S6M13: No Buzz This Weekend

So last weekend was weird. I mean, I didn't know it at the time but the news has now outed yet another story about Man Utd & toilets. This time, 2 fans hid overnight in the toilets to try and catch the Arsenal game the next day. Where they thought they'd sit I don't know...

Anyway, they managed to hide out overnight but were then caught the next day. In some ways, this is the complete opposite of the bombscare earlier in the year - that seemed sinister at first, but then became farcical - this one worries me a lot more.

I used to work as a Tour Guide at the Emirates - I have absolutely no doubt that no one could have peeled off during my tours to hide. I can think of at least 3 separate methods utilised to avoid the possibility of this happening - and whilst it's funny to think of the lengths some people will go to to watch a (predictably) poor game - it yet again shatters the entertainment facade that sport offers. Can people please stop doing dumb things?

On the pitch - it's fair to say that Mourinho would have been livid to have dropped 2 late points. I was asleep yet again - no BBC sport app notifications this week - so didn't see the game live but sounds like daylight robbery doesn't do justice to this at all.

Yaya came back from the wilderness to bully Palace into submission whilst Merseryside went double-draw. Stoke's good form came to an end at the hand of Bournemouth, whilst Sunderland have clearly stuck my blog up on the dressing room wall. Champions Leicester slide further down the table (although now CL qualification is done and dusted there might be some more focus on all matters domestic).

Spurs's unbeaten record was done. West Ham won the battle of Stratford. Bloody bottlers. You had 1 job to do. 3 minutes. Urgh. We'll still have to wait for the Dia de los Invicibles to occur.

Chelsea held off a scrappy and spirited M'Boro side before Pulis' WBA went goal-crazy against Burnley. That there was the weekend stuffing.

Let's get statty:

This week, 23 people played
Most popular predicted results: Man City & Chelsea WINS (22/23)
Most disputed result: Watford vs Leicester (5-8-10 split)

Highest odds: Feneley 9073/1
Lowest odds:  Josh Daniels 1466/1
Average odds: 3785/1

Best predictor: Sam Ruback (7/10)
Worst predictor: Josh Gaon (3/10)
Average score: 5.13/10

Best predicted results: Man City & Chelsea WINS (22/23)
Worst predicted result: Bournemouth WIN (1/23 - me mother)

Everyone's results:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 9/12)

To this week's predictions:

Burnley vs Man City - MAN CITY

Hull vs WBA - WBA

Leicester vs M'Boro - LEICESTER

Liverpool vs Sunderland - LIVERPOOL

Swansea vs Crystal Palace - SWANSEA

Chelsea vs Spurs - CHELSEA

Watford vs Stoke - WATFORD

Arsenal vs Bournemouth - ARSENAL

Man Utd vs West Ham - MAN UTD

Southampton vs Everton - EVERTON

Good luck guys

S6M12: Cleft in 3

The first full matchday of Winter - at least as far as clocks go back, and the conclusion of the 1st trimester. What have we learnt so far?

We've learnt that Leicester really did something quite unique last year. We've learnt that the media really need to stop drawing zero-sum conclusions based on small datasets (this may not be an entirely new idea from this season). We've learnt that Klopp & Liverpool go together like Tom Cruise & Jerry Bruckheimer - you know it's box office even though you suspect there might be a little depth issue...

We've learnt that Wazza is a big fan of Farrell/Vaughan comedies from 2005 and that Sunderland are really really terrible (this too, may not be entirely novel). We've also learnt that whilst Friday night football is awful, the little Sky Sports highlights clips provided live (or slightly delayed on Saturdays) are invaluable in freeing up useful TV memory space when MOTD no longer needs recording. This is probably the singlest most beneficial thing so far this season.

1 third of the way in and what I've learnt is that with the exception of Sunderland, there really are no standout teams and very few awful ones. The PL is going to cluster around a top 6, whose lower margins may blur with another 3 or 4. The remaining 9 are but a short Pardewesque streak away from a fantastic season or relegation. This of course makes predictions very tough, because lots of teams are quite equally matched, and even when a disparity exists, the tactics and occasional diamonds (funded by your TV money) mean that there exists a very real chance of the underdog leaving with a little something in their goodie bag.

I have absolutely no intention of following this theory up, but I wonder whether El Impossibilitee or Die Impossibilitee would be any easier than our Anglocentric game. My suspicion is probably not - or at least not statistically so....but amigos & Kamerads....feel free to test this out for yourselves.

Let's get statty:

This week, 22 people played
Most popular predicted result: Man City WIN (22/22)
Most disputed result: Burnley vs Crystal Palace (8-6-8 split)

Highest odds: Me 11,267/1 (not sure how)
Lowest odds: Josh Daniels 451/1
Average odds: 3027/1

Best predictor: Will O'Doherty (6/10)
Worst predictors: David Silverman, Tarek & my mother (2/10)
Average score: 3.68/10 (season lowest)

Best predicted results: Chelsea & Liverpool WINS (20/22)
Worst predicted results: Sunderland, WBA, Hull WINS & Man City vs M'Boro DRAW (0/10 - I believe 4 0s is a new record)

Everyone's results:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 8/11)

To this week's predos:

Man Utd vs Arsenal - DRAW

Crystal Palace vs Man City - MAN CITY

Everton vs Swansea - EVERTON

Southampton vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL

Stoke vs Bournemouth - STOKE

Sunderland vs Hull City - HULL CITY

Watford vs Leicester - WATFORD

Spurs vs West Ham - DRAW

Middlesborough vs Chelsea - CHELSEA

WBA vs Burnley - WBA

Good luck guys!

S6M11: All the Golazos

As a general rule, this chat is pretty Premier League-centric. It's a Premier League game, and that's where we've all focused on.

This week, however, I'm going to veer into something a little continental. Namely, how damn good this week's Champions' League was for goals. Like, there are always lots of goals, but there were some proper wowsers-in-my-trousers moments.

I'm still trying to work out which my favourite was (no I'm not, it's obvious, but I'm trying to pretend I'm not biased).

Antoine Griezmann - He's quite good at football. His kung-fu first goal was delicious but I was also a major fan of the late winner - the way he quickly adjusts his body position to stab the ball into the top corner. Yeesh.

Thomas Meunier - Still think he sliced it but you have to like the balls on a full back having a dig in the last minute from a floated cross, outside the box. The slo-mo of the Basel keeper wrapped around the post was also both hilarious and upsetting at the same time

Mesut Ozil - Knicking. A. Living. He shares the ability of the true greats to play with the fabric of time. Really interesting from him playing on the last shoulder when Giroud drops deep - no idea why Ludogorets persisted with such a high line but the control, the vision and the way he could have scored that goal about 5 different ways. Just #JaMesutJa

Gareth Bale - my first experience of the BT Sport goal show started with a bang. They hadn't finished introducing the kick offs when it was a goal in Warsaw (and what a bizarre game that was). Bale absolutely creaming a volley in - something his manager did in iconic fashion in the same competition in the 2002 final. Absolute filth.

Vadis Odjidja - The catalyst for the Legia comeback. Keylor Navas left grasping at thin air with a perfectly placed curler from distance. It's possible that the Madrid defence were a little complacent in shutting the shot down but you have to respect the execution.

I have fought the temptation to mention Kevin Kampl. Oops

So yeah, some fantastic strikes this week. Honorably mentions also to Messi & Gundogan. Does anyone else have any additions I may have missed?

Premier League service will be resumed next week.

Let's get statty:

This week, 23 people played (sort it out guys....)
Most popular predicted result: Arsenal WIN (23/23)
Most disputed result: Southampton vs Chelsea (4-9-10 split)

Highest odds: AFM (4676/1)
Lowest odds: Doron (451/1)
Average odds: 1761/1

Best predictors: Feneley & EuroClubIndex (8/10)
Worst predictor: AFM & David Brickman (4/10)
Average score: 6.04/10

Best predicted result: Arsenal WIN (23/23)
Worst predicted result: Man Utd vs Burnley DRAW (1/23 - well done Feneley)

Everyone's results:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 7/10)

To this week's predictions:

Bournemouth vs Sunderland - BOURNEMOUTH

Burnley vs Crystal Palace - BURNLEY

Man City vs Middlesborough - MAN CITY

West Ham vs Stoke - DRAW

Chelsea vs Everton - CHELSEA

Arsenal vs Spurs - DRAW

Hull vs Southampton - SOUTHAMPTON

Liverpool vs Watford - DRAW

Swansea vs Man Utd - SWANSEA

Leicester vs WBA - LEICESTER

Total odds: 11,267/1

Good luck guys