Well winter has most certainly arrived and so I guess it only makes sense that yet again my predictions are dominated by rugby and football again this week.
Starting with football and more in particular the Barclays premiership I have four predictions for the weekend. This week I have chosen three of the pretenders to breaking into the top four this season and gaining themselves a place in the Champions League for next season. Aston Villa are currently in one of those hallowed positions after some good results in recent weeks and my prediction is for them to carry on this good form with a home win at Stoke.
Manchester City are at home this weekend against Sunderland who have been both unpredictable and very heavily reliant on goals from Darren Bent. Though City were lucky to gain a draw at Bolton last weekend and outplayed at Spurs during the week I am going for them to get their challenge back on track with a win. I still find it amazing that nearly every day is being predicted as the last for their manager Mark Hughes. Surely it is a long term project that is underway at Eastlands and whilst the squad has been expensively assembled it will take time to grow together as a team. It should also not be forgotten that they have only lost twice all season (the best record in the premiership) and both times to teams also challenging for high finishes this season. Yes, it is true they have drawn a lot of games but surely that is a better result than losing and I am sure their long-suffering fans are far happier with the progress that is being made at the club and it will only take a couple of wins on the bounce and they are right back in the mix for a top 4 finish!
Another of the pretenders to the top four are Spurs who have been their usual mixture of inconsistency this season but still find themselves in fifth place in the league. In the last couple of days they have been making the headlines for the wrong reasons after a Christmas party that took place in Dublin against the wishes of the manager, but I am backing them to continue their form from the Wednesday (rather than last Saturday) and gain a win at Blackburn.
My final prediction is for Mick McCarthy's Wolves to draw with Burnley at Molineux, which will cause plenty more of column inches to be written after Wolves decided to play their reserves at Old Trafford in their mid-week match.
Rugby's Heineken Cup continues this weekend and after my brave but flawed predictions for many away wins last weekend I am playing it safe with mainly home wins. The exception to this is I am going for Glasgow to win at Gloucester, but in symmetry with last week's predictions for the games at Edinburgh who host Bath as well Leicester versus Clermont Auvergne I am sticking with last week's predictions but this time the teams are at home. My final rugby prediction is for another home win and that is for Toulouse to reverse the result of last week and beat the Cardiff Blues who I understand have included Gareth Thomas on the bench after his brave revelations which became public this weekend.
The final sporting prediction is the result of the first test match in South Africa. As I write mid-way through the fourth day it would look like the game is heading for a draw but with all results still possible and needing a decent result on my predictions I am going for an England win because of the odds.
Tonight also sees the finale of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and whilst I am not a huge fan of this sort of TV, I have sneaked more than a look at this programme, and though clearly not the best dancer I am going for Chris Hollins to win because of his sporting connections.
In summary my predictions for the penultimate weekend of 2009 are as follows:
Barclays Premier League Football
Aston Villa to beat Stoke at 1/2
Tottenham to beat Blackburn at 13/10
Manchester City to beat Sunderland at 8/13
Wolves to draw with Burnley at 5/2
Heineken Cup Rugby
Edinburgh to beat Bath at 8/13
Leicester to beat Clermont Auvergne at 1/2
Glasgow to beat Gloucester at 2/1
Toulouse to beat Cardiff at 2/9
Test Match Cricket
England to beat South Africa in first test at 6/1
Strictly Come Dancing
Chris Hollins to win at 5/4
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Three out of ten!!
If I thought the previous week's predictions were poor, I managed to excel myself last week with only three out of ten correct predictions meaning that my accumulated losses are now up to £13.
Admittedly, even the most seasoned pundits struggled to predict the results from most of the Barclays premiership games last weekend but I guess that is what makes football in this country so exciting and the whole concept of making predictions a bit of a lottery. Whilst I correctly foresaw the draw between Stoke and Wigan, Blackburn were unable to get the better of Hull, Portsmouth came back to snatch a draw at Sunderland when a home win had looked likely and of course Arsenal (supposedly after the hairdryer treatment from Wenger at half-time) heaped more misery on Liverpool fans with an away win at Anfield in a game I thought had draw written all over it.
In the European rugby I had gone for a host of away wins but as it turned out only Leinster did the business in Llanelli. I predicted one home win but Brive were annihilated by London Irish in the Dordogne. In my other two fixtures Bath got their season back onto some sort of track by defeating Edinburgh and whilst Leicester scored thirty points in their match against Clermont that was not even enough for a bonus point!
My final couple of predictions were based on the votes of the UK population and whilst I had envisaged a top three of Ennis, Button and Giggs, I got the order back to front. Whilst Giggs is obviously deserving of such an accolade I do question whether he was either the best British sportsman or one with the best personality during 2009!
Finally, my wife had suggested that Joe would win X-Factor which I understand he did, giving me my third correct prediction of the weekend. It now seems the pressure is now on him to have the Christmas No 1. Am I that fussed, not really!
Admittedly, even the most seasoned pundits struggled to predict the results from most of the Barclays premiership games last weekend but I guess that is what makes football in this country so exciting and the whole concept of making predictions a bit of a lottery. Whilst I correctly foresaw the draw between Stoke and Wigan, Blackburn were unable to get the better of Hull, Portsmouth came back to snatch a draw at Sunderland when a home win had looked likely and of course Arsenal (supposedly after the hairdryer treatment from Wenger at half-time) heaped more misery on Liverpool fans with an away win at Anfield in a game I thought had draw written all over it.
In the European rugby I had gone for a host of away wins but as it turned out only Leinster did the business in Llanelli. I predicted one home win but Brive were annihilated by London Irish in the Dordogne. In my other two fixtures Bath got their season back onto some sort of track by defeating Edinburgh and whilst Leicester scored thirty points in their match against Clermont that was not even enough for a bonus point!
My final couple of predictions were based on the votes of the UK population and whilst I had envisaged a top three of Ennis, Button and Giggs, I got the order back to front. Whilst Giggs is obviously deserving of such an accolade I do question whether he was either the best British sportsman or one with the best personality during 2009!
Finally, my wife had suggested that Joe would win X-Factor which I understand he did, giving me my third correct prediction of the weekend. It now seems the pressure is now on him to have the Christmas No 1. Am I that fussed, not really!
Friday, 11 December 2009
Football, Rugby and some audience participation...
Another week and another set of predictions. More Premier League football and Heineken rugby but also Sports Personality of the Year and following my success with Britain's Got Talent the missus has made a request for an X factor prediction - why not!
As I sit writing this I'm also watching the Munster - Perpignan game which is too close to call so I will start with rugby this week. I am going against the grain in this competition with only one home win prediction and three away wins. My thoughts are that Brive will win in France against London Irish, but that Leinster will win in Llanelli, Edinburgh in Bath and Leicester in Clermont. By Sunday evening we will know whether I am right or wrong but this season's competition looks more open than for many years and home advantage seems to not hold the same benefit it used to.
In the football I also have four predictions with a bit of a mix as I go for a home win, away win and two draws. In the home win I am going for Sunderland to beat Portsmouth who seem to be all in all sorts of trouble off the pitch again, for the away win I think Blackburn will turn over a Jimmy Bullard-less Hull and in the draws Stoke hosting Wigan and the big game of the weekend as Liverpool host Arsenal.
However, in addition to this we have the Sports Personality of the Year award which in truth should be renamed as sports person of the year as personality never seems to come into it. I was pretty much in favour of the shortlist, other than Bradley Wiggins not making it. The person I would like to see win is another cyclist - Mark Cavendish - who won six stages of this year's Tour de France in addition to last year's four before he quit to represent Britain at the Olympics and became the only member of the track team not to win a medal through no fault of his own. This alone should be worthy of winning but he won plenty of other races including Milan - San Remo and stages in the Giro and undoubtedly proved himself as the world's best sprinter.
But Cav won't win and my prediction is that the top 3 will be Button, Ennis and Giggs who will all be worthy winners but my vote will be for Ennis who was successful in the toughest of events. In the team event I can't see past the Brawn F1 team which has since morphed into Mercedes.
Finally, my wife has informed me that a guy called Joe will win the X factor. Not really a sporting connotation other than I know it is the preferred sleeping potion for a number of teammates at the rugby club - no doubt aided by some after match beer!
In summary therefore the predictions are:
Heineken Cup Rugby
Brive to beat London Irish at 13/8
Leinster to beat the Scarlets at 4/7
Edinburgh to beat Bath at 11/5
Leicester to beat Clermont Auvergne at 2/1
Barclays Premier League
Stoke to draw with Wigan at 12/5
Blackburn to beat Hull at 8/5
Sunderland to beat Portsmouth at 11/13
Liverpool to draw with Arsenal at 12/5
Sports Personality
Jessica Ennis to win at 11/2
X Factor
Joe to win at 1/2
As I sit writing this I'm also watching the Munster - Perpignan game which is too close to call so I will start with rugby this week. I am going against the grain in this competition with only one home win prediction and three away wins. My thoughts are that Brive will win in France against London Irish, but that Leinster will win in Llanelli, Edinburgh in Bath and Leicester in Clermont. By Sunday evening we will know whether I am right or wrong but this season's competition looks more open than for many years and home advantage seems to not hold the same benefit it used to.
In the football I also have four predictions with a bit of a mix as I go for a home win, away win and two draws. In the home win I am going for Sunderland to beat Portsmouth who seem to be all in all sorts of trouble off the pitch again, for the away win I think Blackburn will turn over a Jimmy Bullard-less Hull and in the draws Stoke hosting Wigan and the big game of the weekend as Liverpool host Arsenal.
However, in addition to this we have the Sports Personality of the Year award which in truth should be renamed as sports person of the year as personality never seems to come into it. I was pretty much in favour of the shortlist, other than Bradley Wiggins not making it. The person I would like to see win is another cyclist - Mark Cavendish - who won six stages of this year's Tour de France in addition to last year's four before he quit to represent Britain at the Olympics and became the only member of the track team not to win a medal through no fault of his own. This alone should be worthy of winning but he won plenty of other races including Milan - San Remo and stages in the Giro and undoubtedly proved himself as the world's best sprinter.
But Cav won't win and my prediction is that the top 3 will be Button, Ennis and Giggs who will all be worthy winners but my vote will be for Ennis who was successful in the toughest of events. In the team event I can't see past the Brawn F1 team which has since morphed into Mercedes.
Finally, my wife has informed me that a guy called Joe will win the X factor. Not really a sporting connotation other than I know it is the preferred sleeping potion for a number of teammates at the rugby club - no doubt aided by some after match beer!
In summary therefore the predictions are:
Heineken Cup Rugby
Brive to beat London Irish at 13/8
Leinster to beat the Scarlets at 4/7
Edinburgh to beat Bath at 11/5
Leicester to beat Clermont Auvergne at 2/1
Barclays Premier League
Stoke to draw with Wigan at 12/5
Blackburn to beat Hull at 8/5
Sunderland to beat Portsmouth at 11/13
Liverpool to draw with Arsenal at 12/5
Sports Personality
Jessica Ennis to win at 11/2
X Factor
Joe to win at 1/2
Three out of seven - what do I know...
Not a great week on the predictions last week with only three from seven correct predictions and back to an accumulated loss of £9.50.
Two successes out of four in the premier league with Aston Villa beating Hull and Fulham beating Sunderland but my two draw predictions were wrong. Yet again Wigan showed their Jekyll and Hyde character by losing at home to Birmingham and Chelsea suffered in the North West losing to Manchester City, though had Lampard scored a late penalty I may have been right. Of course Chelsea's loss has opened the league back up and Lampard was not alone in missing a penalty in the premiership last week as in total four out of five spot kicks were missed. Spurs once again dominated most of a game and still contrived to draw having had a two goal lead and then missing a late penalty. At times they look like a top four side but I am not sure they are good enough - please prove me wrong boys!
My rugby predictions of away wins didn't come off though Leicester came close at Wasps, Newcastle were never really in the hunt at Gloucester. Thankfully, Saracens' "low risk" game again paid dividends and they remain unbeaten and top of the league after their defeat of Sale. It may not be the most exciting brand of rugby (they are the only team in the league without a bonus point) but they are my team so I'm not complaining. However, the game is changing at the top level and a culture of "not losing" seems to have taken precedent to trying to win - just witness Worcester who have drawn three times this season when in recent memory draws were almost as rare as hen's teeth!
At least the Barbarians provided some cheer with their win over the All Blacks, albeit a mainly second string New Zealand team. A great performance by the Springbok wing Habana to score a hat-trick but was again slightly disapppointed to see a Baa-Baas team kicking penalties - the game seems to be losing all of it's traditions.
Two successes out of four in the premier league with Aston Villa beating Hull and Fulham beating Sunderland but my two draw predictions were wrong. Yet again Wigan showed their Jekyll and Hyde character by losing at home to Birmingham and Chelsea suffered in the North West losing to Manchester City, though had Lampard scored a late penalty I may have been right. Of course Chelsea's loss has opened the league back up and Lampard was not alone in missing a penalty in the premiership last week as in total four out of five spot kicks were missed. Spurs once again dominated most of a game and still contrived to draw having had a two goal lead and then missing a late penalty. At times they look like a top four side but I am not sure they are good enough - please prove me wrong boys!
My rugby predictions of away wins didn't come off though Leicester came close at Wasps, Newcastle were never really in the hunt at Gloucester. Thankfully, Saracens' "low risk" game again paid dividends and they remain unbeaten and top of the league after their defeat of Sale. It may not be the most exciting brand of rugby (they are the only team in the league without a bonus point) but they are my team so I'm not complaining. However, the game is changing at the top level and a culture of "not losing" seems to have taken precedent to trying to win - just witness Worcester who have drawn three times this season when in recent memory draws were almost as rare as hen's teeth!
At least the Barbarians provided some cheer with their win over the All Blacks, albeit a mainly second string New Zealand team. A great performance by the Springbok wing Habana to score a hat-trick but was again slightly disapppointed to see a Baa-Baas team kicking penalties - the game seems to be losing all of it's traditions.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Not the busiest of weekends
Not as many sports to make predictions for this weekend and so have limited myself to premiership football and rugby.
In the rugby I am making three predictions and even though away wins tend to be rare in the Premier League I am going for two this week. Gloucester have not been very consistent this week so I am going for a Newcastle win there and I am also predicting Leicester to do the same at Wasps. The only home win will be for top of the table Saracens to overcome Sale.
In the football I am going for draw specialists Manchester City to keep up their run with a draw against top of the table Chelsea. My other draw prediction is for the game between Wigan and Birmingham, then I am going for home wins for Aston Villa who are playing Hull and Fulham over Sunderland.
I am currently £7.50 down since the blog began and am hoping to reduce the deficit again this week. In summary the predictions are:
Guinness Premiership
Newcastle to win at Gloucester at 11/4
Saracens to beat Sale at 1/3
Leicester to beat Wasps at 4/3
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa to beat Hull at 1/2
Wigan to draw with Birmingham at 12/5
Manchester City to draw with Chelsea at 5/2
Fulham to beat Sunderland at 6/5
In the rugby I am making three predictions and even though away wins tend to be rare in the Premier League I am going for two this week. Gloucester have not been very consistent this week so I am going for a Newcastle win there and I am also predicting Leicester to do the same at Wasps. The only home win will be for top of the table Saracens to overcome Sale.
In the football I am going for draw specialists Manchester City to keep up their run with a draw against top of the table Chelsea. My other draw prediction is for the game between Wigan and Birmingham, then I am going for home wins for Aston Villa who are playing Hull and Fulham over Sunderland.
I am currently £7.50 down since the blog began and am hoping to reduce the deficit again this week. In summary the predictions are:
Guinness Premiership
Newcastle to win at Gloucester at 11/4
Saracens to beat Sale at 1/3
Leicester to beat Wasps at 4/3
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa to beat Hull at 1/2
Wigan to draw with Birmingham at 12/5
Manchester City to draw with Chelsea at 5/2
Fulham to beat Sunderland at 6/5
A profitable week from some average predictions!
Only five out of eleven correct predictions yet still made a £2 profit due to some good odds on the correct forecasts.
Unlike the previous week did well with my rugby predictions and not so good on the football - or anything else for that matter. Davydenko won the tennis and Federer didn't even make the final which was a bit of a shock. Italy triumphed in the World Cup golf but I did forecast England winning the cricket which following the cancellation of today's match has led to them being only the third team to win a one day series in South Africa - albeit with the help of a few "South Africans!"
In the premier league Aston Villa's draw with Spurs was my only success and I would have to say that was only down to Freidel's heroics in the Villa goal. Wigan recovered from their thrashing the previous week with a win to Sunderland and Liverpool won the derby match with Everton neither of which I predicted as I thought both would be a draw. Fulham did draw with Bolton bu that was no good to me as I predicted them to win.
Better results in the final weekend of Autumn Internationals as three of my forecasts proved correct. Successes were Argentina winning in Scotland, Ireland keeping up their unbeaten autumn by defeating South Africa and Australia taking the Welsh apart in Cardiff. What I hadn't foreseen was the All Blacks back to their best against France where they won easily.
Unlike the previous week did well with my rugby predictions and not so good on the football - or anything else for that matter. Davydenko won the tennis and Federer didn't even make the final which was a bit of a shock. Italy triumphed in the World Cup golf but I did forecast England winning the cricket which following the cancellation of today's match has led to them being only the third team to win a one day series in South Africa - albeit with the help of a few "South Africans!"
In the premier league Aston Villa's draw with Spurs was my only success and I would have to say that was only down to Freidel's heroics in the Villa goal. Wigan recovered from their thrashing the previous week with a win to Sunderland and Liverpool won the derby match with Everton neither of which I predicted as I thought both would be a draw. Fulham did draw with Bolton bu that was no good to me as I predicted them to win.
Better results in the final weekend of Autumn Internationals as three of my forecasts proved correct. Successes were Argentina winning in Scotland, Ireland keeping up their unbeaten autumn by defeating South Africa and Australia taking the Welsh apart in Cardiff. What I hadn't foreseen was the All Blacks back to their best against France where they won easily.
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