Tuesday, October 30, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League (03 - 04 November 2007)

Again, we don't know where ihawk98 disappered to, as he is in charge of picking the games for the weekend. Fortunately for us, this week's fixtures are pretty straight forward and so we went ahead to pick them.

The Saturday's game is the big clash between Arsenal, who is unbeaten at home this season and Manchester United who had currently hit form and the advantage (if at all), a full week's rest ahead.

Arsenal on the other hand has to travel away, in midweek, to Sheffield United for the Carling Cup fixture. Perhaps the line-up of that game will give us some kind of indication how much focus is Arsene Wenger putting into the weekend cracker. Then, there is also the Champions League to follow in the midweek after for both teams.

Come Sunday, we pip Sunderland against West Ham. Roy Keane's boys haven't been bringing home the points of late and hopefully the fans at the Stadium of Light would do it for the boys on the pitch.

I can't believe I screw up the match fixtures for the 3rd week in a row. Where are you ihawk98!!??

So anyway, the match for Sunday is West Ham United against Bolton Wanderers. The kick-off time is still correct.

Here we go!

EPL21: SAT 03/11 Arsenal vs Manchester United at 08:40 pm SIN/HKT

EPL22: SUN 04/11 West Ham United vs Bolton Wanderers at 11:55 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

Monday, October 29, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League
Results 27 - 28 Oct 2007

Sheena, Everton, Coool402 and I are still in hot pursuit of league leader KingMeng while ihawk98, blackpuffer and Necroastr were sent tumbling down the ladder after a disastrous weekend.

Congratulations to david.hvp for being the only 6-pointer this weekend which saw him jumped right to the fringe of the strike zone. One more good showing and the league leader will have one more challenger to deal with. 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, 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.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Beer Fund Raising : 27 - 28 Oct 2007

We have officially crossed the halfway mark of the Round 1 of the ECL and at this point we already have teams whose qualification to the next round is just a mere formality barring any freak accident ahead.

This weekend is all about the managers. First on the news was Martin Jol who finally lost his job after the UEFA Cup defeat by Getafe. Sevilla boss, Ramos, is slated to join Spurs (much to the disappointment of Gus Poyet) as the replacement which means Sevilla will also be facing a change at the top. Steve Bruce will be meeting Carson Yeung, the ex-ManUtd defender's prospective new owner, to decide his fate at Birmingham this weekend.

Megson, Sammy Lee's replacement, may not be good enough as Bolton's new manager and the only real reason why Lee looked so bad previously, was because Sam Allardyce was THAT GOOD.

Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton is also out of a job this week and given the high turnover rate of managers, I won't be surprised if he finds another job soon.

Speaking of Eire, Roy Keane for the Republic of Ireland national squad? Well, if the team stays at 8 points till the rest of the year, perhaps it's time to start sending resume for the Fiery Irish.

The Wanker Points Index has stayed at 8 points for the 4th week running and I think perhaps this would be the week to start moving again as the Black Cats hosts Fulham at the Stadium of Light.

Also, hopefully, Keane ties a better tie today.

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

Saturday's Picks:
  • Manchester United - Give 1.75 ball (Win)
Sunday's Picks:
  • Arsenal - Eat 0.25 ball (Win 1/2)

  • Barcelona - Give 1.75 ball (Win 1/2)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2-0-0

Result This Season: 24.5 - 5 - 17.5 = 7-UP as at 28 Oct 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 (27 Oct 2007)




Manchester United vs Middlesbrough

"...we are going to see goals even if Boro park a big lorry in front of goal...."
- JayWalk, 27 Oct 2007

Looks like the goal drought is over as we shipped 12 goals in the last 3 games. Suddenly our goal difference is starting to look healthy again.

We played very well against Dynamo Kiev during midweek as the game was particularly very tough when the pace was fast and the climate was around a nippy 5 degrees Celsius.

Overall, given that they had the home ground advantage, a more desperate urgency to get a win and they matched us evenly in every aspect, our attacking duo of Rooney and Tevez brought home the bacon as we put 4 goals into their net accomplishing a turkey of 4-goal wins with that.

All that is left for us hereon is that one solitary point that will book our tickets into the second round of the ECL. Looking ahead, we will be looking to securing the point (even better if it is 3) at home to Dynamo Kiev. However, this game comes after our clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Fortunately for us, we already cleared most of our ECL fixtures and therefore even if we falter, albeit unlikely, against Dynamo Kiev in a fornight's time, we would still have Sporting Lisbon at Old Trafford to provide that buffer.

After last season's scare, I hope we learned our lesson and aim to seal the deal as early as possible this time round. That way we won't have to bother about traveling to Stadium Olmpico and play AS Roma on the last match day of round 1 as result would have been inconsequential by then.

With us already out of the Carling Cup and not much to worry on the ECL front, expect Fergie to put more focus on the EPL and start bringing the points.

Speaking of Carling Cup, it doesn't look so bad now than when we were eliminated earlier by lowly Coventry. At least, we get a full week of rest ahead of the game against Arsenal, who have to play Sheffield United away this coming midweek. Expect Wenger to play the B-team for that game in preparation to meet us.

Fortunately for the Gunners, they are also currently 3-for-3 on the ECL front and as such, would not have to worry if they tripped on Match Day 4 of the ECL as a result of exhaustion after playing us. Again, that is a highly unlikely scenario.

Once we clear this Arsenal game, it is all the way smooth sailing for us until we meet Liverpool next around mid-December at Anfield which would be the last difficult game for the year for us. By then, we should be in much better shape as our injured players should be returning to full fitness right about that time.

JayWalk The Talk: Speaking of returning to full fitness, we welcome back Edwin van dar Sar for making an earlier-then-expected return during mid-week. Granted that we leaked two goals in that game, I doubt if we are going to be so careless the second time round. Hargreaves and Neville are back and good timing considering that we lost Scholes and Evra (50-50 only) at Kiev. Still, I have doubt if Hargreaves or Neville would do any good this game. Better to start them from the bench and get Nani, Andersen, Pique or Simpson to fill the middle before a mid-game substitution.

As for the rest of Messrs. Park, Carrick, Saha, Silvestre and Foster, it is yet another week for them to watch the game from the bleachers.

The sickbay at Boro is pretty bad too as Huth, Jones, Arca, Aliadiere, Pogatetz and Bates are all not available for the game today while Mido, like Evra is currently 50-50.

I am expecting quite a lot of goals from ManUtd now that the flood gates have opened. With Rooney, Tevez, Giggs and Ronaldo on the pitch, we are going to see goals even if Boro park a big lorry in front of goal.

JayWalk The Walk:
Some pundits spoke against ManUtd chances based on Boro's head-to-head record with us, citing only a single defeat in our last 6 league meetings. However, let us not forget that those good results were under the management of McClaren. This is Gareth Southgate we are talking about. He is the Boro equivalent of Bolton's Sammy Lee. McClaren and Allardyce were the real maestros behind the respective teams' successes in the past.

I mean look where they are in the league table now? Middlesbrough is 17th and Bolton is 20th. Need I say more?

I hate the bookies when they slap a 1.75 ball handicap on ManUtd and a 1.95 decimal odds to win it. The keyword here is current form. We won all our 5 leagues games and running on a 7-win streak while Boro is a dismal 1-0-4 in the last 5 games and losing all 5 handicaps.

The worst case scenario, I can think of here is probably winning by a 2-goal margin and thereby getting half a win. Still, half a bottle of beer is still better than a whole bottle of tap water.

Go for ManUtd.

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.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League (27 - 28 October 2007)

Sorry for the late release of this week's picks as I don't know this ihawk98 go where and die liao. Must be having some secret rendezvous somewhere lah.... nairmind. Wait I tell his wife then he know. Hur hur hur.....

Anyway, we have the big clash between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield in Sunday and I supposed all eyes will be on Liverpool's results against Besiktas today, to compare with yesterday's Arsenal 7-0 victory over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium.

As for Saturday, I have picked the Porthsmouth vs West Ham United game at Fratton Park as both are very similar in form at the current moment. Should prove to be a cracker of a game.

Note: As you would have noticed, the days of the games are "Sunday" and "Monday" respectively but it is only due to time zone difference that we cross the midnight mark. So technically, they are still Saturday and Sunday games.

EPL19: SUN 28/10 Portsmouth vs West Ham United at 01:15 am SIN/HKT

EPL20: MON 29/10 Liverpool vs Arsenal at 00:00 am SIN/HKT

Good luck.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Midweek Outlook (23 Oct 2007)


Dynamo Kiev vs Manchester United





"Last week England buang, but Man Utd will fare better against Soviet opposition.."

-Gary, 23 Oct 2007

Seriously, who would have thought that Man United will dish out a trashing to Martin O'Neill's team? Another 1-0 scoreline? Nope. But rather all would point to one defender, no lah, not Rio Ferdinand, although he did score a goal for Man United. Zat Knight was the culprit, he completely lose concentration and gift wrapped 2 goals to Wayne Rooney.

The striking partnership between Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez was so good right now, that Fergie is comparing them to Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke partnership. Can i include Solskjaer and Sheringham partnership also? Did you see how angry Martin O'Neill was during the match? Man United didnt really play in their 2nd gear, they were playing as if they were losing the match. They still want to score some more goals despite Rooney's penalty kick got save and a volley that hit the bar. Heck, even Ronaldo was rested.

Next opposition is Dynamo Kiev. Last week England buang, but Man United will fare better against Soviet opposition. I think those England players in Man United squad are going to make Dynamo Kiev pay.

Dymano Kiev's Team News: Pape Diakhate and Ismael Bangoura are expected to be back. Serhiy Rebrov, anyone still remember him, will be sidelined.

Man United's Team News: Nemanja Vidic are expected to be back despite having a concussion in the Wigan game. Gary Neville, Park Ji-Sung, Ben Foster, Louis Saha are still out.

Odds and Analysis: With handicap of 0.75 at 1.825, take Man United to win.

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.

Monday, October 22, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League
Results 20 - 21 Oct 2007

2 back-to-back 6-point haul propels ihawk98 to the top and sharing the lead with Necroastr while Sheena slips meekly into joint 3rd, allowing blackpuffer and myself to catch up.

Damn it. I made a couple of mistakes with the calculations but thanks to KingMeng who swiftly spotted it. Yes, KingMeng, the King of Ah Mengs is now also the King of the SPUG EPL Prediction League. Well, at least for now. No wonder he so kan cheong to point out my mistake. But hor, he is right lah. Sorry!

This is by far the tightest race I have seen in years with almost 15 people within the strike range of 10 points.

We hardly see a weekend where almost everyone is a 6 pointer and all kudos to ihawk98 for picking the right games for prediction. Is it just me or are the games more difficult to get right these days?

So anyway, stay tuned for tomorrow's entries here where ihawk98 will once again pick the next two games for the coming weekend.

Good luck!

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.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Beer Fund Raising : 20 - 21 Oct 2007

I hate international fixtures as they have a tendency to screw up the predictions as the bigger teams have more players committed to these games and worse for the non-Europeans players who have to fly across continents and time zones.

Just when I managed to climb out of the red, am I destined to be plunged back into deficit? We shall see as I would be a tad conservative this week.

Again, no points for Sunderland last fixture against Arsenal but you have to give the Black Cats credit for a gutsy display. Still as far as Wanker Points Index is concerned, it meant nothing as the WPI continue to stay at 8 for another week. As for the coming game away to West Ham, I think we are going to stay here for quite some time and most of the bookies are favouring a home win here.

By the way, somebody should teach Roy Keane how to wear a tie. OMFG! I think even Phua Chu Kang would know how to wear a tie better. Today's entry is brought to you by the phrases "Wah Piang Eh!" & "What The F*ck?" and follow by the word "O-R-B-I-T".

Can you tie a tie any shorter??!!

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

Saturday's Picks:
  • Manchester City - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)
  • Chelsea - Give 0.75 ball (Win)
  • Portsmouth - Give 0.25 ball (Win)

  • AS Roma - Give 1.00 ball (Testing Theory)
  • Inter Milan - Give 1.00 ball (Testing Theory)
Sunday's Picks
  • AC Milan - Give 1.50 ball (Testing Theory)

  • Atletico Madrid - Give 0.50 ball (Win)
HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 3.5 - 0 - 0

Result This Season: 22.5 - 5 - 17.5 = 5-UP as at 21 Oct 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 (20 Oct 2007)




Aston Villa vs Manchester United

"...Rooney is a very good player but Tevez is more interesting to watch...."
- JayWalk, 20 Oct 2007

And we are back from the Euro2008 qualifiers where both the entire UK sank proverbially. Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland are all dead in the water already while the midweek slip-ups of both Scotland and England, make it looks like it is going to be very quiet summer next year. Or perhaps for once, we are actually going to have the England team win the Olympic medal in Football?

Anyway, tracking back to a fortnight ago, the goals faucet finally got fixed and we shipped 4 past a helpless Wigan keeper.

I must say that I am very impressed with Tevez so far which has taken a much shorter time to get into the ManUtd groove as compared to Carrick a season ago. Like Rooney, both are rather short and stocky, thus allowing them to have very good balance on their feet (due to their lower centre of gravity). However, my vote goes to Tevez for he has more flair then Rooney who plays like a British Bulldog. Don't get me wrong here. Rooney is a very good player but Tevez is more interesting to watch.

By the way, ManUtd has also signed Carlos Tevez's younger brother Miguel last week. Perhaps an attacking version of the Neville brothers?

You have got to tip your hat to Sir Alex Ferguson for his foresight for just barely a few months ago, we were wondering if all the effort spent on landing this Argentinian was worth it? Given the dubious muck that Tevez was in resulting in West Ham suffering a 5 million pounds Sterling fine and a lawsuit by Sheffield United side, we question why Fergie is bending over backwards to get this guy. Surely there must be other candidates?

What can I say? We were proven wrong once again and forced to talk in a muffled way from now on, due to the shoe that is now stuck in our mouths.

Coming back to the Wigan game, the Latics had absolutely no chance against us for we maul them and we maul them good. I kinda feel sorry for teams who are just there to be killed.

JayWalk The Talk: Well, I doubt we would enjoy the same comfort as we travel to Villa Park today.

As per usual, let me first rattle off the casualties. Park, van dar Sar, Neville, Saha, Brown, Carrick, Hargreaves, Silvestre and Foster. It is also unlikely that we are going to feature Brazilian Anderson as he returned late from the World Cup qualifiers as well. Jet lag is bound to sap his of his energy and putting him on the pitch may end up as an advantage to the opposition instead. Taking a leaf from Real Madrid who would be leaving Robinho and Baptista out of the squad and Barcelona traveling to Villarreal without Ronaldinho, I think Anderson would also be left out of today's game as well.

The silver lining is that Hargreaves, van dar Sar and Neville are close to full recovery while Vidic and O'Shea will be available today.

On the Villa side, only Berger and Carew are notable casualties.

One thing bad about these international fixtures is that they always favour the next lesser teams that the big boys are about to meet. The bigger the club, the more players they have committed to the various national squads for these games and come back exhausted or worse, injured. Same goes for the various European tournaments too but at least the traveling is less as compared to those players who have to play out of the continent and not to mention time zone.

JayWalk The Walk:
If anything is on our side, it's historical stats. Aston Villa is by far the worst Premiership side to play against us with 15 defeats since the inception of the Premier League. In our last 7 head-to-heads in all competitions, we are 6-0-0.

Problem is that Aston Villa is no pushover this time round as they are also on a hot streak with a shock scalp over the demoralised Chelsea in their last EPL fixture.

Bookies are assigning a 0.75-ball handicap in favour of the home side with a 2.075 decimal odds for ManUtd to overcome the deficit. In short, the bookies think that ManUtd should still struggle to a 1-goal win but a very high risk of a draw possibility.

On any other given day, I would have gone for the ManUtd win but with a squad that is severely depleted, it is really hard for me to wager here.

Stay away from this game.

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.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League (20 - 21 October 2007)

We are back from the Euro2008 fixtures and again this week should favour the lower teams as the big boys all have their key players committed to the qualifiers, resulting in the lower teams having fresher legs and less injury worries.

Perhaps, predictions will come in after today when all the Euro2008 qualifiers are complete?

EPL17: SAT 20/10 Everton vs Liverpool at 07:45pm SIN/HKT

EPL18: SUN 21/10 West Ham United vs Sunderland at 11:00pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League (13 - 14 October 2007)

No game this week as we break for the Euro2008 qualifiers.

We will be back the week after and matches should be posted next Tuesday.

Please take note and watch for it.

Thanks.

Monday, October 08, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League
Results 06 - 07 Oct 2007

And a good morning to one and all on this Monday as I present this weekend's results.

Congrats to ihawk98 and weimeng for their 6-point haul from the Outcome column but it wasn't enough to close in on Sheena who also scored 6 points with 3 excellent goal bonus points despite getting only 1 of 2 outcomes correct.

I was following the Liverpool- Spurs game last night and I was secretly rooting for CowboyCaleb to pull an upset over everything as he was the lone wolf who predicted a Spurs win. Shame on those who are Spurs fans!

Anyway, a big traffic jam at the top as the Top 10 are within strike range. Let's see if Sheena can hold on to pole position this time after losing it earlier.

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.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Beer Fund Raising : 06 - 07 Oct 2007

Well the good news is that I figured out that as long as I don't serve up Pasta ala Claypot, I should be doing ok with my bets. So I guess my mantra for this season is No Italian and No Midweek bets.

So I managed to stablised my wagers as I climbed 1-UP last weekend to keep my losses down to a manageable 1.5-DN for now. However, if all continues to go according to plan, I should be able to wipe out the deficit as early as this weekend and start generating moolah (finally!).

Anyway, all is quiet on a Saturday this week across the 3 countries as there are no midweek fixtures, following this weekend, ahead of the Euro2008 qualifiers next weekend.

All the action will be on Sunday to give all the clubs that were involved in the earlier midweek European campaigns an extra day of rest.

Meanwhile, back at the Stadium Of Light, Sunderland is still stuttering while trying to climb up the league ladder. Roy Keane must have picked up a "Miss A Turn" chance card last week as Wanker Points Index stays at 8 for another week.

The way I see it, it would probably be another week at 8 points as Sunderland travels to Arsenal on this Sunday. I expect a mauling at the Emirates Stadium.

Come to think of it, it might just be a very strong possibility that Sunderland may remained stuck at 8 for the entire October.

Think about this:
  1. 07 Oct 2007 - Away to Arsenal. You seriously think Sunderland can take even a point here?
  2. 13 Oct 2007 - No game due to Euro2008
  3. 21 Oct 2007 - Away to West Ham United. Away game says it all.
  4. 28 Oct 2007 - Home to Fulham. Perhaps their best bet to get some points this month is here but given a bad streak of 4 winless games, who is to say that this would be the game that they would turn around?
Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:
  • Manchester Utd - Give 1.75 ball (Win)
  • Aston Villa - Give 0.50 ball (Win)
Sunday's Picks
  • Manchester City - Give 0.75 ball (Win)

  • Lazio - Eat 0.50 ball (Testing theory only)
  • Palermo - Give 1.00 ball (Testing theory only)
HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 3 - 0 - 0

Result This Season: 19.0 - 5 - 17.5 = 1.5 UP as at 07 Oct 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 (06 Oct 2007)




Manchester United vs Wigan Athletic

"...we will be looking to Scholes to carry the game today...."
- JayWalk, 06 Oct 2007

It's really tough to be ManUtd. A 1-0 victory and people will ask what's wrong with our attack. If we pulled off a Portsmouth-Reading 7-4 victory i.e. scoring 7 goals, people will question what went wrong with our defence?

Perhaps the 1-0 disease is passing along from Boring Arsenal of the old days, to Chelsea just a couple of seasons ago, and now ManUtd. Hopefully, we can pass this onward to the next unfortunate club and soon!

In all competitions, ManUtd has played 12 matches from which, only the victory against Chelsea, we scored more than 1 goal. Then again, I refused to recognised the second goal coz Saha cheated the penalty.

Still, I am sure as far as the league tables are concerned, nobody is complaining much as the solitary goal still bring in the 3 valuable points.

We look at the stats against AS Roma and you could tell that the Italians have clearly wisened up since the last 1-7 mauling. We were evenly matched during that game with AS Roma having more shots and shots-on-target than us. These numbers carry more weight since they are the visiting team. We need to do better if we want to survive the return leg. Fortunately, we were able to effectively contained them this time and worked up a well-deserved 1-0 victory. Now this is one 1-0 victory that I have no complain. Instad my beef is with the other relatively weaker teams where we have close to 20 shots and close to 10 shots-on-goal and still we only score 1 goal. That to me is NOT RIGHT.

Looking ahead, ManUtd will be looking forward to the long break, as we go into Euro2008 qualifers next weekend with no midweek games before and after. So essentially, that means that we are getting 3 consecutive match days with no game on. Excellent time for our injured players to catch up with their recovery process as the break stalls us valuable time.

JayWalk The Talk: We have a slight injury crisis in midfield as both Hargreaves and Carrick are injured. Looks like we will be looking to Scholes to carry the game today. The good thing about Scholes is that he has retired from international football and as such, assuming no injuries at the end of today's 90 minutes, we will be counting on his services again for our next game away at Villa Park. Speaking of Park, Park Ji Sung is still injured. Ok sorry. Couldn't resist that. The rest of the injury list look quite depressing as Van der Sar, Fletcher, Brown, Neville, Silvestre and Fosters are all out.

Looks like we have a hole in the midfield that we need to plug up. I am guessing that Fergie would probably use one of the following three options: (a) Move utility man O'Shea up to midfield, (b) start with Anderson or (c) shift Giggs from the flank to the middle. I hope there is a more viable alternative option since (a) dampens our attack as O'Shea is not a very aggressive attacker, (b) may make us lose control of midfield as Anderson has yet to prove himself and (c) lose our flank advantage as Giggs' forte is at the flank not the middle. What we need is a playmaker like Cantona. Years ago, we wanted to get Pavel Nedved but alas we weren't fated.

Up front, we are well stocked with Saha, Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney to provide the goals but question is if our midfield is able to provide the ammunition i.e. the thru passes and crosses? Oh heck, can we even dominate possession?

On the Latics side, injuries are just as many with Sibierskio, Heskey, Bouaouzan, Valencia and Landzaat all unavailable. While the headcount is lower than ours, the impact is greater on their side as ManUtd has a much deeper squad depth. Still, the saving grace for Wigan is that Hutchings has as many as 8 midfielders available for selection.

Problem who is going to finish for them?

JayWalk The Walk:
Bookies are giving ManUtd to give up a 1.75-ball handicap with a 1.975 decimal odds to beat it. Strange considering the fact that ManUtd seems, of late, to be stuck in the 1-0 doldrums. Why such a big handicap? The answer is history on four counts.

  1. Wigan has 17 consecutive losses against the Big 4 teams and as such is not expected to pull any surprises here. Not even a draw. However, one may argue that a 1-0 scoreline is still a victory but a loss as far as the handicap is concerned which brings me to...
  2. ... our last 5 head-to-heads where we are 5-0-0 over them with scores of 3-1, 3-1, 2-1, 4-0 and 4-0 in reverse chronological order.
  3. Next, we look at current league form where we are on a roll of 5 consecutive wins while the Lactics are going through 5 consecutive games winless.
  4. Lastly, ManUtd despite their lousy goal count has 5 consecutive clean sheets in domestic league and the opposite is said for Wigan who had none in the last 5 games.
So the question is not if we would win tonight but rather is we can win by more than 2. At 1.975, the numbers say a smack 50-50. It could go either way. Unless you are a ManUtd fan, I would advice against punting here as I am looking at a 2-goal victory at best which would only yield a miserable half-wager win.

The way I see it, it is unlikely that we are able to switch from 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 to a 3-0 or more mauling overnight. Still, I believe the key tonight for me to win that half wager is that we score an early goal in the first half.

Wish me luck.

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.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Midweek Outlook (3 Oct 2007)



Manchester United vs Roma



"The match against Roma have "REVENGE" all over it."
-Gary, 3 Oct 2007


Portsmouth 7-4 Reading!! Chelsea 0-0 Fulham!! Tottenham 4-4 Aston Villa!! Other teams are making headlines yet Man Utd could only garnered another 1-0 scoreline against Birmingham. Another goal from Ronaldo. 21 more goals from him to win his bet against Fergie.

The match against Roma have "REVENGE" all over it. Man Utd won 7-1 against Roma in the quarter-final stage in Apr to record the biggest scoreline in the Champions League history. Roma want to exorcise the ghosts but im afraid they have to wait for another time to do so as Man Utd are unbeaten at home.

Roma didnt fare any better in the Italian league. They lost 4-1 to Inter Milan during the weekend, perhaps Roma have an eye on this game and lost focus in it.

Man Utd's Team News: Vidic and Wes Brown are doubtful and will decide whether they are able to play against the Romans. Edwin van der Sar is out with a damaged toe and deputy Tomasz Kuszczak will take over the post. Owen Hargreaves is pushing hard for his European debut for United.

Roma's Team News: Christian Panucci is out with a back problem. Alberto Aquilani is recalled to replace David Pizarro.

Odds and Analysis: Handicap of 0.75 at 1.95, take Man Utd to win another 1-0 scoreline and win half of the winnings. Better than nothing.

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 (06 - 07 October 2007)

This Saturday, we head to Anfield and perhaps this would be the last day for Martin Jol? Spurs has been by far the most expensive unlucky team in the EPL. Fortunately, we know Jol is not ready to concede defeat and as such, I would expect Spurs to put up a good fight? A scalp perhaps?

Well, let's place your predictions here.

Last week was too easy as we saw predictions skewing on side. Having been through that, Sunday's game will be a little tougher as we pit Everton against Newcastle.

What would it be? Win, lose or draw? You decide.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR KINGMENG AND DELAY: There are changes to the match picks. Below are the amended matches. Please resubmit your predictions. Sorry for the screw up.

EPL15: SAT 06/10 Aston Villa vs West Ham United at 10:00pm SIN/HKT

EPL16: SUN 07/10 Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur at 10:00pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.

Monday, October 01, 2007

SPUG EPL Prediction League
Results 29 - 30 Sep 2007

We were soooo close to getting a Perfect 10 this weekend when KingMeng narrowly missed it by a single point. Oh well, it is not as easy as it seems, does it?

Anyway, I think I may have pick games that were way too easy for the predictions all went one way for the most of us resulting in 6 points for almost everybody. Still, this is the type of games where every single point counts. There would be a great difference between a 6+3 and and 6+2 outcome.

Still, it's doesn't challenge much of the grey matter, now does it?

ihawk98, let's go for more difficult match-ups next week.

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.