Fixture Focus - Spurs (15 May 2011)

Liverpool FC vs Tottenham Hotspur

It is ironical that we have had 2 games which are crucial to our re-entry into Europe against teams that are likewise so. Within a week, we tried but lost the last Champions League spot to Manchester City in a midweek game, and now we are fighting with Liverpool for the only Europa spot remaining on the table.

It has been a roller-coaster season for us, with a breakthrough to the last 8 in this season's Champions League and a promise of returning to that competition next season. However, our bad form (and luck) in the past 2 months has prevented us, and we are now in a risk of languishing without an European return, a thought which was deemed as impossible back in February of this year.

Anfield is the next place to go, and this, as compared to our Tuesday visit to Manchester, would be a tougher fixture. Liverpool is on a rise, along with their recent thumping victories and news of their "King" Dalglish renewing his managerial contract. This is no longer the Liverpool that we had beaten back at the Lane. This is a Liverpool where even without the departed Torres and the injured Gerrard could still pack a punch to whoever they are facing.

Our lineup would be the same as per the game against Manchester City back in the midweek, with probably 1 or 2 swaps in the midfield and in the front.

The atmosphere will be electrifying at Anfield, with fans probably celebrating the true return of their king and a return to Europe after defying all odds. Hopefully among the sea of red some white dots on the field would bring a difference.

COYS!!!!!

Weekend Review - 14 May 2011

Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester United

We are just one point away from the Premier League title and could dislodge Liverpool for the most title win. We are currently on par with Liverpool with 18 titles win. Just one more and we have the bragging rights.

Next season we will be seeing Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League. How we missed these teams when they feature in 2005 and 1995 respectively.

With the Premier League more or less settled, the interesting part will be the relegation battle at the foot of the table. Currently West Ham, Wolves, Blackpool, Blackburn, Wigan and Carling Cup winners Birmingham City. It will be unthinkable to see Birmingham City got relegated and play in the Europa League.

Ironically, we face 2 teams in the final 2 rounds of the Premier League that are currently in relegation battle, Blackburn and Blackpool.

My prediction for the final 3 teams to go down to Championship will be West Ham, Wolves and Blackpool. Although Blackburn is currently a joke with the Indian owners, and Birmingham City a decent club, I really dont see why they should get relegated.

Blackburn Team News: David Dunn, Ryan Nelsen and Vince Gella are out.

Man Utd Team News: Edwin van der Sar and Javier Hernandez could be rested since they featured quite heavily in the run-in of the Premier League and Champions League title, according to Fergie.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 0.75 handicap. Go for Man Utd win and be crowned Barclays Premier League 2010/2011 Champions.

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.

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 14-15 May 2011

EPL65: SAT 14/5 Blackpool v Bolton at 7.40pm SIN/HKT

EPL66: SUN 15/5 Birmingham v Fulham 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 (EPL, 10 May 2011)

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

Oh what a difference a year makes!

In the early hours of the morning on 6 May 2010 local time, Crouch’s solitary goal was enough for us to secure 4th place with a game left to play, sending the Lilywhite faithful into a cheering frenzy all around the world.  This season, destiny is out of our hands.  We must win our remaining 3 matches to have any chance of possibly finishing 4th.  But Manchester City only needs to win tonight to all but seal Champions League qualification for next season.

The one concern for City heading into the game will be their recent record against Spurs, which does not make for impressive reading.  They have won just one of their last 15 Premier League meetings with us, collecting just six points from a possible 45 during that run.  City have also failed to find the target in their last three fixtures against Sours.

We have a host of injuries to key players.  Our left side is decimated with both BAE and Bale out.  Modric and Crouch are iffy.  Our recent results suggest, in my opinion, that all is not well in the locker room.  I have a strong suspicion the lads do not like ‘arry tactics and team selection.  Regardless, I am counting on the lads to decide for themselves to fight for every last point.  We must have the mental tenacity to compete till the final whistle and finish the season well. 

That’s all I ask really. COYS!!!

Results - Game 07 - 08 May 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

Congratulations to ihawk98 for his 9-point haul to close up the gap between Mr White and himself to 5 points and only 2 more weekends to go!

Congratulations to ihawk98, Mr White and myself too to lead the Marksmen Board at 8, 7 and 6 games respectively.

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)
8 Games - ihawk98
7 Games - Mr. White
6 Games - Voxeros
5 Games - KingMen, Bedokian, Everton
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.

Weekend Review - 8 May 2011

Manchester United vs Chelsea

2 weeks ago before Arsenal match, Fergie mentioned that he will only make at most 2 changes for Schalke match, so that he can focus on Chelsea match. Who knows that he make 9 changes and send a 2nd team, and won against Schalke convincingly.

This victory will definitely serves a psychological boost for Man Utd in the remaining 3 matches against Chelsea, Blackburn and Blackpool.

Despite leading 3 points over Chelsea, our goal difference are the same. If Man Utd wins, they only need 1 point to be champions. If Man Utd draws, they need to win either Blackburn or Blackpool to win champions.

Come on Man Utd!!

Man Utd Team News: A full team to choose from.

Chelsea Team News: Jose Bosingwa and Yuri Zhirkov are out for the match.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is give 0.25 ball handicap. Not going to take a risk if the match ends in a draw instead.

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 (7 May 2011)

Tottenham Hotspur vs Blackpool FC

Just today in the office, a red supporter, a white supporter and a neutral pundit were talking about the current situation we were in, and we also involved a discussion on the upcoming battles involving the orange and the blue as well.

Before jumping to any conclusion, what happened was, a Liverpool supporter (my colleague), a Spurs supporter (myself) and another colleague who was into football betting were talking about our chances for qualification to Europe. We also touched on our coming clashes with the Tangerines and our eventual showdown with Manchester City.

The conclusion is this: Champions League is now only a mathematical possibly for us, provided that other factors e.g. Manchester City slipping in their last few games, we win Liverpool, etc. are in our favour.

We had lost to Blackpool the last time round, which heralded the beginning of our slide to where we are now. The thing is, Blackpool, along with our remaining 3 games, will be tough, for these games will be like cup finals.

Bale would still be filling in for Assou-Ekotto, which means Pienaar might be in front of him. Our central defensive pair Gallas and Dawson would be there, and Corluka might make it at rightback. Sandro has created a good impression on Redknapp and he, together with Van der Vaart and Modric, would be helming the midfield. News of a Lennon-Redknapp rift is surfacing, so I would give him a bench start for this game. Crouch may be starting, since he has a knack of a partnership with Van der Vaart.

The Tangerines will have their up-and-coming star Adam. Except for a couple of players on long-term injury, Blackpool could afford to select and possibly their first team will start.

We have to win this to keep our European dreams alive.

COYS!!!!!

Midweek Outlook (04 May 2011)

   Manchester United vs Schalke 04  

We had the chance to almost seal the Premier League title when we blew it wide open with a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Granted that there were dubious refereeing, I won't fault them, for mistakes were made evenly on both ends. Even if the penalties were to be awarded, we would still have lost 1-2 since penalty appeals being turned down was one apiece.

This perhaps is it. The most siong week of the entire season for ManUtd. Whether we finish the season with a double or NONE at all may be decided this week.

With a depleted squad after this encounter, do we have enough legs to hold Chelsea at bay subsequently?

This weekend's game against Chelsea shall be the season finale. Whoever wins takes the title regardless of the two remaining games thereafter. We are on equal goal difference right now and if we lose this weekend, not only will Chelsea level with us on points but also edge ahead on a more superior goal difference.

We have the slight advantage here as even a draw would be in our favour but after the Arsenal defeat, I am not so sure if we can hang on to a draw. Don't forget, we now have the Jinx of the Final-Four (games).

Perhaps one of the key to this week's success or failure lies with Schalke 04's game this mid-week. Have they given up hope on the ECL like Real Madrid or are they still going to fight to the death?

The way I see it, Schalke 04 has given up on the ECL tournament already. With a 0-2 home defeat, what are the chances of scoring 3 goals at Old Trafford? Let us not forget that ManUtd recent form is 6-0-0 at home while Schalke 04 is winless away for the past 6 games.

Asian Handicap is 1.25-ball in favour of Schalke but decimal odds of 2.025 for ManUtd to beat it suggest that it will be a ManUtd victory but by a small margin. 1X2 for ManUtd to win is 1.43 confirms a strong home victory possibility.

Punters agree too that ManUtd will not go all out as only a mere 46% of the wagers feels that ManUtd will win by 2 or more goals.

The way I see it, Fergie will be conserving energy as much as possible in the mid-week tie as the game at Stamford Bridge is the bigger and more important one.

There isn't much incentive to go all gun ablazing here as a mere draw or even a slim defeat will see ManUtd through to the ECL finals.

Avoid this bet.

JayWalk's 2010/2011 Track Record to-date (03 May 2011) : P123-W63-L60

- Voxeros

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 7-8 May 2011

EPL63: SAT 7/5 Everton v Man City at 9.55pm SIN/HKT

EPL64: SUN 8/5 Man Utd v Chelsea at 11.00pm 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 30 Apr - 02 May 2011 EPL Prediction League 2010/2011

Only 3 people with 3 points while the rest of us scores zero in the Outcome category.

Congratulations to ianrush, Bedokian and necroastr!

Congrats also to ihawk98 and ianrush for reaching 100 points.

Hope to see more next week!

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.