Headlines from last week..

IMPRESSIVE HULL SNATCH DRAW
Blackburn Rovers 1 Hull City 1

LUCKY REDS FIGHT BACK
Liverpool 2 Middlesbrough 1

OWEN SCORES ON MAGPIES RETURN
Newcastle United 1 Bolton Wanderers 0

STOKE STUN VILLA IN THRILLER
Stoke City 3 Aston Villa 2

SPURS FLOP AGAIN
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Sunderland 2

BATTLING WBA LOSE TO TOFFEES
West Bromwich Albion 1 Everton 2

LOWLY FULHAM STUN GUNNERS
Fulham 1 Arsenal 0

CECH SAVES THE DAY FOR CHELSEA
Wigan Athletic 0 Chelsea 1

CITY ROMP TO VICTORY
Manchester City 3 West Ham United 0

UNSUNG HERO STRIKES AGAIN
Portsmouth 0 Manchester United 1

Predictions 5/10, 1/10

THIS WEEKEND

UEFA SUPER CUP
(ENG) MANCHESTER UNITED v ZENIT ST. PETERSBURG (RUS)
The Champions League winners face off against the UEFA Cup winners to earn the right to hold aloft the UEFA Super Cup trophy. The Red Devils are odds-on favourites to lift the trophy but Zenit are no pushovers, having been impressive on the way to clinching their maiden European title; albeit a 2nd-tier one. Manchester United still have not bought a new striker to provide the incisive finish to their attacking moves; hence this match could be full of entertainment and chances yet be short of goals.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
Bolton Wanderers 1 West Brom 1
West Brom will go in search of their first points of this BPL campaign when they tackle Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. They have recorded two losses so far, but one-goal defeats by Arsenal and Everton is nothing to be ashamed of. They are more than capable of getting a point here.

Everton 0 Portsmouth 0
Two teams who love playing defensive football will probably play out an absolutely bore draw here. Their defensive tactics will cancel out each other and there will probably be few chances. Only watch if you need a way to fall asleep!

Hull City 1 Wigan Athletic 1
Hull have been impressive so far, getting 4 points out of 6 despite being tipped as relegation favourites. Infront of a boisterous home crowd, they could get another hard-fought point here.

Middlesbrough 2 Stoke City 0
Boro were unlucky to be beaten by Liverpool last weekend, but their opponents this weekend, Stoke City, are a vastly different side from the Reds in terms of quality. Middlesbrough should win this match comfortably.

West Ham United 0 Blackburn Rovers 1
Paul Ince is doing fine as a newbie BPL manager so far, and a win against West Ham away will certainly enhance his profile. West Ham collapsed 0-3 against Man City after Mark Noble was sent off and are set to struggle against the visitors.

Arsenal 2 Newcastle United 1
Newcastle have looked impressive so far, but the return of Cesc Fabregas to the starting line-up will prove too much for the Magpies to handle. The Gunners will be keen to forget the Fulham defeat by winning convincingly infront of their home fans here.

Chelsea 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Tottenham's poor start to the season looks set to continue as they face a trip to "fortress" Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have not lost in over 80 matches. With Berbatov still not sold, he will have a detrimental effect on the team. Chelsea will win this one to gain revenge for last season's League Cup final defeat to Spurs after extra time.

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 0
Good transfer market purchases by Sunderland manager Roy Keane could prove to be the foundations of a good season for the Black Cats. They were unlucky to lose to Liverpool and then impressively won 2-1 away to Spurs. Man City are still in crisis despite last weekend's win and off-the-field issues could contribute to a loss here at the Stadium of Light.

Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 1
Liverpool were lucky to win both their BPL matches of the season so far very unconvincingly. Villa are no pushovers on home turf against the 'Big Four' and coupled with Liverpool's midweek assertions in their Champions League qualifiers, Villa should be able to get a point at least.

Joel at 8/29/2008 08:08:00 PM :: link

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