utd can take their eyes off and concentrate on the European front. Man Utd have to face Arsenal and Liverpool in the final run of the fixtures, prehaps they could throw away some points if they progress beyond the current FA cup and Champions League.

Despite doing well in the Premier League, first leg tie against Inter Milan already got problem liao. There is no defenders as they are either injured or suspended. Not a good sign when you are facing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a resurgent Adriano. And we can only hope for a priceless away goal as what Fergie have mentioned. That was what i was thinking too before i draft this post.

Inter Milan Team News: A full squad to choose from.

Man Utd Team News: Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Jonny Evans are out with injuries. Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney are suspended. James Chester could make his debut.

Odds and Analysis: Before i draft this post, the odds was level. After reports of defenders injured and suspended, Man Utd is eating 0.25. Take Man Utd.

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.

Results - Games 21 - 22 Feb 2009 EPL Prediction League 2008/2009

Oh what a waste! We almost had 3 Perfect-10s this weekend!

Still we made it up with a bumper crop of 9 Marksmen on the board with weimeng and delay pulling ahead with 7 games apiece.

Anyway, we have a new league leader as everton stumbled for weimeng to grab the pole.

It is still anyone's title for now as the pack at the top is really close. Let's see if we get another reshuffle next week.

Let's go.

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) redherring (20 Oct 2008)
2) weiming (19 Jan 2009)

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
7 Games - delay, weimeng
5 Games - hotdog
4 Games - ianrush, david.hvp, ihawk98, everton, Voxeros, limyengchuan, necroastr, redherring
3 Games - edwinsng, cool402
2 Games - Bedokian
1 Game - cha dum yen

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://jaywalk.blog-city.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

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 (23 Feb 2009)

Hull City AFC vs Tottenham Hotspur

For the past few weeks, our position has always been rooted to the last few places, constantly keeping our heads above the water level (read: relegation zone).

And our abysmal away form is nothing to cheer about, too. Now, facing a slipping, but still potent, Hull City in their very own den, Spurs will need a lot of luck, and fortune (I know, these 2 words are the same....) to get at least a draw, though a win would be more satisfactory.

And to top it all up, for better or for worse, we have to buck up against Shakhtar Donetsk in the middle of the week to gain UEFA Cup survival, and defending our (only plausible silverware this season) Carling Cup on Sunday.

And if you have noticed, my post is very "macro-viewing" and sounds a bit pessimistic, but no matter what, with all the odds coming, we should still hold our heads high (above the water level) and shout COYS!

COYS!!!!

Weekend Outlook (21 Feb 2009)

Manchester United vs Blackburn Rovers

"...starting next week and the ECL resumes as we will return to a bladdy hectic schedule of 7 games in 22 days.

If we pull it through like we did in January, I can safely say that we bagged the league title for yet another wonderful year...."

- JayWalk, 21 Feb 2009

We have had a good and easy February as the relatively relaxed scheduled allowed us to clear our game in hand and pull 5 points ahead.

Starting next week and the ECL resumes as we will return to a bladdy hectic schedule of 7 games in 22 days.

If we pull it through like we did in January, I can safely say that we bagged the league title for yet another wonderful year.

Fulham was woeful during mid week as we totally dominated them in every department and locked them down to yet another record breaking consecutive clean sheet. Van der Sar is one clean sheet away from the European League record and 6 games away from FIFA all-time record. Let's see how far the great Dutch goalie can go.

Looking ahead, this Tuesday marks the start of the ECL second round as we travel to Milan to play current Serie A leaders. This could easily be the final despite it being second round as the respective league champions of the power houses of Spain, Italy and England don't usually meet so early in the tournament.

Thereafter, we head down to Wembley as we attempt to pick up our third trophy of the season against Tottenham who have since signaled their intention to give up on the UEFA Cup tournament as they want to concentrate all the fire power to avoid relegation in the EPL. I doubt if Spurs will be putting in much effort in the Carling Cup final for after they are guaranteed a place in UEFA Cup, regardless of the outcome at Wembley since ManUtd is headed for the ECL next season.

JayWalk The Talk: January's madhouse was more worrying due to the fact that we were having a lot of players injured. Good news this time round is that despite the same volume of fixtures, most of our boys are back.

Only people left in the sickbay are Hargreaves and O'Shea while Andersen may make a surprise early-then-expected return. Given that the Inter Milan game follows immediately after that, I would be surprise if Fergie plays a different team today. I think Neville, Tevez, Rooney and Giggs will feature today. Vidic is also a definite starter today on account of the fact that he will be serving out his ECL suspension.

On the Blackburn side, Emerton and Samba are unavailable while Simpson cannot play against his prinicpal since he is on loan to Blackburn from ManUtd.

JayWalk The Walk: Everybody feels that ManUtd will win today and extend the lead to 8 points before Liverpool plays 24 hours later. Bookie are making ManUtd give a 1.5-goal handicap and a decimal odds of 1.80 to beat it. Sounds like a easy cakewalk for ManUtd but the wagering public do not quite agree as evident by the fact that the Punting Pot has only 65% betting on ManUtd to beat the handicap.

I say we will win but again it will be one of those energy-saving 1-0 victories.


Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.