Matchday 31 Results & Matchday 32 Predos

I have a confession. I have a begrudging admiration for that alcoholic geriatric with the terrible dance moves who can be found in a red brick box in Salford every other week. If, as looks likely, City conspire to throw away the league title, then it's down to the extraordinary ability of Fergie to get more from his team than a schoolboy-esque squad by squad comparison suggests he should. Arsenal did an Arsenal and took their collective eye off the ball (and Vermaelen could probably invest in a new pair of boots too), 'Arry had rediscovered the idea of playing players in their correct positions to good effect and Robbie Di Matteo looks to have the Avram Grant award for Caretaker-Manager-who-actually-does-nothing-and-the-senior-pros-run-the-squad-to-better-effect-than-the-big-name-foreign-manager-who-was-not-given-adequate-time (West London Division). That said, I once saw an episode of MTV Cribs round RDM's house, and seems like a nice bloke, unlike Robbie Savage. His house was a cream monstrosity and made me hate him even more than his tweeted videos of his dancing in the car after Derby victories last season. Shola Ameobi had a nice house too.

I've sort of gone off topic.

Er, Newcastle good, Lolverpool terrible and Reina bloody stupid. So what if Perch acted like a girl? If you really want to headbutt someone, then just do it. Square between the eyes, bridge of the nose etc. If you're going to get sent off, at least mitigate it with a decent hit a la Zizou in 2010. Sure he let his team and his country down, but at least Materazzi knew he'd probably taken it too far.

If you have 8 minutes to waste, and want to see what someone with far too much time on their hands and an unhealthy interest in Zidane does, then watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnKXXRkO1Y4

Seem to have got distracted again. Wolves are down, but might actually have a little competition down the bottom. For my money, I want Wigan to go as they don't seem to do anything other than capitulate to Man Utd twice a season and 'cos that might help exorcise the ghosts of 2010, and QPR 'cos I'd like to hear Joey Barton defend that one. I have QPR supporting friends and family, and I'm sorry for them, but meh.

Let's talk numbers...

This week, 16 people played

Most popular predicted result: Everton WIN (16/16 or 100% concordance)

Most disputed result: Wigan vs Stoke (3-6-7 split)

Longest odds: Feneley 6297/1

Shortest odds: Sam Ruback (again) 603/1

Average odds: 2946/1

Best predictor: Me! 7/10 (makes up for a terrible few weeks)

Worst predictor: Feneley 2/10

Average Score: 5/10

Best predicted result: Everton WIN (16/16)

Worst predicted result: QPR WIN (JT the only one prescient enough to forecast that, congrats)

Villain of the week: Whilst it was good for me, Andy Carroll's dive when he'd already rounded the keeper at 0-0 seemed like a particularly stupid idea. It was also poorly executed. I saw Tom Daley et al a few weeks back at an Olympic warm up event and there were one or two differences between their efforts. More work needed at Melwood, Ug.

Everyone's scores:

To the leaderboard:

Big winner was me, big loser was Feneley. Sam Ruback moves up for the first time in ages, whilst at the top, the gap is now 0.3 - the closest it's been for quite some time. Maybe, just maybe...could Yanik catch Joe? 7 weeks left, so it's definitely all to play for. One big week either way could prove decisive, or will it be an attritional chase?

Either way, I'd better look for some ticker tape on Amazon and have a word with Boris about an open top bus...

This week's predos:

Swansea vs Newcastle - DRAW

Sunderland vs Spurs -DRAW

Bolton vs Fulham - DRAW

Chelsea vs Wigan - CHELSEA

Liverpool vs Aston Villa - LIVERPOOL

Norwich vs Everton - EVERTON

WBA vs Blackburn - WBA

Stoke vs Wolves - STOKE

Man Utd vs QPR - MAN UTD

Arsenal vs Man City - ARSENAL

Total odds: 1525/1 (Paddypower)

and as I'm unlikely to post again before Monday, here are the predos for Matchday 33:

Everton vs Sunderland - EVERTON

Newcastle vs Bolton - NEWCASTLE

Spurs vs Norwich - SPURS

Aston Villa vs Stoke - DRAW

Fulham vs Chelsea - DRAW

Blackburn vs Liverpool - BLACKBURN

Man City vs WBA - MAN CITY

Wigan vs Man Utd - MAN UTD

Wolves vs Arsenal - ARSENAL

QPR vs Swansea - SWANSEA

Total odds: 1205/1 (Paddypower)

For those observing a Judeo/Christian calendar, happy holidays. To those who don't, enjoy the bank holiday and let's hope for some great football over the next week.

Predos in the comments as per usual, good luck guys!