Premier League predictions - Will Rafa’s men handle the pressure?

I head back to the murky world of Premier Leaguepredictions after a remarkable performance of nine correct predictions in twelve during international week. I don’t expect that sort of success rate here!

Saturday 4th April 2009

Arsenal v Manchester City

Arsenal have opened up a three point lead over fifth placed Aston Villa. They are unbeaten in sixteen league games, in the FA Cup semi-finals and the Champions League quarter-finals. They are a looking good at the moment and a trip to the Emirates is a daunting prospect for anyone.

It could be particularly daunting for a Manchester City side who have still only won once away from home this season. They have slowly crept up to tenth place and are only three points short of seventh, but their away form is still holding them back.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Blackburn v Tottenham

Blackburn have edged two points clear of the drop zone. With only three defeats in their last thirteen league games, Sam Allardyce has made them a tough side to beat. Having said that, they have drawn five of those games and need to turn some of them into wins.

Tottenham’s revival has seen them climb up to eleventh place, nine points clear of relegation and only ten points short of a European place. They are unbeaten in seven and their last two games have seen them beat third placed Chelsea and then fourth placed Aston Villa.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-2

Bolton v Middlesbrough

Bolton have managed to open up a five point gap on the bottom three. Gary Megson is still far from being a popular manager amongst his own fans but to an outsider, he is doing a pretty good job with a pretty average team.

Middlesbrough are in a desperate situation four points adrift from safety. The brief flicker of hope a few weeks ago when they beat Liverpool is but a distant memory as that game remains their only win in their last eighteen league games.

This game will certainly not be a classic but I expect Bolton to edge to safety and Middlesbrough to sink nearer the drop.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-0

Fulham v Liverpool

Fulham find themselves in the rarefied heights of ninth place in the table. After a minor blip of four games without a win, they have bounced back with two wins in a row including the 2-0 defeat of Manchester Unitedlast time out.

Liverpool know that victory or even a draw in this game will put them top of the table for at least twenty-four hours. You don’t get a much bigger incentive than that. This will be a real test of whether Fergie was right or Liverpool have the mental strength to see the job through. This is the first time for a while that Liverpool have had the chance to go top.

Will they stand up to the pressure?

SoccerNews prediction: 0-2

Hull v Portsmouth

Hull have slipped to within four points of the relegation zone and are desperate for some points in this one. With only one win in their last fourteen games they are still in freefall. Defeat here would leave them in a perilous position.

Portsmouth have steadied the ship a little and whilst they are a point behind Hull at the moment, they are in a far better run of form. They have only lost one of their last five and last time out they beat high flying Everton.

SoccerNews prediction: 0-1

Newcastle v Chelsea

What effect will the Alan Shearer appointment have on Newcastle? They are currently third from bottom two points away from safety. The run of form they are in has seen them win just once in fourteen outings. Shearer will give hope to the fans and belief to the players, but sadly for him, he can’t make his team into better players.

Chelsea have slipped to four points behind the leaders but will still consider themselves as serious contenders for the Premier League title. Prior to their defeat at Tottenham they had gone nine games unbeaten and will fancy their chances of starting another run in this game.

SoccerNews prediction: 0-2

West Brom v Stoke

West Brom are probably doomed. They are rock bottom and some seven points from safety. They have drawn their last two games but it is some two and a half months since they tasted the joy of victory.

Stoke are still fighting for their lives. They are three points clear of the drop zone and will see this game as a real chance to move closer to keeping their Premier League status. They have only lost twice in their last seven and had a crucial win over Middlesbrough in their last game.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-1

West Ham v Sunderland

Gianfranco Zola has guided West Ham into eighth place in the table. They have lost just twice in twelve games and are unbeaten in four.

Sunderland’s mini-revival under Ricky Sbragia has somewhat hit the rocks. They are only three points clear of the bottom three and they need to start picking up some points. Five games without a win means that these are worrying times at the Stadium of Light.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-1

Sunday 5th April 2009

Everton v Wigan

Everton have probably scuppered their chances of a top four finish as they are now seven points behind Arsenal. Defeat at Portsmouth last time out was probably the end of their hopes. They should still qualify for Europe and have had a fine season. Their reversal at Portsmouth was their first defeat in nine.

Wigan have made it to seventh place in the table. Either they are better than they look or the quality of the Premier League below the top six is not great this season. They have only lost twice in eight and are coming off the back of two straight victories.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-0

Manchester United v Aston Villa

United may well go into this game in second place in the table. They are coming off the back of the very rare situation of back to back defeats. Off course, prior to that they had only lost once in thirty games!

Villa’s wonderful season is in danger of crashing around them. They are now three points adrift of the fourth Champions League spot and could do with playing somewhere other than Old Trafford as they look to get three points and get back on track. They come into this game with no wins in eight and after suffering a humiliating 5-0 defeat at Liverpool.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

International predictions - England to keep 100% record and can anyone stop Holland?

There are some bigWorld Cupqualifying games tonight and here we go with a preview of a few selected matches. I shouldn’t point this out really but I’m going to! On Saturday I got four of my five predictions right and three of those, I got the exact score. Considering I don’t think I’ve ever got more than three out of ten in the Premier League, I might just concentrate on internationals from now on. 

England v Ukraine

Fabio Capello’s men put their 100% qualifying record on the line tonight against unbeaten Ukraine. England warmed up for the game with a comfortable 4-0 win over Slovakia on Saturday but tonight’s game is likely to provide a far sterner test.

Ukraine will be looking to the woefully short of match practice Andrei Shevchenko to provide the goals. Thirty-nine goals in eighty-five internationals speaks for itself as a record, but the fact is, Shevchenko has scored just ten goals in three years at club level.

England will be hoping that the Rooney and Gerrard partnership can continue where it left off on Saturday. Anything other than a win will be viewed as something of a disaster.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

France v Lithuania

France desperately needed a win in Lithuania on Saturday and thanks to a 68th minute goal from Ribery, they got one. Now, playing in front of their own fans, who have been very critical of late, they need to produce another result and a performance.

Lithuania won’t have seen too much to worry them for this game and if they can keep things tight early on and frustrate the French, things could get interesting as the crowd will undoubtedly turn against their team. They also know that a point would be enough to keep them ahead of the hosts in the table.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Holland v Macedonia

As each game passes, Holland look more and more like potential winners of the 2010 World Cup. It is Macedonia’s turn to face the music tonight and they won’t be looking forward to it.

Huntelaar, Van Persie, Robben, Kuyt, etc. I don’t think any team would fancy facing them at the moment, let alone a team sitting second from bottom in the group. The only positive for Macedonia is that Van Persie has withdrawn from the squad through injury.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Italy v Republic of Ireland

Italy won reasonably comfortably in Montenegro on Saturday whilst Ireland could only manage a draw at home to Bulgaria. Italy will probably there or thereabouts in 2010 as they nearly always are, whilst Ireland are unlikely to feature in the very latter stages of the tournament.

Having said that, Ireland’s victory over Italy at World Cup 1994 is still celebrated in Ireland and remembered none too fondly in Italy.

These two are well clear in first and second place but Italy will be determined to increase the two point lead they have over their opponents.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-1

Scotland v Iceland

After Saturday’s footballing lesson at the hands of the Dutch, this is a ‘must win’ game for Scotland. Iceland actually sit above the Scots on goal difference at the moment but are probably the weakest side in the group.

The fact is that Scotland need to win to have any chance of making the play-offs and if they can’t win at home to Iceland, they don’t deserve to qualify.

SoccerNews prediction: 1-0

Turkey v Spain

The European Champions were successful in the return fixture between these two last Saturday. Spain could only manage a 1-0 win and Turkey held out for an hour until Pique got the all important goal.

Turkey will fancy their chances of causing an upset here, but I can’t see Spain leaving with less than a point.

Spain are well clear at the top but Turkey need something so that they do not fall too far behind Bosnia.

SoccerNews prediction: 0-0

Wales v Germany

There is much doom and gloom around Welsh football at the moment and their performance in the 2-0 defeat at home to Finland on Saturday was totally toothless.

With only 20,000 tickets sold for the game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, former Welsh international Robbie Savage has spoken out about the problems Wales have. “Does the crowd really want to see lower division players playing for their country? I’m expecting Wales, low on confidence to get hammered.”

Thanks for the support Robbie!

Germany had a simple 4-0 win over Liechtenstein and the only way they won’t pick up another three points is if they are over confident and complacent. In fact, even if they are, they’ll probably still win.

SoccerNews prediction: 0-2

Bent blow for England

England’s attacking options for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine looked set to be further reduced after Darren Bent limped out of training on the eve of the match.

Tottenham forward Bent had been a late call-up to the squad after Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole suffered injuries in Saturday’s 4-0 friendly win over Slovakia.

But his involvement with the national squad lasted only a few minutes before he was forced to head for the treatment room.

There was better news for head coach Fabio Capello on the fitness of Rio Ferdinand, who appeared to be training normally after missing the Slovakia match with a back strain.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, who missed Saturday’s game with an ankle injury, was also able to train, as was Peter Crouch, who was substituted as a precaution late on in the Slovakia match.

With four stright wins in group six, England will be in a very strong position to reach next year’s finals in South Africa if they can beat Ukraine, the only team they have yet to face.

Source: Written by SoccerNews · Tags: English Premier League, World Cup 

Samba urges Givet to stay

Blackburn Rovers ace Chris Samba has urged Gael Givet to turn his loan spell at the club into a permanent deal.

Givet is currently on loan from French giants Marseille.

“Gael has been very good since coming here,” Samba told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. “It does take time to settle into The Premier League but Gael has done it very quickly, quicker than anyone expected.

“It feels like he is part of the club already and I think he has played very well for us. He is a good defender.

“The supporters do like him and I think they would like him to sign for Blackburn. I also think Gael would love to sign but first of all we all have to concentrate on staying up.”

[Source: Lancashire Evening Telegraph]

Ettifaq Footbal Club

Professional football club based in Dammam; web site is in Arabic:http://www.ettifaq.net/

Hilal Clinch Saudi Football League Title

Hilal Clinch Saudi Football League Title: Al-Hilal delivered the goods when it really mattered, scoring a 1-0 victory over Al-Ittihad last night in the final match to win their 11th Saudi Football League title.

Hilal’s star striker Yasser Al-Qahtani silenced the Ittihad supporters after he struck with a header in the 48th minute in the highly physical contest that yielded a welter of yellow cards from both teams.

Ittihad never recovered after the Al-Qahtani stunner, failing to find the equalizer and wasting at least three scoring opportunities in the closing minutes.

Hilal and Ittihad tied on 48 points but the Riyadh-based club won the prestigious crown by virtue of their one-goal edge in the head-to-head matches between them. Their match in Riyadh ended in a goalless draw.

Thus did Hilal complete the victory virtually via the backdoor that gave them the Crown Prince Cup and league double. And Hilal’s triumph against a side that had long dominated the league justified their gambit to sacrifice the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup final last week by not fielding key players like Al-Qahtani, Omar Al-Ghamdi, Mohammad Al-Shalhoub and Tariq Al-Tayeeb. As a result, Al-Nasr won the match 2-1.

Hilal set up this title showdown with Ittihad by drawing their two pending matches against Al-Shabab. For Ittihad the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow, bombing out in the big match after coming tantalizingly close to winning the title.

Now, Ittihad will be looking to win the new Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s Cup to save their season.

The match watched by more than 20,000 crowd that packed every available space at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium was a fitting climax to a long season.

The home team were in control in the first half, making several attempts in the first 10 minutes before Khaled Al-Anqari made his first shot on goal for Hilal.

Brazilian Chico got his chance for Ittihad in the 15th minute only to be routinely blocked by the veteran Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Daie. To Al-Daie’s credit, he kept Ittihad from scoring a goal despite the numerous chances that came their way.

Among the players to receive yellow cards were Adnan Fallatah and Chico for Ittihad and Al-Qahtani, Al-Tayeeb and Abdulateef Al-Ghanam for Hilal.

Zain Official Sponsor of Saudi National Football Teams

Al Ahmadi: Football is a new industry that needs support

Mobile Telecommunication Company, Zain was announced as the official sponsor of all four Saudi National Football Teams (SNFT) for a period of four years when the President of the Saudi Football Federation, HRH Prince Sultan bin Fahd approved the signed contract between Zain and Sela Sport companies.

The contract guarantees Zain’s official partnership rights to sponsor SNFT (First National team, Olympic team, Youth team and Beginners team) for the duration of the contract with the help of Sela, SNFT’s exclusive owner of marketing trade rights.

“This cooperation between the private sector and youth activities in the Kingdom these companies’ sense of national pride. Zain’s sponsorship of all SNFT confirms its sense of responsibility and its keenness to play a fundamental role in the elevation of Saudi football universality,” said HRH Prince Sultan ibn Fahd during the press conference.

HRH stressed the huge aspirations and confidence in the Saudi youth by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz and officials who have taken care to surmount any difficulties and obstacles facing the SNFT and who have utilized the best resources for the teams’ high standing.

The new contract guarantees Zain’s official sponsorship rights of advertising, use of trademarks (SNFT logo, emblem and merchandise) for friendly and official games, branding all SNFT sportswear for all events, and owning prospects of holding friendly championships in cooperation and consultation with the Saudi Football Federation.

Zain’s sponsorship of SNFT as the chief partner comes as a major support for the Saudi Football’s march forward. Zain is committed to be the leader in the development of Saudi football and of its responsibility towards the Saudi youth.

“We are very proud of this agreement. We at Zain look at this contribution as a national duty. Our general strategic target is for Zain to become the most vital contributor in the Kingdom’s leadership in various fields,” said Dr. Marwan Al-Ahmadi, CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia.

“The turn-out of this partnership will, God willingly, be evident in the near future, as we will not hesitate to exert and utilize all efforts for the SNFT to occupy its rightful position in this country. This agreement forms a transitional step for Arab national teams and the SNFT will be the leading example for other countries’ teams,” he added.

“Football is no longer considered a hobby but rather a new industry based on limitless efforts to achieve huge gains for nations and countries alike,” Dr. Al Ahmadi concluded.