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