Weekend Review (29th Dec 2007)

West Ham United vs Manchester United

"West Ham can't do a Double on us this season.."

-Gary, 29th Dec 2007

If you had seen the Sunderland game, Fergie did not send out the First Eleven to Stadium of Light. Tevez and Evra was on the bench, Giggs and Anderson were at Manchester. And Man United strolled in the park at the end of the first half with 3-0 scoreline with another Ronaldo's trademark freekick.

Last season, West Ham did a Double on us especially when Tevez was still with them, he scored the goal to save them from relegation. This time round, West Ham can't do a Double on us this season.

The facts are these, Man United have a virtual full squad to choose from. With the striking department scoring goals for fun, West Ham will have a busier day.

West Ham's Team News: Anton Ferdinand and Charlton Cole are pushing for a return. Julien Faubert, Matthew Etherington and Lee Bowyer are all back, but are doubtful for today's match.

Man United's Team News: Owen Hargreaves is back for the match. Edwin is still out. Gary Neville and Paul Scholes are still doubtful.

Odds and Analysis: With a 1 ball handicap at 1.875, take Man United to win. And consolidate their place at the top of the standings with the year come to an end.

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.

Midweek Review (26th Dec 2007)

Sunderland vs Manchester United

"Sunderland is really down on luck...."

-Gary, 26 Dec 2007

An early Christmas gift from Everton as Steve Pinnear decided to play Santa Claus and handed 3 vital points to Man Utd in the start of the festive fixtures.

With 3 fixtures to go as we usher the New Year, i believe we could do better than last season and go for all the wins. Last season we won 3 and draw 1. But at that time, we are leading the table.

We have Sunderland (away), West Ham (away) before ending the festive fixtures with Birmingham (home).

Sunderland is really down on luck with the last 2 matches ending with the opposition scoring at the last minute. If not, Sunderland would have gotten 4 more points than what it had been stated. When i took a look at the standings, i had forgotten that Fulham have sacked Lawrie Sanchez last week. What a swift move in just 6 months when he had guided Fulham to safety last season. Well, that another story then.

Sunderland's Team News: Liam Miller had completed his 3 match ban. Nyron Nosworthy, Kieran Richardson and Russell Anderson are vying for some action after coming back from injuries. Carlos Edwards is still out with a broken leg.

Man Utd's Team News: Park Ji Sung could make an appearance. Edwin van der Sar is out with a groin injury. Gary Neville is back in training. Ben Foster and Mikael Silvestre are out with long term injuries.

Odds and Analysis: A handicap of 1.25 at 1.9, take Man Utd to win the handicap. Will it be 3rd time unlucky for the Black Cats if Man Utd score at the last minute to win the game??

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 (29 - 30 December 2007)

Merry Christmas to all!

Again a reminder to chop chop faster hurry put down your predictions this week coz once the festive celebrations starts, I guarantee you sure got some joker forget to predict and then dropping points as a result.

We have had 2 Perfect-10s last week. Good way to bring in the Yuletide Cheer. More this week perhaps?

EPL35: SAT 29/12 Chelsea vs Newcastle United at 22:55 pm SIN/HKT

EPL36: SUN 30/12 Manchester City vs Liverpool at 23:55 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 22 - 23 Dec 2007

The eagle has finally landed! Yes, someone finally hit the Perfect-10 this weekend and not one but 2!!

David.hvp was our last Perfect-10 dated way back in 25 Nov 2006 and this time round he is the first to get it together with Beaver21.

Congrats!

Their excellent showing this weekend propelled them to joint-third for Beaver21 and fifth for david.hvp.

Well Done!

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) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)

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 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

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 : 22 - 23 Dec 2007

If last week's mega clash was the 100m sprint event than surely this week marks the start of the marathon race for the focus is now on more people and over a longer period of time, well 4 games to be exact as we move into the Christmas/New Year fixtures.

Expect a flurry of wagering activities coming on but I would most likely stick to the weekend fixtures as I seemed jinxed against mid-week ones.

This week I am anxiously watching the outcome of the Arsenal-Spurs derby where a White Win means us taking over the league table or a Red Win may accelerate the departure of Berbatov into our wide open arms.

Come here, Bubba!

The stupid thing about Sunderland is that it is actually quite a good team under the charge of a potentially good manager.

Problem is that they just can't win for nuts!

At the moment, what Sunderland needs is the killer touch to finish with a win. That's 3 points in a single game that is the equivalent of 3 draws. It's about point scoring efficiency if they want to remain in the top flight.

Right now, they are 6 points behind schedule to reach the holy grail of 40 points but I think they have what it takes to start picking up momentum at the turn of the year. Especially when they have the opportunity to take advantage of mid-table clubs who have players committed to the African Nations Cup.

These should be the easy 3-points that they should be getting.

Good luck.

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

Saturday's Picks:

• West Ham - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)
  
  
• Sevilla - Give 0.75 ball (Win)
• Getafe - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)
  

Sunday's Picks:

• AC Milan - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)
• Udinese - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)
  
  
• Everton - Eat 1.25 ball (Win 1/2)
  
  
• Real Betis - Eat 0.25 ball (Win 1/2)
• Villarreal - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)
  
• Atletico Bilbao - Give 0.50 ball (Lose)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2 - 0 - 0

Result This Season: 45 - 7 - 32 = 13-UP as at 24 Dec 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 (23 Dec 2007)

Manchester United vs Everton

"...I won't be surprised if Chelsea falls off the Top 4 as well...."

- JayWalk, 22 Dec 2007

Well, we got out of Anfield with a positive result and leaving them still staggering as to what hit them. How many clean sheets do we have at Anfield already? :P

Funny, we kept talking about the Top 4 with default reference, these days to Arsenal, ManUtd, Liverpool and Chelsea. However, if you think about it, Liverpool is currently 5th right now and Chelsea while still in a strong 3rd position, isn't who they used to be since the Special One, Jose Mourihno left. I feel sorry for the current manager, Grant, for having to apologise to everyone week in, week out, that while he is bringing the points for the clubs with consistent victories, he is not doing it the "Special Way".

All that we hear these days about Chelsea are bad news and more bad news. How Chelsea no longer strike fear into the clubs. How Chelsea lacked the killer ruthlessness adding more strikers on the field, even with a 3-goal cushion. How players are not happy at the club this seeking a transfer and that contemplating retirement? That on top of fresh injury news and the coming African Nations Cup which is going to take away even more key players from the already depleting squad.

I won't be surprised if Chelsea falls off the Top 4 as well.

So who will replace Chelsea and Liverpool?

Nobody. We will revert back to a 2-horse race with the rest of the teams 4 to 6 rungs below to sort themselves out for the CLQ and UEFA Cup places.

Coming back to last week's match. I felt that we got lucky with the 3 points as we were certainly outplayed in the midfield. Fortunately, Andersen did a good job locking down Gerrard but in returned, our pair of Hargreaves and Ronaldo where rendered ineffective by the opposite side. Even the introduction of Carrick as a sub did little to help. Just look at the difference in our respective stats. It was really shameful and hard to believe that we were at the receiving end of a midfield hammering, despite winning the game by sheer dumb luck.

Like I said in my earlier preview, I hit the nail on the spot to say that the aging pair of Carragher and Hyypia will have problems holding down the speediness of our strikers. Tevez got the winner, just as I have predicted, courtesy of Riise's mistake for losing sight of his mark.

Rolling on my current psychic streak, what can I say when we drew Lyon for the second round of the ECL? Hopefully, this streak of good luck will continue to run through this festive week as we have a bumper crop of matches to wager on.

Huat ah!

JayWalk The Talk: Today's opponent is another Merseysider where although we have an excellent track record against them (we have won more EPL matches against Everton than any other club), is still a formidable opponent coming into this week on account of their recent great form (14 from the last possible 18 points compared to our 13).

Sickbay-wise, Neville is still out, alongside Park, Foster, Silvestre and Scholes. Other than that, the squad is still considered pretty full and Fergie should not have any problems trying to select his first team.

Not much problems over at the Evertonian side either albeit a much shallower squad depth. Osman, Baines, Stubbs and Turner will not be available for selection on Sunday.

JayWalk The Walk: ManUtd has to give a 1.25-ball handicap today with a decimal odds of 1.90 to beat it. At Old Trafford, I don't see how we are going to lose or even draw this game today but the 1.25-handicap may still mean coughing up a loss to the bookie in the event of the 1-goal margin.

With ManUtd's 6 straight home wins to Everton's 2-2-2 away form, outcome is never a concerned but rather what is the scoreline. Had it been a "Give 1-ball" handicap, I would have jumped at the chance without batting an eyelid. We lost only once to Everton back in 2005 and that was at Goodison Park. Defeat at Old Trafford failed to register as my current archives date back to only 2003.

In our last 10 head-t0-head EPL encounters, we have the upper hand at 7-2-1. However, in the 7 games that we beat them, 5 of them were by a single goal.

As such, I think today's score would probably be 1-0 in our favour as we slowly pace our stamina through the festive schedules. Hence, we win the 3 points but we lose the 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 (22 - 23 December 2007)

We have a Manchester double-bill this weekend, though not against each other. This is a against pipping one great manager against another all of whom had at one time been linked to be Fergie's successor (sans Sir Ferguson himself).

Saturday, we have O'Neil vs Eriksson and Sunday is a game where we have the two Scotsmen of Fergie vs Moyes duking it out.

Just a word of advise as we enter the festive season, tis better to place your predictions early lest you forget to place your forecasts amidst all the merry making. Don't say you have not been warned. As a last resort, I will accept predictions via SMS or email as long as there is a valid time stamp on it. MSN or email me for my number to SMS.

Merry Christmas one and all!

EPL33: SAT 22/12 Aston Villa vs Manchester City at 23:00 pm SIN/HKT

EPL34: SUN 23/12 Manchester United vs Everton at 20:00 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 15 - 16 Dec 2007

By far the closest we can get to a Perfect-10 but yet there were no takers. What a waste!

Anyway, not much changes at the top as the top 4 pretty much tanked. Perhaps as we are higher up in the echelon, we tend to be more conservative with our predictions? As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained and those who decided to gun for a ManU win were duly rewarded.

Congrats to ihawk98, jiahao, Apollo and Raynaldo (3+3) for their 6-point haul.

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 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

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 : 15 - 16 Dec 2007

It's the weekend of the Awesome Foursomes as the Top 4 clubs face off each other. I bet all the lower teams would hope that the 4 clubs cancel each other out with respective draws as that would give the rest of the clubs a chance to close in on them.

There are few similarities in the two Sunday clash. First is both Chelsea and ManUtd have the advantage of fresher legs as they have already consolidated their Champions League group position even before coming into the final game at midweek.

Second is while both clubs have the edge in this aspect, they are both playing away.

Lastly, it will be a game of a club with an aging club against a more youthful one.

Question is, will the results be similar too?

Anyway, heading over to Roy Keane's WPI, if 40 points is what it would take to survive relegation, then by simple arithmetic, a club should have at least 20 points by the time they get to the halfway mark of 19 games, which right now is 3 games away.

Sunderland currently stands at 13 which is 2 wins and a draw away.

Sounds simple and achievable enough but yet at Sunderland's current crawling pace, it may or may not be enough.

Stay tuned.

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

Saturday's Picks:

• Blackburn Rovers - Give 0.25 ball (Lose)
  
• Manchester City - Give 0.50 ball (Win)
  

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 1

Result This Season: 43 - 7 - 32 = 11-UP as at 15 Dec 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 (16 Dec 2007)

Liverpool vs Manchester United

"...don't be surprised to see cards flying everywhere on Sunday...."

- JayWalk, 15 Dec 2007

Congratulations to ManUtd for an excellent Champions League campaign thus far. In fact, this is the best start we have had in years. At 16 points from 6 games, we are the highest scoring team (points-wise) in all 8 groups. That should put us favourably in the draw for the Second Round and given the perennial powerhouses e.g. Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan all topped their respective groups, we are in for a relatively easy Second Round encounter possibly against Celtic, Lyon or maybe Schalke 04. Gut feel says the we would probably not meet the tougher runner-ups like Olympiacos, Fenebache or AS Roma (again!) and our minimum target (financially) of reaching the Quarter-Finals looks to be firmly on track.

Looking ahead at our fixture calendar, we are in for a smooth ride all the way through to February 2008 as soon as we clear this Sunday's cracker against Liverpool. Mark your calendar on the 10 Feb 2008 date, for we will be taking revenge back at ManCity in the return leg of the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford.

We enter the Christmas/New Year fixtures next week and it seems like the fixtures this season were drawn pretty much in our favour with relatively weaker teams lined up in the Christmas/New Year crunch. Perhaps we should be able to regain leadership position of the table in 4 games' time? Alas, let's not count the chickens before they are hatched for we need to clear this Anfield game first.

Still, as rosy as an easy fixture posed, there is a downside to it, for towards the end of the season is where all the tough matches are going to take place. By then, it would be a time where each game would play like as if it were a cup final. Every domestic league game may end up with a value of 6 points vigorously fought out by men who are near exhaustion as they approach the end of the season and very much higher up in the various competitions.

Stamina? Injuries? Suspensions? All these will be even more highly magnified near the end and this is where the clubs are separated into Great and Not-So-Great categories.

JayWalk The Talk: Scholes, Neville, Park, Foster, Silvestre and O'Shea are all out. Although there is good news that Gary Neville is close to full recovery, I am writing him off to be anything useful for the rest of these season and the rest of his career. As cruel as I may sound, I feel that there is no more freshness in this pair of defender legs and perhaps it is time to release him to a lower club. Don't get me wrong. He is still going to be good and many other clubs would still greatly benefit from his services. Just probably not good enough to operate at ManUtd's level any more.

So the Back Four should consist of Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra and Brown. On any other day, I would not play Brown until his contract standoff is settled but given the shortage of defenders, it's a risk to undertake and hopefully our stronger midfield would be able to cover up this aspect of shortfall.

Speaking of midfield, we should have the advantage here as Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Anderson and Giggs should provide ample ammunition for the dynamic stocky duo of Rooney and Tevez to bring in the goals. I think the aging Hyypia and Carragher will have trouble containing these speed demons.

On the Liverpool front, most notable absentee would be Alonso accompanied by Agger, Pennant and Finnan. However, I think the absence of the latter three will not affect Benitez too much as they probably would not be selected to start anyway.

JayWalk The Walk: Liverpool's recent form (most notably the recent 4-0 thumping of Marseille) has gotten the bookies to favour a Liverpool win. At Even ball, Liverpool is at 1.825 to clear it.

Still before anyone starts throwing wager in Liverpool's direction, here is a couple of things to consider before committing the bet.

• If Liverpool is really that strong, then why, even with home ground advantage, do bookies offer only Even Ball handicap? Why not give 0.25 or even 0.50 to ManUtd? I went further to dig past archives and the last 5 games at Anfield against ManUtd were all played at Even Ball.
  
  
• Liverpool may have the home ground advantage but ManUtd certainly have the psychological edge over Liverpool. In the last 5 EPL head-to-heads at Anfield, we beat them 4 times and drawn once. This dating all the way back to 1 Dec 2002. If we take in the Old Trafford games as well, then our last 10 EPL head-to-heads, I am happy to report that we are 8-1-1.

In all, I think this will be a very tight game with very low scores. The consolation is that Houllier is no longer around as the King of Negative Play would have installed 10 defenders in front of the goalie.

The ManUtd-Liverpool game has always been a very highly charged event and don't be surprised to see cards flying everywhere on Sunday. I am only worried that the referee may lose control of the game and mar what would have been an exciting match of the highest calibre. Referees who lose control have a tendency to favour the home side and that is going to be bad for us.

On the overall, ManUtd is definitely the stronger team and one thing that I can see that is counting against Liverpool is the aging of their key players. If Liverpool were to lose the match tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to a fumble courtesy of Hyypia, Carragher or Riise.

Still, my verdict for this game is to stay away as it is too close to make a call. I think it will finish as a draw, much to the delight of all the teams further down the league table. Still, I am hoping of perhaps the surprise of an unexpected Ferdinand or Vidic winner again?

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 (12 Dec 2007)

Roma vs Manchester United

"Maybe we should see who is our opponents in the second knockout round"

-Gary, 12 Dec 2007

First of all, congrats to Ryan Giggs for scoring the 100-goal milestone in Man Utd history. It was not as grand as THE ONE that he scored for Man Utd during the Treble season against Arsenal in the FA Cup Semi Final tie. It was just a simple tap in. I would say, a cool finish. And by the way, did i mention that he got an award for services to soccer from Queen Elizabeth. An OBE (Order of the British Empire)

Secondly, Ronaldo's bet with Fergie whether he could score 24 goals this season. The season is not even in the half way mark yet, he have already score 14 goals. Im hell bent to see Fergie new look. Maybe he should wax it to make it more shiny.

The last game of the Champions League before we cast our eyes to the congestive fixtures over the festive season. We are top of the table, qualified for the last 16. Maybe we should see who is our opponents in the second knockout round. I mean, both teams in this match are qualified. A dead rubber match.

Fergie have send a virtual B team to Rome with Rooney skippering the team along with John O'shea, Michael Carrick, Wes Brown, Nani, Darren Fletcher and Louis Saha.

Roma Team News: Marco Cassetti and Simone Perrotta are out. Matteo Ferrari, Antunes and Mauro Esposito are earning a recall.

Man Utd Team News: Half of the first team is at home preparing for the clash against Liverpool. Gary Neville and Park are back in training. Good timing for them as they are needed in the festive fixtures.

Odds and Analysis: For the first time, i see Man Utd eat ball! +0.5 handicap at 2.025, No way am i going to punt this match that termed as "friendly" or "exhibition". So far my record in Champions League:

• Man Utd (Give -0.5) vs Sporting (Skip)
  
• Man Utd (Give -0.75) vs Roma (Win half)
  
• Dynamo Kiev vs Man Utd (Give -0.75) (Win)
  
• Man Utd (Give -2) vs Dynamo Kiev (Skip)

I didnt predict the last match against Sporting. Hope to do well in the latter stages of the competition.

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 (15 - 16 December 2007)

Big clash for the Top 4 this week and what are the chances that we get fixtures like this in the same weekend? As such, there will be no games to predict on Saturday as all eyes will be on 3 Reds and 1 Blue.

ManUtd and Chelsea obviously have the slight upperhand given then both should be resting their players and sending their repsective B-teams for the midweek ECL. Their respective opponents still have a bit of work to do in the ECL for Liverpool need to win to qualify and Arsenal need to win (and Sevilla to lose) to hope for a more favourable Round 2 draw.

Before you write them off, let me warn you that both Liverpool and Arsenal are playing at home.

Man... it is almost this whole drama is scripted!

EPL31: SUN 16/12 Liverpool vs Manchester United at 21:30 pm SIN/HKT

EPL32: SUN 16/12 Arsenal vs Chelsea at 23:55 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 08 - 09 Dec 2007

Well, just when you thought ihawk98 picked a one-sided Boro-Arsenal dud, think again!

Either that or he just got lucky lah.....

It's one of those tough weekends again where a mere 2 points will set you out to be a winner as we congratulate KingMeng who pulled 1 point further away from us and Raynaldo, who pulled 1 point closer to the rest of the pack.

Well done.

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 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

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 : 08 - 09 Dec 2007

Apologies for the late submission of this entry as I was traveling yesterday and didn't have a chance to get online to write this entry.

Still the predictions were still ongoing in the background on an offline basis.

I picked ManUtd to give a 2.5-ball handicap which turned out to be on the money right on the whistle. Congrats to Ryan Giggs for finally reaching the 100-goal milestone.

Unfortunately, my other prediction nose dived as Liverpool surrendered meekly to Reading. I should have seen it coming? Benitez is throwing the game ahead of the do-or-die game against Marseille this midweek for the final match day of Round 1 ECL.

Sunderland scored a beautiful win last week to bring the Wanker Points to 13. Just 2 more to tie McCarthy's awful record of 15 or 3 to surpass it.

As expected, the point aren't expected to come in this week as Chelsea beat them 2-0 comfortably.

Perhaps next week against Aston Villa or Reading the week after?

In anyway, case as long as they can chalk up to 20 points before the Christmas/New Year fixtures are over, they would look poised to survived. We shall see.

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

Saturday's Picks:

• ManUtd - Give 2.50 ball (Win)
  
• Liverpool - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)
  
  
• Lazio - Give 0.50 ball (Testing Theory)

Sunday's Picks:

• Arsenal - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
  
  
• AS Roma - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)
• Inter Milan - Give 1.50 ball (Testing Theory)
• Juventus - Give 1.25 ball (Testing Theory)
  
  
• Villarreal - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 3

Result This Season: 42 - 7 - 31 = 11-UP as at 10 Dec 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 Preview: 8th December 2007

Manchester United vs Derby

"Paul Jewell is a good manager, but not a miracle worker..." - Sheena


Apologies for the late review, but hey, better late than never right? And thankfully the match hasn't kicked off yet...

Anyway, tonight's match looks to be a straightforward one as Manchester United, second in the table and only 1 point adrift of leaders Arsenal, take on lowly table-proppers Derby.

A look at recent form says it all: Man Utd have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their last 5 matches, whereas Derby have lost all 5. And to make matters worse, Derby have shipped 12 goals and scored none at all in those 5 matches, whereas Man Utd have kept 3 clean sheets and scored 14 goals.

Against such odds, I'm afraid I see only defeat for poor Derby, though the beauty of football is that, of course, anything is possible. Derby have just appointed Paul Jewell as their new manager, and we all remember what a great job Jewell did with Wigan previously. However, ominously, Jewell has never won in 4 Premier League meetings with Man Utd, which is another bit of history that does not bode well for Derby.

Jewell is rightly held as a very good manager who achieved good things with Wigan previously, and given some time he might even achieve similar things with Derby, but he can't work miracles overnight.

Definitely not against the likes of Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson anyway.

Injury-wise, there is some worrying news from the United camp as news filter out that our captain Gary Neville has suffered yet another setback in his recovery from a broken ankle. Neville seems to be running into a streak of real bad luck as his recovery is derailed by one thing after another - here's hoping after this latest one, all goes well for our captain.



Man to watch (Manchester United): Cristiano Ronaldo - the chap is on pure fire at the moment. Ronaldo for FIFA World Player of the Year!

Man to watch (Derby): Kenny Miller. He has already scored 9 in the Premier League so far despite Derby's lack of firepower.

Jaywalk's Encyclopaedia of Bookies' Odds says: Believe it or not, I forgot to ask Jay for the odds. But it doesn't matter anyway - take a Man Utd win.


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 (08 - 09 December 2007)

Sorry this week's fixtures came out late but here it it nevertheless.

Saturday's game will be the more difficult of the two games to predict but only slightly as Arsenal has a midweek ECL game to think about when they visit the Riverside Stadium.

EPL29: SAT 08/12 Aston Villa vs Portsmouth at 20:45 pm SIN/HKT

EPL30: SUN 09/12 Middlesbrough vs Arsenal at 21:30 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 01 - 02 Dec 2007

In the past, I have always been punished by fate for tinkering with my predictions at the last minute, only to realised that I would have gotten the full 5 points if I had stay status quo.

Not this time as my tinkering got me an additional point from the goal bonus which has a two-fold benefit. First was that I have now closed the gap between KingMeng and myself by one point and I have also, by the same solitary point, shake off Cool402 to stay outright second.

Anyway, congrats to all those who managed 6 points as all of us missed yet another weekend to get onto the Perfect Ten Hall of Fame list. Better luck next time.


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 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

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 (03 Dec 2007)

Manchester United vs Fulham

"...It is unlikely that ManUtd will drop points today. Otherwise, the Premier League title chase may be effectively over and it's not even Christmas!..."

- JayWalk, 02 Dec 2007

Perhaps it was the biggest scalp of the season when we went down 0-1 at the Reebok Stadium. We were totally outplayed as our midfield got shut down by the Trotters. Earlier, I said to watch out for Anelka and as expected, he shipped that one ball into the net and took home the 3 points.

Stats-wise, we had 15 shots attempted but only 3 on-goal and it is indicative of a lack of fire power up front. Granted that we started with Tevez and Saha, the Argentinian was jet lagged having touch down in England for barely 24 hours. Saha is still very far away from match fitness and not to mention confidence in front of goal.

This is a serious problem within the team. Our youngsters forwards are not up to speed yet, Solksjaer is in his twilight years and we have been relying on 3 main strikers to rotate the 2 spots. I won't be surprised if Fergie were to start shopping for another striker when the January transfer window opens. Perhaps another bid for Sergei Berbatov?

Looking forward, I was glad that we beat Sporting Lisbon and cemented our position at the top of our Group. That means the luxury of sending our B-team to Rome for the final game and resting our key players for the subsequent Anfield game on Sunday.

The same cannot be said of Liverpool as they travel to Marseille for a do-or-die game. Having lost surprisingly to Marseille at home earlier, Liverpool suddenly found themselves on the edge of ECL elimination. It has to be a win-and-nothing-else as there is also a possibility of losing the consolation UEFA Cup spot, should Besiktas beat FC Porto on the final day.

In a nutshell, Liverpool will be fielding their first team and going all out to capture the win. Given the Liverpool has always had an excellent track record in European campaigns, I have no doubt that they will qualify to the next round.

Question is. At what price?

Exhaustion from an all-out game, exhaustion from traveling, risk of injuries, etc., are all factors counting heavily against Liverpool but in our favour. I foresee bookies giving Liverpool a positive handicap when we meet. +0.25 or even +0.50 perhaps?

If you think that's all there is to the problem, think again. The following midweek after playing ManUtd, Liverpool has a Carling Cup quarter final date with Chelsea. In the earlier rounds, you would expect these clubs to send in their second stringers but this is the quarter finals that we are talking about and perhaps Liverpool's only trophy prospect this season. It is unlikely that Liverpool will give it up to significantly-weakened Chelsea so easily

JayWalk The Talk: The injury list is getting shorter by the day at Old Trafford, great news ahead of the Christmas and New Year fixture crunch. Van der Sar, Rooney, Giggs and Hargreaves are expected to be in the starting line-up while Scholes, Foster, Silvestre and Park continue to remain sidelined. Bad news with Gary Neville as it seems that his injury has suffered a relapse. Rumour has it that his career is over as a result and what a pity considering that fact that he is one game short of 350 starts for ManUtd.

If you think that is bad, wait till you hear the injury list over at Fulham. Messrs. Pearce, Christanval, Keller, Cook, McBride, Bullard, Elliot and Volz will all be unavailable.

JayWalk The Walk: As a result of the injury crisis at Fulham, bookies are making ManUtd give a 2-ball handicap at 1.85 decimal odds to clear it. Expect ManUtd to win here as Fulham has never won at Old Trafford in Premiership history and the last time ManUtd lost back-to-back was April 2005.

ManUtd are already 6 points adrift from Arsenal (who still has a game in hand) at time of this article. It is unlikely that ManUtd will drop points today. Otherwise, the Premier League title chase may be effectively over and it's not even Christmas!

Still, 2-ball handicap is a bladdy big hurdle to jump. I am still undecided as I hate to play against such a big handicap. Watch for it in my Beer Fund Raising (01 - 03 Dec 2007) entry as I will make my decision closer to kick-off.

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.

Beer Fund Raising : 01 - 03 Dec 2007

What a big disruption the Euro2008 qualifiers have turned out to be as the every British team sank like the HMS Sheffield during the Falkland War. To make matters, all the international players returned exhausted only to be taken advantage by lesser teams with little or no players on international duty.

Some thing is not right here as far as fairness to these clubs is concerned. I can fully understand the standoff between club managers and the manager of the national team. Allardyce had every right to be mad at McClaren for risking Michael Owen during last week's meaningless friendly against Austria. So now the striker is injured again after only just recovered from the horrific injury back during the 2006 World Cup in front of millions of people whom had witnessed it on their tellys. Sure the FA will compensate the club for the period of time that Owen will remain injured but that doesn't solve the problem that Newcastle is now one striker short right?

The way I see it, the EPL need to reduce in size to 18 clubs like that of Serie A. The clubs as far as I am concerned, play too many games. Bad for the player's health for after all, they are human. Heck, even machines need to have regular downtime too.

Anyway, Roy Keane got stuck at 10 points in the WPI and they are hosting cellar dwellers Derby County today. Very very likely a full 3 points to the Black Cats and a positive result will leave them a mere 3 points to break McCarthy's embarrassing record.

Perhaps thereafter, I will extend the WPI to WPI 2.0 where the target shall then be put at 40 points i.e. the door to Premiership survival.

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

Saturday's Picks:

• West Ham - Eat 1.5 ball (Win)
  
• Blackburn - Give 0.5 ball (Win)
• Sunderland - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)
  
  
• Juventus - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)

• Espanyol - Eat 0.5 ball (Win)

Sunday's Picks:

• Osasuna - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)
• Valencia - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
  

Monday's Picks:

• ManUtd - Give 2.00 ball (Draw)
  

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 4.5 - 1 - 1

Result This Season: 41 - 7 - 28 = 13-UP as at 03 Dec 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.