Squarefootball Diary - 30 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/6SjNgU #

23:38 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:31 sqF.. bit.ly/6T6riX #sqf #

23:58 @paul_tomkins #Arsenal have always been older than people think - wrote this over 3 years ago bit.ly/6AEwzb #

12:01 Transfer Speculation: Micah Richards (Manchester City) to Manchester United bit.ly/4SqMJF #

12:18 Transfer Speculation: No-one to Chelsea bit.ly/6BZnb4 #

12:30 Transfer Speculation: Robert Green (West Ham United) bit.ly/6Q18Hg #

12:41 Transfer Speculation: Robert Green (West Ham United): Never quite sure what to make of speculation where a.. bit.ly/8WUW2D #sqf #

13:28 Prediction: Premier League top four at Christmas - Spurs third, Liverpool fourth? bit.ly/8GE1r5 #

13:43 Prediction: Premier League top four at Christmas - Spurs third, Liverpool fourth?: With Chelsea's momentum.. bit.ly/7j3snK #sqf #

13:45 Does Ireland have any chance of competing in World CUp 2010? bit.ly/5CJ5il #

14:01 sqF Mailbag: arsenal will be above spurs and liverpool bit.ly/6YtYZf #

14:01 sqF Mailbag: I agree bit.ly/7CzSBm #

14:46 Does Ireland have any chance of competing in World CUp 2010?: After the contentious France vs Ireland play.. bit.ly/5NGXQ5 #sqf #

15:01 sqF Mailbag: Not even West Ham, gawd bless um, would be STUPID enough to sell Greenie in the midst .. bit.ly/8NQIYh #

15:01 sqF Mailbag: I think that depends on the Liverpool - Arsenal game.... If Arsenal can at least draw.. bit.ly/4Qlf2n #

15:02 sqF Mailbag: Your prediction sucks and for you think arsenal will be any lower then 3rd u suck bit.ly/8oppVn #

15:02 sqF Mailbag: i agree with you.all these days ive been reading about Arsenal being in top form,...et.. bit.ly/4J6Fw8 #

15:02 sqF Mailbag: That is about right, can not see Arsenal picking up too many points though without Van.. bit.ly/5WIEWf #

16:32 sqF Mailbag: Arsenal without RVP and Bender have a forward line of Eduardo, Walcott and err who els.. bit.ly/8U1jGe #

16:32 sqF Mailbag: Martyn... very worthwhile comment, congratulations on your contribution. Saying that i.. bit.ly/7OO1Jn #

16:32 sqF Mailbag: This Prediction Is Such a JoKe ! Firstly Tottenham Shouldnt Even Think About A Top 4 F.. bit.ly/8X0Wst #

16:47 Transfer Speculation: Fernando Torres (Liverpool) to Manchester City: Bob Cass's speculative page turner s.. bit.ly/5SVpWk #sqf #

16:47 Transfer Speculation: Fernando Torres (Liverpool) to Manchester City bit.ly/7r6G4X #

17:26 Transfer Speculation: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) to Chelsea/Manchester City bit.ly/5h0TQl #

17:43 Transfer Speculation: Ryan Babel (Liverpool) to Bayern Munich bit.ly/91WB8n #

17:50 Transfer Speculation: Ryan Babel (Liverpool) to Bayern Munich: Ryan Babel has not been the greatest purcha.. bit.ly/5VdnJN #sqf #

18:11 Transfer Speculation: Takayuki Morimoto (Catania) to Manchester United bit.ly/5IeSij #

18:31 sqF Mailbag: Do people actually read the article before posting? Arsenal fans need to stop being so.. bit.ly/8tEYUK #

18:31 sqF Mailbag: Utter utter rot from that awful anti-LFC rag. bit.ly/51rGey #

18:31 sqF Mailbag: HA HA Ha city have got more chance signing mesi, who in the right mind would go there?.. bit.ly/6cStb6 #

18:31 sqF Mailbag: Seems to make perfect sense to me. The guy seems to have the raw talents but lack cons.. bit.ly/8GZz5e #

18:31 sqF Mailbag: bahahahahahahahha dont make me laff bit.ly/6IJTIb #

18:43 Transfer Speculation: Takayuki Morimoto (Catania) to Manchester United: Manchester United are keen on sign.. bit.ly/5WndCD #sqf #

22:31 sqF Mailbag: Come on Liverpool fans dont have a pop a City over this, I am sure we all think its as.. bit.ly/8EKL9l #

22:31 sqF Mailbag: I actually expect Liverpool with the return of injured players to win all four games. .. bit.ly/90D4JI #

22:31 sqF Mailbag: Jealousy will get you nowhere! COME ON CITY!!!! Not sure why folks think City is a tea.. bit.ly/62shrF #

22:31 sqF Mailbag: yo i love fernando torres so much and if he moves from liverpool i swear i will box ma.. bit.ly/8Z9aQ4 #

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Transfer Speculation: Takayuki Morimoto (Catania) to Manchester United

Manchester United are keen on signing Japanese striker Takayuki Morimoto, 21, who is currently playing for Catania in Italy according to yesterday's 'hotline' in The People.

Several years after clubs stopped signing players for purely commercial reasons (although doubts persist as to the Dong Fangzhuo deal) The People insisted that this would enable United to dominate the lucrative blah blah blah market.

Perhaps instead Morimoto has some ability; 15 goals in 58 games for Catania in Italy is not a bad strike rate especially with Catania struggling to avoid relegation. Milan's Pato was recently quoted as saying that he is the best young player in Italy and very reminiscent of the Brazilian Ronaldo in terms of size, speed and directness.

At the end of last season Pato was asked by Corriere dello Sport:

"Secondo lei qual è stato il giovane più interes­sante di quello che sta per finire?"

And his reply:

"Sicuramente il giapponese Mori­moto del Catania. Mi ricorda molto nelle movenze e per la... pelata il mio idolo Ronaldo. Infatti lo chiamano il Ronaldo giapponese. Morimoto è molto diverso da me perchè lui gioca più vicino all’area di rigore."

Left little doubt that Pato thought him to be the Japanese Ronaldo.

With Dimitar Berbatov not really kicking on, Michael Owen something of a stopgap and Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck still being a couple of years away from regular first team football Morimoto may well be the kind of player that United would like. Whether he sells shirts in Asia or not.

Probability 2/5

Is a forward what United need - or are there other areas that need more urgent strengthening? In any event is Morimoto the man?

Transfer Speculation: Ryan Babel (Liverpool) to Bayern Munich

Ryan Babel has not been the greatest purchase of Rafa Benitez's six seasons at Liverpool and given the Dutchman's propensity to open his mouth and put his foot in it the News of the World's report that Bayern Munich would like to take him on loan would appear to solve certain problems.

The deal outlined suggests that a January loan with a view to a £9m summer move is in the offing. A move to Bavaria would reunite Babel with a manager, Louis van Gaal, who has known hime 'since he was a boy'. There is no follow to this line in the article, but I like to think that as a child Babel repeatedly kicked a football into van Gaal's back garden and when he broke one his prize gnomes the enraged would-be manager stuck a garden fork through the ball before launching it back. Babel subsequently 'told his mum on van Gaal' and has vowed to wind up every manager he subsequently worked for.

Liverpool's squad looks a bit thin at the moment, but Benitez does have a habit of chopping out players who are not fitting in - hence Robbie Keane's sale last January - so on many levels there could be something here. Even more so if Bayern sell Frank Ribery and need a forward/winger. But I would guess that Benitez would want cash on the nail to enable him to (hopefully) re-invest in the team as the press will have a real go at him if he loses Babel without an obvious improvement to the squad.

Probability: 2/5

*Should Liverpool offload Babel now and if so how much should they look for - let us know.

Transfer Speculation: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) to Chelsea/Manchester City

In Pete Jenson's highly speculative, three paragraph looks-like-it-was-written-whilst-watching-x-factor piece in The People Franck Ribery and Rino Gattuso are both wanted by both Chelsea and Manchester City.

Heavens be praised though there is a snatch of a quote from Carlo Ancelotti:

"People who doubt Gattuso don't know anything about football."

Although the main basis for suggesting that Ribery is on his way to England is, err, a singular lack of interest from Real Madrid. So he is going to move to Chelsea or Man City because another club has not shown any recent interest in signing him.

On that basis Barcelona or even Accrington Stanley could be making a move a move for me as we speak, simply because Young Boys of Berne have not shown any recent interest in me. Perhaps I should rephrase that.

Ribery is a fabulous player and would improve any club he joined and Gattuso may be past his prime but would add a touch of class to Man City's midfield. If the money's right then either player moving to England is possible - but a genuine supporting quote would be nice.

Probability: 1/5

Transfer Speculation: Fernando Torres (Liverpool) to Manchester City

Bob Cass's speculative page turner suggesting a £50m move for Fernando Torres to Man City in the Mail on Sunday yesterday was low on quotes (OK devoid of them), low on facts (ditto) and high on headline.

With a headline that blazed ...

"EXCLUSIVE: Fernando Torres wanted by Manchester City's sheiks - Liverpool fear losing their star striker to £50m swoop"

... you would expect that the report would contain something more than:

City are rich + Liverpool are poor = City will buy Torres

But fundamentally that was it. The article even confused itself by implying a January deal yet suggesting that it couldn't be completed unless Liverpool finish outside the top four. The piece did have the decency to wind up with a reference to Christian Purslow stating that Rafa Benitez was safe and that a few Europa League games would bridge any financial gap. Which sort of negates the need for Liverpool to sell Torres in any event.

City are the richest club in the world, but many of the more expensive players need a year or two of success to become convinced that it is a good career choice - as opposed to a good financial choice. Man City learned through the Kaka rejection that this is the wrong type of deal to pursue at this stage of the clubs development.

So I can't see Liverpool selling, Torres being interested or even City wanting to pursue the deal.

Probability: 0/5

Does Ireland have any chance of competing in World CUp 2010?

After the contentious France vs Ireland play-off game, the news that a replay was not possible, despite Thierry Henry's comments seemed to rule out Ireland's involvement. That the French players were hardly concerned about the aftermath, whereas the Irish players were barely fit to play says a lot about the depth of feeling on the issue.

Today Fifa has revealed that the FAI has requested that Ireland receive some kind of wild-card entry into the final. The first indication that it will be rejected came when Sepp Blatter surrounded the issue with technical discussions in an interview yesterday. The injustice done to Ireland was considered barely a footnote compared to increasing the number of officials or using technology - considerations that may stop the issue re-surfacing but are hardly the point for Ireland.

The final nail was the blurring of the issue by suggesting that Ireland aren't the only country that has been hard done to and if Ireland are discussed Costa Rica's concession of an offside goal against Uruguay must also be considered. And after that I guess that any and every contentious decision will be dug up to fudge the issue to the extent that it becomes impossible to suggest anything other than 'what goes around comes around'.

Q. Does Ireland have any chance of competing in World Cup 2010?

A. No.

Prediction: Premier League top four at Christmas - Spurs third, Liverpool fourth?

With Chelsea's momentum building with the 3-0 dismissal of Arsenal and Manchester United recovering well from the disappointment at Stamford Bridge with a 3-0 win against Everton and a 4-1 win at Portsmouth, the top two at Christmas seems assured. Chelsea are 10 points clear of third placed Tottenham and United are five points ahead - these two seem likely to contest the title now.

Below these two are five teams separated by four points - Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City; with Sunderland, Stoke and Fulham a little further off the pace. It seems that third and fourth in the division as the year draws to an end will be between that select pool.

Tottenham Hotspur 26 points
Spurs have four games left before Christmas and currently lie third a point ahead of Arsenal (having played a game more) and three ahead of Liverpool in fifth. Spurs are in good form and the late equalizer against Villa said as much about the spirit in the team as the 9-1 humilation of Wigan the week before. Most Spurs teams of the last 20 years would have lost at Villa Park and that the team didn't suggests that any team that wants to beat Spurs in the next month will have to play exceptionally well. Looking at the four fixtures to Christmas I would expect Spurs to pick up another 8-10 points before Christmas and stand by my earlier prediction that Spurs will go into 2010 in third place.

6 December - away at Everton
12 December - home to Wolves
16 December - home to Man City
19 December - away to Blackburn

Arsenal 25 points
Arsenal have failed to score in the last two games without Robin van Persie to lead the line; the earlier injury to Nic Bendtner has proved doubly costly. With that in mind although Arsenal have two straightforward home games - the two northern away trips suddenly look very dangerous. Arsenal's morale is dangerously balanced and there could be a few weeks of realignment before Arsenal re-adjust and start to bang in goals for fun again. I'm expecting Arsenal to pick up another 7-9 points before Christmas.

5 December - home to Stoke
13 December - away at Liverpool
16 December - away at Burnley
19 December - home to Hull

Liverpool 23 points
Liverpool may have been somewhat fortunate to see off Everton 2-0 in the derby game, but winning without playing the opposition off the park is a mark of success. With Fernando Torres, Alberto Aquilani, Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera all about ready to start games Liverpool will surely now start to pick up wins and the only difficult game before Christmas should be the Arsenal one. I'm expecting Liverpool to pick up another 10-12 points before Christmas.

5 December - away at Blackburn
13 December - home to Arsenal
16 December - home to Wigan
19 December - away at Portsmouth

Aston Villa 23 points
Aston Villa could well be described as a dark horse candidate for a top four finish, without the resources of many of the other sides an early exit from Europe will free up resources for a strong finish to the season. If Villa are there or thereabouts in March then it will be interesting. Over the next four games there are two extremely tough away games and two more winnable home games suggesting another 7-9 points before Christmas.

5 December - home to Hull
12 December - away to Man Utd
15 December - away to Sunderland
19 December - home to Stoke

Manchester City 22 points
This is a cruel season for Mark Hughes; Man City are the only team in the top flight to have lost less than twice but seven consecutive draws has pushed them fully 14 points behind Chelsea. If City had hung on for a win in just three of those seven games they would be away and clear in third place. The club must now deal with speculation about the manager (especially with Hiddink and Mourinho suggesting they want to return to England) - but regardless of the speculation surely a return to winning ways is imminent. City have the toughest fixtures of the top seven clubs before Christmas but must still expect another 6-8 points.

5 December - home to Chelsea
12 December - away at Bolton
16 December - away at Tottenham
19 December - home to Sunderland

My prediction; top seven at Christmas:
1. Chelsea 46-48 points
2. Man United 41-43 points
3. Tottenham 34-36 points
4. Liverpool 33-35 points
5. Arsenal 32-34 points
6. Aston Villa 30-32 points
7. Man City 28-30 points

Do I have it right - which teams do you think will pick or more or less points before Christmas, and how will the league look as a result? Is there a surprise run from Sunderland, Stoke or Fulham in the offing?

Transfer Speculation: Robert Green (West Ham United)

Never quite sure what to make of speculation where a paper like The Mirror simply reports that West Ham want to sell their keeper for £5m. This is scandalous under-selling.

Surely a sub-editor could spin this a little better? 'Robert Green to Tottenham' as a replacement for the injured Carlo Cudicini has something to it. Of course why Green would decide to kill off his only shot at a World Cup finals by becoming Heurelho Gomes's understudy may be difficult to fathom.

Or even 'Robert Green to Manchester United', as United seem to be auditioning for a new goalkeeper having played all three of their keepers in the last week. But again, Green needs guaranteed football.

If Portsmouth sell David James to Spurs then Green could go to Pompey - but he'd probably have to be knocked unconscious first and carried there in a sack.

Even if West Ham bagged £5m for Robert Green in January it may well be a real signal of a team about to be relegated. Like Newcastle found last season when they sold Shay Given, the loss of a top goalkeeper can cost far more than his transfer value. For West Ham's sake let's hope there is nothing in this one because with the club dallying with relegation already a firesale of the better players will send the club down. And down there there will be no cushion for the debt mountain.

Probability: 1/5

*Is there anything is this speculation? Can West Ham afford to sell Green?

Transfer Speculation: No-one to Chelsea

In an extraordinary piece of transfer speculation journalism The Sun reckons that Chelsea will sign no-one in January - unless there are injuries.

One can only assume that Africa Cup of Nations has been cancelled because that tournament will gut the club of four regular players for January - with no guarantees that the players will return fit or ready to immediately re-adjust to the Premier League. Once you accept that this short window is all that is available ahead of a possible transfer ban, imposed by Fifa for inducing Gael Kakuta to break his contract, and the likelihood of Chelsea not buying reduces further.

The suspension of the ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Chelsea will surely make room for at least a couple of tactical transfer moves. Otherwise if the ban is upheld Chelsea will not be able to buy in a player to help in 2009/10 or 2010/11 - as the ban will then only be lifted in time to allow transfers in the summer of 2011 - for season 2011/12. 2011/12 is an absurd 18 months away - 18 months ago Avram Grant was Chelsea's manager and he's now Portsmouth's manager. That's how much can happen in 18 months.

Of course Chelsea may feel that than the ban is a nonsense that will certainly be expunged - but can they take that chance? I would expect better cover in attack, perhaps a young left-back, possibly an out and out winger for variation and the return of Mancienne would represent the minimum wishlist. Perhaps Chelsea are trying to finesse prices by trying to appear to be not really that desperate at all, honest. But somehow I can't see Chelsea sitting on their hands in January and risk tossing the league title away as a result.

Probability: 1/5

*Is there anything is this speculation? Let us know who Chelsea really need!

Transfer Speculation: Micah Richards (Manchester City) to Manchester United

With Christmas barely three months away we can all indulge ourselves in some fanciful speculation ahead of the main banquet in January. According to the Mirror Manchester United are set to make a surprise move for Manchester City defender Micah Richards, if the Eastlands outfit decide to offload the player as a result of his inconsistent form.

There are more holes here than cheese to be honest. Inconsistent form is a possible charge - but not against a player who's played only three times since September. Less inconsistent form than merely being dropped for not having the right attitude to play at the top level. Richards has the raw ability to play at the top level, but seems to suffer from a lack of concentration. So if the player is not currently good enough for the City defence then what would Sir Alex Ferguson want him for?

True, it could be a intriguing challenge to make a player with many of the physical and mental attributes of Sol Campbell into an international defender again - but can United really take the time to bring Richards along? Richards was 21 last summer and yet went on such a summer holiday that he got so ill that he was unsure if he was suffering from swine flu or alcohol poisoning. Which should not be a question in the mind of a professional footballer.

Putting aside the intellectual challenge for Ferguson; at right back United have John O'Shea, Gary Neville, Rafael da Silva and Wes Brown fighting for the slot; at centre-half Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown and Jonny Evans are struggling to get enough games. Quite who would miss out is a mystery. At right-back there is no space and If Vidic is sold and Ferdinand's back goes then a couple of centre-halves may be brought in - but unless Richards was a nominal price I can't see him being one of them.

If Richards does need to rebuild his promising career perhaps it is more likely at a mid-table club like Sunderland, Fulham or Blackburn; and perhaps his ambitious hometown club, Birmingham City, may be more than interested?

Likely transfer in January: 1/5

*Is there anything is this speculation? Let us know!

Squarefootball Diary

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:31 sqF Mailbag: villa 1-2 spurs, and have to agree that spurs will finish 09 off higher than arsenal t.. bit.ly/5RrNls #

23:31 sqF Mailbag: before the more usual slide into inconsistency Lets put this nonsense to bed Before th.. bit.ly/4xgQ1M #

23:31 sqF Mailbag: pompey can win this game,fortrass fratton will be on fire pompey to beat utd. 1 or 2 n.. bit.ly/8I0PDV #

23:31 sqF Mailbag: You never know what you are going to get with Spurs, having supported them for 35 year.. bit.ly/7ySrCk #

23:39 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/85Zo9M #sqf #

01:21 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Birmingham City: First goal could decide this bit.ly/8Iz3cz #

01:38 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Birmingham City: First goal could decide this: Three big derby games on Sunday,.. bit.ly/7ZEQ8V #sqf #

10:06 Everton vs Liverpool: Desperately seeking something bit.ly/4Fg0oB #

10:37 Everton vs Liverpool: Desperately seeking something: Everton meet Liverpool with both sides scrabbling for.. bit.ly/7E3ntF #sqf #

14:18 Arsenal vs Chelsea: Too important to lose? bit.ly/4ImUJJ #

14:40 Arsenal vs Chelsea: Too important to lose?: The game of the day sees first travel to fourth - and with Man.. bit.ly/5nd5UB #sqf #

15:01 @stevesage 5-3 - is five the minimum number that The Hammers need to guarantee more than a point? #

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Arsenal vs Chelsea: Too important to lose?

The game of the day sees first travel to fourth - and with Manchester United winning neither will want to cede ground here. These two teams are the most free scoring teams in the division, Arsenal have 36 from 12 games and Chelsea 33 from 13 - which if maintained would see Arsenal finish the season with an astonishing 114 goals and Chelsea a more than respectable 90.

Arsenal will be keenly aware that Tottenham edged into third place yesterday and although Arsenal have two games in hand there will be no little pressure from the home fans to make sure that Spurs do not start the working week ahead of Arsenal. The loss of Robin van Persie was evident at Sunderland last week when Arsenal were toothless and this could be a similar game against another physical and quick side but surely Arsenal will have learned from that failure.

Arsenal last 5 league games WXWWL
Birmingham (h) 3-1
West Ham (a) 2-2
Tottenham (h) 3-0
Wolves (a) 4-1
Sunderland (a) 0-1

Chelsea are in a rich vein of form brushing aside any number of rivals and unbeaten in all competitions in eight games - bagging four or more goals in five of those games. Chelsea are not the grinders that many people quite lazily assume. True, Chelsea like to dictate the tempo of games - but with Malouda's gradual improvement and Joe Cole's return to fitness there is a vitality about the team. Beatable on an off day - physically difficult to best at all other times, worthy title favourites.

Chelsea last 5 league games LWWWW
Aston Villa (a) 1-2
Blackburn (h) 5-0
Bolton (a) 4-0
Man Utd (h) 1-0
Wolves (h) 4-0

Arsenal vs Chelsea; Kick Off 4:00pm 29 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 1 - 0
Chris Cox : 1 - 3
Graham Enwright : 1 - 2
Sue Gardener : 3 - 2
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 0 - 1
Peter Lee : 2 - 1
Don McMahon : 2 - 2
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 0 - 1
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 1
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 2 - 2
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 0
Isaac Williams : 2 - 2
Mark Williams : 2 - 1

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a 1-1 draw.

Home: 6; Draw: 7; Away: 4; TBC: 3.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Everton vs Liverpool: Desperately seeking something

Everton meet Liverpool with both sides scrabbling for form, both sides only have a win or two each in the last couple of months. With precious few form pointers and a number of players absent the only sensible prediction in derby games is a score draw.

Everton's injury riddled season continues with Jack Rodwell and Louis Saha - two of the undoubted stars of their season - now doubts after picking up knocks against Hull; when added to the existing injury list of Osman, Anichebe, Arteta, Jagielka, Neville and Vaughan it is clear that Everton are severely under-strength. On the plus side Marouane Fellaini and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov return from suspension.

Derby matches are notoriously fickle, but Everton's form is currently dire. In late September Everton strung together five straight wins (AEK Athens 4-0, Blackburn 3-0, Hull 4-0, Portsmouth 1-0 and BATE Borisov 2-1) - but subsequently have one win in ten. A top four finish is probably beyond Everton now so a measure of success would be progress in Europe and some local honours - starting today.

Everton last 5 league games LXWLL
Bolton (a) 2-3
Aston Villa (h) 1-1
West Ham (a) 2-1
Man Utd (a) 0-3
Hull (a) 2-3

Liverpool are on a remarkably similar run of form to Everton. Six straight wins in September (Bolton 3-2, Burnley 4-0, Debrecen 1-0, West Ham 3-2, Leeds 1-0 and Hull 6-1) followed by two wins in eleven games. Liverpool are suffering from a lot fewer injuries than Everton with Torres facing a late fitness test only the left winger position is a problem with a variety of injuries to Riera, Benayoun and Babel.

Every run of good form or bad form must end and the feeling persists that as soon as Torres regains form and fitness Liverpool will become a force in the division again; but without him Liverpool have become difficult to predict.

Liverpool last 5 league games LWLXX
Sunderland (a) 0-1
Man Utd (h) 2-0
Fulham (a) 1-3
Birmingham (h) 2-2
Man City (h) 2-2

Everton vs Liverpool; Kick Off 1:30pm 29 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 2
Chris Cox : 2 - 1
Graham Enwright : 2 - 3
Sue Gardener : 2 - 1
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 1 - 2
Peter Lee : 1 - 1
Don McMahon : 2 - 3
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 2
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 0 - 1
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 1
Peter Rendle : 2 - 2
Dan Taylor : 1 - 0
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 0
Isaac Williams : 1 - 3
Mark Williams : 1 - 2

Panel Verdict
The panel is totally divided here and on balance reckons a 2-2 draw to be the most likely outcome.

Home: 6; Draw: 5; Away: 6; TBC: 3.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Birmingham City: First goal could decide this

Three big derby games on Sunday, starting in the west Midlands where Black Country Wolves take on Birmingham.

Wolves currently lie second bottom, four points from safety and as a result can't escape from the bottom three even with a win. But on current form that seems unlikely as the last eight games have seen five defeats and three draws. But all bad runs come to an end and a derby day can be a blessing for a team that is scrabbling for some purchase in the season. Wolves are usually scoring - with the Chelsea game the first blank since the first week of October; but defensively Wolves have been poor - with a solitary clean sheet back in the opening week in the season. Perhaps Kevin Doyle's week off after 'that' defeat to France will give him a boost to score a goal or two for his manager. Mick McCarthy could do with a boost as when the only team below you sacks their manager, the press will always be looking for a successor; and McCarthy's pre-match comments could be portrayed as negativism:

"We are in a relegation fight and I've said that to the lads ... they might as well understand that now, the fact is we look like a team that could get relegated."

Wolverhampton Wanderers last 5 league games XXXLL
Everton (a) 1-1
Aston Villa (h) 1-1
Stoke (a) 2-2
Arsenal (h) 1-4
Chelsea (a) 0-4

Birmingham have certainly perked up since the takeover was confirmed and that despite having to play four top 10 teams in Sunderland, Man City, Liverpool and Fulham. It was a timely run as eight points in four games have only moved Blues three points and three places from relegation - but it does go to show how motivating the thought of an active transfer policy can be on players. Lots of attention on Ryan Giggs for rolling back the years recently - but Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson are demonstrating that passing 30 is no barrier to the top flight - but Blues desperately need to buy a goalscorer as Bowyer cannot be expected to be that 10-15 goal man that the club need to stay out of trouble.

Birmingham City last 5 league games LWXXW
Arsenal (a) 1-3
Sunderland (h) 2-1
Man City (h) 0-0
Liverpool (a) 2-2
Fulham (h) 1-0

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Birmingham City; Kick Off 12:00pm 29 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 0 - 0
Chris Cox : 2 - 1
Graham Enwright : 0 - 0
Sue Gardener : 0 - 0
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 2
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 1 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Peter Lee : 0 - 1
Don McMahon : 1 - 0
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 2
Peter Rendle : 0 - 0
Dan Taylor : 1 - 1
Nick Tomkins : TBC
Bill Urban (sqf) : TBC
Andy Wakeman : 1 - 1
Isaac Williams : 2 - 2
Mark Williams : 1 - 1

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a low-scoring draw, with 1-1 favoured over 0-0.

Home: 3; Draw: 12; Away: 2; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Squarefootball Diary - 28 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/4TYUUs #

23:43 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/4K4UZq #sqf #

06:31 sqF Mailbag: Like I said in the article, Modric would be my first choice if he was fit. As for the .. bit.ly/7aZ3zt #

06:37 West Ham United v Burnley: Irons set to Hammer the Clarets: Burnley head to Upton Park this afternoon look.. bit.ly/4B1VcD #sqf #

07:36 Wigan Athletic v Sunderland: Martinez aims to put horror show to bed: Wigan Athletic had a seriously bad d.. bit.ly/4OFkZm #sqf #

11:11 @mcdonaldtaf I've commented too. #

11:11 @stevesage I have enough faith to suggest that West Ham will score! #

12:01 Massive blow for #Arsenal losing van Persie for 5/6 months - its as big a blow as losing Torres, Rooney or Drogba. #

12:23 Portsmouth vs Manchester United: You are my first, my last, my everything? bit.ly/6MCbs4 #

12:38 Portsmouth vs Manchester United: You are my first, my last, my everything?: Rock-bottom Portsmouth have th.. bit.ly/5cP3Ix #sqf #

12:49 Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur: Who will approach Christmas in the top four? bit.ly/6YxD2X #

13:09 Squarefootball Panel: #AstonVilla 1-1 #Spurs #

13:10 sqfMelvin Squarefootball Panel: #AstonVilla 1-1 #Spurs bit.ly/7p8CrL #

13:11 Squarefootball Panel: #Portsmouth 0 - 2 #ManUtd bit.ly/6eadSi #

13:11 Squarefootball Panel: #Wigan 0 - 1 #Sunderland bit.ly/56vYcr #

13:12 Squarefootball panel: #WestHam 2 - 1 Burnley bit.ly/60UxsA #

13:13 Squarefootball Panel: #ManCity 3 - 1 #Hull bit.ly/72Y08t #

13:14 Squarefootball panel: #Fulham 2 - 0 #Bolton bit.ly/4UEs0F #

13:15 Squarefootball panel: #Blackburn 2 - 1 #Stoke bit.ly/8wLyCf #

13:18 @empireofthekop Nice listing on Listorious - listorious.com/mkhan029/liverpool #

13:37 Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur: Who will approach Christmas in the top four?: The big game of the day se.. bit.ly/5l7tRW #sqf #

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Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur: Who will approach Christmas in the top four?

The big game of the day sees fifth placed Aston Villa take on fourth placed Tottenham. A combination of the teams suggests that Spurs is currently stronger. But with Downing about to kick-off his Villa career that balance could yet shift - especially with the January transfer window being just five weeks away.

Aston Villa's form in recent weeks has been patchy, picking up just six points from the last five league games, but as the late Heskey equalizer at Burnley shows this is not a team that will lose many games this season. Villa look like they will benefit from an early European exit and with the experience of last season in mind, now know what it takes to finish in the top four. Villa are not always considered as strong a challenger for the top four as Spurs or Man City - but they have a good chance. Villa need a win to get on terms with Spurs but after 1-1 draws with Wolves, Everton and Burnley recently - perhaps another one is possible?

Aston Villa last 5 league games XXLWX
Wolves (a) 1-1
Everton (a) 1-1
West Ham (a) 1-2
Bolton (h) 5-1
Burnley (a) 1-1

I made the somewhat contentious suggestion that Spurs should end the year above Arsenal last weekend; that's the year (2009) as opposed to the season (2009/10) before anyone else miserably comments without reading what they are commenting on or any of the reasons why Spurs should garner more points than Arsenal by the end of December. But this is probably the pivotal weekend for that prediction; Arsenal play their hardest game against Chelsea and Spurs play their hardest, here at Villa Park. If Spurs can demonstrate the attacking verve that saw them score eight second half goals against Wigan then they will beat anyone - but the worry remains that it was a one-off before the more usual slide into inconsistency.

Tottenham Hotspur last 5 league games WLLWW
Portsmouth (a) 2-1
Stoke (h) 0-1
Arsenal (a) 0-3
Sunderland (h) 2-0
Wigan (h) 9-1

Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur; Kick Off 5:30pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 1 - 0
Chris Cox : 1 - 1
Graham Enwright : 2 - 2
Sue Gardener : 1 - 1
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 2
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Peter Lee : 1 - 1
Don McMahon : 2 - 2
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 3
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 1
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 2 - 2
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 1
Isaac Williams : 1 - 1
Mark Williams : 2 - 2

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a hard fought score draw - 1-1 or 2-2

Home: 4; Draw: 12; Away: 1; TBC: 3.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Portsmouth vs Manchester United: You are my first, my last, my everything?

Rock-bottom Portsmouth have this week sacked Paul Hart and replaced him with Avram Grant and face a Manchester United side chasing a fourth successive league title - not many fixed odds coupons will not have this one down as a banker away win.

Avram Grant takes over from Paul Hart at Portsmouth and his first game is against Manchester United. Around this time two seasons ago he took over from Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and his first game was lost 2-0 at Old Trafford; his last game was the penalty shoot-out defeat (again against United) in the Champions' League final in Moscow. Grant's first game was against United and the third game was his last. Not liking to tempt fate but Portsmouth face Man United again on 6 February so barring a cup draw you would expect that Grant will see out the season.

The reason that Grant has been brought in is to generate results. The owners were happy that Paul Hart could get the performances right, but there were too many close-run games where Pompey were 'unlucky' - Grant has been brought in to turn performances into results. It is rare that the bottom team in the division has a goal difference that is superior to five other clubs, which is a mark of how close so many games were. With the safety mark only four points distant if Grant can change-up the results of six or seven games over the course of the season then he can get Pompey safe.

Portsmouth last 5 league games LXWLL
Tottenham (h) 1-2
Hull (a) 0-0
Wigan (h) 4-0
Blackburn (a) 1-3
Stoke (a) 0-1

But unfortunately for Portsmouth they face a Man United side stinging from a home defeat in the Champions' League and eager to take advantage of the Arsenal / Chelsea game when the two other title challengers meet tomorrow. United are not scoring the volume of goals that they are used to partly as a result of the loss of the talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo - but going back a little further the loss of Ruud van Nistelrooy also caused a dip in goals scored. Interestingly as rumours grow that van Nistelrooy may be returning to England to stregthen Liverpool or Arsenal there is no suggestion that United (who are scoring fewer goals than either) may move for him.

Manchester United last 5 league games WLWLW
Bolton (h) 2-1
Liverpool (a) 0-2
Blackburn (h) 2-0
Chelsea (a) 0-1
Everton (h) 3-0

Portsmouth vs Manchester United; Kick Off 3:00pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 0 - 2
Chris Cox : 0 - 2
Graham Enwright : 1 - 3
Sue Gardener : 0 - 3
Chris Goodwin : 0 - 3
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 1 - 2
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 0 - 2
Peter Lee : 0 - 2
Don McMahon : 0 - 2
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 0 - 4
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 3
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 3
Peter Rendle : 0 - 2
Dan Taylor : 1 - 5
Andy Wakeman : 1 - 3
Isaac Williams : 0 - 2
Mark Williams : 1 - 1

Panel Verdict
The panel is predicting a comfortable 2-0 Man United away win

Home: 0; Draw: 1; Away: 16; TBC: 3.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Wigan Athletic v Sunderland: Martinez aims to put horror show to bed

Wigan Athletic had a seriously bad day at the office last weekend at White Hart Lane and yet at half-time it looked as though they could have snatched a draw at least. However, as we all saw, a Jermain Defoe-inspired Spurs side tore the Latics to shreds and inflicted them to their heaviest defeat in history.

Roberto Martinez has reportedly watched that horror show a number of times this week so you can guarantee there will be no repeat performance today. He will have identified what went wrong at the Lane and demand a glowing performance from his players today. And after wins over Aston Villa and Chelsea, I wouldn’t be surprised if they bounced back from last week’s torture to beat Arsenal’s conquerors at the DW Stadium.

Steve Bruce returns to his former club desperate to remain in the hunt for European football. The Black Cats are currently in eighth place and are just five points behind Arsenal in third spot, who play Chelsea tomorrow. However, their away form this season hasn’t been great. They’ve recorded just four points on the road this season and haven’t won away from the Stadium of Light since the opening day of the campaign. Can they pile more misery on Martinez’s men or will they the Black Cats be unlucky again?

Sunderland have been boosted by the news that Darren Bent should be fit for the game and Michael Turner is available after serving a suspension. Meanwhile, Wigan are expected to make a number of changes to the team that lost nine against Spurs.

This will be the 14^th meeting between the two sides in history and Sunderland have only managed to win three. They managed a point at the DW Stadium last year. Can they go one better this time round? The Panel believes they can.

Wigan Athletic v Sunderland; Kick Off 3pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 1 - 1
Chris Cox : 1 - 1
Graham Enwright : 2 - 1
Sue Gardener : 1 - 3
Chris Goodwin : 0 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 3 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 0 - 0
Peter Lee : 0 - 1
Don McMahon : 2 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 2
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 2 - 2
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 2
Peter Rendle : 0 - 2
Dan Taylor : 0 - 2
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 3
Isaac Williams : 1 - 1
Mark Williams : TBC

Panel Verdict

It really is too tight to mention, but the majority of the Panel believes Sunderland will get a share of the spoils at least.

Home: 3; Draw: 6; Away: 7; TBC: 4.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

West Ham United v Burnley: Irons set to Hammer the Clarets

Burnley head to Upton Park this afternoon looking for their first away win of the season. Unfortunately for them, history is not on their side as they have only managed one win at the Boleyn Ground in their last 19 visits! However, West Ham haven’t been so prolific at home themselves, with only one win to their name.

The Hammers have blown two two-goal leads twice in the past three weeks and only sit out of the relegation places on goal difference. And with Hull City and Birmingham City both finding form, it’s imperative that West Ham win today to move away from the dreaded drop zone.

This will be the Clarets’ first away trip since taking a point off the big spenders Manchester City at Eastlands and they will be looking to build on that platform. Superb at home and awful away, there are signs that Burnley have discovered how to play on the road and they will be confident of beating a side six places and points below them.

The one thing that you can be assured of from today’s clash is swift, attacking football as both clubs like to play the game the right way. There should also be a lot of goalmouth action as there has only been one goalless draw between the sides since 1928.

Injury-ravaged Kieron Dyer should be available for selection by Gianfranco Zola and James Tomkins is also expected to be fit, but the Hammers look to be without the leadership qualities of Matthew Upson.

Burnley have no new injury concerns and Owen Coyle may decide to play the same team for the fifth game in a row.

Burnley’s last win in East London was 36 years ago and no-one on the Panel sees that changing this afternoon.

West Ham United v Burnley; Kick Off 3pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 1
Chris Cox : 2 - 1
Graham Enwright : 2 - 1
Sue Gardener : 2 - 2
Chris Goodwin : 2 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 3 - 2
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 1 - 0
Peter Lee : 1 - 0
Don McMahon : 1 - 0
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 1
Peter Rendle : 1 - 0
Dan Taylor : 3 - 3
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 1
Isaac Williams : 2 - 0
Mark Williams : TBC

Panel Verdict

It looks as though the Hammers will have their hands on three crucial points come 5pm.

Home: 13; Draw: 3; Away: 0; TBC: 4.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Squarefootball Diary - Friday 27 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/6vBd0L #

23:38 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/4wSRQp #sqf #

07:36 Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur –The ultimate starting XI: Fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur travel to fifth.. bit.ly/8Z0tue #sqf #

12:22 Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City: Dreaming of a top six finish bit.ly/5EIaOq #

12:38 Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City: Dreaming of a top six finish: Blackburn in 12th and Stoke in 9th start thi.. bit.ly/6VxeeH #sqf #

16:09 Fulham vs Bolton Wanderers: Fulham can push Gary Megson towards the exit bit.ly/6wNRXT #

16:43 Fulham vs Bolton Wanderers: Fulham can push Gary Megson towards the exit: Fulham come into this game in go.. bit.ly/512cGM #sqf #

16:50 Manchester City vs Hull City: Time for Man City hold on to a lead bit.ly/7enfWM #

17:01 sqF Mailbag: Milner is stunning and has been one of the leagues best players this season, But I do .. bit.ly/7vBYKi #

17:01 sqF Mailbag: Thanks..those villa players will be moving to Spurs in january. bit.ly/5lHhRM #

17:01 sqF Mailbag: the only villa player that should be in there is ashley young.... the rest are just no.. bit.ly/82x0kP #

17:01 sqF Mailbag: Not in a million years would you put Milner in a side ahead of Lennon, lol, not that M.. bit.ly/53xhuY #

17:01 sqF Mailbag: how can lennon not make the team???? he is currently tottenhams best midfielder, in be.. bit.ly/5zFSHR #

17:36 BBC link to Squarefootball article - news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8379471.stm - the long walk back has started! #

17:40 #FF @PiangShankly @ThePositiveOne @DarrenPhillipsJ @mcdonaldtaf @skrteligans @Andrew_Kyriacou @empireofthekop @shmlfc - thx for replies #

17:41 Manchester City vs Hull City: Time for Man City to hold on to a lead: Manchester City could go fifth with .. bit.ly/6z8UEp #sqf #

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Manchester City vs Hull City: Time for Man City to hold on to a lead

Manchester City could go fifth with a win against Hul City who have moved four points clear of the relegation zone in the last week.

Manchester City are unbeaten since the galling injury time goal for Michael Owen in the Manchester derby over two months ago. Unfortunately for much of that two months City have been drawing games, often from winning positions - 2-0 up against Fulham, ended up 2-2; 3-2 up against Burnley, ended 3-3; 2-1 up against Liverpool, ended 2-2. Those three equalisers all came in the final half an hour of the last three matches - and the six points lost mean that instead of being one point behind 2nd place Man United, Man City are two points above ninth placed Stoke. Liverpool seem certain to wake up soon and Tottenham are starting to build a gap - this is a must-win game if City have top four ambitions this season.

Man City are unbeaten at home this season.

Manchester City last 5 league games
Liverpool (a) 2-2
Burnley (h) 3-3
Birmingham (a) 0-0
Fulham (h) 2-2
Wigan (a) 1-1

Hull have benefited from back-to-back home games and being unbeaten in the last four home games - winning two and drawing two - just when Phil Brown seemed to be one more bad result away from the sack. A win today would move Hull up to 10th placed Fulham's 18 points and spread some significant optimism around that this season isn't going to end in disaster. This is the fixture last season where Brown infamously kept his players on the pitch at half-time to chastise them about their performance. Thereafter Hull went into free-fall and avoided relegation by the slimmest of margins. Whilst it would be fun if Brown repeated the trick, with Jimmy Bullard about the team is hardly likely to be as lethargic.

Hull have only picked up one point away from home this season.

Hull City last 5 league games
West Ham (h) 3-3
Stoke (h) 2-1
Burnley (a) 0-2
Portsmouth (h) 0-0
Fulham (a) 0-2

Manchester City vs Hull City; Kick Off 3:00pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 4 - 0
Chris Cox : TBC
Graham Enwright : 2 - 0
Sue Gardener : 4 - 0
Chris Goodwin : 2 - 0
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 3 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 2 - 0
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 1 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 0
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 3 - 1
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 3 - 1
Peter Rendle : 3 - 1
Dan Taylor : 3 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 3 - 0
Isaac Williams : 3 - 1
Mark Williams : TBC

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a 3-1 Man City win.

Home: 14; Draw: 1; Away: 0; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Fulham vs Bolton Wanderers: Fulham can push Gary Megson towards the exit

Fulham come into this game in good form with key players again available, Bolton are in the relegation zone and face a hard winter.

Fulham's 3-0 win over Blackburn on Wednesday moved the London club into the top half of the table and another season finishing in top seven cannot be dismissed. The news that Brede Hangeland has signed a new contract should be a boost (although it is remarkable how many players go off the ball after signing a contract) as should more involvement from Danny Murphy and Andrew Johnson. Fulham can move up to sixth with a win and if the form showed in the second half on Wednesday is maintained then this fixture will hold no fears. Fulham have scored 9 and conceded 5 in the last five league games, losing just once.

Fulham last 5 league games
Blackburn (h) 3-0
Birmingham (a) 0-1
Wigan (a) 1-1
Liverpool (h) 3-1
Man City (a) 2-2

Bolton are in a relegation fight - there is no other way to describe a team in the bottom three that is being rolled over so often and by such margins. Fortunately as Wigan, Wolves, Portsmouth, West Ham and Hull have proved recently there are no shortage of poor teams in the division - so it is a matter of grinding some results out through the winter months and better those teams if Gary Megson's team is to stay up. The grinding nature of the team is what upsets the fans, but Megson's revelation that he feels that a couple of players are undermining results (I guess he means 'undermining Gary Megson') is stopping even that from working. You get the feeling that if Megson can't grind out a win or two before Christmas then he will have to go; but whether he goes or stays it will take a remarkable turnaround for Bolton to get clear of the mess they are in. Bolton have conceded 15 goals in the last 5 league games, winning once.

Bolton last 5 league games
Blackburn (h) 0-2
Aston Villa (a) 1-5
Chelsea (h) 0-4
Everton (h) 3-2
Man Utd (a) 1-2

Fulham vs Bolton Wanderers; Kick Off 3:00pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 3 - 0
Chris Cox : TBC
Graham Enwright : 3 - 1
Sue Gardener : 3 - 2
Chris Goodwin : 2 - 0
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 1 - 0
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 0 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 2 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 1
Peter Rendle : 2 - 0
Dan Taylor : 2 - 0
Nick Tomkins : TBC
Bill Urban (sqf) : TBC
Andy Wakeman : 1 - 0
Isaac Williams : 2 - 1
Mark Williams : TBC

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a 2-0 Fulham win.

Home: 13; Draw: 1; Away: 1; TBC: 6.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City: Dreaming of a top six finish

Blackburn in 12th and Stoke in 9th start this game on the back of some decent recent form possibly an indication as to why they are both threatening top half finishes - but can Stoke climb higher?

Blackburn lost 3-0 at Fulham on Wednesday - but dominated much of the first half and really should have been a couple of goals up before Fulham found their feet. Since the swine flu problems started to ease Blackburn have done well in two-and-a-half games beating relegation candidates Portsmouth and Bolton before the Fulham failure. David Dunn is the man in form for Blackburn at the moment and his captain, Ryan Nelson, has called for an England call up but Nelson is far more likely to feature in the World Cup finals next year for New Zealand than Dunn is for England. All of which does demonstrate the potential in Dunn that an injury ravaged career has damaged. A win for Blackburn could push them into the top half of the table, level on points with Stoke.

Blackburn last 5 league games
Fulham (a) 0-3
Bolton (a) 2-0
Portsmouth (h) 3-1
Man Utd (a) 0-2
Chelsea (a) 0-5

Stoke are in better form and although beaten 4-0 in the League Cup by Portsmouth a month ago have won 3 of the last 5 league games - even if the Spurs win was something of a smash and grab. This has pushed Stoke into ninth place, and another win in this game could lift The Potters above Manchester City, Liverpool and Sunderland into sixth if other results go their way. Tony Pulis was in fine form this week in describing the two key moments in the 1-0 win over Portsmouth that ultimately lead to Paul Hart's dismissal. Firstly on Fuller's goal:

"In the last two games [Ricardo Fuller] looked like he's been lacking in confidence. That's not Ric. He's usually full of confidence and full of life, so it was nice to see him score."

But more amusingly on Thomas Sorensen's penalty save:

"We pay Thomas decent money, so we expect him to make a save like that every now and again."

It's good that Pulis is never satisfied because being able to threaten a top six place with the season nearly half over demonstrates a significant overachievement. Will one of the very rich clubs try to poach Pulis at some point?

Stoke last 5 league games
Portsmouth (h) 1-0
Hull (a) 1-2
Wolves (h) 2-2
Tottenham (a) 1-0
West Ham (h) 2-1

Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City; Kick Off 3:00pm 28 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 0 - 0
Chris Cox : TBC
Graham Enwright : 2 - 1
Sue Gardener : 2 - 0
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Peter Lee : 1 - 1
Don McMahon : 2 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 2
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 1 - 2
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 0
Isaac Williams : 2 - 1
Mark Williams : TBC

Panel Verdict
The panel is split, but currently favouring a Blackburn 2-1 win.

Home: 7; Draw: 6; Away: 2; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur –The ultimate starting XI

Fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur travel to fifth placed Aston Villa this weekend in one of the biggest games of the weekend. Spurs go into the game full of confidence following their sensational 9-1 win over Wigan Athletic while Villa will be looking to get their campaign back to winning ways after sharing the spoils with Burnley. Both Martin O’Neill and Harry Redknapp have assembled two talented squads, but if you had to build an ultimate starting XI from the squads available, who would you plump for? Would you pick Lennon ahead of Milner? Would you rather have Gomes in goal than Friedel? Would Jenas or Heskey even make it on to the subs bench?

Here is my ultimate team which will play in a traditional 4-4-2 formation from the players who should be available for selection on the day.

Goalkeeper

It wasn’t that long ago that Heurelho Gomes had Spurs fans up and down the country tearing out their hair. Now the Brazilian shot stopper is one of most consistent performers in the Premier League. Gomes has come on leaps and bounds since his disastrous start at White Hart Lane and has saved Spurs on more than one occasion already this season. However, despite his vast improvements, in my eyes he is just not as reliable as Villa’s Brad Friedel. The former American international has plied his trade in the Premier League for the past 12 years and just keeps getting better with age. Quick, agile and an excellent reader of the game, Friedel is one of the best in the country and bags the number one shirt in my team.

Defence

Assou Ekotto has made the left-back slot his own at White Hart Lane this season and has blossomed under the guidance of Redknapp. But his opposite number Stephen Warnock has made an equally impressive start to his time at Villa Park. Martin O’Neill has labelled Warnock his “warrior” for his tough tackling style. However, my vote goes with Ekotto simply because he is in currently in the form of his life.

Martin O’Neill’s acquisition of Richard Dunne has turned out to be an astute bit of business for the Villains. An experienced international defender, Dunne has a point to prove after being shown the door by Mark Hughes and Manchester City and Aston Villa have already benefited from his arrival. Strong in both boxes and quick on the ground, Dunne will never let you down and joins Ekotto in the back four.

Alongside Dunne I have to go for Tottenham’s Ledley King. Probably one of the best readers in the game, King is an awesome defender. Comfortable on the ball, a great passer and wonderful tackler, it’s a shame that he will never truly fulfil his potential due to injury. He just gets the nod ahead of James Collins who has been another brilliant signing for Aston Villa. Why Zola let him leave West Ham United I’ll never know.

Completing my defence is King’s team-mate Vedran Corluka. Luke Young is a decent player but in my eyes Corluka is the hungrier of the two players and he has youth on his side to help attack down the flanks. He also has vast experience of European and international football.

Midfield

If Luka Modric was available then he would have been the first name on my list. Unfortunately the magical Croatian is still out following his broken leg this season so I have to go without him.

On the left wing then it has to be Ashley Young. The former Watford man may not be in the same sparkling form that he showed last year but he is still liable to produce something outstanding from nothing (just ask West Ham). He has the pace and skill to deliver from the dead ball line or cut in on his deadly right foot and it’s those options that make him difficult to defend against.

In the heart of midfield I would have to go for Tottenham’s Tom Huddlestone. The Spurs player is one of the most under-rated performers in the league and is undoubtedly one of the best passers in the league. The former Nottingham Forest man also has a mean shot in his locker.

Accompanying Huddlestone has to be his Spurs team-mate Wilson Palacios. The former Wigan midfielder has been one of Redknapp’s most important signings at the club. The tenacious midfielder closes down the ball at every opportunity, is not afraid to put in a hefty tackle and has bags of energy. The Honduran international doesn’t mind doing all the dirty work and that’s the kind of player every team should have.

Of course that means I’ve left out the power of Stiliyan Petrov and the creativity of Niko Kranjcar, but I firmly believe that Huddlestone and Palacios would be disciplined enough to deal with their defensive duties first and foremost, letting the wingers attack at every opportunity, before getting involved themselves.

So who will finalise my midfield, the hard working James Milner or the electrifying pace of Aaron Lennon? This may be controversial but I am actually going to plump for Milner. The former Newcastle United man is willing to do anything and play anywhere for Villa and, unlike Lennon, more often than not deliver the goods at the end. Milner is one of the league’s most industrious players and miraculously never seems out of breath at the end of a game. Lennon is frightening when he’s at full pace and can make even the most experienced defender look stupid, but his final ball remains a huge problem and for that reason it has to be Milner.

Strikers

Well, following his five-star display against Wigan last weekend, Jermain Defoe is an automatic choice for my team. The former Wet Ham and Portsmouth man has pace to burn, a lethal strike, and accuracy that an Olympic archer would be proud of. The problem is who do I play alongside him? Robbie Keane has been a shadow of his former self since he returned to the Lane so he’s out. Peter Crouch has the height to complement Defoe but he is much better with the ball at his feet than in the air while Roman Pavlyuchenko hardly gets a look in these days. So what about the strikers at Villa? Well, Emile Heskey could be a perfect foil for him, given his strength and power, but lacks first team starts, John Carew, like Crouch, gives me an option height wise, but I think I would have to go for the blinding pace of Defoe’s fellow England international Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Agbonlahor could give Usain Bolt a run for his money, is a cool finisher and, like Defoe, has the ability to hold the ball up and play his team-mates in. Any defence in the world would be terrified with the prospect of that forward line bearing down on them. The opposition would surely sit nearer to their own penalty area so not to allow either Defoe or Agbonlahor the chance to get in behind them because if they did they would never be caught. It also gives the likes of Huddlestone, Milner and Young the chance to cut inside and test the keeper from distance.

So here is my ultimate team:

Friedel

Assou Ekotto

Dunne

King

Corluka

Young

Palacios

Huddlestone

Milner

Defoe

Agbonlahor

Subs: Gomes, Collins, Warnock, Kranjcar, Lennon, Petrov, Carew

Do you think you could build a better team from those players available? I’d love to hear from you.

Squarefootball Diary - Thursday 26 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/4sqHu3 #

23:31 sqF Mailbag: With Wolfsburg winning I would expect United to be too strong for Besiktas in this gam.. bit.ly/7K2VkD #

23:40 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/4zHtH7 #sqf #

02:40 The end of my Liverpool grieving process : I'm beginning to get over it now. The midweek thing. I'm always.. bit.ly/7EwfaI #sqf #

09:43 Mirror: Ex #ManUtd striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will reject Arsenal in favour of a move to Liverpool on loan <- That'll go down well #

09:46 Dave Whelan: "9-1 was caused by dodgy Bruce signings" <- As opposed to the sales of Cattermole, Valencia, Palacios, Heskey etc? #

09:47 Guardian: Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch fears the team could be broken up after their exit from the CL <- Is it worth saving? #

09:52 #Everton lose planning permission battle to move to Kirkby, #Liverpool can't afford to start building ... <insert shared stadium here> #

09:53 Guardian: Micah Richards to #Spurs - won't happen, he's not sufficiently injury-prone #

09:56 1,200 tweets #

11:29 @mcdonaldtaf I was using my Google account to authenticate - so would have come through as 'Antony' #

11:31 @mcdonaldtaf Shared stadium Pros: Match day revenue + 50%, better facilities, better community resources. Cons: Shared stadium. #

12:09 Sky Sports: Rafa wants Babel answers <- but he won't understand (bit of a biblical joke for a Thursday morning) #

17:36 Which 16 English stadiums could host World Cup 2018 and will Merseyside miss out? bit.ly/7jsCSU #

17:40 Which 16 English stadiums could host World Cup 2018 and will Merseyside miss out?: It does seem a bit pres.. bit.ly/6onEID #sqf #

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Which 16 English stadiums could host World Cup 2018 and will Merseyside miss out?

It does seem a bit presumptuous to invite cities (and Milton Keynes) to bid for the right to be part of the attempt by the FA to get England chosen as the 2018 World Cup host nation. But given the success of the London Olympic bid there is some optimism that England could get this twice in a lifetime opportunity (let's hope that we can host the tournament in 2018 and then sometime somewhat earlier than 2070!). But which grounds will get the nod?

If the format of the tournament continues as thirty-two teams in eight initial groups then as the FA today announced that there would be 16 stadiums it seems likely that eight pairs of stadiums will be picked that are reasonably geographically close for each group. The latter rounds will probably be London based, with the possible exception of the odd game in the bigger provincial stadiums - Old Trafford, St James' Park and so on.

The FA's criteria include:

"Successful cities will show they have the infrastructure necessary to meet or exceed FIFA’s requirements. This includes stadiums, training venues, base camps and Fan Parks. They will have excellent accommodation and transport services, and robust plans for safety, security and sustainability. Successful cities will have strong public backing for their bid, plus the support of local and regional media."

There are 21 stadiums in contention for games now that Portsmouth has pulled out, so five are going to be disappointed:

Birmingham
Bristol*
Derby
Hull
Leeds
Leicester
Liverpool x 2 (Everton* and Liverpool's* new grounds)
London x 4 (Emirates, Olympic Stadium*, Wembley and Tottenham's new stadium*)
Manchester x 2 (Old Trafford and Eastlands)
Milton Keynes
Newcastle/Gateshead
Nottingham*
Plymouth
Sheffield x 2 (Bramall Land and Hillsborough)
Sunderland

There is a measure of uncertainty over some of the stadiums as Nottingham, Bristol, both Merseyside clubs, Tottenham and the London Olympic stadium will all require building before the event - these stadia are at various stages of development.

Who will be chosen?

Plymouth's Home Park should be a big winner as the only bidder on the south coast and it would make sense if it were paired with Bristol or Villa Park for one group. Without Plymouth or Bristol there would not be a single game south or west (or east for that matter) of London.

London seems sure to get a bigger quota than elsewhere with its four proposed stadia all likely to be picked. Although the Tottenham stadium and the new Olympic stadium have not been built, plans are so well advanced that they would make an obvious pairing - as would the Emirates and Wembley.

St James' Park/Stadium of Light are a shoo-in for one group to be based in the north east.

Old Trafford and Eastlands in Manchester are also certainties as two of the biggest grounds in the country.

Villa Park is another certain winner as the only ground from the west Midlands paired with either the Walkers Stadium (Leicester) or Stadium MK (Milton Keynes). Although if Plymouth or Bristol were rejected then they could come into contention for the region.

Which probably leaves two stadium pairings from the four remaining likely sets of stadiums: Derby/Nottingham, Leeds/Hull, Sheffield or Merseyside.

Ordinarily Merseyside would be an obvious pick; but there are currently severe problems over proposing them. The doubt over the Merseyside bid is that it is based on Everton and Liverpool having new stadiums - which unlike the Tottenham and Olympic stadiums are not actively being developed. With the rejection of the Kirkby proposal for Everton's ground and the clear lack of funding from the Liverpool owners for their Stanley Park development there is a possibility that one or both clubs will not have a new stadium in 2018.

That said it would be ludicrous for the FA to abandon Merseyside almost a decade before the stadiums would be needed; so I reckon that a compromise will be reached with a deadline set of, say, 2015 for building work to start on new stadiums before a contingency plan would be needed.

The final group would probably be made up from the four Yorkshire stadiums, with tradition suggesting that Elland Road and Hillsborough would get the nod over the KC Stadium or Bramall Lane - even if the KC stadium is probably the best of the four.

Leaving Pride Park (Derby) and Nottingham as the probable contingency pairing if the new Merseyside stadiums don't get built. If only one Merseyside stadium gets built then perhaps it would share a group with one Manchester stadium and the other paired with a stadium from Yorkshire or the east Midlands.

* Which stadiums do you think should get the nod for England's World Cup bid for 2018?

The end of my Liverpool grieving process

I'm beginning to get over it now. The midweek thing. I'm always being told to 'get over it', so I am.

It's ok. Really. We can concentrate on winning the league now we're out of the European Cup. There's a stat somewhere that suggests winning the league is more do-able if you're out of the European cup early doors, I think. Which brings me nicely to the weekend. Oh how I can't wait. How I can't wait to watch X Factor minus those twins !

That and the small matter of the Mersey derby. I'll stop here before I think of any more comparisons between Jedward and Liverpool-Everton !

So now we look forward to Everton. Actually, we don't. Well, I don't anyway. Evertonians everywhere are licking their lips at the prospect of playing us and having the rare opportunity of winning their annual 'cup final'. Even Evertonians are saying that they're so bad at the moment, that even Liverpool can beat them !

So unless Torres makes his comeback on Sunday and Aquilani gets a start, I think we might struggle. No really. Everton are famous for raising their game against Liverpool - even on their worst form. Most of the Evertonians that I know can't wait for Sunday. However, one thing that people might not think about, is how Liverpool will be licking their wounds and how they might take it out on Everton this Sunday. People have no idea. I have no idea. Will the real Liverpool please stand up ? Hull beating Everton midweek and Phil Neville's bad news on his injury is positive for Liverpool fans. Although, let's not forget Tim Cahill who always plays well in the derby. Unless he's injured too ?

So between now and May is when every Liverpool player will be playing for their future at the club. Babel doesn't deserve a future at Liverpool or on Twitter, in my opinion, so no big loss if he's sold in January.  Apart from Reina, Gerrard, Carragher, Torres and Aquilani, nobody is safe in my opinion. Not even Maschareno. Then again, football's worst kept secret is that Liverpool's Monster is Barcelona bound before/after the World Cup ! Just this scary thought should inspire our fringe players to a spirited fightback to our lost season.

As Rafa says, Liverpool have "quaality" and they'll "chances". Here's hoping anyway. With hope, in my heart, we'll never walk alone. Nor shall any Liverpool fans reading this. Fingers crossed for a Liverpool, Barca (v R.Madrid) and...dare I say it...Chelsea (v. Arse) treble on Sunday. I say Chelsea so that they can run away with the title from Man Utd and also dent Arsenal's progress as they are Liverpool's main rivals for that 'gold plated' 4th spot.

Yes, 4th. After all, Moses did say "come forth". So Liverpool might.

Squarefootball Diary - Wednesday 26 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/6YTjdT #

23:46 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/8kyx2G #sqf #

10:37 Blame it on the Bougy: Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra was axed from the Rangers starting eleven as the.. bit.ly/55X04h #sqf #

11:31 Avram Grant is a shoo-in for #Portsmouth - Director of Football at #Chelsea - 7wks later manager; Director of football at Pompey for 7wks #

11:34 Christian Purslow says that Rafa Benitez is safe at #Liverpool - but I guess that a performance is needed against #Everton to soothe nerves #

11:36 @DBTheTruth How's the hamstring - will you be fit for the weekend? #

16:39 RT @FourFourTwo: Could the Scandinavian Ferdinand be set for the Premier League?: bit.ly/5UdIRY <- Anton or Rio? #

17:00 #Everton are on a run of one win from nine games going into tonights game at #Hull #

17:00 RT @paul_tomkins: New freebie piece on The Tomkins Times bit.ly/6HwkLE that I'll also send to .tv #

17:15 @mcdonaldtaf Commented on your blog #

17:20 @rupenliverpool Casual is fine! #

17:20 For #Liverpool I think that this season can be put down to a blip and Benitez has earned the right to have a blip. #

17:22 @mcdonaldtaf I thought I'd try an 'intelligent' comment - don't usually comment on articles and never bother with forums - so its a stretch #

17:23 @empireofthekop Never mind Inter, imagine if #Everton make it through the group stages. #

17:36 David Conn in the Guardian estimates that #Liverpool derived about €8m from the CL knockout stages last season bit.ly/5bncF4 #

17:45 Will Hull again appreciate home comforts against Everton? bit.ly/7GZWni #

17:55 BBC: Avram Grant must wait to learn whether he is the new Pompey manager <- so will it be confirmed tonight or in the morning? #

18:06 Fulham vs Blackburn Rovers: Fulham come home at last bit.ly/5sen6T #

18:30 Is a shock Besiktas win at Manchester United possible? bit.ly/81CAhC #

18:34 @mcdonaldtaf I'm not a complete technical buffoon - despite what anyone would say who saw me hacking away at an Xml feed earlier today #

18:42 Is a shock Besiktas win at Manchester United possible?: Anyone who saw the lacklustre Manchester United di.. bit.ly/7CPjCS #sqf #

20:43 The morning after 'Pool: The morning after. Usually for me the worst come down after a night like that. Be.. bit.ly/59qf8g #sqf #

22:45 CL Group A: Bordeaux confirm top spot by beating #Juve 2-0; Bayern Munich won 1-0 and will contest second place with Juve. Maccabi Haifa out #

22:47 CL Group B: #ManUtd play a reserve side and pay for it as Besiktas score from range to win 1-0, Wolfsburg, CSKA and Utd could tie on 10pts #

22:53 CL Grp C: Milan and Marseille draw 1-1while Real Madrid beat Zurich 1-0, meaning the 3 former champions are still all in it. #

22:54 CL Group D: #Chelsea beat Porto 1-0 to finish top of the group, Porto confirmed as second. Atletico salvage a 1-1 draw at Apoel Nicosia #

23:00 #Fulham thump #Blackburn 3-0 to move above the Lancashire team into 10th. #

23:01 #Hull take a 3-0 lead over #Everton , but a second half fight back means it ends 3-2; Everton 14th, Hull 15th. #

23:03 #Hull have now taken 7 points from the last 3 games - dating from the change of owner and derisory vote of confidence! #

23:07 Q: Is a shock Besiktas win at Manchester United possible? bit.ly/8CS4iz A: Yes. #

23:08 Just approaching 1,200 tweets - a few more mailbag comments overnight should do it. #

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The morning after 'Pool

The morning after.

Usually for me the worst come down after a night like that. Being a Liverpool fan I've not had THAT many disastrous nights, so have to take it on the chin and let the other minnows have their day-like every dog.

So all the good deeds that I carried out before the match went to waste. Or maybe they're being saved for Everton ?  Maybe they were only enough to beat Debreceni ?  Maybe I'm talking rubbish ? Karma, like the proverbial shopping trolley, has a mind of its own !

It does still pain, however. Like being dumped by a fit bird 'cos you were late for a date. Like being dumped by a fat bird 'cos you ate her pudding. Like failing an exam that you started revising for the night before. Like getting your car clamped while you're still sat in the car ! You get the gist. All self inflicted and all of the above applies to Liverpool FC...because it's our own fault we were in that situation.

Did Lyon turn up last night ? I don't think so. Did Fiorentina deserve to win ? Of course they did. Did the Italians and French collude to carving up Liverpool ? No chance. Unfortunately. I wouldn't mind sitting here with that dark cloud comfortably settled over my head, blaming anything but us for last night...but I can't. The truth of the matter is that we dug our own grave many weeks ago. Last night was too little too late.

Gutted is a good enough description for Liverpool, but then so is pathetic. Wallowing in self pity isn't something we're good at, so onwards and upwards...I couldn't imagine anything further downwards. Hell no. Please no. God no. God is a Liverpool fan, no ?

Is a shock Besiktas win at Manchester United possible?

Anyone who saw the lacklustre Manchester United display for an hour against CSKA Moscow must be wondering whether a United side that has already qualified will somehow show more commitment? Although Sir Alex Ferguson is unlikely to accept another below par performance he is also likely to rest some stars and will put out a team somewhere between a League Cup XI and a Champions' League final XI.

All things being equal, if United needed to win this game then they would - but I wouldn't bet on United at 1/3 after that CSKA game. One thing that might boost United is if Wolfsburg threaten the group supremacy by winning in Moscow (and they currently are winning 1-0). Ferguson could then use that to motivate the team - it makes a a big difference in likely knock-out stage opponents so winning the group does matter.

Players in sides like Besiktas often use the big games in England as a kind of shop window - hopefully snaring a huge contract. Also Besiktas can still pip CSKA for the Europa League place - but probably need a result here to manage it. So I don't imagine that they will come to grind out a 0-0. So this should be a good, open game, with two sides looking to win the game - so a few goals might be expected. Three or more goals seems reasonable (Total goals over 2.5 is priced at 4/5). If United do get a couple of goals then it could be due to strikes from fringe players looking to break through like Gabriel Obertan (13/2 for the first goal) or Darron Gibson (14/1).

With Wolfsburg winning I would expect United to be too strong for Besiktas in this game, but 10/1 is a good price for a team that will want to make an impression.

All odds from Bet365, Bet365 are currently offering £200 in free bets to new customers.

Fulham vs Blackburn Rovers: Fulham come home at last

Who wins the battle in the middle of the park between veteran midfielders Danny Murphy and David Dunn could decide this game.

In Fulham's first home game of the month they will hope to leapfrog Lancastrian neighbours, Burnley and Blackburn, into the top half of the table. Key players may return for the Cottagers with Andrew Johnson and Danny Murphy close to a recall and despite the performances (if not results) achieved in their absence these two really do add something to the side. Johnson and Murphy can push those good performances into good results as Fulham look to move back into the top half of the table. With European games about to go into the winter break, Roy Hodgson will want a platform for another finish that will ensure that the European campaign is not a one-off.

David Dunn's form is causing some pundits to call for an England call-up, they are likely to be disappointed but Blackburn are certainly benefiting from an injury free spell from their long-serving midfielder. Dunn made his debut for Blackburn 13 seasons ago yet when he returned to Blackburn from Birmingham almost 3 years ago he had not yet managed to play in 200 league games. The last couple of years has seen him play in just about every game and five weeks shy of his 30th birthday he is in the form of his life. Sam Allardyce is about to have heart surgery but will surely be gladdened by any kind of result - is two away wins in a week too much to ask?

Fulham vs Blackburn Rovers; Kick Off 8:00pm 25 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 0
Chris Cox : 0 - 1
Graham Enwright : 1 - 0
Sue Gardener : TBC
Chris Goodwin : 2 - 0
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : TBC
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 1 - 3
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 0
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 0 - 0
Dave Nash : 1 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 1
Peter Rendle : 2 - 0
Dan Taylor : 3 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 0
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 1 - 0

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting Fulham to win 2-0.

Home: 11; Draw: 2; Away: 2; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Will Hull again appreciate home comforts against Everton?

This is Hull's third consectutive home league game, and gives the club the chance to draw level with Everton on 15 points.

Hull's last two home games have seen the east Yorkshire side beat Stoke 2-1 and draw 3-3 with West Ham - after being behind in both games. In the second half of last season Hull rarely came back from behind, so getting results from losing positions in consecutive games is clear evidence that Hull is capable of scoring goals and a fighting spirit has returned; clear pointers to the board of directors that seemed ready to sack Phil Brown a couple of weeks ago. A win would push Hull up to 15 points - four points above the relegation zone.

Everton start the game four points above the relegation zone and ten points below fourth place - so a win would place the Merseyside club exactly halfway between heaven and hell in tenth place. But with a hugely depleted squad weakened by suspension to Fellaini and Bilyaletdinov added to injuries to Anichebe, Arteta, Jagielka, Neville, Pienaar and Vaughan - it is fair to say that Everton is missing half of its first choice team. One win in nine games is not ideal form to take to a team that is fighting for its manager - Everton may not be too disappointed with a draw.

Hull City vs Everton; Kick Off 7:45pm 25 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 0 - 2
Chris Cox : 2 - 1
Graham Enwright : 0 - 1
Sue Gardener : TBC
Chris Goodwin : 0 - 2
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 2
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : TBC
Peter Lee : 1 - 1
Don McMahon : 1 - 2
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 0 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 1 - 2
Dave Nash : 0 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 3
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 1 - 3
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 1
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 1 - 1

Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a narrow Everton win possibly 1-0.

Home: 2; Draw: 5; Away: 8; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Blame it on the Bougy

Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra was axed from the Rangers starting eleven as the Ibrox side crashed out of Europe with a whimper.

A third successive home defeat for the Gers ensured there would be no parachute drop into the Europa League.

After two crushing 4-1 defeats to Sevilla and Unirea Urziceni, Walter Smith's men were again outclassed, this time by VFB Stuttgart – a side without a win in their previous ten and perilously placed near the bottom of the Bundesliga.

But had it not been the heroics of goalkeeper Allan McGregor and the interventions of 17-year-old defender Danny Wilson the scoreline could have easily been even more damning.

Bougherra, left kicking his heels on the bench throughout the painful 90 minutes, will face the ire of some Rangers fans for being partly culpable in this latest Scottish football embarrassment.

The Algerian, who rescued a point for the Gers with a superb strike in Stuttgart, was dropped for last night's must-win clash in Glasgow after returning home late from international duty.

Smith, already working with a threadbare squad, must have felt hard-pushed to leave out one of his better players but would have felt he had no option but to make an example of the central defender.

The Ibrox manager was not rewarded for departing from his usually pragmatic, defensive approach by opting for a three-pronged attack instead of a lone striker.

Kris Boyd, Rangers' top scorer, was given a rare European start but failed to repay the faith shown by his manager when he spurned his side's best opportunity by wastefully heading over the bar from an enticing Kenny Miller cross.

Over the course of this dismal Champions League campaign, Rangers have been the complete antithesis to the Celtic sides of Martin O'Neill and, to a lesser extent, Gordon Strachan who frequently relied on their strong home performances to compensate for a woefully poor away record.

Smith's side have drawn twice away from home but now face a dead rubber against Sevilla in Spain in their final group match, whilst Stuttgart and Unirea will battle it out for a place in the last 16.

This season's European failure of Rangers and Celtic, who also look certain to exit the Europa League at the group stages, will certainly harm Scottish clubs' coefficient for such elite competitions.

Overcoming the arduous obstacles of the preliminary qualification rounds will almost certainly be the order of the day if any Scottish side is to reach the lucrative group stages next season.

And with the diminishing standard of the Old Firm, it could be a while before the spine-tingling Champions League music is next heard north of the border.

Squarefootball Diary - Tuesday 24 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/8eC4nO #

23:42 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/07Yp1so #sqf #

13:13 In praise of ... Jamie Carragher bit.ly/7araZM #

13:42 In praise of ... Jamie Carragher: There are very few players willing to face the press with the honesty of.. bit.ly/08DczeY #sqf #

15:05 CL Preview: Do or die for Rangers bit.ly/6lJIID #

15:08 Sun: Zola does not want to sell £20m rated Carlton Cole to #Liverpool or #ManUtd - a) Why say it then b) No-one will pay £20m #

15:10 Guardian: #Spurs prepared to pay £6m for Anton Ferdinand from #Sunderland - surely that's the value of the other Ferdinand, not Anton? #

15:11 Mirror: #Forest are planning a £3m move for #Spurs defender Gareth Bale - cue 30 game winless streak on one bank of the River Trent. #

15:46 CL Preview: Do or die for Rangers: By Danny Law Rangers can resurrect their hopes of qualifying for the kn.. bit.ly/07otYTY #sqf #

15:57 Debrecen are 14/1 to beat #Liverpool tonight (bit.ly/Bet-365), the draw is 9/2 and a Liverpool win 3/10 #

15:59 #Wigan players will refund tickets of fans who travelled to London and saw #Spurs win 9-1. If it catches on it will be a big motivator! #

17:19 Arsenal should score at least three tonight bit.ly/5QTiif #

17:19 Has Rafa Benitez been saving Aquilani for tonight? bit.ly/8qmDOQ #

17:48 RT @FourFourTwo: Curse you, rain!! Tonight's Accrington-Macclesfield clash called off ... <- You so wanted to start with 'its grim up ...'! #

17:48 Has Rafa Benitez been saving Aquilani for tonight?: Rafa Benitez has been easing Alberto Aquilani into act.. bit.ly/7MFpk2 #sqf #

17:51 @shmlfc The 140 character limit is going to be a struggle with 5 hash tags taking up over a third of every message! #

17:53 Sky Sports News are saying that Paul Hart has parted company with #Portsmouth with immediate effect - didn't see that coming. #

17:56 Paul Hart at #Portsmouth played 30, won 9, drew 5, lost 16 - first Premier League manager to go this season #

19:01 sqF Mailbag: the gooners need to take note spurs are here to stay.the bridesmaids of europe.wernt t.. bit.ly/4zPciS #

19:02 sqF Mailbag: Love it... Worth his weight in Gold! A Gem in the treasure chest that is Liverpool! bit.ly/6KLMxM #

19:02 sqF Mailbag: Hell get on at 30 mins bit.ly/7XVlTo #

19:22 Will the summer swapsies of Eto'o for Ibrahimovic bite Barcelona tonight? bit.ly/7tGu5v #

19:48 Will the summer swapsies of Eto'o for Ibrahimovic bite Barcelona tonight?: There is always a group of deat.. bit.ly/86MmaA #sqf #

22:18 CLGroup E: #Liverpool drop into the Europa League as Fiorentina progress by beating Lyon, who had already qualified. #

22:20 CL Group F: #Barca beat #Inter 2-0 to go top of Group F, but any of the four including Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kiev can still qualify. #

22:25 CL Group G: #Rangers crash out of Europe losing 2-0 to Stuttgart, who will compete with Unirea (surprise winners against Sevilla) for 2nd #

22:27 CL Group H: Comfortable 2-0 #Arsenal win seals the group leadership, leaving Olympiakos and Standard Liege fighting for second. #

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Will the summer swapsies of Eto'o for Ibrahimovic bite Barcelona tonight?

There is always a group of death. Pick a series of at least 4 mini-leagues using the fairest system you can dream up (that simultaneously helps all the richest clubs from the richest footballing leagues) and one will always look nasty. But enough of Group A, where Bayern Munich look likely to be eliminated by the excellent Bordeux side (including several of those nasty French international players) and a resurgent Juventus side - or even Group C where three former European Cup winners, including the two most successful in the tournaments history were bunched together in Real Madrid, AC Milan and Marseille.

Barcelona on the other hand had perennial Euro underachievers Inter Milan, plus an average Dynamo Kiev side and an unknown element in Rubin Kazan. The European champions, top rated side in Europe and hot favourites to retain the trophy were not supposed to struggle in this company. But Barca can go out with a game to spare tonight - and even the Europa League is not guaranteed. If Inter beat Barca and Rubin Kazan beat Kiev then Barca are out - although surely the sponsors will invoke some obscure seeding regulation to maintain their involvement.

Barca have been so toothless in this competition that only four other teams out of the 32 have scored less than the 3 goals that Barca have to date. But surely this is just a sense of theatre and Barcelona will come out and win the game and endanger Inter's chances?

Barcelona are 4/5 favourites, the draw is 12/5 and an Inter win is 19/5.

A Barcelona 2-1 win is 7/1 and despite the dearth of goals in this group this may be a game when both teams score making over 2.5 goals in the game look decent value at 11/10.. After the swapsies in the summer what are the chances that Zlatan Ibrahimovic (10/11 to score* at any time) and Samuel Eto'o (15/8 to score at any time) will be on the scoresheet.

All odds from Bet365, who are currently offering £200 in free bets for people opening new accounts.

*Bets on players not taking part in the match will be void, as will bets where the selection comes on after the first goal is scored, regardless of whether the player scores in the game.

Barcelona recent league form
Athletic Bilbao (a) drew 1-1
Mallorca (h) won 4-2
Osasuna (a) drew 1-1
Real Zaragoza (h) won 6-1

Inter recent league form
Bologna (a) won 3-1
Roma (h) drew 1-1
Livorno (a) drew 0-0
Palermo (h) won 5-3
Catania (h) won 2-1

Has Rafa Benitez been saving Aquilani for tonight?

Rafa Benitez has been easing Alberto Aquilani into action since signing him in the summer. But the £20m signing will surely get a start soon. His season in the first team has consisted of 15 minutes at the end of the League Cup defeat to Arsenal at the end of October and the final 7 minutes in the 2-2 home draw with Birmingham. Liverpool have to win to maintain serious hopes in this competition (and hope that Lyon stay motivated at Fiorentina despite qualification) so maybe Aquilani was deliberately in the Man City to keep him fresh for tonight.

Its a bit like a film where the hero leaves it really late before saving the day - and for Liverpool this is now really late. Aquilani is 10/1 to score first and 3/1 to score at any time - obviously his odds will drop if he is named in the starting XI in a couple of hours time - and if he isn't you will get your money back if there is a goal before he comes on*.

Liverpool start this game 3/10 hot favourites to win, with the draw 9/2 and a Debrecen home win a quite significant 9/1.

All odds from Bet365.

*Bets on players not taking part in the match will be void, as will bets where the selection comes on after the first goal is scored, regardless of whether the player scores in the game.

Arsenal should score at least three tonight

Arsenal should complete their qualification for the Champions' League knockout stages with a routine win over Standard Liege tonight, and in winning Arsenal will also simplify the next stage of the tournament by winning the group. Back in September it looked somewhat different when the Belgian team raced into a 2-0 lead and although Arsenal needed some late goals, the 3-2 win was one of the big early season signals that this Arsenal team meant business.

Standard Liege have not continued their early season form and have slipped to fourth in the Belgian top flight, between Germinal Beerschot and Gent (who beat Standard 2-1 on Saturday). Arsene Wenger will be looking for a reaction after the Sunderland game and he sounded genuinely angry about that performance - refusing to blame injuries. I would expect a more driven home performance and against a team that concedes a goal a game domestically any less than three goals will be disappointing.

Standard Liege recent domestic results:
Gent (a) lost 2-1
Club Brugge (h) won 3-1
Excelsior Mouscron (a) drew 0-0
Zulte-Waregem (h) drew 1-1

An Arsenal 3-1 win is 10/1 and over 2.5 goals in the game looks likely even at odds of 11/20. The goal line is placed at 3 goals, so would only pay out on 4 or more goals at just less than evens - which seems less good value than over 2.5 goals which would pay out on 3 goals in the game. Eduardo is the lowest odds goalscorer - but Fabregas looks better value at 7/4 to score* at any time in the match.

All odds from Bet365.

*Bets on players not taking part in the match will be void, as will bets where the selection comes on after the first goal is scored, regardless of whether the player scores in the game.

CL Preview: Do or die for Rangers

By Danny Law

Rangers can resurrect their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win over Bundesliga strugglers Stuttgart tonight.
The Gers have endured a woeful campaign so far with only two points from four matches, including two 4-1 home defeats to Sevilla and little known Romanian outfit Unirea Urziceni.

Despite their poor form in Europe's elite club competition, Walter Smith's men would give themselves a favourable chance of earning a place in the last 16 if they take all three points against the Germans, who currently sit only one point above them in the group.

The Ibrox side could start the must-win match without star defender Madjid Bougherra after the Algerian failed to return from international duty on time after his side's sudden death play-off victory over Egypt last week.

Teenager Danny Wilson, who turned in a man of the match performance in the 3-0 win over Kilmarnock at the weekend, may be given the nod to continue at the heart of defence with Bougherra left kicking his heels on the bench.

Smith has always edged on the side of caution on European nights, more often than not favouring a lone striker in place of the two-pronged attack more often deployed during less demanding league fixtures.

Kris Boyd, the club's top scorer this season with eight goals, has not started in the Champions League since a qualifying match against Montenegrin side Zeta in 2007 but may be offered a rare start with Smith knowing his side cannot afford anything less than three points.

And the Rangers supporters will be expecting their side to take maximum points against a side currently sitting third bottom of the Bundesliga.

Markus Babbel's side did, however, prove their worth with a hard-fought draw against group leaders Sevilla in Spain a fortnight ago.

But the Rangers players will go into the match knowing they owe their supporters a performance after two crushing home defeats and it wouldn't be a surprise if Smith's charges won a tight and nervy encounter by the odd goal.

In praise of ... Jamie Carragher

There are very few players willing to face the press with the honesty of Jamie Carragher whatever the result. Whatever the situation. During the current calamitous run of one win in ten games, Carragher has been one of the few constants, facing the cameras regardless of how hollow it must feel to be asked the same tired, speculative questions regarding Liverpool's failings and Rafa Benitez's future. Only his sending off against Fulham (his first red for seven years) took him out briefly of the limelight. It was obvious, with hindsight, who Liverpool would field to talk about Liverpool's struggles in the Champions' League.

Carragher is one of a dying breed of defender, a no-nonsense stopper who has overcome technical weaknesses to excel at the top level. Like John Terry at Chelsea and Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United, Carragher is not blessed with great pace and is not really comfortable dribbling the ball out of defence or making showy passes. What Carragher does is defend, often throwing his body on the line to make last-ditch blocks. His great positional sense means that he is rarely forced into a foot race that would expose him - which is why he persists at the top level. If you don't start by relying on pace to get you out of trouble, like, for example, Rio Ferdinand, you have to learn other techniques to survive - obviously some of them with only borderline legality!

His quick reaction to being asked whether he should have had a red card against Manchester United last month was typical:

"Why, do you think I should have?"

It was concerning the kind of challenge that he has perfected over the years, muscling his way to the ball without blatently fouling - needless to say the interviewer moved on to another subject.

And Carragher has also taken various radio presenters to task if he has felt that they have sold him short:

Liverpool player-of-the-year in 2004/5 and 2006/7, Carragher is 32 in January and can't have more than two or three seasons at the top level after this season. Fast approaching 600 first team games for Liverpool, Carragher has taken a lot of knocks and his style of play must limit his total. There are very few top, one club players in England who have a similar level of experience - John Terry, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs spring to mind. Interestingly, most of them have stuck with the same squad number they were originally given - none of them have felt the need to latch on to a 'better' number for commercial reasons. Perhaps it is not coincidental.

While he must be desperate to pick up a league championship medal before he retires there is no longer any mention of it for this season, Carragher with his usual disarming honesty has moved on:

"[Winning the Europa League] would put a different gloss [on the season]. Myself and Stevie Gerrard won that competition before and it's a great competition. There are other things, like the FA Cup. There's a long way to go. We haven't had a great start to the season but it can certainly be turned around between now and the middle of May."

Carragher isn't perfect and certain passages in his autobiography, 'Carra', make for difficult reading, but in an era of bland, agent dominated footballers Jamie Carragher is prepared to answer the tough questions honestly and deserves praise for that.

Squarefootball Diary - Monday 23 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/6mCW4m #

23:31 sqF Mailbag: Everon will be up there i no that they have a lot off players out and that has cost th.. bit.ly/08jwOj5 #

23:41 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Squ.. bit.ly/6Jjxlg #sqf #

23:51 A bit of abusive feedback from #Spurs and #Arsenal fans for suggesting that Spurs would get more points than Arsenal in the next 7 games. #

23:55 Most of the people giving feedback can't tell the difference between end of the year and end of the season and can't have read the article #

23:58 Blimey amidst the flurry of tweets from the sqF mailbag (bursting with righteous indignation tonight) didn't notice passing 1,100 tweets. #

00:01 sqF Mailbag: I was looking at the position at the start of January at which point Spurs should be t.. bit.ly/084YOSm #

00:01 sqF Mailbag: Do you not think that Spurs will get more points than Arsenal in the next 7 games? Is .. bit.ly/08ZNzKY #

00:01 sqF Mailbag: The only question is whether Everton will have too much ground to make up when Arteta,.. bit.ly/4K8Uw4 #

00:01 sqF Mailbag: tottenham will never finish in the topfour you dont have the quality wow u had one luc.. bit.ly/6QXnIo #

00:01 sqF Mailbag: The articles says third at the END OF 2009 not at the END OF THE SEASON. bit.ly/5dwrt9 #

01:01 sqF Mailbag: i smell nervous gooners bit.ly/077FnEc #

01:01 sqF Mailbag: Sad Spud tosser.... stop screaming. bit.ly/08pgvfR #

01:01 sqF Mailbag: If thats all you can make up you would be better off keeping your mouth shut what a lo.. bit.ly/5hp2MM #

01:01 sqF Mailbag: Sunderland fan....Still smiling about the last sentence in this article :-) bit.ly/6Plsvc #

01:01 sqF Mailbag: Its possible Spurs might finish the end of the year in third and trust me if they do e.. bit.ly/08nJQQf #

10:31 sqF Mailbag: hahaha bitter green eyed goons, come back to us when you score NINE goals in a Premier.. bit.ly/5VscAT #

10:31 sqF Mailbag: Im an arsenal fan and im nervous i must admit. so your right there. everytime we get c.. bit.ly/5RybzY #

10:42 Guardian: David Pleat - Top (if all available) #Everton midfield is Pienaar, Cahill, Neville, Osman and Arteta - but no Fellaini or Rodwell? #

11:01 sqF Mailbag: shut up you pricks ...when did your teams ever win 9 1 against anyone..we have no debt.. bit.ly/5mMAxD #

12:41 How did the evil France team fare after Henrygate? bit.ly/8jItfh #

12:42 How did the evil France team fare after Henrygate?: I thought I'd look at the subsequent performances of s.. bit.ly/4HTWva #sqf #

12:43 How did the unlucky Ireland team get on after World Cup elimination? bit.ly/8AT5cw #

13:01 sqF Mailbag: the gooners should shut up and take NOTICE spurs are here to stay.lets see how they do.. bit.ly/4M0qBs #

13:01 sqF Mailbag: Well said stussy, shame these Woolwich wankers cant make as much noise in their own ga.. bit.ly/07c4ilP #

13:45 How did the unlucky Ireland team get on after World Cup elimination?: There was much talk of dropping Iris.. bit.ly/07i7Idy #sqf #

14:02 sqF Mailbag: Knee jerk article and knee jerk Spuds dreamers as ever. Bring on the 9-1 dvd - FOYS bit.ly/6U4LNx #

17:02 sqF Mailbag: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAH lol lol lol lol lol hahahahhahahahahHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.. bit.ly/08vMrK3 #

17:02 sqF Mailbag: typical thick as shit gooners cant read properly..... what the artical actualy says is.. bit.ly/08fSs8R #

17:31 Only three of the Ireland team eliminated by France started for their clubs in the next match - bit.ly/07i7Idy #

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How did the unlucky Ireland team get on after World Cup elimination?

There was much talk of dropping Irish players who were not mentally fit to play after the Paris rollercoaster; but in the end most of the hard-bitten Ireland players turned out. Not everyone was sympathetic to their plight, with Roy Keane especially scathing. But with a replay now not likely - how did the Ireland players fare?

Shay Given was not overly taxed in a 2-2 draw for Manchester City at Anfield, Liverpool only hitting the target four times.

Manchester United's John O'Shea was injured in the Ireland game, but will be buoyed by Sir Alex Ferguson's comments that he is a candidate to be the next United captain.

Birmingham born Seán St Ledger played the 90 minutes in Middlesbrough's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday's Championship match.

Richard Dunne consoled Thierry Henry in Paris (perhaps it should have been the other way round?) and was thought to be unready to play at the weekend, but played a full game and was booked as Aston Villa drew at Burnley.

Preston born Kevin Kilbane hasn't played for Hull City for over a month now.

Stoke's Liam Lawrence (another Englishman) came on as a second half substitute in Stoke's 1-0 win against Portsmouth in the Premier League. Dubliner Glenn Whelan was an unused substitute for Stoke.

Keith Andrews was an unused substitute for Blackburn Rovers, who beat Bolton 2-0 in the Premier League.

Fulham dropped Damien Duff to the bench, and he was unable to make a difference after coming on for the last 16 minutes of their 1-0 defeat at Birmingham.

Kevin Doyle was not in the Wolves matchday squad against Chelsea and hasn't played for them since 7 November.

Robbie Keane was another left on the bench as Tottenham ran riot in a 9-1 win against Wigan.

Rep of Ireland: Given, O'Shea, St. Ledger, Dunne, Kilbane, Lawrence, Whelan, Andrews, Duff, Doyle, Keane. Subs: Joe Murphy, McGeady, McShane, Kelly, Gibson, Hunt, Best.

Starting XI: Three started (Given, Dunne and St. Ledger), two came on a substitutes (Duff and Lawrence). Of the five who played, one was in a winning side, three drew and one lost.

How did the evil France team fare after Henrygate?

How did the evil France team fare after Henrygate?

I thought I'd look at the subsequent performances of starting eleven of the France team that eliminated Ireland after 'that' goal by Gallas, after 'that' assist by Henry. There will be no replay of Ireland vs France, as Fifa has no rule to cover 'cheating' - although plenty to cover the 'unauthorized usage of non-sponsored products in a gameday environment' and Uefa's Michel Platini is, well, French. How did the furore affect the French players?

Thierry Henry himself 'considered retirement' after the furore over his handball; but fortunately he talked himself out of it a few minutes later. There were some reports of a hostile reaction to the forward after Henrygate, the player himself was probably unsettled and was only used as a late substitute in a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao.

The impressive French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made four saves as Lyon drew 1-1 at Grenoble in Le Championnat.

Bacary Sagna and William Gallas (who scored the decisive goal) were in the Arsenal team that lost 1-0 at Sunderland in the Premier League.

Julien Escudé suffer a broken nose in a clash with another France player during the Ireland game and is out of action for a couple of weeks.

Manchester United's Patrice Evra had a strong game against Everton on Saturday, and according to the Mirror is prepared to offer any Irish fan a replay - but only on the PlayStation.

Lassana Diarra was not in the Real Madrid matchday squad that beat Racing Santander 1-0 to go top of Primera Liga.

The Bordeaux number four Alou Diarra was in the starting line-up as his club beat Valenciennes 2-1 with goals from Jussie and David Bellion.

The new Zidane, in some eyes, and former Arsenal target Yoann Gourcuff did not play against Valenciennes for Bordeaux.

Nic Anelka played the first hour of the crushing Chelsea 4-0 win over Wolves in the Premier League.

Improving France striker André-Pierre Gignac (keeping Benzema out of the team), was booked as Toulouse lost 1-0 at Nice; France substitute Remy scoring the decisive goal.

France: Lloris, Sagna, Gallas, Escude, Evra, Lassana Diarra, Alou Diarra, Gourcuff, Anelka, Gignac, Henry. Subs: Mandanda, Remy, Sissoko, Benzema, Govou, Malouda, Squillaci.

Starting XI: Seven started (Lloris, Sagna, Gallas, Evra, Alou Diarra, Anelka and Gignac) with Henry a playing substitute. Of the eight players who got a game three won, one drew and three lost.

How did the unlucky Ireland team get on after World Cup elimination?

Squarefootball Diary - Sunday 22 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/4ogYB6 #

23:40 Squarefootball Diary: Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter. 23:30 Wil.. bit.ly/6pQOy2 #sqf #

01:18 @RealDMitchell They will be using socialOOmph (nee tweetlater) which allows you to schedule tweets to appear at certain times #

10:38 Bolton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers: Can Rovers end their away day blues?: If Blackburn Rovers were somebo.. bit.ly/5qdtrR #sqf #

11:37 Stoke City v Portsmouth: Hart looking to use his magic to shoot down the Potters: Nobody likes playing Sto.. bit.ly/6r4e7b #sqf #

14:39 Two Big Cup Dates For Accrington Stanley: Returning to the Football League hasn't quite been the exciting .. bit.ly/51Dswg #sqf #

16:08 @johal20 1 deceitful man and two deceived women? #

18:43 Hard Winter Ahead For Bolton: It's just over two years since Gary Megson took over at Bolton. In the first.. bit.ly/080VbUV #sqf #

21:03 Spurs should end the year in third place, above Arsenal and Liverpool bit.ly/5CZx79 #

21:31 sqF Mailbag: I guess it had to come sooner or later for Everton in their case it was the latter. Wa.. bit.ly/6HuiFg #

21:31 sqF Mailbag: although even the most passionate Spurs fan will concede they were fortunate to beat t.. bit.ly/5o2Ald #

21:31 sqF Mailbag: tottenham 5-0 wigan bit.ly/08vLvI1 #

21:31 sqF Mailbag: i am a spurs fan and go when i can,a lot of games we have had our share of luck with t.. bit.ly/08EBFMd #

21:40 Spurs should end the year in third place, above Arsenal and Liverpool: As I pointed out on Twitter and, ob.. bit.ly/6jmnc4 #sqf #

23:27 #Spurs batter #Wigan 9-1, Defoe bagging 5, but for Kirkland's heroics it could have been a modern record. Spurs up to 4th, Wigan 15th. #

23:28 #Stoke grind a 1-0 against #Portsmouth who miss a penalty; Stoke up to 9th, Portsmouth stay bottom. #

23:29 #Blackburn win 2-0 at #Bolton which must cheer up soon-to-be-under-the-knife Sam Allardyce, Blackburn up to 11th, Bolton are third bottom #

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Spurs should end the year in third place, above Arsenal and Liverpool

As I pointed out on Twitter and, obviously, in the diary yesterday, Spurs were the big winners on Saturday. Outside the current top two, only Sunderland in eighth won - and as they beat Arsenal this was hardly a bad result for Spurs. Added to this Liverpool's draw with Man City and Villa drawing at Burnley meant that although Spurs slipped behind Villa on goal difference the Wigan game gave Tottenham a chance to open up a gap back to fifth.

Overnight fourth placed Aston Villa were only two points clear of eighth placed Sunderland - by hammering Wigan 9-1, Tottenham leave those other four clubs three or more points behind.

Only Man City and Arsenal have a game in hand on Spurs now and the most critical gap is probably to Liverpool who Spurs have now opened a five point lead on. Tottenham will not play a league game against any of the 'big four' teams again in 2009, there are three games against teams looking to finish in the top six - Everton, Aston Villa and Man City - plus four teams that seem likely to finish in the bottom half of the table - Wolves, Blackburn, Fulham and West Ham.

Tottenham's 7 remaining 2009 Premier League fixtures
Aston Villa v Tottenham
Everton v Tottenham
Tottenham v Wolverhampton
Tottenham v Man City
Blackburn v Tottenham
Fulham v Tottenham
Tottenham v West Ham

So the Tottenham's fixture list looks tricky - but not worryingly so. Arsenal, who Spurs are now on terms with in terms of points (and the goal difference is no longer as big an issue) face a much more difficult stretch. Arsenal will play Chelsea and Liverpool in the next three games, with Aston Villa and Burnley away the other tricky looking games. Arsenal looked much less vibrant in attack against Sunderland without van Persie, Bendtner and Clichy - all three of which look unlikely to be available much before the end of 2009 - and that could cost them again in the next few weeks.

Arsenal's 7 remaining 2009 Premier League fixtures
Arsenal v Chelsea
Arsenal v Stoke
Liverpool v Arsenal
Burnley v Arsenal
Arsenal v Hull
Arsenal v Aston Villa
Portsmouth v Arsenal

Over the next seven games Spurs play just two teams in the top half of the division - whereas Arsenal play five top half teams; Spurs play no-one currently higher than fifth - Arsenal play the runaway league leaders, Chelsea, and must travel to Anfield to face a motivated Liverpool side, who should have Torres and Gerrard available by then.

Even before the 9-1 win against Wigan, Spurs looked capable of challenging the elite; and certain players were not too shy to avoid suggesting it. Now Spurs have a sound opportunity to outmuscle Arsenal, in terms of points, over the next six weeks and end in the year in third place. None of this dicates that the season will end with Spurs similarly placed - no-one can underestimate the rare number of unique and ingenious methods that Spurs adopt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - but the next seven games offers hope.

Hope and the chance to end the year able to consider a Champions' League finish as a decent chance - and then the transfer window opens and Spurs can probably outspend both Liverpool and Arsenal if they need to. On second thoughts it would be much more like Tottenham to now lose seven straight games and end the year considering Harry Redknapp's position!

*Can Spurs finish 2009 in third place, will they implode without warning to allow Arsenal and Liverpool to reform the standard top four places or will Villa, Man City or even Sunderland burst into the elite? Let us know.

Hard Winter Ahead For Bolton

It's just over two years since Gary Megson took over at Bolton. In the first season he kept them up by single point from an unpromising position and in year two they avoided the drop by a solid seven points, to finish thirteenth.

Thirteenth looks distinctly unlikely this season. The derby defeat to Sam Allardyce's Blackburn Rovers pitched Megson's side into the bottom three with just 11 points from 12 games. The signs are that the Trotters will be dicing with the drop until May.

In Megson's tenure at The Reebok just over a point a game has been the return. Since October 2007 Bolton have won just 26 of 92 games, though some of the are cup matches. 

Delivering just over a point a game is enough to keep a team in the Premiership but the margins are always going to be fine. Bolton's problem this year will be goals- at the moment no one in the squad has more than three League strikes.

In 2008/09 Kevin Davies managed a respectable eleven and Matt Taylor weighed in with ten from midfield. There's no guarantee that either player will be able to match that tally for this campaign.

Not scoring many has been a Bolton trait for several seasons but leaking goals hasn't. Twenty-six goals conceded at this stage of the season is a distinct worry. Eleven have gone past the keeper in the past three League matches and that followed another 4-0 n the Carling Cup.

Bolton's success in the Premiership has been based on being a hard to beat outfit. Their attacking resources aren't strong enough to cope with a defence that is letting in 2 or 3 per game. The Trotters back line has conceded two or more in their last seven matches.

When he arrived at Bolton many fans were less than happy to see Megson, who had a reputation for being even more pragmatic that Sam Allardyce. A few good performances changed matters to the point when he was ironically termed the 'Ginger Mourinho'.

It may be that it's time to bring back some of that pragmatism and go back to some purely grinding football. The manager selected Johan Elmander aganst Blackburn but the Swedish forward has been consistently aeverage since his big money arrival from Toulouse.

Reverting to a 4-5-1 with Kevn Davies putting himself about and midfielders trying to support should protect the back four and produce some clean sheets. It won't be pretty but Bolton need to revert to basics and if they are ugly to watch, few fans will complain if the points go on the board.

Given their resources there is no guarantee that another manager would do better with this squad. The club over-achieved under Sam Allardyce and a spot just above the relegation zone is Bolton's more natural status. Gary Megson can keep them up again but it needs a back to basics approach, at least in the short-term.

Two Big Cup Dates For Accrington Stanley

Returning to the Football League hasn't quite been the exciting adventure that Accrington Stanley fans might have expected when the Lancashire club topped the Conference by a distance in 2005/06.

There's been an ugly betting scandal involving some players, crowds that have rarely reached the break even figure and finishing positions in League Two of 20th, 17th amd 17th. A few weeks ago the club almost went bust again.

Much had changed in the 42 years that Stanley were outside the Football League. Already a relatively small borough (only 36,000 live in the town ), the club suffered because in the intervening years so many football fans had become drawn to the glamour of the Premiership.

Blackburn is just down the road and it is only just over 20 miles to Manchester. It's been no easy task persuading the youth of the Hyndburn area that they should switch allegiance to a struggling League Two side. The recession has put many off the idea of watching a Premiership club and Accrington in alternate weeks.

For the moment the financial crisis has been staved off- partly thanks to neighbours Burnley who generously played a friendly to raise funds.

It's still a precarious existence though but help could be at hand from a traditional source for lower division clubs. Stanley are involved in two cups which might offer the potential for life-saving cash.

This weekend the club have a home FA Cup tie with Barnet whch could get them through to the Third Round and a chance to draw a plum tie with a really big club. The revived Accrington Stanley have only reached that stage once since they began competing in the FA Cup again in 1971/72.

Two weeeks later Stanley play in the last eight of the Johnstones Paint Trophy. An away tie at high-flying Leeds United is about as tough a draw as possible but after three excellent wins over Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town and Bury, the Stanley players can enjoy the experience.

The Barnet game offers more chance of success and most Accrington fans would settle for beating their visitors from the south; but the Leeds game will attract a decent crowd and there is the hope that the Johnstones Trophy might not be high on Leeds' priorties.

Accrington deserve some good fortune becuse a lot of people worked very hard to get them back to League status and they do have a very loyal, if modest fan base; plus, manager John Coleman believes in playing a measured passing game .Quite a few neutrals will be wishing Accrington well in these two encounters.

Stoke City v Portsmouth: Hart looking to use his magic to shoot down the Potters

Nobody likes playing Stoke City, nobody that is apart from Portsmouth. Paul Hart’s men may be rooted to the foot of the table and enter the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn, but you have to go back 11 years for the last time Stoke triumphed over their south coast counterparts. Could Hart work his magic and swap places with Wolves at the bottom?

Stoke City stunned everyone by beating Spurs at the Lane three games ago but they’ve surprised even more pundits by subsequently failing to beat neighbours Wolves and losing to Hull City. The Potters led in both games but let the points slip late on. Tony Pulis, who was in charge at Portsmouth in 2000, will be hoping his players have learned from their mistakes.

Portsmouth thrashed Stoke 4-0 in the league cup last month and followed it up with another 4-0 hammering at home against Wigan. Unfortunately they went down 3-1 at Blackburn Rovers last time out, but Hart will be looking for a positive response from his players this afternoon. However, the majority of the Panel believes there will only be one winner today and they are the boys in red and white.

Stoke City v Portsmouth; Kick Off 4pm 22 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 0
Chris Cox : 2 – 0
Graham Enwright : 2 - 0
Sue Gardener : TBC
Chris Goodwin : 2 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : TBC
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 2 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 1 - 0
Dave Nash : 1 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 0
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 2 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 2
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 2 - 0

Panel Verdict

It looks as though Stoke will be too strong for Paul Hart’s men.

Home: 13; Draw: 2; Away: 0; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic: Spurs have sights set on the Gunners

With Aston Villa and Arsenal slipping up yesterday, Spurs have an ideal opportunity to go level on points with their north London rivals in third with a win this afternoon against Wigan Athletic. However, they may not get it all their own way as Roberto Martinez will be looking to claim the scalp of yet another of the league’s top clubs.

Wigan Athletic have already defeated the likes of Chelsea and Aston Villa this season but their indifferent form sees them currently sit just four points off the drop zone. For every great result against a Chelsea or a Villa they have then gone and dropped points against Wolves and Hull City. The Spaniard will be hoping the international break has rejuvenated his players and add Spurs to their list of conquests.

Spurs got back to winning ways last time out against Sunderland following back-to-back defeats against Stoke City and Arsenal, although even the most passionate Spurs fan will concede they were fortunate to beat the Black Cats. Redknapp will be hoping to build on that result this afternoon against a Wigan side that have lost three of their past five games.

This will be just the tenth meeting between the two sides in history and Wigan recorded their only victory against Spurs last season at the JJB Stadium, now known as the DW Stadium, and they held them to a goalless draw at the Lane. However, Spurs will be buoyed by the return of Aaron Lennon and Robbie Keane will be keen to put his midweek heartache behind him by rediscovering his scoring boots.

Spurs have lost just twice at home and Wigan have won just twice away. No wonder the Panel is seeing this as a stick-on home win.

Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic; Kick Off 3pm 22 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 0
Chris Cox : 3 – 0
Graham Enwright : 2 - 1
Sue Gardener : TBC
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 3 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : TBC
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 2 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 0
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 4 - 2
Dave Nash : 2 - 1
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 3 - 1
Peter Rendle : 2 - 0
Dan Taylor : 2 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 3 - 1
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 2 - 0

Panel Verdict

The majority of the Panel is going for a home win.

Home: 14; Draw: 1; Away: 0; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Bolton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers: Can Rovers end their away day blues?

If Blackburn Rovers were somebody’s husband their beloved wife would have no problem in letting them go for a lads’ weekend because they are truly terrible playing away. Rovers have lost their last 10 league games in a row and only their Lancashire rivals Burnley have conceded more on the road this season. However, Rovers fans will travel to the Reebok full of confidence given their recent record there.

Blackburn Rovers are unbeaten in their past eight visits to the Reebok and they will fancy their chances of getting back to winning ways against a Bolton side that have lost their last three league games, scoring just once in the process.

West Ham United’s draw at Hull City yesterday saw the Trotters slip into the bottom three but a point today will see them climb out of the drop zone. A win for Megson’s men would see them leapfrog Blackburn.

Bolton are yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season while Blackburn have managed just one, against West Ham, so there could be a glut of goals.

Rovers will be without the experience of their manager Sam Allardyce for today’s game following the news that he is to undergo surgery for a heart complaint, but I’m sure the players will be hoping to give the boss a boost by leaving with all all three points. However, the majority of the Panel believes the best they may leave the Reebok with is a point, but at least that would be a step in the right direction for them.

Bolton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers; Kick Off 1:30pm 22 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 0
Chris Cox : 0 - 0
Graham Enwright : 1 - 1
Sue Gardener : TBC
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : TBC
Peter Lee : 1 - 1
Don McMahon : 1 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 2 - 0
Dave Nash : 2 - 1
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 2
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 1 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 1 - 2
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 1 - 1

Panel Verdict

It looks like the honours will be shared.

Home: 4; Draw: 7; Away: 2; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!

Squarefootball Diary - Saturday 21 November 2009

Squarefootball diary brought via the medium of football tweets on Twitter.

23:30 Will Chelsea rattle in another five against Wolves? bit.ly/4OSbtt #

23:30 Squarefootball Diary bit.ly/7UAWO3 #

23:38 Will Chelsea rattle in another five against Wolves?: Statistically, financially and logically this is a ba.. bit.ly/4zm6jY #sqf #

01:17 Expect goals as Hull take on West Ham bit.ly/5fX8n6 #

01:40 Expect goals as Hull take on West Ham : Before the season started most pundits reckoned that Hull would ha.. bit.ly/07x3Z8y #sqf #

15:00 Sunderland hope to outdo 'genius' Arsenal bit.ly/088UOJZ #

15:01 sqF Mailbag: Shit certainly happens, but one has to wonder why the referee (umpire) in tennis has a.. bit.ly/4EgGeX #

16:01 Sunderland hope to outdo 'genius' Arsenal: Steve Bruce has chosen flattery in his attempt to beat Arsenal .. bit.ly/07ZyZD3 #sqf #

16:49 Manchester United vs Everton: Premier League Prediction Panel bit.ly/7zYFZ0 #

17:38 Manchester United vs Everton: Premier League Prediction Panel : Preview to follow ... Manchester United vs.. bit.ly/6q23uk #sqf #

23:08 #Chelsea hammer #Wolves 4-0 to stay five points clear at the top, Wolves stay second bottom #

23:09 #ManUtd see off #Everton 3-0 to move into second, Everton are 13th #

23:10 #Arsenal lose 1-0 at #Sunderland and drop to third - Sunderland remain eighth but now just two points shy of Villa in fourth #

23:11 #AstonVilla draw 1-1 at #Burnley to move into fourth ahead of #Spurs on goal difference; Burnley move up one place to ninth. #

23:12 #Liverpool and #ManCity remain in seventh and sixth after drawing 2-2 at Anfield #

23:13 #Birmingham move level with #Fulham in mid-table after a 1-0 home win #

23:14 As expected the most goals were at #Hull where #WestHam were the visitors in a 3-3 game - Hull move up to 16th and West Ham to 17th #

23:16 #Spurs must be happy with the results of the other teams fighting for fourth, as only #Sunderland won today. #

23:17 2 points now separate #AstonVilla #Spurs #ManCity #Liverpool and #Sunderland - from fourth to eighth is now very tight #

23:20 #Liverpool would now have to win at least 23 of the 25 remaining league games to top #ManUtd s points tally from last season #

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