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Cape Town - Each round of the 2010/11 English Premiership season, a panel of Sport24 tipsters have a crack at predicting the results – do it yourself, if you like, and see how your scoreboard compares with ours in the report-back a week later.
Three precious points are given for an entirely correct score-line, and one for right result.
Compiled by Rob Houwing (the champion last season but a Newcastle supporter for his sins), the others are colleagues Garrin Lambley (very Everton-partial), David Brooke (Manchester United), Raymond Kilfoil (Tottenham) and Dominic Valentine (Liverpool).
We occasionally invite guest tipsters; this week a little experiment as we ask Sport24 publisher/editor TANK LANNING, who generally finds round balls weird and wretched, to shelve his rugger obsession for a minute and see if a tighthead prop, no less, knows his West Brom from his West Ham and can cheekily upstage the supposed world-game specialists!
THE PRIME ATTRACTION
CHELSEA v LIVERPOOL
Sunday, 18:00
Of course it is extremely difficult to relegate to back of mind the inevitable theme to this spicy encounter: striker Fernando Torres’s likely debut against the club he has just quit! But plain footballing sense at present tends to suggest the Blues will prevail, whether the Spaniard gets among the scorers or not. Give King Kenny his due: he is certainly beginning to stabilise the Reds after their woes under luckless Roy Hodgson. But Chelsea are in wake-up mode too – four goals for them at the Stadium of Light in midweek was a strong signal of that. Home advantage could be decisive, and four of the six tipsters here anticipate a Blues win (even Dominic goes with head above his Scouse heart).
Rob: Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0
Garrin: 1-1
David: 1-1
Raymond: 2-0
Dominic: 2-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-0
Last season: 2-0
THE GRUDGE MATCH
NEWCASTLE v ARSENAL
Saturday, 17:00
This match gets the grudge billing based on the first-round meeting at the Emirates. Then, the Toon Army marched into North London and snaffled an unexpected 1-0 away win. It’s not the kind of thing to have pleased Arsene Wenger and he will drum an “even the score” message into his skilful charges’ heads. Of course the headed winner that day came from one Andy Carroll, suddenly no longer in the Magpies’ mix, and they are a little light on main striker options as a result (Shola Ameobi is injured). Sickened by the strong “1-2” sentiment below – and Tank even has the temerity to say 1-3 – I am unashamedly bravely pulling on my black-and-white scarf and bellowing a defiant “1-1”. Howay lads, don’t let me down now, OK?
Rob: Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
Garrin: 1-2
David: 1-2
Raymond: 1-2
Dominic: 1-2
Guest Tank Lanning: 1-3
Last season: Not applicable
THE DESPERATE DUEL
WOLVES v MANCHESTER UNITED
Saturday, 19:30
Bury any thought of “desperation” in the Red Devils camp, of course, because they currently lead the Premiership by five points from the Gunners and are also playing with extra fluidity right now. But Wolves fully command that billing because they have slumped to bottom spot after West Ham had the midweek pluckiness to win 3-1 at Blackpool. The men from Molineux do have a game in hand over Wigan, one spot ahead of them and two points better off, and of course will hurl the kitchen sink in pursuit of a big upset in Saturday’s late game. But they won’t manage it, suggests the entire panel, with Tank especially adamant. Perhaps there’s a secret Rooney poster behind his garage door?
Rob: Wolves 0 Manchester United 2
Garrin: 0-2
David: 0-2
Raymond: 1-3
Dominic: 0-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 0-4
Last season: 0-1
THE OTHERS
STOKE v SUNDERLAND
Saturday, 14:45
Rob: Stoke 1 Sunderland 1
Garrin: 1-2
David: 1-2
Raymond: 1-0
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-1
Last season: 1-0
ASTON VILLA v FULHAM
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Aston Villa 1 Fulham 1
Garrin: 1-1
David: 2-0
Raymond: 1-0
Dominic: 2-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-0
Last season: 2-0
EVERTON v BLACKPOOL
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Everton 3 Blackpool 0
Garrin: 2-1
David: 0-0
Raymond: 2-0
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-0
Last season: Not applicable
MANCHESTER CITY v WEST BROM
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Manchester City 2 West Brom 1
Garrin: 2-0
David: 3-0
Raymond: 3-0
Dominic: 2-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 3-1
Last season: Not applicable
TOTTENHAM v BOLTON
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Tottenham 3 Bolton 0
Garrin: 1-0
David: 2-1
Raymond: 2-0
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 3-0
Last season: 1-0
WIGAN v BLACKBURN
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Wigan 2 Blackburn 1
Garrin: 2-2
David: 1-2
Raymond: 1-1
Dominic: 1-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 1-1
Last season: 1-1
WEST HAM v BIRMINGHAM
Sunday, 15:30
Rob: West Ham 2 Birmingham 1
Garrin: 1-1
David: 1-0
Raymond: 1-2
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 0-1
Last season: 2-0
LEADERBOARD
I have tried just about every psycho-warfare trick in the book to rein in Dominic, but nothing seems to be working. In fact, his cushion at the top just gets plumper. It’s time to get nasty, real nasty ... meatballs in rich gravy all over his keyboard next week, I think. Dom and Dave are the form players at present, with the latter now well clear of the bottom rung and beginning to seriously threaten Ray in his “bronze medal” slot. Is Garrin planning a late charge? He might need some advice from the fierce combatants on the streets of Cairo on how to win territory ...
183 Dominic (13 points from last round)
167 Rob (6)
157 Raymond (6)
155 David (10)
143 Garrin (5)
Three precious points are given for an entirely correct score-line, and one for right result.
Compiled by Rob Houwing (the champion last season but a Newcastle supporter for his sins), the others are colleagues Garrin Lambley (very Everton-partial), David Brooke (Manchester United), Raymond Kilfoil (Tottenham) and Dominic Valentine (Liverpool).
We occasionally invite guest tipsters; this week a little experiment as we ask Sport24 publisher/editor TANK LANNING, who generally finds round balls weird and wretched, to shelve his rugger obsession for a minute and see if a tighthead prop, no less, knows his West Brom from his West Ham and can cheekily upstage the supposed world-game specialists!
THE PRIME ATTRACTION
CHELSEA v LIVERPOOL
Sunday, 18:00
Of course it is extremely difficult to relegate to back of mind the inevitable theme to this spicy encounter: striker Fernando Torres’s likely debut against the club he has just quit! But plain footballing sense at present tends to suggest the Blues will prevail, whether the Spaniard gets among the scorers or not. Give King Kenny his due: he is certainly beginning to stabilise the Reds after their woes under luckless Roy Hodgson. But Chelsea are in wake-up mode too – four goals for them at the Stadium of Light in midweek was a strong signal of that. Home advantage could be decisive, and four of the six tipsters here anticipate a Blues win (even Dominic goes with head above his Scouse heart).
Rob: Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0
Garrin: 1-1
David: 1-1
Raymond: 2-0
Dominic: 2-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-0
Last season: 2-0
THE GRUDGE MATCH
NEWCASTLE v ARSENAL
Saturday, 17:00
This match gets the grudge billing based on the first-round meeting at the Emirates. Then, the Toon Army marched into North London and snaffled an unexpected 1-0 away win. It’s not the kind of thing to have pleased Arsene Wenger and he will drum an “even the score” message into his skilful charges’ heads. Of course the headed winner that day came from one Andy Carroll, suddenly no longer in the Magpies’ mix, and they are a little light on main striker options as a result (Shola Ameobi is injured). Sickened by the strong “1-2” sentiment below – and Tank even has the temerity to say 1-3 – I am unashamedly bravely pulling on my black-and-white scarf and bellowing a defiant “1-1”. Howay lads, don’t let me down now, OK?
Rob: Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
Garrin: 1-2
David: 1-2
Raymond: 1-2
Dominic: 1-2
Guest Tank Lanning: 1-3
Last season: Not applicable
THE DESPERATE DUEL
WOLVES v MANCHESTER UNITED
Saturday, 19:30
Bury any thought of “desperation” in the Red Devils camp, of course, because they currently lead the Premiership by five points from the Gunners and are also playing with extra fluidity right now. But Wolves fully command that billing because they have slumped to bottom spot after West Ham had the midweek pluckiness to win 3-1 at Blackpool. The men from Molineux do have a game in hand over Wigan, one spot ahead of them and two points better off, and of course will hurl the kitchen sink in pursuit of a big upset in Saturday’s late game. But they won’t manage it, suggests the entire panel, with Tank especially adamant. Perhaps there’s a secret Rooney poster behind his garage door?
Rob: Wolves 0 Manchester United 2
Garrin: 0-2
David: 0-2
Raymond: 1-3
Dominic: 0-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 0-4
Last season: 0-1
THE OTHERS
STOKE v SUNDERLAND
Saturday, 14:45
Rob: Stoke 1 Sunderland 1
Garrin: 1-2
David: 1-2
Raymond: 1-0
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-1
Last season: 1-0
ASTON VILLA v FULHAM
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Aston Villa 1 Fulham 1
Garrin: 1-1
David: 2-0
Raymond: 1-0
Dominic: 2-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-0
Last season: 2-0
EVERTON v BLACKPOOL
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Everton 3 Blackpool 0
Garrin: 2-1
David: 0-0
Raymond: 2-0
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 2-0
Last season: Not applicable
MANCHESTER CITY v WEST BROM
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Manchester City 2 West Brom 1
Garrin: 2-0
David: 3-0
Raymond: 3-0
Dominic: 2-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 3-1
Last season: Not applicable
TOTTENHAM v BOLTON
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Tottenham 3 Bolton 0
Garrin: 1-0
David: 2-1
Raymond: 2-0
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 3-0
Last season: 1-0
WIGAN v BLACKBURN
Saturday, 17:00
Rob: Wigan 2 Blackburn 1
Garrin: 2-2
David: 1-2
Raymond: 1-1
Dominic: 1-1
Guest Tank Lanning: 1-1
Last season: 1-1
WEST HAM v BIRMINGHAM
Sunday, 15:30
Rob: West Ham 2 Birmingham 1
Garrin: 1-1
David: 1-0
Raymond: 1-2
Dominic: 1-0
Guest Tank Lanning: 0-1
Last season: 2-0
LEADERBOARD
I have tried just about every psycho-warfare trick in the book to rein in Dominic, but nothing seems to be working. In fact, his cushion at the top just gets plumper. It’s time to get nasty, real nasty ... meatballs in rich gravy all over his keyboard next week, I think. Dom and Dave are the form players at present, with the latter now well clear of the bottom rung and beginning to seriously threaten Ray in his “bronze medal” slot. Is Garrin planning a late charge? He might need some advice from the fierce combatants on the streets of Cairo on how to win territory ...
183 Dominic (13 points from last round)
167 Rob (6)
157 Raymond (6)
155 David (10)
143 Garrin (5)
