Premier Predictions (Week 15 + 16 + 17)

Triple Header from Boxing day till 4th January.
3 weeks worth of games with only 1 non game day.

Week 15 - Sat 26/12/20 (12:30) to Sunday 27/12/20
6 games Saturday, 4 games Sunday

Leicester v Man Utd
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
Fulham v Southampton
Arsenal v Chelsea
Man City v Newcastle
Sheff Utd v Everton
Leeds v Burnley
West Ham v Brighton
Liverpool v West Brom
Wolves v Tottenham

----------------------------------------------
Week 16 - Mon 28/12/20 (15:00) to Wed 30/12/20
3 games Monday, 5 games Tuesday, 2 Wednesday

Crystal Palace v Leicester
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Everton v Man City
Brighton v Arsenal
Burnley v Sheff Utd
Southampton v West Ham
West Brom v Leeds
Man Utd v Wolves
Tottenham v Fulham
Newcastle v Liverpool

----------------------------------------------
Week 17 - Fri 01/01/21 (17:30) to Mon 04/01/21
2 games Friday, 4 games Saturday, 3 on Sunday, 1 on Monday

Everton v West Ham
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Tottenham v Leeds
Crystal Palace v Sheff Utd
Brighton v Wolves
West Brom v Arsenal
Burnley v Fulham
Newcastle v Leicester
Chelsea v Man City
Southampton v Liverpool

* FA Cup Special coming soon *

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 14)

Here goes with the Christmas special.
4 games on Saturday, 4 on Sunday and 2 on Monday.
First kick off is 12:30 on Saturday (which will please Mr Klopp).

Crystal Palace v Liverpool
Southampton v Man City
Everton v Arsenal
Newcastle v Fulham

Brighton v Sheff Utd
Tottenham v Leicester
Man Utd v Leeds
West Brom v Aston Villa

Burnley v Wolves
Chelsea v West Ham

The post Christmas schedule looks a bit crazy with 3 weeks of fixtures crammed into 10 days, so be ready for triple header coming up next week.

Good Luck, and a Merry Christmas to All    😃

  🎄  🎅  🍺  🎄  🎅  🍺  🎄   🎅   😎

Premier Predictions (Week 12 + 13)

Getting towards that crazy time of the season with games almost every day. So it's a double header.
🎄 🎅 🎄 🍺 🎄

Week 12 games kick off Friday night at 8pm. 4 games on Saturday and 5 on Sunday.

Leeds v West Ham

Wolves v Aston Villa
Newcastle v West Brom
Man Utd v Man City
Everton v Chelsea

Southampton v Sheff Utd
Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Fulham v Liverpool
Arsenal v Burnley
Leicester v Brighton

-------------------------------

Week 13 games start on Tuesday night at 6pm. 2 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday and 2 on Thursday


Wolves v Chelsea
Man City v West Brom

Arsenal v Southampton
Leeds v Newcastle
Leicester v Everton
Fulham v Brighton
Liverpool v Tottenham
West Ham v Crystal Palace

Aston Villa v Burnley
Sheff Utd v Man Utd

Post before kick off's and Good Luck All 😀

(The Week 14 games are due to start on Saturday 19th so will post again before then)

Premier Predictions (Week 11)

It should have been a Friday start this week, but the Villa Newcastle game has been postponed as Newcastle have the lurgy.  😷   (* week off for Jack  🤿  *)
So first kick off is Saturday lunchtime at 12:30
4 matches Saturday, 4 on Sunday and one on Monday.

I suppose none of the games are easy to call again, before last week you would have said Fulham will get a hiding but now you never know.
Hopefully we will all get better at this predicting lark, as it's not been a good season so far.

Aston Villa v Newcastle (Postponed)

Burnley v Everton
Man City v Fulham
West Ham v Man Utd
Chelsea v Leeds

West Brom v Crystal Palace
Sheff Utd v Leicester
Tottenham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Wolves

Brighton v Southampton

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 10)

Get in early as it's another 4 day weekend.
One game Friday (8pm), 4 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday, 2 on Monday.
Suppose Chelsea v Tottenham is the big one, an early relegation 6 pointer at West Brom, and the Claret and Blue derby on Monday.

Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Brighton v Liverpool
Man City v Burnley
Everton v Leeds
West Brom v Sheff Utd
Southampton v Man Utd
Chelsea v Tottenham
Arsenal v Wolves
Leicester v Fulham
West Ham v Aston Villa

Good Luck All  😃

Thanks

Been doing this blog for 10 years now, so would just like to thank the regulars that have kept me posting.
Most of my other blogs and websites I've done have fell by the wayside, just too much real life going on and a bit too much time spent on Social media.
So a big thanks to Biopunk, Paulo, Paul and Gibbo (and previous regulars Longy and Gobshite) 😉

Premier Predictions (Week 09)

Not sure how many players will be left after all the various injuries and Covid infections during the International break. Surprised nobody noticed there was a global pandemic on?

Games spread over 3 days this week starting with 4 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday and 2 on Monday.
Tough games for the top 2 might change things around?

Newcastle v Chelsea
Aston Villa v Brighton
Tottenham v Man City
Man Utd v West Brom

Fulham v Everton
Sheff Utd v West Ham
Leeds v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leicester

Burnley v Crystal Palace
Wolves v Southampton

 

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 08)

2 Games on Friday night this week, 4 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday before another International break.
* First game on Friday starts at 5:30pm *

Big game of the weekend is City v Liverpool, have been frustrated with City this season as they pass the ball around for fun, but never look like scoring? Liverpool's new star Jota could undo them.
Everton v Man U, both teams are either very good or very poor.
West Ham v Fulham, can the Hammers keep up the form they've showed in the last 6 against top teams, or will they forget it all against a team they should beat.

Brighton v Burnley
Southampton v Newcastle

Everton v Man Utd
Crystal Palace v Leeds
Chelsea v Sheff Utd
West Ham v Fulham

West Brom v Tottenham
Leicester v Wolves
Man City v Liverpool
Arsenal v Aston Villa

Good Luck All  😀

Think John Terry has gone a bit early  😆

Premier Predictions (Week 07)

Another 4 day week starting on Friday.
One game Friday, 3 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday and 2 more on Monday.
Saturday games look the best with Sheffield and Burnley winless at home to Man City and Chelsea who both play in Europe either side of this.
Hopefully Antonio will be fit for the Hammers against Liverpool.
Man U v Arsenal was a big game 10 years ago now it's a bottom half game, and the other 2 winless teams play each other on Monday.

Wolves v Crystal Palace
Sheff Utd v Man City
Burnley v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham
Aston Villa v Southampton
Newcastle v Everton
Man Utd v Arsenal
Tottenham v Brighton
Fulham v West Brom
Leeds v Leicester

Good Luck All  😀

Unrelated good news, Southend managed to pay their latest tax bill so are saved until the next bill. Currently the strongest team in the EFL holding the other 91 teams up 😢

Also good to see European football this week with fans in the stadiums (I remember those days).

Premier Predictions (Week 06)

Week 6 and the games are spread over 4 days.
Kicks off with 100% Villa against Leeds, 4 games on Saturday, 3 on Sunday and the last 2 on Monday.

Man Utd v Chelsea is totally unpredictable as you have no idea what either team does from one week to the next.

Can West ham produce a huge shock or at least stop City hitting 4 or 5 like normal?

last 5 home meetings - West Ham 1 Man City 22

Aston Villa v Leeds
West Ham v Man City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Man Utd v Chelsea
Liverpool v Sheff Utd
Southampton v Everton
Wolves v Newcastle
Arsenal v Leicester

Brighton v West Brom

Burnley v Tottenham

 

Good Luck All  😀

Summer Transfers 2020 Complete

The transfer windows have finally shut so here's where the Premier league cash was splashed during the summer break.
Info based on the best sources I could find (no sensationalist newspaper figures), includes squad and youth players .
Several Undisclosed figures which I've counted as Free transfers until I hear different.
A lot less players this summer than last year, and also only 2 over £50m but overall a similar amount of cash splashed as a lot of pretty average players were going for over £20m.
Brighton seem to be following the Chelsea and Man City scheme of buying in lots of youth players and loaning them out, but for a lot less outlay.

The Chart:

Total Spend - £1,346,890,000,000
Most Players In - Brighton 18, Fulham 18, Leeds 15, Man Utd 15
Most Players Out - Chelsea 47, Man City 47, Brighton 37, Wolves 37
Most Money Paid - Chelsea £223.38m, Man City £146.97m, Tottenham £99.5m
Most Money Received - Wolves £73.4m, Man City £68.36m, Chelsea £50.4m
Largest Profit - West Ham £4.77m, Crystal Palace £1.13m
Largest Defecit - Chelsea £172.98m, Leeds £98.26m, Tottenham £86.45m

Largest Fees Paid

Kai Havertz [Bayer Leverkusen - Chelsea] £72m
Ruben Dias [Benfica - Man City] £61.2m
Timo Werner [RB Leipzig - Chelsea] £47.7m
Ben Chilwell [Leicester - Chelsea] £45.18m
Thomas Partey [Atletico Madrid - Arsenal] £45m
Diogo Jota [Wolves - Liverpool] £41m
Nathan Ake [Bournemouth - Man City] £40.77m
Leroy Sane [Man City - Bayern Munich] £40.5m *
Fabio Silva [Porto - Wolves] £36m
Hakim Ziyech [Ajax - Chelsea] £36m
Donny van de Beek [Ajax - Man Utd] £35.1m
Alvaro Morata [Chelsea - Athletico Madrid] £31.5m *
Wesley Fofana [Saint Etienne - Leicester] £31.5m
Giovani Lo Celso [Real Betis - Tottenham] £28.8m
Ollie Watkins [Brentford - Aston Villa] £27.72m
Nelson Semedo [Barcelona - Wolves] £27m
Rodrigo [Valencia - Leeds] £27m
Sergio Reguilon [Real Madrid - Tottenham] £27m
Ben Godfrey [Norwich - Everton] £24.75m
Gabriel Magalhaes [Lille - Arsenal] £23.4m
Rhian Brewster [Liverpool - Sheff Utd] £23.4m

Premier Predictions (Week 05)

International breaks done for a month, back to proper games.
Not sure if the latest Covid regs will affect any of the games, guess the Mersey derby might be under threat?  😷
If all go ahead it's 4 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday and 2 on Monday.

Everton v Liverpool
Chelsea v Southampton
Man City v Arsenal
Newcastle v Man Utd

Sheff Utd v Fulham
Crystal Palace v Brighton
Tottenham v West Ham
Leicester v Aston Villa

West Brom v Burnley
Leeds v Wolves

Good Luck All  😀

Summer Transfers 2020

There is a huge list of transfers that have already happened, and today is transfer deadline day.
Although it's not!!
The transfer window for deals between Premier league and EFL clubs is open until next Friday the 16th.
So still plenty of time for Premier league clubs to find another Jarod Bowen or Ollie Watkins.

Will post the list here and update as we go soon

Premier Predictions (Week 04)

This weeks games spread over 2 days due to an International break next week.
2 of the 4 100% teams meet at Villa Park, top of the table Leicester play West Ham and you never know what they will do? 😟
Only guarantee is a few more dubious penalties somewhere, who knows maybe even West Ham will get one?

Chelsea v Crystal Palace
Everton v Brighton
Leeds v Man City
Newcastle v Burnley

Leicester v West Ham
Southampton v West Brom
Arsenal v Sheff Utd
Wolves v Fulham
Man Utd v Tottenham
Aston Villa v Liverpool

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 03)

Another 3 day weekend with games spread all over it (Covid permitting?)  😷

6 on Sky, 3 on BT and 1 on Amazon?

I think I prefer the option of no artificial crowd noise, Sean Dyche was quite entertaining last week "get your f***ing foot in" 😆
6 of the 7 unbeaten teams play each other, so hopefully some good games.

Brighton v Man Utd
Crystal Palace v Everton
West Brom v Chelsea
Burnley v Southampton

Sheff Utd v Leeds
Tottenham v Newcastle
Man City v Leicester
West Ham v Wolves

Fulham v Aston Villa
Liverpool v Arsenal

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 02)

Thursday already so here's this weeks spaced out fixtures, (might take me a while to get back into the routine).

I can see Mourinho having a meltdown this week with Tottenham playing in Bulgaria tonight, and if they win having to possibly play 8 games in the next 15 days.

Everton v West Brom
Leeds v Fulham
Man Utd v Crystal Palace
Arsenal v West Ham

Southampton v Tottenham
Newcastle v Brighton
Chelsea v Liverpool
Leicester v Burnley

Aston Villa v Sheff Utd
Wolves v Man City

Good Luck All 😀

Premier Predictions (Week 01)

It's time for the Premier League again, so Premier Predictions 2020-21 is up and running.

Hopefully the regular players will be back and anyone reading this blog is welcome to join in at any point, just let me know a name and club supported so I can give you some colours.
 

Premier league is back on Saturday, but fixtures are subject to change (they have been changed again today). 2 of the games have been postponed supposedly to give the Manchester clubs a rest after the European games, but most of the players played in Internationals last week? Games are all being moved around due to the Coronavirus, the decision seems to have been made that all games will be available to watch on telly so are unlikely to be played at the same time.

T&C's - Usual rules apply
3 Points for a correct score, 1 Point for a correct result.
Predictions League will be decided on weekly wins first, if 2 or more people share a weekly win that will be classed as a draw, if at the end things are still level the total points for the season come into play.
Predictions in the comments please :)

Obviously predictions will only count if they are made before the kick offs, please try and post the whole set at once (but I won't enforce it as these Friday night games catch everyone out including me).

Prizes - Just the admiration of everyone who plays 😎

First set - Saturday 12th September to Monday 14th September (Just 8 Games)

Fulham v Arsenal
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Liverpool v Leeds
West Ham v Newcastle

West Brom v Leicester
Tottenham v Everton

Sheff Utd v Wolves
Brighton v Chelsea

Postponed Games
Burnley P Man Utd
Man City P Aston Villa

Football Nostalgia

Finally got round to updating one of my other blogs - Football Nostalgia

I've got box loads of old football memorabilia so decided to scan a pile of it to share with others, and remind myself of happier times.

Covering a whole range of teams (but including a lot of old West Ham stuff), give it a look if you have nothing better to do

Blog -  Football Nostalgia

Twitter - Lee's Footy Nostalgia

Season 2020/21

It could be another really weird season with the Coronavirus problems, nobody really knows what the next 9 months hold on that score? Even if everything was normal it would be a really hard job to predict what is going to happen this season.
The title looks like a 4 horse race?
Liverpool won by a mile last season, but were really lucky with injuries to key players that all the other contenders seemed to get. They haven't added to their squad yet and got rid of a few squad players.
It will be down to the other teams improving on bad seasons to put pressure on them.
Man City probably have the best squad but losing Sane and Silva will weaken them, and some of Guardiola's tactics last season make you wonder if he's as good as he thinks he is.
Man Utd looked good at the end of last season and Fernandes was the best buy last year, the defence still looks weak so would need to improve a lot.
Chelsea have spent big already with £200m of players coming in, but will they knit together and how will some of last year's breakthrough youngsters react to losing their place, and will they sort out their goalie problem?

The other possible contenders are Arsenal, Wolves and Tottenham.
Arsenal seem to have revived under Arteta and should have a good season, Wolves went off the boil a bit last season but did play a lot of games, will miss Doherty. Tottenham still don't look a force, got some good players but can't see them challenging for the title.
I would guess Leicester, Southampton, Newcastle and Sheff Utd will be mid table.

At the bottom it's any 3 from the rest.
Can't see any of the promoted sides doing a Norwich, but don't think they will set the world alight.
Possibly a season of struggle for West Ham, Burnley, Palace, Brighton, Villa, Everton and the 3 promoted teams.
Things looked bright a couple of weeks ago for West Ham with Diangana back on the left to supply Haller, and Bowen improving all the time, but the sale of Grady to a rival has really put a dampner on everything.

Prediction Time (with a lot of bias)
Top
1 Man City 2 Liverpool 3 Chelsea 4 Man Utd 5 Arsenal
Bottom
20 Brighton 19 C Palace 18 Fulham / 17 Burnley 16 West Ham

Fantasy Football 2020-2021

The Nothing Better Than Football fantasy leagues are up and running again  😇  Both are free to play again

Fantasy Premier League (FPL)

This one is pretty straightforward, hardly any changes apart from a lot of strikers are now classed as midfielders, and vice versa. Here's the info:

Hello, For the 2020/21 Fantasy Premier League why don't you join my mini-league "Nothing Better Than Football"?

Joining the league couldn't be easier. Simply use the link below and you'll be added automatically after you've entered the game.

https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/f4f3ik

League Code: f4f3ik - Looking forward to playing against you this season!

 

Telegraph Football Fantasy Premier League (TFF)

They have made wholesale changes to this one with multiple gliches and also making it impossible to invite all previous players to my league, unless I actually know your e-mail addresses or hopefully you are reading this?

Anyway, if you do fancy joining the league here's the info:

Great, now that you have created a league, invite others to join. 

Your unique league code for Nothing Better Than Football is: US4D6ZR2

Hopefully we'll get a decent amount of players in the end as I only finished 7th last season and need some revenge  😄

Season Over

 Well the 2019/20 season is finally over after the Champions league final last night.

Bayern Munich deservedly won beating PSG 1-0 in a pretty dull final (aren't they always).

The 2020/21 season has already kicked off in a variety of leagues, with Scotland and many European leagues on the go and this seasons Euro competition qualifiers into the early rounds.

The English leagues all start on September 12th, the Charity shield is being played next Saturday.

The Nations league begins in early September along with the first round of the League (EFL) Cup.

One last table to complete the Fantasy Football.

TFF Euro Super League

Not sure how many people played this, started out with about 30,000 teams.

Had a good year winning the League of Leagues, the Off to Europe we go league, the Rick's Footy Challenge league and the big one the Nothing Better Than Football League.

Did only come 2nd in the Family league, 6th in the Twitter League, and only 35th in the Facebook league.

Typically there were no cash prizes this season :(

Premier League Predictions will be back in early September, hopefully with enough players to keep it going? see you then.

Europe 2020

I have to say I'm enjoying the current format for the conclusion of the 2 European competitions in this pandemic hit season.

Obviously the lack of crowds is a big downer, but the football has been good and having the games every day has given it the feel of the World cup or Euro championships, without the agony of praying England do well.

 

Obvious highlight was the Bayern v Barcelona game, I like the way Bayern play and dislike Barcelona because of their diving etc so picked the right team to cheer on. The 8-2 result didn't really flatter Bayern who should have got double figures.

Most annoying game was the Man City v Lyon one, I like watching City in full flow and they were excellent against Real Madrid, but you feared what was going to happen when you saw the line up to face Lyon. No Silva's, Mahrez or Foden who was brilliant against Madrid as he chose a defensive line up against on paper the worst team left in the competition?

Yes they could have scraped through if Lyon's 2nd goal had been disallowed and Sterling hadn't have missed the sitter, but because of Guardiola's tactics they deserved to get beaten.

Man Utd have looked good in the last couple of months and I fancied them to get to the Europa league final, but Seville had the knowledge  to blunt their attacks with packed defence and you knew they would grab a breakaway goal at some point. It has happened so many times to English teams who over commit looking for a winner.

Honourable mentions to Wolves who were unlucky to go out to a very late goal, but looked jaded after a very long season. 

Inter Milan are looking good with Chelsea reject Conte and his wig playing some really good stuff, whether Lukaku and co will be able to break down Seville is anyone's guess but I hope so.

Assuming Bayern beat Lyon? I would expect them to beat PSG although it will be a lot closer than most of Bayern's games.

Tables 2019 - 2020 (Part 2)

 A few more tables for the records this season.

TFF - Nothing Better Than Footy League

Not a great season for myself or the League, usually get a Top 100 place but highest position this season was 90th and ended up in 180th.

Congratulations to Sue who hit top spot with 2 weeks to go, and unlucky on Colin who had led most of the season.

 

NBTF - FA Cup Predictions Table

Arsenal got me over the line in the final game.

All Time Predictions Records (All Competitions)

10 Years of predictions on this site, here are the records of everything.

Won, Drawn, Lost only applies to the Premier league predictions,the Played, 3 Point, 1 Point, Total and Points per game include Premier League, FA Cup, World Cup and Euro's that have been played since 2010.

All Time Premier Predictions 

Just the Premier League predictions in 10 seasons.

That's nearly all one competition still going on, the TFF Euro competition.

Having a much better season in that one, just outside the Top 50 individually and the leagues are doing very well, NBTF League is 12th and family league is currently 2nd with just 3 games left to play.

Tables 2019 - 2020

Time for some tables to show what happened in the Predictions competition, and some other stuff (for anyone that is interested) 😏

Still one week to go in the F.A Cup Competition and TFF Fantasy League, so more of this next week.

Final Complete Predictions Table - All The Facts and Figures

Most Wins: Lee 10
Most Predictions: Lee 387
Most Correct Scores (3 Pointers): Lee 49
Most Correct Results (3+1 Pointers): Lawro 190, Lee 185
Most Points: Lee 283
Highest Week Score: Lee & Paulo 15
Lowest Score In A Full Week: Gibbo 1
Best Points Per Game: Lee 0.731
Highest Scoring Correct Prediction: Biopunk & Gibbo (5-0)

Final Table If All The Guests Were Included In The Competition

The FPL (Fantasy premier League) Final Table For The NBTF League

Congratulations to Mike 😀 who held the top spot from week 11, and held me off  😒

Thanks to Mike, Michele, Tommy and DJ for joining in this season.

Premier Predictions (Week 38)

Finally we get to the last week of season 2019/2020 😀
Still a few things to sort out, relegation and Euro spots still up for grabs.
2 from Villa, Watford and Bournemouth will go down, all are away at teams with nothing to fight for, Bournemouth need a win and the other 2 to lose.
Goal difference might be the deciding factor?

The Champions league spots are down to 2 games, Man Utd need a draw to stay above Leicester, Chelsea need a point or a Man Utd win to guarantee top 4.
Awkward for Chelsea as Wolves need a win to make sure of a Europa league spot.
Other factors might change all this as Wolves and Man Utd are still in the Europa league this season, and if either win they will get the 4th Champions league spot even if they finish outside the top 4, and Arsenal can take the 3rd Europa league spot by winning the F.A Cup.

It's all very confusing!!

Thanks to everyone who has played along this season
Happy to say after 10 years of this I've finally won it 🏆  Second place still up for grabs though.


Week 38 - 10 games - All Kick off at 4pm

Arsenal v Watford
Burnley v Brighton
Chelsea v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Everton v Bournemouth
Leicester v Man Utd
Man City v Norwich
Newcastle v Liverpool
Southampton v Sheff Utd
West Ham v Aston Villa

🏆
Just to complete everything for this season, the F.A Cup final is on the 1st August.
Title is still up for grabs all very close - Myself and Biopunk have 45 points each and I'm just ahead by virtue of having 1 more correct score, so all to play for (90 minute score only).

Arsenal v Chelsea

Good Luck All  😁

Hopefully back for next season whenever that is starting, might not be long?
This seasons European competitions start again on the 5th August through to 23rd August, so our remaining teams will be hoping for a break.
That was a long post  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 36 + 37)

No breaks between games, so here we go with another double bill Week 36 and week 37 fixtures (even though week 35 is still running).
These games were announced after I had posted the previous selection.

Week 36 has 10 league games spread over 4 days.
Week 37 has 10 League games plus 2 F.A Cup semi-finals spread over 5 days (all games count - cup ties 90 minute score)  🏆

Will post the final week around the 23rd July.

-------------------------------

Week 36 - 14th to 17th July
1 game on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday and the big relegation 6 pointer on Friday.

Chelsea v Norwich
Burnley v Wolves
Man City v Bournemouth
Newcastle v Tottenham
Arsenal v Liverpool
Everton v Aston Villa
Leicester v Sheff Utd
Crystal Palace v Man Utd
Southampton v Brighton
West Ham v Watford

-------------------------------

Week 37 - 18th to 22nd July
2 games on Saturday, 3 on Sunday, 3 on Monday, 2 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday.
(F.A Cup games 90 minute score only, so a draw is possible)

Norwich v Burnley
Arsenal v Man City (FAC)
Bournemouth v Southampton
Tottenham v Leicester
Chelsea v Man Utd (FAC)
Brighton v Newcastle
Sheff Utd v Everton
Wolves v Crystal Palace
Watford v Man City
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Man Utd v West Ham
Liverpool v Chelsea

Good Luck All  😃

On a sad note - R.I.P Jackie Charlton who died on Saturday, another of the 1966 England team who has sadly gone  😢
Jack played his entire career for Leeds and managed Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and his favourite team Newcastle. Although he was an early football pundit he will be best remembered as the manager of the Republic of Ireland.
Thanks to his policy of picking up players with Irish ancestory he turned the Republic team into a real force and qualified for 2 World cups and the Euro's once.

Premier Predictions (Week 33+34+35)

A Triple bill as all the games are so close together.
30 games in the space of 10 days.

Week 33 - 4th to 6th July
5 games on Saturday, 4 on Sunday and one on Monday

Norwich v Brighton
Leicester v Crystal Palace
Man Utd v Bournemouth
Wolves v Arsenal
Chelsea v Watford
Burnley v Sheff Utd
Newcastle v West Ham
Liverpool v Aston Villa
Southampton v Man City
Tottenham v Everton

-------------------------------

Week 34 - 7th to 9th July
3 games on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, 3 on Thursday

Crystal Palace v Chelsea
Watford v Norwich
Arsenal v Leicester
Man City v Newcastle
Sheff Utd v Wolves
West Ham v Burnley
Brighton v Liverpool
Bournemouth v Tottenham
Everton v Southampton
Aston Villa v Man Utd

---------------------------------

Week 35 - 11th to 13th July
5 games on Saturday, 4 on Sunday and one on Monday

Norwich v West Ham
Watford v Newcastle
Liverpool v Burnley
Sheff Utd v Chelsea
Brighton v Man City
Wolves v Everton
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Arsenal
Bournemouth v Leicester
Man Utd v Southampton

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 32)

Week 32 - 10 Premier League Games + 4 F.A Cup Games
(all 14 games count, Cup ties 90 minute score only) 

Games spread between Saturday 27th and Thursday 2nd July.

Aston Villa v Wolves
Norwich v Man Utd (FAC)

Sheff Utd v Arsenal (FAC)
Leicester v Chelsea (FAC)
Watford v Southampton
Newcastle v Man City (FAC)

Crystal Palace v Burnley

Brighton v Man Utd

Arsenal v Norwich
Bournemouth v Newcastle
Everton v Leicester
West Ham v Chelsea

Sheff Utd v Tottenham
Man City v Liverpool

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 30 + 31)

Football is back, and so is the predictions competition.
Hopefully everyone is still healthy and haven't lost any loved ones 💟

It's going to be a bit weird with no crowds, even with the TV companies offering artificial crowd noise to give the impression it's not just a training match kickabout. Watched a few of the German games and it's just going through the motions to placate the money men 😕

The teams are a bit of a mystery with some players not coming back yet due to fears about the virus, a lot of players who were loaned to leagues that have called it a day back with their teams.
Also rule changes like 5 substitutes each, and I don't think the home fixtures are guaranteed to take place where they should be?

Week 30 - 12 Games (From Wednesday 17th June to Monday 22nd June) 

Aston Villa v Sheff Utd
Man City v Arsenal
Norwich v Southampton
Tottenham v Man Utd
Watford v Leicester
Brighton v Arsenal
West Ham v Wolves
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace
Newcastle v Sheff Utd
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Everton v Liverpool
Man City v Burnley

Week 31 - 10 Games (From Tuesday 23rd June to Thursday 25th June)

Leicester v Brighton
Tottenham v West Ham
Man Utd v Sheff Utd
Newcastle v Aston Villa
Norwich v Everton
Wolves v Bournemouth
Liverpool v Crystal Palace
Burnley v Watford
Southampton v Arsenal
Chelsea v Man City

Week 32 games are due to start on Saturday 27th June, but will include 4 F.A Cup Quarter Finals.
All in all it's going to be a hectic end with the season not finishing till the end of July, or later if Cup Finals still take place? and the new season originally scheduled to start the week after?

Good Luck All  😍

Sexy Football

I remember seeing a blow up doll being bounced around by the crowd a few times in the English leagues, but the South Koreans have taken it to a whole new level.

Football On TV

Two months without any live football on TV, and to be honest it's flown by.
Last decent game I saw was the Liverpool v Athletico Champs league game, although I did watch the Wolves Europa game the day after but that was behind closed doors so it was boring.
All the channels have been putting on various old games in highlight packages, which have all been spoiled by having to listen to current pundits waffling.
Gary Lineker is dull as ditchwater most of the time, and Jermaine Jenas is mind numbing.
But it was good to see BBC's World Cup rewind today, just showing highlights of classic matches without the need to listen to pundit's thoughts.

Great to see one of my all time favourite goals, Dennis Bergkamp's late winner against Argentina in the 1998 Quarter final. One of those games where you pick a side even though neither are "your" teams. Always loved watching Holland because of a history of talented players and their passionate colourful fans, and hate Argentina because of all the cheating b'stards who have played for them.
Very late in the game with both teams down to 10 men a stunning long pass to Bergkamp who controls it brilliantly, steps inside the defender and flashes it past the keeper with the outside of his foot. I went mad at the time and it still brings back the memory of that moment.

Future Football

Crowds

Games

Matches

My Thoughts

I know it's a really old fashioned view, but football used to be the people's game.
If we go ahead with the season playing all the remaining games behind closed doors at neutral venues, it is only for the benefit of all the businesses that have got fingers in the pie like advertisers, betting companies and TV etc.

Football without fans is really boring, like all your favourite rock bands playing without any music alright as a novelty one-off acapella, but you don't want to sit through that every time.

The more sensible predictions around are that things are unlikely to go back to anywhere normal this year, with a possible second wave when the first one eventually ends.
So why not just put the season on hold for the rest of the year, and continue if and when it is safe to do so next year.

There are still 9 or 10 games to go for Premier League teams, the F.A Cup has only reached the Quarter Final stage, and Europe is only at the last 16 stage.
So Man City for example could still have 19 games to fit in.
So even if we started in June and they played twice a week, they still wouldn't finish until mid August just in time for the start of next season.

If they have to play at neutral venues I suggest the Ottmar Hitzfeld Stadium in Switzerland, no fans in or around the ground as you have to take 2 cable cars to get there 😁

Peter Bonetti R.I.P

Another player who died recently was former Chelsea and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, he was 78 and had suffered a long illness.
I hadn't realised until today he had died as it didn't get as much coverage as Norman Hunter?

Probably missed the best of him as I didn't watch much football when I was little, the first game I remember watching all the way through was the 1970 F.A Cup Final with Chelsea against Leeds.
Sadly the only real memory of him I have is the 1970 World Cup when he was called in as a late replacement for Gordon Banks in the Quarter Finals against West Germany, and my Dad saying we would have beaten them if we'd had a proper goalkeeper 😔

He obviously had a fine career apart from that game and will be a sad loss for Chelsea fans 😢

Norman Hunter R.I.P

Sadly Norman Hunter became the first high profile ex-footballer to die of the Coronavirus today at the age of 76.
In interviews he seemed like a nice fella, but obviously during his playing days he was one of the most disliked players (outside of Leeds) in the infamous "dirty" Leeds team of the late 60's and early 70's.
Known as Norman "bite yer legs" Hunter by most after a famous banner in the crowd at Wembley at the Leeds v Sunderland F.A Cup Final in 1973 as far as I remember.
I'm pretty sure I did actually see him play in the flesh a couple of times in the early 70's remember us beating Leeds 2-1 but not sure if Hunter was playing?
In my memory 2 incidents stand out but neither were good for Norman, one was when he let the ball go under his foot leading to Poland scoring against England which knocked us out of World Cup 74.
The other was his famous fight with Franny Lee as they were both being  sent off (look it up on You Tube).

Here's the title winning Leeds team from 68/69 season and that banner.

Alan Shearer

If you've got 2 hours to spare? this is a really good interview.

Time Wasting

At least another month (probably longer) before we get any more football 😕
Hope everyone is well, my corona symptoms came and went (or it might have just been flu?) although I did get through 2 bottles of Cavonia cough medicine for that really annoying persistant dry cough when I usually never touch medicines, and that appears to be classic Corona symptoms?
Wife out of hospital with her non Corona problems, but now on a cocktail of drugs every day.

Anyway lots of time on my hands to catch up on music, films and other less important stuff 😆
I've now got over 1,300 football songs in the collection (95% pretty awful), when I started this blog there was an intention to post footy related music here, but music sharing was always a problem when I used to do it back in the day because hosting companies were always shutting down or demanding payments, and the ever present threat of having the blog shutdown because somebody didn't want me to share a song that hardly anyone bought when it was in the shops?
Also there are a few blogs/websites that do a nice collection already, see 45 Football and Football and Music .

Actually sat and watched the 1966 World Cup Final again, hadn't seen it in a lot of years 😁
One thought at the end was considering the fuss over our third goal which was probably justified as I reckon current goal line technology would have ruled it out, nobody seems to mention that West Germany's last minute equaliser in normal time was offside? considering the offside rule was a lot simpler back then with no first phase, second phase, was the player interfering etc.
The linesman was clearly flagging but nothing was made of it?

Everybody stay well, will most likely be back with something to fill my day and keep this blog ticking over in the next week 😃

Stir Crazy

At least another 6 weeks without football to take our minds of all the doom and gloom.
Might have to start all that decorating I've been putting off for years.

Virus

Well I guess we're on hold for the forseeable future?
Officialy games will restart on the 4th April but I guess that is unlikely.
The 2020 Euros and Copa America have been put back to next year, so possibly the season could be extended into June or July if and when it restarts.
Although as I'm leading the predictions table I would be happy if they cancelled the rest of the season 😆
Stay safe everyone.

Premier Predictions (Week 30)

10 games scheduled for this week, 7 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday and one Monday.
I'm guessing this could be subject to change due to the Pandemic, with Arsenal players "self isolating" and Wolves and Man U flying into Europe today?
If the games happen it's mostly about the relegation battles, Norwich getting into the "must win" stage of the season, Bournemouth, Brighton and West Ham need to take 3 points from Winnable home games, and tough games for Villa and Watford.
Near the top another Mourinho derby looks like an easy win for Man U with Tottenham falling apart, and Monday is the scouse derby which if Everton play like they did last week will give "super Adrian" a break from facing shots 🤩

I'm quite liking a few comments from managers this week that health is more important, and the league should be scrapped this season and replayed when the crisis is over, obviously Liverpool supporters disagree hahaha 😁

Watford v Leicester
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace
Brighton v Arsenal
Man City v Burnley
Newcastle v Sheff Utd
Norwich v Southampton
Aston Villa v Chelsea
West Ham v Wolves
Tottenham v Man Utd
Everton v Liverpool

Good Luck All  😀

* All games postponed *

Premier Predictions (Week 29)

Bonus game this week, 11 matches in all.
7 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday, 1 on Monday and a re-arranged game on Wednesday.

Tough week for the teams fighting relegation with the bottom 7 all away from home.
If Liverpool drop points to Bournemouth they really are having a wobble :)

Liverpool v Bournemouth
Arsenal v West Ham
Crystal Palace v Watford
Sheff Utd v Norwich
Southampton v Newcastle
Wolves v Brighton
Burnley v Tottenham
Chelsea v Everton
Man Utd v Man City
Leicester v Aston Villa
Man City v Arsenal

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 28) + F.A Cup Predictions (Part 3)

Just to confuse you, this weeks predictions take in 3 competitions.
The Premier league predictions include 8 games and the League Cup Final.

Premier games are spread over 3 days, starting on Friday plus 5 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
The Aston Villa v Sheff Utd and Man City v Arsenal games have been postponed due to the League Cup Final.

So the Week 28 games are these:

Norwich v Leicester

Brighton v Crystal Palace
Bournemouth v Chelsea
Newcastle v Burnley
West Ham v Southampton
Watford v Liverpool

Everton v Man Utd
Tottenham v Wolves
Aston Villa v Man City (LCF)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Totally separate is the F.A Cup Predictions (Part 3)  🏆

Games on Monday (1), Tuesday (3), Wednesday (3) and Thursday(1).
Usual cup rules apply - 90 minute score not including Extra time or Penalties.

Portsmouth v Arsenal
Chelsea v Liverpool
Reading v Sheff Utd
West Brom v Newcastle
Leicester v Birmingham
Sheff Wed v Man City
Tottenham v Norwich
Derby v Man Utd

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 27)

For a change it's a "normal" week, with 6 games on Saturday, 3 on Sunday and one Monday.
Chelsea v Tottenham throws up the most interest with Mourinho v Lampard, Chelsea needing to rest players for Tuesdays Euro game and Tottenham having no strikers in the 4th/5th place battle.
Man City go to Leicester in the 2nd/3rd place battle.
In the relegation battle the bottom six are all away from home with tough games.
I guess West Ham will be about 100/1 to get any points (might be worth throwing a few pennies on the miracle? 🤯).

Chelsea v Tottenham
Burnley v Bournemouth
Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Sheff Utd v Brighton
Southampton v Aston Villa
Leicester v Man City

Man Utd v Watford
Wolves v Norwich
Arsenal v Everton
Liverpool v West Ham

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 26)

A long winded affair this time due to the new "winter break", so the games are spread over 10 days.
The first 4 games are this weekend, Saturday and Sunday the 8th and 9th.
The rest run from Friday 14th till Monday the 17th. + Wednesday the 19th.

Everton v Crystal Palace
Brighton v Watford
Sheff Utd v Bournemouth
Man City v West Ham - Postponed

Wolves v Leicester
Southampton v Burnley
Norwich v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Tottenham
Arsenal v Newcastle
Chelsea v Man Utd

Man City v West Ham

Good Luck All  😃

Post when you like, just make sure it's before the kick off's

Updated

A West Ham Post

Just posting my thoughts 😕
West Ham's under 21's (or second XI) are top of Premier League 2 with 12 wins and 3 draws from their 15 games while scoring 48 goals in the process.
In all competitions they have 79 goals in 28 games.
Top Goalscorers - Anthony Scully 18, Nathan Holland 17, Dan Kemp 13, Joe Powell 9.

So what do we do in January? we either loan them out or give them away.

Anthony Scully (Ireland U21 International) - Permanent move to Lincoln
Conor Coventry (Ireland U21 International) - Loan to Lincoln
Dan Kemp (scored against League opposition) - Loan to Stevenage
Joe Powell (U21 Captain, scored against League opposition) - Permanent move to Burton
Kai Corbett (Under 18 talent, scored against League opposition) - Permanent move to Man Utd
Martin Samuelsen (Norway Full International) - Permanent move to Hull
Nathan Holland (England U19 International) - Loan to Oxford

Added to these earlier in the season
Ajibola Alese (England U17 International) - Loan to Acrington
Grady Diangana (England U21 International) - Loan to West Brom
Jordan Hugill (£9m Signing) - Loan to QPR
Josh Cullen (Ireland Full International) - Loan to Charlton
Nathan Trott (England U21 International) - Loan to Wimbledon
Sead Haksabanovic (Montenegro Full International) - Loan to Norrkoping

Meanwhile teams like Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Southampton etc. give youth a chance.
But we get rid of ours and  hang on to players like Sanchez?

January Transfers

The January transfer list, not too much spent (in football terms) this time.
Premier teams spent £236m with only 3 players signed for over £20m.

Main transfers (In)
Bruno Fernandes [Sporting Lisbon - Man Utd] £49.5m
Giovani Lo Celso [Real Betis - Tottenham] £27.2m
Steven Bergwijn [PSV Eindhoven - Tottenham] £27m
Sander Berge [Genk - Sheff Utd] £19.35m
Jarrod Bowen [Hull to West Ham] £19.17m
Daniel Podence [Olympiakos - Wolves] £17.64m
Mbwana Samatta [Genk - Aston Villa] £9.45m
Josh Brownhill [Bristol City - Burnley] £9m
Takumi Minamino [R B Salzburg - Liverpool] £7.65m
Ignacio Pussetto [Udinese - Watford] £7.2m

Main transfers (out)
Christian Eriksen [Tottenham - Inter Milan] £18m
Ivan Cavaleiro [Wolves - Fulham] £10.62m
Uriel Antuna [Man City - Chivas] £8.91m
Michael Hector [Chelsea - Fulham] £5.31m

Most spent - Tottenham £58.25m, Man Utd £49.5m
Most received - Tottenham £19.8m, Wolves £13.32m
Most players in - Aston Villa 5, Sheff Utd 5
Most players out - Wolves 14, Chelsea 10, Norwich 10, Tottenham 10

Tables And Fantasy Football

Table Updates

Overdue update of the current positions in the Fantasy footy leagues and the full predictions table.

NBTF Predictions League

Fantasy Premier League 

Liverpool fan Mike doing pretty well but I'm hanging on.

Telegraph Fantasy Football

I'm finally starting to get somwhere in this after a really rough start, Mike was ruling it but Colin has come up on the rails.
The league of leagues is really weird this season with the perennial winners FISO dropping as low as 90th in the table and even now outside the top 10.

Telegraph Fantasy Football European Super League

Doing well in this with the NBTF League sitting 15th and 7 teams in the top 1000, would possibly be higher but as the score is based on the 5 highest scoring players only 4 of us are doing well.
The others seem to have given up :(

Premier Predictions (Week 25)

The extended week is finally over and it's back to a bit of normality for one week at least.
8 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
Title is over so only things left to fight for are 5th place and 6 teams battling relegation.
West ham have their last winnable game before April so need 3 points against Brighton, Villa v Bournemouth is another 6 pointer.
Watford play Everton and 3 points could take them 15th so it's getting tight.

Leicester v Chelsea
Bournemouth v Aston Villa
Crystal Palace v Sheff Utd
Liverpool v Southampton
Newcastle v Norwich
Watford v Everton
West Ham v Brighton
Man Utd v Wolves
Burnley v Arsenal
Tottenham v Man City Good Luck All  😃

F.A Cup Predictions 2020 (Part 2)

Right in the middle of a Premier league week here's part 2 of the F.A Cup competition. 🏆
F.A Cup 4th Round - 16 ties played over 4 days.
2 games on Friday, 10 on Saturday, 3 on Friday and 1 on Monday.

Northampton v Derby
QPR v Sheff Wed
Brentford v Leicester
Burnley v Norwich
Coventry v Birmingham
Millwall v Sheff Utd
Newcastle v Oxford
Portsmouth v Barnsley
Reading v Cardiff
Southampton v Tottenham
West Ham v West Brom
Hull v Chelsea
Man City v Fulham
Tranmere v Man Utd
Shrewsbury v Liverpool
Bournemouth v Arsenal

Scores after 90 minutes only (not including extra time and penalties).
Not including replays only first matches.

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 23 and 24)

Right the plan here is to confuse you all with an extended double week (blame the Premier League) 😕
First up, Week 23 to be played Saturday 18th (8 games) and Sunday 19th (2 games).

Big game here is the Liverpool v Man U return, United the only team to take points off them this season, form says it will be an easy home win but you never know 😆
The bottom 2 face off with Bournemouth dropping like a stone.
West Ham have solved their injured goalkeeper problem by signing an injured goalie?

Watford v Tottenham
Arsenal v Sheff Utd
Brighton v Aston Villa
Man City v Crystal Palace
Norwich v Bournemouth
Southampton v Wolves
West Ham v Everton
Newcastle v Chelsea

Burnley v Leicester
Liverpool v Man Utd
----------------------------------------------------------

Next, Week 24 with 11 games - to be played on Tuesday 21st (6 games), Wednesday 22nd (3 games), Thursday 23rd (1 game) and Wednesday 29th (1 game).

The West Ham v Liverpool re-arranged game has been added to the following week, so it was either start Week 25 early or have Week 24 over run which seemed easier. Hopefully 3 defeats on the spin for Liverpool might bring some life back into the title race (2 chances of that - fat and none)  😒.
Man City will have to be at their best to avoid losing their title by the end of March.

Aston Villa v Watford
Bournemouth v Brighton
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Everton v Newcastle
Sheff Utd v Man City
Chelsea v Arsenal

Leicester v West Ham
Tottenham v Norwich
Man Utd v Burnley

Wolves v Liverpool

West Ham v Liverpool
----------------------------------------------------------

Just to complicate things even more I will be posting the latest round of F.A Cup games in the middle of second week, even though the Watford v Tranmere replay isn't due to be played until Thursday 23rd.

Good Luck All  😃

Premier Predictions (Week 22)

Early start again this week. 🙄
West Ham go to Bramall Lane on Friday night plus 7 Games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

Sheff Utd v West Ham
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Chelsea v Burnley
Everton v Brighton
Leicester v Southampton
Man Utd v Norwich
Wolves v Newcastle
Tottenham v Liverpool
Bournemouth v Watford
Aston Villa v Man City

Good Luck All  😃

F.A Cup Predictions 2020 (Part 1)

 🏆  ⚽  🏆
It's time again for a break from the Premier League for a week,
Season no.5 of the NBTF F.A Cup predictions Competition. 
Rules - 3 points for a correct score, 1 point for a correct result.
Scores after 90 minutes only (not including extra time and penalties).
Not including replays only first matches.

Round 3 x 32 games, Round 4 x 16 games etc, So a total of 63 games.
Winner will be whoever scores the most at the end.

Part 1 - 32 Matches starts Saturday through to Monday 4th Jan to 6th Jan
Part 2 - 16 Matches around the Weekend of 25th Jan
Part 3 - 8 Matches around the Weekend of 7th March
Part 4 - 4 Matches around the Weekend of 21st March
Part 5 - 2 Matches around the Weekend of 18th April
Part 6 - Final on my Birthday 23rd May 😁 🎂

Here are the games (Copy & Paste advised), 20 on Saturday, 11 Sunday and 1 Monday.
Note: all games kick off one minute late so fans can "Take a Minute"

Birmingham v Blackburn
Bristol City v Shrewsbury
Burnley v Peterborough
Millwall v Newport
Rochdale v Newcastle
Rotherham v Hull
Brentford v Stoke
Brighton v Sheff Wed
Cardiff v Carlisle
Fulham v Aston Villa
Oxford v Hartlepool
Preston v Norwich
Reading v Blackpool
Southampton v Huddersfield
Watford v Tranmere
Bournemouth v Luton
Fleetwood v Portsmouth
Leicester v Wigan
Man City v Port Vale
Wolves v Man Utd

Bristol Rovers v Coventry
Burton v Northampton
Charlton v West Brom
Chelsea v Nottingham F
Crewe v Barnsley
Crystal Palace v Derby
Middlesbrough v Tottenham
QPR v Swansea
Sheff Utd v AFC Fylde
Liverpool v Everton
Gillingham v West Ham

Arsenal v Leeds

Good Luck All  😃