I'm aware time is slipping away so, predos now, results to follow
M20:
Brihgton vs Everton - EVERTON
Fulham vs Huddersfield - DRAW
Leicester vs Cardiff - LEICESTER
Spurs vs Wolves - SPURS
Watford vs Newcastle - WATFORD
Liverpool vs Arsenal - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea - CHELSEA
Burnley vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Southampton vs Man City - MAN CITY
Man Utd vs Bournemouth - MAN UTD
M21:
Everton vs Leicester - EVERTON
Arsenal vs Fulham - ARSENAL
Cardiff vs Spurs - SPURS
Bournemouth vs Watford - WATFORD
Chelsea vs Southampton - CHELSEA
Huddersfield vs Burnley - BURNLEY
West Ham vs Brighton - WEST HAM
Wolves vs Crystal Palace - WOLVES
Newcastle vs Man Utd - MAN UTD
Man City vs Liverpool - MAN CITY
Good luck guys, check back later on for a results post & next weekend for the FA Cup game!
Friday 28 December 2018
Thursday 20 December 2018
S8M18 & 19: Range
Let's start with the football, before we get onto the sad news.
A rather predictable weekend saw high scores for most. Man City won, as did Spurs. Watford saw off Cardiff and Chelsea beat Brighton. Nothing too shocking there. Palace vs Leicester was a trickier one to call - home advantage did for a Leicester side who then were knocked out the League Cup to complete a miserable first half to the season for them. Wolves continued their renaissance against Bournemouth, as did Newcastle against a really poor Huddersfield side. West Ham, like Watford vacillate in performance and result, but had enough to put away Fulham, who haven't gained the new manager bounce apparent at Southampton who scored something like 80% of their goals in the last 3 years in once match. Obviously against Arsenal. Merry Xmas.
The biggy on Sunday came at Anfield and Mourinho's usual big game tactics came up short. Shorter than a little Swiss fella. See what I did there.
Anyway, it's come as no surprise to anyone that Mourinho was fired in the latest episode of "How can Man Utd screw things up" - in fairness, in this case, it's not the firing (that's been obvious since he was hired stupidly) but the handing out of a new contract last year was criminal and will cost them loads. Which they can pay. Along with the Glazer money. Which they can pay. And still spending stupid money on transfers and wages. Which they can pay. A financial juggernaut hampered not by FFP or then Home Office trying to prove a message to Putin, but by gross mismanagement on all levels footballistically. I'm not complaining, I'm just gutted that they've decided to try and get it right.
The other sad departure this week, is the Fink Tank. Confirmed by Impossibilitee Sources, the statistical model is no more, and so has been removed from the graphs, and will slink off the leaderboard in due course. Fink Tank was a long term contributor to the competition, joining in Season 3 with a 2nd place finish, to ECI, replicating the feat in Season 6, and finishing 3rd last season.
On a personal note, since I stopped having access to a paper copy of the Times, it's been a pain to collect the data, so I'm sorry to see you leave until you decide to reintroduce your website which made life a lot easier back in the day. You're welcome.
A moment's reflection if you please.
Au revoir FT
Let's get statty:
This week, 21 people played
Most popular predicted results: Man City & Spurs WINS (21/21)
Most disputed result: Crystal Palace vs Leicester (8-6-7 split)
Highest odds: Doron Salomon (503/1)
Lowest odds: Steven Daniels (391/1)
Average odds: 447/1
Best predictors: 5 of you (8/10)
Lowest predictors: Lawro, Sam Ruback & Doron (6/10 - feels a bit mean that - very compacted scores)
Average score: 7.1/10 - season high
Best predicted results: Man City & Spurs WINS (21/21)
Worst predicted result: Southampton WIN (0/21) - 20 of you thought that Arsenal would win so really I win for going DRAW because we're always rubbish at the Dell
Everyone's results:
A rather predictable weekend saw high scores for most. Man City won, as did Spurs. Watford saw off Cardiff and Chelsea beat Brighton. Nothing too shocking there. Palace vs Leicester was a trickier one to call - home advantage did for a Leicester side who then were knocked out the League Cup to complete a miserable first half to the season for them. Wolves continued their renaissance against Bournemouth, as did Newcastle against a really poor Huddersfield side. West Ham, like Watford vacillate in performance and result, but had enough to put away Fulham, who haven't gained the new manager bounce apparent at Southampton who scored something like 80% of their goals in the last 3 years in once match. Obviously against Arsenal. Merry Xmas.
The biggy on Sunday came at Anfield and Mourinho's usual big game tactics came up short. Shorter than a little Swiss fella. See what I did there.
Anyway, it's come as no surprise to anyone that Mourinho was fired in the latest episode of "How can Man Utd screw things up" - in fairness, in this case, it's not the firing (that's been obvious since he was hired stupidly) but the handing out of a new contract last year was criminal and will cost them loads. Which they can pay. Along with the Glazer money. Which they can pay. And still spending stupid money on transfers and wages. Which they can pay. A financial juggernaut hampered not by FFP or then Home Office trying to prove a message to Putin, but by gross mismanagement on all levels footballistically. I'm not complaining, I'm just gutted that they've decided to try and get it right.
The other sad departure this week, is the Fink Tank. Confirmed by Impossibilitee Sources, the statistical model is no more, and so has been removed from the graphs, and will slink off the leaderboard in due course. Fink Tank was a long term contributor to the competition, joining in Season 3 with a 2nd place finish, to ECI, replicating the feat in Season 6, and finishing 3rd last season.
On a personal note, since I stopped having access to a paper copy of the Times, it's been a pain to collect the data, so I'm sorry to see you leave until you decide to reintroduce your website which made life a lot easier back in the day. You're welcome.
A moment's reflection if you please.
Au revoir FT
Let's get statty:
This week, 21 people played
Most popular predicted results: Man City & Spurs WINS (21/21)
Most disputed result: Crystal Palace vs Leicester (8-6-7 split)
Highest odds: Doron Salomon (503/1)
Lowest odds: Steven Daniels (391/1)
Average odds: 447/1
Best predictors: 5 of you (8/10)
Lowest predictors: Lawro, Sam Ruback & Doron (6/10 - feels a bit mean that - very compacted scores)
Average score: 7.1/10 - season high
Best predicted results: Man City & Spurs WINS (21/21)
Worst predicted result: Southampton WIN (0/21) - 20 of you thought that Arsenal would win so really I win for going DRAW because we're always rubbish at the Dell
Everyone's results:
Leaderboard (>2/3; 12/17)
This week's predos:
Wolves vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL
Arsenal vs Burnley - ARSENAL
Bournemouth vs Brighton - BOURNEMOUTH
Chelsea vs Leicester - CHELSEA
Huddersfield vs Southampton - SOUTHAMPTON
Man City vs Crystal Palace - MAN CITY
Newcastle vs Fulham - FULHAM
West Ham vs Watford - DRAW
Cardiff vs Man Utd - MAN UTD
Everton vs Spurs - SPURS
Boxing Day predos:
Fulham vs Wolves - WOLVES
Burnley vs Everton - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Cardiff - CRYSTAL PALACE
Leicester vs Man City - MAN CITY
Liverpool vs Newcastle - LIVERPOOL
Man Utd vs Huddersfield - MAN UTD
Spurs vs Bournemouth - SPURS
Brighton vs Arsenal - DRAW
Watford vs Chelsea - CHELSEA
Southampton vs West Ham -DRAW
Good luck, and wishing everyone well over the festive break
Thursday 13 December 2018
S8M17: There's something about Lucas
There have been a few clubs in recent years where you can say the fans have had value for money. That's not the same a an enjoyable ride, but certainly in the footballing soap opera, certain clubs are anchor characters, whilst others have cameo roles, or follow only an extended story arc. I think I've pushed that metaphor far enough...
One such club is the nouveau-riche bunch on Fulham Road. That's Chelsea in case you 1) don't know West London and/or 2) were trying to work out whether al-Fayed or Shahid Khan pre-dated Abramovich. They've been a roller-coaster club year on year, but seem to be going week to week at the moment. Defeating Man City was not on the cards in anything other than the most-optimistic Chelsea fan's mind - especially after a dismantling from Spurs and a defeat to Wolves. But win they did....
No such qualms were had over Liverpool and Arsenal winning nor Man Utd or other soap-opera side, West Ham (!). Most also had Spurs to win too. Burnley overcame recent poor form to beat Brighton at home, as did Cardiff, although frankly Southampton really need their new manager, Ralph Longsurname to hit the ground running. Wolves got a good win at Newcastle who've seemingly ended their run of good form, whilst a manic 5 minutes saw Watford heading for all 3 points against Everton who managed to equalise with the last kick of the game from a luverly freek kick from Lucas Digne.
Let's get statty:
This week, 24 people played
Most popular predicted result: Arsenal WIN (24/24)
Most disputed result:
Highest odds: Steven Daniels 1160/1
Lowest odds: Me, 801/1
Average odds: 941.1
Best predictors: Lawro, Joe Abbott & Joni Kleiman (7/10)
Worst predictors: Adrian Daniels & Will O'Doherty (4/10)
Average score: 5.63/10
Best predicted result: Arsenal WIN (24/24)
Worst predicted result: Chelsea WIN (1/24 - well done Joe Machta)
Everyone's results:
Good luck guys
One such club is the nouveau-riche bunch on Fulham Road. That's Chelsea in case you 1) don't know West London and/or 2) were trying to work out whether al-Fayed or Shahid Khan pre-dated Abramovich. They've been a roller-coaster club year on year, but seem to be going week to week at the moment. Defeating Man City was not on the cards in anything other than the most-optimistic Chelsea fan's mind - especially after a dismantling from Spurs and a defeat to Wolves. But win they did....
No such qualms were had over Liverpool and Arsenal winning nor Man Utd or other soap-opera side, West Ham (!). Most also had Spurs to win too. Burnley overcame recent poor form to beat Brighton at home, as did Cardiff, although frankly Southampton really need their new manager, Ralph Longsurname to hit the ground running. Wolves got a good win at Newcastle who've seemingly ended their run of good form, whilst a manic 5 minutes saw Watford heading for all 3 points against Everton who managed to equalise with the last kick of the game from a luverly freek kick from Lucas Digne.
Let's get statty:
This week, 24 people played
Most popular predicted result: Arsenal WIN (24/24)
Most disputed result:
Highest odds: Steven Daniels 1160/1
Lowest odds: Me, 801/1
Average odds: 941.1
Best predictors: Lawro, Joe Abbott & Joni Kleiman (7/10)
Worst predictors: Adrian Daniels & Will O'Doherty (4/10)
Average score: 5.63/10
Best predicted result: Arsenal WIN (24/24)
Worst predicted result: Chelsea WIN (1/24 - well done Joe Machta)
Everyone's results:
Leaderboard (>2/3; 11/16)
This week's predos:
Man City vs Everton - MAN CITY
Crystal Palace vs Leicester - DRAW
Huddersfield vs Newcastle - NEWCASTLE
Spurs vs Burnley - SPURS
Watford vs Cardiff - WATFORD
Wolves vs Bournemouth - DRAW
Fulham vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Brighton vs Chelsea - CHELSEA
Southampton vs Arsenal - DRAW
Liverpool vs Man Utd - LIVERPOOL
Good luck guys
Thursday 6 December 2018
S8M16: Triggered
2 matchdays worth of synopsising to do so I'll forgo the small talk this week.
Friday night football is rubbish, but Cardiff would have temporarily disputed this, as they beat a Wolves side seemingly out of form. See below....
Palace beat a woeful Burnley side, and Brighton continued their quiet march to form with an away win at equally woeful Huddersfield. Leicester and Man City had comfortable home wins, but that was not the case in Newcastle where West Ham got a shock away win - 3-0 of all things. Of course, Arnautovic got injured again. I've forgotten to do my fantasy team for 4 weeks running now, so it's probably a who's who of invalids by now. Southampton got a draw against Man Utd at home, but from 2-0 up they threw the game away and Hughes paid for it with his job. He'll hopefuly join Moyes, Curbishley, Allardyce etc in disappearing off into the shadows now. Surely nobody else will give him a Premier League management job?
Sunday = Derby day and home wins in West London (comfortable), North London (Ultimately comfortable - side note, the way to not do derby day is via BBC sport notifications to your phone which loses battery at 2-1 down) and Liverpool (very much not comfortable you jammy buggers).
The weekend matchdays were different. Easier to predict, fewer people involved. A gimme for those organised enough to participate without regular prompts. Go you guys.
Bournemouth beat Huddersfield, West Ham beat Cardiff and Man City beat Watford - no great shocks there. In the derby that I've never really understood why it's a derby, Brighton beat Palace 3-1, even after going down to 10 men in the first half. Liverpool came from behind to comfortably win at Turf Moor (stupid name for a ground. Think they should be relegated purely on those terms) and Spurs won comfortably against a Southampton side trying to impress their new manager by showing who was best at Crossbar Challenge. Draws at Fulham, Goodison Park & in an awful game of football at Old Trafford. Not one for the defensive purists. The big shock came in Wolverhampton, which I've recently been assured is a real place, where the struggling-for-form Wolves turned around a deficit to beat Chelsea, who've looked a little wobbly in recent weeks. If I were Eden Hazard, I'd be off...
Let's get statty:
Matchday 14:
24 people played
Most popular predicted result: Chelsea WIN (23/24)
Most disputed result: Arsenal vs Spurs (12-5-7 split)
Highest odds: Steven Daniels 2437/1
Lowest odds: Doron Salomon 1364/1
Average odds: 1901/1
Best predictor: Feneley (8/10)
Worst predictor: Me (3/10)
Average score: 5.21/10
Best predicted result: Chelsea WIN (23/24)
Worst predicted results: Brighton WIN & Southampton vs Man Utd DRAW (2/24)
Matchday 15:
17 people played
Most popular predicted results: West Ham, Man City, Liverpool & Spurs WINS (17/17)
Most disputed result: Fulham vs Leicester (5-6-6 split)
Highest odds: Doron Salomon 490/1
Lowest odds: Steven Daniels 455/1
Average odds: 473/1
Best predictor: David Brickman (8/10)
Worst predictors: AFM & Josh Gaon (5/10)
Average score: 6/10
Best predicted result: West Ham, Man City, Liverpool & Spurs WINS (17/17)
Worst predicted results: Wolves WIN (0/17)
Everyone's results:
Eli actually scored a 4 on Matchday 14, but it didn't alter the leaderboard positions so haven't updated my graphics 'cos I'm extremely busy wallpapering my house with Lucas Torreira photos.
Leaderboard (>2/3; 11/15)
This week's predos:
Bournemouth vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL
Arsenal vs Huddersfield - ARSENAL
Burnley vs Brighton - BRIGHTON
Cardiff vs Southampton - CARDIFF
Man Utd vs Fulham - MAN UTD
West Ham vs Crystal Palace - WEST HAM
Chelsea vs Man City - MAN CITY
Leicester vs Spurs - SPURS
Newcastle vs Wolves - DRAW
Everton vs Watford - EVERTON
Total odds: 801/1 (someone else other than Doron & Stevie D should occasionally do some...)
Good luck guys
Friday night football is rubbish, but Cardiff would have temporarily disputed this, as they beat a Wolves side seemingly out of form. See below....
Palace beat a woeful Burnley side, and Brighton continued their quiet march to form with an away win at equally woeful Huddersfield. Leicester and Man City had comfortable home wins, but that was not the case in Newcastle where West Ham got a shock away win - 3-0 of all things. Of course, Arnautovic got injured again. I've forgotten to do my fantasy team for 4 weeks running now, so it's probably a who's who of invalids by now. Southampton got a draw against Man Utd at home, but from 2-0 up they threw the game away and Hughes paid for it with his job. He'll hopefuly join Moyes, Curbishley, Allardyce etc in disappearing off into the shadows now. Surely nobody else will give him a Premier League management job?
Sunday = Derby day and home wins in West London (comfortable), North London (Ultimately comfortable - side note, the way to not do derby day is via BBC sport notifications to your phone which loses battery at 2-1 down) and Liverpool (very much not comfortable you jammy buggers).
The weekend matchdays were different. Easier to predict, fewer people involved. A gimme for those organised enough to participate without regular prompts. Go you guys.
Bournemouth beat Huddersfield, West Ham beat Cardiff and Man City beat Watford - no great shocks there. In the derby that I've never really understood why it's a derby, Brighton beat Palace 3-1, even after going down to 10 men in the first half. Liverpool came from behind to comfortably win at Turf Moor (stupid name for a ground. Think they should be relegated purely on those terms) and Spurs won comfortably against a Southampton side trying to impress their new manager by showing who was best at Crossbar Challenge. Draws at Fulham, Goodison Park & in an awful game of football at Old Trafford. Not one for the defensive purists. The big shock came in Wolverhampton, which I've recently been assured is a real place, where the struggling-for-form Wolves turned around a deficit to beat Chelsea, who've looked a little wobbly in recent weeks. If I were Eden Hazard, I'd be off...
Let's get statty:
Matchday 14:
24 people played
Most popular predicted result: Chelsea WIN (23/24)
Most disputed result: Arsenal vs Spurs (12-5-7 split)
Highest odds: Steven Daniels 2437/1
Lowest odds: Doron Salomon 1364/1
Average odds: 1901/1
Best predictor: Feneley (8/10)
Worst predictor: Me (3/10)
Average score: 5.21/10
Best predicted result: Chelsea WIN (23/24)
Worst predicted results: Brighton WIN & Southampton vs Man Utd DRAW (2/24)
Matchday 15:
17 people played
Most popular predicted results: West Ham, Man City, Liverpool & Spurs WINS (17/17)
Most disputed result: Fulham vs Leicester (5-6-6 split)
Highest odds: Doron Salomon 490/1
Lowest odds: Steven Daniels 455/1
Average odds: 473/1
Best predictor: David Brickman (8/10)
Worst predictors: AFM & Josh Gaon (5/10)
Average score: 6/10
Best predicted result: West Ham, Man City, Liverpool & Spurs WINS (17/17)
Worst predicted results: Wolves WIN (0/17)
Everyone's results:
Eli actually scored a 4 on Matchday 14, but it didn't alter the leaderboard positions so haven't updated my graphics 'cos I'm extremely busy wallpapering my house with Lucas Torreira photos.
Leaderboard (>2/3; 11/15)
This week's predos:
Bournemouth vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL
Arsenal vs Huddersfield - ARSENAL
Burnley vs Brighton - BRIGHTON
Cardiff vs Southampton - CARDIFF
Man Utd vs Fulham - MAN UTD
West Ham vs Crystal Palace - WEST HAM
Chelsea vs Man City - MAN CITY
Leicester vs Spurs - SPURS
Newcastle vs Wolves - DRAW
Everton vs Watford - EVERTON
Total odds: 801/1 (someone else other than Doron & Stevie D should occasionally do some...)
Good luck guys
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