Premiership Predictions

Saturday, 10 January 2009
Arsenal v Bolton, 15:00
When Big Sam was in charge at Bolton they were feared by Arsenal because his physical side ofter gave Arsenal problems. Bolton are not so intimidating these days but neither are Arsenal. Arsenal might be vying for fourth spot with Villa but they lack the quality of players they once did. Lacking their only consistently good player, Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal are not a team to fear.
1-1

Aston Villa v West Brom, 12:45
High-flying villa take on their lowly MIdlands rivals in an early kick off. West Brom might attempt to play attractive football but Villa's speed and urgency will pass them by.
2-0

Everton v Hull, 15:00
Strikerless Everton take on a slowly dwindling Hull. Phil Brown's players will surely not wish to face the ignominy of being dressed down on the pitch at half time and it's hard to see Everton scoring enough goals to force such an occasion.
1-0

Fulham v Blackburn, 15:00
Fulham have quietly been going about their business and are deservedly in ninth place. Blackburn are under new management and Big Sam should re-instill the toughness that made them so difficult to play against under Mark Hughes.
1-1

Middlesbrough v Sunderland, 15:00
The Tees-Wear derby doesn't really interest anyone outside those two cities. Sunderland did well when Spragia was the caretaker manager but lost their first game 3-0 when he took full charge. Boro can turn it on when they need to.
2-0

Newcastle v West Ham, 15:00
The latest rumour has Newcastle interested in Barry Ferguson. A Scotsman who couldn't even cut the mustard at Blackburn. Can things get any worse for the Magpies? Well, they can't expect to have Michael Owen for longer than the end of the season or possibly the end of the month if a gullible buyer can be found for the diminutive crock. There has to be some unrest at West Ham as the club approach possible administration and the prospect of their best players being sold off.
1-1

Portsmouth v Man City, 15:00
Tony Adams is rumoured to be interested in resurrecting the career of Joey Barton but it's time he focused on restoring his club's fortunes. Pompey have sold Diarra to Real Madrid and Jermaine Defoe is now lacing up his boots in North London. These are key loses to Portsmouth. Man City are either brilliant or abysmal so it's nigh on impossible to know which team will turn up. City can score here but have a poor defence.
2-2

Stoke v Liverpool, 17:30
Stoke have lost some of the resilience that garnered them a scoreless draw at Anfield earlier in the season. Liverpool, flying high at the top of table will be expecting carry the momentum forward from their recent games and make up for the points dropped at Anfield.
0-2


Sunday, 11 January 2009
Man Utd v Chelsea, 16:00
One would normally expect this to be a top of the table clash but with Chelsea's apparent reluctance to win games and move ahead of Liverpool, and United's ventures to the Far East this doesn't appear to be such an attractive fixture. However, Chelsea will be desperate to stay in the race for the title and United will want to catch up with the leaders. I'm torn between 1-1 and a United victory but I'm going to go with United because it's Scolari's first game at Old Trafford.
2-1

Wigan v Tottenham, 13:30
Few would have predicted that Spurs would be trailing Wigan by 7 points at this stage of the season but that's in large part due to Juande Ramos's tenure at the start of the season. Harry Redknapp has the players playing for him now. Wigan are reasonable at home and Emile Heskey might be parading himself in the shop window as he looks for a transfer elsewhere.
1-0

Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Man Utd v Wigan, 20:00
One of United's two games in hand that they will consider a failure if they lose. As one of Ferguson's former players Steve Bruce won't want to lose either so expect a close contest.
1-0