League’s Hotting Up

I have been saying for a few week's now that we are getting to the sharp end of the season and this weekend could be definitive in both the Barclays' Premier League and Rugby's Guinness Premiership. Other sports this weekend include Rugby League's Challenge Cup seeing the entrance of the top teams, the fourth Grand Prix of the season in China and the start of snooker's world championship, though I won't be making predictions on the last of those sports this weekend.

In the football there is the Manchester derby and a London derby that could see the race for the title and for the lucrative fourth place decided. In the early kick-off at Eastlands I am going for a Manchester United win and at White Hart Lane a draw. Hull and Burnley are starting to look doomed to relegation this season and as such I am predicting Burnley to lose at Sunderland and Hull to be defeated by Birmingham.

Rugby Union's Guinness Premiership is also drawing to a conclusion and in the game at Wembley my thoughts are for a Saracens win to tighten their hold on a play-off spot and for Wasps to win at Worcester as they chase the play-offs.

In Rugby League's Challenge Cup the Superleague teams are now competing. Like the footballers from the City I can only see defeat for Hull FC by Leeds Rhinos but whilst I have predicted Harlequins Union team to lose I am going for their League team to beat Wakefield.

My final predictions are for the Chinese Grand Prix where yet again the Red Bulls yet again dominated qualifying and Michael Schumacher has looked a shadow of his former self yet again which has been sad to see. Vettel is on pole but I am going for his teammate Webber to win this weekend with Hamilton climbing up from sixth place to gain a podium.

Currently my predictions are showing a small profit of £12.50 and I hope these will add to them. In summary the predictions are:

Barclays Premier League

Manchester United to beat Manchester City at 7/5

Spurs to draw with Chelsea at 13/5

Sunderland to beat Burnley at 8/13

Birmingham to beat Hull at 4/5

Guinness Premiership

Saracens to beat Harlequins at 1/2

Wasps to beat Worcester at 8/15

Rugby League Challenge Cup

Leeds Rhinos to beat Hull FC at 4/9

Harlequins RL to beat Wakefield at 6/4

Chinese Grand Prix

Webber to win at 13/2

Hamilton to podium at 6/4

Into Profit on the Predictions

After more than a year my predictions have moved into profitable territory after last week's efforts. I have to admit that it is more by luck than judgement as the big win was predicting Don't Push It to win the Grand National and this backed up with State of Play coming in third which I had also backed each way.

Other than those successes my other predictions were not that successful as neither Woods or Poulter made the late charge I had hoped for in the Masters golf, Casey Stoner went sliding into the gravel at the Qatar Moto GP, Cancellara won the Paris – Roubaix cycling at a canter with Boonen only just making the top ten, Spurs' season looked as if it had come to a premature end with defeat against Portsmouth in the FA Cup and Munster retained their proud home record in European rugby with the defeat of Northampton.

However, there were some successes as Chelsea defeated Aston Villa in the other FA Cup semi-final, Biarritz had a narrow win over the Ospreys in the Heineken Cup and Stoner's misfortune in the Moto GP allowed Rossi to add to his GP win tally.

Total profit for the week was £26 and the blog is now in profit by £12.50 since I started.

Best weekend of sport of 2010 so far

I don't really know where to start this weekend with so much brilliant sport on this weekend. As I write the Masters Golf is well underway as the second round draws to a conclusion, I am watching the first Heineken Cup quarter-final and then we have the Grand National, FA Cup semi-finals, Paris-Roubaix cycling classic and of course not forgetting the first Moto GP of the season in Qatar.

Tiger Woods may have made the news for all the wrong reasons over the last few months but in his first tournament in five months he is right in the mix and is my prediction to win on Sunday evening. Two Englishman are currently topping the leaderboard (Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter) and my each way bet is for Poulter who will become the first British major winner in more than ten years.

The Heineken Cup is starting with a thriller between defending champions Leinster and Clermont Auvergne, but my predictions are for the games involving the only remaining English and Welsh teams. Northampton visit Munster and I'm going to a win by the English team which will be no mean feat in Limerick and the Ospreys travel to Biarritz where I'm going for the French side to prevail.

After the Boat Race we have another Great British sporting tradition this weekend with the Grand National at Aintree. As usual when it comes to horse racing I have no real clue as to who might win and therefore I'm going for two each way bets State of Play and Don't Push It the latter of which will be ridden by AP McCoy who has never won this race unlike the jockey's championship which he has won more times than anyone else and by some margin.

At Wembley there are the FA Cup semi-finals featuring a London team in each match. Chelsea recently thrashed Aston Villa in the league but tomorrow's match will be a closer affair but I think the West Londoner's will prevail. In Sunday's game Spurs take on Portsmouth who are a club that have gone into meltdown this season but the players have stuck at their task and will see this as a good opportunity to put themselves in the shop window. I am going for Spurs to win and set up an all London final next month.

Qatar sees the beginning of the Moto GP season, and this could be the season when Valentino Rossi adds most of the remaining records from the sport that he does not already hold. His main challenger will probably be Casey Stoner and my predictions for this race are a win for the Italian with the Australian on the podium.

The final prediction for the weekend is the next of cycling's classics, Paris – Roubaix and my prediction is for a win by the Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen.

Of course the Barclays Premier League and Guinness Premiership continue this weekend but I think there are enough predictions for one weekend.

In summary the predictions are:

Masters Golf

Woods to win at 10/3

Poulter each way at 11/2

Heineken Cup

Northampton to beat Munster at 13/5

Biarritz to beat Ospreys at 4/9

Grand National

State of Play 16/1 each way

Don't Push It 22/1 each way

FA Cup Semi-Finals

Chelsea to beat Aston Villa at 3/5

Spurs to beat Portsmouth at 4/13

Qatar Moto GP

Rossi to win at 13/8

Stoner to podium at ¼

Paris – Roubaix Cycling

Boonen to win at 5/2

First Profit for a Few Weeks

Only five out of ten correct predictions last week but this resulted in a small £2 profit on the week meaning that total losses are down to £13.50 since the beginning of the blog last March.

The main success was Cambridge winning the Boat race and this was backed up by two out of three correct premier league predictions with Fulham beating Wigan as well as Liverpool and Birmingham sharing the spoils. The other two correct forecasts were David Haye successfully defending his boxing world title and Leicester's defeat of Bath in the Guinness Premiership.

Yet again I failed with both my predictions for the Grand Prix (Malaysia last week) but with the championship shaping up nicely with plenty of drivers in contention for the title maybe this is not something to worry about.

Spring Must be Here as it is Boat Race Day!

The weather in much of the UK this week might not suggest that we are into Spring but in case we were in any doubt it is the Boat Race today and that only takes place in Spring!

Of course it is also Easter weekend another pointer to the season we are in and for the winter sports of football and rugby union this is the most critical time of the season when every result counts - Chelsea beating Manchester United in the last few minutes may just have pointed to who will win the Barclay's Premier League this season. My football predictions for the weekend are draws between Bolton & Aston Villa and Birmingham who host Liverpool, as well as a win for Fulham who entertain Wigan tomorrow.

In the Guinness Premiership Rugby Union I am going for a home win for Leicester hosting Bath, and away wins for Saracens at Gloucester and London Irish at Wasps.

Formula One was back to its best in Australia last week and that should continue in Malaysia tomorrow with both Ferraris and McLarens at the back of the starting grid. Having said that there are five Grand Prix race winners in the top ten as well which all should add up to a great race - oh and the weather factor as well. All of these variables make predicting the result as hard as ever but I am going for a win for Webber who starts from pole and a podium finish for Michael Schumacher though he was yet again upstaged by his teammate in qualifying and unbelievably at eighth on the grid is only the fifth best German at the start!

My final two predictions are Cambridge to win the boat race and upset the odds and for David Haye to defend his heavyweight boxing championship.

In summary the predictions are:

Boat Race

Cambridge to win at 11/4

Heavyweight Boxing

David Haye to beat John Ruiz at 3/16

Malaysian Grand Prix

Webber to win at 5/2
Schumacher to podium at 4/1

Barclays Premier League Football

Bolton to draw with Aston Villa at 23/10
Birmingham to draw with Liverpool at 13/5
Fulham to beat Wigan at 11/10

Guinness Premiership Rugby

Leicester to beat Bath at 4/11
Saracens to win at Gloucester at 6/5
London Irish to win at Wasps at 13/8

Rooney's ankle and another loss on the week!

Only four out of ten correct predictions last week meaning a loss of a £1 on the week and an accumulated loss of £15.50 - there is always this week!

Of course with the Football World Cup only ten weeks away the injury to Wayne Rooney's ankle was the main headline on both the back and front pages, a scenario becoming all too familiar in the build up to England's participation in the World Cup.

As regards my predictions most of the success was in both codes of rugby with the predicted wins for Northampton and London Irish in their Guinness Premiership games and St. Helens winning their Superleague clash with Huddersfield. The only other success was due to Kevin Phillips scoring his 250th goal when his last kick of the match equaliser for Birmingham against Arsenal.

The Grand Prix provided super entertainment and Jenson Button's brave tyre call led to his victory whilst the Red Bull's fragility was exposed again. After today's qualifying we could be in for another cracking race in Malaysia tomorrow.