Weekend Review: Does football in 2012 have to end?

After an amazing year in football, we're back with another weekend review of the last games in this calendar year, as the Premier League continues to take shape...

Aston Villa 0-3 Wigan - Wigan put a further dent into Aston Villa's season to make their aggregate score over their last 3 games 0-15. Villa's win at Anfield seems like an age ago now and they have really been pulled into the relegation battle which they seemed to be relatively clear of a short time ago. The worrying thing for Aston Villa is that Wigan are hardly the most prolific team (they have scored 22 goals in their 20 league games so far this season) but managed to score 3 goals against their leaky defence. Emmerson Boyce's new nickname should surely be 'Moses' after the way the Aston Villa defence parted to allow him to score a memorable goal. We've said this before but if Wigan stay up this year a large part of that will be down to Arouna Kone, who looks so good in that team. Not to be unfair to Christian Benteke who has shown signs of real promise this season, but a comparison between the 2 strikers illustrates just how effective Kone is. Benteke had 48 touches in the game and Kone had 49 so they had similar opportunities to put a stamp on the game. With these 49 touches Kone had a pass accuracy of 94% whilst Benteke was accurate with 55% of his passes. They both had 3 shots, and Kone managed to score with one and also assisted a goal for his team. Wigan and Villa are equal on points so obviously there is a long way to go, but this game highlights how much of a contrast there is between these two teams at the moment. Villa seem to be sliding downwards, and you find it hard to see how the January transfer window will help them with Randy Lerner's purse strings growing ever tighter, while Wigan will believe that they can produce enough displays to leave at least 3 teams trailing in their wake come May.

Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle - Theo Walcott should be a striker blah blah blah. That angle on this game has been done to death, yes Theo scored a hat trick, he was clinical and looked great, but there's enough about that everywhere else. Instead it's interesting how Newcastle are aiming to knock Aston Villa off their leaky defence perch, by letting in 11 goals in their last 2 games. Last year Newcastle's defence starred and they conceded 51 goals in their run to 5th place, after 20 games they've already conceded 37 goals and you definitely have to think the Newcastle board are regretting giving Alan Pardew an 8 year contract now! The signing of Mathieu Debuchy from Lille though does seem like an astute signing, and I would be very surprised if they didn't bring in a centre back as well. Newcastle are now just 3 points off the relegation zone, and while it's hard to see the likes of QPR, Reading or Southampton overtaking them by the end of the season it is a worrying time for the Toon Army. Demba Ba is apparently in talks with Chelsea and seems set to leave the club, Newcastle have scored 26 goals in the league - Ba has exactly half of these goals. If they do sell him Papiss Cisse has a very big burden on his shoulders.

Roundup of our teams

C's QPR slumped to a dismal 0-3 home defeat to Liverpool, with all goals scored in the first 27 minutes. A crushing defeat given the fact that their 3 closest rivals before the start of the gameweek all picked up at least a point, with Wigan and Reading winning their games. C's match review will be up in the near future to review his thoughts on the game.

League leaders Man Utd cruised to a relatively straight-forward 2-0 victory against West Brom at Old Trafford to finish the year with a 7 point lead at the top. Shinji Kagawa returned to action and played 66 minutes and looked right back to his early season excellent form. United dominated possession but did allow West Brom to put in a far too high 14 shots on goal. This was only their 4th clean sheet of the season but they had 17 shots on goal and finish the year with 50 goals in 20 games. If they are to keep their lead at the top of the league it will have to be down to the attack and with Robin Van Persie in this form it looks exciting. United have 11 goals more than any other team in the league and the exciting games they've produced this year look set to continue!

Crewe won 2-1 at Oldham to bounce back after defeat from Tranmere on Boxing Day. Mark Ellis bounced back from his mistake which granted Oldham an 82nd minute equaliser to score the winner just 2 minutes later. Mathias Pogba's 11th of the season had earlier put the Alex ahead. 2012 was a fantastic year for Crewe with their 20 game unbeaten run, Wembley play off victory, and they now sit in 13th place in League One just 3 points off the play off places. The big job for Steve Davis will surely be to keep hold of Luke Murphy who is being strongly linked with a move to Stoke in the January transfer window.

Union Berlin's last game before the winter break was on December 17th in a 4-3 away loss to Braunschweig and they don't play again until 1 February. At the end of the year Union sit in an excellent 7th place in Bundesliga II in what has been a great start to the season. Here's hoping the break revitalises the team and propels them to an even better second half of the season!

What we learned this week

• Maybe the purse strings really are extremely tight at Arsenal if they can't even afford to give their manager a coat that works.
• Cameron Jerome can score an absolute 'worldy' when he wants to.
• Frank Lampard won't be short of offers should he leave Chelsea.
• Samir Nasri is becoming a bit of a liability.
• Mick McCarthy is still loved in Wolverhampton, Stale Solbakken is not.
• When do 2 yellows not equal a red? When your name is Mick Russell.
• Championship clubs are hedging bets on new managers weaving their magic in January - Nottingham Forest, Blackburn and Barnsley all clearly felt that was their best plan of action.
• It'll be interesting to see if Edgar Davids really can save Barnet on his own.

On that note, happy new year everyone and enjoy 2013! Let's hope it brings as much excitement as 2012 if not more!

C&J

Weekend Preview: 'Arry's at 'ome at Loftus Road

Since we last wrote one of these, there's been a lot of water go under the bridge in various towns and cities in the UK but plenty in the footballing world too, arguably the most to have flowed through Loftus Road.

'Arry is back in football, the rumours were true. You can't help but think Gary Lineker might have known something was going on when he asked Redknapp on Match of the Day a couple of weeks ago whether he fancied the QPR job. Sparky finally lost his job just prior to the away fixture at Old Trafford (he should really have gone immediately after the dismal display against Southampton, but we can only assume the delay was in agreeing a provisional deal for the 65-year old former West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton and Spurs manager). Yet again Hughes' words came back to haunt him it seems - he claimed his future would not rest on the result against Southampton, just like he claimed QPR would never be in a position so close to the Premier League trap door again during his tenure at the club. He was so so wrong on both counts.

My personal take on the appointment of Harry is that he is the only man that was available that was right for the job. Much has been made of his ability to galvanise struggling teams and galvanising is precisely what Rangers need right now. Hughes might not have 'lost the dressing room' but he hardly strikes me as a motivator and a motivating, no-nonsense approach is what some of those lazy over paid lard-arses need right now. He showed straight away against Sunderland that he is quite happy to drop some of the Hughes favourites like Ferdinand and Granero and play players in different positions (e.g. Mbia in central midfield). Whilst some will say that Hughes wasn't given enough time to find his best eleven, my counter-argument is that he didn't experiment enough: he had his favourites and seemed so intent on playing only one up front and his many midfielders in positions they were not familiar with. A clean sheet is a good start, but there is undoubtedly a lot of work to do. Several of my colleagues and friends have told me that they *think* Harry is a good appointment but will reserve judgment for now because QPR's defence and attack are so woeful currently. Others have said that Harry will want to spend big in January, Fernandes will back him but we are on the road to bankruptcy. I'm not sure about that: I think people take Fernandes for a mug - he's not got to where he is as a businessman now only to go and blow it all on a football team. And then there are those that  are telling me 'for every Portsmouth and Spurs relegation escape there's the job he did at Southampton'. We'll have to see, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I have to admit that with the next three fixtures against Aston Villa (H), Wigan (A) and Fulham (H) and then Newcastle away (who haven't been at their best of late), December is crucial. Harry will have to get the most out of the team he has inherited, which have thus far massively under-performed. So you'll have to come back and ask me whether it's a good appointment on New Year's Eve.

West Brom v Stoke

Some people say that bogey teams don't exist in football any more. Just ask West Brom fans about bogey sides and they will all tell you that theirs is their Staffordshire rival the Potters. Stoke have won all of their Premier League away encounters at The Hawthorns and have not lost there in nine years. West Brom won at the Britannia last season to record their first win against Stoke in any competition for 11 games. And the omens aren't looking good for the Baggies for this one - they were outplayed by a classy Swansea side the other day whilst Stoke finished their match against Newcastle strongly and scored two excellent goals (well by their standards anyway!). Having said that, West Brom have looked a different proposition at home this year to what they were last year and I think they have enough in their side to bounce back with three points here.

Prediction: West Brom 2-1 Stoke

West Ham v Chelsea

The rozzers will be on high alert in East London this weekend for the traditionally hoolie-heavy fixture of West Ham v Chelsea. Rafa goes into this one looking for a first win as Chelsea boss and can expect an uncomfortable 90 minutes of taunts from the home fans as well as boos from his own but although I can see them going 1 down, I think he will answer some critics (in the media at least) by bringing Torres off the bench and him grabbing a goal. Chelsea have an excellent record against the Hammers and expect this to continue with a point here and a strong finish.

Prediction: West Ham 1-1 Chelsea

Man City v Everton

Another intriguing game in the top flight this weekend is at the Emptihad, where Man City welcome Everton, who have lacked their early season consistency of late. I still fancy them to give Citeh a good game here and can see them registering in the scoring, but ultimately I'm predicting a late winner for the Mancunians. Aguerrrrrrrrrrrrrrro!(?)

Prediction: Man City 2-1 Everton

MK Dons v Wimbledon

This weekend is FA Cup 2nd round weekend, which has thrown up the very interesting tie of MK Dons v Wimbledon. I just fear it has been a bit of a media circus for the away side, who I can't help but think will be overawed by the occasion and suffer a heavy defeat to the experienced seasoned pros of Franchise FC. Judging by their morals, I don't expect many of their die hard fans will be there to see it though, probably just as well!

Prediction: MK Dons 4-0 Wimbledon

Other cup ties this weekend include such all non-league classics as Luton (yes, non-league Luton!) v Dorchester, Harrogate Town v Hastings United and Barrow v Macclesfield whilst poor Bournemouth fans are lumbered with a second trek to Carlisle in one season (once is bad enough for them). Sheffield United v Port Vale should be a decent game with both sides doing well in their respective leagues.

There's a full programme in the Championship this weekend which commenced with Birmingham's 3-2 win over Middlesbrough at St Andrews last night on St Andrews Day. The two stand out games have to be the lunch time kick off between Huddersfield v Leeds and SE25 clash between Crystal Palace and Brighton.

The fire at the John Smith's Stadium has already been stoked by comments from the Leeds hierarchy criticising Simon Grayson's reign at the club, not that any local derby involving Leeds and Neil Warnock needs a fire stoking beforehand. This one's got to be a decent bet for a red card this weekend!

Meanwhile, those lucky enough to be at Selhurst Park this afternoon should see a very different footballing spectacle between two in-form sides. It's an odd rivalry that the two sides share (as Ian Holloway has also highlighted this week) but I liken it a little to that between QPR and Luton; just about close enough geographically and some classic and controversial battles down the years have left scarred relationships between the two sets of fans.

There is a further derby day this weekend and it involves Derby too, who head to the King Power Stadium for the forgotten East Midlands derby against Leicester. The Foxes showed they have ability among their ranks with their win over out of sorts Sheffield Wednesday which J and I both attended last weekend, but they were beaten by a second minute Luciano Becchio penalty at Elland Road midweek. They are very strong at home though (won seven, drawn one, lost one) and should return to winning ways this weekend  against a consistently inconsistent Derby side that have won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five games.

Preview of our teams

Manchester United are in Royal Berkshire this weekend as they take on Reading who looked to have turned the corner with their win over Everton but threw away the initiative at Wigan and let in a late goal at Villa Park on Tuesday night. I can't see United having any problem in replicating the Tottenham performance at the Madejski and believe that Reading will be vulnerable to the pace down the wings and technical ability of United's forwards. Sean Morrison and Kaspars Gorkss have done OK against the larger, less skillful attackers in the league this year but been found out by anyone with a bit of technique and pace.

As briefly mentioned above, QPR, the only winless and most hopeless side in the top four divisions, seek to finally record a first league win of the campaign at home to Aston Villa this weekend, who haven't had the best of seasons so far but have produced more encouraging signs of late and ground out a couple of results as they continue treading water. I think as long as QPR deal with Agbonlahor through use of anyone other than Bosingwa, and put players who know about marking from set pieces on and around Christian Benteke, then we really ought to be looking to this fixture to kick our season into gear. Easier said than done with the Hoops though...

Crewe are in 2nd round FA Cup action this weekend as they play host to Burton Albion of League Two. The Alex will be hoping to continue their good form of late which has had much to do with the form of loanee Lauri Dalla Valle. A money spinning tie could then arise from the third round draw on Sunday.

1.FC Union Berlin recorded a fine 2-1 win away at MSV Duisburg and will be hoping that a good run of form on the road eventually translates into some more consistent home form starting with the match at home to Bochum tomorrow. This is followed with next Friday's headline clash at home to unbeaten Kaiserslautern, so three points to carry into that would do most nicely!

So plenty of football to feast on this weekend. Enjoy! C&J

Weekend Preview: The consistently inconsistent world of AVB

This week was a mixed bag for English clubs in Europe yet again. The weekend, however, could see some sorting out of managerial issues and ambitions for the season...

We're up and running for the weekend already as Friday night, which together with Monday night are the nights every football fan prays that a fixture won't get switched to - apart from Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday fans it seems (28,229 packed into the Riverside for last night's game - I expect ticket prices were reduced, Boro's form of late and the fact that there can't be much else going on in Middlesbrough on a Friday night had much to do with it). Still, the red army will have gone home happy with what they saw after the home side shot down the Owls, beating them 3-1. Once again, Emmanuel Ledesma, who promised so much in his early days as a QPR player that T-Shirts were on sale after a hat-trick against Carlisle in the League Cup, was the star of the show for Boro, involved in most things good about their play. Ledesma is undoubtedly a very talented player but I am still surprised that he is plying his trade in this country when it is obvious to me that his style better suits something like La Liga or a South American league. Still, good luck to the guy, I always like to see talented players fulfilling their potential.

Plenty more lies ahead of us this weekend, of course:

Southampton v Swansea - The annual sack race in the Premier League looks set to culminate soon with what seems to be a sprint finish between Nigel Adkins and Mark Hughes. This weekend could determine who wins that race with QPR travelling to almost struggling Stoke, while bottom-placed Southampton take on Swansea at St Mary's. These two teams have only met twice in the last 29 years and Southampton haven't won either of these meetings (which took place in the Championship in 2008/09), with one draw and one Swans win. Swansea haven't won in their last 2 games but considering their last outing was a draw against Chelsea it must have felt like a win to them. Between them in the league so far this year there have been an average of 3.55 goals in games involving this teams so it's a very decent bet there will be more goals here! Saints have conceded a staggering 28 goals in 10 matches which is a joint Premier League record along with Barnsley in the 1997/98 season. Swansea have actually failed to score in 5 of their last 7 away league games, but it is extremely hard to imagine that run will continue. Saints haven't won in 5 and Swansea have only won 1 game in their last 8. However, since their victory against Wigan, Swansea have narrowly lost to the Man City at the Emptihad and drawn to the team who sat at the top of the table going into the weekend of that game so they seem to have turned a corner. It is incredibly hard to see anything but a Swansea win here, and it could spell disaster for Nigel Adkins. It would be harsh - especially considering the team have had 2 successive promotions to get here, and also it seems like there is a lack of talent to replace him. The only name that leaps at you is Harry Redknapp, yet he is the exact man who relegated Saints last time they were in the Premier League and you can't imagine he'd be very welcome at St Mary's! This could be an interesting one...

Prediction: Southampton 1-3 Swansea

Man City v Tottenham - For the first 2 games of the season we were told that Andre Villas Boas was a flop who had got his players backs up and wouldn't succeed at White Hart Lane. Then for a spell of about 4 or 5 games he was the next coming of the Messiah and could do no wrong. Now he's back to being a disaster after losing 2 out of his last 3 league games! Which is right?! Maybe we'll find out this weekend - a win at the Emptihad for AVB and Tottenham would arguably banish a lot of his critics surely! Tottenham have won their last 3 away games and after last weekend's grumblings at White Hart Lane you have to feel it may be beneficial for them to be away from home after all. This isn't an easy place to come though with City having won 27 of their last 29 league games at home. Tottenham's problems have arguably centred around their leaky defence - which has conceded 14 in 10 games - over a goal a game. City will have been stung (yet again) by a pretty dismal performance in Europe and they seem to have a knack of grinding out results at the moment - as shown by the fact they're the only unbeaten team in the league without really impressing at all, so they could easily compound Tottenham's problems. A lot could depend on Gareth Bale and whether he is given freedom to play in his preferred position on the left or is moved around by AVB, which seems to have happened too often this season. Tottenham haven't won away at both Manchester clubs in the top flight since 1959-60 and it's hard to see that run coming to an end as well.

Prediction: Man City 2-2 Tottenham

Chelsea v Liverpool - A clash that would have been billed as a 'Top four Grand Slam Super Sunday' special on Sky a couple of years ago, this fixture has produced some decent controversy over the last few years, mainly in the Champions League though rather than domestically. Fast forward to 2012 and it's kind of difficult to get excited about this game in the fixture calendar. Chelsea managed a lucky midweek win over Shakhtar after their opponents were guilty of over-committing on an attack at the end of the game, then some QPR-esque marking from said corner. Liverpool put out a bunch of reserves (even Carragher played) in Russia with Sunday's fixture in mind so I don't think they'll particularly suffer from any effects of their midweek exertions, but even a slightly tired Chelsea side are good enough to sweep the Scousers aside at the moment. Yes, they turn up for the big games, but I can't look beyond Torres piling misery on his former side here.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Liverpool

In the Championship there are some tasty local derbies around, Barnsley v Huddersfield looks like a League One tie on paper but having said that the two have looked far from League One teams, the latter particularly flying high currently. Blackpool v Bolton looks like it could be a classic, I'd go with a score draw! The standout fixture has to be Leicester City v Nottingham Forest though. The away side have been wildly inconsistent this season so far, producing some outstanding football at times but then having taken two steps forward they take one back with performances like that which saw them lose 4-1 at home to Millwall. They don't have a great record at the Walkers Stadium (their last win there was in 2005) but they have only lost once on the road so far this season and Leicester's form has dipped slightly of late with unexpected defeats to Crystal Palace and Watford. Still, I fancy Leicester to beat them here, probably not as comprehensively as they did in the FA Cup earlier in the year, but still fairly comfortably. Nugent on the scoresheet.

Prediction: Leicester 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Our sides are all in action this weekend and, for the first time in god knows how long, all playing today (albeit with staggered kick-off times). 

1.FC Union Berlin are underway against VfR Aalen hoping to continue where they left off with that fine away win in Dresden. That confidence should translate into an excellent atmosphere at the Alten Foersterei this afternoon and hopefully they will extend a decent record which they have against today's opponents, who they last played at Division Three level!

C is unbelievably missing the mouthwatering prospect of Stoke v QPR at the Britannia this weekend (part timer!). QPR have a fairly decent record away at the Potters' ground but with Stoke not having lost in their last eleven home games and Peter Crouch up against an incompetent back line that aren't practising marking from set pieces, we don't hold out much hope for the travelling R's faithful today. Having said that, there is the continued saving grace that Rory Delap is out injured and the home side are, together with Sunderland, the League's draw specialists. I know QPR need more than one point from games at the moment, but a point at a hard place to go would certainly be looked upon favourably.

Crewe Alexandra are home to league table neighbours Colchester this weekend and will be hoping that the goals against Wycombe in the FA Cup and in the outstanding away win at Doncaster midweek has breathed life back into the seasons of their strikers. Mathias Pogba has been in amongst the goals again whilst loan signing Lauri Dalla Valle introduced himself to the Alex fans with the opener in the victory at the Keepmoat. Colchester haven't yet recovered from their TOWIE derby defeat to Chelmsford City in the FA Cup but on their day are more than capable of competing at this level. 

Tea-time sees Manchester United travel to the West Midlands to take on Paul Lambert's Aston Villa. United should have beaten Arsenal by more last week but a convincing ending to the match at Braga should mean their tails are up for this one. Villa won at Sunderland last weekend by virtue of the fact they were able to finish a chance on the day whilst Sunderland haven't looked like scoring in a month of Sundays. I'm not really convinced by Lambert's Villa revolution yet and I can see United winning comfortably here.

Enjoy the weekend's football and we'll be back with C's review of QPR v Reading and a weekend review later this weekend.

C&J

Weekend Review: Wilshere sees red, Latics delight at The Lane

Another weekend and plenty to discuss in the weekend review. This was a weekend that saw supposedly struggling teams pick up points and 2 of the big 3 dropped points.

This weekend saw 2 sides struggling yet again who have somehow managed to avoid the glaring stare of the media. Both Sunderland and Stoke sit in 15th and 16th place having lost to teams who seem destined to be embroiled in a relegation battle this year. Both their woes seem to centre on the fact they can't score. Sunderland are the league's lowest scorers with just 6 goals in 9 games, and incredibly their top (and only) goal scorer in the League in October was Demba Ba (yes - Newcastle's Demba Ba!). Steven Fletcher remains their only goal scorer from their team, and their woes were compounded in Saturday's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa. During the game Sunderland actually had 12 shots on goal and yet they somehow managed to get 0 on target! Last year's bright sparks for the Black Cats like Sessegnon and Larsson just haven't fired this season at all, and Adam Johnson seems to be showing why Mancini never took to him at Man City as he is too predictable constantly cutting in onto his left foot from the right side. Meanwhile, Stoke succumbed to Norwich in another 1-0 loss. Stoke's troubles have also come in front of goal as they've only scored 8 in 10 games in the league. Only 3 of their players have scored so far this season (Crouch 4, Walters 1, Kightly 2) and it seems like Tony Pulis' signings in the summer to make Stoke more of a footballing side have actually had an adverse effect on their attacking threat. Charlie Adam is yet to get an assist this season (which he has surely been bought for primarily with his free kick and corner kick taking prowess).Stoke had 9 shots in the game with 4 on target yet failed to find the back of the net and they haven't won in 4 now. Both sides need to start picking up points soon or we imagine that their managers could find themselves under pressure sooner rather than later.

The headline fixture of the weekend didn't disappoint as Manchester United overcame Arsenal by two goals to one. United were visibly (and understandably) disappointed to concede a goal late on to Santi Cazorla, which in spite of being merely a consolation and the last kick of the game, will have had SAF tearing his hair out. He, like all managers, will have identified Santi as the Arsenal danger man to be marked at all times, and quite frankly he was given far too much space to produce the crisp finish that he did. However, overall United can be very pleased with their afternoon's work. They could (and probably should) have had 5 or 6 with RVP, in particular, missing a few gilt-edged chances. However, the difference between these 2 sides this season was particularly evident in a comparison between United's Van Persie and his replacement at Arsenal, Olivier Giroud. Van Persie had 41 touches in the game whilst Giroud had 37 so they had similar opportunities on the ball throughout the game, yet RVP completed 87% of his passes while Giroud completed just 72%. RVP won 50% of his aerial duels in the game while Giroud (supposedly a more physical presence) won just 22% of his aerial battles. Giroud had 3 shots with only 1 on target whereas RVP had 4 shots and 4 on target, with his first touch in the game itself being a goal. Arsenal's first shot on target didn't come until injury time through Giroud just before Cazorla's goal! In essence United had 13 shots to Arsenal's 7 with 6 shots on target to Arsenal's 2. This game was a strange case of 2-1 not telling the story and actually flattering Arsenal.

Swansea grabbed an 88th minute leveller (and a beauty it was) through Pablo Hernandez to snatch a point off of Chelsea, who lead through Victor Moses' first goal for the club. It was a deserved point for the Jacks who had looked like they had run out of steam at the time but had played extremely well for large parts of the game.

The biggest surprise of the week was at White Hart Lane, where a lacklustre Tottenham Hotspur were out-foxed and out-fought by Wigan Athletic. Perhaps we should have known - they've been here and done it before, they've been to the Emirates and done it before. Martinez got his set up and approach spot on here and Wigan were very assured in their play. Incredibly, Ben Watson was confirmed as being the first Englishman to score for the side from the North West in 2012!

Roundup of our sides

Man Utd beat Arsenal 2-1 as detailed above.

In the Hoops Hoopla (trademark pending) QPR took a battling point against Reading in a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road. C's match report from the game will be appearing next week but it was an entertaining affair of 2 halves, which saw Rangers come back into the game after going down in the first half to yet another goal against his old team from Kaspars Gorkss. Djibril Cisse equalised for Rangers to leave both sides with a fairly deserved point. Check the blog in the next week or so for C's thoughts on the game and the result.

Crewe came from a goal down to beat Wycombe 4-1 in the FA Cup First Round. An early Matthew Spring (remember him?!) goal put Wycombe in front, but 2 goals either side of half time saw Crewe comfortably into the 2nd Round. Mathias Pogba, Mark Ellis, Chuks Aneke and Luke Murphy all got in on the goalscoring act for the Alex and it's a morale boosting win after last weekend's loss to Yeovil. They will face either Burton or Altrincham in the next round at home, after those sides played out a 3-3 draw - a very good result for non-league Altrincham against the League Two side! Either way it won't be a long trip in the next round for either side's supporters!

Meanwhile in Germany in the derby at Dresden Union Berlin ran out 2-0 victors against Dynamo Dresden in an excellent result for the team. The result sees Union sit in 10th place in the league now and they are 6 points from the relegation zone now. A Fabian Schonheim double either side of half time was enough to see off Dynamo for Union - a remarkable achievement for the defender! This result stops Union's run of 2 losses in a row and is very welcome as it is their first away win of the season. Let's hope it's the first of many!

What we learned this week

- For all the positives to come out of Goodison Park this season, Everton have developed a nasty habit of conceding early goals and giving themselves mountains to climb in games. The 7th minute goal they conceded at home to Fulham was the 7th goal they have conceded in the opening 25 minutes of games in their last five league matches.
- Wayne Rooney has a pretty dismal penalty record having missed 7 of the 20 penalties he has taken in his career - surely he shouldn't be the number one choice?!
- What is with players wearing short sleeve shirts and gloves?! Nani was a culprit and we spotted 3 alone for Man City - with Nasri, Dzeko and Balotelli all guilty of this ridiculous fashion faux pas.

- Strikers still on QPR's books are finding the net again in the Championship - DJ Campbell scored the winning goal at St Andrews for Ipswich, who began life under Mick McCarthy with a win, whilst Rob Hulse scored a first since a header away at Scunthorpe in April 2011

- Fernando Forestieri was the difference between Watford and high-flying Leicester City at Vicarage Road. The Argentinian has adapted well to the English game and is showing he is just too good for the Championship after running the game here. Maybe there are some benefits from being Udinese Reserves?!

- Big Jon Parkin only scores for Fleetwood in the presence of an ESDB Football blogger - read J's match report from Fleetwood v Bromley later this week.

- Efe Sodje saw red again for Bury this weekend, his 14th sending off of an illustrious career

C&J

Weekend Preview: Have You All Got Over The COCup last week?

After a midweek round of the COCup (Capital One Cup) which included an incredible 36 goals we're in the uncomfortable position that the Premier League might not be able to live up to the League Cup!

Reading and Arsenal played out a thriller at the Madejski where Reading went 4-0 up before half-time, before Arsenal pulled it back to 4-4 at the end of 90 minutes with 2 goals in injury time. There was a definite shift in momentum by this point and Arsenal ran out 7-5 victors in an extraordinary game after extra time. Sky must have thought that their luck was in this week as the next televised game on Wednesday night between Chelsea and Man Utd and featured a further 9 goals! United were 3-2 up in the 92nd minute but a last minute Eden Hazard penalty again saw the momentum shift. Chelsea had by this point essentially thrown on their full strength team against a Man Utd substitute and reserve team with only really Rafael a first teamer in their XI. Chelsea eventually won 5-4 after extra time. Amazingly there were more goals in each of those two games than there were penalties scored between Wigan and Bradford. The Bantams, with their German-esque record in shootouts (six shootout victories in a row going into this one) clearly knew that the strategy here was to hold Wigan out for 120 minutes before dumping them out with their nerves of steel from the spot. The quarter final draw has pitted Leeds and Chelsea against each other (two clubs which deserve each other) and Bradford have a money-spinning tie at last at Valley Parade as they host Arsenal. The COCup has fast become one of the most entertaining competitions this season amazingly! Still, it's a mickey mouse cup that nobody's bothered about, right?

This weekend's action:

The Championship kicked us off with another 'cracking game' (Warnock, 2012) last night as Brighton and Leeds shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, with Paddy Kenny producing some fine stops including one from the spot and one deep into added time to deny the Seagulls all three points in front of over 26,000 at the Amex (again!). I noted that Lee Mason refereed the match last night and incredibly has now given six penalties in three days (he also took charge of the Chelsea v Man Utd league cup tie).

Fulham v Everton - This looks like it could be a decent tie, given their respective good starts to the season. Everton's sparkling early form has tailed off a little with three straight stalemates, but they've still shown plenty of quality in those draws to suggest that they aren't about to embark on any kind of slump (and, Stevie G, I can verify that Everton most certainly do not play long ball football!). As we've come to expect with the Cottagers, they've been strong at home and Berbatov and Petric have certainly hit it off with three goals each so far this campaign and we can't overlook the incredible goalscoring form of Bairdinho from the back so far this year! Everton have an excellent recent record against Fulham with five wins and a draw from the last six meetings, but for us all roads lead to a score draw this time around.

Prediction: Fulham 2-2 Everton

Norwich v Stoke - We don't feel like we've featured either of these teams too much this season so we're going to give them some attention now! This is a game between two sides out of form - they've each only won one in their last 6 league games. Stoke haven't won in 3 while Norwich did win recently against Arsenal but showed their lack of clinical edge this season in their draw against Aston Villa last weekend. In the last 6 games between the two teams Stoke definitely have the edge with 4 wins against the Canaries. In that period they've scored 10 goals to Norwich's 3. However, you can almost guarantee the game will be feisty with a total of 14 yellow cards in this period and 3 reds. Stoke haven't won in 14 attempts away from home so Norwich will be feeling that this could be a good chance for them to pick up another 3 points at Carrow Road. Both sides have averaged under 1 goal a game this season in the league (Norwich have 7 goals in 9 games, while Stoke have 8 in 9). But while Norwich have been leaking goals at over 2 a game, Stoke don't concede a lot with 9 in 9 for them. It could come down to the performances respectively of Stoke's forwards. If Stoke's forwards have a good day they should win, but if they misfire it could be Norwich's day.

Prediction: Norwich 0-1 Stoke

Crystal Palace v Blackburn - Game of the week in the Championship promises to be a real treat in South East London as 4th plays 5th. Hot on the heels of the news that Ian Holloway is set to take over at Sel'urst and on the back of an excellent run of form which continued with a fantastic 2-1 win away at Leicester last week, the Eagles host the mad chicken farmers who themselves will have new boss Henning Berg in the hotseat and have shown signs of recovery again lately by grinding out victories against struggling Sheffield Wednesday and Watford. I have been incredibly impressed by the Championship's surprise package this year so far: Palace have not lost in the league since August 25th and as well as at Leicester have claimed  victory over Cardiff, Bolton and Wolves in recent weeks. With 26 goals having been scored at Selhurst Park this year, I'm expecting more of the same here. Blackburn do not roll over easily though and they are the only Championship side unbeaten on the road this year, albeit having drawn 5 of their 6 away games. We fancy another 'Desmond' here!

Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-2 Blackburn

It's the FA Cup 1st round proper this weekend in the lower echelons of the football league, and there are some intriguing encounters. Among them, Chelmsford City take on Colchester United in an all Essex derby, whilst there is the always feisty encounter of Hereford versus Shrewsbury on Sunday. Crawley Town will be glad they don't have corruption king and general criminal Steve Evans still at the club as the Met Police come to the Broadfield Stadium in an attempt to arrest the Sussex club's recent series of cup runs. Gillingham host Scunthorpe today without any detailed scouting reports on their opponents - after their scout joined the opposition's staff this week! Last night saw Cambridge City force a replay out of MK Dons. 

Our teams:

Saturday's game at Gresty Road sees the FA Cup start properly for Crewe Alex as they take on Wycombe Wanderers. Both sides lost their last league outing and will be hoping to try and begin a cup run this weekend. Wycombe are however, without a win in 3 and they are the underdogs going into the game a division down from Crewe. Interestingly both sides would have been in opposite positions last year when Wycombe were relegated from League One while Crewe were promoted from League Two. Crewe have won 3 of the last 4 meetings between these sides, however, they have lost their last 4 matches in the FA Cup.

QPR take on Reading in the battle of the hoops, which ought to be viewed as a 'win or bust' for Mark Hughes. He's had plenty of mitigating circumstances with injuries and suspensions and the team have played better football than their league position suggests at times, but ultimately football is a results business and results are dictated by goals - which QPR don't score enough of, but concede to many of. I really hope Hughes goes for it in this one and stops pissing around playing one man up top at home. This has to be 4-4-2 for me.

Saturday's early game sees Man Utd host Arsenal. None of the last 6 games between the sides have ended in a draw, so our tip is not to bet on that outcome! United have won 5 of the last 6 meetings between the two and it has always seemed that they have had Arsenal's number when it comes to these games. The same fixture last season saw United run out 8-2 winners in a thrilling game, but I think you'd go a long way to get odds on that score again! United have scored 16 goals in their last 6 games against Arsenal and they will be hoping that run continues on Saturday.

Union Berlin have a massive derby game with Dynamo Dresden on Sunday. The last 2 games between these 2 have ended in a 4-0 victory for either team so that could be a decent score to bet on! Both sides are mid to lower table in II Bundesliga and Union actually sit 2 places and 3 points better off than their hosts. Union have won 5 of the last 6 games between these two teams so they will be hoping to keep up that run. Dynamo haven't won in their last 3, and both sides lost their last game so it should be an interesting battle between two sides fairly low on confidence.

Enjoy this weekend's football everyone! C is off to Loftus Road to watch QPR take on Reading on Sunday while J is travelling to the world famous Highbury Stadium to see Fleetwood Town take on Bromley in the magic of the FA Cup First Round. Look out for match reviews and the weekend review over the next week or so!

C&J

Weekend Review: Chelsea See Red as Refs Hit The Headlines

It seems like it's been a while since we've spoken about bad refereeing decisions affecting games, so it seems appropriate that they would all come at once on the most Super of all Sundays so far this season...

Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United - Man United finally won at Stamford Bridge in the league for the first time in 10 years but it's hard to argue with the fact that refereeing decisions influenced the game massively. United started like a house on fire and took the lead after just 4 minutes through a quick counter attack that ended with a Robin Van Persie shot hitting the post and going in off the hapless David Luiz. This was only the 3rd time United have taken the lead in their 9th Premier League game this season! Robin Van Persie scored to make it 2-0 after another lightning counter attack down the right hand side. This was his 6th goal at Stamford Bridge and according to Opta Joe he has now scored more goals there than any other visiting player in the Premier League. Chelsea took control from around the half hour mark and scored either side of half time and David De Gea deserves a lot of credit for holding Chelsea out for so long. After his first half free kick Juan Mata has now been involved in 9 goals in his last 5 league games (scoring 4, assisting 5) and he seems to be in the form of his life. Then, enter Mark Clattenburg. Branislav Ivanovic can have no complaints really for his sending off. Ashley Young was through on goal and whether it was intentional or not he clipped Young, was the last man and prevented a goal scoring opportunity. Fernando Torres' red was contentious to say the least. Depending on your allegiance you may feel it was harsh, you may not. Personally (call me biased) I didn't see any contact between Evans and Torres, but Evans did dive in and it could easily have been a foul the other way. United then scored late on through Chicharito, and again Mark Clattenburg was at the centre of controversy as Hernandez was in an offside position. Niall Quinn said 'you have to feel for Chelsea don't you?' As Man Utd and QPR fans we can tell you Niall, no you don't! In our humble opinion any club that celebrates a captain charged with racist abuse and whose fans boo the victim of said abuse and his brother - for having the audacity to be racially abused and to be related to said victim - doesn't deserve any of our sympathy whatsoever! All in all though it seems a bit of a shame that such a fantastic game had to be influenced so heavily by Mr Clattenburg. This was a massive win for United though, and shows that Chelsea aren't going to run away with the title. This makes things a lot more interesting now anyway as only 1 point separates 1st to 3rd place.

Everton 2-2 Liverpool - Earlier this pulsating Merseyside derby was also marred by a late dubious refereeing decision that prevented Luis Suarez (shame!) and Liverpool from claiming a late late victory against Everton. Suarez was clearly motivated by David Moyes' pre-match comments about the Uruguayan's propensity to dive. He was right up for it all game and showed his displeasure with those comments by diving along the ground right in front of Moyes after Leighton Baines' own goal put Liverpool ahead. Suarez had double the amount of shots of any other player on the pitch. The first half was enthralling and all the goals were scored in the first 35 minutes. Liverpool had a goal disallowed in the last minute as Suarez was adjudged (wrongly) to be in an offside position before turning the ball in from a Coates knock down. It was a feisty affair with 7 yellow cards and it almost seems like the biggest hurdle for Everton now to beat Liverpool is psychological rather than based on inequality on the pitch. Everton have all the tools to beat Liverpool and showed their quality by coming back from 2-0 down but they seemed to be a bit fearful of Liverpool's fast start leading to them not really getting started until they were 2 down. That's 3 draws on the trot for Everton and they need to start picking up wins again soon if they want to challenge for 4th position this season. Liverpool meanwhile continued their habit of only showing up for the big games - something they've continued for a couple of seasons now.

There were some big surprises in the Championship this week as Birmingham won at Leeds, Crystal Palace produced an excellent display to continue where Dougie Freedman left off as they won away at leaders Leicester whilst Millwall trounced strong starters Huddersfield.

(Brief) round-up of our sides

QPR's kamikaze performances continued this week with an 11th red cards in 47 Premier League games and  another defeat to go hand in hand with it. C's match report is here.

Crewe  and Union Berlin compounded C's misery with 0-1 defeats against very mediocre opposition (no disrespect to Yeovil Town or SC Paderborn 07 fans among our readers). Crewe were defeated by a disappointing goal scored by a defender from a set piece, whilst Union, who were five games unbeaten before the weekend, will be looking to bounce back in the DFB-Pokal (FA Cup in English money) as they play Offenbacher FC Kickers away as they gear up for the big East German derby against old enemy Dynamo Dresden next Sunday. Apparently Steve Davis is interested in bringing Ryan Lowe back to the Alexandra Stadium from MK Dons - an experienced goalscorer at this level can only be a good addition to such a young side and we hope it happens!

And finally, of course, we've glossed over Manchester United's three points at Chelsea above already.

Things we learnt this week

• The 'Bairdinho' train keeps rolling as Chris Baird scored his second goal in 2 games to equal the amount of goals he scored in his first 120 Premier League appearances.
• Were MOTD having a special on old supporters this week? Apparently there was a  centurion fan present at Arsenal and Wigan and both were honoured by their clubs, which is quite a nice touch really. We didn't even think Wigan had been going that long though?!
• Gordon Bennett that was a lot of Bennetts in the Aston Villa v Norwich game! Elliott and Ryan were both playing for Norwich, while Joe was playing for Villa. It was as if that many Bennetts on one pitch would make the universe implode so Joe got himself sent off to reduce the Bennett number by one.
• Phil Neville obviously got altitude sickness from being so high up the pitch. That's why he dived.
• Jose Fonte looks really out of his depth in the Premier League, and it appears his lack of ability is what is continuing to cost Southampton dear
• G4S security staff do have their uses, it seems. In spite of having their name dragged through the mud all Summer at the Olympics, one of their staff stepped up from being spectator to run the line in Dunfermline v Cowdenbeath after the original linesman stepped up to referee following an injury
• Oxford United - Adam Chapman joins the list of crazies football injuries of our time - playing through the pain barrier after burning his nipple with hot dairy products - proof that there is no point in crying over spilt milk!
• The Davids effect is continuing to impact on the Football League's bottom club Barnet, who recorded a first away win of the season in what has been a productive week or so since the Dutchman's arrival - that's now two wins and a draw in three games.

Weekend Preview: Best League in the...UK?

After a week that confirmed what pretty much everyone has known for a while - the Premier League just isn't the best league in Europe any more - the Premier League is back and the top teams will be looking to bounce back after 4 of the country's representatives failed to win in Europe...

The big talking point this week has to be Man City's failure (yet again) in Europe. Roberto Mancini's record in Europe is coming under close scrutiny as his team look set to bow out at the group stages for the second year in a row, despite their wealth of riches, barring a miracle. Between 2004-08 Mancini got Inter to the Quarters (2004/05, 2005/06) and the last 16 (2006/07 and 2007/08) before he was sacked. This was despite winning the Serie A title three years in a row from 2006-2008. 2 years after he left Inter (with predominantly the same core as Mancini's team) won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho. Coincidence? City’s three fixtures in the Champions League them concede a total of 72 shots in contrast to 85 in their eight Premier League games this season. Yes, Man City have been drawn in the 'Group of Death' this year but they haven't even played well really. They have 1 point and they were extremely lucky to get that against Dortmund. The contrast in the two teams on Wednesday was remarkable and it has been well documented that the total cost of the Ajax starting XI on Wednesday was £2.75m while City's starting XI cost a measly £187.5m! They really should have been winning that game.

Aston Villa v Norwich - Saturday's early kick off will centre around the battle of Norwich and their former manager, Paul Lambert. There is seemingly a lot of ill-feeling between the two parties since their separation - Norwich are suing Lambert for breach of contract while Lambert is counter-suing Norwich for unfair dismissal looking for £2m! This week Norwich's chairman said Lambert walks out on every team he manages while Lambert suggested he hasn't spoken to the chairman, Alan Bowkett in three years (even when he was there). There has been a lack of spark for either team this season and neither has really got going. Both sides only have the one win in the league each from 8 games, and both have struggled for goals scoring less than 1 per game this season on average (both have 6 goals). Norwich have conceded over 2 goals per game this season on average (17 goals in 8 games), while Villa have let in 13 goals in 8 games. Norwich did win against Arsenal last time out and they will be hoping that result will kick start their season but it looks like being a relegation dogfight for both teams this year, and neither have been in good form. Norwich haven't won their last 6 away games, while Villa have failed to win in 17 of their last 18 league games. Both managers have a difficult job on their hands this season and you have to think a lot of both teams seasons depend on Darren Bent and Grant Holt respectively. Holt has 3 goals this season while Bent has 2 and they are the only players from either team who have scored more than 1 goal this season. You have to think this game could be the best opportunity for these teams to fill their boots and score a few, but it appears unlikely. I tend to think that Paul Lambert will thrive on this sort of pressure game. Having played at the likes of Dortmund and Celtic and winning multiple trophies he loves the big games and this is a huge game for his team, and I think the Lambert factor will win out for Villa.

Prediction: Villa 2-1 Norwich

Everton v Liverpool - Sunday's early kick off sees the return of the Merseyside derby. This game seems like it could be a difficult one to predict so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest there will be a lot of cards. In the last 6 games between these sides there have been 26 yellow cards and 3 reds. So expect more of the same this weekend. Everton have only beaten Liverpool once in the last 6 meetings between the two teams while Liverpool have won 4 and certainly seem to have the edge on their rivals. However, Everton go into this game 8 places and 6 points above their rivals, and have only lost once this season. They have also won 6 of their last 7 home games in the league. However, as we all know the form book goes out of the window in a derby. Liverpool have a young team and the average age of their likely first XI tomorrow is 24.5 years old, whilst Everton's is 29.4 years of age. This youth could either prove to be the undoing of Liverpool or their secret weapon. The players don't look like they have been phased by anything this season but a pressure cooker atmosphere at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby is another challenge altogether for Liverpool's players. Personally I think the game will come down to clinical finishing and Everton's 15 goals in the league versus Liverpool's 10 tells a story in itself. Liverpool need to take their chances tomorrow otherwise Everton will punish them. I'm going with the form book in this game though.

Prediction: Everton 3-1 Liverpool

Chelsea v Man Utd - Finally, the Sunday evening match is at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Manchester United. Stamford Bridge always seems to be a bogey ground for United and the Reds haven't won at Stamford Bridge in the League in the last 10 games - since April 2002, and Chelsea are the only team in the history of the Premier League who have more wins than losses against United. Funnily enough though United haven't lost in their last 5 meetings against Chelsea (including the two Champions League games from United's 2011 run to the final). This should be an excellent game though and sees 1st take on 2nd in the league. This game could go a long way to showing how serious both teams title challenges are this year. Expect goals - between them these teams have scored 40 goals in the league this year and conceded 17. United are starting games this season bizarrely and seem to be giving teams head starts every game. I think this was slightly inevitable as this season seems to be purely concentrated on attacking and scoring goals with that forward line. Chelsea's forward line is almost as impressive though and it should be a high scoring affair for that reason. United have scored at least 2 goals in their last 7 Premier League games and it seems almost certain that Chelsea will score goals as United's defence seems to be leaking goals on a huge scale this year. United's philosophy this year seems to be 'we will score one more than you'. This has never really worked before (see Newcastle in 95/96) so it is intriguing to see how long this goes on.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-2 United

This weekend QPR take on an Arsenal team who have lost their last 2 games and appear to be back in the middle of a crisis again, just weeks after being the best team since Sliced Bread FC. Rangers are still without a win in the league this season and they will be hoping this is the best time to play Arsenal. However, Mark Hughes has said he fears a backlash this weekend. Rangers avoided defeat last weekend for the first time in 4 in the league and fans will be hoping this could be the start of a turnaround in fortunes, and they will take heart from Norwich's performance against the Gunners last weekend.

 Crewe beat Swindon 2-1 in midweek to record their first win in 4 in the league and they take on an in-form Yeovil team this weekend who have won their last 2 league games. Games between these two teams don't end in draws (both teams have shared 3 wins each in the last 6 games between these 2). Byron Moore got 2 in midweek for his first goals of the season and Steve Davis has challenged him to get double figures this season, so the Railwaymen will be hoping this will spur him on to have more of an impact. Yeovil are an entertaining team this season having scored 24 so far in 14 this season and conceded 21 so there should be goals and an entertaining game at Gresty Road!

Union Berlin take on SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday. Paderborn haven't won in their last 4 and Union will be hoping to build on their win over FSV Frankfurt last week. This is 11th v 10th and should be a tight affair as both teams sit on 12 points. Let's hope Union's good home form continues and they use this to their advantage!

Enjoy the weekend and we'll be back with a review of the weekend next week!

J

Weekend Review: Goals, goals, goals

It was a weekend to remember for the neutral as it rained goals all over the country - in fact, there was not a single goalless draw in any of the top four divisions in England this weekend! Add to that twelve red cards across the leagues and we've certainly got plenty to chew over in this review. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Premier League this weekend came at Carrow Road where Norwich beat Arsenal for the first time in 20 odd years. The Canaries came flying out the traps and really got in the Gunners' faces which really unsettled them and knocked them out of their usual passing rhythm. Maybe Arsene Wenger will draw 'jetlag' from his lucky dip of excuses this week after it was revealed that the team flew from Luton to Norwich, yes, flew. Fourteen minutes from take off to landing! All to avoid a rail replacement bus. Surely somewhere in amongst all those incoming transfer fees and those sky-high season ticket prices they are able to find funding for a team bus? Norwich's performance in this game reminded me a little of Arsenal's last away league defeat - away at Loftus Road in March. The winning goal itself was somewhat fortuitous, Grant Holt tapping in after a Mannone spill (in fairness, it was another 'swerver' which many a Premier League keeper has struggled with so far this year - and the ball bounced right in front of the keeper). Santi Cazorla was pretty absent in contrast to his excellent appearances this season, and that was a big reason that Arsenal managed to have 72% possession during the game and yet not score a single goal. The strikers look like they might struggle to create chances by themselves and if Cazorla's service isn't up to scratch there doesn't appear to be much other alternative. Now we've said that though, they are shoo-ins for goalscorer bets against QPR next weekend at the Emirates.

Liverpool managed a first home win of the season against Reading but it was hardly convincing against a side you'd really expect them to beat comfortably. Raheem Sterling scored his first league goal, which feels like it has been a long time coming. The best QPR youth product in years is living up the all the hype and I've no doubt that this kid is going to be a 'top top player' (Redknapp, 2012). Yet again though we saw that rat boy Suarez can't finish to save his life for all his trickery and build up play. Liverpool just don't look like they have a goalscorer at all in their ranks and the long standing issue of not scoring or winning enough games at home looks set to continue for another year. Liverpool had a staggering 27 shots on goal during the game and yet only managed to get 7 of those efforts on target, and score from the one. Suarez had 10 shots alone in this game and yet only 1 of these efforts was on target, while Raheem Sterling had 5 shots with 3 on target. Even Glen Johnson had more shots on target than Suarez in this game (6 shots 2 on target)!  The need for a finisher is ever more apparent each week at Anfield and it does make you wonder why on earth they let Andy Carroll go out on loan? It seems like Liverpool have been missing wide men for years to provide service for the likes of Crouch and Torres yet when they finally have some exciting wingers it's strikers they lack!

In the preview I said that Chelsea hadn't impressed me so far this season and I was most definitely proved wrong in their 4-2 victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Chelsea were exceptional and it is hard to look past them being the team to beat this year after their showings so far. They are still unbeaten in the league so far this year, but perhaps more impressively they are playing in a wholly un-Chelsea like style this year. Their swashbuckling style with Juan Mata as the spearhead is reaping dividends for Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea dominated possession against last season's 4th place team and had 58% possession. They were also clinical and scored their 4 goals from just 10 shots, while Spurs scored 2 goals from 26 shots. Chelsea had a shot accuracy of 70%. Juan Mata as mentioned before was unplayable at times and he scored twice and assisted one other goal for Chelsea picking Kyle Walker's pocket before laying the goal up on a plate for Daniel Sturridge. Mata seems to be relishing his freedom this year. Last year he was the only real creative spark in a very rigid Chelsea team but this year he has Oscar and Hazard to share the burden so he has freedom to roam about and more inspiring runs and contributions from his teammates. However, Spurs probably won't be too disheartened by this loss. They were without Gareth Bale, Moussa Dembele, Scott Parker, Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto - all of whom would arguably be in and around the first team when available. Their lack of depth in midfield, especially on the left, was very apparent and neither Clint Dempsey nor Gylfi Sigurdsson are wingers and both toiled there. All in all, an impressive victory for Chelsea and it is hard not to see them scoring numerous times against the leaky Man United defence.

Elsewhere in the football league it was a good weekend for Leicester City who, in spite of drawing in this particular round of fixtures, moved top of the Championship on goal difference after playing out an entertaining draw at St Andrews. This was by virtue of the fact that all the teams around them failed to pick up points. In fact, the Championship is filled with sides that have started the season consistently inconsistent and it really does look as though anyone can beat anyone in that division this year. Just six points separate the top thirteen sides and the rest of the division are only a couple of points behind that (excluding Ipswich and Peterborough, who are by no means cut adrift). Just think, Watford fans, a couple more wins to add to your three in the last four games and you'll be top of the league!

Roundup of our sides

Finally a week where we can report points gained for all of our sides! 

Chuks Aneke was the unlikely hero for Crewe as they salvaged a stoppage time equaliser to earn a 'Desmond' at the Banks's Stadium. Aneke was on hand to head in a Mathias Pogba cross to make amends for a dreadful showing at Portsmouth last weekend. 

However a first league win of the season still eludes QPR who were made to settle for a point by the ten men of Everton at Loftus Road on Sunday. C's report will be online later this week.

Man Utd beat Stoke 4-2 in an eventful game at Old Trafford on Saturday. United's games this season are becoming a bit silly and they seem to be giving opponents a head start by giving a goal away early and then seeming to start performing after 20 minutes. The attacking trio of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck were all superb and the two crosses by Van Persie and then Rooney for each other's goals were sublime. Just wondering: did Wayne Rooney get to keep the match ball for that hat trick or not?!

Union Berlin beat FSV Frankfurt 1-0 thanks to a Torsten Mattuschka penalty. This was a very decent win for Union at home as they won for the third time there this season. Having not won away from home yet the Stadion An Der Alten Forsterei needs to become a bit of a fortress to keep Union from being sucked towards the relegation zone. This win sees Union sit in 10th place in the league but only three points away from third bottom. Overall though a much needed win, and a move in the right direction.

What we learned this week

• If you want to please Edin Dzeko, you could do worse than calling him a super sub - we've heard he really enjoys being called that!
• Southampton's 'attack is the best form of defence' philosophy is continuing to fail at the top level. This week they shipped another four goals. That's now 24 goals shipped in eight league matches, a Premier League record. Changing goalkeeper for the third time this season didn't improve their defending one iota. 
• We think Manish Bhasin and Leroy 'Absolutely' Rosenior decided to make this week's Football League Show a love-in for Wilfried Zaha. Yes, he is in sparkling form and looks a decent shout for a move to the Premier League, but other players deserve some praise too at Palace for their excellent run!
• Chris Eagles has found his level again - not good enough for the Premier League, too good for the Championship. This weekend he notched his 6th of the season and inspired a Bolton comeback from 2-0 down at home to Brizzle City to win 3-2.
• Staying in Lancashire, Charlie Austin netted a 13th goal of a so far terrific campaign up front for Burnley, who as a team haven't exactly set the world alight either - a testament to what an achievement that is!
• £1 million Ipswich flop Jay Emmanuel-Thomas managed a first goal in 13 games but it still couldn't stop Paul Jewell's side chalking up yet another defeat, after they lost to two goals scored by another striker struggling to live up to his price-tag so far this season, £2.5 million Hull summer signing Nick Proschwitz
• 'Marvellous Marvin' Morgan went from hero to zero in thirty seconds at Fratton Park this weekend. The Shrewsbury striker scored, then was booked for a foul following the restart after his goal, only to be given a second yellow card moments later for the protest against his first booking. Madness!
• The FA Cup 1st round draw will have really given Coventry fans a harsh dose of reality - pitting them against Arlesey Town, who will no doubt miraculously find a thousand 'die hard' glory hunting fans from the street to take to the Ricoh. Hereford v Shrewsbury and the potential for Chelmsford v Colchester were further highlights of the draw
• Not particularly specific to this week, but we're hearing ever increasing use of the shout 'AWAY!' by goalkeepers in the Football League as an instruction to defenders to clear their lines when crosses come in. On Match of the Day the yell could be heard from custodians Guzan, Friedel, Begovic and Hart

Weekend Preview: Football rains supreme

After an eventful week that saw Roy Keane involved in all manner of banter to pad the England match being rained off we hope to live up to Roy's skills and review England v Poland and preview the return of the Premier League...

Tuesday night's fiasco brought one question to most fans' minds: why have a roof if you're not going to use it properly?! Surely it makes sense to pay attention to weather reports and close the roof accordingly if it's due to rain? Either that or leave the roof closed on the day of a game until shortly before kick off if the weather is alright? Anyway, the game went ahead on Wednesday afternoon and we were almost left wishing it hadn't. It was a dismal game from an England point of view. Unfortunately for Wayne Rooney, he had one of those games that seem to happen for him in an England shirt all too often. He had a passing accuracy percentage of 69% - to put that into perspective, only Joe Hart had a lower accuracy. Nonetheless, he did what strikers are there to do - he scored. More to the point he had a shot on target, which no other England player managed all game. Joe Hart has saved England and Manchester City on a number of occasions but unfortunately he made a big error in this game leading to Kamil Glik scoring a free header into an empty net. Hart rushed off his line - as Adrian Chiles put it (not that we like to give him any credit), he had made his mind up too early and was like a batsman playing the ball he wanted rather than the ball he was bowled. It's interesting that Joe Hart gets such an easy ride when he makes a mistake dealing with a cross yet foreign goalkeepers such as David De Gea are pilloried in the press if they make any kind of misjudgement when coming for a cross. Back to England though - it's worrying that they can have 58% possession in a game and yet have 5 fewer shots than their opponents - sounds rather familiar doesn't it C?! It looks set to be the same old story for England that when they meet a top quality side they will crumble yet again. They need to be more prolific in front of goal and more penetrative with their passing if they want to succeed.

Thankfully for everyone, the internationals are over (at least until November) and the Premier League is back this weekend.

This week's news has been dominated by the BBC's 'Price of Football' survey, which revealed pretty much what we already knew - C's season ticket is a rip off compared with other clubs of QPR's calibre but the Hoops' board can get away with it because of supply and demand economics, whilst Arsenal fans pay up to £1,955 to watch their team continue a run of seven seasons without a trophy. As you will know, we don't officially recognise Scottish football as a sport, but we particularly enjoyed the stat earlier this week that Montrose fans have seen their side lift more trophies in the last five years than Gooners fans have and yet they pay one tenth of the cost for their season ticket. Similarly, it is bizarrely more expensive to see Bury play than Barcelona's cheapest ticket. Joking aside though, the price of football is most definitely rocketing and attendances are continuing to decline - no coincidence seeing as we're in the midst of one of the biggest recessions for decades. But with more and more money being pumped into the game, clubs are forced to look to the fans to provide finances just so they can compete on the pitch, so I can't see the trend of rising ticket prices changing any time soon. 

Anyway, enough about all that, let's move on to this weekend's action...

Tottenham v Chelsea - The early kick off on Saturday sees the battle of Andre Villas Boas against his former employers Chelsea. Besides the inevitable sideshow that will stir up the issues between AVB and Chelsea's senior players, this is a tasty affair between 2 in form sides. Chelsea are unbeaten this season in their 7 league games and they've won their last 3 games on the trot, while Spurs are unbeaten in their last 6 league games and have won 4 in a row. Spurs haven't beaten Chelsea in the last 5 meetings between the two teams and it should be interesting to see if AVB's resurgent Tottenham are the real deal this season. Chelsea still haven't convinced us yet that they are real title contenders. They've been a strange team this season as they sit top of the league yet haven't really dazzled us yet. Gareth Bale has been on fire the last few weeks for both Spurs and Wales and it's notable Chelsea are definitely weaker on the right side of defence than on the left. Branislav Ivanovic has been good this season but it has been notable it's been going forward he's impressed rather than defensively. This game could be won or lost on that side of the pitch. AVB went through a lot of media persecution during and after his spell at Chelsea and it would actually be quite good to see him get one over the likes of Lampard and Terry who arguably forced him out of Stamford Bridge last year, then proceeded to play out of their skin for Roberto Di Matteo.

Prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea

Sunderland v Newcastle - Sunday sees the Tyne-Wear derby, as the Mackems host the Toon Army. In stark contrast to the game previewed above, this is a derby clash between two out of form sides. They only have 3 wins between them in 14 league games this season (2 for Newcastle, 1 for Sunderland). In their last 14 league games Sunderland have failed to win in 13, and 3 out of the last 6 games between these two teams have ended in draws. This game could be a tale of two strikers - one on each side. Steven Fletcher and Demba Ba have together scored 11 goals this season and Fletcher's tally of 5 goals represents 100% of Sunderland's goals this season while Demba Ba's return of 6 goals represents 75% of Newcastle's goals this season. Only 3 players from either team have scored in the league this season (Hatem Ben Arfa has Newcastle's 2 other goals) so if Ba or Fletcher aren't firing it is unlikely that their team will be firing either. Don't expect this to be a high scoring affair, and we can see this being a low scoring draw, since neither team can afford to lose.

Prediction: Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle

All four of our teams are in action this weekend after having two weeks off (or one in the case of The Railwaymen). 

In what is surely a novelty for Manchester United fans, they find themselves with a home Saturday fixture kicking off at 3pm! The Potters make the relatively short trip north to Old Trafford where they have lost on their last eight consecutive visits. But this year there's every possibility they will start with the former England first choice strike duo of Crouch and Owen. Not that that will have any material effect on the outcome of this game... 

QPR are the weekend's Super Sunday game as they take on Everton at Loftus Road. The Toffees strengthened their squad this week with the signing of one of our all time favourite Premier League players - Thomas 'Der Hammer' Hitzlsperger. Presumably they felt they needed someone who can strike a ball hard from distance after Royston Drenthe finished his loan spell at the club last summer and the club opted not to sign him (largely because he was wildly inconsistent and a bit of a loose cannon). Still, even without a player that can do that, the Blue half of Merseyside have made a fantastic start to the new season and won many plaudits for their scintillating football this season which has catapulted them to 4th in the league. In the home dressing room there should at least be some refreshed and fitter players after the two week break but in spite of having all this time, Armand 'half a game' Traore will probably end up amongst the substitutes and not on the pitch at the start where his services are so desperately required by the R's right now (Clint Hill at left back simply isn't an option and neither is Nedum Onuoha).

In an all Polish affair, Crewe travel to Warsaw's Banks's Stadium where they will fancy their chances of a result considering that the home side have lost their last two home matches. The Saddlers have a similar side to Crewe and I'm sure that Steve Davis will welcome the chance to play a game of football again this week after last week's wrestling match at Fratton Park. 

Finally across the Nordsee and a few hundred miles further east after that, Union Berlin have FSV Frankfurt at home whilst you all eat your Sunday roasts, so make sure you have a live feed on in the background. Die Jungs from Köpenick are gunning for a third successive success on home soil. 

C will be present in the Lower Loft as ever this weekend and will return with a match report early next week. We'll also have the usual weekend round-up in tow. Until then, have a good weekend and brave the rain, get out the house and go see some football!

C&J

Gameweek 8: Things Starting To Take Shape?

Well that was an eventful weekend, and it looks like things could be starting to take shape at the top of the table...

The top 3 is now containing 3 of the 4 teams you might expect it to at the end of the season (bar Arsenal) and the likes of Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal all consolidated the theory that they will have good seasons and be in the running for the top 4 this season.

The game at the DW Stadium on Saturday was a fast-paced, attacking game with 4 goals ending in a 2-2 draw between Wigan and Everton. Wigan put in a very promising performance and there are a lot of reasons for their fans to be positive after the game, regardless of the late equaliser they conceded to their old boy Leighton Baines. Arouna Kone had an excellent game on the right of their front 3. He looked a constant thorn in Everton's side and scored the first goal (even though he was in an offside position) and laid on the second for Franco Di Santo. Kone had 2 shots and scored 1 of them and he appears to be the marksman that Wigan have missed for probably all of their years in the Premier League. He now has 3 goals and 2 assists for Wigan this season in just 7 appearances, and his presence up front seems to be aiding Franco Di Santo who has also scored 3 goals already this season in 6 games - nearly half of his tally last season (7) which he achieved in 31 games. All this positivity is curiously framed in the fact that Wigan have made one of their worst starts in the Premier League. They have equalled last years tally at this stage, have 3 points less than they did in 2010/11, and they have 4 points less than 2009/10...anyway you get the idea. I think the reason for this is this 3 at the back system that Wigan are playing with this season. A 3 at the back system always seems to need pace, which is why you wonder how Gary Caldwell gets in the middle of the 3 every week - he is one of the slowest players I've ever seen and I've never been convinced he's actually that good. Ivan Ramis has also had a pretty inauspicious start to life in the Premier League and hasn't really shown any signs that he has got the quality to succeed in the top flight. Wigan looked really susceptible to attacks down the wing against Everton and Steven Pienaar in particular ravaged their defence. Wigan aren't the first and won't be the last team to face problems up against Pienaar this season but the lack of defensive width due to their 3 system didn't help at all. Roberto Martinez appears to have gone for the mantra 'attack is the best form of defence' and it seems their setup is geared to gain results up front and hope they score more than they concede which could lead to a really interesting season for Wigan.

Bolton were the latest side to dispense of their manager, showing club legend Owen Coyle the door on Tuesday afternoon. This came as something of a surprise, because the club can't surely have been expected to win promotion at the first attempt given the sheer number of departures and lack of arrivals at the club this summer following relegation. Phil Gartside has always been one for prudence and this Summer was no different, so what exactly his expectations were of Coyle this season (he apparently set a points target)? I am not sure. It seems like the writing was on the wall since January last year. Coyle didn't seem able to inspire his players and you can only blame injuries for so long. Coyle will no doubt find himself a job again soon though; Scottish managers are a highly sought after breed right now in the English game it seems. So much so that even Steve Kean might find himself in a job again sooner rather than later!

Last season they lined up against each other in training matches at QPR, but this season DJ Campbell locked horns with Matt Connolly and Heidar Helguson in a Championship match between lowly Ipswich and table toppers (but annual bottlejobs) Cardiff City. Campbell drew first blood as he somehow managed to escape Connolly and the Cardiff keeper's attentions to guide the ball into the net Maradona style without either them or the officials noticing! The away side were victorious in the end though thanks to C's Doppelgänger Heidar Helguson tapping in from a Scott Loach howler and scoring a trademark header late on. Helgar even had time to produce one of his trademark headers at the other end of the pitch, casually crashing a header against his own bar. There's no way he didn't mean that... Ice cool from the ice man.

Roundup

We'll start with the bad news, and yet again C was on hand to witness QPR lose, this time at The Hawthorns, where comical defending and lack of attacking prowess contributed to a 3-2 defeat to the Baggies. Match report available here.

Sunday saw Manchester United record an excellent win away St James' Park (we can call it that now again thanks to wonga.com). Newcastle produced some QPR-esque marking from corners to allow Evans and Evra two quick-fire goals which effectively ended the game as a contest. Wayne Rooney relished his new role at the tip of the midfield diamond and it really seems like the pressure is off him. Last year he was the one carrying the team but now he has Robin Van Persie to share the burden and this seems to have given him a creative impetus he has lacked for a few years. Tom Cleverley in midfield also adds some dynamism that is lacking with Carrick, Scholes or Giggs.

Crewe managed back to back 2-1 wins in League and Cup with victories over Hartlepool (H) and Shrewsbury (A) on Saturday and Tuesday respectively. Mathias Pogba has a claim for the award for Worst Penalty of 2012 against Hartlepool. Even worse he took the ball from the normal penalty taker before missing it. Even worse, he took the ball from the boss' son Harry Davis who scored 4 penalties at the back end of last season!

And finally, as you learned on Friday, Union Berlin took a battling away point back from St Pauli. All in all, not a bad weekend for our sides then. Sort it out Hughes!

Things we learnt this week:

• If you want a man to take a penalty for you, you could do worse than Leighton Baines - that's 9 career penalties scored from 9 attempts.
• My word Santi Cazorla is good.
• We told you that in AFC Wimbledon's manager job specification it was compulsory to have played for the original Wimbledon, but what we didn't tell you was that Neal Ardley was the successful candidate (not Lawrie Sanchez, who will have to make do with Sky punditry as a source of pocket money)
• Clearly either the recent form of Palace, the sheer number of goals flying in at Selhurst Park or lure of cheaper seats has brought some long lost Eagles fans back. The ground looked packed out for the first time I can recall in years for their 4-3 win over Burnley. That's now 22 goals scored in SE25 in just five league games so far this season.

C&J

Week 7 Preview: Big Sam v Arsene

This weekend sees the return of an old rivalry as Big Sam's Hammers will no doubt welcome Arsenal with some rather lovely hospitality...

West Ham v Arsenal - We all remember the duel of Sam Allardyce's Bolton v Arsenal don't we? And the same post match interviews from Arsene every time where he complained about Bolton's physicality? What about Nicolas Anelka's thunderbolt against his old team? Or Stelios' goal to condemn them to defeat? It always used to seem that Arsenal were just not capable of coping with Bolton and would wilt under the pressure. Well expect more of the same this weekend. Arsene Wenger has won only 2 of his 9 away games as a manager against a Sam Allardyce team (W2 D3 L4), and there is plenty of reason to believe his side will have the same problem again. However, as a side note, 3 of those victories came in succession between 2004 and 2007 so Arsenal have arguably learnt to cope better with Allardyce teams since this run. West Ham could have Andy Carroll back from the start for this game which would give them even more physicality, directness and quality than Carlton Cole provides, and he could really torment the Arsenal defence. Therefore, a lot could hinge on whether Per Mertesacker recovers from his virus in time. Arsenal have won 4 their last 4 matches against West Ham in all competitions, but that was B.A. (No not Baracus - Before Allardyce), so I don't know how much to read into that. West Ham have started the season really well and actually sit directly above Arsenal in the table, so this isn't a guaranteed three points for the Gooners. The Hammers would do well to start with Matt Jarvis after he impressed at QPR on Monday night and will be the perfect foil for Andy Carroll. Arsenal will undoubtedly miss the physical presence of Abou Diaby in midfield and they could struggle to curb Kevin Nolan's late runs into the box. All in all, I think West Ham will cause Arsenal problems and I'm going to stick my neck out and say Arsenal will struggle after playing in Europe in the week.

Prediction: West Ham 2 - 1 Arsenal

Man City v Sunderland - The early kick off on Saturday at the Emptihad sees Man City play the only team to take 4 points off of them last season in the league - Sunderland. It strikes me that there are two big questions for Saturdays game: 1) Will anyone else but Steven Fletcher score for Sunderland? And 2) Will Mancini ever realise that three at the back isn't working? City were incredibly lucky to pick up a draw against Dortmund in the week, after the German champions had 10 more shots than them (which as an away team in Europe I find amazing, since there wasn't a mismatch of quality on paper!).  The three at the back experiment on Wednesday night was pretty disastrous in my opinion; if Dortmund had put their shooting boots on it could have been 4 or 5 and Mancini seemed to realise this by abandoning the system after around 10 minutes. City's defenders just aren't pacey enough for this system and until Micah Richards comes back from injury it is impossible to see it working any time soon. Which begs the question - why fix it if it's not broken? Last year in this fixture Sunderland went 3-1 up but late goals (an uncanny knack now for City) pegged them back and earned City a 3-3 draw. But it is hard to see the Mackems repeating this scoring feat given the fact they've only scored 5 goals all season (and these have all come from Fletcher!) It is well documented that City haven't kept a clean sheet so far this season but you would expect them to focus on keeping Fletcher quiet and this will be the best chance for them to keep a clean sheet probably all season. Though it will be intriguing to see how Adam Johnson does against his old side as he surely has a point to prove. Discarded by Mancini for an apparent clash of personality, how better to show him what he missed by running riot against this dodgy defence? However, City are unbeaten in their last 32 games at home in the league and it is nigh on impossible not to see this run continuing. Expect a first clean sheet of the season for City and an easy win. The only factor that appears to be in Sunderland's favour is that City played on Wednesday evening and have only had 2 days rest before this game, while Sunderland have had 7 days rest. But given the size of City's squad, this shouldn't really be an issue.

Prediction: Man City 3-0 Sunderland

We thought we'd preview the stand out massive battle in the Football League this weekend: Crewe v Hartlepool - This is a match between 2 sides desperately out of form at the moment (and identically so at that!): they are both without a win in their last 6 games, and both have lost their last 2 league games to boot. Both sides have only scored 8 goals all season (less than 1 a game) and both have conceded at over a rate of 1 per game, so it should be an interesting encounter at the Alexandra Stadium. I can't decide whether the lack of firepower will cause a low scoring affair or the leaky defences will contribute to a goal-fest. But the fact that Crewe have only scored once in their last 4 games indicates it's unlikely the floodgates will open on their end. It is a stark contrast to the last match between these sides in August in the first round of the CoC - when Crewe ran out 5-0 winners and looked full of goals. Crewe lost 2-0 to Oldham on Tuesday, this was the first time they have lost back-to-back games since Steve Davis took over 11 months ago, so it will be a test to see how they react. Hartlepool have only won one game all season though so this is a game the Alex should be looking at winning. Max Clayton was rested for the Oldham game and Byron Moore should hopefully be fit so there are more attacking options available for Crewe, and all being well this should see them through.

Prediction: Crewe 2-1 Hartlepool

Elsewhere...

It's a battle of two relegated sides in the Championship as Blackburn host Wolves, both sides having had contrasting runs of late but find themselves as neighbours in the play-off positions in the league ladder, proof if ever you needed it that you can take virtually nothing from league positions after nine games and that it is ludicrous that managers are getting the boot based on positions in the table now. Yorkshire derbies between Leeds and Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday should keep the plods busy whilst in League Two Exeter v Port Vale looks an intriguing encounter.

Last but by no means least, onto our teams. J's Manchester United will be hoping for a more positive result than last week's surprise defeat at home to Spurs, but it doesn't get any easier for them as they head to Newcastle away. The Sports Direct Arena was the scene of United's heaviest away league defeat last season as they went down  3-0 to a Newcastle side at the top of their game. This will certainly be the biggest test of Newcastle's credentials for a repeat of last season's top six finish this time around.

C's off to the highest football league ground above sea level in England to see West Bromwich Albion take on winless QPR. The home side have played three, won three, conceded none at their Hawthorns home, so things are looking ominous. The injury situation hasn't changed for the Hoops either and they are missing Samba Diakite after his kamikaze twenty minute performance and subsequent sending off on Monday night. But we all live in hope...

Union Berlin are continuing their promising run in the German 2nd Division and we have just received confirmation that they have picked up another point away from home! This time a Torsten Mattuschka (der beste Mann) brace saw them claim a 2:2 draw at what is normally an extremely tough place to go. Admittedly, St Pauli haven't had the best of seasons so far (winning just once) but Union are notoriously travel sick, so any point away from home should be viewed as a victory! (Much like QPR!)

Enjoy the weekend's football and we'll be back with a weekend review and match review of WBA v QPR on Monday.

C&J