Champions League Preview: 27th November 2007

Manchester United vs Sporting Lisbon - Champions League Group Stage

"Finally our fringe players will be getting some valuable play time..." - Sheena


Quite unlike the horrible situation we found ourselves in this time last year, we have already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages with a comfortable 2 games left to go.

This season, Fergie gives me the impression that he is gunning for the Champions League rather than for the Premiership title. Having wrested the title back from the control of Chelsea last season, the manager, players, and fans are probably satisfied and are turning their attention to the Holy Grail of continental football.

The Champions League is well-known as the one trophy that Sir Alex badly wants to win again. Despite all our domestic success, it is true that Manchester United have never really performed up to expectations in the Champions League, with our lowest point coming in 2005 when we crashed out without even making it to the knockout stages.

Therefore, this time, the fact that we have qualified with so much to spare means that we not only can heave a huge sigh of relief and sit on our laurels for a bit, but we can focus on the Premier League and not worry about the Champions League till February (though, of course, it didn't exactly seem that way when we lost to Bolton last weekend - utterly disappointing).

The important thing is that for tonight's match against Sporting Lisbon, Sir Alex has the luxury of resting some key players and has already promised fringe players such as John O' Shea and Darren Fletcher a starting berth.

Which is a good thing because, as we draw near to December and its congested fixture list when injuries, suspensions, and tiredness will take its toll on our regular players, we will need our fringe players to step out and shine and they will not be able to do it unless they are match fit and been given some playing time in all sorts of matches - whether big or small.

Given that Man Utd will be fielding a second-string team tonight and have already qualified, I expect them to take it easy tonight. However, Sporting Lisbon still have an outside chance of qualifying, so I foresee them putting up a fierce battle at Old Trafford tonight. This could go either way, but I'm going to go with a draw for this match.


Man to watch (Manchester United): Seriously, I have no idea, given that the strating lineup will probably be reshuffled.

Man to watch (Sporting Lisbon): Frankly, they have not had any players that made me sit up and take notice since Ricardo Quaresma left them.

Jaywalk's Encyclopaedia of Bookies' Odds says: Man Utd is giving 3/4 ball and 1.825 decimal odds to beat it. Like I said earlier, stay away, because I just feel "draw" all over this match.

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 (01 - 02 December 2007)

Is it me or are we predicting a lot of Newcastle lately?

Anyway, I need to buck up as I have been losing a lot of point lately and starting to drift away from the top.

On the bright side (for everybody else that is), we are seeing more contenders pulling in 6-pointers consistently and really starting to crowd at the top. New comers like JiaHao and Raynaldo are also making steady progress leapfrogging over the inactive players.

So, without further ado, here Hughes vs Allardyce and Benitez vs "I-Have-No-Idea-Who-Took-Over-Sammy-Lee".

EPL27: SAT 01/12 Blackburn Rovers vs Newcastle United at 11:00 pm SIN/HKT

EPL28: SUN 02/12 Liverpool vs Bolton Wanderers at 11:00 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 24 - 25 Nov 2007

I thought I was in for yet another dismal weekend when Defoe was going to take the spot kick in the dying minutes. Luckily for me (not for Cool402 though), it couldn't be converted and I got 3 points to salvage a bad Saturday where Newcastle was trounced 0-3 at home.

Congrats to Beaver21 for the 9-point haul. Sooooo close to the Perfect 10 but yet so far! If it is any consolation, his haul got him up a few more notches to 6th.

Special mention to David.hvp who produced yet another fine showing and seeing him leaping up the ladder over the past couple of weeks.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.


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 but soon!

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
The SPUG 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://jaywalk.blog-city.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, etc.

Prediction League Past Winners
Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

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.

Beer Fund Raising : 24 - 25 Nov 2007

Continue from my earlier entry what's wrong with the England team.

2) Problem With The Players. There are seriously too many foreign players in the league but I am against the idea of imposing a quota as it contravenes the principle of free trade. So how? Simple, groom more good local players such that the league doesn't need to over rely on foreign imports to raise or at the very least maintain the high standard of football.

The problem right now is that we have too many mediocre local players earning too much money. Even an average player can command a hefty 20,000 Pounds Sterling weekly salary to sit on the bench week in, week out. The clubs are just too generous with the money. I don't disagree with paying high wages to secure to services of a good player but let's be more disciplined with the wages of players in the lower calibre tier. That way, we would be able to generate more hunger and get the players to work harder to earn the money vis-a-vis, raise or at the very least maintain the current high standards which indirectly will produce a crop of better players for national squad selection.

Money is just too easy right now.

As for the WPI, it is really excruciating to watch Sunderland climb a point at a time. Sure, we finally hit double digits and only 6 points (2 wins) away from our intended target but what good is it to beat McCarthy only to end up the same relegation fate?

Come on, Keane!

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

• Portsmouth - Give 0.25 ball (Win)
  
• Manchester United - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
  
• Everton - Give 0.75 ball (Win)
• Manchester City - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)
• Aston Villa - Even ball (Win)
  
  
• Barcelona - Give 2.00 ball (Win)
• Sevilla - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)
• Real Madrid - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

• Juventus - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory Only)
  
  
• Atletico Madrid - Give 1.00 ball (Draw)
  
• Villarreal - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
• Espanyol - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 5.5 - 1 - 4

Result This Season: 36.5 - 6 - 27 = 9.5-UP as at 25 Nov 2007

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (24 Nov 2007)

Bolton Wanderers vs Manchester United

"...a great No.2 (coach) doesn't automatically guarantee you a good No.1 (gaffer)..."

- JayWalk, 24 Nov 2007

It was an emotional roller coaster for the England team as just when they thought they were lost at sea a week ago, they were thrown a lifeline when Russia muck it up away to Israel. So we come to the final match of the round where England play host to an already qualified Croatia at Wembley. All they needed was a single point to qualify. How difficult would they be, as they thought to themselves, prior to the kick-off whistle?

Before you know it, they went 2 goals down only to have to claw back with 2 goals to equalise. Safely ashore? I'm afraid not as Croatia nailed the England coffin with a 77th minute winner.

I have long said that the England team needed a wake-up call by way of a slap in the face. Seriously, the England team isn't that good as the FIFA Rankings made them out to be. There are two reasons for this, where I will cover one of them here and the other in this week's Beer Fund Raising Entry.

1) Problem With The Managers. The massive overhaul is long overdue as far back as the early 90s. Bobby Robson was perhaps the last proven manager. The rest like Taylor and Venables were just plain mediocre. Hoddle was the biggest joke of them all (and seriously needed to get his head checked). Keegan was the closest to making the grade but alas with the FA pulling the carpet from underneath all the time, he was right to walk away. Eriksson probably had to shovel the same crap as Keegan but his over-exposure in the media made us overlooked that as everyone was obsessed in the witch hunt when England failed miserably (again!) in the World Cup of 2006.

Then we have McClaren. He is a good coach and a great No.2 during his stint at Old Trafford. However, a great No.2 doesn't automatically guarantee you a good No.1 as we have now all witnessed. Just look at his track record when he was managing Middlesbrough. Plain boring average at best with only a Carling Cup trophy to show for, and not even good enough to be the waterboys at the Champions League. You think he would be good enough to manage The Three Lions? Come on! He was second choice after Scolari turned the FA down!

Speaking of No.2s, look at Carlos Queiroz when he stepped out of Fergie's shadow to manage Real Madrid in 2003 only to return with his tail between his legs, after a mere season. Still, without dissing a great guy, let it be noted that his defensive coaching was a major factor in ManUtd winning the Treble of 1999.

JayWalk The Talk: Good news from the sick bay is that Gary Neville is back but I doubt if he has a place in the Starting XI on the grounds of the lack of match fitness. Vidic was a doubt when Serbia's final Euro 2008 game was postponed but given that the coming game is inconsequential as a result of Poland and Portugal already qualified, Fergie is able to refuse the release of Vidic for national duty. We are going to be strong in defence as morale at the back is high with O'Shea already extended his contract and Evra to follow shortly.

The attack is less rosy as Rooney is still a couple of weeks away from recovery while Tevez is back in GMT-zone for barely 24 hours. Jet lag will be a detrimental factor to the Argentinian, leaving Saha as the only choice for selection. With no partner (Solksjaer?) available, Fergie may be playing the lone striker formation with Ronaldo, Giggs and Nani to support behind.

On the Bolton side, watch out for Diouf and Anelka will be up front and looking very menacing. A ManUtd clean sheet is going to be difficult today, though not impossible.

JayWalk The Walk: The handicap originally was ManUtd to give 1.25-ball at 2.05 decimal odds to beat it. I supposed that made the punters balked and bookies finally relented to market forces and flipped the odds around, revising ManUtd to give 1-ball handicap and a decimal odds of 1.85 to beat it.

Money percentage is 21% on Bolton to win with a +1 handicap and 79% on ManUtd to win with a -1 handicap.

ManUtd may have a Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon at Old Trafford in midweek but it really no cause for alarm as we have already qualified. Still, a draw is needed to maintain pole position of the group ahead of AS Roma. That way, we would be able to secure a more favourable draw in Round 2. Then again, it doesn't really matter if we lose the next two ECL matches and end up having to draw against winners of the other Round 1 groups. We do not fear anyone anyway.

Verdict: Go for ManUtd but only if you are able to find a Give 1-ball handicap. If bookie wants 1.25 ball from you. Just walk away. You don't need the unnecessary risk.

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 (24 - 25 November 2007)

What a weekend it turned out to be as Hiddink dropped the ball big time. No complains from the McClaren side as they have been thrown a lifeline where a draw with Croatia tomorrow at home means qualification.

My guess is that England will make it after all as Croatia won't be playing 100% for having qualified already.

Owen is injured and I questioned the intelligence of McClaren. For a meaningless game against Austria, why not rest the key players ahead of midweek's final game? Instead, we risked Owen and he ended up injured.

Stupid! Stupid!

EPL25: SAT 24/11 Newcastle United vs Liverpool at 08:45 pm SIN/HKT

EPL26: SUN 25/11 West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur at 09:30 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 10 - 11 Nov 2007

It was fun while it lasts as I occupied the top spot for 7 days before returning it back to KingMeng. I will be back! *waves fist*

For the first time this season, we were so close to getting Perfect 10s but alas Chelsea wasn't able to pull off the win to grant us that wish. Could this be the first season ever not to have a single Perfect 10 score?

Anyway, everybody was floored (well, almost everybody) when Everton pulled the late equaliser over Chelsea and I supposed those goal bonus points sure come in handy if anyone were to put in the 1 goal prediction for either side.

This coming week is Euro2008 qualifiers again as I foresee the demise of the England team when Russia finish off Israel. Still, there is the sliver of chance should Croatia buanged at Macedonia. We'll see.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.


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 but soon!

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
The SPUG 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://jaywalk.blog-city.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, etc.

Prediction League Past Winners
Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

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.

Beer Fund Raising : 10 - 12 Nov 2007

Looks like all the English clubs got out of their respective European campaign relatively unscathed with Arsenal, Chelsea and Bolton all escaping with an away draw, while ManUtd, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur all notched important wins.

Kudos to Liverpool for their record 8-0 thumping but would it be too little too late? Club rivalries aside, I always root for English clubs on the European front and so I do hope for Liverpool to be able to win their remaining 2 ECL games and join us in the second round.

I wonder if it is possible to have an All England semi-final in the ECL? We almost had it with 3 out of 4 teams in the last season's semi-finals only to have the odd man win it. Damn you AC Milan! Damn you!

Now moving on to the WPIndex, where we find Roy Keane stuck at 9 points. I wonder how long before we get to see him break the two-digit barrier?

Today is an important day for Keane as he host his first Tyne-Wear (NorthEast of England) derby. It is a game of a stuttering home side against a jinxed away side.

Who is going to win?

On the bigger picture front, experience tells us that you need about 40 points for the season in order to avoid the drop. At the rate Sunderland is picking up the points, I wonder if there would be enough league games for them?

Standing at 9 points and looking up at 40 seems as if you are standing at the front porch of the 78-storey Swissotel and looking up at the roof with the beautiful clouds in the background.

Still, the immediate target for Keane is to break the record of 15 miserable points set by Mick McCarthy. 40 can wait. Let's try to get to 16 first.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

• Derby County - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
  
  
• Empoli - Eat 0.50 ball (Testing theory only)
  
  
• Valencia - Give 1.00 ball (Win)
  

Sunday's Picks:

• Aston Villa - Even ball (Win)
• Tottenham Hotspur - Give 1.25 ball (Win)
• Portsmouth - Give 0.50 ball (Lose)
  
  
• Fiorentina - Give 0.75 ball (Testing theory only)
• Juventus - Give 0.75 ball (Testing theory only)
• AS Roma - Give 1.50 ball (Testing theory only)
  
  
• Zaragoza - Even ball (Lose)
• Real Madrid - Give 1.25 ball (Lose 1/2)

Monday's Picks:

• Arsenal - Give 1.25 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 4 - 0 - 3.5

Result This Season: 31 - 5 - 23 = 8-UP as at 12 Nov 2007

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (11 Nov 2007)

Manchester United vs Blackburn Rovers

"...I say we should take this point (or 3) at Lisbon in the next fixture..."

- JayWalk, 11 Nov 2007

Despite having a long list of injuries and just as many people admitted into the sickbay as they are coming out, nothing seems to be able to go wrong at ManUtd these days.

Murphy has left the building.

We got away pretty much unscathed at the Emirates Stadium and while everyone was lamenting about the last minute Gallas goal robbing us of our win, I felt that the 2-2 draw scoreline was a good enough for us at this stage of the season. Wait till we get nearer to the end of the season where a game as big as this is worth 6 points and guess what? It will be at Old Trafford.

In a way, it is the same theory that I applied to the ECL knock-out stages, where we meet our worthy opponents, where I always say to grab an away draw (if we can kill them in one,...), then bring them back home for the silver bullet (... then kill them in two.)

Moving from there, we had the midweek Round1-Game4 of the ECL where we have had so many cock-ups on this particular matchday in the past few seasons, that I was rubbing my eyes in disbelief that we are now 4-for-4. Not only did we win 4 ECL games on the trot and qualify with 2 games in hand, we did it in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Dynamo Kiev on their own turf.

However, as Rooney had observed during the game, the Ukrainians played without heart which led to the mauling. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we are not good but certainly not Kiev-Four-Zero good.

At 23 shots (10-on-goal) against their 8 shots (2-on-goal), I strongly recommend against getting our heads too big coming into the next match.

All that is left for us in Round 1 is a solitary point to cement our status as Group Leader, thus ensuring an easier draw in the next round. I say we should take this point (or 3) at Lisbon in the next fixture. That way, when we meet AS Roma on the final match-day of Round 1, neither team has to exert too much and risk injury for an inconsequential game.

So anyway, like I said in my earlier entry, we have no more big games all the way until 14 Dec 2007 where we take on Liverpool. After the Blackburn game, we have a mini break (Euro2008 qualifiers) until 24 Nov 2007 where we will travel to Bolton. Perfect timing to slot in some rest and recovery time for our casualties.

JayWalk The Talk: Speaking of casualties, we have a few recent setbacks, Neville is back in the sickbay, while Scholes, Van der Sar both picked up injuries at Kiev. Rooney suffered an ankle injury during training yesterday, joining Foster, Silvestre and Park back in the ward.

Fortunately, Van der Sar's injury is only slight which means a high chance to return to manning the sticks tomorrow. Saha is back and ready to replace Rooney and partner Tevez. Good opportunity to test if the Saha-Tevez partnership would work just as well, if not better than the current Rooney-Tevez one. Giggs was rested in midweek and I will be watching the prolific Welshman gunning for goal today as he is a goal shy of a century of career goals. Yes, the BIG 100 milestone.

I would expect Saha to get on the scoresheet too as he has been able to score against Blackburn in ManUtd's last 4 encounters. 5-for-5? Elsewhere, we have a rejuvenated Vidic who signed a new contract and will be partnering Ferdinand, the only player in the club to have started in all games this season.

Skysports' man to watch is Anderson but I say let's not forget that we have Carrick, Nani, Giggs and Ronaldo too. Pique and Brown should probably make up the rest of the defence.

In most Blackburn encounters, I would keep a special eye out for Robbie Savage. He is not exactly a superstar-grade player but his combative nature is always a big migraine headache for ManUtd's midfield. His tactics are often then not in grey areas, where it look like a yellow/red card challenge and yet always be able to get away scot-free. Newbies would have been baited by his provocative antics and do something that would ironicially earn the former the yellow/red card instead.

Fortunately for us, Robbie Savage will not be playing tomorrow. I foresee a pretty subdued Blackburn midfield tomorrow which means that Benni McCarthy will not be causing must problem for us, coz he would be seeing much fo the ball in the ManUtd half. Hughes better pray that Friedel will be at the top of his game tomorrow.

JayWalk The Walk: Bookies are giving ManUtd a 1.95 decimal odds to beat the 1.25-ball handicap. It was 1.975 before 1pm (10 Nov 2007 GMT +8) was subsequently pushed it down a notch to 1.95.

While I still don't have the money-stats (i.e. percentage of wagers by value on the respective teams), I am guessing that the money on ManUtd is pouring in a little faster that bookies have to water down the odds a little. In English, ManUtd is looking better and better for tomorrow.

My sentiment yesterday, before writing this, was a "2-1 win" feeling where we would still earn the 3-points but lose the handicap. However, as we approach the kick-off, the confidence kind of grew more and more.

Anyone has the same feeling?

I am still undecided whether to punt on ManUtd for this game at time of this entry. I would probably let it soak for another day, since this is a Sunday game and would decide when the kick-off gets nearer.

Watch for my verdict in this week's Beer Fund Raising entry.

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.

Midweek Outlook (7 Nov 2007)

Manchester United vs Dynamo Kiev

"I'm afraid that Man United might get complacent and buang the match.."

-Gary, 7/11/2007

This will be the shortest review i have ever come out with.

The match against Arsenal was the most classic match i have ever seen! We were just so close to win the match and could have earn some bragging rights. Hah!

Next match against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League. 1 more point and we will progress to the knockout round.

But im afraid that Man United might get complacent and buang the match and have to wait till the last match of the competition to confirm the progress. Then again, with a nearly full squad to call upon, and Dynamo not winning to English opposition since 98/99, the chances of it to happen this season is quite slim. The stakes are against Dynamo.

Man Utd's team news: Gary Neville is out again due to a recurrence to his leg injury. I have a feeling that Fergie might thinker with his squad.

Dynamo's team news: Sergiv Rebrov is back. Maksim Shatskikh and Valentin Belkevich are out.

Odds and analysis: With a handicap of 2 at 2.00, this match i decided to skip. Keep the money for other matches.

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.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (10 - 11 November 2007)

Ahh... ihawk98 is finally back to picking out the matches for this week.

For Saturday, we have Sunderland who hasn't been scoring any serious points of late, with or without the vociferous support of the Stadium of Light crowd. Their opponent this weekend is Newcastle United who is famous for their unexplainable poor away form. Last week's 1-4 home defeat to Portsmouth was icing to the cake.

As for Sunday's game, it looked a tad lop-sided and perhaps this would be one where the goal bonus would really matter. Then again, with an extra ECL game in midweek, who knows if Everton are able to take advantage of that?

Let's see those predictions!

EPL23: SAT 10/11 Sunderland vs Newcastle United at 08:45 pm SIN/HKT

EPL24: SUN 11/11 Chelsea vs Everton at 10:00 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 03 - 04 Nov 2007

A good weekend for me as I scored the only 6-point among the lot to leapfrog back to pole position.

Quite a number of zeroes this week as folks like cha dum yen, david hvp, delay, apollo and Bedokian were able to take full advantage of it and close in.

We also welcome Raymond aka Raynaldo to the league as he opened account with a solitary point. Expect him to climb up the ladder once he finds his footing around the game.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.


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 but soon!

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
The SPUG 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://jaywalk.blog-city.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, etc.

Prediction League Past Winners
Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

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.

Beer Fund Raising : 03 - 05 Nov 2007

Big weekend over in England and Italy as Arsenal plays Manchester United while Juventus hosts Inter Milan. AC Milan, from the look of things has finally shaken off the chains that were holding them back by posting wins with excellent scores.

Arsenal and ManUtd may be level on points right now, it must be noted that Arsenal have a game in hand which means that if Arsenal wins today, they may be able to pull away with a 6-point gap in between. Obviously, as a ManUtd fan, I would be rooting for ManUtd to win as would the fans of the neutrals. A neck-and-neck race is always more exciting to watch.

Chelsea are starting to fine their groove, albeit with the odd kink here and there. A 6-0 beating of ManCity followed by a lucky 4-3 escape against lowly Leicester at Stamford Road. 2 new managers will be test for their mettle today. Juande "Robert Di Niro" Ramos, Manuel Jimenez and Ronald Koeman for Tottenham Hotspur, Sevilla and Valencia respectively.

For some strange reason, while 15 points don't seem to be too colossal of a task to accomplish, Roy Keane somehow just make it look difficult. After staying stagnant at 7 points for the longest time, it's 1 point at a time for the Black Cats right now.

Keane would definitely not be too concerned with the WPI for after all, it is my own invention. 16 points (7 more points to go) will save Keane the humiliation of being the worst manager in EPL history but you need 40 points to avoid relegation.

With 27 more games to play. drawing every match hereon will not be able to be enough to secure Premiership status for another season.

Sunderland has to start winning games.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

• Aston Villa - Give 1.25 ball (Win)
  
• Chelsea - Give 1.25 ball (Win)
  
  
• Real Madrid - Even ball (Lose)
  
  
• AC Milan - Give 1.50 ball (Testing Theory Only)
  

Sunday's Picks:

• AS Roma - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory Only)
  
• Napoli - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory Only)
  
  
• Atletico Madrid - Give 0.25 ball (Lose)

Monday's Picks:

• Manchester City - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2.5 - 0 - 2

Result This Season: 27 - 5 - 19.5 = 7.5-UP as at 05 Nov 2007

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (03 Nov 2007)

Arsenal vs Manchester United

"...almost overnight from out of the blue, we hit Four On The Floor for Four On The Score...."

- JayWalk, 03 Nov 2007

What we had achieved in the last 4 games, was simply remarkable to the extend of being almost unreal. One day, we were scraping a goal here and a goal there. Sometimes we win, others we get the consolatory point. Then almost overnight from out of the blue, we hit Four On The Floor for Four On The Score. Are we going to get 5 of these? I highly doubt so and besides, Five just doesn't rhyme that well, almost I would most certainly have no complains if we can put 4 past the Gunners on their home soil.

Still.

Looking at last week, we leisurely slotted 4 goals past Middlesbrough over the weekend where the latter surrendered meekly as early as the coin toss. The problem with Boro is that since the inception of the English Premier League, they never had the luck of picking an excellent manager. Robson was a joke. Venables was a half-time side show, McClaren is too conservative and Southgate is a default candidate when nobody else wanted the job. Perhaps it is the culture of the club where the players are just... just.... boring. Looks like Melatonin Middlesbrough has taken over the Boring tag of yore from Arsenal.

Earlier, I mentioned about ManUtd's Four On The Floor with Four On The Score. Boro would probably be Fall On The Floor. Asleep, that is.

I think I better stop here before I wake up with keyboard prints on my face.

ManUtd has had a good week's rest ahead of the clash but that didn't translate into too big an advantage with Arsenal deploying a virtual B-team and still come away 3-0 winners. You could tell how much emphasis Arsene Wenger placed on this coming match against ManUtd, where even the subs are from the B-team. Truly the mark of a great adversary.

Looking ahead and we have the ECL fixtures during midweek. Not a big concern for either team as both are just a single point away from qualifying to the next round with 3 games to play. Their respective opponents are the cannon fodders of the group and taking points from them is going to be cakewalk. ManUtd has the slight edge here by having home ground advantage against Dynamo Kiev while the Gunners have to travel away to Slavia Prague. Not a big deal for them either as a draw is simply good enough.

JayWalk The Talk: van Persie is unavailable today as is Eduardo and Senderos. Other than that, is a full squad of healthy youngsters raring to go. Adebayor will be the lone striker up front and certainly less then ideal against a team with the current best defensive record of 4 goals conceded in 11 league games.

The list of unavailables are a tad longer at ManUtd where we are still missing the services of Scholes, Foster, Park and Silvestre. However, there are good news in the dressing room as we welcome back Hargreaves after successfully completing his senior game against Middlesbrough a week ago. I'd be certain to see him on the pitch today.

Neville is back on the pitch too but he has to start regaining match fitness by undergoing B-team games regime. Saha and Carrick are both slightly behind their Captain and will be joining Neville in the reserves squad soon. Good timing considering that we are about to enter the busy holiday fixtures next month and the all important game against Liverpool in mid-December.

JayWalk The Walk: Sure we got doubled by the Gunners last season but historical stats has shown that we still have the slight upper hand with 71 wins over them, while they are 65 over us and 40 draws in all League meets.

There are 2 streaks currently running. Arsenal are on a 17-game unbeaten streak while ManUtd are currently running an 8-game winning streak. This is a game between the best attack (Arsenal : 22 goals in 10 games) against the best defence (ManUtd : 4 goals in 11 games).

Handicap is all square between the two teams but ManUtd being the away team here, is assigned a 2.10 decimal odds to win, while Arsenal has 1.80. Currently at the time of this article, the wagers are more on ManUtd at 60% to Arsenal's 40% (probably due to the stingy 1.80 decimals odds) which is still within the fluctuation range. Anything more than 60% and Arsenal may get a 0.25-ball advantage to balance the wager pool. However, given the 1.80 decimal odds for Arsenal, I doubt if the Asian Handicap is going to change further. So those betting on ManUtd can sit back and relax for now, instead of rushing down to place your bets in order to lock in the odds, in case the odds change against their favour.

This game is going to be a very very close affair with draw written all over it. Playing at Arsenal over the last 5 encounters (Highbury and Emirates Stadium), we are 1-3-1.

I think we will finish 1-4-1 after tonight and given that we are going to get no money here. I say don't bother unless you are a hardcore fan where a tiny punt on ManUtd may make the game a little more fun to watch.

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.