Tuesdays Soccer Predictions

The Premiership

Chelsea – Fulham 1.33 – 12.26
I never thought that I would see P Ferreira playing in the Chelsea defence again, but he replaced the injured Ivanovic against Tottenham. J Terry and Bosingwa played in the middle with Ferreria on one of the flanks. Should D Luiz miss out I guess that we will see the same defence again. It worked against Tottenham and it should also work in this match, but I still want to point out that Chelsea will be a bit weakened defensively, should D Luiz not return for this game. No Mikel either. Lampard will most likely replace the suspended Ramires on their midfield.

Jol’s Fulham are not as tight as earlier versions. Jol always was an offensive oriented coach, but I would not say that they have impressed that much offensively either. So far Jol’s Fulham have been a disappointment, simple as that. Bobby Zamora only played some ten minutes as a substitute in midweek (0-5 vs. M United). The odds on the home win have no value whatsoever. Chelsea winning by a one goal margin would be my choice.

Bolton – Newcastle 2.50 – 2.97
After their all important win against Blackburn, Bolton are looking for their second home win of the season and why not! Newcastle have been struggling for results lately, now winless in six games. It just had to happen, the dip for Newcastle, after their extra ordinary start to their season (unbeaten in their first eleven league games).

The influential Cabaye was suspended in midweek, but he will return for this match. Cabaye and Tiote together again in the Newcastle midfield. Defender Santon will be assessed.

Bolton will be without their injured defender Alonso, but fortunately his defensive colleague D Wheater will be available again. Forced to make a choice I would settle for the home win. Goals? We will see some goals in this match.

Liverpool – Blackburn 1.30 – 15.01
I expect a one side affair definitely ending in a home win. Blackburn cannot dream of scoring against the mean Liverpool defence and Liverpool cannot help scoring at least two goals in this match. The Blackburn defence are just too injury plagued at the moment and what I have seen from Blackburn this week their form is in a downward trend, if that is possible.

Liverpool will be able to recall J Spearing after his suspension. C Bellamy could be back, starting on the midfield. Poor S Kean! His squad is the weakest in the Premiership and the owners should bear the blame, not the coach. Very likely home win.

Manchester Utd – Wigan 1.17 – 21.90
It was a brilliant Man United performance at Fulham in midweek and although they lost three players to injuries they will pick up three more points on Monday. R Ferdinand and A Young are both out of this fixture. OK, without both Vidic and Ferdinand in their defence United have had defensive problems more than once this season, but fact is that United have never dropped a single home point against Wigan.

Martinez’ Wigan are unbeaten in three games and they are in season best form, but it will probably not help much, as United have performed rather flawlessly since the debacle against Basel. Anyway backing United is impossible. Why? The odds of course. Wigan on some crazy handicap? I do not know. Certainly not the first game on my betting list, this one.

Sunderland – Everton 2.50 – 3.10
As you already know the Sunderland upsurge, since O’Neill took over, came as no surprise to this writer. Celtic played a UEFA cup final when O’Neill was coaching the Scots. A certain Henrik Larsson played a big part and unfortunately also his country man in goal M Hedman.

O’Neill and success often go together. Wickam was injured in midweek against QPR. In came N Bendtner and he scored their first goal. W Brown, unlucky on a couple of occasions this season, scored their winning goal. O’Neill has this nice habit of improving his players.

Four points at home to Norwich and Swansea should have been six for Everton, but there is no secret that they have struggled for goals this season. Squad wise they look OK. Cahill, for instance, was a bench warmer at QPR. Coleman and Rodwell are out of this match.

Everton love facing Sunderland. I have to go back ten years to find a Sunderland win. The great Everton tradition up against O’Neill’s possessed Sunderland side? I prefer the home win alternative.

W B A – Manchester City 8.00 – 1.46
What a week for WBA. Two away games, two away wins and their squad is at its fittest this season. Odemwingie is looking sharp again and nothing wrong with his partner S Long either. J Morrison could be back for this game, but S Reid, J Thomas and Mulumbu will all be assessed. WBA have yet to perform as strongly in their home games as on their travels. Just bad luck, according to coach Hodgson, but I do not buy this. So far they are 2-1-5 at the Hawthorns.

Dzeko and M Richards are slight doubt s for City. I cannot report a dip in the Man City form. No they are playing as convincingly as they have done since day one this season. Very likely win for City. Who likes 1.46 on an away win? Not me.

Stoke – Aston Villa 1.95 – 4.34
P Crouch and M Etherington should be back for Stoke, R Shawcross will return from his suspension and Stoke will definitely have a stronger starting line up in this match than against Man City. Stoke obviously had no winning ambitions against the league leaders, probably already planning for this fixture.

A Villa will be without their suspended defender A Hutton, but it looks like a trio of players will be back for this match. D Bent, E Heskey and J Collins will all return. Villa played a much improved game against Arsenal, much better than against Liverpool. No denying their offensive potential, but we have not seen much of it this far. Maybe tomorrow with Agbonlahor, D Bent and Heskey all playing together again. Anyway, I like the odds on the away win. Villa for me!

Arsenal – Wolves 1.25 – 15.45
Stretched defensively at the moment Arsenal still have offensive players that can make the difference. Away to Villa Benayoun, Rosicky and Arshavin entered the game as second half substitutes and Arsenal managed to force home a late winning goal. A Song will be back from his suspension for this match. Latest news indicates that defender Djorou could make an early come back in this match. Watching Wolves, I am thinking of the Championship. They need to buy better players in January or they are doomed. Arsenal then.

Swansea – QPR 2.12 – 3.90
Watching Swansea play away from home I am also thinking of the Championship, but down in Wales they have so far impressed, playing like an established Premiership side. Swansea are 4-3-1 at home and 10-2, the goals. Their one loss was against Man United, 0-1. N Taylor, defender, is out injured, but Swansea can handle his absence, as A Rangel is available again.

QPR belong to the group of teams that seem to pick most of their points away from home this season. Really strange, because Loftus Road should be such a great place for the home team. So far QPR have won three of their four wins on their travels. Wright-Phillips risks missing this match and A Ferdinand will be absent once again. Swansea for this writer.

Norwich – Tottenham 5.00 – 1.83
Fantastic odds on the home win. Norwich never know when they are beaten at Carrow Road. They attack in wave after wave and a somewhat sleepy Tottenham side may be in for a surprise on Tuesday. Do I know that Tottenham will be sleepy? Of course not, but after the derby game with Chelsea, could be that Tottenham will be slightly unmotivated, at least from the start. Backing Norwich to win the first half, maybe?

Tottenham have to manage without two injured key players, van der Vaart and A Lennon. J Defoe is once again a major injury doubt along with Kaboul. L King will be rested in this match and it is rather important for Spurs to have Kaboul back.

Norwich will miss their suspended defender K Naughton. De Laet could be back. Backing Norwich to at least win the first half. Over game? Yes!

The Championship

An extremely difficult fixture list and I am mostly guessing.

Derby – Leeds 2.99 – 2.60
Picking the away win. Leeds blow hot and cold this season, home or away, it does not seem to matter. After two lack lustre displays I figure that it could be time for a strong Leeds performance again. Leeds have recently won away to Leicester, Burnley and Nottingham and they do not mind playing away from home. J Howson remains sidelined, but on the whole the Leeds coach only has problems of abundance.

Derby miss their midfielder J Hendrick, but their offence is boosted by the return of both N Tyson and T Robinson. Both these sides are quite unpredictable, but I like to back the potentially much stronger Leeds side. Away winner.

Millwall – Portsmouth 2.20 – 3.83
Backing the home win. Both the previously injured Millwall midfielders L Trotter and Abdou are expected back tomorrow. Defence man N Baker should be OK. Portsmouth will miss two of their starters last week, L Lawrence and G Thorne, both offensive players. L Varney, forward, will hopefully be fit to play. Huseklepp, the Norwegian striker, could feature.

Millwall certainly need the points and they have been reasonably strong in their home games this season (4-5-2). My call, the Millwall win.

Burnley – Doncaster 1.80 – 5.02
Doncaster, with all their quite famous (once great) footballers, have proved that no Championship opponent can feel safe when they are up against Doncaster. Southampton and Leicester have recently been defeated by Doncaster and Saunders’ team is going for the three points in all their games, both home and away. I admit, however, that they have been more successful in their home games. Both P Chimbonda and Hadji-Diouf will be back in contention for this game, but their striker Fortune has returned to his mother club WBA.

The Burnley squad is quite fit. Surprisingly enough this traditionally very strong home side has reached their strongest results away from home this season. At home they are 3-3-5! Doncaster for this writer.

Nottingham Forrest – Peterborough 2.05 – 3.82
Time for Nottingham to collect the three points. Surely fit again Blackstock and Tudgay must be expected to score a couple of goals one of these days, preferably tomorrow. This will be just the second start for D Blackstock after quite some time on the sidelines. Nottingham risk being without their defender J Lynch. Moloney is on stand bye. G Moussi will return from his suspension. Frecklington should be back for Peterboro, but probably not their front man Tomlin. Backing Nottingham.