Martins stuns Arsenal as error gifts Birmingham cup win

A huge defensive mix up gifted Birmingham the Carling Cup, as Obafemi Martins tapped in from close range to stun Arsenal.

Arsenal bottled it. They won't get a better chance to put an end to their six year wait to win a trophy. At 1-1 in the dying moments a colossal mix up between Laurent Koscielny who went to clear, however pulled out, and left an aimless Nicola Zigic header to Wojciech Szczesny, who failed to catch the header, leaving Martins to steal the Cup Final. Birmingham had originally taken the lead in the first half as Zigic rose highest to a Roger Johnson header. Arsenal’s stand in captain Robin Van Persie volleyed home superbly from an Andrey Arshavin cross. With Arsenal creating and wasting chances, mainly down to Ben Foster’s heroics in the Birmingham goal, the game looked to be heading for another 30 minutes, until Arsenal gifted sub Martins a late winner

.

Arsenal were lucky not to go down to ten men as Lee Bowyer was brought down by Szczesny in the penalty box, only to see the Birmingham midfielder flagged incorrectly for offside. The first real chance of note however fell to Arsene Wenger’s side as Samir Nasri collected a one-two from Van Persie, then found Arshavin with a great pass, only for the Russian to fire his effort straight at Foster’s legs.

Arsenal probably should have taken the lead when Johan Djourou got ahead of Johnson put completely mistimed his header. Arsenal were beginning to dominate, and Nasri again worked well to create a chance for himself, and instead of crossing decided to shoot but fired high and wide.

Against the run of play Birmingham then took the lead, after Johnson beat Koscielny to a Seb Larsson corner, and the big centre half’s header was helped on by Zigic who beat Szczesny to the ball, to give Alex McLeish’s side a surprise lead. Arsenal nearly levelled immediately as Van Persie met a Bacary Sagna cross, only to see his header go marginally wide.

Birmingham’s lead though only lasted 11 minutes as Van Persie volleyed around Martin Jiranek to equalise. A quick break-away led by the impressive Jack Wilshere, who found Van Persie, and as the move continued, the ball found itself to Wilshere again whose curling effort bounced back off the bar; Birmingham failed to clear and Arshavin crossed around Liam Ridgewell for Van Persie to expertly volley home. The Dutchman picked up an injury in the action that saw his side level the scores up at 1-1.

There was one last chance before half-time for Arsenal as Nasri’s long range effort was well saved by Foster, which was shortly followed by Mike Dean whistle which brought to an end an action packed first half.

Birmingham came out of the traps the quickest in the second half and were unlucky not to re-gain the lead after Keith Fahey, a surprise inclusion in the starting XI, saw his original shot blocked by own his own team-mate Zigic, with the rebound falling perfectly to the Irishman who struck a sweet shot which beat Szczesny in the Arsenal goal, only to bounce out of the post.

The tireless midfield duo of Barry Ferguson and Bowyer pressed and harried the Arsenal midfield all game long. And with Johnson in particular performing heroics at the back, despite clearly playing through the pain barrier, Arsenal failed to really create many clear cut chances. With the injury to Cesc Fabregas, the 19-year old Wilshere stepped up and was dominating the midfield with his clever movement.

Both sides made early changes in the second half with the quiet Craig Gardner coming off for Birmingham who was replaced by Jean Beausejour, with Van Persie coming off, clearly affected by the injury he picked up when scoring the goal, to be replaced by the Dane Nicklas Bendtner.

Nasri was becoming more and more effective as the game wore on and possibly should’ve passed, instead deciding to shoot, which was easily saved by Foster in the Birmingham goal. Gael Clichy does well to follow the run of the ageless Stephen Carr, and lead an Arsenal counter attack, which gives Nasri another chance, only to see his effort saved again by Foster.

The England keeper then made arguably his best save of the game, as Bendtner cut inside and his deflected shot was superbly caught by Foster, with Nasri lurking in the six-yard box for what would have been a simple tap-in.

Jiranek was caught in possession by sub Marouane Chamakh who found Wilshere with a tidy pass, whose touch was heavy and was lucky to find Tomas Rosicky who saw his back-heeled effort smothered by the man of the match Foster. Nasri then saw his fourth shot on target of the match brilliantly saved by Foster. McLeish made the vital substitution when he brought on ex-Newcastle man Martins on for the tireless Fahey.

Then came the game’s huge moment; A Foster free kick was lumped high, and flicked on by Zigic, only for Koscielny and Szczesny to make a meal out of the loose ball, giving sub Martins the easiest of winners.

With the goal coming so late in the game it gave Arsenal very little time to get a second equaliser, in fact Birmingham created the last couple of chances; firstly when Martins raced onto a long Ridgewell pass and his shot was saved by Szczesny who came miles out of his area to block the shot. The second chance fell to Martins again, who used his pace to beat Koscielny and then round Szczesny only to be crowded out by the Arsenal defence.

Not long after Dean brought an end to the game; which brought jubilant scenes with Birmingham players and fans alike. You could see the disappointment etched on the Arsenal players’ faces when they collected their losers’ medals, in complete contrast to the ecstasy show by the Birmingham players, in particular when the captain Carr lifted the Carling Cup.

Arsenal now have to pick themselves up from this disappointment as they’ve important games coming thick and fast; whereas Birmingham can celebrate the most unlikeliest of wins, in the knowledge they are out of the relegation zone with games in hand.

Hurst guides England to World Cup victory

A Geoff Hurst hat-trick inspired England to a controversial extra-time win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final.

Sure it might have been dubious, but let’s enjoy it! Those who made the game can now officially say to be the best in the game, and we deserved it! A sold out Wembley was there to watch history as England, lead superbly by captain supreme Bobby Moore, beat West Germany 4-2, to secure the Julies Rimet trophy.

Though it’s fair to say it could’ve been different; with the game at 2-2 in the first period of extra time Hurst saw his shot come down of the bar, without appearing to cross the German line; however after consultation with his linesman, Gottfried Dienst gave the game changing goal; to the palpable relief of the Wembley crowd.

Originally England trailed to a Helmut Haller goal, before Hurst scored the first of his hat-trick heading home a Moore free-kick. The game stayed level until with 12 minutes left England took a deserved lead as Martin Peters smashed home from close range after Horst-Dieter Hoettges failed to clear. England missed chances to make sure of the win; and they were made to pay as Wolfgang Weber was quickest to react to a loose ball from a late West German free-kick to take the game into extra-time. Then came the games controversial moment as Hurst fired England ahead for a second time. Hurst completed his hat-trick in the dying moments of the game; which ensured England were champions of the world.

England, who named the same XI that overcame Portugal in the semi-final, created the games first real chance as a Nobby Stiles cross caused havoc in the German penalty area. Hurst beat his marker to the ball only to see Hans Tilkowski beat the West Ham forward to the ball. Tilkowski was busy in the West German goal again not long after, doing well to parry behind a long range Peters shot.

Arguably against the run of play, West Germany took the lead through their tournaments top scorer Haller. A Sigi Held deep cross wasn’t cleared well by Ray Wilson, and the ball feel perfectly for Haller who didn’t connect brilliantly with the ball, but it still had enough to beat the despairing dive of Gordon Banks in the England goal.

Alf Ramsey’s side responded quickly and the West German lead wasn’t a long one. Bobby Moore was fouled mid-way in the German half and England’s captain took the free-kick quickly, crossing superbly for the un-marked Hurst who headed perfectly past Tilkowski in the West German goal.

Uwe Seeler saw his header go marginally wide for West Germany, as the game was beginning to ebb and flow back and forth as both teams took it in turns to attack. England created the games next best chance as Alan Ball cut inside Held and saw his shot blocked, the ball feel perfectly for England’s semi-final two goal hero Bobby Charlton, who saw his long range effort easily kept out by Tilkowski.

England nearly took the lead for the first time when George Cohen’s perfect cross was headed on goal by Hurst, only for Tilkowski to thwart the striker brilliantly. England’s captain Moore recovered brilliantly to prevent Lothar Emmerich from going through on goal. Gottfried Dienst blew the whistle to signal the end of a lively first-half, with the game fairly level at 1-1.

The second half at times failed to live up to the intensity of its predecessor, and neither side created any chances of note in the opening exchanges of the half; with Franz Beckenbauer volleying West Germany’s best chance over the bar.

With 78 minutes of the game gone, Roger Hunt won a corner for England. Alan Ball’s floated corner was only cleared as far as Hurst whose shot was poorly cleared by Hoettges, which bounced perfectly for Peters who smashed home from close range to give England a lead.

Jack Charlton headed a good chance wide, after a beautiful delivery from Ball. England missed another chance to seal the game as Charlton screwed his shot wide, after Peters had played the Manchester United midfielder in. This time it was Peters who missed a guilt-edged chance as he shot over the bar when in a great position to at least make the German keeper work.

Alf Ramsey’s side were made to pay for their wastefulness as West Germany leveled in the 90th minute. West Germany won a late free-kick; the delivery caused mayhem in the English box, which the England defence failed to clear and Weber reacted first to the loose ball and made no mistake from close range.

The equaliser so late in the game came as a real blow to England, within minutes of seeing the game through and holding aloft the World Cup; they had the reality of another 30 minutes. Extra time started in the same fashion that normal time ended with West German pressure; however this time they failed to create a goal scoring chance of real note.

And 11 minutes into the first half of extra time, the games real talking point occurred. Ball made a run down the right wing, and somehow managed to get a cross into the centre; Hurst turned the West German centre half with an exquisite first touch, meaning the West Ham forward could get a shot away. The strike hit the underside of the cross bar, and bounced clear; on first viewing the shot looked good; however replays have proved inconclusive. Originally the referee and linesman failed to give the goal; only for consultation between the two to award Hurst his second of the game and England’s third.

This time around however there was to be no last minute West German equaliser, and with barely seconds left on the clock Hurst completed his hat-trick in style. Moore, who was excellent throughout, played a long ball over the top of the West German defence, and up against a tiring Weber, Hurst ran past the defender before unleashing a wonderful drive to beat Tilkowski, to seal England’s win, and ensure they were Champions of the world!

Matri's volley extends Juve's long unbeaten run

Second half substitute Alessandro Matri rescued a point for Juventus in the top of the table Serie A clash with AC Milan.

Milan were left to feel aggrieved as a Sully Muntari header, with the Rossoneri leading 1-0, was wrongly not given, despite the ball being a good couple of yards over the line.

Antonio Nocerino, via a huge deflection, had opened the scoring early on, and despite Milan's first half dominance, Juve improved in the second half and probably deserved to draw level, which they did through a Matri volley. A late red card for Arturo Vidal, meant Juve had to hold off some Milan pressure, which they did, to ensure the Serie A title race stayed in the 'Old Ladys' hands.

Juventus started the game well, with Stephan Lichtsteiner twice getting into dangerous positions down the Juve right, without really threatening Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal.

Muntari did brilliantly to win the ball back from Giorgio Chellini, and the Ghanaian international found Urby Emanuelson whose shot was deflected wide for a corner.

The resulting corner came to nothing; however Leonardo Bonucci gifted Milan the ball with a poor pass across his own box and Robinho found Nocerino whose long range shot hit the hapless Bonucci, with the deflection giving Buffon no chance.

The games real talking point occurred in the 26th minute when Muntari's header was incorrectly adjudged not to have crossed the line, therefore preventing Milan from opening up a deserved two goal lead. Buffon did brilliantly to save the initial Thiago Silva header; however Muntari beat his marker to the rebound as his header crossed the line, despite Buffon's best efforts only for neither the referee or the linesman to see the clear goal.

Milan's injustice only spurred the Italian champions on and Mark Van Bommel, Silva and Robinho missed good chances to extend their lead.

Juve's best chance in the first half came and went as Vidal smashed wide when well placed on the edge of the Milan box.

Milan were comfortable in the first half, with Robinho, frequently dropping deep, in particular shinning in a different looking Milan, who despite the lack of several first team players, were in control of the match.

The second half was brought about with a flurry of changes, Milan replaced Pato with Stephan El Shaarawy, whilst Antonio Conte subbed off Marcelo Estigarrbia and Marco Borriello with Simone Pepe and Mirko Vucinic respectively.

The second half began in tame fashion, with neither side threatening to score the games vital second goal.

Emanuelson picked the wrong choice when Milan countered with a three on three attack, as the Dutchman tried to find the sub El Shaarawy instead of the easier option in Robinho and Juve cleared.

Juventus missed a great chance to level as Chellini crosses into space as Fabio Quagliarella shoots straight at Abbiati from close range.

With time starting to run out, Conte's side started to control the game and the sub Matri thought he had brought his side level, only to look up and see the linesman's flag raised. Replays showed the call was a very tight one, with the striker possibly just the wrong side of the last defender.

Matri put his earlier disappointment behind him to volley home an equaliser with just eight minutes left. Chellini, up from the back, crossed well and Matri held off Silva to volley past Abbiati to stun the San Siro.

Vidal stupidly saw red late on for a cynical hack on Mark Van Bommel; however neither side threatened a winner as the game finished 1-1 to extend Juve's unbeaten run to 24 Serie A matches.

Ward backs Harry Redknapp for the England job

Colchester United manager John Ward indicated he’d prefer the next England manager to be English and in particular Harry Redknapp.

After the mid-week resignation of Fabio Capello, the majority of the nation has jumped apon the ‘Harry for England’ bandwagon, and Ward is no different.

Ward, who worked with the England under 21 squad back in 1992, stated “I’d like it to be an Englishman. I’m a staunch English person myself and the best man for the job is Harry Redknapp.”

However he did also confirm that getting Redknapp in, as manager of the England national side, wouldn’t be as easy as many have predicted. “People tend to forget he is contracted with Tottenham Hotspur, and I think that’s going to be a major stumbling block, because they aren’t going to want to release him, and why would they?”

After much discussion about the week’s main talking point, the conversation got down to whether Colchester would have a game this weekend. And after the postponement of the home match with Sheffield United last weekend, Ward isn’t confident the away game with Walsall will take place. “I’m not very confident of getting a game on. I’ve looked at the overnight forecast and there is set to be a five inch snow due around Birmingham this evening, which leaves our game in doubt.”

Ward confirmed that the club have been preparing for the away trip as if they expect it to be on. “Yeah I’ve been in since 7:30 this morning and we’re chopping and changing our plans for the game, it’s all up in the air but we’ve got plans in place.”

Colchester’s game was cancelled the following day, meaning the Essex side’s last two League One matches have been postponed due to the weather.

Predictions week 10

The prediction league

Jack Burman 10 points, 3 PS
Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1
Blackburn 1 QPR 2
Bolton 2 Wigan 1
Everton 1 Chelsea 2
Fulham 2 Stoke 1
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 2
Swansea 2 Norwich 1
Tottenham 1 Newcastle 2
Wolves 2 West Brom 1
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 2

James Sherwood 7 points, 2 PS
Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1
Blackburn 2 QPR 2
Bolton 3 Wigan 2
Everton 1 Chelsea 2
Fulham 2 Stoke 1
Sunderland 3 Arsenal 1
Swansea 1 Norwich 0
Tottenham 2 Newcastle 2
Wolves 2 West Brom 2
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 3

Daniel A Lofti 6 points, 1 PS
Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1
Blackburn 1 QPR 3
Bolton 1 Wigan 0
Everton 1 Chelsea 1
Fulham 1 Stoke 1
Sunderland 2 Arsenal 2
Swansea 2 Norwich 0
Tottenham 2 Newcastle 1
Wolves 1 West Brom 2
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 3


Perry Blanchette 5 points, 1 PS
Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1
Blackburn 0 QPR 2
Bolton 0 Wigan 0
Everton 1 Chelsea 1
Fulham 2 Stoke 2
Sunderland 3 Arsenal 1
Swansea 1 Norwich 2
Tottenham 3 Newcastle 2
Wolves 1 West Brom 0
Aston Villa 4 Manchester City 0

Tyrone Nicklin 5 points, 1 PS
Manchester United 2 Liverpool 2
Blackburn 1 QPR 3
Bolton 1 Wigan 1
Everton 2 Chelsea 1
Fulham 2 Stoke 1
Sunderland 3 Arsenal 2
Swansea 2 Norwich 1
Tottenham 3 Newcastle 0
Wolves 0 West Brom 0
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 2


Joshua Jones 4 points 0 PS
Manchester United 2 Liverpool 0
Blackburn 1 QPR 1
Bolton 3 Wigan 1
Everton 1 Chelsea 1
Fulham 1 Stoke 2
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 1
Swansea 2 Norwich 0
Tottenham 3 Newcastle 1
Wolves 1 West Brom 2
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 3

Chris Deacon 4 points, 0 PS
Manchester United 1 Liverpool 0
Blackburn 0 QPR 1
Bolton 2 Wigan 1
Everton 0 Chelsea 2
Fulham 0 Stoke 0
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 3
Swansea 1 Norwich 1
Tottenham 2 Newcastle 2
Wolves 0 West Brom 1
Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 4

Fraser Stradling 4 points, 0 PS
Manchester United 3 Liverpool 2
Blackburn 2 QPR 1
Bolton 1 Wigan 1
Everton 1 Chelsea 3
Fulham 1 Stoke 3
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 4
Swansea 1 Norwich 1
Tottenham 4 Newcastle 2
Wolves 0 West Brom 0
Aston Villa 2 Manchester City 1

Liam O'Donovan 3 points, 0 PS
Manchester United 1 Liverpool 0
Blackburn 1 QPR 2
Bolton 3 Wigan 1
Everton 1 Chelsea 1
Fulham 1 Stoke 2
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 1
Swansea 1 Norwich 0
Tottenham 2 Newcastle 1
Wolves 0 West Brom 0
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 2


Daniel Underwood 3 points, 0 PS
Manchester United 1 Liverpool 1
Blackburn 1 QPR 1
Bolton 2 Wigan 0
Everton 1 Chelsea 1
Fulham 1 Stoke 0
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 1
Swansea 2 Norwich 0
Tottenham 3 Newcastle 1
Wolves 0 West Brom 0
Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 3

Norwich and Swansea- The perfect example of how it should be done.

Currently as we sit more then half way through the Barclays Premier League, two of the three promoted sides in Norwich and Swansea City have excelled and find themselves in a more then comfortable position.

Core of British players

One of many positives to come from the success of these sides is the fact more then just the core of their side is British. Paul Lambert at the start of the season even went as far to say he won’t be adding any players from outside of Britain.

Looking at the duo's recent fixtures' both sides selected an impressive eight British born players. Unlike QPR, whose had significantly higher budgets available to them, these British players have been plucked from the lower leagues, or were even promoted with the club. When QPR lost to Wolves on the weekend, they also fielded eight British players; however their highly assembled squad had 46 England caps (47 including the injured Jay Bothroyd) between them at Mark Hughes' disposal; in comparison to Swansea and Norwich whose English born players have never even got close to an England squad.

Danny Graham and Grant Holt are just two perfect examples of how to get to the top. Graham was deemed not good enough by Middlesborough and released back in 2007. He scored goals with both Carlisle and Watford which earned his move to Swansea and despite a shaky start has more goals then the likes of Fernando Torres, Danny Welbeck and Bobby Zamora. If Graham's rise to the Premier League was steep then Holt was like climbing Everest. Having started his career of with Workington, spells with Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest followed and a career in the second tier of English Football looked his peak; however he then joined League Two side Shrewsbury and a hat full of goals followed, which saw him move to Norwich, who were then in League One and fast forward two years to today and he finds himself a Premier League footballer.

Both Lambert and Brendan Rodgers have gambled with introducing untested home based players into the greatest league in the world and the move has worked fantastically, with calls for some of these unheralded players to be given England recognition. 

Style of football

Everybody by know is aware of Swansea City's approach, with their short passing game a joy to watch. Many promoted sides have come up with the belief that to stay in the league you can't afford to be brave and attempt to play football all over the pitch; however Swansea's attacking and possession game has totally disproved that theory. 

Swansea sit second in the Premier League for passes completed, only behind a David Silva inspired Manchester City. A midfield creative pairing of Joe Allen and Leon Britton, whose passing percentage even tops the mighty Xavi Hernandez of Barcelona, have adapted to Premier Life exceptionally. I even feel the step up in league suits 'The Swans', because they are given more time to play, in comparison to the hustle and bustle of the Championship. Rodgers has built a side that will play from the back, with Michel Vorm under clear instructions to pass the ball out instead of giving it the old heave-ho up field, with the goal below a perfect example of how Swansea play.

Norwich unfairly have been described as a set piece side, simply because of the threat in the air provided from both Steve Morison and Grant Holt.

Having watched them play frequently this season that couldn't be further from the truth. Lambert has a side that plays good football and like Swansea prefer it on the floor. Wesley Hoolahan was a fantastic addition to Norwich back in 2008 and in the middle of the park, he is the Canaries most creative spark. Anthony Pilkington, a summer addition from Huddersfield Town had added not only goals and assists but genuine class on the right hand. 

With Holt and Morison through the middle there is going to be the obvious urge to try and pick them out due to the aerial ability; however Norwich don't pump it long. Norwich over the last few weeks have highlighted how strong they are on the counter attack, with superbly crafted counter goals against the likes of Wolves and West Brom recently. 

Managers
It's fair to say Paul Lambert and Brendan Rodgers had differing playing careers, with Lambert a Scottish international and a Champions League winner with Borussia Dortmund, in comparison to Rodgers who had to retire at the age of just 20. Rodgers worked with the Reading and Chelsea youth clubs due to his early retirement.

Both managers didn't have fantastic starts to their career as Rodgers couldn't enforce his style of play with Reading and was sacked just a few months into the job and Lambert had an unsuccessful spell as Livingston manager.

Rodgers was offered the Swansea job at the start of the 2010/11 season and earned the club promotion via the play-offs at the first attempt. For Lambert jobs with Wycombe and Colchester United followed and with the latter side came his big move, on the opening day of the 2009/2010 season Colchester travelled to Norwich City, just relegated from the Championship and stunned their East Anglia rivals 7-1. Barely a couple of weeks later Lambert was announced as the manager of Norwich City and back-to-back promotions have followed.

Resources
Neither Norwich City or Swansea had a massive transfer budget available to them at the start of the season. Norwich spent £2.8million on bringing Morison to the club and in total £8.3million, whilst Swansea spent just less. Both sides also added shrewdly in the January transfer window, with Swansea bringing in the talented Gylfi Sigurdsson on loan from Hoffenheim as well as the short term deal of Josh McEachran from Chelsea. Norwich captured Leeds captain Jonathan Howson for a bargain £2.5million as well as Ryan Bennett from Peterborough, who was immediately loaned back.

Norwich's key- Late goals
The Canaries have scored an incredible 10 goals in the last 15 minutes of matches and their late goals have earned them eight points, which without with leave them just above the relegation zone. Their recent 2-1 away victory's against West Brom and QPR were perfect example of them being able to run late into a game. Both games looked set to finish 1-1; however Norwich counter attacked against both teams who are expected to be in and around them and took vital away wins.

The last time Norwich were in the Premier League they failed to record a single victory away from home, which ultimately was their downfall; however this time around they've won three times on their travels and have amassed 13 points (which is just one less then Arsenal).


Swansea's key- Home form
Swansea have lost just once at the Liberty Stadium this season, and that was against Manchester United. 21 points and just seven home goals conceded represent a fantastic achievement. Because they have most of the ball, even against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United at home, sides have struggled to have scored at the Liberty, with Arsenal the only side to score twice there.

Rightly so Swansea are praised for their attacking flair but defensively they are very strong too, conceding just 29 goals in 24 games, with most of them coming on the road. Vorm has been brilliant this season for the Swans and Ashley Williams has been a rock at the the heart of the defence.

At the start of the season both clubs were tipped to struggle; however they sit 9th and 10th respectively in the Premier League ahead of their match together at the Liberty on Saturday and whatever the result, one thing for sure, this season they've both been winners.

Game week predictions 9

The Prediction League

Tyrone Nicklin 10 points, 2 PS
Arsenal 4 Blackburn 0
Norwich 2 Bolton 1
QPR 2 Wolves 0
Stoke 1 Sunderland 1
West Brom 0 Swansea 2
Wigan 1 Everton 1
Manchester City 3 Fulham 2
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 1
Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1
Liverpool 3 Tottenham 4

Joshua Jones 9 points, 2 PS
Arsenal 3 Blackburn 0
Norwich 2 Bolton 1
QPR 1 Wolves 2
Stoke 0 Sunderland 0
West Brom 1 Swansea 1
Wigan 1 Everton 1
Manchester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle 1 Aston Villa 1
Chelsea 1 Manchester United 3
Liverpool 2 Tottenham 3

Daniel A Lofti 5 points, 1 PS
Arsenal 2 Blackburn 0
Norwich 1 Bolton 1
QPR 2 Wolves 1
Stoke 1 Sunderland 1
West Brom 1 Swansea 1
Wigan 0 Everton 2
Manchester City 3 Fulham 0
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 2
Chelsea 2 Manchester United 2
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 2

Chris Deacon 5 points, 0 PS
Arsenal 1 Blackburn 0
Norwich 2 Bolton 1
QPR 2 Wolves 2
Stoke 0 Sunderland 3
West Brom 0 Swansea 0
Wigan 0 Everton 2
Manchester City 1 Fulham 1
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 0
Chelsea 0 Manchester United 1
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 1


Liam O'Donovan 5 points, 0 PS
Arsenal 5 Blackburn 1
Norwich 1 Bolton 1
QPR 2 Wolves 1
Stoke 2 Sunderland 1
West Brom 0 Swansea 1
Wigan 0 Everton 1
Manchester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle 1 Aston Villa 2
Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 1


Perry Blanchette 4 points, 1 PS
Arsenal 1 Blackburn 1
Norwich 3 Bolton 1
QPR 3 Wolves 0
Stoke 2 Sunderland 2
West Brom 0 Swansea 0
Wigan 0 Everton 1
Manchester City 3 Fulham 0
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 2
Chelsea 1 Manchester United 0
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 2

Daniel Underwood 3 points, 0 PS
Arsenal 2 Blackburn 1
Norwich 1 Bolton 1
QPR 2 Wolves 1
Stoke 1 Sunderland 1
West Brom 1 Swansea 1
Wigan 0 Everton 1
Manchester City 2 Fulham 1
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 0
Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 3

Jack Burman 3 points, 0 PS
Arsenal 2 Blackburn 1
Norwich 1 Bolton 2
QPR 2 Wolves 1
Stoke 1 Sunderland 2
West Brom 2 Swansea 1
Wigan 1 Everton 2
Manchester City 2 Fulham 1
Newcastle 1 Aston Villa 2
Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 2

James Sherwood 3 points, 0 PS
Arsenal 1 Blackburn 0
Norwich 2 Bolton 2
QPR 3 Wolves 1
Stoke 1 Sunderland 3
West Brom 1 Swansea 1
Wigan 1 Everton 3
Manchester City 2 Fulham 0
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 2
Chelsea 1 Manchester United 3
Liverpool 1 Tottenham 2

Fraser Stradling 3 points, 0 PS
Arsenal 2 Blackburn 0
Norwich 1 Bolton 1
QPR 1 Wolves 0
Stoke 2 Sunderland 1
West Brom 0 Swansea 1
Wigan 1 Everton 3
Manchester City 4 Fulham 1
Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 3
Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1
Liverpool 0 Tottenham 2

Is the 20th title on the horizon?

Following Manchester City’s timely defeat away at Everton on Tuesday evening, I’m going to evaluate if we (if you hadn’t realised from the title, I’m a United fan) can really edge out our city rivals for another Premier League title.

Form, pressure and know how.

How many times are we going to hear it? Manchester United weren’t at their best yet still won. Well minus the first five league games, we haven’t been at our best ALL season. Yet time and time again Sir Alex’s side edge out a victory, a sign of champions.

Taking my red hat off for a minute, I can appreciate how good Manchester City have been this season, I’d even go as far as saying Barca-Esq. But for me their inability to win when having an off day will haunt them. Take this week for the perfect example. We were poor away to Everton earlier on in the season, yet we secured a valuable 1-0 away win against a good Everton side; yet City couldn’t.

For now I’m going to rule the usual candidates of Arsenal and Chelsea out of the title race; they aren’t good enough. But for me their London rivals Spurs are more then in the hunt for the Premier League. Their midfield compares and even betters everything in the league for me! I do feel they will fall short though, a main reason being their lack of players who have been in this position before with only Scott Parker and William Gallas lifting the Barclays Premier League title, both during their time at Chelsea.

Manchester United 9/10

Manchester City 8/10

Tottenham 7/10

The fixture list (written before weekends action)

Looking at the fixture list, the remaining games ensure City are favourites. With the crucial games highlighted below, Roberto Mancini’s side have just three of the ‘big six’ to play, with two of them at the fortress that is Eastlands. In comparison to Manchester United and Tottenham who have four games against the big boys, with three of those on their travels.

Crucial matches

Chelsea vs Manchester United (05/02/12)

Liverpool vs Tottenham (06/02/12)

Manchester United vs Liverpool (11/02/12)

Arsenal vs Tottenham (26/02/12)

Tottenham vs Manchester United (04/03/12)

Manchester City vs Chelsea (19/03/12)

Chelsea vs Tottenham (24/03/12)

Arsenal vs Manchester City (07/04/12)

Manchester City vs Manchester United (28/04/12)

Manchester United 6/10

Manchester City 8/10

Tottenham 6/10

Squads

The departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez for me exposed our lack of a creative midfielder; because with them two plus Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney, usually we wouldn’t need one, because at most times we had four match winners on the field.

Paul Scholes’s return is as inspired as is it desperate. His know how can only be a good thing for the likes of Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley, who despite his tender age, has been missed in the heart of United’s midfield. All the pluses aside with the move to recall Scholes, I feel Sir Alex recognizes the need to add creativity in the middle of the park. The F.A Cup defeat at Liverpool only highlighted that further, as 65% possession at Anfield wasn’t converted into chances or goals.

City and Spurs both let players go in the January transfer window, which confirmed how good their strength in depth is. City have an incredible array of talent available and their squad is the best of the three (So strong in fact they felt obliged to lend Spurs Emmanuel Adebayor.)  Tottenham’s midfield, like I touched apon before is incredibly strong; however their defence is always liable to concede a goal.

Manchester United 8/10

Manchester City 9/10

Tottenham 8/10

Injuries and suspensions

I’m sure every fan has at least bemoaned their injury list this season; however Manchester United fans can do so with great evidence. Nemanja Vidic, Nani, Rooney, Cleverley, Welbeck, Javier Hernandez, Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones have all at least faced a month of the 2011/12 season on the sidelines.

Manchester City’s real problem has been in the treatment room, more of international duty and suspensions. The Toure brothers have both been away with the Ivory Coast at the current African Cup of Nations whilst Mario Balotelli and Vincent Kompany landed themselves in hot water with four match bans respectively. Spurs have been fortunate on the injury count, because when injuries have occurred they have only been minor ones ruling their players out for only short periods.

Manchester United 7/10

Manchester City 7/10

Tottenham 8/10

Managers

It’s fair to say Sir Alex Ferguson has been there, done it and got the T-Shirt. 12 Premier League Titles is an unbelievable haul, and I feel if he was in charge of any of the top five teams last season he would’ve guided them to Premier League success, that’s how much of a difference he makes. He’s seen off every manager whose challenged him, with the current duo the latest crop of managers to have a go. And if Manchester United are to win the league, he’ll be the reason why!

Roberto Mancini has won three Serie A titles with Inter Milan and has done a very good job with Manchester City. Over recent weeks he has shown signs of crumbling under the pressure (Admitting he thought it would be ‘easier’ to win at Everton just one example) and with the pressure firmly on City for the amount they’ve spent, only time will tell if they crumble.

For Harry Redknapp this is the first time he has been in a Premier League title race and with just one F.A Cup title to his name, his lack of experience in the hunt for the ultimate price can be questioned. Following their 2-0 victory over Everton he came out and stated his side could win the league, which put pressure on his side before their 1-1 home disappointing draw with Wolves, before claiming after the game he’d be ‘over the moon with a top four finish.’ Alex Ferguson is the master at taking the pressure away from his side, something Redknapp failed to do there. However don’t get me wrong, what Redknapp has done at Tottenham rivals anything in the Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson 10/10

Roberto Mancini 8/10

Harry Redknapp 7/10

Overall

Manchester United 40/50

Manchester City 40/50

Tottenham 36/50

At this current stage of the season I really can’t call whether we will make it 20 League titles or ‘the noisy neighbours’ will win the league. One thing for sure, I can’t wait to see it’s conclusion.

The Autopsy: Manchester United vs Stoke

After defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday, three points against a strong Stoke side was essential. Come the end of the evening the win looked even better thanks to an old boy in the form of Darron Gibson whose strike beat City to ensure we joined our city rivals at the summit of the Barclays Premier League. The game itself was a tale of two penalties as both Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov slotted home from 12 yards for a routine Old Trafford victory.

Team selection.
Ben Amos was selected for a Premier League debut ahead of David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard and he was a mere spectator for the evening as Stoke failed to trouble the youngster. Still no Nani, Phil Jones and Wayne Rooney available to Sir Alex; however Rio Ferdinand did return having missed the defeat away to Liverpool on the weekend. Its been a long time since the gaffer has been able to call apon a fully fit squad and that was no change for last night’s game; however with Chelsea up next on the weekend, Sir Alex will be hoping the aforementioned trio will be able to return come Sunday.

The match
To be honest I expected more from Stoke and the debutant Amos, a Cameron Jerome header aside, was so untroubled you couldn’t believe it. Stoke have only ever had more possession against a Premier League opposition twice in the whole of their three year stay in the Barclays Premier League, so the huge possession stats in our favour came as no surprise. Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes were again at ease in the centre of the park, I even heard a stat that both Carrick and Scholes completed 50 more passes then the whole of the Stoke side, which even by Stoke’s passing standard is poor.

In truth the game was quite dull and the only real talking point was should we have had more then the two penalties; with four that could’ve been given. 1) Park was fouled by Jermaine Pennant and we were rightly awarded the penalty. 2) Robert Huth handled a Hernandez cross, which wasn’t given, though to be fair probably was the least clear cut. 3) Valencia was bundled over by Jonathan Walters and was a stonewall penalty. 4) Patrice Evra was fouled in the box, wasn’t given, with even Tony Pulis admitting it should’ve been a penalty in his post-match interview.

Antonio Valencia
Stoke changed their mentality of fielding four centre halves at the back to deal with United’s in form wingers; however Antonio Valencia again exposed an opponent’s left back as Andy Wilkinson was given a torrid time. Before his recent burst of form I was starting to question whether Valencia could match his performance level prior to his horrific injury against Rangers last season; however on the back of being the best player on the pitch at Anfield last week, he was again at his tormenting best.

In truth Dickinson isn’t the best full-back Valencia will come up against this season, but the Ecuadorian international was probably again the best player on the pitch, as he highlighted that with a great run and pass to find Berbatov, who should’ve made it three late on.

With Nani out for an unknown period of time now, Valencia’s form is key as he is our only winger who you’d really fancy in a one-on-one with a full-back. With eight Premier League assists in just the 15 games, his crossing has become a key element to our game in recent weeks. Ashley Cole’s red card against Swansea last night ruled him out of the game on Sunday, meaning that Valencia is likely to be up against a defensively poor Jose Boswinga playing on the wrong side, so here’s to more Valencia chaos on Sunday.

A quick Pogba plea
Having seen Ravel Morrison leave for West Ham United on deadline day, I’m hoping the equally as talented Paul Pogba won’t leave come the end of the season.  The Frenchman came on for a brief 14 minutes last night and showed a lot of potential and despite his contract coming up at the end of the season, very much in the same fashion as Morrison’s, United are more confident Pogba will sign on the dotted line.

Overview
There is no doubt we weren’t at our best last night but again at Old Trafford we did the necessary and gained the vital three points whilst our main rivals for the title slipped up at their bogey ground. The penalties aside, we only really created a Berbatov chance late on, but when you turn into the New Year it’s not about how you win, it’s if you win? And currently we are doing that in the Barclays Premier League.