I was saddened this morning to wake to the news of the death of Seve Ballesteros who was a great champion and the man who begun the renaissance of European golf. This follows the news of the passing of Sir Henry Cooper last weekend another who was a superb ambassador for his sport. Both men will be remembered for the courage and skill they showed both in and away from their respective sports.
A couple of weeks ago my predictions were short of the mark with only four correct forecasts resulting in a £3.50 loss and taking overall profits down to just £9.50 for the duration of the blog!
This week sees the Barclays Premier League reach if not it's climax but certainly what could be the defining weekend as the top 2 teams meet at Old Trafford. If Manchester United defeat Chelsea, as I'm predicting, they will almost certainly will the League for a record 19th time and they can concentrate on their Champions League final against Barcelona. Should they lose however, and the momentum and the race for the title will be with the West Londoners and the final couple of games will be eagerly watched by the neutral.
Of course there is still plenty to play for in the league for many teams with the relegation and European places yet to be sorted out. My second prediction features the blue half of Manchester who travel to Everton where a win could be enough to guarantee them a Champions League place for next season but I'm predicting a draw in this fixture. West Ham and Blackburn are both fighting relegation with the Lancashire side in a better position to avoid the drop but in their match today I'm predicting the Hammers to triumph. Blackpool who have entertained throughout the season travel to the team they last beat in the league, Spurs, who have only won once in their last eleven games in all competitions. This match is critical for both teams as Blackpool have a very real fear of being relegated and Spurs may not even make fifth this season and may therefore miss out on European football altogether next year. As both teams prefer attack to defence this should be an open game with a few goals and I'm predicting a narrow win for the North Londoners.
My final prediction features two of the teams who in the first half of the season looked like they would both end up in the top 10 of the league but have not performed so well since the turn of the year and with neither having much to play for than prize money based on final league position I'm predicting a draw at Bolton who host Sunderland.
The Aviva Premiership play-off places are almost certainly sorted though Bath could sneak in. The one issue that hasn't been sorted is relegation which is between Leeds and Newcastle and with both teams likely to lose today it will probably be the Yorkshire team who take the drop. My predictions for this week are Wasps to end a disappointing season with a win at Exeter who have been the surprise package of the year, and Harlequins to win the London derby with Saracens at The Stoop.
In Rugby League it is Challenge Cup weekend with most of the big boys avoiding each other and so my only prediction is for the Leeds Rhinos to defeat the Crusaders.
My final set of predictions are concerning the Turkish Grand Prix which is moving into final qualifying as I write this. My first hope is that the race is as exciting as the last one in China three weeks ago and my predictions are for Hamilton to follow up with another win and for Nico Rosberg's Mercedes to make the podium. This sport is becoming almost impossible to predict with the new regulations and that just makes it even more fascinating - certainly no bad thing!
In summary the predictions are:
Barclays Premier League
Bolton to draw with Sunderland at 11/4
Everton to draw with Manchester City at 23/10
West Ham to beat Blackburn at 13/12
Spurs to beat Blackpool at 10/29
Manchester United to beat Chelsea at 7/5
Aviva Premiership
Harlequins to beat Saracens at 13/10
Wasps to win at Exeter at 15/8
Challenge Cup Rugby League
Rhinos to defeat the Crusaders at 1/7
Turkish Grand Prix
Hamilton to win at 21/5
Rosberg to podium at 7/2
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