The Big Results Catch Up & Matchday 8 Predos

I wanted to write last week with my thoughts on Jack Wilshere's opinion of who should be eligible to play for England, and the response from Kevin Pietersen (not a tiff, as the standard sensationalists would have you believe). Nationality is a complex topic, and one that will never be given a fair hearing when the following 3 things combine: 140 character limits, a press looking to create trouble (trouble = sales/clicks) and an inarticulate interviewee. However, given that the whole topic happened over a week ago, and there have been 2 batches of football matches in between, it would seem rather like going over old ground for no real reason other than I'd previously planned to. So I won't.

Even more spaces on the as-yet-unpuclished World Cup 2014 wallchart were filled in this week with the completion of most of the regional qualifying groups. I'm sure we'll be having a World Cup tournament here during the summer - something a little more rigorous than the sweepstake that saw Mexico lose me £20 at the last World Cup. Congrats to Bosnia & Hercegovina on qualifying for their first ever World Cup as an independent nation - Dzeko aside, I know nothing of their team, but they do a lovely range of flavoured local liqueurs if that's your thing. Their coffee is awful though. Travel tips the impossibilitee way...

This will be long enough post without further waffle, but it would be amiss not to mention England. For all the talk of Roy's pragmatism, it was yet another unbeaten qualification campaign and they scored more than double the number of goals Spain scored (having played 2 games more) - there is no chance that England will win in Brazil, but they won't lose every game 5-0 either. They are a solid knockout stage team, and the luck of the draw as much as anything else will determine whether it's a QF year, or whether they can join the pantheon of greats (nostalgic SF defeats in 1990 and 1996, stirring backing tracks, decades of crappy magazine footy shows on Sky1 with minor celebs talking about their memories of the campaign...on second thoughts...maybe qualifying wasn't so great after all...)

Enough...let's get statty:

Matchday 6:

This week, 26 people played
Most predicted result: Man United WIN (25/26)
Most disputed result: Hull vs West Ham (13-6-7 split)

Highest odds: Josh Daniels (6604/1)
Lowest odds: Steven Daniels (929/1)
Average odds: 2370/1

Best predictor: Me and Steven Daniels (7/10). Yes, Collins, I know before you start...
Worst predictor: Winters, Daniel Wigman, Menachem Grunewald & Charlie Rawson (3/10)
Average score: 4.42/10

Best predicted result:  Southampton & Liverpool WINS (22/26)
Worst predicted result: Aston Villa WIN (0/26)

Everyone's results:

Matchday7:

This week, 24 people played
Most predicted result: Liverpool WIN (24/24)
Most disputed result: Fulham vs Stoke (10-9-5 split)

Highest odds: Josh Daniels with a farcical 21,988/1
Lowest odds: Sam Ruback 680/1
Average odds: 5819/1 (3125 if the anomalies are discounted)

Best predictor: Lawro with a stonking 9/10 - only West Ham's win at White Hart Lane denied him!
Worst predictor: Feneley with a stinking 2/10
Average score: 5.21/10

Best predicted result: Liverpool WIn (24/24)
Worst predicted result: West Ham WIN (1/24 - well done to whoscored.com)

Everyone's results:

And now to the leaderboard, and as always, only those who have played >2/3 of weeks (or 5/7) are eligible. At this stage of the season, there are big movers every week, and Gaj is a prime example, dropping from the top to mid-table in just a couple of weeks. Still early days yet, however.

To this week's predictions:

Newcastle vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL
Arsenal vs Norwich - ARSENAL
Chelsea vs Cardiff - CHELSEA
Everton vs Hull - EVERTON
Man Utd vs Southampton - MAN UTD
Stoke vs WBA - WBA
Swansea vs Sunderland - SWANSEA
West Ham vs Man City - MAN CITY
Aston Villa vs Spurs - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Fulham - CRYSTAL PALACE

Total odds: 349/1 (PaddyPower)

That's your lot folks, good luck!