Super Six 29/8/09

My super six predictions:

Blackburn 0-1 West Ham

Bolton 0-2 Liverpool

Stoke 1-1 Sunderland

Tottenham 2-1 Brum

Wolves 0-0 Hull

Sheffield 1-2 West Brom

I wish...

More updates

Me again

Just thought I'd let you in on my weekend multipliers

Chelsea, Stoke and Tottenham at about 13/5

Also, if you're interested in multipliers and always seem to get just one wrong Victor Chandler are offering a refund (or rather, a free bet) if you get one wrong from a five-fold or higher on all football markets - not too shabby - but remember, you get two wrong you get nowt

hmmm..opening matches in Spain - Barcelona v Sporting Gijon...

Oh and my Beat Lawro predictions are up at my blog

Can you Beat Victor?

Beat Victor is back this week - can you beat him in the predictions stakes? (I can't remember the last time he got one right)

This week the games are:

Chelsea v Burnley (I've gone for 3-0)
United v Arsenal (1-1)
Portsmouth v City (0-2)
Aston Villa v Fulham (1-0)

I got none right last time so hopefully I'll do better and maybe even get a fiver, I miss free bets...

Good luck

2009/10 Champions League Draw

As drawn today in Monaco.

Group A
Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa

Group B
Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
Wolfsburg

Group C
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

Group D
Chelsea
Porto
Atletico Madrid
Apoel Nicosa

Group E
Liverpool
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debreceni

Group F
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Dynamo Kiev
Rubin Kazan

Group G
Seville
Rangers
Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni

Group H
Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiakos
Standard Liege

Champions League Seedings 2009/10

Pot one:
1 Barcelona
2 Chelsea
3 Liverpool
4 Manchester United
5 AC Milan
6 Arsenal
7 Sevilla
8 Bayern Munich

Pot two:
9 Lyon
10 Inter Milan
11 Real Madrid
12 CSKA Moscow
13 Porto
14 AZ Alkmaar
15 Juventus
16 Rangers

Pot three:
17 Olympiakos
18 Marseille
19 Dynamo Kiev
20 Stuttgart
21 Fiorentina
22 Atletico Madrid
23 Bordeaux
24 Besiktas

Pot four:
25 Wolfsburg
26 Standard Liege
27 Maccabi Haifa
28 FC Zurich
29 Rubin Kazan
30 Unirea Urziceni
31 Apoel Nicosia
32 Debrecen

Dates:
Match Day One (15/ 16 Sept) 2 v 3 and 4 v 1 Match Day Two (29/ 30 Sept) 1 v 2 and 3 v 4 Match Day Three (20/ 21 Oct) 3 v 1 and 2 v 4 Match day Four (3/ 4 Nov) 1 v 3 and 4 v 2 Match Day Five (24/ 25 Nov) 3 v 2 and 1 v 4 Match day Six (8/9 Dec) 2 v 1 and 4 v 3

* This is also subject to change to ensure that clubs from the same country play on separate days.

This year the final will move to a Saturday and will be played on 22 May 2010.

Sol Campbell Moves To Notts County

Sol Campbell his joined up with Sven-Goran-Eriksson at Notts County. The news comes as a shock to many including Arsene Wenger. (I was however tipped off to the move Monday morning, by fellow Football Banter Mini-League participant, Jon M.)

County were recently taken over by one of those mysterious Middle-Eastern consortiums, this particular one is called "Munto Finance" they immediately reached out to friend of the Sheiks Sven-Goran Eriksson who has joined as Director of Football.

Harry Redknapp also commented today on Campbell's move saying "He's still in my opinion a top six central defender in the Premier League, so for Notts County to get him in that division is just incredible".

Football Banter Mini-League 25-Aug-09

Slyvie Martel Rouquet has seized the lead, and Rich M has soared up the table into third. Stephen and Dan Gold prop up the foot of the table.

Interestingly, no one in the Football Banter mini-league selected Sol Campbell who is now Notts County bound.

Jimmy Bullard's Sky Profile

Clearly already seen on Soccer AM, but I missed it and just found this on Ed's Blog.

Wenger Insists No Deal Is Done For Fabregas

I wonder if the line about doing a deal in a year in advance is a sly dig at Sir Alex after the rumours that the deal was signed a long time back?

Super 6 Predictions 22-Aug-09

Here is my entry for this weeks Super 6 competition:

Arsenal 4 - 0 Portsmouth

Birmingham 1 - 1 Stoke

Hull 2 - 2 Bolton

Man City 5 - 0 Wolves

Sunderland 1 - 1 Blackburn

Wigan 1 - 2 Man Utd

A bit of weekend betting

Well, having failed to get anything off my early multipliers I thought I'd lay off a bit til the season became a bit more predictable - however I just found a completely forgotten bet - Wolves, Burnley and Birmingham all to lose in the first week - paid at 5.5 (or 9/2 in old money) - so that was a pleasant surprise, I'm hoping it was an omen

So this weekend's multiplier is the rather cautious Arsenal (natch), Man City, Birmingham and Liverpool at 4/1

I'll get braver in a few weeks

Are Liverpool worth it?

I would like some opinions - are Liverpool worth it at 5/1 to win the league?

I ask because I feel this is reasonably good odds - even if it is unlikely that Liverpool will finally win the league surely a team that finished only 4 points off the pace last year is better than a 5/1 shot?

In that sense the bet is valuable, I am of course wary that the odds may get longer in a few months - I think they slipped to 13/1 at some point last year, but I'm just interested to see if people think 5/1 is a fair price

Football Banter Mini-League - Week 1

Firstly, I want to say "Thanks" to Tarquin for setting up the mini-league, and I feel an excellent choice in using the Premier Leagues own format. I had not previously used played this version before.

Secondly, thanks to those who joined in... we will be updating the blog regularly with every ones progress.

Here is how things stand after week 1:

The exotic sounding Damian De Leon and Sylvie Martel Rouquet lead the charts. Damian's front line of Rooney and Drogba securing a bumper haul, whilst Sylvie's selection of Ryan Shawcross earned 15pts alone.

Beat Lawro

I'm back trying to wipe the smile off Lawro's smug face over at my blog, feel free to get involved and show the world just how useless he is - get them in by kick off tonight

link: Beat Lawro

End of Week 1

Well that's the opening weekend of the Premier League out of the way, and not a bad start I must say - personally I think it's because Middlesbrough aren't there any more

Not a single draw, a game with seven goals, and City starting impressively

The same can't be said for my fantasy team - a mediocre 36 points, while Damian tops the league with 62 thanks to his choice of Rooney and Drogba, but don't worry - one of my other teams did just fine with Fabregas

But we might as well be thinking Everton will finish bottom - it's only the first week and it really does depend who gets lucky, give it a few weeks and it will settle - a great first week is always beneficial, but it has little bearing on the season, although Bobby Zamora can of course be relied upon for his trademark 'off the back and in'.....

The big winners this week were:

Drogba, with his brace

SWP, Ireland and Adebayor provided for City

Darren Bent produced a result for those wily enough to pick Sunderland's new front man

The Fulham defence held up

Delap got an assist, Shawcross got 15 pts

Upson rewarded players with a goal, while Cole got an assist

At Arsenal even Denilson scored - Fabregas returned two goals and two assists, the two centrebacks produced a goal each, Eduardo got on the score sheet and RVP got 2 assists - a bloody good week for the Arsenal fans

Meanwhile Rooney provided a goal, and the cheap United back four got the clean sheet

In the final game Stevie G delivered a good 7 points with a penalty, while most of Spurs' points went to their defenders, only Modric picking up anything useful out of the popular players

Super 6 Predictions 15-Aug-09

Here are my Super 6 Predictions for the weekend:


Aston Villa 2 - 0 Wigan

Blackburn 1 - 3 Man City

Bolton 1 - 1 Sunderland

Portsmouth 2 - 1 Fulham

Stoke 2 - 2 Burnley

Wolves 1 - 2 West Ham


I find the first week or two the toughest to predict as there is no recent competitive form in which to measure and you are never quite sure how a summer of transfer activity will have effected each team.

Last Chance

Alright dear readers, last time I will go on about fantasy footie - you've got til 11am tomorrow morning to get your team in, unsurprisingly the site is experiencing heavy traffic the friday afternoon before...I just about got my teams fixed up

Footie Banter League: 576876-127049

There is also a tipping league available in the same game, the code for that is FC32D-AEO

Here are my tips:

Chelsea 3-0 Hull

Expect the obvious here, Hull look ropey and are unlikely to provide any threat away like they did a year ago

Villa 1-0 Wigan

Difficult to predict, the teams have changed considerably since May, I expect a stodgy, low-scoring affair

Blackburn 1-1 City

Mark Hughes returns to Ewood Park, but I doubt his team will have gelled much yet, and Big Sam will no doubt hold his ground - long ball anyone?

Bolton 1-0 Sunderland

Can Steve Bruce inspire the Black Cats to a win over toughies Bolton? I doubt it

Portsmouth 0-1 Fulham

Can Fulham actually start with an away win this year? Probably their best chance against a threadbare Pompey side

Stoke 2-0 Burnley

No matter the hype round Burnley, I still expect Stoke to provide a tough resistance at home, at least against the lower sides

Wolves 1-0 West Ham

A false dawn for Wolves perhaps?

Everton 1-1 Arsenal

May be a good opportunity for Arsenal to get this out of the way early, but I don't think they'll be quite good enough to beat a solid Everton side

United 2-0 Birmingham

Stick to what you know - a rather fortunate time to be playing a newly promoted side at home when half your back four are missing, you never know, there could be an upset...

Tottenham 0-1 Liverpool

Tottenham still look weak at the back, although Bassong has just been drafted in, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is a golden opportunity to take three points from the Lane, Gerrard is a doubt though

P.S. For reading my ramblings this far I will give you a present - head to Beat Victor and you can challenge Victor Chandler on the outcome of four Premier League games - you beat him you win a fiver, you beat everyone you get 500 quid! It's completely free and you don't need to set up a gambling account or deposit money (but you will if you win the free bets) - I'm not kidding here, VC are probably the most generous gambling website I know, I've won over a hundred quid off them in the last year or two, just for free!

Predictions I(I)

Steve Wilson over at the BBC has copied the trend and has set-up a proper (sort of) competition for predicting next season

Just for bragging rights, but go and get your entry in at the blog

Will He Stay Or Will He Go?

The transfer story of the week rumbles on as David Moyes has come out and publicly reiterated that he has "no intention" of selling Joleon Lescott. This of course follows on from Lescott's transfer request this week after some persistent flirting from Mark Hughes.

Everton have now rejected a number of bids, the most recent is thought to be around £18m, but it will be interesting to see if and how the player reacts, both in the press and on the field.

Moyes has told the official Everton website:

"I have always said that we are not selling any players and that hasn't changed,

“We will continue to work with him as we appreciate his many qualities as a player.

“I have said all along that I have no intention of selling my best players.

“Joleon is simply not for sale.”

I have to say, in my opinion when a player makes a fairly bold move of requesting a transfer, it is not always the best option to keep the player on as performances do tend to suffer. Moyes is a stubborn man though so will stick to his guns. £18m is a good price, but who exactly could Everton find to replace like-for-like this close to the season's kick-off?

My prediction? Lescott stays, but there will be friction between the two as a result.

Maximising profit

I love international football - it's my best earner

Unfortunately the friendlies aren't particularly enticing and the qualifiers are ridiculous - Germany v Azerbaijan, Portugal v Liechtenstein, even France have the Faroes (I will happily lose a bet for that tho)

So I decided to maximise the Czech Republic's 4/6 against Belgium - turned it into a nice 5/4 with the minnow games tied into an accumulator - I think 5/4 is a rather decent return for the risk on the Czechs

Lawro's back and he's annoyed me already

Here we have Lawro's video verdict (please don't be a regular feature) on the Premier League

What caught my eye was Lawro said he was right about Stoke - I'm certain he said Stoke would be rock bottom, now he claims he was right about them staying up...wonder if I can find testimony to his claim

He definitely got everything else wrong tho...

---

Remember the fantasy footie code is: 576876-127049

Tipping is: FC32D-AEO

One Week Left

Entries for Fantasy Premier League need to be in a week from now, I'm not surprised take-up has been slow - it always explodes on the Thursday and Friday before - not even a million players yet

The pundit has tips, which frankly could have been better

But anyway, I thought I'd post my team which I finally sorted out this morning

---------------------------Schwarzer----------------------


Carragher----Ferdinand------Hangeland-----Hughes-----Bramble


Gerrard------Arteta---------Mascherano-------Modric---------Neville


Owen---------------------Defoe---------------Doyle


2nd keeper: Hart

Footie Banter League: 576876-127049

(oh, and you can still get into Super 6 by 3pm today)

Super Six is back

Good news everybody...

Soccer Saturday Super Six is back - first round is this weekend - August 8th - get your entries in before 3pm saturday

For those that don't know - super 6 is a tipping competition run by Sky, predict six perfect scores
and win a hundred grand - easy, nobody has ever done it, but the best tipster each week gets five or ten grand and there's monthly and season prizes

It is COMPLETELY FREE to enter - you do not even have to set up a Skybet account, or deposit money or anything of the like - it's just potential free cash being given away so that Sky keep your attention

Thus ends this public service announcement

(I also suggest some healthy competition between contributors is in order)

Daniel1979 Predicts...

I admire bold predictions, and I do not think predictions come much tougher than trying to foresee an entire league table 10 months into the future. But as Tarquin has blazed a trail, I shall follow, here is Daniel1979’s prediction for the league positioning for the 2009/10 season.

1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Man City
--
5. Arsenal
6. Everton
7. Tottenham
--
8. Aston Villa
9. West Ham
10. Sunderland
11. Fulham
12. Blackburn
13. Bolton
14. Wigan
15. Portsmouth
16. Birmingham
17. Hull
--
18. Stoke
19. Burnley
20. Wolves


Other Predictions

League Cup – Arsenal

FA Cup – Liverpool

Europa League – AS Roma

Champions League – Real Madrid

Top Goal Scorer In Premier League - Didier Drogba

Football Banter Fantasy Football Mini-League winner - Daniel1979 (of course!)

Bottom on Christmas Day - Stoke

First Premier League Manager To Get Sacked After Opening Day - Paul Hart

Scottish Champions - Rangers


Feel free to leave your predictions for the above and other competitions in the comments.

How wrong can I be this time?

I have been musing on the upcoming premier league season over at my blog and decided I should put my money where my mouth is and write down my (tentative) predictions for the season:

1. Chelsea
2. United
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
5. City
6. Everton
7. Villa
8. Spurs
9. Fulham
10. Wigan
11. Bolton
12. Blackburn
13. Stoke
14. Birmingham
15. West Ham
16. Sunderland
17. Wolves
----
18. Burnley
19. Hull
20. Pompey

Any opinions?

Hoping to do better than the five I got last year

How Not To Take A Penalty #1

Staring Alessandro Del Peiro