M36: Is this where the title is won?

It's a rare thing to have genuine empathy for a football manager (and no, winning your umpteenth trophy on Football Manager doesn't count), but it happened to me this week. And of all the managers to choose...I had to empathise with David Moyes. Gutted.

You see, earlier this season, I too received my P45 from my football club. The similarities somewhat end there, but I know the shock that comes when your services are definitively no longer required, even though you've been expecting this news for quite some time. Of course, I was technically made redundant, and reasonably so given that I'd actually not set foot in the Emirates as a member of staff in over 2 years. So 1-0 me. Although Moyes has apparently £4.5-10m reasons to dispute that score.

I actually hate that argument, and made that point to (Liverpool supporter &) England Scrum Half Danny Care who invited others to mock the idea that Moyes should be pitied for failing so abjectly as a result of his payoff. I know it's ultimately banter, but for me, an elite athlete knows full well that financial windfall is no substitute for professional acclaim and Moyes will likely be devastated that he failed so spectacularly. It's not his fault that some ginger Americans and a bloke called Ed decided he was worth a hell of a lot more than he was worth, and in all honesty, once tapped up by Fergie, he couldn't really refuse the offer. Plus, you need Bendtnerian levels of self-belief to operate in that world, so he probably thought he would be a success - easy enough as it was on the outside to know that this particular experiment would end in failure in Stratford & Surrey, and mirth everywhere else.

Anyway, Giggsy's picking up the pieces for the rest of the season, and I for one hope he does really, really well. Like DiMatteo well, so they have to keep him on for the first half of next season and balls that up too. Speaking of ballsing stuff up, Sunderland managed to kill Chelsea's hopes of a title win, end Mourinho's unbeaten home record & really, really wind up the man who always sits next to Dr Eva Carneiro and smarms her with his Iberian smarm. She ain't interested buddy....

Liverpool won their nth game on the bounce and could as good as win the title this weekend if other results go their way. I would say it's unlikely, but they've been pretty hot at home, as have Palace who host Man City. Elsewhere...well, it's mainly quite dull, but Charlie Adam will likely have his biannual kick-a-Spurs-player game, so that's something to look forward to on MOTD.

'Nuff waffle. Let's get statty.

This week, 21 people played
Most popular predicted results: Spurs, Liverpool & Man City WINS (21/21)
Most disputed result: Everton vs Man Utd (8-7-6 split)

Highest odds: Doron (welcome back) 2706/1
Lowest odds: Me, 896/1
Average odds: 1386/1

Best predictor: Jonny Chernick (7/10)
Worst predictors: Charlie & Gaj (4/10)
Average score: 5.26/10

Best predicted results: Spurs, Liverpool & Man City WINS (21/21)
Worst predicted result: Sunderland WIN (0/21)

Everyone's results:

The leaderboard (23/34 weeks - 1 week was cancelled):

To this week's predos:

Southampton vs Everton - DRAW
Fulham vs Hull - FULHAM
Stoke vs Spurs - SPURS
Swansea vs Aston Villa - SWANSEA
WBA vs West Ham - DRAW
Man Utd vs Norwich - MAN UTD
Sunderland vs Cardiff - SUNDERLAND (and game of the season too....)
Liverpool vs Chelsea - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Man City - MAN CITY
Arsenal vs Newcastle - ARSENAL

Total odds: 2355/1 (PaddyPower)

Good luck guys.