KEEP LIFE SIMPLE

Friday, January 18, 2008

Hi finally I'm posting something :O Post will include this weekend's EPL fixtures and predictions, the English FA Cup 3rd Round replay results, and the FA Cup 4th round draw.

THE FA CUP 3RD ROUND REPLAY RESULTS
MANCHESTER CITY 1 WEST HAM UNITED 0
HEREFORD UNITED 1 TRANMERE ROVERS 0
HAVANT AND WATERLOOVILLE 4 SWANSEA CITY 2
NEWCASTLE UNITED 4 STOKE CITY 1
LIVERPOOL 5 LUTON TOWN 0
READING 0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1
MILLWALL 2 WALLSALL 1
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2 CHARLTON ATHLETIC 2
(AFTER EXTRA TIME, WBA WIN ON PENALTIES)
BRISTOL ROVERS P-P FULHAM
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY P-P DERBY COUNTY
BARNET P-P SWINDON TOWN
(These 3 matches to be re-scheduled)

THE FA CUP 4TH ROUND FIXTURES
SOUTHEND UNITED VS BARNSLEY
MANSFIELD TOWN VS MIDDLESBROUGH
ARSENAL VS NEWCASTLE UNITED
COVENTRY CITY VS MILLWALL
OLDHAM ATHLETIC VS HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
SWINDON TOWN OR BARNET VS FULHAM OR BRISTOL ROVERS
LIVERPOOL VS HAVANT AND WATERLOOVILLE
SOUTHAMPTON VS BURY
PORTSMOUTH VS PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
DERBY COUNTY OR SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY VS PRESTON NORTHEND
WATFORD VS WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
PETERBOROUGH UNITED VS WEST BROMWICH ALBION
WIGAN ATHLETIC VS CHELSEA
HEREFORD UNITED VS CARDIFF CITY
MANCHESTER UNITED VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
SHEFFIELD UNITED VS MANCHESTER CITY

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE- FIXTURES AND PREDICTIONS
BLACKBURN ROVERS 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 @ EWOOD PARK
Blackburn have been erratic of late, but poor travellers Boro will still dread travelling to face Blackburn, who are a difficult side to play against on their day. The hosts should get three points to further recover from a damaging run of defeats late last year.

FULHAM 1 ARSENAL 2 @ CRAVEN COTTAGE
A London derby takes centre stage as relegation-threatened Fulham take on second-placed Arsenal at Craven Cottage. Fulham have appointed Roy Hodgson as their new manager, but his reign hasn't started the way he would have preferred, with two defeats out of two, albeit by narrow margins. The Gunners will be gunning for revenge following a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Birmingham City at home, only the second time this season that they have dropped points at the Emirates.

PORTSMOUTH 1 DERBY COUNTY 0 @ FRATTON PARK
Pompey are severely weakened due to the African Nations Cup, with key players in midfield and attack jetting off to seek international glory. The unlucky Rams remain rooted at the foot of the table, almost certainly set to be relegated. The results do not always tell the truth though, as they should have had more points with battling displays, but ended up conceding heart-breaking late goals to condemn themselves to defeats. Nevertheless, the hosts still have a far stronger squad than Derby, and should narrowly scrape 3 points.

READING 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 @ MADEJSKI STADIUM
The Royals are Manchester United's recent bogey team. There have been 5 occasions where these two sides have clashed since Reading won promotion last season, and they managed to secure stalemates in 3 of those matches, while the other two were narrowly scraped by the Red Devils, both by 3-2 scorelines. Nevertheless, with the Red Devil's attacking quartet of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez in red hot form, few can see the Royals even getting a draw out of this.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 SUNDERLAND 1 @ WHITE HART LANE
Poor travellers Sunderland take on a rejuvenated Spurs in London this weekend. Sunderland revived hopes of escaping relegation with important victories over Bolton and Portsmouth. However, a trip to Spurs may prove to be daunting, as the Lilywhites are currently in good form, and are looking to climb up the table towards an European qualification spot. With Spurs scoring goals with ease, this could be an open attacking game of football.

BIRMINGHAM CITY 1 CHELSEA 1 @ ST ANDREWS
Birmingham achieved one of the biggest shock's of the season thus far with a fantastic 1-1 draw at Arsenal. That feat made them the only team other than league leaders Manchester United to have taken points off the Gunners at the Emirates this season. Earlier this season, Chelsea pulled off a fortunate 3-2 win over their hosts today. Despite the recent arrivals of Anelka and Ivanovic to name a few, the Brum's spirited performances could well earn them a point against their more illustrious opponents.

NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 @ ST JAMES PARK
Newcastle are rejuvenated following the appointment of Kevin Keegan as manager, nearly 11 years after he left the club. He is deemed the Magpie's most successful manager in recent times, though he failed to win any silverware for the "sleeping giants" of English football. They were hammered 0-6 by Manchester United last weekend, but with the appointment of Keegan announced, the team's spirit was raised and they crushed Stoke City 4-1 in the FA Cup 3rd round replay, despite being reduced to 10 men early in the match. Bolton's firepower have been heavily weakened by the departures of El Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka, who went to the African Nations Cup and moved to Chelsea respectively. Despite the host's shaky defence, not many people will expect the Bolton frontline to pose too much threat.

WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 EVERTON 1 @ JJB STADIUM
A revitalised Wigan take on Everton in an intriguing battle this weekend. Everton are comfortably perched in 5th spot while Wigan are precariously perched just above the dreaded dropzone, but Wigan have produced many good results recently, including an excellent 1-1 draw at Anfield against powerhouses Liverpool. Everton were recently dumped out of the FA Cup by lower league side Oldham Athletic, while also losing the 1st leg of the League Cup semifinal to Chelsea, albeit controversially. Up against their spirited hosts, they may well drop points and allow other European qualification-hopefuls to consolidate their places in the top seven.

MANCHESTER CITY 2 WEST HAM UNITED 2 @ CITY OF MANCHESTER STADIUM
Man City pulled off a lucky win over West Ham in midweek in the FA Cup 3rd round replay, and barely 3 days later the teams meet again at the same venue. The Hammers will be gunning for revenge. They failed to convert countless opportunities in midweek and were left stunned when City snatched an undeserved winner. City's form has dipped over the last few weeks, although they are still carving out victories at home. Any more points dropped this weekend, and they could well drop out of the race for the final Champions League spot.

LIVERPOOL 3 ASTON VILLA 1
The Reds will be looking to put on a roaring performance as a show of support for beleaguered manager Rafael Benitez. The Liverpool manager has come under heavy criticism for poor results, including 4 straight draws in the league. Even near-bankrupt League One side Luton Town managed to force a FA Cup replay with them. He has rightly been blamed for many of those poor results, due to his controversial rotation policy. He has dropped on-form players for under-performing ones, and has clearly paid the price for his side are virtually out of the race for the league title. Striker Fernando Torres is in red-hot form but still hasn't pinned down a permanent starting spot. Peter Crouch has put in decent performances in his rare cameo appearances, but Benitez still prefers the less-effective Kuyt or Voronin. He has also displeased the club's owners with public outbursts at them, but the owners in turn have hardly provided him with any support during difficult times. Liverpool fans will hope that the Spaniard gets his formation and tactics correct and gain 3 vital points, to at least pin down a Champions League spot.

(Btw, I missed last week's predictions! Forgot about it =x)

Joel at 1/18/2008 04:40:00 PM :: link