Football is back

After what seems like an eternity, football is back this weekend, for real this time (the Olympics, Capital One Cup First Round and an England friendly don't count).

It's the football fan's Christmas Eve. One more sleep! The wait is nearly over and football is once again the talk of the office.

We've had a go at predicting the Premier League table in May with intriguing results . We both ended up picking the same top 4 in the same order with Citeh as Champions.

The bottom three was a lot harder to pick out though; it could be any three from about eight! Both of us have Wigan and Reading below the dreaded dotted line but we're divided on Norwich and Southampton.

So, J reckons:

1. Man City
2. Man Utd
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Newcastle
7. Liverpool
8. Everton
9. QPR
10. Stoke
11. Sunderland
12. Fulham
13. Aston Villa
14. West Ham
15. WBA
16. Swansea
17. Norwich
18. Wigan
19. Southampton
20. Reading

C went with:

1. Man City
2. Man Utd
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Liverpool
7. Everton
8. Newcastle
9. Sunderland
10. Aston Villa
11. QPR
12. WBA
13. Stoke
14. Fulham
15. West Ham
16. Southampton
17. Swansea
18. Wigan
19. Norwich
20. Reading

We're going to have to wave our prediction disclaimer at you already now that RVP has indeed moved to United and Wigan are actually signing decent players. It looks like there is a lot more business to come though and I'm sure that we'll get plenty of stick for our predictions in May when one team finishes a lot higher than we've put them.

Arsenal fans will still be reeling over the loss of Van Persie (he signs where he wants) whilst all three of Fulham's fans will be debating at tonight's meeting of Putney Chess Club whether to boo Clint Dempsey should he dare go near Craven Cottage this weekend. Similarly, I expect Stoke fans are still coming to terms with the devastating blow of losing Lewis Moult on a free to Northampton whilst Chelsea fans will no doubt be questioning their club's ambition after they allowed both Sam Walker and Sam Hutchinson to leave on loan.

On to this weekend's action then, and there's a few eye-catching ties this weekend. 

Firstly, at 3pm the Happy Hammers return to the Premier League with a home tie against Aston Villa. Both sides have brought in a handful of players each and I'm expecting a physical yet cagey encounter. I don't think Lambert will go with his Norwich approach of attacking, direct football until he signs a forward that will prove more of a nuisance than the rather lightweight Bent or Agbonlahor, so I can see them wanting to play on the deck as the West Ham centre halves will mop up anything that comes at them in the air. Expect the exact opposite to that from West Ham, whose players are experts when it comes to football being played in the sky. Consequently, I can see Villa getting bullied in the air and in central midfield too by Diarra and Diame. Three points to the Cockney boys for me.

Prediction: West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa

Saturday tea-time sees Newcastle entertain Spuds at the Sports Direct Arena. The Toon Army will be hoping to pick up where they left off last season but may have to do it without Ba, Cisse, Cabaye and Ben Arfa who are all fitness worries! I find that managers are quite good at playing mind games with this sort of thing though so I'd expect three of them to start and one of them to score. In the opposing dugout, AVB has big boots to fill down at the Lane. Even without Modric, I think he has a pretty formidable team to choose from, except for up front. I suspect Spurs fans will leave the stadium on Saturday night pondering what might have been three points if they had had a quality striker and a fit Scotty P. I'm thinking Newcastle will take the lead, AVB will be crouched down posing and then do a Mourinho-esque treble substitution. Following this, Gylfi will score a free-kick to nick a point...

Prediction: Newcastle 1-1 Spurs

The weekend will be rounded off under the floodlights at Goodison Park where Everton host Manchester United in what has provided a classic encounter over the past few seasons. Everton fans will be delighted that they have Jelavic and Pienaar right from the start this time around but they have been slow out of the blocks in recent seasons. United will want to prove a point against the side whose draw at Old Trafford sparked the beginning of the end of their title bid last year. They will feel that this is probably a good time to visit the Blue side of Merseyside though as Everton don't appear to be done with their Summer's business yet. The deadly duo of Van Persie and Rooney to bag a 2nd half goal each here after Jelavic nods Everton into a first half lead. Trust me on this one...

Prediction: Everton 1-2 Manchester United

This weekend C's off to watch his beloved Hoops v Swansea and is also taking in the mouth-watering prospect of Bournemouth v MK Dons whilst holidaying in the area on Tuesday night.

In our next instalment, J will take the reins with a look back at the weekend's action and he'll chew over the first week's big talking points, including the fortunes of QPR, United, Crewe Alexandra and Die Unioner, who are away at Rot Weiss Essen in the headline game on German TV on Monday night. 

Enjoy the weekend!

C&J