Time to take a look at the rest of the sides involved in the fight for survival.
Bolton
Like West Ham, Bolton are a side who's early season form has seen them end up right in the mixer.
Under Gary Megson, Bolton had become stagnant. The fans were losing patience with the performances, and Megson in particular.
The players seemed uninterested, and all signs pointed to a side on their way out of the Premiership after 8 consecutive seasons in the top flight.
However the sacking of Megson, and subsequent replacement with Owen Coyle have given a massive boost to the club's survival hopes.
Peformances have improved dramatically since his arrival, with Bolton looking a much more disciplined side, and like his time at Burnley has instilled belief in the players.
Bolton are a team full of battlers and experience and should be o.k.
Prediction - 15th
Wigan
Wigan have been a bit of a mixed bag so far. They had some impressive results against Villa and Chelsea in the first half of the season, mixed in with big losses against Manchester United, Arsenal and not forgetting being mauled 9-1 by Tottenham back in November.
Hugo Rodallega is a key player for The Latics, netting 7 of their 25 goals this season.
On form he is a match winner, and could well be the key to their survival.
They should pick up enough points between now and May to be safe.
Prediction - 14th
Burnley
Despite some good results at home this season Burnley have been dismal on their travels, picking up just a single point away from home.
Couple that with the loss of their hugely influential manager Owen Coyle to Bolton it's very difficult to see how they're going to pick up enough points to survive.
Prediction - 18th
Hull
Hull are the only side along with Burnley who are yet to pick up a win away from home.
Performances, along with the home form have been good as of late however, and they do have a few winnable home games to come in the run in.
Phil Brown's side have kept games tight when playing fellow strugglers in the league, and should just about survive the drop, provided they continue their decent home form.
Prediction - 17th
Sunderland
Sunderland are a side in freefall at the moment. Despite a very strong start to the campaign they have picked up just 6 points in their last 12 games.
Steve Bruce has had his injury problems though, and his side should start to pick up more points as one or two return.
Darren Bent has had a fantastic season for The Black cats, with 15 goals in the league so far. As long as he keeps his form up, they should be fairly comfortable.
Prediction - 12th
Stoke
Tony Pulis' side have been quite impressive this season. They have played some nice football, and have proved they're about more than Rory Delap's party piece from the throw-in line.
They are yet to be beaten in 2010, and 2 more wins will see them all but safe.
Prediction - 11th
Blackburn
Blackburn have looked a typical Sam Allardyce side this season. They're big, strong and very hard to break down.
Although their performances don't exactly get any pulses racing, they have ground out some fairly decent results the last few months and are slowly moving away from trouble.
Like Stoke they are in a fiarly decent position, and a few more wins should secure their place for next season.
Prediction - 13th
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The fight for survial - Part 2
The fight for survival
With almost two thirds of the Premiership season beyond us now the fight for survival is well and truly under way, and in typical premiership fashion it couldn't be any tighter.
No side in the bottom half of the table look safe, as we reach the point in the season where nails begin to be bitten, lucky charms are dusted off and wives and girlfriends run for the hills on matchdays.
Let's take a look at the 10 teams in question, starting with the current bottom three.
Portsmouth
Even the most hardened Pompey fan would find it hard to muster any belief they can survive this season. Currently sitting 6 points from safety the South Coast side have had the kind of season every football fan has nightmares about, with relegation currently the least of thier worries.
Financial difficulties have crippled the club, forcing them to sell off their only assets, with Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin and Peter Crouch all departing at the start of the season, Younes Kaboul and Asmir Begovic followed soon after to help pave the way for Pompey to pay the remainder of the squads wages before the close of January's transfer window.
Even ongoin talks to secure the club's fifth owners this season alone, would surely be too little too late if they come to fruition, and would merely serve the sole purpouse of simply keeping Pompey from closing up shop completely.
Prediction - 20th.
Wolves
Although already enjoying more success than his previous attempts at Premiership management, Mick McCarthy will no doubt be feeling the pressure as his Wolves side currently sit second from bottom.
With only 2 points from their last six Premiership games, and Tottenham, Chelsea and champions Manchester United all to come within their next four fixtures, Wanderers could find themselves firmly planted in the bottom 3 if the sides around them start to pick up points.
If they are to have any chance of survival they need to start scoring goals. Hitting the net only 20 times, they find themselves with the lowest amount of goals scored in the league this season.
Despite impressive performances from Kevin Doyle in a lone role up front, Wolves just seem to lack that all important cutting edge in the final third, and could well be their undoing as they struggle to pick up enough points to pull themselves away from safety.
Prediction - 19th
West Ham
In typical East End fashion, West Ham have had yet another soap opera like season.
Currently sitting in 18th The Hammers have once again been plagued by off field troubles throughout the campaign.
The arrival of David's Gold and Sullivan in January brought some form of stability back to Upton Park, but with performances still below par it's hard to tell what twists the writers of the Premiership script have in store for West Ham fans.
That being said, the arrival of strikers Benni McCarthy, Brazilian Ilan, and Premiership mercenary Mido, to complement the ever improving Carlton Cole up front could well trigger a revival, with Zola's men looking at key home fixtures against fellow strugglers Bolton, Hull, Wolves and Wigan between now and the end of the season.
Goal difference could be vital aswell.
The Hammers currently hold a significant advantage over the teams around them with a GD of -9, and if they can keep key players like Carlton Cole, Scott Parker and Matthew Upson fit they should survive.
Just.
Prediction - 16th.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Lionel Messi 101 goals for Barcelona
As i'm sure most of you know Lionel Messi reached (and passed) a century of goals for Barcelona last weekend.
Here are 2 videos with all 101 goals.
Enjoy!
By the way these are youtube links so please don't complain to me about the music playing over them. I know Fallout Boy are shit..
Tonight's round-up
Premier League :
Arsenal 4 - 2 Bolton
Arsenal : Rosicky 43, Fabregas 52, Vermaelen 65, Arshavin 85
Bolton : Cahill 7, Taylor 28 (pen)
Liverpool 2 - 0 Tottenham
Liverpool : Kuyt 6, 90(pen)
League Cup Semi-Final 2nd leg :
Aston Villa 6 - 4 Blackburn (Villa win 7-4 on agg)
Villa : Warnock 30, Milner 40(pen), N'Zonzi 53(og),
Agbonlahor 58, Heskey 62, A Young 90
Blackburn : Kalinic 10, 26, Olsson 63, Emerton 84,
Samba s/o 39
Other results :
Africa Cup of Nations - Group C
Egypt 2 - 0 Benin
Nigeria 3 - 0 Mozambique
League One
Oldham 0 - 0 Tranmere
League Two
Macclesfield 0 - 2 Northampton
Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Southern Area Final, First Leg
MK Dons 0 - 1 Southampton
Italy - Serie A
Bologna 2 - 2 Atalanta
Genoa 1 - 1 Bari
Italy - Coppa Italia
Fiorentina 3 - 2 Lazio
France - Ligue 1
Grenoble 1 - 3 Bordeaux
Lens 0 - 1 Montpellier
Lorient 1 - 3 Lyon
Marseille 2 - 1 Le Mans
Nice 0 - 1 Auxerre
Paris S.G.0 - 1 Monaco
Sochaux 2 - 1 Lille
Toulouse 0 - 0 Nancy
Boulogne 0 - 2 Valenciennes
Holland - Eredivisie
FC Groningen 2 - 0 SC Heerenveen
Preview of tonights premiership games
Arsenal v Bolton - Emirates Stadium - K.O 19.45
Arsenal take on Bolton this evening for the second time in 3 days and will be hoping for a repeat of the result at the Reebok last Sunday.
Another 2-0 victory will see Arsene Wenger's men climb to the top of the premiership table for the first time since week 2.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle will be hoping his side learned from their mistakes last Sunday, as he looks to drag the trotters out of the bottom 3, getting his first points on board as Bolton manager along the way.
Wenger looks set to make at least one change to his starting xi from the weekend, with Craig Eastmond dropping out of midfield for the returning Denilson.
Owen Coyle could well name the same xi from the reverse fixture at the weekend, as he has virtually a full squad to choose from, after his side came through the game un-scathed.
Prediction :
Another tough test for The Trotters, who although competed strongly in Sundays tie, still looked quite vulnerable in certain areas. Coyle needs more time to work with his team to get them playing more disciplined football. This will be another big test too soon for them, and Arsenal should win it comfortably.
3-0.
Liverpool v Tottenham - Anfield - 20.00 (live on Sky Sports 1 from 19.30)
Liverpool take on Tottenham at Anfield this evening in an absolute must win game for The Reds.
Liverpool currently sit 4 points behind Tottenham in the table, and a loss this evening would be an absolute disaster for Benitez's struggling side, as they continue their attempts to cling on in the race for 4th spot.
Liverpool are still without key players Steven Gerrard (hamstring), Fernando Torres (knee), Yossi Benayoun (rib) and Glen Johnson (knee), as the pressure continues to pile on Benitez.
New signing Maxi Rodriguez could start in Midfield, along with Alberto Aquilani, as Rafa tries to add some much needed creativity to tonights xi.
Tottenham have only one frsh injury concern with midfielder Tom Huddlestone struggling, and could be replaced by Jermaine Jenas.
The only other decision manager Harry Redknapp will have to make, is who to partner Jermaine Defoe up front, with former Liverpool forwards Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch both in contention.
Prediction :
Liverpool have been struggling, not only with injuries, but confidence and belief seem so low at the moment. Tottenham on the other hand havn't conceded in 5 and confidence should still be high despite failing to score against struggling Hull at the weekend.
Liverpool do have a habit of pulling performances out of the bag when they really need it, but this one could be just a step too far.
2v2
