Nine predictions this week with Six Nations action and the Carling Cup Final at Wembley being the highlights.
The weekend's rugby started yesterday evening with what turned out to be a thrilling game at the Millennium in Cardiff. France just held on to stay unbeaten and if England can defeat Ireland today, my prediction, then it all starts to point towards a Grand Slam showdown in Paris next month. In the other game I'm going for a Scotland win over Italy in Rome but it will be another tight game.
Football's highlight this weekend is the first domestic final of the season when Aston Villa take on Manchester United in the Carling Cup. Having beaten the cup holders at Old Trafford earlier this season the team from the Midlands will be confident but my prediction is a narrow win for the defending champions.
In the premier league the highlight will be league leaders Chelsea led by John Terry meeting Manchester City featuring Wayne Bridge. Whilst this is the sub-plot to the game both teams need the points to secure their league ambitions and as such I'm going for the London team to triumph. In other matches my predictions are for Bolton to beat Wolves and Arsenal to end Stoke's 2010 unbeaten run.
Rugby League also continues in earnest and in this sport my predictions are for two home wins with Castleford to beat Hull KR and Huddersfield to defeat Warrington.
Like many other people it took a bit of time to get into the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and it is a shame that the games finish this weekend but a prediction for today is in the Men's last alpine event, the slalom and a win for Ivica Kostelic.
That completes the predictions for this weekend and the summary is as follows:
Six Nations
England to beat Ireland at 20/19
Scotland to beat Italy at 4/7
Carling Cup Final
Manchester United to beat Aston Villa at 10/11
Premier League Football
Chelsea to beat Manchester City at 10/21
Bolton to beat Wolves at 11/10
Arsenal to win at Stoke at 4/5
Rugby League
Castleford to beat Hull KR at 4/6
Huddersfield to beat Warrington at 8/11
Winter Olympics
Kostelic to win the men's slalom at 9/1
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Another average week
Last week was fairly typical for my predictions as I correctly forecast four out of eight results which thankfully led to a small profit for the week of £1 meaning losses overall are reduced to £12.50.
There were two successes in football as West Ham beat Hull and Liverpool & Manchester City negotiated a fairly tedious draw. Both of my Rugby Union predictions were wrong as the home sides triumphed (as they often do) but both of my Rugby League predictions were correct with both St. Helens and Wigan winning.
Watch this space for some predictions for this weekend.
There were two successes in football as West Ham beat Hull and Liverpool & Manchester City negotiated a fairly tedious draw. Both of my Rugby Union predictions were wrong as the home sides triumphed (as they often do) but both of my Rugby League predictions were correct with both St. Helens and Wigan winning.
Watch this space for some predictions for this weekend.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Eight Predictions this week
In a bit of a hurry as of to play rugby but eight predictions for this weekend. Firstly, well done to Amy Williams in winning gold in the Skeleton at the Olympics.
In footballs premier league am going for 3 draws and a home win for West Ham and in both codes of rugby in the Guinness Premiership and Superleague I am going for away wins.
Details are as follows:
Premier League Football
West Ham to beat Hull at 4/5
Portsmouth to draw with Stoke at 12/5
Blackburn to draw with Bolton at 12/5
Manchester City to draw with Liverpool at 23/10
Guinness Premiership
Northampton to win at Harlequins at 4/6
Saracens to win at Wasps at 11/8
Superleague
St Helens to win at Dragons at 7/15
Wigan to win at Warrington at 13/8
In footballs premier league am going for 3 draws and a home win for West Ham and in both codes of rugby in the Guinness Premiership and Superleague I am going for away wins.
Details are as follows:
Premier League Football
West Ham to beat Hull at 4/5
Portsmouth to draw with Stoke at 12/5
Blackburn to draw with Bolton at 12/5
Manchester City to draw with Liverpool at 23/10
Guinness Premiership
Northampton to win at Harlequins at 4/6
Saracens to win at Wasps at 11/8
Superleague
St Helens to win at Dragons at 7/15
Wigan to win at Warrington at 13/8
Not a good week
After the decent profit of the previous week it was back to losing ways again as I showed a loss of £3.50 taking my accumulated loss to £13.50 from the eleven predictions.
Only sucesses were Portsmouth and Fulham beating lower league sides in the FA Cup, France winning against Ireland in the Six Nations and St Helens winning at Bradford in Rugby League's Superleague. I did correctly predict that England would beat Italy but not the winning margin.
Only sucesses were Portsmouth and Fulham beating lower league sides in the FA Cup, France winning against Ireland in the Six Nations and St Helens winning at Bradford in Rugby League's Superleague. I did correctly predict that England would beat Italy but not the winning margin.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
FA Cup, Six Nations and the Winter Olympics
After a successful set of predictions last week it is time to stick my neck out again.
The major event getting underway over the weekend is the Winter Olympics where there are high hopes for a number of British competitors and even talk of this being our nation's most successful Winter Games ever. However, it won't be a Briton competing to win the blue riband event, the Men's Downhill and my prediction is for the Canadian Osbourne-Paradis to finish in the top 3 - assuming there is enough snow on the slope for the competition to take place.
This weekend also has the fifth round of the FA Cup with sixteen teams competing to get into the quarter finals. The match that stands out is the South Coast derby where Southampton host Portsmouth, two teams whose off the field financial problems have made more headlines than the quality of their football recently. With that in mind though I am going for an away win as Portsmouth should have more quality than their local rivals who are currently two leagues below them. The East Midlands take on the West Midlands when Derby host Birmingham and in this game my prediction is a draw.
The next two predictions are both all premiership clashes and I am going for Manchester City to win at home against Stoke but for Spurs who have been fairly poor of late to defeat Bolton at the Reebok. My final prediction in this competition for this week is for Fulham to defeat League Two highflyers Notts County.
Rugby League's Superleague got underway last weekend and I'll make my first predictions in this competition this week. Harlequins host the Catalans and in this game I'm going for an away win as I am when St Helens take on Bradford.
Finally this week we have the second round of the six nations and two out of the three games could prove to be pivotal in the destination of the trophy this year. Today's first game sees Wales host Scotland and in what I think will be a close and tight game I'm going for an away win. The next match is France hosting Ireland which to many will be the game that decides the tournament winners (not a view I agree with) but what should be a super game between two very good sides. After last week's round of matches I am going for a home win to the French. Tomorrow England visit Italy and in this match I am going for the visitors by more than 13 points.
In summary the predictions are:
Men's Olympic Downhill
Osbourne-Paradis to finishing in the top 3 at 2/1
FA Cup Fifth Round
Portsmouth to beat Southampton at 13/8
Derby to draw with Birmingham at 12/5
Manchester City to beat Stoke at 4/7
Tottenham to win at Bolton at 15/13
Fulham to beat Notts County at 1/2
Rugby League
Catalans to win at Harlequins at 1/2
St Helens to win at Bradford at Evens
Six Nations Rugby
Scotland to beat Wales at 5/1
France to beat Ireland at 4/7
England to beat Italy by more than 13 points at 4/6
The major event getting underway over the weekend is the Winter Olympics where there are high hopes for a number of British competitors and even talk of this being our nation's most successful Winter Games ever. However, it won't be a Briton competing to win the blue riband event, the Men's Downhill and my prediction is for the Canadian Osbourne-Paradis to finish in the top 3 - assuming there is enough snow on the slope for the competition to take place.
This weekend also has the fifth round of the FA Cup with sixteen teams competing to get into the quarter finals. The match that stands out is the South Coast derby where Southampton host Portsmouth, two teams whose off the field financial problems have made more headlines than the quality of their football recently. With that in mind though I am going for an away win as Portsmouth should have more quality than their local rivals who are currently two leagues below them. The East Midlands take on the West Midlands when Derby host Birmingham and in this game my prediction is a draw.
The next two predictions are both all premiership clashes and I am going for Manchester City to win at home against Stoke but for Spurs who have been fairly poor of late to defeat Bolton at the Reebok. My final prediction in this competition for this week is for Fulham to defeat League Two highflyers Notts County.
Rugby League's Superleague got underway last weekend and I'll make my first predictions in this competition this week. Harlequins host the Catalans and in this game I'm going for an away win as I am when St Helens take on Bradford.
Finally this week we have the second round of the six nations and two out of the three games could prove to be pivotal in the destination of the trophy this year. Today's first game sees Wales host Scotland and in what I think will be a close and tight game I'm going for an away win. The next match is France hosting Ireland which to many will be the game that decides the tournament winners (not a view I agree with) but what should be a super game between two very good sides. After last week's round of matches I am going for a home win to the French. Tomorrow England visit Italy and in this match I am going for the visitors by more than 13 points.
In summary the predictions are:
Men's Olympic Downhill
Osbourne-Paradis to finishing in the top 3 at 2/1
FA Cup Fifth Round
Portsmouth to beat Southampton at 13/8
Derby to draw with Birmingham at 12/5
Manchester City to beat Stoke at 4/7
Tottenham to win at Bolton at 15/13
Fulham to beat Notts County at 1/2
Rugby League
Catalans to win at Harlequins at 1/2
St Helens to win at Bradford at Evens
Six Nations Rugby
Scotland to beat Wales at 5/1
France to beat Ireland at 4/7
England to beat Italy by more than 13 points at 4/6
A profitable week at last
After a few losing weeks I had some success with my predictions last week with six from eight correct predictions and a profit of £7 taking my overall loss down to £10 since the commencement of the predictions.
Most pleasing was correctly identifying the winners and in Ireland and France's cases the winning margins in the opening round of the six nations rugby. From my football predictions I had a 75% success rate with only Liverpool's defeat of Everton not having been forecast - probably just as well I didn't do any midweek predictions as I would not have done very well which just goes to show the unpredictability of the premier league this season.
My final prediction was for the Superbowl winners in American Football and my poor record was added to as the Saints beat the Colts. Just goes to show that making predictions on a sport with only limited knowledge is probably not very sensible.
Predictions for this week will follow shortly and include rugby union & league, football and something from the Winter Olympics which begin in Vancouver today in the sad aftermath of the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.
Most pleasing was correctly identifying the winners and in Ireland and France's cases the winning margins in the opening round of the six nations rugby. From my football predictions I had a 75% success rate with only Liverpool's defeat of Everton not having been forecast - probably just as well I didn't do any midweek predictions as I would not have done very well which just goes to show the unpredictability of the premier league this season.
My final prediction was for the Superbowl winners in American Football and my poor record was added to as the Saints beat the Colts. Just goes to show that making predictions on a sport with only limited knowledge is probably not very sensible.
Predictions for this week will follow shortly and include rugby union & league, football and something from the Winter Olympics which begin in Vancouver today in the sad aftermath of the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Six Nations & Superbowl
Yippee! The six nations is here and I for one can't wait as this year more than any looks like being incredibly close which should lead to some great rugby - here's hoping anyway.
To start with we have last year's grand slam champions hosting the perennial underdogs Italy and whilst I think that Ireland my have plateaued at the top of their game they are still going to be the team to beat this year. Therefore I am going for an Ireland win of between 11 and 20 points. At Twickenham there will be a fascinating clash between England and Wales, with both teams missing front row forwards I believe that the advantage will be with the home side and therefore going for an England win. Tomorrow, Scotland host the French who for many are the favourites this year - on the basis they have won the championship following each of the last three Lions tours it is probably a deserving title. Having said that Scotland had a good Autumn but I am going for a French win by 12 or less points.
The American Football season comes to a conclusion in Miami tomorrow when the Colts take on the Saints and for this game I am predicting the Colts though it would be more romantic if Saints from New Orleans could lift the trophy.
Meanwhile in football the premier league season is bubbling along nicely and there are some big derby games this weekend which could have a big bearing on the finishing positions for a number of clubs. In the Merseyside derby I am going for a draw between Liverpool and Everton which will do no favours for the Reds as they chase a Champions League place. The other game today I am making a prediction for is at Bolton who under new manager Owen Coyle host Fulham who have carried on from where they left off last season and punch above their weight in both this league and in Europe. I am going for a draw in this game as well.
Tomorrow sees high-flying Birmingham host Wolves and top of the league Chelsea host third place Arsenal and in both of these games I am going for a home win, the latter of which will probably reduce the race for the league to being between Chelsea and Manchester United.
Just the eight predictions for the weekend but what should be the best weekend of sport so far in 2010. In summary the predictions are:
Six Nations Rugby
Ireland to beat Italy by between 11 and 20 points at 5/2
England to beat Wales at 3/5
France to beat Scotland by 12 points or less at 13/8
Superbowl
Colts to beat the Saints at 8/15
Premier League Football
Liverpool to draw with Everton at 12/5
Bolton to draw with Fulham at 12/5
Birmingham to beat Wolves at 5/6
Chelsea to beat Arsenal at 5/6
To start with we have last year's grand slam champions hosting the perennial underdogs Italy and whilst I think that Ireland my have plateaued at the top of their game they are still going to be the team to beat this year. Therefore I am going for an Ireland win of between 11 and 20 points. At Twickenham there will be a fascinating clash between England and Wales, with both teams missing front row forwards I believe that the advantage will be with the home side and therefore going for an England win. Tomorrow, Scotland host the French who for many are the favourites this year - on the basis they have won the championship following each of the last three Lions tours it is probably a deserving title. Having said that Scotland had a good Autumn but I am going for a French win by 12 or less points.
The American Football season comes to a conclusion in Miami tomorrow when the Colts take on the Saints and for this game I am predicting the Colts though it would be more romantic if Saints from New Orleans could lift the trophy.
Meanwhile in football the premier league season is bubbling along nicely and there are some big derby games this weekend which could have a big bearing on the finishing positions for a number of clubs. In the Merseyside derby I am going for a draw between Liverpool and Everton which will do no favours for the Reds as they chase a Champions League place. The other game today I am making a prediction for is at Bolton who under new manager Owen Coyle host Fulham who have carried on from where they left off last season and punch above their weight in both this league and in Europe. I am going for a draw in this game as well.
Tomorrow sees high-flying Birmingham host Wolves and top of the league Chelsea host third place Arsenal and in both of these games I am going for a home win, the latter of which will probably reduce the race for the league to being between Chelsea and Manchester United.
Just the eight predictions for the weekend but what should be the best weekend of sport so far in 2010. In summary the predictions are:
Six Nations Rugby
Ireland to beat Italy by between 11 and 20 points at 5/2
England to beat Wales at 3/5
France to beat Scotland by 12 points or less at 13/8
Superbowl
Colts to beat the Saints at 8/15
Premier League Football
Liverpool to draw with Everton at 12/5
Bolton to draw with Fulham at 12/5
Birmingham to beat Wolves at 5/6
Chelsea to beat Arsenal at 5/6
Poor Run Continues
Firstly, apologies for no predictions last week but time (and to an extent) hangover conspired against me. However, following my poor set of results over the previous couple of weeks there was a good chance they would not have been worth paying much attention to.
Two weeks ago I was back to making ten predictions but only correctly predicted three results leading to a loss of £3.50 and an accumulated loss of £17. The contributors to this loss were getting all four FA Cup predictions wrong, two of the final round of group matches in the Heineken Cup though there could be claimed to be extenuating circumstances in both cases as London Irish and Leinster drew, a fairly uncommon event in rugby and the 16 men of Ospreys defeated Leicester (well 16 men for a few seconds). In the American football Championship games I also got one wrong as the Saints beat the Vikings.
Some predictions for this week will follow which will include a Superbowl prediction, first round of six nations rugby and premier league football.
Two weeks ago I was back to making ten predictions but only correctly predicted three results leading to a loss of £3.50 and an accumulated loss of £17. The contributors to this loss were getting all four FA Cup predictions wrong, two of the final round of group matches in the Heineken Cup though there could be claimed to be extenuating circumstances in both cases as London Irish and Leinster drew, a fairly uncommon event in rugby and the 16 men of Ospreys defeated Leicester (well 16 men for a few seconds). In the American football Championship games I also got one wrong as the Saints beat the Vikings.
Some predictions for this week will follow which will include a Superbowl prediction, first round of six nations rugby and premier league football.
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