There were two games last week and the results are in:
Round one revealed me as the winner by virtue of one perfect score more than the rest :
| Me | 5 correct, 2 perfect |
| Dad | 5 correct, 1 perfect |
| Mum | 5 correct, 1 perfect |
| Uncle | 5 correct |
| Aunt | 4 correct |
Round 2 on Boxing day showed me as only finishing second despite getting a clear 70% of the games correct! Particularly remarkable was that the winner got none of the first three games correct (though it wasn’t being played in order but just picked in that order).
But congratulations to the winner who got the second most games picked correctly!
| Dad | 6 correct, 3 perfect |
| Me | 7 correct, 2 perfect |
| Mum | 5 correct, 1 perfect |
| Uncle | 2 correct |
| Aunt | 2 correct |
This week is going to be a bit of an interesting week as the choices of our contestants seem to be a little bit more varied with some key games that will no doubt make a difference. I don’t know who this Anon person is (hence the heading of Anon); however, they seem to have gone out on a limb this week assuming that a number of upsets all occur (Watford over Citeh and Palace over Chelski as well as West Ham over Liverpool.. and (according to my Dad) Everton over Spuds should be considered a huge upset. Of course none of those picks should be considered as risky as picking Aston Villa to win on any pitch anywhere (Mum – are you throwing this game?)
| Dad | Mum | Anon | Wife | Me | ||
| West Ham | Liverpool | 0-1 | 1-2 | 2-1 | 1-2 | 1-1 |
| Arsenal | Newcastle | 2-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Leicester | Bournemouth | 2-1 | 3-2 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Manchester United | Swansea | 2-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| Norwich | Southampton | 1-1 | 1-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 | 3-2 |
| Sunderland | Aston Villa | 1-0 | 0-1 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| West Brom | Stoke | 0-1 | 0-2 | 2-1 | 0-2 | 2-1 |
| Watford | Manchester City | 1-0 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 2-2 | 1-1 |
| Crystal Palace | Chelsea | 1-2 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Everton | Tottenham | 1-2 | 2-2 | 2-1 | 2-3 | 2-1 |
Quick analysis for today and tomorrow I will post my mid season stats and performance charts.
I was fortunate last week to get away with picking the Reds. No doubt Livi will be upset that I continue to pick his team and inflicting damaging losses on them; however, it’s not all bad as this week they actually jumped the Hornet Moose-men. West Ham haven’t been beaten at home in a while and Benteke missed a sitter last week so he’s still got the confidence of a cart-horse up front. Speaking of cart-horses… Carroll’s up front at the Boleyn so lets say 1 each for the strikers that neither team really wants.
Arsenal have looked unbeatable in recent games against teams that are not Southampton. Newcastle have looked beatable against all teams. Seems we’re all in agreement that the Arse will not be beaten this week.
All the talk is about Leicester bouncing back once they lost their grip on the top of the table. Recent form shows Bournemouth performing better away than at home (they can probably fit more fans in the away stadiums) but Leicester will no doubt be ready to get an nervy win that will let everyone this week talk about sustaining things after a bounce back.
Manchester United have been really poor and lost earlier in the year to Swansea; however, that Swansea was being managed by a young and upcoming English management superstar who has since been fired. There’s some pressure on LVG here to get his team to do anything… win, score, or just pass the ball forward. I think they’ll do all three.
Norwich are awful but their awfulness is really made more awful by their away from home awfulness so at home against the Saints might be a place where a result could be had. Southampton as a team are a bit like LeTissier was as a player – they might be brilliant (Arsenal) or they might be lazy and not do much (West Ham).
Pulis has put his exciting play defensively style of parking on West Brom and Stoke have all of a sudden discovered scoring and exciting play. This game will make or break the prediction winners this week as we have picks all over the board (home win, draw, away win). I had a dream that the team in stripes will win …but it was black and white so … I’m not sure which team… unless it was just dark blue and white…WBA it is.
Watford against the Citeh. It’s the game that people think will cause disharmony in the house. It won’t because everyone knows that the real team is Sheffield Wednesday no matter how much we claim it’s the team from the Middle Eastlands (ha, used it again). It’s at Vicarage Rd so you know the travelling team will be upset that they don’t have a stadium as plush as the one given to them on the cheap with its flashy dressing rooms and luxurious digs. Watford’s pitch will be bumpy and choppy and help the moose dig out a performance that keeps it tight and messy.
Here’s the highlights of a Watford win against Citeh … let’s just say it’s been a while and was a few years BO (before Oil):
Chelski are better, allegedly. I’m tired of picking them and Crystal Palace keep proving me wrong as well with good results. At home the Eagles have a crowd that is more passionate by the man than Chelsea can find in their collective luxury boxes. I’m going to predict that spangle-legs will win yet another dubious penalty that results in John Terry yelling at everyone. Hopefully he’ll get sent off too.
Everton and Spuds is a close one to call but it’s time Everton actually won an important game.