2011 Premier League Review

It’s has definitely been an eventful year. Manchester United became the most successful domestic team in England. Manchester City won their first trophy for the first time in 35 years. Kenny Dalglish made a dramatic return to his beloved Liverpool. Fernando Torres became the most expensive Premier League player. And Andy Carroll became the most expensive English footballer. While Cesc Fabregas finally left Arsenal!

This article is a small review of the year, while at the end we will have a 2011 Premier League team of the year.

Onto the review!

Club of the year

This is a tough one, many teams have impressed this year. But for me it has to be Manchester City. Firstly, they have finally won a trophy. Secondly, the team broke into the Champions League elite and by the end of the year, the team look like favourites to win the league.

What has also impressed me about Manchester City is the way they pass the ball. Especially in the 2011/12 season, the team’s passing has been sensational. The team can outpass most teams in Europe. Their ball retention is almost Barcelona eqsue. Indeed, they are no where near Barcelona’s level yet. But when this City side pass the ball it’s an absolute joy to watch.

Runner up: Man United, third place: Stoke City.

Manager of the year

I think this is straight forward. It’s Sir Alex Ferguson. The Scotsman has now been in charge of Man United for 25 years, which is nothing short of sensational in the modern game. Furthermore, Fergie has showed this year he still one of the best around. He has made Man United the most successful domestic side in England. Ferguson maybe getting on in terms of age, but he is still a huge threat to his contemporaries. His hunger, desire and determination to win seems to grow with every year.

Runner up: Roberto Mancini (Man City), third place Tony Pulis (Stoke)

Player of the year

For me this is easy. It has got to be Robin Van Persie. The guy has scored 34 goals in the year 2011. This is sensational. His phenomenal form has kept Arsenal competitive. Not only this, he has saved Arsenal so many times in the past year. Without RVP one wonders where Arsenal would actually be. The year 2011 has shown if Van Persie can keep fit, he truly is a World Class striker.

What makes Van Persie a world class striker is the variation in his goals. Some are fantastic free kicks, bullet headers, cracking half volleys and there are some which are lovely placed finishes. Arsenal are very fortunate to have such a wonderful striker at the club.

Runner up: David Silva (Man City) Third place (Luis Suarez)

Result of the year

This again is very easy. It’s Man United’s 6-1 humiliation at home to Man City. For me this result showed not only to Man United, but the world that Man City are no longer the ‘noisy neighbours’ they are a real threat not only to English teams but to major European teams. What made this result more compounding was Man United’s home form prior to this game was exceptional. They had no dropped a single point at home for over a year. Man City had no real right to win there, but to City’s credit, they punished Man United and potentially left a scaring mark on United.

Runner up: Man United 8-2 Arsenal. Third place Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal

Goal of the year

Wayne Rooney v Man City

This goal was magical. No matter what your views on Wayne Rooney are you cant knock this goal. Firstly, his technique was incredible. Rooney had his body in the perfect posture and got perfect contact on the ball too. Secondly, the goal was against Man United’s arch rivals. At the time it was viewed as the goal which put Man City in their place. It was viewed as the goal which was supposed to suggest Man United were far better than Man City technically, individually and collectively. This goal will be remembered for years to come.

Second place: Robin Van Persie v Everton

Surprise player

Mario Balotelli

Super Mario has surprised many. Most have viewed him as a volatile young Italian who has talent but his stupidity hinders him from being truly successful. However, this year there has been a slight change with Balotelli. Yes he is still crazy and idiotic at times. But his form has improved dramatically. In the 2011/12 season he has scored 11 goals already. Balotelli has shown goal scoring consistency this year. He has been going through patches of form where he would score consecutively in various games. Not only this, Balotelli has been scoring in the big and smaller games too.

Super Mario has also found time to also make people laugh too. His goal celebrations, firework antics and apparently going round as santa and giving people money has had people talking about him for a good few months!

But, the young Italian has also found time to also show his volatile, inconsistent side. Against Liverpool in November, he came on a sub and left the field by getting a red card.

Balotelli has made great progress, but there is a lot more work to do before he is seen as World Class.

Worst Transfer of 2011

Fernando Torres wins this easily. The £50million man simply has not found his feet since joining Chelsea. In the past 12 months at Chelsea, Torres has been managed by two world class managers. But both have struggled to find a formula to get the best out of Torres.

The year 2011 has been a really tough year for Fernando Torres. So far in his Chelsea career, the most expensive Premier League player has managed just 6 goals. While Torres’ form has declined to levels which no one would have expected. His miss v Man United is probably the best evidence of this. The Spaniard looks deprived of confidence sharpness and ideas. It’s regrettable, because on his day he is an exceptional player. And can match any striker in the world.

Indeed, there is a long way to get yet in Torres Chelsea career. 2012 maybe the year when Torres finally finds his feet at Chelsea. But so far, Torres doesn’t look like a £50million player at all.

Runner up: Andy Carroll (Newcastle to Liverpool £35mill) Third place: Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan to Aston Villa £11mill)

Disappointment of the year

The passing of Gary Speed was the darkest news in the football world in the year 2011 in the Premier League. It left the whole of the footballing world in utter shock. It just didn’t make sense to anyone. Speed was a fine professional, a decent manager who was doing a wonderful job with a young exciting Welsh side. However, it was refreshing that the whole of the Premier League joined united to support his family. The response to his passing was incredible. It really proves the footballing world no matter what club you align yourself towards can come together and unite to help each other.

Team of the year

So here is my team of the year. It may annoy some and it may please others!

Swansea – The team who represent the beautiful game beautifully

Swansea have exceeded many people’s expectations. The team have won over the hearts of a growing number of football fans who love the Premier League. When Swansea were promoted, many questioned whether the Welsh side could apply their neat passing game to England’s elite league.

Seventeen games into their Premier League season, the team have managed to maintain their passing strategy to fantastic effect.

The evidence backs up just how effective their passing system has been in England’s top flight.

Firstly, the team have a possession record which is joint third best in the Premier League. The team average possession of 56% in each game which is a stat shared with Chelsea. Not only this, Swansea have a possession record which is better than, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham. This is outstanding. The Swans have pitted their wits in England’s highest league and yet they can still retain the ball. The players, managers and coaches deserve huge praise for their mental strength and belief in their way of playing. After all, some teams in the Premier League, have often discarded their philosophy because of the pressure the opponents are putting them under on the pitch.

There is more glorious evidence of the effectiveness of Swansea’s philosophy. So far, Swansea have the third best passing accuracy in the whole of the Premier League. The Swans of passing accuracy of 86.5%, Chelsea shade Swansea in second place by 0.30%. It’s pretty incredible. Swansea have a better passing accuracy than the league champions Manchester United and arguably, ‘the best passing side’ in England Arsenal.

What makes this more incredible is that Swansea are a newly promoted side and many of their players have not played Premier League football before. Not only this, the Premier League is played at an incredibly high tempo most of the time, yet Swansea have managed to keep a cool head and maintain their accuracy. It shows Swansea’s system was built for the Premier League and the highest levels. After all, the philosophy is evidently working. The team are passing more accurately than far more established Premier League sides.

However, Swansea need to be praised for effectively executing their philosophy. After all, its one thing to attempt to play attractive keep -ball football and it’s another to actually be able to do it. Swansea to their credit have managed to implement it. Most clubs, pay multi millions in players, coaches and managers in the dream of playing like Swansea. But very shrewdly, Swansea have managed to be able to execute it without having the most technically gifted players in the world.

The Swans compensate the lack of sheer technical excellence in the side through working incredibly hard. A clear example of this is the defensive work of Swansea’s wingers. Although their system demands the wingers to be on-top of their game offensively, Swansea’s wingers, Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge track back ferociously to win the ball. Against Newcastle, Routledge made 5 tackles, four were successful. Collectively Swansea are hungry and motivated to succeed in the Premier League. This has been an underlying reason as to why the team’s system has been so impressive.

Furthermore, this determination to win the ball back has made Swansea so hard to be break down. So far, the Swans have conceded 21 goals. This is a decent record for a newly promoted side. It’s better than the other two promoted sides, Norwich (31 goals conceded) and QPR. (31) This solid defensive record also links very closely to Swansea’s ball retention ability. After all, the opposition struggle to get the ball back from The Swans, let alone get a chance on goal.

There is evidence of Swansea’s solid defensive record. Swansea have the best defensive home record in the Premier League. After 8 home games, the team have only conceded 2 goals. This is nothing short of outstanding. Swansea’s home record is as solid as any established Premier League side. It’s almost unheard of that a promoted side can have such a sturdy defence at home. Most promoted sides often make woeful defensive lapses. But this has not been the case with Swansea. The team look competent, solid and cohesive as a collective unit.

But the simple maths will tell you 18 out of 20 of Swansea’s goals have been conceded on the road. The team are clearly not as strong on the road as they are at home. On the road, Swansea struggle to restrict the amount of chances the opposition create. This has been a leading factor as to why the team have struggled to win a single game on the road.

At the moment, the team are seriously craving players with Premier League experience.

The lack of experience has cost Swansea points on the road. For example their away game at Wolves. For most of the game Swansea were two up and in control, but when the momentum was with opposition, the Swans crumbled and surrendered their two goal lead. If the team had more Premier League experience it would lead to the team feeling more assured and restricting the team falling deeper into their own half, thus asking for the opposition to attack Swansea.

Another reason why Swansea have been so poor on the road is because the team have struggled to create sufficient chances. This season, Swansea have created 151 chances, which is the 4^th worst in the Premier League. What makes this statistic worse for Swansea is the team normally spend most of the game in possession of the ball. But even when dominating possession, the team struggle to consistently penetrate the final third of the pitch.

However, over time, the team will create more chances per game. After all, as the team’s philosophy develops and the teams coherence grows, the Swan’s tentative mindset will transform into confidence. But this confidence will take a massive boost if Swansea manage to bring in more technically gifted attacking players. Swansea are missing someone who can create something out of nothing. Yes, Mark Gower has been fantastic in the middle. But if the Swans are to create more chances, more creative players are needed within the side.

This struggle to create chances explains why Swansea have not scored enough goals this season. Swansea have scored 16 goals this season, which is the second worst in the league. However, if Swansea could create more chances, the goals which will eventually flow in. But the Swans have also been guilty of missing clear cut chances. Take Swansea’s game at home to Man United. The likes of Scot Sinclair missed guilt edged chances which perhaps cost the club at least a point in that game.

Besides this, Swansea have been a great addition to the Premier League. The team have been a joy to watch and look completely at home in England’s highest division. Indeed, the team may not have taken the Premier League by storm. But the Swans have made a lasting first impression on many.

Long may the Swansea revolution continue.

Statistics from EPL Index. (Stats taken on 22/12/11)

Premier League Predictions Week 17

The festive period is upon us! And the football is coming thick and fast which is fantastic. This week Bolton have a crucial home game against a slight out of form Newcastle. While two of three promoted sides, QPR and Swansea go head to head this week.

This week our predictor is, Joe Tilley of An Arsenal Story.

Fixture	Ibby Akkas Prediction		Joe Tilley Prediction		Actual Score
Chelsea v Fulham	3-1		2-0		1-1
Bolton v Newcastle	2-1		1-1		0-2
Liverpool v Blackburn	4-1		3-0		1-1
Man Utd v Wigan	5-0		4-0		5-0
Sunderland v Everton	2-0		2-2		1-1
West Brom v Man City	1-3		1-3		0-0
Stoke v Aston Villa	2-1		1-0		0-0
Arsenal v Wolves	3-0		3-1		1-1
Swansea v QPR	0-0		2-0		1-1
Norwich v Tottenham	1-2		1-2		0-2
Total Correct Scores	correct scores -1	perfect scores - 1	correct scores - 3	perfect scores - 0

The Results

Ibby Akkas - 4 points

Joe Tilley - 3 points

After a pretty low scoring week Ibby wins by a single point. However, it's clear both didn't expect so many draws in the Premier League this Christmas weekend!

Be sure to follow our predictor this week on Twitter: @Tilley_96. Take a look at his fantastic blog too: http://www.anarsenalstory.co.uk/

Take a look at this season’s Prediction Challenge League Table.

Find out here how last week’s predictors did!

For more information on The Predictions Challenge check out this page.

Channel Five's Jim Rosenthal & Stan Collymore sing "Thursday nights, Channel 5!"

This is genius. So Man United and Man City have been demoted to the Europa League after their poor showing in the Champions League this season. Channel 5 presenter and pundit Rosenthal and Collymore ironically sing 'Thursday Night's Channel Five' to irritate and gloat at the United and City supporters!

Video: AC Milan players sing happy birthday for Al Jazeera sports

This is an odd one. So a few months ago, it was the channel Al -Jazeera's birthday and the Milan players sung happy birthday for them. One would expect it to be terrible. But Robhino and Prince Boateng actually do a fine job!

Can Wigan save themselves from the drop again?

Wigan have started the season off poorly. Its simple as that. Three wins from 16 games is hardly inspiring form. Not only this, the team have a winning ratio of 20% which is frankly quite frightening if you’re a Wigan fan. But this woeful start to the season and a reflection on last season’s results, spell one question, Is this the season when Wigan fall through the relegation trap door?

Possibly. But the side have shown some fight. Recently Wigan picked up two away wins at Sunderland and West Brom. Furthermore, the team managed to hold Chelsea at home last weekend. These results are utterly vital, especially the away results. It shows Wigan have the ability to take points from the teams in and around them. Not only this, very few of Wigan’s relegation rivals can boast two away wins on the bounce.

Many pundits argue Wigan’s ability to keep possession of the ball has been the difference between them and their relegation rivals. Perhaps they have a point. After all, Wigan have a impressive passing accuracy of 81% this season. Wigan have also made more accurate passes (5268 passes), than Wolves (4938 accurate passes), Aston Villa (3876), Blackburn (3738), and Bolton (4470).

So, Wigan keep the ball better than the teams in and around them. That’s all well, and good but is it really working for the side? Some may comment that it does work for them. After all, under Martinez’ Wigan have never been relegated. However, against certain sides, Wigan’s passing strategy seems like its suffocating some of the Wigan players.

For example, when Arsenal and Spurs visited Wigan at the DW, the London sides high pressure system continuously caught Wigan out. Wigan would look to slowly build from the back and progressively go forward. However, Arsenal and especially Spurs did not allow Wigan’s defence to settle on the ball. Thus causing the players to misplace passes or worse, pass the ball straight to the opposition.

These missed place passes have proved to be fatal. As Wigan have often found themselves trailing games because of defensive mishaps.

But another problem Wigan are encountering is the team are not scoring enough goals.

This season, Wigan have scored 15 goals in 16 games. It is the worst goal scoring record in the Premier League. Indeed, Wigan are craving the return to form of Hugo Rodallega. Last season the Columbian scored 9 goals. While in 8 games this season, he failed to net.

Wigan’s struggle to score goals is a significant issue. Especially if one follows the trends of the last few seasons.

Last season, Wigan had the second worst goal scoring record in the Premier League. They scored 40 goals last season. While the team who had the worst goal scoring record, Birmingham City scored 37 goals and were relegated on the final day. Furthermore, in the 2009/10 season, Hull and Portsmouth scored the least amount of goals (34 goals) and both were relegated. Finally, three seasons ago, in the 2008/09 season, Middlesbrough scored (28 goals) and found themselves going through the relegation trap door.

This is a cause for concern for Wigan. Under Martinez, the team have a history of not being able to score goals. In Martinez’ first season, Wigan managed 37 goals, the third worst in the division. While as stated before, last season, the team had the second worst goal scoring record in the division. And so far this season, the team have the worst goal scoring record. Perhaps this is symbol of the yearly decline of Wigan.

The statistics also paint a vivid picture. If you cant score, you cant win and if you cant win, you cant survive.

Wigan’s goal scoring statistics foreshadow a worrying end to their Premier League dream. Of course there is a long way to go. But if Wigan’s statistics continue to follow the same trend, there really is one inevitable route which Wigan will be taking. Relegation.

But scoring goals are not Wigan’s only problems. The club are also conceding a hell of a lot of goals too.

Wigan have the third worst defence in the league. They have conceded 30 goals already this season. Wigan are far more exploitable than some of the teams around them. After all, the teams who often survive in the Premier League are often the most efficient. They can either consistently score, or they are very strong defensively. Wigan have been neither under Martinez. If the team could score far more goals, perhaps their goals conceded statistic would not be a big issue, as their total points tally would do the talking for them.

The problem Martinez is facing is a reoccurring problem. Relegation. In Steve Bruce’s final season at Wigan, he left the club 11^th. The team were 13 points away from relegation. While under Martinez, the team have always finished 16^th. In his first season, 2009/10 season, they finished 6 points away from the relegation spots. While last season, The Lactics finished an alarming three points away from the relegation zone.

This is clearly a worrying trend. With every season, the club are getting closer and closer to the relegation trap door. Only three years ago, the club were safe in mid-table. But now, under Martinez, the team have not had any progressive improvement. The team have been in a freefall of decline.

Wigan Athletic are aesthetically pleasing with their tidy keep ball philosophy. But the stringent issue is the team cant do anything productive with it. The club have won their last two away games, but that does not hide away the fact the team have severe underlying inadequacies such as not being able to finish or concede which have been crippling the club for years.

This may well be Wigan’s final dance in the Premier League.

Is There Any Way Back For Gignac?‏

The Football Front’s Andrew Swan evaluates the recent few years of struggle and glory for Andre –Pierre Gignac.

Andre-Pierre Gignac ended May 2009 as Ligue 1’s top scorer. Fast forward two and a half years and in November 2011 he has been banished to the reserves having scored only one goal in six months. It has been a challenging 30 months for Marseille’s Gignac, known by teammates and friends as Dédé. The 26 year old has endured a rocky career so far with huge peaks and troughs thanks to injuries, international appearances, prolific patches of form and goal scoring, increases in weight and dips in form.

Gignac’s career has seen him travel a great deal around France playing early on for ES Fos-sur-Mer and FC Martigues on the Cote d’Azur where he grew up before moving north to Brittany to join the youth academy of professional club Lorient, a Ligue 2 club at the time. Such a big move for 17 year old Gignac was necessary having been released by FC Martigues. Such a knock to his confidence early on in his career wasn’t noticed as he developed well and found himself promoted to the Lorient senior team in 2004 by then manager Christian Gourcuff. Such faith shown in Gignac by the club and manager was quickly repaid as Gignac scored what proved to be the winning goal on his debut, against Chateauroux. Unfortunately Gignac struggled to settle and fully secure a place in the Lorient first 11 that season and the next season saw him loaned out to Championnat National club Pau. Having dropped to one of the lower tiers of French football, Gignac began to find his feet and his shooting boots and managed 8 goals and 4 assists in his 18 appearances for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques club.

This new found confidence ensured that by the start of the 2006-07 season, Gignac was a mainstay in the Lorient starting 11. The trust in Gignac saw him net a club best 9 goals and provide 5 assists in 37 appearances. Such form had resulted in a number of more prestigious clubs take an interest in the 20 year-old with Lille and Toulouse coming head-to-head over his signature. It was widely reported that Lille had already entered a pre-contract agreement with Lorient. However with the lure of potential Champions League football and an offer of more than double the salary that Lille were prepared to offer, Gignac opted for a return to the south of France with Toulouse.

Unfortunately, as it had with Lorient, Gignac’s form with Toulouse took some time to get going. In his first season Gignac only managed 2 goals, he struggled with weight and confidence issues and sat behind Johan Elmander in the pecking order. Having come to the club in search of first team football and Champions League football, Gignac was undoubtedly disappointed with his first season at Toulouse, as they crashed out of the Champions League 3^rd qualifying round 0-5 to Liverpool, and finished the season just one place above the relegation zone. With the departure of Elmander to Bolton over the summer period, Gignac again found himself to be the number one choice and after a solid pre-season found his goal scoring form again. Such form and a continued run in the first team ensured that Gignac finished this season as the Ligue 1 top scorer, and was playing in the French national team after what most would consider his most successful season to date.

After such a successful season it was inevitable that there would be interest from other clubs. Some of Europe’s top clubs were reportedly interested at the time with Arsenal, Manchester United, AC Milan and Olympique Lyonnais all enquiring about Gignac’s services. However, Gignac demonstrated his commitment to Toulouse by signing a contract extension with the club. Next season Gignac picked up where he had left off previously, netting 12 times before Christmas. Unfortunately due to injury, the second half of Gignac’s season was poor in comparison, and he only managed another 4 goals.

Teams were still aware of Gignac’s skill and potential and when Marseille tabled a bid of around €18 million ahead of the 2010-2011 season, neither Toulouse nor Gignac could turn this down. This was going to be the real big chance for Dédé, joining a team who had just won the league and cup double and who were guaranteed Champions League football. The signing was well timed, as shortly after Marseille revealed that they had signed another promising young French player, Loic Remy. It was during the opening months of this season that Gignac’s confidence took another blow. He was struggling for form and goals, criticism from fans and ex-professionals was aimed in his direction. With the support of confident manager Didier Deschamps, Gignac managed to turn his form around after the winter break and scored 8 times. Unfortunately Marseille missed out on the title to Lille during this season, and Gignac’s poor early season form was highlighted from some quarters as being one of the contributing factors for this.

Injury curtailed Gignac’s pre-season training again ahead of the 2011-2012 season and Deschamps sent him away to Italy to a fitness camp (although some dubbed it a ‘fat camp’). After a great deal of hard work Gignac returned to Marseille looking in much better physical shape. In an attempt to regain the Ligue 1 title, Deschamps had begun to employ a new tactical strategy, looking to 4-3-3, and because of the pre-season Remy was the preferred starting striker with Andre Ayew and Lucho Gonzalez making up the remainder of the strike force. This push on Gignac’s confidence came at a time when the whole team was on a poor run of form, with Deschamps’ new tactics failing to bring in the results he hoped. Marseille slumped to one of their worse starts in years and criticism of this was aimed at players, coaches and club officials. It seemed that Deschamp’s faith in Gignac was wearing thin, with his place in the squad seemingly to make up numbers and was given minor bit-parts in games. The pressure of this situation came to a head when, having started the game, Gignac reacted angrily when he was substituted against Olympiakos in the Champions League. He reportedly threw a water bottle, walked immediately to the changing rooms had an argument with Deschamps after Marseille were defeated. This saw Gignac cast out of the Marseille squad to the reserves.

As I mentioned earlier, it has been a long 2 ½ year s for Andre-Pierre Gignac, which has taken its toll emotionally on the player. Gignac has continually proved his doubters wrong on a number of previous occasions, through regaining fitness and form to ensure he can contribute to any team he is a part of. Given the right training regime to help keep fitness levels at their peak and reduce the likelihood of repeat injuries, and given the right mentoring from a suitable coach or management team, Gignac should be able to push for his place in the French international team again. However, with a mixture of exciting prospects and experienced internationals like Kevin Gameiro, Dimitri Payet, Karim Benzema, and Loic Remy currently in his way, he will have to motivate himself, he needs to regain his form and confidence in order to be one of France’s best players again.

This article was written by Andrew Swan. You can find more of Andrew’s work on his blog: omarseilleuk.wordpress.com .Andrew can also be followed on Twitter: @OMarseilleUK.

Premier League Predictions: Week 15

The games are coming thick and fast. Which is great for everyone, bar the players and managers who will moan their players aren’t getting enough time to recover from games. But meh. It’s great entertainment for everyone else who watches! This weekend there are some very big games. On Sunday, Man City will take on an inform Arsenal side, while QPR host Man United which sure will be an exciting encounter.

This week, our predictors are Yogis Warrior, of A Cultured Left Foot and James Uanhoro of Forza Italian Football, the Elastico and the Hard Tackle.

Fixture	Ibby Akkas Prediction		Yogis Warrior Prediction		James Uanhoro Prediction		Actual Score
Blackburn v West Brom	2-3		2-0		3-1		1-2
Everton v Norwich	2-0		3-1		2-3		1-1
Fulham v Bolton	3-0		2-2		2-0		2-0
Newcastle v Swansea	1-2		2-0		3-2		0-0
Wolves v Stoke	0-0		1-1		3-0		1-2
Wigan v Chelsea	1-4		1-4		0-4		1-1
QPR v ManUtd	1-1		0-2		1-2		0-2
Aston Villa v Liverpool	0-1		1-2		0-0		0-2
Tottenham v Sunderland	3-1		3-1		3-1		1-0
Man City v Arsenal	2-0		1-1		0-3		1-0
Total Correct Scores	correct scores - 5	perfect scores - 0	correct scores - 2	perfect scores - 1	correct scores - 2	perfect scores - 1

The Results

Ibby Akkas - 5 points

Yogis Warrior- 5 points

James Uanhoro - 5 points

It's a tie! Unusually, everyone has the same amount of points. However, both James and Yogis Warrior managed to get one perfect score. While Ibby managed 5 correct scores but no perfect scores!

Be sure to follow Yogis Warrior on Twitter: @Yogis_ Warrior. Make sure you check out his website too: A Cultured Left Foot.

James Uanhoro can also be found on Twitter: @stonegold546. Take a look at his blog as well: http://stonegold546.wordpress.com/

Take a look at this season’s Prediction Challenge League Table.

Find out here how last week’s predictors did!

For more information on The Predictions Challenge check out this page.

Premier League Predictions: Week 14

So, the Manchester sides suffered pure humiliation in midweek after their failure to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League. But both sides will want to show they can recover and bounce back this weekend. However, Man City face a really tough away game at Chelsea on Monday. While fellow Europa League participants, Man United face Wolves at home. However, Spurs face a big away test on Sunday. They face Stoke- who have won their last three games in all competitions.

This week our predictors are, Matty Wilson of My Old Man Said Follow Sunderland, Gordon Fleetwood of Santos-The Offside and James McManus of Football Fancast.

So onto the predictions!

Fixture	Ibby Akkas Prediction		Matty Wilson Prediction		Gordon Fleetwood Prediction		James McManus Prediction		Actual Score
Arsenal v Everton	2-1		3-1		2-1		3-0		1-0
Bolton v Aston Villa	3-1		2-1		0-1		2-1		1-2
Liverpool v QPR	2-0		3-1		0-0		4-1		1-0
Man United v Wolves	4-1		4-1		1-0		3-0		4-1
Norwich v Newcastle	0-0		1-0		1-3		2-1		4-2
Swansea v Fulham	1-0		1-1		2-0		1-1		2-0
West Brom v Wigan	2-1		2-2		2-2		2-1		1-2
Sunderland v Blackburn	2-0		3-0		2-3		2-2		2-1
Stoke v Tottenham	2-2		1-2		0-2		1-1		2-1
Chelsea v Man City	1-0		2-1		1-1		1-3		2-1
Total Correct Scores	correct scores - 4	perfect scores - 1	correct scores - 4	perfect scores - 2	correct scores - 3	perfect scores - 1	correct scores - 4	perfect scores - 0

The Results

Matty Wilson - 10 points

Ibby Akkas - 7 points

Gordon Fleetwood - 6 points

James McManus - 4 points

This week's winner is Matty Wilson who got an impressive 10 points. Matty got the most perfect scores and that was the difference between him and the rest! In second place, Ibby Akkas comes in with 7 points. In third, a point behind is Gordon Fleetwood with 6 points. While in the final place, James McManus with 4 points.

Make sure you look at James McManus’s great work on his Football Fancast column. You can also follow him on Twitter: @JamesMcManus.

Gordon Fleetwood specialises on Santos, check out his blog on his favourite team: Santos-The Offside. He can also be found on Twitter: @Goyrayfle.

Matty Wilson’s Sunderland specialised blog is very much worth the look: My Old Man Said Follow Sunderland. Matty is certainly a good follow on Twitter too: MJWsafc.

Take a look at this season’s Prediction Challenge League Table.

Find out here how last week’s predictors did!

For more information on The Predictions Challenge check out this page.