Match day 4 Saturday, 10 September 2011

My predictions of the game week

Arsenal  Swansea, 15:00            Home

This should be one of the most secure matches this weekend. Arsenal has strengthened with a lot of class players. The question is if Wenger new signings will make an impact straight away. Swansea have played good and gotten a lot of positive feedback on their premiership debut. But the Wales side needs to start picking points soon. Why not start to take a point away to a struggling and unsecure Gunners side? I think Arsenal will win this, but I won’t be shocked if Swansea nicks a point.

Everton v Aston Villa, 15:00       Draw

Most difficult game of the week to predict. Everton always open poorly, and it seems I made a poor decision to predict them to get into Europe this season. The loss of Arteta to Arsenal is big and it will be interesting to see if the Toffees can cope with the loss of their playmaker. Aston Villa has had a good start to the season. I thought they would struggle this season but it seems I might be wrong about Villa as well.

I would predict a draw in this match, but this could end with all outcomes.

Man City v Wigan, 15:00              Home

Most secure bet of the day. Manchester City is looking strong this season and a poor travelling Wigan don’t stand a chance what so ever, and they all know it. Think this will be a big win to City and a handicap bet would be a nice pick for the punters.

Stoke v Liverpool, 15:00              Away

Stoke have made a lot of good signings on the final day of the transfer and it will be interesting to see if they signings make an impact against in form team Liverpool. Britannia stadium is always a difficult place to travel and I’m not sure that Liverpool will win this, but I have a feeling they might win this. I will not be surprised to see this ending in a draw either.

Sunderland v Chelsea, 15:00     away

Sunderland have had a bad start to the season and I don’t see them getting anything for free out of this match either. The opening game away to Liverpool was good, but in the rest of the matches they haven’t looked especially good. Chelsea hasn’t played well yet, but still they have 7 out of 9 points and that’s why I believe they will be improving their form and wins this match.

Wolverhampton v Tottenham, 15:00             Home

 I predicted Wolves to have a good season this year, and they have had a strong start to the season so far. Tottenham on the other side have started poorly and are in desperate need of some points after getting trashed against both Manchester sides. Wolves are looking strong to me and I think they will win this. Tottenham is lucky if they are to get more than a point from this game.

Bolton v Man Utd, 17:30              Away

Bolton has had a difficult start to the season after crushing QPR in the first match. After losing to Manchester City and Liverpool they are facing yet another title contender in Manchester United. Bolton is a difficult place to travel to, but last year champions are looking strong and I feel that Bolton need to go all out and even more to get something from this match.

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Norwich v West Brom, 13:30      Draw

An interesting game for Norwich fans. The canaries need to win this type of games if they are going to stay up this season. West Bromwich has played some good football this year against teams like Manchester United and Chelsea. But now they are facing a team they should be able to take points from and the question is if they are up for the task. I feel that Norwich isn’t strong enough to win this and West Brom might not be good enough to take 3 points.

Fulham v Blackburn, 16:00                       Home

Fulham is looking like Fulham this season as well. Strong at home and weak away. This is a match Fulham wins 7/10 times in my opinion. Blackburn is looking just as weak as I predicted this season and will need a small miracle to take points away to Fulham.

Monday, 12 September 2011                    Home

QPR v Newcastle, 20:00

Very interesting game. Joey Barton will face former club Newcastle and the question is how both he and the Newcastle players will react to it. QPR made a lot of interesting signings and I bet manager Warnock will be hoping to see some immediate impact from the newcomers. Newcastle has impressed me so far this year and my predictions of the magpies are looking to be wrong. This match is difficult to predict, but I think QPR should win this since it’s at home. Will not be surprised to see a draw or even a Newcastle win here though. 

Steven Gerrard back in form and in for gold

Steven Gerrard

Liverpools talisman is set for a return to the premiership. Injuries have set the captain out of play for about half a year. Gerrard now states that he is in better shape now than ever before. The local Anfield hero is also in hope to bringing Liverpool back in the title race this season. He is pleaced with the signings the new owners have done, and he feels that the club is going in the right direction now.

Many have said that the former World Class player has been struggling too much with injuries the last years, and therefore is never going to come back the way he was. Some claim that the only way he is going to put his mark to the team is if he plays as a link between the midfield and a striker, since he has lost too much pace. It is of course hard to come back from a long absence injurie and even harder when one have turned 30. But for those who don’t believe in the Liverpool captain, you must remember that he has been struggeling for a long time now. For years Gerrard have pushed his body to the brink of what it could suffer. All to try and save the club from poor results in a time where everything looked to go the wrong way for the club. So maybe Gerrard have needed a break to charge his batteries and come back into shape.

In my opinion Gerrard is still a world class player, and most likely the best midfielder in the premiership still. But of course it is a big mountain he is to climb to get back in to form. But if there is a player that will do it, it is Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool talisman has proven again and again what a class player he is. Even when the team has looked poor he has made Liverpool into a force that has been hard to beat. I personally feel Steven Gerrard deserves to win the league before he ends his career. It will be a shame if one of the best midfielders in the history if the premiership stands without a title after performing at such a high level trough his time at one club. When one look at how the international football is developing, it is outstanding and phenomenal to watch a world class player that actually shows strong feelings for his club and sticks to it through thick and thin.

No matter if Gerrard wins a league title with Liverpool or not, he will still be remembered as a world class player that show character and passion for his club in a time when most players only play for the money and glory. I can only say that I hope for Steven Gerrard and Liverpool that he will get back into form and win a title before his career comes to an end.

Daniel Sturridge to Anfield

Raul Meireles

Liverpool supporters were shocked again, seeing another star-player (Raul Meireles) joining Chelsea at the end of a transfer window. I bet some of them thought not again, referring to the transfer involving Fernando Torres in the January window.

The roumers are many about why Liverpool let Meireles go so late in the transfer window. Some say it’s because he didn’t get a promised raise, while some indicate that he wanted to move to a “bigger” club. Some talk about Liverpool having too many midfielders and since they got a good enough offer when Chelsea failed to snatch Modric; they felt they had a good deal.

The reasons can all be true and Meireles himself also went out and claimed that he is not a Judas, just to calm down the situation, and stated that he will comment more about the transfer later on.

For me I can only see two scenarios in the Meireles transfer:

1.       Liverpool wanted to sell and got a price they were satisfied with.

2.       Liverpool where looking to strengthen their attack after N’Gog went to Bolton. They were able to sign Craig Bellamy in the last minutes of the transfer window. But I have a feeling they agreed to sell Meireles to Chelsea if they would get in form player Daniel Sturridge on a season loan.

Daniel Sturridge

The loan-window is opening next week, and there have been some roumers about Chelsea is planning to send Sturridge on a loan, since they have way too many strikers at the moment. And I think Liverpool have made a deal with Chelsea that will take Sturridge on loan to Anfield this season. Let’s see if I’m right on this one.