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'Expert' UK footy tips

Cape Town - Each round of the 2013/14 English Premiership season, a panel of Sport24 staff and occasional guest tipsters have a crack at predicting the results - do the exercise yourself, if you like, and see how you compare afterwards.

Compiled by Rob Houwing (Newcastle-partial), the others are Garrin Lambley (Everton), Dominic Valentine (Liverpool, and the defending champion), Herman Mostert (Chelsea) and newcomer Earl Haupt (another ‘Pool fan).

Three points are awarded for an entirely correct scoreline, and one for right result.

THE PRIME ATTRACTION

CHELSEA v EVERTON
Saturday, 14:45

 Everton have lost a little ground after a defeat in their last league outing at Spurs and then the postponement because of bad weather of their scheduled next home outing against Crystal Palace. But the Toffees nevertheless stay a solid sixth and are never easy-beats. That said, log-leaders Chelsea are still fancied by all of our panel for three points here, even if four suggest it will be only by a single goal. My own fancy is 2-0, with the Londoners strongly motivated by thoughts of the 1-0 reverse they suffered in the Goodison Park clash earlier in the campaign – Steven Naismith’s header made all the difference then.

Rob: Chelsea 2 Everton 0  
Garrin: 2-1
Dominic: 2-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 2-1
Last season: 2-1    
       
THE GRUDGE MATCH

LIVERPOOL v SWANSEA
Sunday, 15:30

I chose this one primarily based on last season’s Anfield massacre: the Reds were in (pretty rare, then!) full cry as they whipped the Welshmen 5-0. Mind you, Swansea rested several key players then, as they had the Capital One Cup final looming large at the time. The visitors are in fair nick after picking up four points from the recent double-header round, including a thumping 3-0 victory over arch-rivals Cardiff. But ‘Pool are in fine home fettle, considering that their own last Premiership match in front of the Kop was the classic 5-1 drubbing of Arsenal! Unsurprisingly, you can’t find any takers for the visitors getting even a point out of this one ...  

Rob: Liverpool 3 Swansea 1
Garrin: 2-0
Dominic: 2-1
Herman: 3-0
Earl: 2-1
Last season: 5-0     
       
THE DESPERATE DUEL

WEST BROM v FULHAM
Saturday, 17:00

Crisis-torn, bottom-placed Fulham do have one good reason to feel fairly optimistic about visiting the Baggies at this time: they were very competitive in each of their last two fixtures, albeit that they only netted one point from the six on offer. First they drew 2-2 at Manchester United, then were late 3-2 losers at home to Liverpool. So if they keep that spirit they could just thwart WBA – not exactly great shakes themselves as they are 17th, and level on points with Sunderland who are just below them and in the drop zone. Most of the forecasters envisage a home win, perhaps taking their cue from West Brom’s gutsy 1-1 draw with Chelsea when the Londoners visited the Midlands recently.

Rob: West Brom 1 Fulham 1
Garrin: 2-1
Dominic: 2-1
Herman: 1-0
Earl: 1-1
Last season: 1-2         

THE OTHERS

ARSENAL v SUNDERLAND
Saturday, 17:00

Rob: Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0
Garrin: 2-0
Dominic: 2-0
Herman: 2-0
Earl: 2-0
Last season: 0-0        

CARDIFF v HULL
Saturday, 17:00

Rob: Cardiff 1 Hull 1
Garrin: 1-1
Dominic: 2-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-1
Last season: Not applicable    

MANCHESTER CITY v STOKE
Saturday, 17:00

Rob: Manchester City 3 Stoke 0
Garrin: 2-0
Dominic: 2-0
Herman: 3-0
Earl: 3-0
Last season: 3-0        
 
WEST HAM v SOUTHAMPTON
Saturday, 17:00

Rob: West Ham 1 Southampton 0
Garrin: 1-1
Dominic: 1-1
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 2-2
Last season: 4-1        

CRYSTAL PALACE v MANCHESTER UNITED
Saturday, 19:30

Rob: Crystal Palace 0 Manchester United 2
Garrin: 0-2
Dominic: 1-2
Herman: 1-2
Earl: 0-1
Last season: Not applicable       
 
NEWCASTLE v ASTON VILLA
Sunday, 15:30

Rob: Newcastle 1 Aston Villa 1
Garrin: 1-1
Dominic: 2-1
Herman: 2-1
Earl: 1-1
Last season: 1-1       

NORWICH v TOTTENHAM  
Sunday, 18:00

Rob: Norwich 0 Tottenham 2
Garrin: 1-2
Dominic: 1-2
Herman: 1-1
Earl: 1-2
Last season: 1-1   

*LEADERBOARD

213 - Garrin (9 points in last, double round)
212 - Dominic (7)
194 - Rob (11)
191 - Herman (5)
171 - Earl (5)

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