S4M18 & 19: Merry Christmas, one and all (except you Charlie Austin. And you too, Mrtn Skrtl)

Saturday was a good day for me. I'd ummed and ahhhhed over changing my Southampton WIN prediction on Friday, but decided to go with my gut, after Jonny Lee Miller's advice in Elementary about your gut being right 80% of the time.

He should play Impossibilitee. He'd either be awesome, or it'd rapidly disabuse him of that notion. I digress.

Anyway, I stuck with my original prediction, and when I checked the scores midway through the second half (working again - no Spurs players around to keep me entertained), I was heartened to see that I was on for 6/7 on the Saturday games, and the one thing I was wrong about was Villa leading Man Utd! "BooYa" I said. I'll take the loss of a point to see Utd slip up (the old real world/betting friction). Even when Falcao equalised, I was still pretty content with that.

But the Charlie Austin, a man with a strange face/voice combination - does anyone else feel that they don't exactly match up? - decided to ruin it with (an admittedly good) winner for QPR in the last few minutes. I dropped the 'Ya' from my previous exclamation. I was unimpressed.

Sunday also posed a tricky one. I'd failed to notice Alnwick's injury in Newcastle's 2nd North London paddling of the week - and their subsequent need to play an even rookier rookie in goal. So again, I'd considered boosting Sunderland to at least a draw...but stayed with the advice above. This one didn't pay off. Not even close. So I'm not all that bitter about Adam Johnson, and certainly not bitter enough to include him in the title.

Mrtn Skrtl on the other hand. You bugger. Yep, Liverpool deserved at least a point. But, (further) ruining both my predictions and the smash'n'grab of my hopeless team has meant that I hope Santa brings him coal. I'm too lazy to do any research into Slovakian festive customs, so I'm assuming that's a universally bad thing. Obviously, if the Skrtl household is coal reliant, then I hope he get's something else bad, like 'Arry Redknapp's autobiography (not read, wouldn't use it to wipe my bottom). Chelsea won quite comfortably to stay 3 point clear at Christmas. I was in the uncomfortable position of wanting Stoke to win, and those feelings only became stronger when they let John Terry score. Quite the mental turmoil. I could write a lot more about my struggle here, but I feel that book's already been done.

What? Too soon?

Let's get statty:

This week, 19 people played
Most popular predicted results: Man City & Chelsea WINS (19/19)
Most disputed result: Hull vs Swansea (3-8-8 split....sorry Hull)

Highest odds: Sam Ruback 2812/1
Lowest odds: AFM 612/1

The world has inverted peeps. Get to your apocalypse shelters. Shotgun Rachel Riley.

Average odds: 1737/1

Highest score: Will O'Doherty (8/10)
Lowest score: Feneley, Josh Daniels & David Silverman (4/10)
Average score: 5.68/10

Best predicted result: Man City & Chelsea WINS (19/19)
Worst predicted result: Sunderland WIN & Aston Villa vs Man Utd DRAW (1/19 - well done to Will O'Doherty & Sam Ruback respectively)


Everyone's scores:

Leaderboard for those who have played >2/3 of available games (12/17):

We're getting to the point of the season where, unless there are dramatic differentials, we don't see loads of movement in the table. Sam and WhoScored.com making valiant efforts to stay in touch of Josh Gaon, who's looking to have this wrapped up in record time. Feneley's abysmal week sees him on the bottom over Christmas, staring forlornly through window at all the jollyness inside. Extra training for you son, no mince pies until you're off the bottom.

This week's predos:

M18

Chelsea vs West Ham - CHELSEA
Burnley vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL
Crystal Palace vs Southampton - DRAW
Everton vs Stoke - EVERTON
Leicester vs Spurs - SPURS
Man Utd vs Newcastle - MAN UTD
Sunderland vs Hull - SUNDERLAND
Swansea vs Aston Villa - SWANSEA
WBA vs Man City - MAN CITY
Arsenal vs QPR - ARSENAL

Total Odds: 275/1 (PaddyPower)

M19 (Updated 27/12/14 17:53)

Spurs vs Man Utd - MAN UTD
Southampton vs Chelsea - CHELSEA
Aston Villa vs Sunderland - DRAW
Hull vs Leicester - HULL
Man City vs Burnley - MAN CITY
QPR vs Crystal Palace - QPR
Stoke vs WBA - STOKE
West Ham vs Arsenal - DRAW
Newcastle vs Everton - DRAW
Liverpool vs Swansea - DRAW

Total Odds: 7392/1 (PaddyPower)

I'll take this opportunity to which you all well over the festive period/period off work eating lot/watching movies/sleeping/drinking. Also a reminder, that the annual FA Cup money game will be returning in under 2 weeks, so save your pennies now for the £5 entry. Josh Gaon looking to be the first man to do the Impossibilitee League & Cup double.

See y'all before the NYD games. Good luck!