English Premiership 03--04th Feb

[slick]

I was not against any of your views kiko, in fact the opposite as I agreed in the main, just that i would not put any of my money on those games for the reasons i mentioned.
I'll also do the same here
Cheslea are a different team now Cech and Terry are back in, they had no natural replacement for Terry and had to play players out of position to fill that gap, strange really considering the cash they have spent and the main reason they were after Richards but obviously Abramovich didnt want to get bitten twice as he did with SWP and told Mourinhio to fcuk off.

With Cech they were very unlucky as stand in keeper Cudicini also took a knock as we know he's more than capable of providing cover so Chelsea were stuck with a relative novice in nets and one natural center half for the length of their poor run.
Now both are back you can see the confidence in the whole team and and should easily overcome a very poor Charlton side who have took points recently from sides that have been on a bit of a slide.

Chelsea must take this as a must win game if they want to hang onto their title and i can see them doing it with ease.

Boro have more of a shout but again now Henry's back Arsenal havent looked back and are beginning to look like the side who got to the Champs league final last yr.

Its not actually a game i would bet on as Boro could be good for the draw but in all honesty i cannot see them beating Arsenal.

[mrmuzeman]

He was also at Rangers - wasn't he ?

I'm going to have a slice of Everton on Saturday - they won well last time and Liverpool will be out for revenge big style but the price is the main thing as I don't see there being that big a gulf between the 2 teams. I'm assuming Arteta and co are still ok to play....

Yep thats who we sold Ball too Keg, 6.5m I think. Thats probably the equivalent of 10m these days. Good cash in that was, although injuries have plagued him since including a cruciate he could have been much better than what he has.

Brave man backing us Keg! 7/1 available but im not tempted. Will Johnson be fit to start? Dont know myself but I hope so cos id be very suprised if we didnt play just the 1 up to stifle and in all honesty Beattie just isnt the man for that job (he will be the man used for the job if Johnson aint fit though I presume). Arteta and Cahill all present and correct though. Wonder if theyll give new loan signing Fernandez a run out? Id be happy to take a point right now.

[keemanan]

Anyone fancy pompey there at 6/4ish?

I thought they played very well at the swamp last week

[Mahatma]

I think over 2.5 @ 2.05 or better is worth it in the Wigan-Portsmouth game. Some places are going 2.18 so i jumped on that. Aghahowa is good on Football Manager which obviously means he's good in reallife and I think De Zueew/Zeuuw (or however you spell it) and err, some other defender are injured.

[Bigkegman]

Originally Posted by keemanan

Anyone fancy pompey there at 6/4ish?

I thought they played very well at the swamp last week

I'm on them keem cause Wigan are very poor. jewell will keep them up cause they fight to the death but Portsmouth should be too strong imo

I've backed everton mrm - pice to high

Premiership
I appear to be rather rapidly running out of space. But fortunately it was an utterly rubbish January transfer window south of the border anyway.

The big move on deadline day was of course Matthew Upson to West Ham. Supposedly he has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave in the summer if the bubble blowing Cockernees are dragged into the Championship. That's the kind of dedication and loyalty you're looking for in any new signing.

Michael Ball pitched up at Manchester City, where Mido singularly failed to arrive. The fact he was scoring an ultimately futile equalizer at Cash Burden Grave as the window was being edged shut seems to have done little to dampen the claims of the internet lunatics. Supposedly the Man City doctor was at Emirates to give the Egyptian a quick medical as soon as he came off the park. Hah. Rubbish.

And that's about it until next summer. Maybe at some point Spurs will manage to sign a left winger, though Damien Commoli (that would be the Tottenham director of football) said at the club's AGM this week that the fans were obsessed with signing a left winger. Well that's as maybe Damo, but it does help to have someone with a left foot on the park.

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from scotsman

[keemanan]

Michael Ball pitched up at Manchester City, where Mido singularly failed to arrive. The fact he was scoring an ultimately futile equalizer at Cash Burden Grave as the window was being edged shut seems to have done little to dampen the claims of the internet lunatics. Supposedly the Man City doctor was at Emirates to give the Egyptian a quick medical as soon as he came off the park. Hah. Rubbish.

That's what pearce said DID happen , whats he saying there?
I fancy us today Slick I really do , IMO we were the better team at their gaff , Ireland and Barton need to have blinders and with Ball in there we have the 4-4-2 option back.

Aghahowa is good on Football Manager which obviously means he's good in reallife

wtf?

[XFX]

Portsmouth is available on AH 0 2.00 (equiv to DNB)

seems pretty value to me

8 straight losses must have dented wigan's confidence surely, if portsmouth doesnt knick it now, i wonder when

[GETT1NLOTS]

I've not had a bet in ages but I'll be on Aston Villa to beat West Ham today.

Carew and Young looked excellent on their debut for Villa in the midweek loss to Newcastle. West Ham have a plethora of injuries at the back so they will field an unusual line up in defence with Upson making his debut. It's my opinion that it is harder to organise a new defence than to organise two new attackers. I can foresee West Ham being at sixes and sevens at the back and for Carew or Young to take advantage.

I also price this game at about 1.72 for the home win so the 1.91 available at PaddyPower is too good to refuse.

Aston Villa - 2 points win @ 1.91 (Paddy Power)

[slick]

Todays game has the makings of a cracker as this fixture usually throws up some surprises, I doubt whether Spurs have the class to roll over the reds but now Chelsea are breathing down there necks for the first time in a few months it'll be interesting to see how United handle the pressure.

Man U v Spurs taken from sky...

Manchester United are bidding to keep title rivals Chelsea at arm's length when they make the trip to the capital to face Tottenham.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men face a Spurs side who are currently nursing their wounded pride after being dumped out of the Carling Cup at the semi-final stage by rivals Arsenal.

Martin Jol is also without his captain Ledley King after the England international was discovered to be carrying a metatarsal injury which is likely to keep him out for eight weeks.

Ricardo Rocha may come into the team alongside Michael Dawson for his Premiership debut, but the Portuguese stopper suffered a difficult evening against Arsenal on Wednesday by gifting The Gunners their second goal and Jol may decide to stick with Anthony Gardner.

Aaron Lennon has recovered from the illness that prevented him from playing against Arsenal and Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov could be in line for a return after suffering a groin injury in the first leg against The Gunners.

Jermaine Jenas is likely to play despite picking up an ankle knock but fellow midfielder Teemu Tainio (throat infection) will not feature.

After seeing a deadline day move to Manchester City fall through, Egyptian striker Mido is suspended for the visit of United..

The Red Devils have plenty of attacking options as Louis Saha has recovered from his knee injury.

However the French striker will have a fight on his hands to displace either Wayne Rooney or Henrik Larsson as the pair have developed a good understanding in his absence.


Skysports.com Prediction: 1-2
United to win through sheer force of will as they maintain their lead over Chelsea.

Player to watch: Wayne Rooney

[ONEDUNME]

Originally Posted by slick

Player to watch: Wayne Rooney

No shit?

Given Spurs' home form, I've got a nagging doubt about United today and I'm going to employ the age old tactics of laying them to win ht/ft (10pts to lose 23 if anyone is interested ).

Player to watch....a young lad by the name of Ronaldo but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Berbatov pop up with the opening goal if he plays.