Premier Predictions (Week 01)

It's that time again, Another season of Premier League predictions. 😀
Hopefully someone will join in and make it a competition? Ended with just 3 of us last season 😢
As sadly there is no West Ham this year I should be able to make unbiased choices and hopefully do better

Will publish the BBC predictions (Sutton, Guest and AI) to see what I'm up against.

Lots of 4 day weekends this season which is a pain for anyone playing Fantasy Football.

Week 1
1 game Friday, 5 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday

Arsenal v Coventry
*
Hull v Man Utd
Everton v Crystal Palace
Ipswich v Sunderland
Nottm Forest v Leeds
Brentford v Spurs
*
Brighton v Aston Villa
Man City v Bournemouth
Newcastle v Liverpool
*
Fulham v  Chelsea

Good Luck All  😀

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).
All 380 Premier League games will be covered, plus sometimes FA Cup games and the League Cup Final will be included to make up weeks where there are many postponements due to those games.

Fantasy Football 2026/27

Fantasy Football 2026/27

FPL Fantasy Premier League 

Have re-started the "Nothing Better Than Football" League 😀

Code for joining if anyone wants to is : lp2mz2  or the Auto Join link below

https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/lp2mz2

https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/lp2mz2

Have done the Telegraph one as well - Code to join that is : KUJDMD

Premier League 2026/27 Preview

Premier League 2026/27 Preview

Must admit it's hard to get motivated this season with no West Ham 😔
But the show goes on.

Here are my thoughts on this season's teams.

Already (as of 17th August) with 2 weeks before the transfer window closes the 20 teams have spent just under £2.5 Billion.
Only Sunderland have yet to spend, while Chelsea have spent £365m.
Newly promoted Ipswich have spent £162m and Coventry £115m

Based on the Charity Shield performance Arsenal must be favourites again, as Man City look to have a bit of work to do to catch up.
Tottenham have spent big and will hope to improve on their usual 17th place.
Other contenders would probably be Man Utd, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and an outside pick Leeds?


Arsenal
Have strenghened the squad with Bruno Guimaraes and Tzolis while only losing Trossard.
If players like Rice, Saka and others can get over the long season and World Cup they should be too strong for the others.

Aston Villa
Losing top players like Tielemans, Rogers, Digne will affect them with Champions League football on top of the League season.
Emery will need to show what a good manager he is to keep them in European contention.

Bournemouth
Iraola gone, new manager Rose unproven?
If they keep up the performances of last season despite having Europa League they should be safe mid table

Brentford
Impressive last season, will Thiago carry on from last season even though his Brazil adventure was a disappointment. I would expect mid table again.

Brighton
Hürzeler not the most likeable manager but does seem to get a tune out of Brighton.
European football could be a distraction.
Lots of player turnover again with a few bigger names gone, can't see them finishing top half but should be safe from relegation.

Chelsea
Another big spending pre-season with Rogers, Lacroix, Palestra, Barco all joining for big fees. Losing Cucurella is a gamble as he was their stand out player last year other than Pedro.
Alonso getting a huge squad with no European football to give playing time could be a big problem, will need to move on a bunch of players.
Even so should make European positions.

Coventry City
Were impressive last season, but a big step up.
Might start the season well but lack of squad depth will probably see them in the relegation places.

Crystal Palace
Glasner had them playing some great football over the last two season, but no idea if new boss Pierre Sage will motivate them.
Qualified for the Europa league after the conference win, so more games for a thin squad. Lacroix gone and they never replaced Guehi last season so will need to get some defenders.

Everton
Moyes made a bright start last season but it tailed off, a few decent signings so far but still need a good striker as Beto and Barry are not the best.

Fulham
Not sure what we'll get from Fulham this season? losing Marco Silva as well as Wilson, and Raul Jiminez is a big blow.
Arbeloa will need to show why Real Madrid thought he was good enough to manage them.
I think Fulham will struggle this season.

Hull City
Will probably be wrong but anything better than 20th will be a success for them.
Spent £80m so far on a selection of virtually unknown players.

Ipswich Town
Losing Kieran McKenna is a big blow for them, Gary O'Neil is a reasonable manager but not the same level.
Have spent big so far with over £160m used to increase the squad size.
Could give a few teams problems but will do well to stay up.

Leeds
Looked pretty good last season, and getting Harry Wilson on a free is a bargain.
New goalie Trafford also looking a great buy.
Fancy them to do well this season.

Liverpool
After last seasons big spending failure I expect them to do better this season.
Isak looked good for Sweden if the WC, and maybe some of last seasons under performers will be better. Still need to sort out the defence.
Iraola has impressed with Bournemouth but can he do it with Liverpool.

Manchester City
Big changes this season, I think Maresca was a good choice to replace Guardiola but they looked all over the place against Arsenal.
Losing experienced players like Silva, Ake, Akanji, Stones will weaken them.
Rodri out injured and maybe moving on will not help.
But they've got Haaland so never write them off.

Manchester United
Carrick did well after taking over last season, but they still rely on Fernandes to perform. Mbuemo and Cunha were great signings last season but still think they are a bit short to compete for the big prizes.

Newcastle
Eddie Howe giving up on them says a lot, losing Gordon, Guimaraes and Tonali will weaken them badly. Plus new manager Matthias Jaissle is an unknown quantity.
None of last seasons expensive panic buys Wissa, Woltemade and Elanga really worked and they've spent another £150m on 5 players most won't have heard of this summer.
Mid table at best.

Nottingham Forest
How many managers this season? I thought Pereira did a good job for them at the end of last season keeping them up but he's now gone. Glasner did wonders at Palace but will he get time with this owner.
Anderson will be missed but they have a good squad and should be safe.

Sunderland
Over achieved last season and have European football this season as a reward.
Did bring in a lot of players last season and have shipped out quite a few of them this season. Just a couple of free transfers in this summer.
Shocked me last season but can't see them doing it again.

Tottenham
Three big signings plus a couple of freebies, Romero gone which is not a bad thing. I was surprised they parted with Spence who was a stand out for England.
If Maddison, Kudus and Kulusevski can get fit they have a decent team.
Should improve on the last two seasons but can't see them challenging for honours.


So Prediction Time

Arsenal must be favourites, Man City might challenge if they get their act together.
European spots any from Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leeds

Relegation candidates
Hull, Coventry, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Sunderland

Obviously my predictions are not always the best 😆

Managerial Merry-Go-Round.

The Premier League managerial merry-go-round.

Crazy to think that Mikel Arteta is the longest serving manager in the top four divisions.
Six years in the Arsenal job, but it seems to have paid off with them winning last year.
Next best is Unai Emery and Daniel Farke 3 years and only 9 in the job for more than a year.

Current Premier League Managers (subject to change)

Arsenal            Mikel Arteta
Aston Villa        Unai Emery
Bournemouth        Marco Rose    (Replacing Andoni Iraola)
Brentford        Keith Andrews
Brighton        Fabian Hürzeler
Chelsea            Xabi Alonso    (Replacing Calum McFarlane)
Coventry        Frank Lampard
Crystal Palace        Pierre Sage    (Replacing Oliver Glasner)
Everton            David Moyes
Fulham            Álvaro Arbeloa    (Replacing Marco Silva)
Hull            Sergej Jakirović
Ipswich            Gary O'Neil    (Replacing Kieran McKenna)
Leeds            Daniel Farke
Liverpool        Andoni Iraola    (Replacing Arne Slot)
Man City        Enzo Maresca    (Replacing Pep Guardiola)
Man United        Michael Carrick
Newcastle        Matthias Jaissle  (Replacing Eddie Howe)
Nottingham Forest    Oliver Glasner    (Replacing Vítor Pereira)
Sunderland        Regis Le Bris
Tottenham        Roberto De Zerbi
 
So nine clubs with new managers this season, Iraola and Glasner swapping one for another.
Surprises were Forest getting rid of another manager Pereira who had done a good job keeping them up, and replacing him with Glasner who was doing well at Palace.
Also Ipswich with McKenna leaving after getting them promoted?

World Cup 2026

 

 

Well that's the World Cup over for another 4 years.

Spain totally outplaying the cheating Argies, only surprise was it took till extra time to score a winner.
The most one sided World Cup final I can remember.

England and France playing out one of the best games of the tournament for the 3rd place, don't think anyone expected that.

Overall a lot better than expected, I thought it might be half empty stadiums due to the exorbitant prices for match tickets, travel, food and drink etc. But obviously there are a lot of rich people in the world.

Not a fan of the Americanisation of it, turning the game into 4 quarters for added advert breaks, the lame 30 minute half time show in the final.
The FIFA, Infantino, Trump, Argentina sideshow was annoying.
But most of the stadiums were brilliant especially Dallas and Atlanta.

The Mexico v England game was incredible, the atmosphere and obviously the result made things memorable.

Cape Verde the shock team, played brilliantly when most expected them to go out with a whimper. Norway showing they are more than just Erling Haaland.
France were looking like winners until they met Spain who just make the game look simple with excellent ball control and passing.
England still a long way short of being World Champions, some great moments but lacked ideas in many of the games.

TV coverage was pretty good, I think BBC win it due to not having adverts or whiny Gary Neville.
So my TV Awards are (in my opinion)
Presenters - (Best) Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman (Worst) Mark Pougash, Kelly Cates
Pundits - (Best) Duncan Ferguson, Jobi McAnuff (Worst) Benni McCarthy, Wayne Rooney
Commentators - Not a lot of difference, Guy Mowbray kept giving the wrong names to players.
Co-Commentators - (Best) Alan Shearer, Andros Townsend (Worst) Lee Dixon, Martin Keown
Reporter - (Best) Kelly Somers (Worst) Adam Richman

The next World Cup in 2030 is being played in 6 countries

Mostly Spain, Portugal and Morocco with single games in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay supposedly to celebrate the centenery of the World Cup.

Being cynical it might be because FIFA rules about hosting  mean that with the 2034 in Saudi (AFC) and the 2030 games covering EUFA, CAF and CONMEBOL it would leave only the OFC and CONCACAF nations to bid for the 2038 edition.

Meaning as Australia is now classed as an Asian country it's more likely to be America again?

R.I.P Kevin Keegan

R.I.P Kevin Keegan
I don't think I really appreciated him until I saw him live playing for Southampton in the early 80's.
He never stopped running and was outjumping players like Alvin Martin and Billy Bonds, even though we won 4-2 I came away thinking it was one of the best individual performances I had seen.

A star player for Liverpool in a double act with John Toshack, went off to Hamburg and twice won European footballer of the year.
Later went to Southampton and Newcastle, and then managed Newcastle, Fulham, Man City and England.
Always a shame that both he and Trevor Brooking were injured in the 1982 World Cup, with both getting just 30 minutes of action in a 0-0 draw with Spain, meaning England went home despite being unbeaten.

A great character who will be missed.

World Cup 2026 (Part 8) Final and 3rd Place

The final two games of World Cup 2026

France and England both blowing out in the Semi Finals meet on Saturday for the meaningless Bronze medal match.

Maybe a chance for Mbappe, Kane and Bellingham to catch Messi for the Golden Boot, but possibly a couple of reserve teams to play it out.

Sunday is the World Cup Final Argentina vs Spain

Spain have quietly got there without looking anywhere near as good as they did in the 2024 Euros, but are really hard to beat.

Argentina have done just enough to get through the last four rounds, but even the most unbiased fan would say it must have been with FIFA's help, so many fouls by their players going unpunished when everyone else was getting red's and yellow's for less.

 

Hopefully Spain put an end to it, but you never know?

 

France v England

Spain v Argentina

England

Got that empty feeling I seem to get every couple of years.
Every tournament I start out hoping England do well, then they get through to the latter stages and hopes start to rise.
After France's non performance on Tuesday, I started to dream of an England win.
An ageing Argentina team who had scraped through the last couple of games, followed by Spain which if we were at our best was a possible?
But once again we blew it.

Tuchel went from hero to zero after 70 minutes, could not understand why he took Gordon off for a defender when he has pace to burn and would have given us and out ball if Argentina started to dominate play.
Then it got worse with Rice and James taken off for more defenders leaving six at the back inviting pressure.
Obviously the game ended up being played in our half with nobody to take the game to Argentina, Kane was knackered, Bellingham couldn't be everywhere and the inevitable happened.

Overall a few great moments, but never looked like World Champions.
The Mexico win was the highlight, the second half against Croatia was good, did just enough in the other games
Bellingham, Spence, Kane, Anderson, Gordon and maybe Stones come out of it with credit.
Saka, Rice and James were all playing with injuries so not at their best.
Watkins got less than ten minutes, Toney got about three, Mainoo didn't get any, and no idea why Challobah was called up to be a bench warmer?

I think things will get awkward for Tuchel from now on, looked like the master tactician when we defended a lead with ten men against Mexico, but trying the same tactics in this game when we still had eleven on the pitch and could have brought on some fire power (Watkins, Rashord, Saka) to take the game to Argentina just seemed like a coach with limited ideas.

I guess I'll go through it all again in 2028 ?

World Cup 2026 (Part 7) Semi Finals

World Cup Semi-finals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

France through in a low key game against Morocco.
Spain having a harder game against Belgium with a late winner by supersub Merino.
England making us all sweat in the heat of Miami against Norway.
Kept Haaland quiet but had to rely on Bellingham's two great strikes to see us through in extra time.
Argentina also scraping through in extra time against the ten men of Switzerland, after Embolo's two dumb yellow cards. Great winner by Alvarez but less than impressive overall and again aided by some more dubious officiating.

I think England on a good day should be able to beat Argentina, although injuries and fatigue and FIFA's love of Argentina could go against us.
Rice and Saka nowhere near their best, Kane looked shattered against Norway but hopefully 3 days rest will see them recovered.
France still looking the favourites, although Spain who haven't really been in top gear will make it tough.

France v Spain
England v Argentina

World Cup 2026 (Part 6) Quarter Finals

The World Cup winds down as we get to the Quarter Finals starting Thursday at 9pm.
France survive Paraguay's dirty tricks to take on Africa's remaining team Morocco.
Spain haven't really been firing yet but haven't conceded any goals go up against the Trump inspired Belgians.
England who were excellent against Mexico meet Norway who have Haaland so not a certainty.
Argentina with a ref assisted win over Egypt, meet Switzerland who scraped through a dull 0-0 over Colombia to win on Penalties.

France v Morocco
Spain v Belgium
Norway v England
Argentina v Switzerland

England vs Mexico

Well that was the most enjoyable and also most stressful England game in many years.
Although I expected (or just hoped) England would win, the various factors involved were arguing against it. High altitude, 90,000 passionate Mexican fans with only a few thousand rich England fans, the fact Mexico had only lost twice in 89 previous games at the Azteca.
Also that England hadn't really clicked in the first four games.

Rice picking up a booking in the first minute didn't bode well, but after that it was a proper performance with Bellingham again the stand out.
Kane, Gordon, Pickford all having top games, and the late subs after the sending off all playing blinders even though having a ten man defence with no one in the Mexican half was nerve wracking for the last 30 minutes.

Quansah had been playing well before the sending off, but I assume King Charles will be on the phone to Infantino to get the red card suspended (as that's the new rule?).

Just got to deal with Haaland on Saturday now  😟

World Cup 2026 (Part 5) Last 16

Round of 16 time, games running from tonight till Tuesday.

Most of the big hitters still in it, only real shock was Germany losing to Paraguay on penalties!!, 

near shock was Argentina scraping through against Cape Verde.
Netherlands going out was a shame, but unluckily drawn against the higher rated Moroccans. 

Will miss their colourful fans.
Belgium somehow coming back from 2-0 down with minutes to go after being totally outplayed to beat Senegal.
Croatia robbed of a last minute equaliser against Portugal because the English VAR ref decided to use the cricket style 'Snicko' to rule the ball had brushed the Croatian players hair to prove offside, although when it hit the Portugal player on the back it didn't move?
England less than impressive again, two late goals by Kane getting them through against Congo. 

Mexico away looks like a tall order but have to hope.
The logic of calling up Challobah to replace one of the injury prone right backs could cost Tuchel, I'm sure Kyle Walker would have happily jumped on a plane?

Paraguay v France
Canada v Morocco
Brazil v Norway
Mexico v England
Portugal v Spain
United States v Belgium
Argentina v Egypt
Switzerland v Colombia

Think I've blown my effort to beat the AI and the Football "expert" on the predictions, got level after the England game but fell apart in the final 8 games. 😒
(88 Games Played) - BBC-AI 74, Sutton 72, Lee 64

Transfer News

Mateus Fernandes

August 2024 Sporting Lisbon to Southampton - £13 million - Got relegated
August 2025 Southampton to West Ham - £38 million - Got relegated
July 2026 West Ham to Tottenham - £85 million - ?

Really hoping he gets his hat-trick  😁

World Cup 2026 (Part 4) Last 32

A first ever Last 32 round in the World Cup
Matches start Sunday 28th June and finish Saturday 4th July.

African teams getting 9 of the 10 into the next round, Cape Verde the shock but 3 draws enough.

Europe getting 13 of 16 through, Turkey unlucky despite beating hosts USA.
Scotland unlucky to have been drawn in a group with the 6th and 7th ranked teams in the world, so no embarrassment this time. Czechs only managing a draw in their group, a worrying serious looking injury to Soucek is a concern from a West Ham point of view.

Only one South American team going out Uruguay, with Bielsa probably into retirement after that.

So far Asian teams struggled with 7 of 9 out already, Australia who aren't asian plus Japan the only ones through. Unluckiest was Iran (which the hosts will be pleased about), despite all the aggro of having to be flown in and out of the US on the day of the match they ended up unbeaten.
Only a toe nail offside decision in their last game denying them a win, then the crazy injury time draw between Algeria and Austria where both teams were playing keep ball for the agreed draw for 20 minutes before Mahrez scored in the 4th minute of 5 added. Extra time added to allow Austria an equaliser keeping all happy.

Host nations all had pretty easy groups, only Canada had a top 20 rated team (19th ranked Switzerand) who they lost to. America had one hard game against underperforming Turkey which they lost.
Mexico looking good on home soil, if they beat Ecuador in the next round they could play England in Mexico city.

England who have looked impressive for 45 minutes of their 3 games doing enough, Bellingham stepping up to live up to his hype. Kane taking the chances in 2 of the 3 games.
Best players have been Anderson, Bellingham, Rice and Kane. Rashford OK but a bit predictable, Saka not fit and most others looking tired. Hopefully things wil improve.
Next up is Dr Congo, with the fullback duo of Wan-Bissaka and Arthur Masuaku.

Last 32 matches - Final  score not including penalties for predictions.

Current Scores after 72 games
Me 53, Chris Sutton 58, BBC-AI 57

South Africa v Canada
Brazil v Japan
Germany v Paraguay
Netherlands v Morocco
Ivory Coast v Norway
France v Sweden
Mexico v Ecuador
England v DR Congo
Belgium v Senegal
United States v Bosnia Herzegovina
Spain v Austria
Portugal v Croatia
Switzerland v Algeria
Australia v Egypt
Argentina v Cape Verde
Colombia v Ghana

Nostradamus

 No One ?

World Cup 2026 (Part 3)

Final group games

Many teams already through, and a lot of teams already out.

Bosnia Herzogovina v Qatar
Switzerland v Canada
Morocco v Haiti
Scotland v Brazil
Czech Rep v Mexico
South Africa v South Korea
Curacao v Ivory Coast
Ecuador v Germany
Japan v Sweden
Tunisia v Netherlands
Paraguay v Australia
Turkey v USA
Norway v France
Senegal v Iraq
Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia
Uruguay v Spain
Egypt v Iran
New Zealand v Belgium
Croatia v Ghana
Panama v England
Colombia v Portugal
DR Congo v Uzbekistan
Algeria v Austria
Jordan v Argentina

World Cup 2026 (Part 2)

The second set of fixtures start on Thursday (Thursday 18th June to Wednesday 24th June).
Good starts for Germany, Sweden, France, Argentina, USA and some others.
A few of the bigger names will need a result like Brazil and Spain.

Czech Rep v South Africa
Switzerland v Bosnia Herzogovina
Canada  v Qatar
Mexico  v South Korea
USA v Australia
Scotland v Morocco
Brazil v Haiti
Turkey v Paraguay
Netherlands v Sweden
Germany v Ivory Coast
Ecuador v Curacao
Tunisia v Japan
Spain v Saudi Arabia
Belgium v Iran
Uruguay v Cape Verde
New Zealand v Egypt
Argentina v Austria
France v Iraq
Norway v Senegal
Jordan v Algeria
Portugal v Uzbekistan
England v Ghana
Panama v Croatia
Colombia v DR Congo

Just me versus BBC-AI and Chris Sutton in the predictions, I got 3 points in the first game but rubbish in the next 19 ... long way to go 😀

World Cup Week One

Not too bad so far (posted before England play) 🤞

A lot of the games have been near full houses, but a few half empty. 

The indoor stadiums do look good, especially Dallas.

Not heard of any major trouble so far from the US law who have been keeping in the background up till now once people and players have managed to get into the country, but it's early.

.

The big name players making an impact yesterday, Messi, Haaland, Mbappe and apart from Spain being held by Cape Verde no real shocks.

The Dutch, Japanese and Scottish fans have probably been a good advert for FIFA to gloss over the lack of fans of certain countries.

Not sure how many of these fans can stay on if their teams get through, as I guess a lot wanted to experience a World Cup for the first time and felt it was worth the expense to see at least one game, but with most teams having to travel to multiple states and countries meaning more flights and hotels it would rule out a lot?

 

This AI video did amuse me 😁

 

World Cup 2026 (Part 1)

Predictions Time    🌎   🏆   ⚽   🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿   🇲🇽   🇨🇦   🇺🇸

If anyone wants to join in, usual rules
3 points for correct score, 1 point for correct result.
90 (or 120) minute rule for knockout games, penalties count as a draw

Assuming it all goes ahead it will be 104 games, so I'll just keep a running score for the next 6 weeks.

Part 1 - First games for each country (Thursday 11th June - Thursday 18th June)

Mexico v South Africa
South Korea v Czech Rep
Canada v Bosnia Herzegovina
USA v Paraguay
Qatar v Switzerland
Brazil v Morocco
Haiti v Scotland
Australia v Turkey
Germany v Curacao
Netherlands v Japan
Ivory Coast v Ecuador
Sweden v Tunisia
Spain v Cape Verde
Belgium v Egypt
Saudi Arabia v Uruguay
Iran v New Zealand
France v Senegal
Iraq v Norway
Argentina v Algeria
Austria v Jordan
Portugal v DR Congo
England v Croatia
Ghana v Panama
Uzbekistan v Colombia

Footy News

Well that's the end of that little era.

David Sullivan stood down due to accusations of abuse, he was a porn baron so not really a total shock.

Although Panorama have a history of making stuff up so we shall see.

Lady Brady left in April and David Gold sadly died three years ago.

Not sure where this leaves West Ham? I guess Daniel Kretinsky might buy Sullivan out, or Gold's daughter Vanessa might have a say.

Hopefully we won't get taken over by some dodgy foreign asset stripper or hedge fund.

Southend have appointed Keiron Dyer as the new manager after the shock sacking of Kevin Maher, wish him well but hope the treatment room is up to scratch 😁

Enzo Maresca who is the likely to be the new Man City manager, has hit a stumbling block.

It seems he wasn't sacked by Chelsea he just left, meaning Chelsea want a compensation fee?

World Cup stuff - some of the Iran staff are not being allowed into the US where they play all their games, their team has to fly in and out of the US on the same day they play.

One of FIFA's own referees has been denied access, plus several other players from other countries also having Visa problems.

 

Maybe they should move it all to a more open country like North Korea 😁

 

World Cup 2026

The latest World Cup, Starting soon on the 11th June.

World Cup 2026 - America Mexico Canada
Not sure why Mexico has it for the 3rd time and America the 2nd since England last had a go, I guess it's as Millwall are fond of saying "No one likes us" 😖

I was trying to remember anything about the 1994 tournament held in the USA, the least memorable World Cup in my lifetime.
Managed to come up with 3 things.
Diana Ross missing the goal in the overblown opening ceremony, Ray Houghton's goal for Ireland against Italy, and Maradona's manic staring at the camera before he got his drugs ban.
That's about it.

This one is not looking promising.
An overblown tournament with 48 teams meaning 104 games, with 44 of them kicking off after midnight in the UK.
Very few of the opening fixtures look that appealing.
I will probably watch the England games and maybe France, Scotland, Spain and a few others, but waiting up for Uzbekistan v Dr Congo sounds like a cure for insomnia.

Most games are made better by real fans, thinking of the colour explosions at games featuring the Netherlands, Brazil, Senegal and others.
Brazil have travel restrictions, Senegal fans are banned, and the chance of seeing the Orange army is pretty slim due to the costs involved.
Iran, Haiti, Senegal, Iraq and the Ivory Coast are not allowed any fans plus a host of others have limited travel options.

Trump's immigration restrictions mean that anyone going to the US has to go through intense screening at the airport even if you have managed to get a travel visa, with a risk of being detained for a long period.
If you get through the airport you're faced with huge price gouging on transport, hotels, food and many other things, with trains buses and car parks charging up to ten times the normal prices.

The match ticket prices are the highest of any World Cup in history.
The reported high demand for tickets appears to have mostly been driven by people looking to make quick money? with tickets then being offered on offical FIFA resale sites for huge profits (some Final tickets going for over £2 million each).
So it looks like only the rich can attend  🙄

It's a shame that this World Cup is more than likely to be played in front of half empty stadiums with virtually no atmosphere?
I've seen enough of those videos of American fans trying to comprehend the atmosphere generated by European and South American fans, the chances of anyone having a good time look slim with heavily armed Police and ICE agents waiting to pounce on anyone showing a bit of passion.

Another thing after watching the Club World Cup last year is the weather, with chances of extreme temperatures in many of the games means teams possibly having to play in over 100ºF heat. Every game is going to be interrupted by cooling breaks (even the roofed temperature controlled ones) giving American broadcasters chance to play more adverts. Plus many games were delayed for hours due to their being a thunderstorm 20 miles away, America the Brave???
Also hoping we don't have all that long winded player introductions, and Trump crashing the Trophy celebrations.
Reading reports of a Super Bowl style half time show, I can't imagine that will turned around in 15 minutes, meaning more unnecessary delays.

A lot of the big football nations won't be there, Italy (my 2nd favourite country), Nigeria, Denmark, Cameroon, Hungary, Georgia and others meaning we won't see some of the World's best players.

I think BBC and ITV are showing all the games which means having to put up with some pretty dull annoying presenters and pundits like Poogash, Rooney, Murphy, Cates, Neville and others. No Lineker this time as independent opinions are not allowed.

No doubt VAR will have a big impact again, when it was introduced in Russia 2018 it seemed like a good thing
But in the 8 years since it has gone from a useful tool to taking over the games, the excitement of a goal being scored is now being ruined by knowing everything is going to be scrutinised for reasons to disallow it.
Every VAR (referee) official seems to have their own interpretation of the rules, seemingly influenced by who is playing.

Obviously hoping England do well, but that seems dependent on Harry Kane staying fit as we seem lost without him.
Winners likely to come from France, Spain, Argentina, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany or just maybe England?

Although if by some miracle we do win, I suppose we'll look back on it being a great World Cup 😁

England World Cup Squad

England World Cup Squad 2026

Goalkeepers: Pickford, Henderson, Trafford

Defenders: James, Livramento, Guehi, Konsa, Stones, Quansah, O'Reilly, Burn, Spence

Midfielders: Rice, Anderson, Bellingham, Henderson, Rogers, Mainoo, Eze, Madueke

Forwards: Kane, Toney, Watkins, Saka, Rashford, Gordon

Reserves: Scott, Ngumoha, King, Nwaneri, Steele

Unlucky to miss out: Bowen, Arnold, Wharton, Gibbs-White, Calvert-Lewin

Thought Jarrod Bowen had done enough to make the squad, Adam Wharton surely better than Henderson.
Not a huge fan of Terence Trent Arnold but surely a better option than injury prone Livramento and James?
Gibbs-White and Calvert-Lewin in form so unlucky, Palmer and Foden not done too much lately so not a surprise.

Matches
6th June - Friendly vs New Zealand (Tampax Bay)
10th June - Friendly vs Costa Rica (Orlando)
17th June - World Cup vs Croatia (Dallas)
23rd June - World Cup vs Ghana (Boston)
27th June - World Cup vs Panama (New Jersey)

Predictions Final Table 2025/26

The full table for the Predictions competition 2025/26

Winner was Paul with 13 weekly wins
9 of those in the first 17 weeks, so it was catch up for the rest of us after that.
Paulo got 9 wins in the 2nd half of the season.
Paul won week 31 with just 4 points, the lowest ever

Weeks played - Lee and Paulo 38, Paul 37, Biopunk 16, Gibbo 6
The best points were by the (non counting) BBC-AI with 255 (3 points correct score, 1 point correct result).

Highest weekly score - 13 Paulo, one of the BBC Guests did get 14 and Paul's Model got 13

The Table

 The Table if Sutton, BBC Guests, AI etc were all included

 

Fantasy Football

Fantasy Premier League 2025/26

The Nothing Better Than Football League

Usually get around 40 players but decided to advertise it on Social Media (Twitter and Bluesky) this year.
Started with 112 players (4 dropped out) so 108 left at the end of season.
8 family and friends, 100 people I don't actually know

Winner was newcomer Izzul a Malaysian Chelsea fan, congrats to him. 🏆
But I do know the people in 2nd and 3rd.

Table below shows Top 12 because I dropped from 5th to 12th in the last month  😢

 

Good quality this year with 4 players in the Top 1%, 16 in the Top 5% and 28 players in the Top 10%.

Family and friends
2nd Dave R - Over Land And Sea - 2,374 - 24,804
3rd JB - Muppets - 2,334 - 81,984
6th Sean - Voodoo Jazz Hat - 2,295 - 202,976
10th Tim - X Force - 2,258 - 399,180
12th Lee - Chip Shop Boys - 2,249 - 460,027
42nd Gary - Action Heroes - 2,105 - 2,190,325
90th Paul S - Artificial Stupidity - 1,866 - 6,515,828
103rd Dave J - Quizland Dave - 1,682 - 9,350,135

The other competition the Telegraph Fantasy Football only attracted 5 players with 5 teams each possible.
Winner was Dave with a top thousand finish in 718th

Managerial Merry Go Round

Arne Slot the latest managerial sacking? I thought with a League title and Champions League qualification he might have got more time.
They have been poor this season by the high standards of his first season, but losing players like Diaz, Jota, Nunes, Arnold would make any team struggle. I don't know if he was the driving force behind the players brought in for an eye watering £460m last summer but apart from a few bright moments none of them have lived up to the price tags.
Star player Salah doesn't seem to have shown any form since signing his mega money deal last year. Maybe Isak should have been avoided after going on strike at Newcastle showing he has a dubious character.
With Jabby Alonso now signing for Chelsea I thought he would get more time.
Iraola seems to be favourite but got the impression he was leaving Bournemouth because he wanted to go back home to Spain, but money talks.
So many managers who have done great things at smaller clubs with limited budgets have failed when they've gone to big clubs, thinking of Frank, Amorim, Potter and many others.
Iraola had a terrible start at Bournemouth but they held their nerve and he turned them around, would he get the same treatment at Liverpool where one bad result usually turns the fans against their managers.

Relegation

Relegated, so who is saying goodbye?

No doubt the vultures will be after Bowen, Fernandes, Summerville and Diouf.
Maybe now Bowen's been overlooked for England, the Dyer family might persaude him to stay.
Castellanos has been pretty good so someone will probably pick him up.
Love Soucek but I guess he'll be off, same with Wilson and Areola.
Disasi and Traore on loan so will go back to their clubs.

Hoping we get rid of Kilman, Pablo, Magassa and Todibo who haven't done much so won't be missed.
On loan players Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Fullkrug and Cornet should also go.

Hopefully the up and coming players will get a chance next season, don't expect many of the regulars to still be there. Maybe a chance for Kante, Earthy, Orford, Ajala, Fearon, Marshall, Kodua, Mayers and Golambeckis to get some game time if they stay.
Not sure about manager Nuno Santo as he's not that inspiring, so don't know if we'll get a new guy although I can't think who?


For West Ham fans, Next seasons Championship trips

London - Charlton, Millwall, QPR, Watford
East - Lincoln, Norwich
South - Portsmouth, Southampton
West - Bristol City, Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham
Midlands - Birmingham, Derby, Stoke, West Brom, Wolves
North - Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Middlesborough, Preston, Sheff Utd

Premier Predictions (Week 38)

Final week of the season, all games kick off at 4pm on Sunday

Arsenal are champions, Man City 2nd, Man Utd 3rd, Liverpool or Villa 4th
Still a few things to sort but obviously it's praying for a miracle time at the bottom.
Tottenham need a point at home to Everton, West Ham need to beat Leeds to have a chance.
Would be absolutely gutted if Tottenham lost and we failed to beat Leeds 🙄

Congratulations to Aston Villa for winning the Europa League last night

Predictions table is also sorted, Paul is this years Champion.
Disappointing season as Biopunk and Gibbo seem to have disappeared leaving just 3 of us.
Missing Bio as he's been a supporter of this blog since the start (2010), don't know him away from here so no idea if he's OK or just got bored with it?

Brighton v Man Utd
Burnley v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Fulham v Newcastle
Liverpool v Brentford
Man City v Aston Villa
Nottm Forest v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Chelsea
Tottenham v Everton
West Ham v Leeds

Good Luck All  😀


Will probably do a World Cup version, even if it's just for my own entertaiment

Football Round Up

Arsenal win the League for the first time since 2003/2004.

Relegation down to the last game, Tottenham need a point vs Everton, West Ham have to beat Leeds and pray  🙏

European places very complicated. If Aston Villa win the Europa league but then lose to Man City on Sunday and Liverpool win it means 6th place gets a Champions League place (currently Bournemouth or possibly Brighton).
Other comps I'm not sure about, Bournemouth Brighton Brentford Chelsea and Sunderland still in with a chance, Crystal Palace get Europa league if they win next weeks Conference League.

Looks like Guardiola is leaving Man City at the end of season, Enzo Maresca tipped to take over which makes complete sense.
Former Man City coach, with 3 trophies in 2 years, rated by everyone except the Chelsea owners.

Chelsea have lined up Shabby Alonso as their next temporary manager, wish him luck but should get a bank boost and maybe be available for Liverpool sometime next season when Slot gets thrown under the bus by more players 🙄

Iraola and Glasner both leaving at end of season, Maybe Silva as well? plus might be some less expected?

Although if West Ham get relegated I'll be more interested in Lincoln, Millwall, Charlton and possibly Stockport

Championship play off game is still undecided, should have been Southampton vs Hull but the Saints have been expelled for spying so now it's going to be Middlesborough vs Hull. Although Southampton have appealed so might change?

My local club Southend win the FA Trophy on Sunday at Wembley, their first proper trophy ever.
Two days later and they sack manager Kevin Maher ????
It's always been said Southend hate success, everytime they've been doing well they've either sold off the best players or sacked managers. Maybe Guardiola was looking for a new challenge  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 37)

Didn't realise they had moved the Villa Liverpool game to Friday until today.
Makes sense as Villa play the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Bonus game this week with the FA Cup Final on Saturday (90 minute score to count).
So that's 1 game Friday, 1 Saturday, 6 on Sunday, 1 Monday, 2 on Tuesday.

At the top Arsenal should beat Burnley, meaning Man City would need to win at 16 game unbeaten Bournemouth to stay in with a chance. Even if they do Arsenal play Palace who have their Euro final 3 days later so will probably play a reserve side.
At the bottom West Ham go to Newcastle needing a win, not impossible? as we have 3 wins and 2 draws from the last 7 visits. Then hope Chelsea do us a favour on Tuesday. 🙏

Sunday a big day for me as the West Ham game is at 17:30, and Southend play Wealdstone at Wembley at 16:30 in the FA Trophy final. 4 Wembley visits in 13 years after never playing there before.
Giving this a miss as I seem to be a curse on them, 2 trips to the Millennium Cardiff and 2 to Wembley and they've lost all of them, won the finals I didn't go to. Plus I hate new Wembley  😩


Aston Villa v Liverpool
Chelsea v Man City (FA Cup Final)
Man Utd v Nottm Forest
Brentford v Crystal Palace
Everton v Sunderland
Leeds v Brighton
Wolves v Fulham
Newcastle v West Ham
Arsenal v Burnley
Bournemouth v Man City
Chelsea v Tottenham


Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 36)

Extra game this week with the long delayed City Palace game finally being played.
5 games Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday and 1 on Wednesday

Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton play Saturday chasing 6th place, or 5th if Villa play like last week.

Liverpool play serial losers Chelsea, maybe they need someone like Maresca who made them World champs but they weren't happy with that. Could be a good choice for any out of work manager who wants to earn £20m for 3 months work.

Really can't see West Ham doing Man City any favours, but I will keep hoping 😟
Man City have 2 home games to keep the title interesting.

Europe - Arsenal make the final against PSG, will need a miracle but as Chelsea did it you never know?

Liverpool v Chelsea
Brighton v Wolves
Fulham v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Man Utd
Man City v Brentford
*
Burnley v Aston Villa
Crystal Palace v Everton
Nottm Forest v Newcastle
West Ham v Arsenal
*
Tottenham v Leeds
Man City v Crystal Palace

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 35)

Week 35 spread over 4 days
One game Friday, 4 games Saturday, 3 games Sunday, 2 games Monday.

At the top Arsenal play first at home, Man City play away on Monday.
At the bottom Tottenham, West Ham and Forest have difficult away games.
Man Utd v Liverpool a battle for 3rd place.

Leeds v Burnley
Brentford v West Ham
Newcastle v Brighton
Wolves v Sunderland
Arsenal v Fulham
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace
Man Utd v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Tottenham
Chelsea v Nottm Forest
Everton v Man City

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 34)

Just 7 Premier League games this week so I've added the 2 FA Cup Semi Finals
(90 Minute score to count on those)

All a bit spread out this week, 1 game on Friday, 6 on Saturday, 1 on Sunday, 1 on Monday

Another big week at the bottom, Forest play Friday and a win could make them safe?
Tottenham go to relegated Wolves, West Ham play Everton so not ideal.
Arsenal could go top again at home to out of form Newcastle.


Sunderland v Nottm Forest
Fulham v Aston Villa
Liverpool v Crystal Palace
West Ham v Everton
Wolves v Tottenham
Man City v Southampton (FAC)
Arsenal v Newcastle
Chelsea v Leeds (FAC)
Man Utd v Brentford

Good Luck All  😀

5 weeks left and Paul's 4 in front, still not over

Premier Predictions (Week 33)

A 13 game week, going with the FPL layout as the 3 extra games are the ones that should have been played on the following weekend due to the FA Cup semi finals.

So that is 5 games on Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday, 1 on Tuesday and 2 on Wednesday.

Obviously the big game is Sunday where an Arsenal win would put them in prime position to win the league, a City win could see them top after Wednesday's game.
At the bottom Forest and Leeds have winnable home games, Tottenham take on Brighton at home with West Ham going to Palace on Monday, and could be back in the bottom 3 by then 😧
Euro spots very tight with 3 points between 6th Chelsea and 11th Bournemouth.


Brentford v Fulham
Leeds v Wolves
Newcastle v Bournemouth
Tottenham v Brighton
Chelsea v Man Utd
*
Aston Villa v Sunderland
Everton v Liverpool
Nottm Forest v Burnley
Man City v Arsenal
*
Crystal Palace v West Ham
*
Brighton v Chelsea
*
Bournemouth v Leeds
Burnley v Man City

Good Luck All  😀

Europe

Two amazing games between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, PSG taking care of Liverpool.
Arsenal boring their way through to meet Athletico Madrid.

I know it's claimed the Premier League is the best league, and Arsenal are still in it thanks to a favourable draw, but Bayern, PSG and Real Madrid are far better than the rest and it's a shame they all had to meet each other before the final.

Things look good for France in the World Cup as Mbappe and Olise are brilliant.

Premier Predictions (Week 32)

Premier League is back
1 game Friday, 4 games Saturday, 4 games Sunday, 1 game Monday

Big one Friday, slightly knackered West Ham vs In-form well rested Wolves, a must win.
Arsenal and Liverpool play Saturday, mixed fortunes in Europe.
Another new Tottenham manager the highly overrated De Zerbi, slightly better option than Redknapp I suppose? 🤔
Man City at Chelsea, will see if they have enough to challenge Arsenal.

Random thought - For the last year I've thought Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is the best player in the world, but most people can't spell his name so he doesn't get mentioned as much as Messi/Ronaldo 😀


West Ham v Wolves
*
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Brentford v Everton
Burnley v Brighton
Liverpool v Fulham
*
Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Nottm Forest v Aston Villa
Sunderland v Tottenham
Chelsea v Man City
*
Man Utd v Leeds

Good Luck All  😀

FA Cup Predictions 2026 (6th Round)

FA Cup Quarter Finals
3 on Saturday, 1 on Sunday

Man City Liverpool the big match, Chelsea and Arsenal should have it easier?
Sunday's game big for both, but with both in relegation trouble will they go with first XI's? I really hope so.
Gutted that I agreed to go to my son's on Sunday for Easter dinner, just realised it clashes with the match and they don't have BT Sport. Need to find an excuse??

(90 minute score as usual)

Man City v Liverpool
Chelsea v Port Vale
Southampton v Arsenal
West Ham v Leeds

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 31)

Mixed bag this week before another International break
8 Premier league games + the League Cup Final - 2 games postponed
(Result at 90+ minutes to count, no extra time)
One game Friday, 4 games Saturday, 4 games on Sunday

Four 'Champions' League teams now concentrating on the league + maybe Forest, Palace or Villa?
Arsenal and Liverpool safely through, Chelsea and Man City out with a whimper, Newcastle looked good for the first half against Barcelona but fell apart in the 2nd half, Tottenham actually won a game but were out of it after 20 minutes last week.

Big relegation battle at Tottenham, North East derby and a few hard to pick others

Bournemouth v Man Utd
*
Brighton v Liverpool
Fulham v Burnley
Everton v Chelsea
Leeds v Brentford
*
Newcastle v Sunderland
Aston Villa v West Ham
Tottenham v Nottm Forest
Arsenal v Man City (LC)

Good Luck All  😀

8 weeks to go and Paul has a 5 game lead, my 2 low scoring wins have delayed the inevitable, but I don't hold out much hope 😐

The Adventures Of My Avatar

About 20 years ago I decided to use the Smoking Skull as my avatar.
A couple of years back Paul did me an AI version, recently decided to try it myself and was quite pleased with the result 👍
Sent that off to my son in America (who has access to better software than me) with a few ideas
He came back with many 8 second clips (have to pay for longer ones), and have joined them in a compilation video
First draft so will hopefully improve over time, but I was happy 😀

The Remix (added scenes)

Premier Predictions (Week 30)

In the middle of all these European games we have a Premier League weekend.
5 games Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday

Most games have been unpredictable this season (as our scores have proved), and due to midweek results this lot are as well.

Everton's away form might give Arsenal problems?
Usually dread Man City coming to Stratford, Haaland likes playing us with 7 goals in his last 3 games against us, but with them needing an unlikely masterclass to overturn Madrid maybe they'll not be at it?
Forest have Euro games against tough opponents so might have problems against unpredictable Fulham.
Was hoping Liverpool would go goal crazy at home to Tottenham, but seeing them in midweek looks unlikely even against the worst team in the league.

Bad week for the English teams in the 'Champions' League last 16
Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City all got thrashed, Liverpool toothless but only lost by one.
Arsenal needing a dubious last minute penalty for a draw, some credit to Newcastle who were unlucky to only draw with Barcelona.
Obviously someone forgot to tell the rest that the Premier League is the best in the World 🙄


Burnley v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Brighton
Arsenal v Everton
Chelsea v Newcastle
West Ham v Man City
*
Crystal Palace v Leeds
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Nottm Forest v Fulham
Liverpool v Tottenham
*
Brentford v Wolves


Good Luck All  😀

Favourite Moment

 

FA Cup Predictions 2026 (5th Round)

FA Cup 5th Round  🏆

Possible shocks? but unlikely
Can Wolves beat Liverpool twice in a week, all depends how serious Liverpoo take it.
Same goes for West Ham, Man City, Leeds who all have other things to fight for.
Chelsea might have to play a first XI away at Wrexham, Arsenal should win easily.
One game Friday, 3 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday, 1 on Monday.

Usual Cup rules - 90 minute scores count (not ET or Penalties)

Wolves v Liverpool
Mansfield v Arsenal
Wrexham v Chelsea
Newcastle v Man City
Fulham v Southampton
Port Vale v Sunderland
Leeds v Norwich
West Ham v Brentford

Good luck all (or just Paulo)  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 29)

Midweek games - 4 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday, 1 on Thursday

Arsenal go to Brighton who have found a bit of form.
Man City are at home to Forest and I hope will do us a favour.
Man Utd at Newcastle which on current form looks like an away win?
West Ham go to Fulham which used to be a good place to get a win, but London games have been a disaster this season.
Thursday's game should be interesting.
Will Rosenior, Pereira and Tudor survive the week 😆

Annoyed with TNT, I get it as part of the Virgin package and they are supposed to be covering all games this week. But one isn't being shown the Fulham v West Ham one grrrrr...  😡


Bournemouth v Brentford
Everton v Burnley
Leeds v Sunderland
Wolves v Liverpool
*
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Brighton v Arsenal
Fulham v West Ham
Man City v Nottm Forest
Newcastle v Man Utd
*
Tottenham v Crystal Palace

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 28)

Friday start this week
1 game Friday, 5 games Saturday, 4 games Sunday

At the top Arsenal face Chelsea, Man City go to in-form Leeds.
At the bottom Forest go to Brighton, Tottenham go to Fulham.
West Ham travel to Liverpool, where they have won once in my lifetime ..... 🙄


Wolves v Aston Villa
*
Bournemouth v Sunderland
Burnley v Brentford
Liverpool v West Ham
Newcastle v Everton
Leeds v Man City
*
Brighton v Nottm Forest
Fulham v Tottenham
Man Utd v Crystal Palace
Arsenal v Chelsea

Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 27)

5 games Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday

North London derby, relegation candidates Tottenham at home to title hopefuls Arsenal.
Man City home to Newcastle after their 5,000 mile round trip to thrash Qariabag 6-1.
West Ham with the chance to put pressure on Forest who travelled to Turkey and have to play Liverpool.
Monday in-form Man Utd go to Everton who don't seem to like their new stadium.

Aston Villa v Leeds
Brentford v Brighton
Chelsea v Burnley
West Ham v Bournemouth
Man City v Newcastle
*
Crystal Palace v Wolves
Nottm Forest v Liverpool
Sunderland v Fulham
Tottenham v Arsenal
*
Everton v Man Utd


Good Luck All  😀

FA Cup Predictions 2026 (4th Round)

Later in the year than normal, here the FA Cup 4th Round  🏆
Usual rules - 90 minute scores only, so draws possible

2 games Friday, 8 on Saturday, 5 on Sunday, 1 on Monday

2 all Premier games on Saturday night
The one non league team left Macclesfield play Brentford on Monday.
A few possible shocks, hopefully not in our first ever trip to Burton.
Maybe at Hull, Grimsby, Stoke, Burnley?


Hull v Chelsea
Wrexham v Ipswich
Burton v West Ham
Burnley v Mansfield
Man City v Salford
Norwich v West Brom
Port Vale v Bristol C
Southampton v Leicester
Aston Villa v Newcastle
Liverpool v Brighton
Birmingham v Leeds
Grimsby v Wolves
Oxford Utd v Sunderland
Stoke v Fulham
Arsenal v Wigan
Macclesfield v Brentford


Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 26)

Midweek games for Week 26
A bit of a messed up week as it goes on for 8 days due to a re-arranged game in the following week.
So that is 4 games on Tuesday 10th, 5 games on Wednesday 11th, 1 game on Thursday 12th + 1 game on Wednesday 18th
In the middle of this is the FA Cup 4th Round (separate post for that).
Hope that's clear?

Arsenal with the chance to pull further clear with 2 away games, or possibly City could put the pressure on?
At the bottom We (West Ham) usually beat Man Utd at home, but they are flying under Carrick so not feeling confident.
Really need 6 wins from the last 13 games, and 8 of those are against top 10 teams 🙄
Forest take on Wolves, and Palace are at home to Burnley so the gap could get bigger. 😞


Chelsea v Leeds
Everton v Bournemouth
Tottenham v Newcastle
West Ham v Man Utd
*
Aston Villa v Brighton
Crystal Palace v Burnley
Man City v Fulham
Nottm Forest v Wolves
Sunderland v Liverpool
*
Brentford v Arsenal
*
Wolves v Arsenal


Good Luck All  😀

Premier Predictions (Week 25)

Friday night start this week
So that's 1 game Friday, 7 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday

Liverpool v Man City would normally be the big game, but more a battle for top 4 this year.
Arsenal with a chance of stretching their lead, unless the usual February crumble is on?
Burnley v Hammers a chance to catch up a few points on Leeds and Forest who play each other on Friday.


Leeds v Nottm Forest
*
Man Utd v Tottenham
Arsenal v Sunderland
Bournemouth v Aston Villa
Burnley v West Ham
Fulham v Everton
Wolves v Chelsea
Newcastle v Brentford
*
Brighton v Crystal Palace
Liverpool v Man City


Good Luck All   😀

Premier Predictions (Week 24)

5 games on Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday
Last set of games before the transfer window closes.
Another chance of freak results this week? but most of the games are hard to call. 

Hoping the far East betting syndicates fancy an upset at Chelsea 😉

3 teams clear at the top, Villa at home the others away.
At the bottom a 5 point gap and the 2 teams West Ham might catch play each other.

Brighton v Everton
Leeds v Arsenal
Wolves v Bournemouth
Chelsea v West Ham
Liverpool v Newcastle
*
Aston Villa v Brentford
Man Utd v Fulham
Nottm Forest v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Man City
*
Sunderland v Burnley


Good Luck All  😀

West Ham Thoughts

West Ham Thoughts  🤔

You have to wonder who decides what players we need in transfer windows?
Being linked with Tottenham 3rd choice keeper and Chelsea's injured 2nd choice makes no sense while we already have 11 keepers on the books, and Areola has been really good this season in front of an awful defence.

Surely a Dawson style defender is needed, Mavrapanos and Todibo have good moments but keep switching off.
Julio sent back to Brighton after starting just one game all season, surely better than Kilman who has been pretty useless.

Players in so far - Tatty looks like a trier but a fit Wilson seems like a better option, Pablo is a bit raw but might improve?
Lamadrid hasn't played for 3 months so no idea if he's going to add anything.
Traore might be a good signing for £1m, but his best position is where Bowen plays so don't think he'll start many games unless they push Bowen into the middle which is a waste.

No idea what the story was with Ward Prowse, Nuno really didn't like him? must have been something that happened at Forest last season.
Loaning him to Burnley doesn't make much sense unless he really is now that bad that he thinks he will harm Burnley.

Has been obvious for a while that Paqueta didn't want to be here, so hopefully they will take the money, as he'll be worthless if we drop.

Fullkrug was a bad signing, interested to see if he stays fit at Milan and we might get some money back.

Sensible that Rodrigues has gone, World Cup winner limited to 3 starts and a few substitute minutes, shouldn't have loaned Alvarez out.

Shame that Earthy and Marshall have been loaned out again, although at least they will get game time which wasn't really happening for us.

I know Nuno has given game time to some of the youngsters like Scarles, Mayers and Kante, but as the U-21's are having another great season surely players like Adiele, Ajala, Fearon, Orford, Golambeckis, Briggs etc might be better options than over priced untried imports that they seem to be looking at?

Have to dream we can get something at Chelsea, then Burnley away, Man U and Bournemouth at home. Need at least 9 points to be in with a chance of staying up  🙄

Premier Predictions (Week 23)

In the middle of the two final Euro group games we have Week 23.
5 games on Saturday, 4 on Sunday, 1 on Monday.

Stuttering Man City vs new improved Wolves could be interesting, a month ago it was a home banker but now not so sure.
Another possible is fired up Man Utd at Arsenal?
Just hoping West Ham have some confidence now? and avoid another defeat against the Mackems.
Can't see any definite winners this week, but would probably miss them anyway 🙄


West Ham v Sunderland
Burnley v Tottenham
Fulham v Brighton
Man City v Wolves
Bournemouth v Liverpool
*
Brentford v Nottm Forest
Crystal Palace v Chelsea
Newcastle v Aston Villa
Arsenal v Man Utd
*
Everton v Leeds

 

Good Luck All  😀

AFCON

I don't usually watch these games, but have watched a lot this time around.
The overall standard of football was really good even from the lesser known teams, Some great games and great goals. Something that impressed me with most of the games was the lack of play acting and going down easily, although the North Africans (Morocco, Egypt, Algeria) sadly did a lot of it.
The stadiums were great, and I was surprised how much rain fell in nearly all the games.
The referees in the early stages were really good, not so much in the last few games.
VAR was nearly as slow as the English version, and did ruin a lot of moments

Senegal and Nigeria looked the best teams, but Nigeria didn't really turn up in the semi final and lost on penalties to Morocco which was a shame.

The final was fairly quiet for 90 minutes, then all hell broke loose in injury time.
Within minutes Senegal scored but was immediately disallowed because Hakimi fell over after a light touch, then Morocco get a corner and Diaz falls over after a slight touch from West Ham's Diouf and the ref gives a penalty after a VAR review. Senegal go mad and after lots of pushing and shoving they are told to walk off the pitch in protest.
Sadio Mane remains trying to act as peacemeker and eventually they come back.
The penalty is finally taken in the 24th minute of injury time by Real Madrid's Spanish striker Diaz, who tries a stupid panenka straight into Mendy's hands.
Pape Gueye scored a brilliant goal in extra time to win it for Senegal.

Premier Predictions (Week 22)

Premier League is back
After a weekend full of exciting games without dodgy VAR, it was back with a vengeance in midweek
So get ready for more wasted time being taken on forensic detail trying to disallow goals for certain teams.
7 games on Saturday, 2 on Sunday and one on Monday.
Derby week with the Manc one starting on Saturday + 2 London ones and a South coast one to finish.
Manager pressure on Carrick, Leroy's son and Tottenham reject Nuno who could buy himself some time with a win away to his old team. 🙄

Euro comps week, so a bit of player juggling expected.


Man Utd v Man City
Chelsea v Brentford
Leeds v Fulham
Liverpool v Burnley
Sunderland v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v West Ham
Nottm Forest v Arsenal
*
Wolves v Newcastle
Aston Villa v Everton
Brighton v Bournemouth

Good Luck All  😀

FA Cup Predictions 2026 (3rd Round)

FA Cup Predictions 2026 (3rd Round)     🏆

Here we go with Season no.11 of the NBTF FA Cup predictions Competition.
All welcome, just me and Paulo last year so the more the merrier 🙄

Rules - 3 points for a correct score, 1 point for a correct result.
Scores at full time (90+ minutes) only (not including extra time and penalties).

Round 3 x 32 games, Round 4 x 16 games etc, So a total of 63 games.
As far as I know only the Semi's and Final clash with Premier league weekends.
Winner will be whoever scores the most at the end.

Four all P/L games at Everton, Newcastle, Tottenham and Man Utd.
Three non league teams left, Macclesfield get the big giant killing chance at home to Crystal Palace.
The other two will be disappointed with their draws Weston Super Mare go to Grimsby, and Boreham Wood play Burton.
Possible shocks at Wrexham, Derby, Charlton and West Ham, we have lost all 6 London derbies this season so playing QPR not ideal.
 
Here are the games (Copy & Paste advised),
4 on Friday, 19 Saturday, 8 Sunday and 1 Monday.

(Friday)
MK Dons v Oxford Utd
Port Vale v Fleetwood
Preston v Wigan
Wrexham v Nottm Forest
(Saturday)
Cheltenham v Leicester
Everton v Sunderland
Macclesfield v Crystal Palace
Wolves v Shrewsbury
Boreham Wood v Burton
Burnley v Millwall
Doncaster v Southampton
Fulham v Middlesbrough
Ipswich v Blackpool
Man City v Exeter
Newcastle v Bournemouth
Salford v Swindon
Sheff Wed v Brentford
Stoke v Coventry
Bristol C v Watford
Cambridge Utd v Birmingham
Grimsby v Weston Super Mare
Tottenham v Aston Villa    
Charlton v Chelsea
(Sunday)
Derby v Leeds
Portsmouth v Arsenal
Hull v Blackburn
Norwich v Walsall
Sheff Utd v Mansfield
Swansea v West Brom
West Ham v QPR
Man Utd v Brighton
(Monday)
Liverpool v Barnsley

Good Luck All   😀

Premier Predictions (Week 20 + 21)

Happy New Year All  🍷 🍺 🍾 ❄ ⛄

Crazy Christmas period continues with another double week

2 game weeks with fixtures from 3rd to 8th January 2026, before the FA Cup starts again on Friday 9th January.


Week 20 - (4 games Saturday 3rd January, 6 games Sunday 4th January)

A vital week for West Ham which I'm dreading, Wolves have their best chance of a first win having already beaten us in the League Cup this season and they are starting to improve.

Arsenal will stay top whatever as they go to misfiring Bournemouth who might be without star player Semenyo? Man City take on managerless Chelsea.

Elsewhere Leeds v Man Utd is usually spicy.

Aston Villa v Nottm Forest
Brighton v Burnley
Wolves v West Ham
Bournemouth v Arsenal
Leeds v Man Utd
Everton v Brentford
Fulham v Liverpool
Newcastle v Crystal Palace
Tottenham v Sunderland
Man City v Chelsea

=============================================
Week 21 - (1 game Tuesday 6th, 8 games Wednesday 7th, 1 on Thursday 8th)

The Tuesday game is vital at the bottom whatever happened on the previous Saturday, can West Ham figure a way to get the game switched to the City ground?

West London derby on Wednesday, will Chelsea have a manager by then?

Thursday should be the big game, but only if Liverpool can remember what they can do. Maybe get Darwin Nunez back on loan, he had his critics but at least he always looked like he tried.

West Ham v Nottm Forest
Bournemouth v Tottenham
Brentford v Sunderland
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Everton v Wolves
Fulham v Chelsea
Man City v Brighton
Burnley v Man Utd
Newcastle v Leeds
Arsenal v Liverpool

Good Luck All   😀

 

Mid season info table, it makes sense to me 😆