Results - Games 04 - 05 Apr 2009 EPL Prediction League 2008/2009

A very lucky weekend for those who missed the week's prediction as many of the rest of us who predicted got no points, despite participating.

Anyway congratulations to Everton for breaking into second spot and start challenging weimeng for the league title.

Good luck!

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, weimeng
7 Games - hotdog, everton
5 Games - ihawk98, ianrush, voxeros, necroastr
4 Games - david.hvp, limyengchuan, 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.

Midweek Review (8 Apr 09)

Manchester United vs Porto

..."Who is Federico Macheda?"

-Gary, 8 Apr 09

This match is one hell of a cracker. By the end of the game, there is no fingernails for me to bite. I would say this game had so much entertainment value that whoever on a pacemaker, the pacemaker will stop working. This game is so "you score one goal, i score two back" kind of mentality.

But the question on everyone's lips right now is, "Who is Federico Macheda?"

He is signed from Lazio in 2007 and currently played in the Man Utd Reserves. Because of injuries and suspension, Fergie have no choice but to put him on the bench. The bench was all from Reserves except for Ben Foster and Park Ji-sung. He is nicknamed "Kiko" and after i saw him in the post match commentary, he is going to be the new poster boy for all the girls who support Man Utd.

2 days rest and we have to face Porto for the Champions League match. Porto is very different since the days of Jose Mourinho. Look like easy win for us since Rooney, Scholes and Vidic is back from suspension. A semi-final date with Arsenal or Villarreal prehaps?

Man Utd Team News: Rooney, Scholes and Vidic will be back from suspension. Rio Ferdinand and Berbatov are out with injuries. John O'Shea is expected to partner Vidic.

Porto Team News: Full team to choose from.

Odds and analysis: Man Utd is giving 1 ball. Currently still unbeaten in the competition, and with the trio back from suspension, 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 Outlook (04 Apr 2009)

Manchester United vs Aston Villa

"...Perhaps the end-season jinx was set upon us earlier than normal?..."

- JayWalk, 04 Apr 2009

We really lost the plot in the run-in and a slew of red card from out of the blue just sent us into an uncontrollable tailspin.

What happened?

Perhaps the end-season jinx was set upon us earlier than normal?

For the uninitated, ManUtd has this little jinx that whenever we approach the end of the season, especially coming in the last 4 games of the season, we were bound to stumble spectacularly to send loads of people into the hospital with heart attacks.

An embarrassing defeat on our own soil by rival Liverpool who wiped the floor with us and then the shock defeat by minnows Fulham.

We really need to snap out of this now and especially when we are playing the ECL Quarter-Finals this coming mid-week. Fortunately, we were given an easy draw against Porto but given our curent form, we aren't going to beat anybody.

Expect those who are currently serving domestic suspensions due to red cards to feature in mid-week clash against Porto.

JayWalk The Talk: We have a huge list of injuries to worry. Berbatov, Hargreaves, Rafael, Ferdinand and Anderson are out. To take a Chinese idiom, "to add frost to snow" is when we have Vidic, Scholes and Rooney serving their suspensions.

Expect new faces to feature in Sunday's game. Ronaldo-Tevez partnership?

JayWalk The Walk: Bookies are making ManUtd give a 1.25-ball handicap and 2.10 decimal odds to beat it. Do the bookies already know that it is going to be a victory for the Red Devils?

It is hard to figure this one out considering the recent form of ManUtd against a team who is chasing the last ECL spot. Then again, Aston Villa also lost their last 2 games as well.

I say we will still win this game although I am not very sure if they can clear the handicap. Still, given that results have more often than not, surprised us, I am going to take the leap of faith and punt a 2-0 victory for ManUtd.

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.

Fixture Focus - Spurs (4 April 2009)

Blackburn Rovers FC vs Tottenham Hotspur

Almost 2 weeks have passed since the last EPL game, and we have the honour of being the first fixture in this weekend. Spurs would be travelling to Ewood Park to face relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers.

So, facing Blackburn, at their turf, with the big R staring at them, what do you think of a Spurs win, away from home, and after a 2-week break?

COYS!

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 4- 5 Apr 2009

EPL53: SAT 4/4 Blackburn Rovers vs Tottenham Hotspur at 07:40pm SIN/HKT

EPL54: SUN 5/4 Manchester United vs Aston Villa 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)

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.

Time to ponder....

As we enter into a weekend break for international friendlies and World Cup qualifiers, let us take this time to ponder at the current stage of the English Premier League.

With just 8 games remaining (with the exception of Manchester United as they still have a game in hand) in this season, the EPL teams are now heading for a home stretch. At the top corner, we see 3 teams - Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, vying for the title of League champions. And in the upper-middle region, we have another 3 teams - Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton, fighting for the last Champions League spot. And then we have the bottom 9 teams - Bolton, Hull, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Stoke, Blackburn, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and WBA, desperately trying to crawl out of the (most elastic I have ever seen) relegation zone.

So we have 3 + 3 + 9 = 15 teams, which means that the remaining 20 - 15 = 5 teams - Wigan, West Ham, Fulham, Manchester City and Spurs, could, mathematically, either play in Europe or fall into the Championships abyss.

That's the status of the EPL now.

And of course, I would not be posting this without ever mentioning Spurs. :)

Since our last league defeat to Bolton on 31 January 2009, Spurs have been rising steadily since, clinching 14 out of a possible 18 points, including dramatic winners against Champions League hopeful Aston Villa and EPL Champion wannabe Chelsea in the last 2 games. And we would be facing the other 2 EPL Champion title wannabes - Manchester United and Liverpool, albeit in their home turf. Suddenly, the role of Spurs in this stage of the season became important. Who knows, our win against Villa and Chelsea may have an impact in their aspirations for this season, and maybe we could make a difference on who should be the EPL Champions.

So, in this case, we should be the "Kingmakers" for this season, shouldn't we?

EPL Prediction League

There wont be any prediction games this weekend due to international friendlies and World Cup qualifiers.

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

A good showing by weimeng sees him grab joint-pole at both the League Table as well as the Marksmen Board.

Congrats to hotdog for grabbing his century this weekend as well as a spot upwards.

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

Marksmen Board (Number of Exact Predictions)
8 Games - delay, weimeng
7 Games - hotdog, everton
5 Games - ihawk98, ianrush, voxeros, necroastr
4 Games - david.hvp, limyengchuan, 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.

Weekend Review (21 March 2009)

Fulham vs Manchester United

"It was a result that i have been expecting. But not the scoreline."

-Gary, 21 March 2009

It was a result that i have been expecting. But not the scoreline. It's really harsh on Man Utd when you are down 10 men. Just not Man Utd's day. So Man Utd have lost 3 games now, and the title is really for them to lose if they lose another game. Even if they have a game in hand.

As for Champions League, they got Porto. Liverpool got Chelsea yet again and Barcelona against Bayern. Interestingly, if we get past Porto, next opponent will be either Arsenal or Villarreal.

As for Fulham, they have not win against Man Utd at Cavern Cottage since 1964. Chances of losing 2 games in a row for Man Utd is really very low.

Fulham Team News: Full squad to choose from.

Man Utd Team News: Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown are still out. Other than that, Fergie have a full squad to choose from and having a week of breather.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 1.25. 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.

Fixture Focus - Spurs (21 March 2009)

Spurs vs Chelsea

What a time in the season to play this fixture.  With no other competitions to distract us, Spurs will face a resurgent Chelsea with almost a full squad available, except for Hutton and Defoe who are out on injuries.

Spurs have performed really well against Chelsea since the Carling Cup final in 2008 where we won 2-1 in extra time.  The corresponding fixture in the EPL last year saw Spurs come back from 1-3 down to draw 4 - 4 in what was arguably the most thrilling match I had seen.  Early this season, Spurs also came from behind to draw 1 -1 at Stamford Bridge which was significant in that it was Darren Bent's first goal for Spurs, and also the first goal we scored for the season, AND the first point we won for the season.

Guus Hiddinck has engineered a return to form for Chelsea in recent games and Drogba is dangerous again.  But as not winning this match is not a disaster for Spurs, I expect that the players will enjoy playing in front of the home crowd and put together some nice flowing football.  I fancy a score draw for this match.

COYS!!!