Fixture Focus - Spurs (9 Jan 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Charlton Athletic FC

(FA Cup Third Round)

After a dramatic loss to Everton at Goodison Park, Spurs will be hosting the Addicks in our first FA Cup fixture of the season.

Not sure whether Harry Redknapp is giving this cup a go, but after the hectic "Christmas Crunch", it is practical to rest some of our first-team players and let the benchwarmers and reserves to have a go at this game, especially so that our next fixture will be against Manchester United.

Bale and Van der Vaart will be rested after suffering knocks during the Toffees game. Defoe is eligible to play after his 3-match ban, which we may see him in the squad. Although we do have Bassong, Corluka, Kranjcar, Palacios, etc. able to play, we might see some of our homegrown youngsters starting.

Charlton will be entering this game under their new caretaker manager Keith Peacock, and this game could well be a test for him, although he had Premier League experience with Charlton when they were still in it and West Ham United a few years ago.

After all the giant-killings last night, I would not expect this game to be a walk-in-the-park.

But still, COYS!!!!!

Fixture Focus - Spurs (5 Jan 2011)

Everton FC vs Tottenham Hotspur

We had started off the-year-that-ends-with-a-1 brilliantly with a narrow win over Fulham on New Year's Day. Now we are travelling to Merseyside to face the blue half of Liverpool.

With Keane, Bentley and possibly Krancjar moving out in this January transfer window, it is very likely that they will not be going to Goodison Park (not on the first team anyway). With Kaboul and Defoe still suspended for their red cards, we could probably see the same team on New Year's Day with at most 2 or 3 changes, especially at the back.

Everton is without Cahill as he is involved in Australia's Asian Cup campaign, so the Toffees may field Saha and/or Yakubu as their strike force.

This game will mark the end of the Premier League's "Christmas Crunch" period and so far we had secured 3 wins out of 3. Could we go for the 4th one? Even Manchester United, in their recent run, only managed to secure 3 wins and 1 draw out of 4 games (and it's already considered very good, judging from the number of games played in a short time).

On a side note, it seems the much-hyped arrival of Beckham may not be materialising at all, as LA Galaxy are still mulling over the loan move and had a bad experience when Becks went to AC Milan the last time round.

Come on you Spurs!

EPL Prediction League

There wont be any prediction matches this week due to FA Cup matches.

Midweek Review - 4 Jan 2011

Manchester United vs Stoke City

Last game against West Brom, we really rode our luck for a win as West Brom missed a penalty to level the match. Level on points with Man City but still leading the table on goal difference.

I have to admit that this season is the tightest league challenge since the start of Premier League in 1992. Currently we have Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea among the challengers, though Chelsea is out of sorts and slowly losing steam.

With one eye on the weekend FA Cup against Liverpool, I believe Fergie will field the same team against West Brom. Oh, did i mention that Rooney finally end his goal drought by scoring in open play since March?

The Premier League is getting harder to predict where the favourites will win the underdogs. Who would have know that Blackpool, Stoke and West Brom where they are traditionally regard as relegation fodders team to be riding anywhere but in the relegation spots this season? Currently the relegation spots belongs to Wolves as usual, Fulham and Birmingham. Fulham riding high from last season Europa League losing finalist and Birmingham who is currently having their 2nd season in the top flight having a hang-over now. Pfft..

Man Utd Team News: Owen Hargreaves, Antonio Valencia, Paul Scholes and John O'Shea are out.

Stoke Team News: Robert Huth is the only absentee.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 1.75 ball handicap. Not taking Man Utd as they will crave out another 1 goal scoreline 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.

Results - Game 01 - 02 Jan 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

Happy New Year!!!

Just when I was back in Singapore and chatting with Arrenn who lamented that he has yet to open account on the Marksmen Board, et voila! Score one for Arrenn!!

Congrats to necroastr for all making his debut on the Marksmen Board but the greater prize for this weekend is cool402 finally shaking off Bedokian and taking the lead outright!

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)
6 Games - ihawk98, Mr. White
5 Games - KingMeng
4 Games - Bedokian, Everton
3 Games - 8plus1, ollopA, Voxeros, redherring
2 Games - cool402, ianrush, edwinsng, weimeng
1 Game - Arrenn, necroastr


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 - 1 Jan 2011

West Brom vs Manchester United

On behalf of PPL, we wish everyone a blessed new year with abundance of wealth rolling in and great health.

We go into the new year leading the table on goal difference but have 2 games in hand. Again, there is no worries or concern from Man City. But what worries us is that the away games yield 1 win and countless of draws in this season. We lost 2 points to Birmingham where we could have gotten a win and push ourselves further from the chasing pack.

West Brom is sliding down the table despite having an impressive return to the Premier League. This is another away game that I dont have the confidence of seeing a 3 point win.

West Brom Team News: Gonzalo Jara and Gabriel Tamas are out.

Man Utd Team News: Owen Hargreaves, Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen, John O'shea, Paul Scholes and Nani are out.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 1 ball handicap. Again no punt for me.

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 (1 Jan 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham FC

Happy New Year to all of you!

And with it, we are now entering the second half of the season. Spurs is sitting comfortably at 5th and away from the chasing pack led by Bolton and Sunderland with 4 points difference (and a game in hand).

We are playing hosts to our across-the-capital neighbours Fulham on New Year's Day. Spurs would be without suspended Kaboul and Defoe, which means Bassong and either Crouch or Pavlyuchenko would be replacing them respectively. Other than that, the lineup would likely be similar to the one that defeated Newcastle during the midweek.

Fulham, after securing an away win at Stoke, would be coming to "Fortress Lane" optimistically and hoping for a coup. Hughes likely would field the same side that won at the Britannia.

If Spurs wins this, we would be 7 points away from 6th and be in contention for the top 4 positions with the 2 Manchester teams, Chelsea and the Gooners.

COYS!!!!!!

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 1-2 January 2011

EPL37: SAT 1/1 Stoke vs Everton at 10.55pm SIN/HKT

EPL38: SUN 2/1 Wigan v Newcastle at 11.55pm 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 (EPL, 28 December 2010)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United       

The win at Villa Park was exhilarating considering that we only had 10 men! Yet, we face another fixture in a space of 2 days and we will need to focus on the task at hand.

Newcastle has had interesting 3-1 scoreline games recently.  They lost 3-1 to West Brom, won 3-1 against Liverpool, and lost 3-1 to Manchester City.  All eyes will be on Andy Carroll as he will cause problems for our central defenders.  And all Yiddos can only wonder if Sol “judas” Campbell will get to take the field for the barcodes.

On paper, Spurs are the stronger team and the midfield attacking foursome of Bale, Modric, Lennon and van der Vaart can terrorize any team.  The problem we have today is who to play upfront as Defoe serves his suspension for the red card he received on Boxing Day.  My thinking is that Crouch will get to be upfront as the lone striker with van der Vaart sitting between him and the marauding midfield.

We must continue our good form and string of 9 games without defeat to keep up with the league leaders.  COYS!!!

Midweek Review - 28 Dec 2010

Birmingham City vs Manchester United

Now is the festive season where matches are play 48hours after the first is play. Now you know why England is complaining that there is no winter break whenever there is a major competition like World Cup or European Championships, as players need time to rest. 9 months without rest in between is not something that human can cope or comprehend.

We are now 2 points leading the table with Man City behind. But they play 2 games more, so that is the least of my worries. The main challengers will still be Chelsea and Arsenal. They have 1 game in hand and we have 2 games in hand.

Birmingham in relegation fight with Wolves, Wigan, West Ham and Fulham? Well, the table doesnt lie and Birmingham are hovering around the line.

Birmingham Team News: Alexander Hleb and James McFadden are out.

Man Utd Team News: Owen Hargreaves, Antonio Valencia, Paul Scholes and John O'Shea are out.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 1 ball. Avoid Man Utd as they aim for points than going for goals now.

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.