Weekend Outlook (01 Oct 2006)

Manchester United vs Newcastle United

"...Unconvincing...."

- JayWalk, 30 Sep 2006

So we managed to exact sweet revenge against Benfica during midweek. However, as with our recent past victories, there is a word to describe them.

Unconvincing.

We did open the season with impressive results but thereafter, we've only managed to just scrape through. A 2-1 win over Watford, a 1-0 win over Spurs and a 3-2 win over Celtic hardly appease the fans' worry. Lucky seems to be the word to surmise the sentiment for all of us. Certainly not a good sign for a club of title contending stature.

Well, as far as the ECL is concerned, the worst part of the Round 1 fixtures is over as we not only completed the away Benfica fixture, we completed it with 3 points in the bag. A win and a draw to follow, would easily get us to the top of the table and I would expect nothing less than a win at Old Trafford over FC Copenhagen in 2 weeks' time. As soon as the 3 points gets in the bag, we can ease up on the throttle as a subsequent single point from any of the remaining 3 ECL matches would see us top of the group and a favourable seeding in the second round.

With one distraction out of the way, we can finally, shift our attention and focus fully on the EPL. Hopefully, if the rest of the English ECL teams are still struggling to ensure qualification in the ECL, we would then have an advantage over them, should we meet domestically. However, since all 4 English clubs are doing very well so far, I don't see this type of advantage coming to fruition. Still, it is better than to be the only club to have to struggle to ensure advancement to the second round while everybody else is cruising comfortably.

JayWalk The Talk: The bad news is that we have Silvestre out for 6 weeks, to join Park and Giggs in the sickbay. The good news is that Newcastle are in worse shape than us. Their list of casualties runs from Owen, Given, Solano to the recent Babayaro and Bramble.

Newcastle could not have picked a worse time to meet ManUnited this weekend. The Geordies have quite a number of factors counting against them.

• Old Trafford. Home court advantage in favour of ManUtd.
• Heavy casulty list.
• ManUtd has 2 more days of rest as Newcastle only just returned from the UEFA Cup victory on Thursday.
• ManUtd has not lost to Newcastle since the days of Keegan. Remember Keane getting a red card for throwing the ball at Shearer during the dying seconds of that fateful match?

JayWalk The Walk: In their last 5 head-to-heads, it's 5-0 in favour of the Red Devils and ManUtd has scored no less than 2 goals in each game. I would expect the same for this game but a big headache if ManUtd would be able to keep a clean sheet, considering the fact that our defenders have been bumbling of late.

Bookies has set ManUtd to give a 1.25-ball handicap and a strong mandate of 1.85 decimal odds to beat it. However, being the sceptic that I have been recently, I have this gut feeling that Newcastle may just sneak in a goal. A victory is without doubt in the kitty for ManUtd but I am just not confident enough to wager on it.

Same goes for the 5 matches on Saturday. Hands off as the midweek Euro exertion may just be the glitch to throw everybody off tangent.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 30 Sep - 01 Oct 2006

One more game before we break for International Fixtures again. What better time since I will be flying that following Monday. Imagine you guys without my table under Wednesday. I wonder if anybody can tahan the cold turkey? Heh heh....

Submit your predictions over at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183 .

Sign up for a SPUG account if you haven't.

EPL11: SAT 30/9 Charlton vs Arsenal on ESPN at 10pm SIN/HKT

EPL12: SUN 01/10 West Ham vs Reading on ESPN at 9pm SIN/HKT

Good luck and good game!

Midweek Outlook (26 Sep 2006)

Benfica vs Manchester United

"...My gut feel is that Benfica will adopt the frustrate-for-a-draw tactic...."

- JayWalk, 26 Sep 2006

In a way, it looked as if we failed to score 3 points against Reading last weekend. However, it could also be part and parcel of Fergie's strategy to save up for tonight's match against Benfica. Benfica holds a special place in ManUtd's heart and unfortunately, it wasn't in a good way. It was Benfica that got ManUtd eliminated from the ECL last year. Not even a consolation UEFA Cup space for ManUtd as they were hammered right to the bottom of the group.

Tonight shall be the night to avenge that humiliating defeat.

Problem is that ManUtd's form of late has not giving people much confidence. As fans, it would have been more comforting to come to this game with a 2-0 victory over Arsenal, followed by a 5-0 thumping of Reading. No? Alas, to dream of something like that is simply not giving our opponents the proper respect. And that, ladies and gentlemen was how we were so ungraciously eliminated. We were sloppy, sluggish, unimaginative but most fatal of all, we were over confident as evident in the player's lack of urgency and hunger when on the pitch.

JayWalk The Talk: While we have no info from the Benfica dressing room, we do know that we are without Silvestre, Giggs and Park. While we have a relatively full strength in the defence department, our defenders have been bumbling much of late which is a worrying sign. Up front, we have all the strikers ready to pounce but without Park and Giggs, we are a little weak around the flanks. Again, we may have to rely on C.Ronaldo to bail us out of this tricky away fixture.

JayWalk The Walk: A year ago, we have ManUtd having to give up 0.75 ball, despite being the away team. A year later, having lost that fateful match 1-2, the handicap has been revised to ManUtd giving 0.25 ball. Still, I think given the fact that we dropped points in our last 2 games, I would have prefer the odds to be even ball or a slight +0.25 advantage. Apparently not unfortunately. Damn.

My gut feel is that Benfica will adopt the frustrate-for-a-draw tactic tonight to hold ManUtd at bay.

Hence my verdict is to stay away. In fact, stay away from all 8 matches tonight. I have never seen so many red flags in my research in a single matchday before. Certainly a very very bad omen.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 23 - 24 Sep 2006

We have not 1 Perfect 10s this weekend but 4! Congrats to Bedokian, TheSaint888, Cha_Dum_Yen and myself for achieving the feat!

What a disastrous weekend for Everton (the bloke) for a zero that saw him tumble from 1st to joint 6th. In his place, we congratulate TheSaint888 for taking over the throne. However, with 3 players (myself included) merely 2 points away, we wait with baited breath if TheSaint888 would be able to hold on to the top spot for more than just 1 week.

Fluke? We'll see!


SPUG 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) Bedokian (24 Sep 2006)
2) TheSaint888 (24 Sep 2006)
3) Voxeros (24 Sep 2006)
4) Cha_Dum_Yen (24 Sep 2006)

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)

SPUG Blackout
Also, this is a mirror for the SPUG Server where the actual prediction game is being carried out at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183. In the event SPUG server goes down, we will automatically carry on the prediction game at this blog site.

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 Outlook (23 Sep 2006)

Reading vs Manchester United

"...Just because we lost unexpectedly last week against Arsenal doesn't mean that we would automatically bounce back with a comfortable victory...."

- JayWalk, 23 Sep 2006

We had the chance to eliminate one of the title challengers early in the season but we didn't take it. It was a terrible game as we were not only outplayed but outplayed by a injury-strickened skeletal outfit of Arsenal.

Absolutely shameful.

Full credits go to a worthy opponent for Wenger managed a well deserved 3-points under such constrains.

As a result of the loss, we have a surprise new league leader, Portsmouth, who have yet to concede a goal under the teaching of defensive coach, ex-Gunner Tony Adams. Like I said, for the past few seasons, Harry Redknapp guy is one helluva manager. However, I have reasons to believe that Portsmouth's perch at the top is just the usual early-season pretenders having their day in the limelight. We have had the same situation with Charlton over the past few seasons and see where they end at the end of 38 games? These teams usually start sliding towards the middle of the table nearing to Christmas when they run out of stamina. This is when the big boys show their mettle and surge ahead leaving the mid-tablers behind. Good news is that pretenders almost never get relegated and as such, we can safely say that Portsmouth will be around for another season in the EPL.

Speaking of pretenders, we have our opponents today, Reading, who are currently sitting in 6th place. However, do not be fooled by the good showing for their opening 5 games have been against relatively weak teams. Well, the wheels of karma are here befalling on them for they will be meeting ManUtd, West Ham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Portsmouth and Liverpool in that order. The next 6 games will be the real test for Steve Coppell's team. I expect them to disappear into the bottom half after these 6 maulings.

Still as easy an opponent, I make Reading out to be, do not be fooled into false confidence that a ManUtd victory today is a given. Just because we lost unexpectedly last week against Arsenal doesn't mean that we would automatically bounce back with a comfortable victory. First of all, there is the momentum which is obviously missing and second of all, we have an away game to Benfica in midweek.

Benfica, the team that buried us alive in the ECL last season. Expect Fergie not to let the humiliating memory go away that easily. Given the Fergie has won multiples of everything except the ECL, I won't be surprised if the second ECL title be Fergie's final holy grail. Knowing Fergie for all these years, I am sure he would not be taking the upcoming Benfica match likely. As a result, performance away at Reading today may be slightly affected.

JayWalk The Talk: Fergie may be doing 2 things today. Resting of key players ahead and getting the newly recovereds up to match-fitness quickly. I would expect Rooney and Scholes to start for both are really out of sorts as a result of the 3-match suspension. Good news is that Heinze, Vidic and Smith are back. Smith should be the 3rd striker, resting Solksjaer ahead of midweek. I think today's attack line-up would be a Rooney-Saha partnership, of which the latter is still very rusty in front of goal. Vidic and Heinze are too early to be hitting the pitch but as a result of Silvestre limping off last week, Heinze may have no choice but to be thrown into the fray right away. However, I think Evra would be the better candidate to start as Silvestre's replacement with Heinze on the bench.

Giggs and Park are still out and I am worried as Carrick is starting to make me think that we just spent 18.6 million Sterling on a dud. I think Fergie would continue to use O'Shea and Scholes in the middle but I am uncomfortable with O'Shea playing so far up front for after all, he is fundamentally a defender and a good defender at that. I think Fergie is trying to convert him to a defensive midfielder just like he did with Phil Neville in the past.

I hope C.Ronaldo will shine today and perhaps he would be the messiah to bring the 3 points back to Old Trafford.

JayWalk The Walk: Today would be the return of the prodigal son, Steve Coppell who was the Red Devils' superstar in the 70s and 80s. I would expect a good fight from Reading despite the fact that there are debutants in the EPL. One thing we learned from all these seasons is that once we get over confident, we will be quickly, harshly and swiftly brought crashing down to earth. For the sake of the 3 points, I appeal to all the superstars to leave their egos off the pitch and work hard for the victory regardless if the team is relatively strong or week.

ManUtd, as usual, has to give up a 1-ball handicap despite being the away team and a 2.05 decimal odds to overcome it. I have a feeling the coming Benfica match is going to affect the result here today. Reading may just be lucky to sneak a draw here.

Verdict? Stay away. Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool look like better bets today.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 23 - 24 Sep 2006

Most of us kena the rug pulled from under us by Everton last week. Will we get it right this time round? Saturday sees Chelsea away to Fulham. Should be 3 easy point there. No?

We'll shall see, won't we?

Submit your predictions over at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183 .

Sign up for a SPUG account if you haven't.

EPL9: SAT 23/9 Fulham vs Chelsea on ESPN at 10pm SIN/HKT

EPL10: SUN 24/9 Newcastle vs Everton on ESPN at 11pm SIN/HKT

Good luck and good game!

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 16 - 17 Sep 2006

First, a welcome to Holding for return to yet another season of the SPUG EPL Prediction League.

A lot of us were wrong footed by Everton (the team) this weekend. While many of us got a big fat zero on the outcomes, we are lucky to be let off by the rest for none managed to score the 6 points.

Not much change in the table this week as Everton (the bloke) managed to stay at the top of the table. Well done.


SPUG 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) Nobody Yet!

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)

SPUG Blackout
Also, this is a mirror for the SPUG Server where the actual prediction game is being carried out at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183. In the event SPUG server goes down, we will automatically carry on the prediction game at this blog site.

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 Outlook (17 Sep 2006)

Manchester United vs Arsenal

"...a defeat on Sunday would effectively mark the end of the Premiership race for Arsenal..."

- JayWalk, 16 Sep 2006

Midweek saw the big boys kicking off their respective European campaigns and I am happy to report that most of the English clubs have fared fairly well with the exception of West Ham United being the only casualty to go down 0-1 at Upton Park in the UEFA Cup.

The ManUtd-Arsenal is the big clash of the weekend and it is of utmost importance to Arsenal who are currently 10-points adrift from the top. 13 if they go down again today. Even with a game in hand, a defeat on Sunday would effectively mark the end of the Premiership race for Arsenal and that would leave Wenger with the Cup tournaments to focus on. And yes, we are only 5 games into the season so far.

ManUtd may have had the perfect start to the season with 4-for-4 on the domestic front and a recent 3-2 win over Celtic. However, there were signs of danger as the last 2 matches (against Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic) were won unconvincingly. Midfield is still relatively weak while Ferdinand seemed to have spurts of concentration lapse on the pitch of late. If not for the fact that we have Van der Sar saving our backsides week in and week out, we wouldn't be placed at the top of the league table today.

Michael Carrick so far has been performing well. His distribution skills are quite good and he has to ability to "think a step ahead". In spite of that, I am still not convinced that he is worth the 18.6 million Sterling price tag. 8.6 million, maybe. 18.6 million? He needs to step his game up another notch or two before I get warmed up to the price tag. Anyway, it looks like we are still lacking bite in the midfield department and don't be surprised to see Fergie making a second bid for Owen Hargreaves during the January transfer window.

JayWalk The Talk: Strength report from the ManUtd camp says that we lost Giggs and Park to injury. This would severely weaken our left side and I foresee Fergie placing Richardson on the left flank on Sunday.

On a brighter note, Alan Smith should be back but probably starting him off on the bench again while Scholes and Rooney are definite starters after having completed their respective suspensions. Heinze also looks good as his recovery date is set to be this week. Expect the Argentine defender to work his way back to the Starting XI with reserve games in the upcoming weeks.

I am speculating today's formation to be Rooney and Saha up front with Smith and Solksjaer on the bench. Carrick and Scholes will command the middle with the latter placed slightly in front. Richardson will take left flank while Ronaldo or Fletcher will stick to the right. Brown, Neville, Silvestre and Ferdinand will continue to hold the defence as they did during midweek.

Our main worry would still be the midfield but the comforting news is that Arsenal's squad health isn't doing that well either. Henry and van Persie are doubtful. Toure, Clichy, Lauren, Senderos and Diaby add to the injury misery. Looks like Ljunberg has the ardous tasks this Sunday, of carrying the team that sorely missed the services of Viera, Bergkamp, Cole, Pires and Campbell.

JayWalk The Walk: ManUtd has been unbeaten in their last 5 head-to-heads and bookies are making the home side to give a 0.5-ball handicap and a difficult decimal odds of 2.025 to overcome.

Arsenal is currently in an unfamiliar place in the league table, sitting 4th from the bottom. The big problem with the Gunners is that for the past 3 league matches, they often start the game with a goal behind. As long as ManUtd ensure that Arsenal do not score first, it should be yet another victory for the home side.

The way I see it, it would be a ManUtd victory but only by the skin of their teeth. Small punt on ManUtd to give the 0.5 ball handicap.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 16 - 17 Sep 2006

Looks like it will be an exciting clash between Chelsea and Liverpool on Sunday. It was a battle between The Blues and The Reds last weekend where the latter was demolished 3-0. Will the Reds exact revenge on the Blues (albeit a different team) this weekend?

Let see what you guys think.

Submit your predictions over at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183 .

Sign up for a SPUG account if you haven't.

EPL7: SAT 16/9 Everton vs Wigan on ESPN at 09:55pm SIN/HKT

EPL8: SUN 17/9 Chelsea vs Liverpool on ESPN at 08:25pm SIN/HKT

Good luck and good game!

Midweek Outlook (13 Sep 2006)

Manchester United vs Glasgow Celtic

"...There has been a conspiracy theory going around saying that Celtic may roll over and play dead today...."

- JayWalk, 13 Sep 2006

It is time again for Fergie to chase that second personal holy grail. After a disastrous showing last season, you'd be sure Fergie would not let such mistakes happen a second time.

Actually, if you think about it, the UEFA ECL First Round is relatively straight forward. With 4 teams in each group and 6 games to play in total, any team that can earn 10 points out of a possible total of 18 would more or less earn their ticket into the lucrative second round.

There has been a conspiracy theory going around saying that Celtic may roll over and play dead today. They are doing that in the hope that ManUtd would be able to amass all 12 points in the first 4 games of the group round and hence earn an early qualification. With 4 victories, ManUtd would have virtually qualified for the second round and hence may "return the favour" by easing off the pedal when it comes to the 5th game, which coincidentally is against Celtic.

Seeding and a favourable draw has made ManUtd a virtual shoo-in for the 2nd round. Group F is all about ManUtd, while the other three teams are there as cannon fodders to fill up the numbers. As redundant as Celtic, Copenhagen and Benfica may be made out to sound, it is still delightful opportunity for these 3 teams as one of them would actually get the chance to make to the second round. Even 3rd placing would be a good outcome for them as 2nd runner-up gets them a UEFA Cup spot. Such is the difference in level of standards between ManUtd and any of these 3 teams.

JayWalk The Talk: The Battle of Britain sees a relatively clean health sheet on both sides with the exception of the long term injured like Heinze and Vidic.

Scholes and Rooney would be raring to go after being "well rested" as a result of each serving their 3-match suspensions. Expect, Wayne to unleash all that pent up energy on the Scottish side.

Celtic may have had quite a number of new signing, of which Gravesen and Vennegor of Hesselink deserved special mention as they are of the higher calibre signings by Strachan. However, both have yet to be settled properly into the squad and I think they both would not be able to play to their fullest potential yet. Well, at least not this game.

ManUtd, on the other hand, has gelled very well as a team and it is evident with their season opening 4-for-4 record, even without van Nistelrooy, Keane, Rooney or Scholes.

ManUtd are a class about Celtic and Old Trafford would be that fortress that Celtic will be unable to conquer. I'd be surprised if Celtic can even score tonight.

JayWalk The Walk: ManUtd will be far too strong for Celtic as evident in the bookies offering ManUtd at -1.5 balls and a decimal odds of 1.9 to overcome it. Expect Celtic to concede a couple of goals while scoring none. There is also a gut feel to see Wayne Rooney getting onto the scoresheet more than once.

Take ManUtd and give the 1.5 ball handicap.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 09 - 10 Sep 2006

Everton gets to stay on top of the table but the rest of us are fast catching up. 4 of us almost hit the Perfect 10 if not for the disappointed showing of Chelsea.

No medals to give out this week. Oh well, better luck with the next round of predictions.


SPUG 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) Nobody Yet!

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)

SPUG Blackout
Also, this is a mirror for the SPUG Server where the actual prediction game is being carried out at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183. In the event SPUG server goes down, we will automatically carry on the prediction game at this blog site.

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 Outlook (09 Sep 2006)

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

"...Spurs has never won at Old Trafford dating as far back as 1989..."

- JayWalk, 09 Sep 2006

It great to get back to domestic fixtures after a break in the name of Euro 2008 Qualifiers and I am happy to report that all the seeded teams have performed up to expectation. It was certainly heartening to see the French team exact revenge on the Italians with a thumping 3-0 victory. Frankly, I felt that the French should have won the World Cup but penalty kicks can be such a cruel way to decide the outcome of a game. Oh well.

Anyway, good news is that everybody more or less returned from international duty unscathed and I am not just refering to our own boys. Just glad there was no injuries.

Further news for ManUtd is that Fergie and Giggs both pick up award for Manager of the Month and Player of the Month respectively. Both have been loyal servants to the club but ironically, while Fergie is going to the stage for the 16th time, it was Giggs' first after more than 600 premiership games. Nonetheless, it is heartening to see Giggs finally getting the recognition that he deserved.

Tottenham Hotspur, on the other hand, has been a huge disappointment. Perhaps we placed too much hope on them for they have been absolutely stellar during those pre-season friendlies. Just when we thought Martin Jol has finally turned the corner, Spurs opened their season like a fuddy duddy mid-table candidate.

Spurs to finish 5th this season? Hah! I don't think so!! I think Everton would stand a better chance with O'Neil's Aston Villa, Redknapp's Portsmouth and Pardew's West Ham United lurking closely behind as dark horses for that 5th spot. Spurs would probably finish behind them, at the rate that Spurs are playing.

JayWalk The Talk: Good news from the Physio's Office as Captain Neville should be fit to start. Heinze and Vidic both started training yesterday but it would still be a while before they will get back onto the pitch in the Reserves Team. Smith is slightly ahead of them as the blonde striker just completed 90 minutes of Reserves game during midweek. However, it is unlikely Smith will feature in the bench, let alone a place in the starting sheet. Given the horrific nature that Smith's leg was broken, it is certainly wiser not to rush back into the Starting XI. Smith is young and still has many years of fresh legs to go. Let's not end it prematurely with an over-eagerness to play him. Having said that, with Scholes and Rooney still serving their suspensions, it looks like it will still be Saha, Giggs and/or Solksjaer leading the attack with Michael "The Man To Watch" Carrick taking the "CON".

On the Spurs' side, I think Tottenham Hotspur was duped into buying Malbranque. Spurs must have been desperate to buy an injured player just so that they can beat the transfer deadline. So after spending 2 million Sterling, you get a player carrying a hernia and tagging a sizeable medical bill. Not a good deal if you ask me.

On a more positive note, Spurs' Skipper, Ledley King, is fit to return to the starting sheet and together with the aggressiveness of Bulldog Davids and the scoring prowess of Robbie Keane, Spurs would certainly be putting up a credible fight. Despite starting for England in midweek, I doubt if Defoe can get off the bench today. Jol would most likely opt for an Irish-Egyptian strike duo since Berbatov is also out with a groin injury.

JayWalk The Walk: Spurs has never won at Old Trafford dating as far back as 1989. Does Gary Lineker ring a bell? If you do? You are just like me. LKK. Lao Kok Kok. Hahahaha.....

Jokes aside, bookies are looking at yet another victory for ManUtd to go 4-for-4 as a 1-ball handicap is given to away team and a 1.90 decimal odds for the home side to over come it.

The outcome of this punt would be decided if Spurs is able to score. I have no doubt that ManUtd would be able to score 2 two goals easily but a leaked goal would square this punt on account of the handicap.

I would go for ManUtd today but a smaller wager just to be on the safe side. In the mean time, do look at Arsenal and Blackburn for both look like better winners in their respective fixtures.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League - Match Weekend 09 - 10 Sep 2006

After a short break to make way for international fixtures, we are back for more prediction action!

Submit your predictions over at http://www.spug.net/showthread.php?t=85183 . Sign up for a SPUG account if you haven't.

EPL5: SAT 9/9 Chelsea vs Charlton on ESPN at 10.00pm SIN/HKT

EPL6: SUN 10/9 West Ham vs Aston Villa on ESPN at 11.00pm SIN/HKT

Good luck and good game!