The Red Half of Manchester

EPL Prediction League Match Weekend 16 - 17 Aug 2008

2008-08-12T11:45:00.002+08:00

Just a gentle reminder that we have moved to PangPuarLiap for the start of yet another new season of the EPL Prediction League.

See you there!

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Game 31

2008-06-30T06:50:00.002+08:00

Do not think that the one point from Goal Bonuses is insignificant for in this case, it was enough to decide who wins the Prediction League.

Congrats to Delay for the 5-point haul to make a last minute jump over 4 places only to fall short of the win by the solitary point.

Congrats also to myself for winning by the skin of my teeth. Had I not gotten the Spain side of the goal right, I would have lost to both Necroastr and Delay on account of the tie breaker where both would have gotten the 0.5 points for correctly guessing Spain to be the side to score first. However, it would be Delay to score the extra 0.25 points given that his time difference between his predicted first goal and actual first goal is closer than that of Necroastr.

Anyway, thanks once again to everybody for playing. We look forward to seeing everybody again when the next season of the EPL starts in August.

Reminder: We will be at the new site at http://PangPuarLiap.blogspot.com. Bookmark us and tell all your friends!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr, Delay
3 Games - NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, Everton, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen, Raynaldo, Voxeros
2 Games - cocotree, TTY, David.hvp
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, Cool402, Beaver21, hotdog, arc

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402
Euro 2008 - Voxeros

As usual:

1) If you have spotted a mistake, please let me know where and what so that I can amend them accordingly.
2) Please check your scores for accuracy as soon as possible before I update the table during the next round of scores. Once the table has been updated, the old table will be overwritten.
3) In case you are still seeing the old table even if I have announced a new update, please refresh your browser to reload the table.

Moving To A New Blog

2008-06-29T21:55:00.003+08:00

Dear Friends,

I shall be writing my last entry here tomorrow when I announce the result of the SPUG Euro 2008 Prediction League. It would mark the end of yet another fun prediction league but also the end of my writing here.

I will be moving over to http://PangPuarLiap.blogspot.com as I feel that since our Prediction League players support a wide range of different clubs, it is only right to have it on neutral ground.

Over at PangPuarLiap, we will have Cool402, ihawk98, Bedokian and myself covering ManUtd and Spurs games while on the lookout for more friends to cover other EPL clubs should they be interested to join in the writer's pool.

The SPUG Prediction League will also be moved there.

The new site right now is still under construction and we will publish our first entry nearer to the Community Shield game.

We hope to see you there.

Once again, a big thanks to our readers who have been faithfully following us all these while.

- Jay "Voxeros" Walk

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 31

2008-06-28T00:07:00.001+08:00

It's the final game of the Euro2008 and I may be the first in SPUG Prediction League history to win the league twice.

However, it won't be easy considering the fact that we have a very packed group at the top and any one of us have an equal chance of clinching the title with this last game.

As such, I am introducing a tie breaker rule which is as follow:

1) Predictions are to be made as per normal (90 minutes) except that we have to also predict (i) which side scores the first goal and (ii) the time of the first goal scored e.g. at 37th minute.

2) 3 points will be awarded for a correct outcome and 1 point each for correct score on each side.

3) If after (2) we have a tie, then the person who predicts the correct side to score the first goal gets an additional 0.5 points. If not, we have a winner decided.

4) If after (3) we still have a tie, then the person who predicts the correct time (or closest) of the first goal will get an additional 0.25 points. If not, we have a winner decided.

4.1) There will be a Before-Over-After rule should the difference in predicted time of players who are tied (between predicted and actual time of first goal scored) be identical, the timing before actual time shall trump the timing after actual time.

Example: A predicts first goal scored at 40th minute. B predicts first goal scored at 50th minute. If actual score is scored at the 45th minute i.e. both A and B timing difference is 5 minutes, A win B with the Before-Over-After rule.

5) If after (4), we still have a tie, then all players still in the tie shall be declared as joint winners.

6) Prediction Format: Example: 1. Voxeros 2-1, Spain, 37th minute.

Euro2008 31: MON 30/06 Spain vs Germany at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 29 - 30

2008-06-27T07:47:00.003+08:00

What happened with Greece when they won the Championship was a freak result as I firmly do not believe in fairy tales.

And right I was with the powerhouses of Spain and Germany prevailing and meeting in the Final according to script.

Cool402 finally got it right with his tinkering but with only 1 game to go, I'm afraid it's a tad too little too late.

Anyway, I am sitting at the top with a 2-point cushion and all eyes will be on me if I am able to hold off everybody for the win as well as on the 4 challengers within strike zone.

Tomorrow, I shall be releasing the Final match for predictions. Stay tune and please note the tie-breaker rules that I will be introducing.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr
3 Games - Delay, NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, Everton, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen, Raynaldo, Voxeros
2 Games - cocotree, TTY, David.hvp
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, Cool402, Beaver21, hotdog, arc

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 28 - 30

2008-06-24T00:15:00.001+08:00

This is the Semi-Final round and as such only 1 game per day at 02:45am (GMT +8). Thereafter, there will be a 2-day break before the Finals commence, of which I am introduce a tie-breaker system.

Predictions are for 90 minutes only.

Euro2008 29: THU 26/06 Germany vs Turkey at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 30: FRI 27/06 Russia vs Spain at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 27 - 28

2008-06-23T07:35:00.005+08:00

A real shocker to see Netherlands eliminated by unfancied Russian as we see yet another episode of the Greek fairy tale.

This round only 5 of us got 3 points and surprisingly these 3 points seems to propel us higher than usual.

So will this be the year of the underdogs like Turkey or Russia? Or would it pan out as plan to go to the power houses like Germany or Spain?

Stay tuned.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr
3 Games - Delay, NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, Everton, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen, Raynaldo, Voxeros
2 Games - cocotree, TTY, David.hvp
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, Cool402, Beaver21, hotdog, arc

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 25 - 26

2008-06-21T07:22:00.002+08:00

Looks like a dismal round for all of us and for me in particular where I was floored by Turkey's victory.

What are the chances they are going to pull another Greece on us? I wonder.

Congrats to hotdog who is now the current pole leader with 8 players on his tail within strikezone. Not an enviable position.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr
3 Games - Delay, NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, Everton, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen, Raynaldo, Voxeros
2 Games - cocotree, TTY, David.hvp
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, Cool402, Beaver21, hotdog, arc

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 27 - 28

2008-06-20T00:34:00.003+08:00

This is the Quarter-Final round and as such only 1 game per day at 02:45am (GMT +8). Thereafter, there will be a 2-day break before the Semi-Finals commence.

Predictions are for 90 minutes only.

Euro2008 27: SUN 22/06 Netherlands vs Russia at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 28: MON 23/06 Spain vs Italy at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 21 - 24

2008-06-19T09:08:00.002+08:00

A massive pat on my own back as my 13-point haul springboarded me into pole position to co-lead with ihawk98 whom I've caught up.

Looks like I'm my own dark horse!

Anyway, with the first round out of the way, we are only 7 games away from the end of the tournament and every mistake hereon is going to very much magnified.

Also, please note that all predictions hereon are for 90-minutes only.

Good luck guys!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr
3 Games - Delay, NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, Everton, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen, Raynaldo, Voxeros
2 Games - cocotree, TTY, David.hvp
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, Cool402, Beaver21, hotdog, arc

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 25 - 26

2008-06-18T00:48:00.003+08:00

This is the Quarter-Final round and as such only 1 game per day at 02:45am (GMT +8). Thereafter, there will be a 2-day break before the Semi-Finals commence.

Note: All predictions are for 90 minutes only.

Euro2008 25: FRI 20/06 Portugal vs Germany at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 26: SAT 21/06 Croatia vs Turkey at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 17 - 20

2008-06-17T07:45:00.002+08:00

ihawk98 gets to keep his lead this round but Necroastr is looking very aggressive chasing the pole position. Looks like the bookies will be shaving their odds on this horse.

In the mean time, I drop a notch down with a dismal performance and Cool402's "Ranieri's Syndrome" struck again!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr
3 Games - Delay, NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, Everton, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen
2 Games - Raynaldo, cocotree, Voxeros
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, TTY, Cool402, David.hvp, Beaver21, hotdog

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 21-24

2008-06-16T00:36:00.001+08:00

Note: Due to the fact that this are the last games of the respective group matches, all kick-off times are at 02:45am (GMT+8)

Euro2008 21: WED 18/06 France vs Italy at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 22: WED 18/06 Netherlands vs Romania at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 23: THU 19/06 Greece vs Spain at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 24: THU 19/06 Russia vs Sweden at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 13 - 16

2008-06-15T05:44:00.002+08:00

What a fine showing by ihawk98 with 4 correct outcomes to leapfrogged everybody to a massive 6 points lead!

Kudos to edwinsng for his second Perfect-10! Damn he makes it look so easy!!

Looks like my tinkering is contagious as Cool402 made a last minute change too at the Greece-Russia game only to lose 3 precious points.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008), (15 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
5 Games - edwinsng
4 Games - Necroastr
3 Games - Delay, NNPC, Bedokian, ihawk98, cha dum yen
2 Games - Raynaldo, cocotree, Voxeros, Everton, clokwerk_oranje
1 Game - ianrush, wanwei, TTY, Cool402, David.hvp

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 17-20

2008-06-14T00:21:00.001+08:00

Note: Due to the fact that this are the last games of the respective group matches, all kick-off times are at 02:45am (GMT+8)

Euro2008 17: MON 16/06 Switzerland vs Portugal at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 18: MON 16/06 Turkey vs Czech Republic at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 19: TUE 17/06 Austria vs Germany at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 20: TUE 17/06 Poland vs Croatia at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 09 - 12

2008-06-13T08:03:00.002+08:00

We have a pair of new co-leaders by a single point. Congrats to ihawk98 and Delay!

Me and my itchy hands to amend my prediction of the Austria-Poland game at the last minute to cost me an exact prediction which would have propel me to the top of the table.

Arrrghhhh......

Anyway, we have quite a haul of exact scores this round but no Perfect 10 on account of everybody being floored by Turkey's and Croatia's upset respectively.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
3 Games - Necroastr, edwinsng, Delay
2 Games - Raynaldo, NNPC, cocotree
1 Game - Voxeros, Everton, ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, clokwerk_oranje, cha dum yen, Bedokian ihawk98, TTY

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 13-16

2008-06-12T00:09:00.004+08:00

Euro2008 13: FRI 13/06 Italy vs Romania at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 14: SAT 14/06 Netherlands vs France at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 15: SAT 14/06 Sweden vs Spain at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 16: SUN 15/06 Greece vs Russia at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 05 - 08

2008-06-11T07:45:00.003+08:00

A pat on my own back as well as Beaver21 for our 9-point haul this round to allow us to jump 6 and 3 places respectively.

You have to give it to Necroastr who missed the first day of this round only to bounce back strongly with a 6+2 result. Watch out for this guy for his form is hot!

As for the rest of us, please check back here daily as I will be working on a match-prediction-one-day and the results-the-next-day cycle i.e. this place will have daily updates during the course of this tournament, especially for the early rounds.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
3 Games - Necroastr, edwinsng
2 Games - Delay, Raynaldo
1 Game - Voxeros, NNPC, Everton, ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, cocotree, clokwerk_oranje

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 09-12

2008-06-10T00:30:00.002+08:00

Euro2008 09: WED 11/06 Czech Republic vs Portugal at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 10: THU 12/06 Switzerland vs Turkey at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 11: THU 12/06 Croatia vs Germany at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 12: FRI 13/06 Austria vs Poland at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Results - Euro 2008 Prediction League - Games 01 - 04

2008-06-09T09:33:00.006+08:00

Not a bad turn out with 18 19 people signing up for the Euro 2008 Prediction League.

Welcome.

~~A great start with Delay racing to the lead with 18 points on the first haul but the star of round 1 has got to be Necroastr who almost had 2 back-to-back Perfect 10s!~~

edwinsng raced the lead with 19 points, whom I have earlier overlooked. It's quite a pity for Necroastr and himself for they could have achieve the Grand Slam of back-to-back Perfect 10s.

Also, I will be reviving WeiMeng's HOF Charts. Scroll down below to see them.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) edwinsng (07 Jun 2008)
2) Necroastr (08 Jun 2008)

WeiMeng HOF (Number of Exact Predictions)
3 Games - Necroastr, edwinsng
2 Games - Delay, Raynaldo
1 Game - Voxeros, NNPC, Everton, ianrush, wanwei, cha dun yen, cocotree

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 05-08

2008-06-08T09:10:00.006+08:00

Euro2008 05: MON 09/06 France vs Romania at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 06: TUE 10/06 Italy vs Netherlands at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 07: TUE 10/06 Spain vs Russia at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 08: WED 11/06 Sweden vs Greece at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Euro 2008 Prediction League - Match 01-04

2008-06-02T09:40:00.004+08:00

5 more days to the start of the Euro2008 tournament and I welcome one and all back from the break.

Format for this prediction league is slightly different from the domestic SPUG EPL prediction league as we will be predicting 4 matches at one go with updates every other day. The pace will certainly be much faster than the regular one.

Euro2008 01: SAT 07/06 Switzerland vs Czech Republic at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 02: SUN 08/06 Portugal vs Turkey at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Euro2008 03: SUN 08/06 Austria vs Croatia at 11.55 pm SIN/HKG

Euro2008 04: MON 09/06 Germany vs Poland at 02.45 am SIN/HKG

Good luck!

EURO2008 Prediction League Rules

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

Blog Blackout
The EURO2008 Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Congratulations FC United Of Manchester

2008-05-19T09:25:00.002+08:00

So we didn't win the Unibond League First Division - North but their results were good enough to secure promotion to the Unibond Premier League.

Unibond Premier League is a Level 7 league (EPL being Level 1) and if we were to continue to gain promotion consistently year after year, they will finally reach Nationwide League 2 in 2011 and we may even see a Manchester Derby between ManUtd and FCUM in 2014!!

Imagine 3 Manchester clubs in the EPL!

wow...

Anyway, congratulations to FC United of Manchester!

Midweek Review (21 May 2008)

2008-05-18T07:11:00.002+08:00

Manchester United vs Chelsea
Champions League Final

"This game is so much like the 39th game plan proposed not long ago."

-Gary, 18 May 2008

This will be my last post for this season and will conclude my overall season overview as well.

Congrats to Man Utd for winning the 17th title. And our next target will be winning the 18th title to be on par with Liverpool.

A warm welcome to West Brom and Stoke City to the Promised Land of football next season. And we have to wait and see who is the the last team to enter. Bristol City or Hull City? Whichever team enter, will be easier to bet against them, due to lack of experience as quoted by Jaywalk. But then again, neither team would want to beat Derby's record for lowest points gain in the Premier League table.

Now we have one less bogey team to handle and that is Reading who is relegated with Birmingham and Derby to second-tier football next season.

And for the first time next season, both sides of Manchester will be in Europe. My heart is still with Sven Eriksson to stay at Manchester but mind is hopping mad that he doesnt mastermind another win at Man Utd.

So for the final game this season, is the Champions League final at Moscow. This game is so much like the 39th game plan proposed not long ago. How ironic. For those in the dark, organisers of English Premier League wanted all the teams to be played a one-off game in other cities rather than in England.

Anyway, coming back to this game, Man Utd is having their 50th Munich disaster anniversary since 1958. And what a way to fit the tribute if Man Utd win the Champions League. And that is also the same time Man Utd won their first European Cup. Man Utd is the only team that stays unbeaten throughout this competition.

Now, whoever wins this competition, is rightly call the Kings of Europe. But my concern is next season where one team (regardless of who) will have a hell of congestion fixtures to clear. Why? Because of the FIFA Club World Cup. And it smacks right in the mid season.

Man Utd Team News: No injuries, no suspensions. All 26 players will be at Moscow. Fergie is having a selection headache.

Chelsea Team News: John Terry, Drogba are fit for the match.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd is giving 0.25. I would say, stay clear of the match. But if given a choice, i would pick Man Utd due to the 50th anniversary.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

We Are The Champions!

2008-05-15T23:46:00.003+08:00

Credits to ابو السيم

We Are The Champions!

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 11 May 2008

2008-05-12T09:50:00.002+08:00

Well done Cool402 for winning this season's SPUG EPL Prediction League!!!

Well, so far none of us have managed to defend our title for the second season running. Perhaps Cool402 can break this jinx?

Anyway, thanks to all for sticking through with us for yet another season. We will kick off our 5th season in August. 5 seasons already! Wow.... time really flies. I wonder if we can make it to 10 seasons?

Also next, year, I shall bring back WeiMing's Hall of Fame where a tally will be drawn up to keep track of the number of correct guesses over the season. It's a bit like my Perfect 10 except that you only need to get one of the two matches of the match weekend to chalk a score.

In the mean time... Don't forget. We will be doing Euro 2008 Prediction League. I will start posting match fixtures around 01 Jun 2008. See you guys later!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros
EPL 2007/2008 - Cool402

Beer Fund Raising : 11 May 2008

2008-05-10T16:12:00.003+08:00

It's the last match day of the season and my last EPL entry of the season as well. I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks for sticking with us for another season as I sign off the EPL season with this entry.

Fret not, I will still be around to tabulate the final SPUG EPL Prediction League score (assuming no tie breaker) before I take my short break and returning to do the SPUG Euro 2008 Prediction League. Do join us!

Anyway, congrats again to Roy Keane for surviving his first season in the Premiership, I look forward to another season of the battling Black Cats but I think they won't do as well as this season unless they start spending cash on new talents.!

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Sunday's Picks:

Blackburn Rovers - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
Chelsea - Give 2.00 ball (Lose)
Reading - Give 1.00 ball (Win)
Valencia - Give 0.75 ball (Win)
Getafe - Eat 0.25 ball (Win 1/2)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2.5 - 0 - 2

Result This Season: 79.5 - 8 - 68.5 = 11-UP as at 11 May 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (11 May 2008)

2008-05-10T10:54:00.003+08:00

Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United

"...Well, Brucie fucked it up for us in 1995 and we sure ain't going to let Brucies fucked it up again twice...."

- JayWalk, 10 May 2008

26 minutes into the game and we were 3-0 up.

Can you say kelong?

I won't be surprised to see fantastic deals between the two clubs in the summer. Perhaps ManUtd to transfer one of its young prodigies from the academy or West Ham selling one of their prized possessions for an obscene profit?

Will touch more on this later.

Usually with a result like 4-1, we would expected to see ManUtd, who incidentally was also the home side, have stats that resembled a bulldozer running over a little chihuahua. But no. Our 8 shots attempted (4 on goal) versus a slightly better 9 shots (5 on goal) is just weird. Mind you, this wasn't a tight match like ManUtd vs Barcelona. This is just your regular slaughter match against lowly West Ham. Either that or the stats suggested that it may have been a typical game at Middlesbrough where if you see a man down flat on the pitch unconscious, not because he passed out as a result of an earlier nasty concussion but that he was asleep as a result of boredom.

So how despite very subdued stats, we can still manage such a high scoring result with only 10 men?

~~Can you say kelong?~~

JayWalk The Talk: Melchiot is the only casualty on the Wigan side but even with a full squad to choose from, I don't see them any more capable of getting past even our B-team.

As for ManUtd, Saha is still out while Nani earned himself a stupid suspension as a result of the red card at the West Ham game. Rooney injured his hip and while he is still good enough to start today, I think Fergie won't be risking him today in order to start him at the ECL final. The opposite is to be said of Vidic who is finally declared fit and must get in at least (only) one senior match to tune up his match fitness in time for the ECL final in Moscow.

JayWalk The Walk: I have always talked about "The Curse of The Final Four" every year around this time of the season where ManUtd have this jinx to screw up at least once in the final four games. This time, the curse has come true again when we dropped 5 points in the last 3 games with a draw with Blackburn and a lost to Chelsea.

So the good news is that now that we have fulfilled our "bungle quota", the next game has got to be a win.

The bookies agree with me on this as ManUtd is made to give a 1.75-ball handicap despite being the away team and a decimal odds of 1.80 to beat it! How to lose like that??! I think we can safely tie the red, white and black ribbons on the league trophy now and presented it at the JJB Stadium at the end of 90 minutes. Regardless of result from the Chelsea camp, the trophy is going home to Old Trafford.

Back in 1995, we fucked it up when Steve Bruce's last minute mistake costs us the league title to allow Blackburn to nicked it from us, even when they lost their last match at Anfield. Guess what? It's Steve Bruce again this time as he is the manager of the Lactics.

Well, Brucie fucked it up for us in 1995 and we sure ain't going to let Brucies fucked it up again twice.

Brucie has been a loyal servant to Fergie during his time at ManUtd and I'd bet it would extend beyond his football playing days. Perhaps a couple of bargains to throw in when the transfer window opens in the summer, like Curbishley?

Historical stats indicates that Wigan has never beaten any of the top 4 teams and we have a great record of 6-0-0 against Wigan, with an average goal-margin of more than 2. People did caution against the lousy playing surface of the JJB Stadium where our "RollsRoyceBoys" may not be accustomed to but when the stake are this high, the ManUtd boys will find a way to overcome it, even if it means everybody pitching in to hire a steamroller to level the pitch the day before.

I think Giggs will feature today as it would let him tie Bobby Robson's record of 758 appearances and thus breaking that record when he starts the kick off in Moscow on 21 May 2008.

I also think Ronaldo will wrap up his Golden Boot win this season with yet another goal or two or three on Sunday.

The only time ManUtd loses is when they are not driven enough as Keane has complained so many times during his days as Captain. So, with the title within reach, I do not see how ManUtd is going to lose this match. I don't even care if we are making the careless assumption that Chelsea is sure to beat Bolton.

Technically, we only need to match Chelsea's result to win the league but I say screw that. Let's just win it and take the title on our terms.

Go for ManUtd and give the 1.75-ball handicap coz we are going to win the title and win it in style!

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (11 May 2008)

2008-05-07T12:04:00.003+08:00

It's the season finale and the title for the SPUG Prediction League is still up for grabs. Although Cool402 is currently in the lead with just 1 point over current runner-up Beaver21, will that be enough?

Since this is the last match weekend of the domestic season, we are having a bumper weekend (or ihawk98 prefers to call it a Mother's Day Special) of 3 games.

We've picked games where the various clubs still have something to fight for, be it relegation survival or a spot in the UEFA Cup next season. That should confuse the hell out of everybody and spread out all the predictions.

Good luck!

EPL 67: SUN 11/05 Birmingham City vs Blackburn Rovers at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

EPL 68: SUN 11/05 Derby County vs Reading at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

EPL 69: SUN 11/05 Portsmouth vs Fulham at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

Good luck!

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 03 - 04 May 2008

2008-05-05T12:52:00.002+08:00

Congrats to Cool402 who is in the lead by the skin of his teeth and just one more weekend to go! There are 5 of us behind him within strike range and so the game isn't over just yet.

I think I better lay out the rules for the tie breaker here in case we can't find a clear winner at the end of 38 EPL games. We shall use the FA Cup as the tie-breaker with the following rules:

Those involve in the tie breaker shall submit their predictions to me via email (voxeros[at]yahoo[dot]com) only (assuming I am not involved. Otherwise, I will appoint a 3rd party to take submissions).

This is to prevent participants from seeing each other's submissions prior to kick-off.

Everybody else are welcome to play along but their submissions will be in the comments section.
Prediction will be the result at the end of 90 minutes with Outcome = 3 points and Goal Bonus at 1 point each.
Should there be yet a tie again, then we shall proceed to the European Champions League final as the tie breaker to the tie breaker where Points (1) and (2) apply again.
During the European Champions League final, participants are also required to predict the side that would score the first goal and the time of the first goal according to Soccernet's Gamecast. This is in case there is another tie after Point (3).
Assuming the tie breaker is required, the winner shall be the declared winner of the SPUG EPL Prediction League 2007/2008 only after the tie breaker results have been finalised.

Important Note: Don't forget. We will be doing Euro 2008 Prediction League. Don't disappear immediately after the EPL ends hor!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 03 - 05 May 2008

2008-05-03T15:10:00.003+08:00

I have had consecutive weeks of nett losses that I am comtemplating calling a premature end to this season of betting.

To take an old cliche. Quit while you are ahead. So at nett 11-UP from a high of almost 20, I have decided to take the money and run.

However, given that it is only just 2 more weeks, there is no way to I will end up in the red this season. I may be tempted to just punt as a result of itchy hands.

We'll see. :P

With Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Reading and Bolton all failing to secure 3-points last week, the Premiership passing mark was as a result lowered to 36 points.

In other words, Sunderland would have cleared it even without winning their last game. However, as I have said of Roy Keane, he would have preferred to secure it via the front door and that was exactly what he did as Middlesbrough gifted a 90th minute own-goal for Sunderland to take the 3 points with a 3-2 win, to take the Black Cats to 39 points.

Congratulations Roy Keane!

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Aston Villa - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
Blackburn Rovers - Give 1.75 ball (Win 1/2)
Birmingham Cityt - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
Athletico Madrid - Give 1.00 ball (Win)
Deportivo La Coruna - Eat 0.50 ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

Arsenal - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)
Santander - Give 1.25 ball (Lose 1/2)
Sevilla - Give 1.25 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 3 - 0 - 3.5

Result This Season: 77 - 8 - 66.5 = 10.5-UP as at 04 May 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (03 May 2008)

2008-05-03T09:35:00.003+08:00

Manchester United vs West Ham United

"...Get ready the KBE medal for Sir Alex Ferguson when we are done with Chelsea on 21 May 2008...."

- JayWalk, 03 May 2008

That's it! The whistle's gone and we are off to Moscow!

A dream final for me as I have always hoped for an all-English final. Certainly, this would boost England's seeding's coefficient for a more favourable draw in future tournaments.

I was sweating bullets when we couldn't score at Nou Camp. Fergie knew that a clean sheet at Old Trafford in the subsequent return-leg would be our ticket to the Final and that's just what we did.

As you can tell from the stats, we played defensively resulting in very low shots attempted and shots-on-goal. Even possession was a dismal 38%. Still, we whacked it where it hurts the most, at the back of the net with an amazing thunder goal from Paul Scholes who guaranteed his own starting place in the final with that match winner. A bit of a bitter sweet fairy tale where the red head midfielder missed out on the final back in 1999. Finally, a chance of redemption and we wonder if it would be happy ever after for Scholesy to ride off into the sunset with a ECL champion's medal? I certainly hope so.

Fergie has been criticised for his alleged error in judgment over his team selection which led to our defeat at Stamford Bridge. Our expensive signings like Carricks, Fletcher, Nani and Anderson all bombed during the game, while Scholes, Ronaldo and Tevez were all rested at a game where the stakes are really big. One may wonder what Fergie was thinking at that time? Still, in Fergie's defence, it did take a controversial penalty to finally allow Chelsea the 3 points. These 3 points if you ask me, were part of our "budget to lose". We can afford to "throw" the match in order to have a full strength squad to take on Barcelona. A gamble, if I may add consequently, that we won now that we are in the ECL finals and still on course to secure the league title.

Get ready the KBE medal for Sir Alex Ferguson when we are done with Chelsea on 21 May 2008.

Our opponent in Moscow will be Chelsea although I was rooting to meet Liverpool. Don't be mistaken that I chose Liverpool because they are the easier team to beat, which they are at the current moment, but it's really a coincidence. Liverpool will always be my favourite opponent as our rivalry goes way back longer than that of Chelsea and Arsenal. Call me a sentimental fool but there is more romance in a ManUtd-Liverpool final then any other match ups.

Perhaps that's why from time to time, I would be found rooting for Liverpool when they play other teams for nothing is more satisfy than to play head-to-head with a worthy opponent. Results will always be secondary even though beating them is an added bonus.

Coming back, Chelsea will be relatively easy for us when we meet in the ECL finals on the following counts.

Chelsea does not have any experience as far as the grand match final is concerned. There will be no more home and away legs. It will be a one-match-takes-all which Chelsea has never experienced before.
This is will be on neutral ground which means that Chelsea loses the advantage of the Stamford Bridge spirit. Once we are on equal footing, ManUtd is the stronger team. ~~However, one wonders if there is any chance of Roman Ambramovich using his Russian connections to tilt the match in Chelsea's favour since the game is in Russia?~~

JayWalk The Talk: Other than Saha and Vidic who are confirmed to be out of selection. Rooney and Evra will need a late fitness test today to decide if they are good to go. Van dar sar is also a question mark for the starting sheet today but I think we will still see him appear between the sticks.

The injury sheet on West Ham looks really bad at this time. Do not hold your breath when I list out the casualties. Ready?

Inhale....

Spector, Ljungberg, Upson, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Etherington, Davenport, Quashie, Bellamy, Bowyer, Collins and Dyer are all unavailable for selection.

.... and exhale.

JayWalk The Walk: There is no secret that Fergie and Curbs are good friends dated to a long time ago. The conspiracy theory last year was that we let West Ham beat us on the final day of last season in order to allow them to survive relegation. Perhaps this time round, it is for Curbishley to return the favour? As far as the league title is concerned, we are in the driver's seat. We just need to win the remaining two games regardless of Chelsea's outcomes.

The way I see it, West Ham has nothing to play for already. A win here won't improve their league position as they are too far away from Manchester City (7 points ahead) nor a loss would allow Tottenham Hotspur to overtake either sitting 5 points above Spurs.

Perhaps I foresee a zhun zhun 2-0 victory for ManUtd. That way, Curbishley can return the favour and the bookies dun have to lose any money on a kelong match.

The bookies are making ManUtd give up a 2-ball handicap and a 2.075 decimal odds to beat it. The wager pot now stands at a fairly even balance with 48% of the punts on ManUtd to 52% in favour of West Ham.

Verdict: Stay away.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

Midweek Outlook (29 Apr 2008)

2008-04-29T16:58:00.000+08:00

Manchester United vs Barcelona

"What are the chances of winning the European Cup and qualify automatically for the group stages next season?"

-Gary, 29 April 2008

Before the last weekend deciding match was underway, i have a chat with Voxeros. He say that with the odds at 1.8, Man Utd is playing for a draw. He get it correctly but Chelsea have other ideas. Man Utd aiming for a draw and Fergie rests key players for the crunch match against Barcelona. Result didnt go as planned. Look like the next 2 matches will be the deciding factor. West Ham and Wigan. And i just saw the odds for West Ham game. It was a "WTF moment" for me. Look like Man Utd have to work extra hard for these 3 matches including Barcelona.

Both Man Utd and Barcelona lose during the weekend. Both of them rest their key players. Both of them are focus on this match rather than the weekend matches.

One question i would like to post to Barcelona is, "What are the chances of winning the European Cup and qualify automatically for the group stages next season?" 25%? 50? 75%? By tomorrow morning, we will know the answer. Barcelona last 32 matches in European stage, they lost twice to Premier League oppositions - Chelsea and Liverpool. Overall Barcelona have lose 11 and won 6 of 23 visits to England.

With Man Utd still defending a home record that lasts from 2006, it doesnt look good at all as Man Utd does not win at home when they return from a goalless draw. Yet Man Utd have a strong home record against Spanish teams. Pengz.

Man Utd Team News: Rooney and Vidic are doubtful for the match. I think Fergie will play them.

Barcelona Team News: Ronaldinho is still injured. Carlos Puyol is back from suspension.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd giving 0.5 handicap. I think it will be a goalless draw once again and will be decided by penalties. Take Barcelona for the handicap.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (03 - 04 May 2008)

2008-04-29T16:31:00.002+08:00

It's the penultimate weekend of the regular season for us and we have Beaver21 neck-and-neck with Cool402 for this season's title. Looks like we may need to invoke the FA Cup final as a tie-breaker to separate the two.

This weekend, ihawk98 has pick a relegation fight for Saturday which would prove to be a very hard fought match.

Sunday, we see Arsenal hosting Everton, whom the former is vastly superior technically but nothing to play for the rest of the season while Everton is fighting heard to secure a place in the UEFA Cup next season.

EPL 65: SAT 03/05 Fulham vs Birmingham City at 10.00pm SIN/HKG

EPL 66: SUN 04/05 Arsenal vs Everton at 08.30pm SIN/HKG

Good luck!

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 26 - 27 Apr 2008

2008-04-28T10:57:00.002+08:00

Looks like cool402 bounced back strongly to get back to joint pole-position with Beaver21. The resemblance to Chelsea and ManUtd is just too uncanny!

Anyway, kudos to ihawk98 for picking two great games for us last weekend to really test our predictions to the fullest. We will be featuring him on our blog as our official match picker next season.

Congrats to Cha Dum Yen for being the top scorer this round with a 8-point booty.

Also, as we are neck and neck for the SPUG league title, it looks like we may need to use the FA Cup final as a tie breaker as well as the ECL final as the tie breaker's tie breaker. Will bring out the rule book when the date draws nearer, if at all.

Important Note: Don't forget. We will be doing Euro 2008 Prediction League. Don't disappear immediately after the EPL ends hor!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 26 - 28 Apr 2008

2008-04-26T13:34:00.006+08:00

An exciting weekend as the Premiership may more or less be decided today!

A draw for ManUtd today means the title is virtually sealed while a win for ManUtd today means we can have the trophy presentation next Saturday. Let's bring out the red, white and black ribbons!!

Last week, I calculated passing mark to be 38 which sees is unchanged this week as well. However, should there be a situation where Reading, Fulham and Birmingham City all lose their respective games this week, then the passing mark will be lowered to 35, of which Sunderland has already cleared.

In other words, Roy Keane can stay in the premiership if he wins today or if the 3 above-mentioned teams lose.

But knowing the fiery Irishman, I'd say he would rather it be option number 1.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Manchester United - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
Sevilla - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)
Deportivo La Coruna - Even ball (Win)

Sunday's Picks:

Athletico Madrid - Give 0.25 ball (Lose 1/2)
Almeria - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
Real Madrid - Give 1.25 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2 - 0 - 3.5

Result This Season: 74 - 8 - 63 = 11-UP as at 27 Apr 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (26 Apr 2008)

2008-04-26T13:29:00.001+08:00

Chelsea vs Manchester United

"...We are the mighty Red Devils, we don't play for draws...."

- JayWalk, 26 Apr 2008

While many says that we did well to get a draw at Camp Nou, I beg to differ. We are the mighty Red Devils, we don't play for draws.

We were lucky to get out with a draw despite being out-gunned 7 shots attempted (only 1 on-goal) against 20 (6 on-goal). The possession percentage also see us a paltry 27% against 73%. A bit lob-sided, no? It's almost like a school-boy team playing against a professional one.

What happened?

Anyway, some may say that all the indicators will be pointing in our favour once we head back to Old Trafford.

Again, I beg to differ.

Come the return-leg, all Barcelona needs to do is to just score 1 goal and they will be the ones heading for Moscow. Due to the away-goal rule, if they score 1, we need to score 2. If they score 2, we need to score 3. Get the drift? In other words, we cannot afford to even draw the next leg. A clean sheet is our only option here.

Looking ahead, we will facing Chelsea today, a game that may just be the Premiership decider which means we will be going all out today. Not exactly a good sign, considering that we will be facing Barcelona just a few days later. Fortunately, Barcelona will be playing away to Deportivo La Coruna, a game they too must win to avoid Villarreal pipping them to the La Liga runner-up spot which guarantees a proper ECL place next season instead of a CLQ one.

JayWalk The Talk: We have a relatively full squad to choose from with the exception of Saha and Vidic whom the latter had stomach flu that cost him his starting place at mid-week, which is likely to extend to today. However, I think Vidic should be ready to take on Barcelona come following mid-week.

Other than that, no injuries nor suspensions to worry about except the intangible factor of fatigue from mid-week exertion. Perhaps we would see Scholes starting today in place wone of the other midfielders.

It's the same for Chelsea, sans Cudicini, who played to a tough draw against Liverpool but get an extra day of rest as they played a day earlier than us. We won't see Lampard today as the midfielder will be spending the weekend grieving the loss of his mother who just recently passed away. Essien is expected to feature today after earning a suspension in mid-week which means no more involvement for him at the ECL semi-final stage.

JayWalk The Walk: Despite obvious disadvantages, bookie are favouring ManUtd to beat the 0.25-ball handicap by placing a 1.80 decimal odds over it.

The punters are all responding well to the odds as the wagers are 69% in favour of ManUtd beating the handicap. Note, beating the handicap means a draw is good enough, not necessarily has to be a win, although the latter is most welcome.

Like ManUtd vs Barcelona in the second-leg, Chelsea also cannot afford to draw as it would be a point gain for ManUtd and 2 point loss for Chelsea.

Here's why.

If we draw, then ManUtd regardless of any subsequent Chelsea results would need only 3 points from the last 2 games to clinch the title. One of which is West Ham at home, which we let them beat us to stay in the Premiership. Perhaps Curbs will return the favour? Oh yes, Tevez is playing for us now too. Even if we don't wrap it up by then, we still have struggling Wigan to play away. Easy peasy.
If we win, the title race is effectively over with ManUtd at 84 points which is the maximum number of points Chelsea can get if they win their remaining 2 games. However, even if they do catch up with us at 84 points, our vastly superior goal difference (ManUtd +54 vs Chelsea +36) will still put us on top.

Verdict? Why I do hope to get a win here, I think I would be practical and shoot for a draw here.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

Midweek Outlook (23 April 2008)

2008-04-23T01:30:00.002+08:00

Barcelona vs Manchester United

"...Historical stats have shown that Man Utd is poor against Spanish teams."

-Gary, 23 Apr 2008

Look like now is my turn to get the predictions wrong at the most critical time. Boohoo.

Anyway, last weekend match have to thank Carlo Tevez for saving us again and again. Been at the right place at the right time to equalise the match. He is not called "The Scarred Face Assassin" for no reason. To me, it was a one point gain than two points lose. Ewood Park was not a good place to get 3 points as past matches have shown. But i was hoping that Mark Hughes will help Fergie. Yet, i was wrong again. Grr.

Was it me or Barcelona is losing focus at the wrong time? Liverpool have their off-field problems but at least they are showing results on the field. But Barcelona is losing everything at the moment. Last 8 matches including Champions League against Schalke, they only win 3 matches. They just cant seem to get the results they wanted, or winning matches to boast players' confidence. Something just doesnt seem to go right with Barcelona at the moment. Is it Ronaldinho's fitness problem, Frank Rijkaard's tactics or Barcelona's top management? It could be either one of it, or worst, all of them. And it really affecting the performance of those domestic matches.

Before anyone place their bet on Man Utd just because of recent Barcelona form, hold your horse. Yes, Man Utd is currently unbeaten in the competition. Yes, Man Utd is determined to reach the Final to have an all-English Final at Moscow. But historical stats have shown that Man Utd is poor against Spanish teams. The last time Man Utd face Spanish opposition is Real Madrid and ended in a loss. The only solitary win against Spanish team is Deportivo in 2001/02 where the eccentric Fabien Barthez was still around. T_T

Barcelona Team News: Ronaldinho is the only player in the treatment room or what the papers mentioned.

Man Utd Team News: Surprisingly, everyone was given a clean bill of health and flew out of England.

Odds and analysis: Both teams have met during Man Utd's treble winning season in 98/99. Both times have ended in a stalemate. Eating a 0.25 ball handicap. Take Man Utd. I think it will end in a draw as both teams are still unbeaten and would want to hold the record for it. I believe the return leg will be decided by penalties.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (26 - 27 April 2008)

2008-04-22T09:11:00.002+08:00

This weekend could possibly be the English Premier League final as we will be predicting the outcome between Chelsea and Manchester United, from which the winner of this match could possibly be the League Champion. ManUtd at this time have a slight advantage as even a draw means a step forward to the title. However, this is countered by the fact that Chelsea will be playing them at home at Stamford Bridge.

On Sunday, we bring you also a very close match to test your prediction skills from which, the SPUG Prediction League title may also very well be decided here.

Let's go!

EPL 63: SAT 26/4 Chelsea vs Manchester United at 7.45pm SIN/HKG

EPL 64: SUN 27/4 Everton vs Aston Villa at 10.55pm SIN/HKG

Good luck!

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 19 - 20 Apr 2008

2008-04-21T10:47:00.004+08:00

Whoa! Just when we thought cool402 is surging for the title, he blows the engine just before the finishing line!

There is no worse time to score a zero in the outcome category then during the run in and the proverbial banana peel gifted the rest of us who took the risk to predict different from Cool402.

The bigesst reaper has gotta be Beaver21 whose sole 9-point haul propels him to pole position and a comfortable 4-point lead.

Any more banana peels to come? We shall see.

Important Note: We will be doing the Prediction League for the Euro2008 tournament where we will be predicting all 32 matches with updates every other day, i.e. we will be predicting 4 matches at one go in the initial stages of the tournament. Once the EPL ends, we will have a short breather before we start opening matches for predictions some time around the beginning of June. So do stay around until then and tell all your friends to join in.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 19 - 20 Apr 2008

2008-04-19T09:01:00.004+08:00

As we draw the season to an end, I am surprised to see Chelsea instead of Arsenal runing alongside with us for the title. Chelsea cleared their game earlier in midweek (anyone knows why the special arrangement?) to close the gap to 2 points. Hopefully, we are able to clear ours as well to restore the 5-point cushion as well as to be in the position where one more win after this anything within the next 3 games to seal the title for us.

We have the advantage currently as a slip up for Chelsea anytime within the next 3 games means dishing the title to us on a silver platter.

By my calculation as of today, the passing mark to survive the season in the Premier League is now at 38. The number may more up or down depending on how the relegation fight unfolds but for now, it is 38.

That means that Sunderland needs only 2 points to make it ashore or just a single victory would do. However, the outlook is bleak for the Black Cat this week as Keane brings his boys to Newcastle for a Northern Derby.

Expect a cracker of a match up North but I think Newcastle should come up the victors. Perhaps the points would start flowing in for Sunderland next week?

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Arsenal - Give 1.50 ball (Win)
Fulham - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
West Ham - Give 1.25 ball (Lose 1/2)

Sevilla - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

AC Milan -Give 1.50 ball (Testing theory)
Deportivo - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2 - 0 - 2.5

Result This Season: 72 - 8 - 58.5 = 13.5-UP as at 20 Apr 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (19 Apr 2008)

2008-04-19T03:20:00.003+08:00

Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester United

"He(Fergie) will want to stick with his trusted First 11 and go for the final push for both titles."

-Gary, 19 Apr 2008

With a 2 points lead and a game in hand, i really dont see Man Utd will slip up. So long as next weekend Man Utd get a draw at Stamford "Iron Fortress" Bridge, they are technically champions. Im not being arrogant for it as there are some conspiracies going on.

Alex McLeish in Birmingham, Mark Hughes in Blackburn, Steve Bruce in Wigan, anything in common? These 3 current managers of the respective clubs have play for Fergie when he was in charge of Aberdeen and Man Utd. And guess what, these 3 clubs have taken 14 points from Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea this season.

I dont know why i have this feeling. But it just occurs to me that majority of them rather let Man Utd win the title than hand-ribbon it to Chelsea or Arsenal. One of them is ihawk98. hahaha. A true Spurs fan who just dont like the sight of Arsenal or Chelsea being champions. Remember the final scoreline between Spurs and Chelsea earlier this season? 4-4!! 2 points lose for Chelsea. And we have to thank Spurs for that.

Anyway, coming back to this weekend match, some good news to share. Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick have extend their contracts. With one eye in midweek against Barcelona, I think Fergie will not disrupt the momentum as in thinkering with the formation. He will want to stick with his trusted First 11 and go for the final push for both titles.

Blackburn Team News: Jason Roberts and David Dunn are back from injuries.

Man Utd Team News: Vidic, Nani and Fletcher are back. Louis Saha is out, injured his hamstring once again. Anderson and Hargreaves are slight doubts for this match.

Odds and Analysis: With a 0.75 ball handicap, take Man Utd for the win.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (19 - 20 April 2008)

2008-04-15T23:38:00.002+08:00

This Sat, we have Fulham against Liverpool. With 3 games to go and 4 points behind Birmingham, Fulham is in need of a miracle not to get relegate but to face Liverpool at such timing, they really need more than luck and miracle.

On Sun, Portsmouth visit Manchester City. Both teams are gunning down for an European ticket next season via the final standings in the League. No one is disputing about Manchester City home form at the moment but Portsmouth away form is suspecting at the moment. Who will emerge victorious?

EPL 61: SAT 19/4 Fulham vs Liverpool at 9.55pm SIN/HKG

EPL 62: SUN 20/4 Man City vs Portsmouth at 10.55pm SIN/HKG

Good luck!

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 12 - 13 Apr 2008

2008-04-14T15:25:00.000+08:00

ManUtd, Arsenal and JayWalk. Name the odd one out.

ManUtd coz as far as the other two are concerned, the season's over.

I have officially thrown in the towel for the title chase and yet again, no one in the history of the SPUG EPL Prediction League has managed to defend his title.

Congrats to Cool402 for peaking at the right time as he continues to power away at the top, now sitting comfortably on a 4-point cushion.

Well done!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 12 - 13 Apr 2008

2008-04-12T17:07:00.004+08:00

Come the European Champions League Semi-Finals everybody will be rooting for ManUtd to beat Barcelona. Even the Liverpool and Chelsea fans. Why? We are witnessing history in the making and should ManUtd reach the ECL Final, this would be an all England affair. A first!

Anyway, with only 5 games to go, ManUtd has Arsenal to play and Chelsea further down the road. It is no longer an easy cruise to the end of the season like we had last season. From a mathematical point of view, we need 12 points from the last 5 games (maximum 15 points) to win the title outright. In other words, we can afford to lose one of these two clashes and still win the title.

Ok, before I sound like a defeatist, I am just planning worst case scenario contingency lah.

ManUtd needs 12 points in the last 5 games to win the league. Sunderland needs 4 points in the last 5 games to survive the league.

Their opponent today is ManCity who has a terrible away record despite shit loads of money pour into the club, courtesy of ex-Thai PM Thaksin. I am starting to think that perhaps Thaksin didn't get a very good deal?

Anyway, punters are all pointing to a Sunderland win and if today's 3 points goes into the bag, Sunderland is virtually assured of a place in next season's Premier League.

If I were Keane, I wrap this up right now and focus next on climbing the ladder as far up as possible to maximise the EPL prize money which is dependent on final league position. I believe the different is 500,000 Pounds Sterling for every step up.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

AC Milan - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)

Sunday's Picks:

Real Madrid - Give 1.75 ball (Lose)
Almeria - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)
Inter Milan - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 1

Result This Season: 70 - 8 - 56 = 14-UP as at 13 Apr 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (13 Apr 2008)

2008-04-12T10:24:00.005+08:00

Manchester United vs Arsenal

"...There is no way, short of a miracle, that any team anywhere in the world can overturn a 2-goal deficit at Old Trafford...."

- JayWalk, 12 Apr 2008

It was a brave gamble to rest key players during the return-leg of the ECL quarter-final and boy, did it paid off handsomely. Not only are we comfortably through to the semi-finals, we also have a relatively fresh squad ahead of tomorrow's clash against Arsenal.

Remember what I said about our possession stats against strong opponents? Well Roma being the visitors are at 51% to our 49%. Granted that the 2% of 90 minutes is actually only a mere 108 seconds, it just look bad on paper. Psychological perhaps?

So anyway, Roma gifted the game to us when they miss the penalty by launching the ball into orbit.

Still, realistically as Roma would already realised was that they had thrown in the towel. There is no way, short of a miracle, that any team anywhere in the world can overturn a 2-goal deficit at Old Trafford. I wish them luck for their weekend game against Udinese (away) as they chase current leader Inter Milan for the Scudetto.

Up ahead, we have the advantage of playing away at Nou Camp first in the ECL semi-final and I think by then we should have a full squad to choose from, right at a time when Barcelona is flying through some turbulence domestically, trailing leader Real Madrid by 7 points and just barely above Villarreal who are level on points with an inferior goal difference.

The way I see it, Barcelona may go the way of calling it a day on their ECL campaign and focus on catching Real Madrid. The only difference from AS Roma is that their Catalan Pride may not allow them to give up one for the other and as such, may risk finishing the season with nothing. Probably what Fergie would have done anyway.

JayWalk The Talk: If you thought I was surprised to see Ferdinand take to the field during midweek, I was even more shocked to see Silvestre and Neville on the pitch as well. However, it is ironic that despite getting 2 defenders back from the sickbay, we are still worried about our back line with just the absence of Vidic. Is Vidic so almighty that ManUtd cannot do without him, then even with the return of two very established defenders, it is still not good enough? Comments please.

Elsewhere, we have Nani, Fletcher and Saha still injured.

The Arsenal sickbay also looked pretty full with list going like Flamini, Diaby, Sagna, Eduardo and Rosicky.

Doesn't look like it's going to be a good day for the Gunners this weekend.

JayWalk The Walk: Arsenal is currently going through a crisis of faith as they tumbled down the league ladder with a dismal win in their last 7 fixtures.

Mid-week defeat was just a further slap in the face. Their weakness is now obvious. The team is too young and they lack mental toughness. Gone are the days where every club feared the names of Henry, Adam, Pires and Viera. Instead when you look at the team sheet, we only see a bunch of kids' names.

Sure, they are a talented bunch of youngsters but when they hit a rough patch, they have nothing else in their arsenal (no pun intended) to carry on fighting. Van Persie and Adebayor both played poorly during mid-week and was instant fodder for Liverpool to go in for the kill. Mind you, in terms of technical skills, Arsenal, in my opinion, is a notch above Liverpool but the mental toughness of Liverpool, especially during European games is one of the best in Europe.

This is a game where Arsenal MUST WIN in order to stay in the title race. This is a do-or-die game, failing which, the season will be over for them. So the pressure is on them more than ManUtd who has a 3-point cushion over challenger Chelsea at the current moment.

There are two ways to look at this pressure. It could spur them to greater heights on account of their hunger or it could just implode the entire team as a result of their mental strength's inability to overcome it.

Well, it is not all peaches and cream for ManUtd even with a 3-point cushion. It would be better if we can win Arsenal (and assuming Chelsea to keep up since winning over Wigan this week is almost a given), and that we can take this buffer to the Chelsea game on 26 Apr 2008, right after our return from Barcelona. We are going to need that insurance buffer. Mark that date on your calendar for I think that would be the championship decider.

Coming back, ManUtd will be giving a 0.50-ball handicap with a 1.86 decimal odds to beat it. Sounds like the bookies are all going for a ManUtd win although the tipsters are all gunning for a draw. However, Match Poll from SkySports (see above right) suggests that only 4% of the respondents predict a draw as in this particular game,. However, a draw does not do either side any favour and so, expect both teams to go all out to fight for that 3 points.

Still, taking a reference from their last 10 head-to-heads in the EPL, we have a slight advantage at 3-5-2 and one can't help but noticed that 5 of the 10 games ended in a draw.

Verdict? I am still undecided although I am inclined to go for ManUtd on account of the well rested players during mid-week. Watch for my Beer Fund Raising post later in the day here for my decision on this game.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

Midweek Outlook (9th April 2008)

2008-04-08T23:35:00.002+08:00

Manchester United vs Roma

"Without Vidic, Man Utd defence looks suspecting!!"

- Gary, 9th April 2008

Without Vidic, Man Utd defence looks suspecting!! Even Rio Ferdinand also went out injured during the match. Not a good omen to me in the Premier League and Champions League.

We are now in the final push for both titles where key matches against Arsenal and Chelsea will determine where the Premier League title will be heading to.

With Champions League semi final beckons, every match to us right now is a nail-biting one. If both central defenders are fit, i believe half of the battle have won in the run in towards the Premier League and Champions League title. I think now every team will like to take advantage of the make shift defence to deny Man Utd the title. I think by the end of the season, i dont have nails to bite on!! >.<

Some facts:

Man Utd home form in Champions League stretch back 3 seasons ago.
Roma have only won once against English opposition.
Man Utd have not lose since winning away in the first leg.

Somehow, historical stats and past matches will have an indication to show who is the favourite to win. But after last season 7-1 drubbing at Old Trafford, i think this match have to really depends on your luck and calculation of odds. Man Utd key defenders out, Roma determined to lay the ghosts to rest. Hard to choose? Then dont punt.

Man Utd Team News: Rio Ferdinand and Vidic are out. Gary Neville is standing by to make his first match in this season. Mikael Silvestre is still in the Reserves.

Roma Team News: Totti and Matteo Ferrari are out. Simone Perrotta and Juan are expected to start.

Odds and Analysis: With 0.75 ball handicap, take Man Utd for the win. Just a little punt for me.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (12 - 13 April 2008)

2008-04-08T09:27:00.002+08:00

Arsenal may be out of the title chase but they certainly still have an important role to play as king maker. A win over ManUtd may not be able to resurrect their own title chances but certainly opens the path for Chelsea to catch up on points. Let us not forget that Chelsea still have a game to play against ManUtd which would most possible be touted as the EPL Final.

And on Saturday, we see Middlesbrough again but this time taking on Spurs at White Hart Lane. Boro have a knack to give their best against the top 4 but fizzle out against everybody else. I wonder why?

So how would they fare again Spurs who have been up and down and all over the place themselves?

EPL 59: SAT 07/04 Tottenham Hotspur vs Middlesbrough at 9:55pm SIN/HKG

EPL 60: SUN 08/04 Manchester United vs Arsenal at 10:55pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 05 - 06 Apr 2008

2008-04-07T19:29:00.002+08:00

I think the season is over for unless a miracle happens and I get a second wind. Otherwise, it looks like I am sliding further and further down ala Arsenal.

Congrats to David.hvp for making a surge to mount a great leap to joint-6th and also to Cool402 for keeping his cool (no pun intended) stay at the top with a cushion of 3 points.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 05 - 06 Apr 2008

2008-04-05T17:14:00.004+08:00

With only 6 games to go, we are finally down the home stretch towards the end of the season. ManUtd only need another 13 points from the remaining 6 games to win it mathmatically. This weekend may also mark the beginning of a two-horse race as Arsenal hosts Liverpool. A draw and it means Arsenal dropping out of the title chase leaving Chelsea as the sole challenger. Then again, there may be a revival in chance as both Chelsea and Arsenal are to play ManUtd in the final 6 matches.

West Ham went on an unbelieveable streak right about the same time last season and secure survival in the top flight. Could this be Sunderland's turn now?

Today's game could yet be another opportunity to grab some points against an uninspired Fulham. A win would bring them within 4 points from the magic 40.

However, the bookies seem bent against Sunderland for it would mean 2 away wins in a row for Sunderland who have had one miserable away win so far all season.

Between Fulham and Sunderland, the Black Cats, under Keano are the hungrier of the two. Sunderland also have the advantage of being less under pressure for a draw is a good enough result while Fulham faces a must-win-or-die situation.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Arsenal - Give 0.25 ball (Lose 1/2)
Chelsea - Give 0.75 ball (Win)
Fulham - Give 0.25 ball (Lose)
Osasuna - Give 0.50 ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

Barcelona - Give 1.50 ball (Lose)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 3.5 = 2.5-DN

Result This Season: 69 - 8 - 55 = 14-UP as at 06 Apr 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (05 Apr 2008)

2008-04-05T09:51:00.002+08:00

Middlesbrough vs Manchester United

"...As weaker as Boro is, they have do have a knack to be one of ManUtd's perennial bogey teams...."

- JayWalk, 05 Apr 2008

Just we were biting nails fearing the worst on our travels to Rome, we went ahead and strolled to an 2-0 away win.

I think my heart cannot take it liao. All the roller coaster ride is going to kill me one of these days. Dammit!

We evenly matched them in every aspect but I do notice that when we come up against tough opponents, we are always at the shorter end of the possession statistic, regardless of result. Strange.

So anyway, it's good we got a victory and 2 away-goals to boot. I think Roma should right about now throw in the towel and focus on their Serie A. As far as my opinion goes, their European campaign has ended. Roma needs to beat us by 3 goals in order to turn the tables around. Us leak 3 goals at Old Trafford? What are the chances?

I think it would be wiser for Roma forget about ECL already. Currently with 7 games to go, they are trailing Inter Milan by a mere 4 points which means that they have a very good shot to pip Inter Milan for the Scudetto. Why then, risk injury and fatigue fighting a losing battle?

JayWalk The Talk: Fletcher, Vidic and Saha are out while Silvestre and Neville are both coming back steadily to full physical fitness. However, it may be a while more before full match fitness is attained. By then perhaps the season is over? Would Fergie risk using them now at a time where each match is more and more critical?

On the Boro side, Mido is definitely out as with Huth and Jones. However, Gareth Southgate will be welcoming back Rochemback from the sick bay which would give him an additional option to midfield besides Boateng and Cattermole.

JayWalk The Walk: Bookies are making ManUtd give a 1.25-ball handicap with a pretty even decimal odds of 1.975 to beat it.

I am worried about two things here. As weaker as Boro is, they have do have a knack to be one of ManUtd's perennial bogey teams especially at the Riverside Stadium. In their last 10 head-to-heads, Middlesbrough have a respectable 3-3-4 against ManUtd (both home and away).

The other thing of concern is that I notice this season, is that ManUtd performs relatively poorly after returning from mid-week games. They may still win but ultimately performance was so poor that critics would be stabbing the team with their scribe knives. Passing the Asian-handicaps were also too often jeopardised as a result.

Also, on the horizon, we have the return leg to play as we host Roma on Wednesday. Just because we are 2-0 up on Roma, doesn't mean that we can slack off and expect Roma to let us cruise to the next round so easily. We do know that Fergie will be rotating players to conserve freshness of legs but your guess is as good as mine as to which of these two matches (Boro or Roma) is the more important one?

Logically, it would be Boro match as Roma is very much in cruise control but Fergie with his Euro Obssession, may feel otherwise. I guess we will all have to wait for the team sheet to be published an hour before kick-off.

We may be 5 points ahead of second-placed Chelsea but we should need at least 7-points buffer as insurance against our encounter against Chelsea and Arsenal in the run-in.

Verdict: I say we should win this encounter but I expect it to be a very tamed affair. However, I have my doubts about clearing the handicap. Then again, we only lose half a stake, so bet on ManUtd only if you can afford to risk it.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

Midweek Outlook (1 Apr 2008)

2008-04-01T20:58:00.002+08:00

Roma vs Manchester United

"Is it all pointing to the first defeat for Man Utd in the Champions League?"

-Gary, 1 Apr 2008

Er, when i see the team sheet before the match, Fergie have field his strongest 11 despite missing Edwin van der Sar. I thought, "Ok, maybe Fergie will take Rooney or/and Ronaldo out during the match. But no, they play the whole match. I donno whether it was a wise choice or a plan waiting to be backfire in Rome.

If you look back at last year's match against Roma, Man Utd won 4-1 against Blackburn yet lose 2-1 at Rome, while Roma draw both domestic matches for last season and this season. But then again, this season, Man Utd have not lose in the Champions League.

Man Utd have a dismal away record in Italy. The best example was a 3-0 scoreline for AC Milan in the Champions League last season. The excuses at that time was injuries and fatigue.

Is it all pointing to the first defeat for Man Utd in the Champions League? I would really like to debunk the belief as Man Utd have a full squad to choose from, but i think Fergie would want a draw in this match before going back to win the match. And again, i have to quote Jaywalk from last week review that there is no repeat of 7-1 scoreline. Im staying away for this match.

Roma Team News: Totti, Juan and Simone Perrotta are out.

Man Utd Team News: Edwin van der Sar is back. Nani is out for this match. Gary and Mikael Silvestre are still getting match fitness.

Odds and analysis: Man Utd give 0.25 handicap. Not worth the risk.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (05 - 06 April 2008)

2008-04-01T15:42:00.001+08:00

Arsenal and Liverpool will have the freaky coincidence of having to play each other for the next 3 consecutive games. First of which, would be mid-week for the 1st-Leg of the ECL and that should give us a pretty good indication of how this weekend game will go.

All 3 are games that neither of them can afford to lose. Losing could mean being eliminated from the EPL title or ECL semi-final spot or both.

Granted that Liverpool look relatively weak in recent weeks, they are a totally different team if you back them into the corner.

Then Sunday, we have a Boro vs ManUtd team. Now before you write off Boro, let me remind you that Boro is one of ManUtd's bogey teams and what more, this game is being played at the Riverside Stadium.

So pick wisely.

EPL 57: SAT 05/04 Arsenal vs Liverpool at 7:45pm SIN/HKG

EPL 58: SUN 06/04 Middlesbrough vs Manchester United at 8:30pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 29 - 30 Mar 2008

2008-03-31T08:33:00.003+08:00

Looks like my stint at the top was fun while it lasted as we congratulate Cool402 as the new pole leader with the only 6-pointer of the weekend.

Perhaps it would be nice for me to play the underdog for a while and then pip him to the title on the last MatchDay. Hah!

Then again, it may not be me as we have 4 more people below me who are within strike zone and several few just outside the radar range.

In any case, we still have 6 more weeks to go and perhaps the FA Cup final as well to be the tie-breaker round, should we have a tie at the end of the EPL season.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 29 - 30 Mar 2008

2008-03-29T09:30:00.007+08:00

I recently started a mini slump in prediction form but I hope to be able to stem the rot today. With ECL fixtures looming in the horizon and major clubs committing players to international duty during the past mid-week, I will be taking a slightly more conservative approach.

Perhaps, it was my over-confidence that I started taking risk of 1.5-ball handicaps and above. Granted I did win a couple but the overall is a nett loss on these punts.

Fortunately, as if in sync with the bookies, this week's handicaps all looked pretty friendly? Time for the bookies to give me some of my money back. Dammit!

Just when we thought it is all gone case for Sunderland, the Black Cats proved us wrong with a shocking win over Aston Villa.

Buoyed by this new found confidence, bookies are favouring Sunderland today to beat West Ham. Perhaps Sunderland's first ever back-to-back victory?

With the last win, Sunderland is back on track towards the 1-point-per-game ratio at 30 points in 31 games.

If Sunderland does pull yet another victory, it would take them further up to 33 points which means a mere 7 points to go to survive the drop with 5 games to play.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Arsenal - Give 0.75-ball (Win 1/2)
Derby - Eat 0.25-ball (Win 1/2)
ManUtd - Give 1.25-ball (Win)
Barcelona - Give 0.75-ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

Zaragoza - Eat 0.25-ball (Lose)
Osasuna - Eat 0.25-ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 3 - 0 - 2

Result This Season: 68 - 8 - 51.5 = 16.5-UP as at 30 Mar 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (29 Mar 2008)

2008-03-29T08:16:00.001+08:00

Manchester United vs Aston Villa

"...For those who think we can repeat a 7-1 thumping (of AS Roma), I better tell you straight and tell you now. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN...."

- JayWalk, 29 Mar 2008

ManUtd recent erratic form worries me. One day, we struggled to beat Derby, the next we strolled over Liverpool with a 3-0 spanking. This is seriously killing my predictions.

In a way, I was disappointed with Liverpool who collapsed with a girly whimper. What happened? If this is the best Liverpool can come up with, Arsenal would be so happy to play them this coming mid-week in the ECL Quarter-Finals. I lament our luck for not drawing them. Imagine a 3-0 win during the first leg, return leg anyhow kick get draw and we will be in the semi-finals.

Ah but it was not to be. Instead we got AS Roma instead. For those who think we can repeat a 7-1 thumping, I better tell you straight and tell you now. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Liverpool totally did not stand a chance against us for possession was already 61% to 39%. It was almost playing monkey with them during the 90 minutes. 23 shots (8 on-goal) attempted to Liverpool's 8 (4 on-goal). It almost felt like we were playing a team in the relegation zone. These are the reason, we normally associate with the likes of Wigan or Fulham. But Liverpool? WTF?

So anyway, I was taken by surprise to see Chelsea climb up to second. We have been in a two-horse race with Arsenal for the longest time that I didn't expect Chelsea to be a challenger to the title. Then again, Chelsea's pretty boring to watch, now that Jose "The Special One" Mourinho is no longer in charge.

JayWalk The Talk: I would expect key players to rest up ahead of the Roma game on Tuesday. I expect the squad to be rotated as traveling away to Rome is going to be more tricky. Let us also not forget that last mid-week was international mid-week with almost all our players flying all over the world to compete.

Van dar Sar should be ok to start and I would expect Scholes to start alongside with Carrick in the middle. Fletcher is out for 6 weeks after picking up an injury against Croatia but I think Giggs will be featured with Ronaldo while Park should be rested after returning from Shanghai.

Neville and Silvestre are still out which means the back will be held down by Ferdinand and Vidic.

Saha is also out which leaves us with Rooney and Tevez to do the hunting up front and for now, Rooney need to play more games to get his scoring confidence back.

On the Villa side, Melberg returns just in time to replace Gardner who is injured alongside with Davies.

JayWalk The Walk: Here's the thing. Villa has not won ManUtd since 1995. The only point earned was dated as far back as 2002. The last 10 head-to-head for both home and away is a staggering 10-0-0.

No club has lost more to ManUtd in the premiership than Aston Villa (22 losses).

Villa is in an unenviable place right at the time when the team is starting to lose steam and possibly very much a spot in the UEFA Cup tournament too. O'Neil picked the wrong time to face ManUtd who has only 3 home games and 4 away games left towards the end of the season. As such, every home game is a must-win for ManUtd who is hanging on precariously to a 5-point lead.

All looks easily for ManUtd to win this one as bookies make ManUtd give 1.25-ball handicap and a mere 1.85 decimal odds to clear it. Punter's pot is 73% in favour of ManUtd beating the handicap to 27% against.

The only worry is the Roma's game after this one as Fergie may hold the team back to better rest up ahead of the ECL game.

However, it is my opinion that it would still be a win and I think we should just barely make it a 2-goal victory but nothing more.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (29 - 30 March 2008)

2008-03-25T20:52:00.001+08:00

These are the matches for this weekend.

EPL 55: SAT 29/3 Birmingham vs Man City at 11pm SIN/HKG

EPL 56: SUN 30/3 Liverpool vs Everton at 11pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 22 - 23 Mar 2008

2008-03-24T09:50:00.002+08:00

I am in deep trouble now as I buanged for the 3rd week in a row only to see my lead chopped down to just a mere point above and 5 guys behind me within strike zone.

Anyway, congrats to Limyengchuan and Jiahao for their 9-point haul. A goal less from ManUtd and we could have added two more names to the Perfect 10 Hall of Fame.

Oh well.

Another week as we have only 7 more weekends to go!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Weekend Outlook (23 March 2008)

2008-03-23T14:21:00.003+08:00

Manchester United vs Liverpool

"League wise, Benitez have not won against Fergie."

-Gary, 23 March 2008

I would say the match against Bolton was a one-sided affair and Man Utd could have scored more goals if Fergie have put a full-strength side. But he probably save the best for this weekend clash against Liverpool.

It was pointed out to me that the last 10 away games against the big 3, Liverpool scored 0 in 7 of them. Zero. Zilch. Korsong.

But im very hesitated to take Man Utd for the outright winner for this game as Liverpool have finally found the consistency in their games. Consistency? That word was not found in their dictionary over the last 3 seasons. But now, Benitez have found the right formation to complement Torres and Gerrard. The formation is 4-2-3-1. With 2 defensive midfielders in Javier Mascherano and Xavi Alonso, Steven Gerrard in the centre controlling the strings, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel running down the flanks and Torres the lone striker in front, it seem a perfect formation for Liverpool.

Consistency, form book and past matches are 3 different things. Past matches against Man Utd only yield a solitary win for Liverpool in the FA Cup in 2006. League wise, Benitez have not won against Fergie.

Somehow, just by watching this match is quite excited enough, without punting it lacks the extra edge. I would stay clear of this match as Liverpool can blow hot and cold as and when Benitez likes it.

Man Utd Team News: Edwin van der Sar is back. Rio Ferdinand is out with a back strain. Gary and Mikael Silvestre is still in the Reserves getting match fitness.

Liverpool Team News: Daniel Agger, Andriy Voronin and Steve Finnan are out with injuries.

Odds and Analysis: Man Utd giving 0.5 ball handicap. I give it a miss though im tempted to take Man Utd.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Beer Fund Raising : 22 - 23 Mar 2008

2008-03-22T17:22:00.003+08:00

Two weeks in a row to be eating claypots. Haiz....

Even my bookie called me to ask if I am sick. WTF? :(

So anyway, I was trying out a new system with Spurs in the last 2 games and was spot on. I may want to try it on this weekend and see how it pans out. Wish me luck.

Sunderland was throw the life buoy a few weeks ago but they failed to catch hold and take advantage of it. Now surely they must be kicking themselves in the arse.

However, before all is gloom and doom, what Keane failed in the skill and tactic department, he has the ability to overcome the opponents by sheer will and determination. Let's not forget the supporter at the Stadium of Light who are often touted as the 12th players.

Certainly a class above ManUtd's "Prawn Sandwich Brigade".

But for now, the numbers look bad for the Black Cats as all indicators point towards them sliding down the league ladder. Roy Keane will have to pull a Joan-of-Arc on his team and start scoring some miraculous points.

Question is when, if ever?

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Tottenham Hotspur - Give 0.50 ball (Win)
Everton - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 1

Result This Season: 65 - 8 - 49.5 = 15.5-UP as at 22 Mar 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Midweek Outlook (20 March 2008)

2008-03-19T01:09:00.002+08:00

Manchester United vs Bolton

"At this stage of the season, 3 points is more important than the number of goals scored."

-Gary, 20/3/2008

Last weekend was a big opportunity to earn some beer funds as the Big Four face teams that can be sent to the slaughter house easily. But then again, if every weekend these Big Four win in, win out, would there still be bookmakers?

At this stage of the season, 3 points is more important than the number of goals scored. Score 1 goal, 3 points. Score 10 goals, still 3 points. Handicap is not important at the moment as these teams are scrambling to go for the odd goal, close shop and wait for the final whistle.

Credit to Ben Foster for his debut and help Man Utd to earn a hard fought win with 2 point blank saves. Though i must say that Arsenal dropped points due to the draw against Middlesbrough.

Next match against Bolton, a game in hand for Man Utd to win and extend the lead further. The last corresponding fixture was a defeat to Man Utd. I think Man Utd will have to win this match to cushion any impact if weekend lose to Liverpool. At least still stay at the top of the table.

With 2 points off to reach the safety zone, Bolton is struggling with form and consistency at the moment. I presume a tough match between these 2 sides.

Man Utd's Team News: Ben Foster will keep his place. Edwin van der Sar is still out. Kuszczak will serve the 2nd of 3 match ban. Gary Neville and Silvestre is still out.

Bolton's Team News: Jussi Jaaskelainen is out.

Odds and Analysis: With 2 matches against relegation teams at the same time, giving the same amount of handicap again doesnt mean that i will fall for it. With 2 balls handicap, i think Man Utd would score the odd goal and go for the win. No punt for me.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (22 - 23 March 2008)

2008-03-18T09:30:00.003+08:00

This coming Sunday, we have two matches that could go either way in the championship race. Though Chelsea got knocked out of both domestic cup competitions, they are silently creeping up the table. Let see whether they able to gain some advantage in Arsenal camp.

EPL53: SUN 23/03 Manchester United vs Liverpool at 09:30 pm SIN/HKG

EPL54: SUN 23/03 Chelsea vs Arsenal at 11:55 pm SIN/HKG

Note: Both matches are on Sunday.

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 15 - 16 Mar 2008

2008-03-17T09:04:00.002+08:00

We have a new challenger for the lead as we congratulate Beaver21 for his Perfect-10 finish to propel him into 2nd position.

Too bad, Crash632 didn't quite get the score right or we would have 5 Perfect-10s this season thus far. Still, a 9-point haul is a pretty good result.

Anyway, with less then 10 games to go before we reach the end of the season, I better buck up with my predictions as my lead is slowly eroding away.

Let's sprint for the final stretch!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)
4) Beaver21(15 Mar 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 15 - 16 Mar 2008

2008-03-15T21:53:00.004+08:00

I haven't had a negative weekend for quite a while until last week when I backside itchy and punted on ManUtd and Chelsea without doing any homework prior. I mean with only 3 Premiership clubs left in the FA Cup tournament, what are the chances that any more will get eliminated? In my mind, I was thinking of a ManUtd-Chelsea FA Cup final and boy was I dead wrong!

Wrong means pay school fees liao lor. >.< It was a waste that Sunderland couldn't capitalise on a relatively weaker opponent (Derby County) and score their first away win of the season.

I don't foresee Sunderland scoring any points for the next 4 matches as their opponents are one tier above them. All they can hope for are the one points from each draw that they can get and inch towards the finish line of 40 points.

With the defeat by Everton and even more unlikely to get anything from Chelsea today, the Black Cats are starting to fall behind on their 1 point per game ratio.

Sure they may still be two places above the relegation zone but it is only be a margin of mere 2 points. A win by any of the bottom club, sans Derby, is enough to overtake them.

The way I see it, the only wins from the rest of the fixtures would possibly come from Fulham and Bolton and that should yield 6 points to bring them to 33. Where are they going to get another 7 points to survive?

Unless they start pulling miracle wins over clubs higher in the ladder, they are destined to go down.

We'll see.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Manchester United - Give 2.25 ball (Lose)
Liverpool - Give 1.75 ball (Lose)
Chelsea - Give 1.25 ball (Lose 1/2)
Arsenal - Give 1.50 ball (Lose)
AC Milan - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)

Sunday's Picks:

Sampdoria - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)
Athletico Madrid - Give 1.50 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 3.5

Result This Season: 64 - 8 - 48.5 = 15.5-UP as at 16 Mar 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (15 Mar 2008)

2008-03-15T11:28:00.003+08:00

Derby County vs Manchester United

"...But when we couldn't break duck like this Portsmouth match, there is no way to win at all...."

- JayWalk, 15 Mar 2008

Last week's outlook has got to be my biggest FOOT-IN-MOUTH entry this season. Not that I have never shot myself in the foot time and time again, but I think I shot my own foot with a bazooka this time.

One word.

Ouch.

Perhaps like ManUtd, we were over confident and we were made to clearly pay for it dearly.

Bundled out of the FA Cup, dashed of hope for the repeat treble and suffered the loss of 2 goalkeepers within a single day. It was a bad day at the office.

I hope we learned our lesson that day.

Yes the referee that day was sub-par but let's face it. Regardless of how bad (I don't mean corrupt) a referee may be, as long as you score 1 goal more than the opposition, it is still a win. But when we couldn't break duck like this Portsmouth match, there is no way to win at all.

Then again, it may be a blessing in disguise as we would have fewer games to play in the already congested fixture. Allow me to remind all that the FA Cup, which would yield only a UEFA Cup space, isn't really worth too much of a hoot to begin with. Yes, a semi-final berth would score the club 500,000 Pounds Sterling in prize money but by ManUtd's yardstick, that is about 1 week's wages for the payroll. I rather we go for the bigger fishes namely ECL and EPL.

Oh well, at least we lost to Harry Redknapp whom I have always gushed about how great a manager he is. Incidentally, it was pointed out to me that Redknapp was the only manager to complete a hat-trick of FA Cup wins over ManUtd with 3 different clubs. First was the infamous 1983 FA Cup 3rd-Round 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth, then it was West Ham and now, Portsmouth. Ouch again.

Anyway, looking at it in a more positive light, I was glad it wasn't a Premiership game or it would have veered our title bid out of orbit. Arsenal, on the same topic, has left the door opened (when they drew with Wigan last week) for us as we are only a mere 2 points behind AND a game-in-hand. If we win today and win our game-in-hand against Bolton in mid-week, we'd be back at the top of the table. However, the game against Liverpool at Old Trafford looms immediately after that. Can we beat them on tired legs?

It'd all depends on how Fergie plays his players in the next two matches. I foresee resting of key players and rotating of squad.

OK, let's move over to the ECL, we were drawn yesterday to face AS Roma in the quarter-finals. Tough. For those who are hoping for a repeat of last year's 7-1 mauling, I can assure you that it is not going to happen. I was secretly hoping to draw again Liverpool, Fernebahce or Schalke04 to ensure an easier passage to the Semi-Finals but alas no luck.

As for the semi-finals, judging by each club's past records in the European arena, I'd say we will meet Barcelona in the semi-finals and it will be the Arsenal-Chelsea clash in the other half.

That led me to wonder that while we are fighting Arsenal for the Premiership title, wouldn't it be interesting if we can fight them again for the European Champions League too?

I wait with baited breath.

JayWalk The Talk: Foster will be handed his senior debut today as well as a guaranteed mid-week start away to Bolton. Van dar sar is down with a groin injury and will missing for 2 games. Everybody is sweating bullets if the Dutch goalie can recover in time for the Liverpool game. Deputy goalie Kuszczak is suspended for 3 games for a straight red card awarded at the Portsmouth game and that would mean that even if Van der Sar does return for the Liverpool game, No.3 goalie Foster will still get a place on the bench.

The news from the sickbay is that Gary Neville is almost ready to take to the pitch but I think the Bolton game would be the better time for the skipper to return to the Starting XI. Giggs on the other hand, having not started in 4 games as a result of squad rotation, should feature today to give the other key players a rest. Another senior player, Scholes, should be assured of a starting place in at least one of the two games this week.

Silvestre now remained as the only long term injury concerned.

On the Derby front, Jewell will be without the services of Barnes, Leacock, Davis, Mills and Mears.

JayWalk The Walk: Mid-week's 1-6 defeat at the hands of Chelsea ended Derby's hope of getting 40 points this season, even if they were to win all remaining matches. A further defeat today means that Derby's chances of Premiership survival will be dead beyond dead.

Anyway, Derby is doomed even before this. It's a worrying sign when all Jewell does these days is to maintain the physically fitness of the players and nothing else. I think Jewell is just waiting for the season to end before he could overhaul the entire team. I foresee a massive spring cleaning of the squad as many of the duds must be given the boot if Derby wants to improve itself.

ManUtd will be giving a 2.25 ball handicap today with a 1.975 decimal odds to beat it. All indicators point towards a bloodfest today after Chelsea's 6-1 thrashing. With a morale-depleted team as well as tired legs due to the extra game in mid-week against a fully rested ManUtd dying to bounce back from a fluke defeat, things cannot look any more one-sided.

The odds for ManUtd to score 5 or more goals right now is 4.00. Wow.

Still punters are worried as we can tell from the wager pot being distributed in the ratio of 76% in favour of ManUtd beating the 2.25-ball handicap and 24% in favour of Derby winning this Asian Handicap punt (Fulham-ManUtd game was 16% : 84%).

I guess this is attributed to the fact that we do not have our No.1 and No.2 goalkeepers today. However, if the defence is tight enough, I don't think if there will be any chance of Foster getting tested. Also, everyone has a eye on the coming Liverpool game in 8-days' time with a Bolton game inserted in between which, as I have mentioned earlier, means that Fergie is expected to be resting key players and rotating the squad in the next two games and while ManUtd is still aiming to grab all the points, we are less sure if we can clear 3 goals if we don't play our strongest team.

Verdict: I think we will keep a clean sheet even with a No.3 goalie making his debut. I based this on the fact that their top scorer Miller, up to now has a goal tally of 3 in 29 games. (Ronaldo has 21). Scoring just isn't Derby's "thing" and seeing how easily Chelsea took them apart in the last game, I think we can do just as easily especially when they are running on tired legs and tired minds.

Go for ManUtd and give the 2.25-ball handicap.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (15 - 16 March 2008)

2008-03-11T16:00:00.002+08:00

It was a total wipe out the Premiership clubs in the FA Cup tournament. Well, almost since Portsmouth is not the only premiership club remaining and mostly definitely the favourite to lift the trophy and a place in the UEFA Cup spot.

Despite the fact that it was Redknapp's boys who bundled ManUtd out of the FA Cup, I will be rooting for them all the way to Wembley. While I don't have a problem with Cardiff or Barnsley or West Brom lifting the FA Cup but for them to be heading for the UEFA Cup?

Go Portsmouth!

EPL51: SAT 15/03 West Ham United vs Blackburn Rovers at 11:00 pm SIN/HKG

EPL52: SUN 16/03 Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur at 11:55 pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 08 - 09 Mar 2008

2008-03-10T14:35:00.003+08:00

It seems nobody got the Blackburn-Fulham game right except for Bedokian who is our only 6-pointer this week. Well done!

When challenger KingMeng slipped down the rankings to allow me to widen the lead, the same happened again this week as we have a new challenger to replace Beaver21 of last week to allow me to pull 9-points ahead.

For this coming week, we welcome our two new challengers to the pole position. Cha Dum Yen and necroastr will be looking to close up the gap with me.

Eh Cha Dum Yen. Wife not around liao har? How come recent predictions suddenly so good? kekekekekeek...... :P

Anyway, in addition to the two challengers, allow me to welcome david.hvp, everton and edwinsng to Club 100. Welcome!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 08 - 13 Mar 2008

2008-03-08T18:57:00.006+08:00

It was a mid-week of good and bad news. The good news is the all Top 3 English clubs qualified to the Quarter-Finals of the ECL sans Liverpool who would be playing this mid-week. Good luck Liverpool but I can't see how Liverpool would lose it have a 2-0 advantage in the first-leg.

The bad news is the all English clubs in the UEFA Cup tournament are virtually eliminated.

It was a really pity for Sunderland who had the chance to grab 3 points only settle for a draw against cellar-dweller Derby County.

Earlier I said that if a club can more or less maintain a 1 point per game ratio, then chances of relegation survival is very high.

At the present moment, the Black Cats are 27 points in 28 games which find them sitting comfortably in 15th place.

I foresee another draw today and that should bring them to 28 points in 29 games and to remain in 15th spot.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Blackburn Rovers - Give 1.00 ball (Lost)
Chelsea - Give 1.50 ball (Lost)
Manchester United - Give 1.50 ball (Lost)
Inter Milan - Give 1.50 ball (Testing Theory)
Udinese - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)

Sunday's Picks:

Tottenham Hotspur - Give 0.50 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 1 - 0 - 3

Result This Season: 63 - 8 - 45 = 18-UP as at 09 Mar 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (08 Mar 2008)

2008-03-08T18:24:00.003+08:00

Manchester United vs Portsmouth

"...We won our last 7 head-to-heads. Portsmouth has never won at Old Trafford in 50 years and has never eliminated ManUtd in the FA Cup tournament in 74 years. So what would make anyone think that this would be the year for Portsmouth to break the jinx?..."

- JayWalk, 08 Mar 2008

ManUtd had it easy the entire week. The 3-0 mauling of Fulham doesn't really count for much since our opponents didn't really put up much of a fight to begin with. Lyon in my opinion, deployed the wrong strategy by playing defensive despite having to start further back with an away goal disadvantage in the draw during the first-leg. Could it be the fear of playing at Old Trafford that the coach strategise playing conservative, lest exposing the vulnerable back during their attack?

Perhaps the Lyon coach was right about guarding against counter attacks as ManUtd can easily outpace their French visitors.

The game in mid-week is a nonchalant stroll in the park as we took control as early as the 20th minute resulting in a brilliant goal, just before the half-time whistle. Problem was that it was all downhill from there for the Red Devils as the home side seemed content to just play out the rest of the game by playing 10 defenders. Hmm.... Sounds like they are doing the Liverpool of the Houllier days.

What resulted was a game of ding dong all over the place that yielded a boring 2 shots-on-goal to their 1 and 1 save each throughout the entire game. Yawn.

Perhaps an eye on today's FA Cup Quarter-Final game?

Some may argue that we did ultimately win but I for one, is one of the blokes that get annoyed watching negative play, regardless of result. Perhaps it was over confidence on the Red Devil's part that play was without urgency. Evra looked distracted, Rooney still lacked sharpness and even-game winning Ronaldo played to what I would grade as a B-.

I hope that was a one-off incident for that kind of play won't get you any silverware.

JayWalk The Talk: Portsmouth will be without Defore who is cup-tied and Primus and Nugent are both still injured.

On the ManUtd front, Giggs is doubtful while Foster, Silvestre and Neville are still en route to full recovery and full match fitness.

JayWalk The Walk: Bookies are making ManUtd give a 1.5-ball handicap with a decimal odds of 1.975 to clear it. I supposed on one hand they think that we will be able to mow down another domestic opponent like we have done Newcastle, Arsenal and Fulham but on the other hand, they are also speculating if ManUtd would continue to play with the same lethargy as against Lyon?

We won our last 7 head-to-heads. Portsmouth has never won at Old Trafford in 50 years and has never eliminated ManUtd in the FA Cup tournament in 74 years. So what would make anyone think that this would be the year for Portsmouth to break the jinx?

It is going to be a win for ManUtd without any doubt and so in order to beat the handicap, we would need one more goal on top of the match-winning one.

No problem as I foresee yet another clean sheet at home and a goal a piece in each half. ManUtd to win 2-0.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (08 - 09 March 2008)

2008-03-04T23:02:00.002+08:00

I was hoping ihawk98 to pick games involving any of the top 3 for the game in midweek will have serious impact on how they perform this coming weekend. If any of the team loses, they not only face elimination but I would expect a flurry of cards and the unfortunate injury.

Having said that, looks like Sunday's game would be the tricky one as Spurs will be playing UEFA Cup on Thursday but this disadvantage will be minor as West Ham will be clearing their game-in-hand against Liverpool

I foresee a pretty straight forward weekend lest of course, we all kena caught by bookie trap.

EPL49: SAT 08/03 Blackburn Rovers vs Fulham at 11:00 pm SIN/HKG

EPL50: SUN 09/03 Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham United at 11:00 pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

Midweek Outlook (4 March 2008)

2008-03-04T20:44:00.002+08:00

Manchester United vs Lyon

"Man Utd have the luxury of resting players that would change a game especially in Champions League.."

-Gary, 4 March 2008

Man Utd didnt really break a sweat or got into second gear for the win against Fulham. Furthermore, Man Utd have the luxury of resting players that would change a game especially in Champions League unlike Arsenal. Though Arsene Wenger field a young team, it is the same team that play in the Premier League and Champions League every time. How to survive for 48-52 matches every season? Even Superman also need a rest.

With Lyon coming to Old Trafford for a place in the quarter-finals, they are in for a tough fight.

Man Utd have yet to be beaten in this season's competition. Yet Lyon was nearly knocked out with first 2 losses against Rangers and Barcelona before going on to win 3 and draw 1 to progress to the second round of Champions League.

Man Utd is also defending an unbeaten home record against travellers across the English Channel.

Man Utd Team News: Ryan Giggs is out of this match, if not this match could have been his 100th appearance in European Competition. Other than that, only Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre are still in the treatment room.

Lyon Team News: Anthony Réveillère is suspended for the match. There is no fresh injuries or suspension for Lyon.

Odds and Analysis: With a handicap of 1.25, the odds seem to underestimate Lyon. I would take Man Utd for the win but wont clear the handicap.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 01 - 02 Mar 2008

2008-03-03T09:38:00.004+08:00

Whoa, a lot of 6-pointers this weekend but fortunately (for me lah!), none of them came from the top 6 as I maintain pole position with a comfortable lead cushion. However, it means that the pack at the top is getting tighter.

KingMeng has been unceremoniously dumped from the runner-up spot as he missed this weekend's prediction due to this reservist stint. However, as a reminder to all, if you are unable for any reason to get on internet access, send anyone of us an sms (or MSN from your phone). I am sure each one of us would be happy to help each other post the predictions up. Also the time stamp on the sms also works as a source of verification to ensure predictions are not posted after the respective kick-off times.

As for which sms or (MSN account) to send, please PM each other or myself directly and not posted here in the public domain for all to see.

After-note: ihawk98 buay song me when I didn't acknowledge his 9-pointer. Here goes. Awwwww...... so close!! Don't cry. Always got next time. *pat pat*

Crash632: You want *pat pat*?

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 01 - 02 Mar 2008

2008-03-01T20:59:00.001+08:00

With an eye on the mid-week European campaigns, it would be interesting to see how 6 of the premiership clubs would fare this weekend. With none of the top 3 teams having any significant advantage during the ECL 2nd round, first-leg (except Chelsea and ManUtd who will be playing their respective second-leg at home), it would be interesting to see if the teams will be holding back this weekend.

Merseyside will also be another focal point this weekend as a slip up by Everton this Sunday (perhaps due to Everton's UEFA Cup this coming Thursday) and allow Liverpool to reclaim the 4th spot on account of a more superior goal difference if the Reds win. Even if they don't or Everton managed to win their fixture against Portsmouth at Goodison Park, the Reds will have a second chance as they will be playing their game-in-hand against West Ham this Wednesday.

Sunderland has yet to claim their first away win and this weekend may just be the ticket as they play against bottom dwellers Derby County.

At 26 points, the Black Cats are merely 14 points away from safety which quite possible for them to achieve since there are 11 more games to play. 14 out of a maximum 33 is not a tall order is it?

As long as Keane can avoid defeat for the rest of the season, even if it means drawing all remaining games, it could just be enough to stay in the top flight for another season.

Still, it is quite impossible for Sunderland to run a 11 game streak without a loss. Hence, Keane still need to gun for victories to get the 3 points.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

ManUtd - Give 1.25 ball (Win)
Blackburn Rovers - Even ball (Win)
Recreativo Huelva - Eat 0.50 ball (Lose)
AS Roma - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)

Sunday's Picks:

Torino - Eat 0.50 ball (Testing Theory)
Atalanta - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2 - 0 - 1

Result This Season: 62 - 8 - 42 = 20-UP as at 01 Mar 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (01 Mar 2008)

2008-03-01T13:50:00.005+08:00

Fulham vs Manchester United

"...Barring new injuries, Fergie will have the luxury of a full squad to pick from when we cross into the crucial months of April and May. All this is attributed the hard work quietly and diligently put in by the physio and his team. Recognition for their efforts is definitely in order here...."

- JayWalk, 01 Mar 2008

How we lost to Manchester City only to bounce back crushing Arsenal 4-0 and Newcastle 5-1 is a mystery to me. Mind you, these opponents are not minnows that we are expected to steamroll so easily. Newcastle United, while being a big club is having confidence issues when we mauled them 6-0 prior to Keegan's arrival. Apparently, the problem at Tyneside is much more serious than we had initially thought as we slapped them silly again in their own backyard with a 5-1 rout and this time with Keegan at the helm.

OK, so Newcastle wasn't that much of a threat but surely a 4-0 thumping of current league leaders Arsenal should count for something? One may say that perhaps it was due to the fact that the game was right before the resumption of the European Champions League. I disagree on account of the fact that we too had a ECL fixture then and looking at Arsenal's teamsheet, Wenger didn't field a weakened team against us either.

Oh well, all that is history and we should be looking forward from hereon.

We are expected to breeze through the Fulham game today which allows me to look slightly beyond. Yes, I am referring to the mid-week return leg of the ECL second-leg. We did relatively ok playing to a scored draw away to Lyon. This is typical of Fergie style as far as the ECL is concerned i.e. to kill off our opponents in two steps whenever we play our first-leg away. So far it has proven to be a relatively successful formula but still, I would have wished we finish them off as early as possible to maximise our rest time before the next game that actually count for something.

So anyway, I think after drawing Lyon in the first-leg, we will be luring them back to Old Trafford for the kill. I would expect nothing short of a win and as such, the away goal we scored in the first-leg is merely an insurance.

JayWalk The Talk: Let's start with Fulham first as Andreasen is serving a red-card suspension for a stupid kpkb protest against the controversial Solano goal at West Ham last week. ManUtd will make sure we make Fulham pay for his folly now that they are a key player short. Litmanen, Camara and Elliot are not expected to be fielded today which leaves them with Niemi, Konchesky, Davies and McBride as the only 4 notable names of being capable to provide some kind of resistance to today's pending onslaught.

Get ready to see the other 7 Fulham players on the field undermining each other as they continue to leak goals at an alarming rate.

As for ManUtd, it is all rosy as all players are out of the sickbay. While messrs Neville, Foster and Silvestre are not ready to feature in the first team, they have been making great strides in the reserve games. Barring new injuries, Fergie will have the luxury of a full squad to pick from when we cross into the crucial months of April and May. All this is attributed the hard work quietly and diligently put in by the physio and his team. Recognition for their efforts is definitely in order here.

On a smaller scale, Giggs, Evra and Vidic are doubtful for today due to minor injuries and illness. Expect Fergie to rest them ahead of the Lyon game. Saha should likely to start today after a fine form at Newcastle last week. That would allow Fergie to rest either Tevez or Rooney up front as well.

JayWalk The Walk: Today is a game between the team 2nd from the time and the team 2nd from the bottom. Looks like Fulham does not stand a chance of survival today.

Their head-to-head stands at 27 encounters dating all the way back to 1965 where Fulham only won once in Oct 2003 at Old Trafford by a score of 3-1 where Van der Sar and Saha were playing for them.

Bookies are making ManUtd give a 1.25-ball handicap with a decimal odds of 1.875, which I thought was rather generous since I think this game will finish nothing short of at least 2 goals i favour of the Red Devils. Perhaps the bookies are making provision that Fergie will rest several key players against Lyon.

Well, for me as well as 84% of the punter dollar say that even with a weakened team, we will still win by a 2 or more goal margin.

Take ManUtd and give the 1.25-ball handicap.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (01 - 02 March 2008)

2008-02-27T10:49:00.002+08:00

Is it me or is 2008 passing us by very quickly? In the blink of an eye and we are playing for games in the month of March already. What happened to January and February?

Anyway, good luck to everyone as we should start to see more players joining Club100 after this weekend.

EPL47: SAT 01/03 Fulham vs Manchester United at 11:00 pm SIN/HKG

EPL48: SUN 02/03 Everton vs Portsmouth at 11:55 pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 23 - 24 Feb 2008

2008-02-25T12:52:00.002+08:00

If I can steal a quote from Captain Bertorelli of the BBC hit sitcom 'Allo 'Allo.

"What da mistake-a to make-a!"

Granted I still hang on to the pole position with 7-points ahead of the next challenger, my blunder inevitably blew open the race as I now have as many as 6 challengers within strikezone.

A consolatory pat on the back for Everton and ihawk98 for coming so close to that elusive Perfect-10. Better luck next time.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 23 - 24 Feb 2008

2008-02-23T17:15:00.005+08:00

And we are back from the Chinese New Year break as we step up the gear as the clubs enter the second round of the European campaigns, Final of the Carling Cup and Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup.

On the European front, all British clubs got off relatively unscathed with the exception of Glasgow Celtic who lost at home to Barcelona to a score of 2-3. Hopefully, they would be able to turn things around in a fortnight's time.

Sunderland picked up an amazing win the last round as now stand proudly in 14th position at 26 points in 26 games.

Gut feel says that it is unlikely the Black Cats can take any points today but surely Roy Keane would have been happy with a single point as they look forward to getting 3 points next week to really get them out of relegation trouble.

Good luck!

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Arsenal - Give 1.00 ball (Lose)
Middlesbrough - Eat 1.25 ball (Win 1/2)
Portsmouth - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)
ManUtd - Give 1.00 ball (Win)
Juventus - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)

Sunday's Picks:

Catania - Eat 0.25 ball (Testing Theory)
AC Milan - Give 1.00 ball (Testing Theory)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 2 - 0 - 1

Result This Season: 60 - 8 - 41 = 19-UP as at 23 Feb 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (23 Feb 2008)

2008-02-23T09:16:00.002+08:00

Newcastle vs Manchester United

"Keegan's second coming will not start this season, but rather the next season.."

-Gary, 23 Feb 2008

There goes my perfect record of predicting Man Utd's outcome in the Champions League. True to be told, i was expecting Man Utd to draw as previous results against Lyon in France was a draw as well.

In the match, Lyon was trying its best to erase the tag as been an "underdog or darkhorses" for the Champions League title, but in term of experience, Lyon fail badly.

Guess Lyon have to tried again another time then.

We travel to St James Park today and this is the first match since Keegan loses his cool to allow Man Utd won the championship over Newcastle.

There is a newspaper report on how Kevin Keegan work. He was a great motivator but a lousy tactician. He is able to urge his team to go out and score as many goals as they can without defending. Well, this is what Newcastle fans look forward to, but times have changed. Only once in a blue moon will you able to see a high-scoring game like Everton 6-1 Brann, Liverpool 8-0 Besiktas or Man Utd 7-1 Roma.

Keegan's second coming will not start this season, but rather the next season. Newscastle have change too many managers over the last 3 seasons that the players do not know how to adapt to a playing style to another within a short time. After Bobby Robson, in came Graeme Souness, Glenn Roeder and Sam Allardyce over the last 3 seasons. all offer different kinds of playing style especially Allardyce. He used long ball methods linking between defenders and strikers, making midfielders a tad useless in the match. Oh well, hope Keegan's stay will not be as short as Allardyce.

Newcastle Team News: Stephen Carr, Emre and Martins will be unavailable for the match due to injuries.

Man Utd Team News: Other than Gary and Silvestre, Fergie have a full squad to choose from.

Odds and Analysis: Im not so confident on this match as Fergie mentioned he will make changes to the match. But with a 1 ball handicap at 1.85, i think Man Utd is able to nick it. No use punting your money for this match, you will only get back your capital.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Midweek Outlook (20 Feb 2008)

2008-02-19T22:22:00.003+08:00

Lyon vs Manchester United

"Man Utd will go into this match full of confidence as they are yet to be beaten in the group stages."

- Gary, 20 Feb 2008

I didnt watch the match from the start as i was playing games on my computer. I only tuned in to the match after 20 mins. And i got the shock of my life. Man Utd 2 goals up. Huh? Sure or not? The tie is practically over in just 15 mins because i just couldnt see Arsenal getting back in the game. They were sluggish, horrendous defending and Man Utd were attacking all the time. Edwin van der Sar is like a bystander on the pitch.

By the time Man Utd is 3 goals up and Arsenal 1 man down, Nani decides to disrespect Arsenal by showing off his skills. Not a very good way to do that. He could have done that during friendlies or exhibition match. But then it was a good entertainment there to show off one of our fiercest rivals.

Now we are back in the Champions League action and we are away to Lyon. Lyon had been in the champions league for 7 years and running. They have won their domestic title for 6 years in a row and i think this year title is also for their taking. They are the underdogs or dark horses for the Champions League title. But time and time again, they fail on the big stage where it matter most.

Man Utd will go into this match full of confidence as they are yet to be beaten in the group stages. And also due to the weekend result. Not only that, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Owen Hargreaves have return as they didnt play against Arsenal.

Lyon Team News: A fully fit squad to choose from. No injuries, no suspension.

Man Utd Team News: Other than Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre, all are fit and no suspension.

Odds and analysis: With 0.25 handicap at 1.95, take Man Utd for the win.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (23 - 24 Feburary 2008)

2008-02-18T11:23:00.002+08:00

Here are the fixtures for this weekend.

EPL 45: Sat 23/02 Fulham vs West Ham at 11.00pm SIN/HKG

EPL 46: Sun 24/2 Reading vs Aston Villa at 8.30pm SIN/HKG

Good luck

Weekend Outlook (16 Feb 2008)

2008-02-16T06:05:00.002+08:00

Manchester United vs Arsenal

"With both teams cast an eye over the midweek Champions League fixtures, i have a feeling that both managers will not select their First Eleven."

-Gary, 16 Feb 2008

Look like Man City have claim bragging rights over us! Man Utd didnt really have the heart to play the match, is as though they are really mourning for the Busby Babes. And also without the influential Wayne Rooney.

Today match against Arsenal is the only all Premiership team FA cup tie. And there is only 6 Premiership teams left at this round - 5th round.

With both teams cast an eye over the midweek Champions League fixtures, i have a feeling that both managers will not select their First Eleven.

I think this is the best time to take on Arsenal as they are now in their bare bones. Look like injuries and suspensions have taken a toll on them. But then, this is the mind games that Arsene are playing, no?? i dont think there are only 14 fit players travel to Old Trafford. I think he will leave out 2 or 3 players for AC Milan match in midweek.

Man Utd Team News: Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra are back from suspension. Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre are still out.

Arsenal Team News: Johan Djourou, Robin van Persie, Abou Diaby, Manuel Almunia, Denilson, Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Philippe Senderos are all out.

Odds and Analysis: With a virtual team out of this match, shouldnt Man Utd be given a higher handicap to clear it? (the handicap at that time was -0.25) Now the handicap is at -0.5, I will take Man Utd for the win.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League

2008-02-12T14:02:00.000+08:00

No game for this weekend as it's the Fifth Round of the FA Cup tournament.

Predictions will be back the week after.

Cheers.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 09 - 10 Feb 2008

2008-02-11T09:13:00.000+08:00

This is what I love about picking derbies as the results are less predictable even if the teams' respectively standards are vast different.

Guess what? We were all floored by the Citizens who completed the double over us since 1974. NB!!!

Anyway, a pat on my own back for being the first to hit the century mark and pulling even further to an 8-point lead.

A lucky escape for Weimeng that despite getting both outcomes wrong, he still managed to score 2 points from goal bonuses to stay in the race at a weekend where the highest score is a mere 4-point haul.

2 very precious points indeed!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Weekend Outlook (10 Feb 2008)

2008-02-10T18:57:00.000+08:00

Manchester United vs Manchester City

"This match is for the Busby Babes that lost their lives on 6th Feb 1958.."

-Gary, 10 Feb 2008

Last match against Tottenham was kind of expected. With the defence fixed, it was a matter of time that Man Utd find it difficult in the final third of the pitch.

Tonight match against Manchester City is not only a derby but also a match for the Busby Babes that loses their lives on 6th Feb 1958. Man Utd will wear a replica jersey for this match.

This match will also see the senior debut of Danny Welbeck as Wayne Ronney is suspended.

The replica jersey is shown on the right. Manchester City players will also be wearing a replica jersey.

Man Utd Team News: Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra are suspended. Danny Welbeck will be having his senior debut.

Man City Team News: Elano is suspended.

Odds and Analysis: With a handicap of 1.5 at 1.925, take Man Utd for the win.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Beer Fund Raising : 09 - 10 Feb 2008

2008-02-09T12:32:00.000+08:00

I think it is a stupid idea to have an extra game overseas just for the sake of money. As if the current fixtures isn't hectic enough. I would have pushed for the opposite direction to have only 18 teams in the top tier and only 34 domestic games per season as per the Serie A of old. No doubt, extra games means extra revenue from gate receipts, TV rights and other related stuff, extra games have a toll on the players' well being and it has been proven, fatigue and injuries are correlated.

Say NO to Game #39!

On the Roy Keane side, they are out of the relegation zone with a good win to bring them to 23 points in 25 games. I supposed if there are 38 games to play and 40 points to ensure premiership survival, I think that as long as the club stays close to the 1-to-1 point-game ratio, the club should be relatively safe as it signals that they are on course to avoid relegation.

A look at the crystal ball and there is a good chance for the Black Cats to climb all the way to mid table as they play Wigan and Derby at home today and a fortnight later respectively. These are great opportunities for 3 points each.

The shock exit of Benjani is good news to Keane as they travel to Fratton Park next week to play Portsmouth. Yet another good chance to take some point(s) home.

Saturday's Picks:

Getafe - Eat 0.25 ball (Win 1/2)

Sunday's Picks:

ManUtd - Give 1.50 ball (Lose)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 0.5 - 0 - 1

Result This Season: 58 - 8 - 40 = 18-UP as at 11 Feb 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (09 - 10 February 2008)

2008-02-05T15:02:00.000+08:00

As I am back home for the Chinese New Year, I am, ironically, facing a problem of limited internet access. As such, you will see more of Sheena and Gary taking over the writing until I am back in Spitland towards the end of the month.

I am looking forward to this weekend's prediction as I am a mere 3 points away from the century mark.

EPL43: SAT 09/02 Aston Villa vs Newcastle United at 08:45 pm SIN/HKG

EPL44: SUN 10/02 Manchester United vs Manchester City at 09:00 pm SIN/HKG

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 02 - 03 Feb 2008

2008-02-04T05:51:00.000+08:00

Quite a number of high scorers this weekend, myself included.

While I managed to pull a 7 point-gap over challenger KingMeng, highlight of the weekend must go to edwinsng for pulling a Perfect-10 bringing a total of 3 players with the honours this season. Congratulations.

The coming weeks will be harder as the European campaigns resumes.

Good luck with the next predictions.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)
3) Edwinsng (02 Feb 2008)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Weekend Outlook (2 Feb 2008)

2008-02-02T12:23:00.000+08:00

Tottenham Hotspurs vs Manchester United

Tottenham's defence is not leaky anymore..!!

-Gary, 02 Feb 2008

Pwah! Did anyone saw that freekick? Ronaldo is just getting better and better all the time. He is getting more mature since he first came to English soil 4 years ago. Less fanciful crossovers, stay on his feet more rather than be a diver. And he is getting more unpredictable where defenders wouldnt know what he will do next. Cross or shoot or pass or even dribble past them. Even his freekick also unpredictable. Over the wall or a low shot when the defenders are jumping. The latter freekick is when Man Utd trashed Newcastle 6-0.

Next up is Tottenham. Look like there is every chance of revenge for Tottenham. And Juande Ramos has finally done something to the defence. Buy defenders during the transfer window. In came Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Hutton, Gilberto and Chris Gunter. Look like Tottenham's defence is not leaky anymore from the midweek draw against Everton.

Tottenham's Team News: Darren Bent, Gareth Bale and Benoit-Assou Ekotto are all out. Didier Zokora on international duty at African Nations Cup.

Man Utd's Team News: Gary Neville, Louis Saha and Mikael Silvestre are out.

Odds and Analysis: With 0.5 handicap at 1.85, take Man United for the win. Though there are new defenders but they still need time to adjust. And im expecting a big scoreline.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (2 - 3 Febuary 2008)

2008-01-30T12:05:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the late input of the prediction games as Jaywalk is having fun in Las Vegas.

On Sat, Arsenal have to go to City of Manchester Stadium to end Sven Eriksson's unbeaten run at home. Time to see whether Arsene's Young Troops can handle the stress.

While on Sun, it is the derby between Middlesbough and Newcastle.

Good luck.

EPL 41: SAT 02/02 Man City vs Arsenal at 8.45pm SIN/HKG

EPL 42: SUN 03/02 Newcastle vs Middlebrough at 9.30pm SIN/HKG

Midweek Outlook (31 Jan 2008)

2008-01-29T02:05:00.000+08:00

Manchester United vs Portsmouth

"And for that reason, Man Utd have to give a handicap of 1.75!! It seem to make Portsmouth a team to be underestimated."

-Gary, 31 Jan 2008

One good news and one bad news to report. Bad news first, I think Man Utd is really suay that they have to face Arsenal in the next round FA Cup tie.

Good news is we end Juande Ramos's run in cup competitions. I suggest dont look at the stats too much as the match itself, Tottenham were the hungrier side till the sending off of Michael Dawson. From then on, Man Utd take advantage of the extra man to kill the tie beyond doubt in the dying minutes of the match.

Next match is against Portsmouth before heading to White Hart Lane over the weekend (hope the match has no revenge over it.) Portsmouth is another bogey team for us. Ever since Harry Redknapp is in charge of Portsmouth in Dec 2005, he have transform Portsmouth from relegation-threatened team into an Europe-hopeful team. Last 2 matches against them ended with a draw and a win to them, credit to Rio Ferdinand for scoring an own goal due to a miscommunication between him and Edwin van der Sar.

With the African Nations Cup taking place right now, Portsmouth is depleted without their African players, mainly John Utaka, Sulley Muntari, Papa Bouba Diop and Lauren. Those whom are not mentioned are still with the Portsmouth squad. And for that reason, Man Utd have to give a handicap of 1.75!! It seem to make Portsmouth a team to be underestimated.

By the way, Ronaldo have won the bet for scoring 25 goals. Wonder Fergie will honour the bet or not.

Man Utd's Team News: No major injuries going into this match. Gary Neville is still out.

Portsmouth's Team News: Other than the African players on duty for African Nations Cup, there are also no major injuries. Milan Baros will be making his debut for Portsmouth from Lyon on loan.

Odds and Analysis: Such a high handicap of 1.75 at 2.205 and with a strong reasoning in the outlook, i wont take Man Utd to clear the handicap but a slim win for Man Utd.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Weekend Outlook (27 Jan 2008)

2008-01-27T03:27:00.000+08:00

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

"Tottenham has become a cup-specialist team overnight.."

- Gary, 27 Jan 2008

Kudos to Tottenham for demolishing Arsenal 5-1 to reach Carling Cup Final for the first time! And out of sudden, Tottenham has become a cup-specialist team overnight, taking the same identity like Chelsea and Liverpool.

Juande Ramos have an impressive cup record since in Sevilla. But one fact remained, Tottenham have not won at Old Trafford since 1989.

At the last count since Saturday's match have ended, there is only 5 Premiership's teams left, not counting Sunday's fixtures. The chances of facing lower leagues team are quite high, provided we pass through Tottenham.

Man Utd's Team News: Paul Scholes is back in contention. But i dont think he will be rush for this match. Most likely, he will be in the midweek game against Portsmouth. A youth named Danny Welbeck is promoted to the first team after Man Utd Youth is dumped out of the FA Youth Cup. Gary Neville is still out.

Tottenham's Team News: Darren Bent and Gareth Bale are out. Anthony Gardner is back. Paul Robinson is been left out.

Odds and Analysis: With Man Utd giving 1 ball handicap at 1.85, the best is to avoid it. Match stats between these two teams at Old Trafford is settled by the odd goal.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely on my own views and opinion. I didn’t point a gun at you to ask you to follow. If you want to bet on this game, do so at your own risk. Pls bet within limits. Good luck.

Beer Fund Raising : 26 - 27 Jan 2008

2008-01-26T15:31:00.001+08:00

No EPL matches again as we break for the FA Cup weekend. With 9 of the 20 Premiership clubs already eliminated, the number will increase further 3 of the matches involve one Premiership club against another i.e. guaranteed at least 3 more top flight casualties at the end of the weekend.

Anyway, as most are aware, my English punting only involve the EPL which means I only have the Spainish Liga to bet on this weekend since the Italian Serie A betting is still on a testing theory basis.

Saturday's Picks:

AS Roma - Give 1.25 ball (Testing Theory)
Sevilla - Give 1.00 ball (Draw)

Sunday's Picks:

Inter Milan - Give 0.75 ball (Testing Theory)
Real Madrid - Give 1.00 ball

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 0 - 1 - 0

Result This Season: 57.5 - 8 - 39 = 18.5-UP as at 26 Jan 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 19 - 21 Jan 2008

2008-01-22T11:27:00.000+08:00

It's claypot all around for everybody as we were wrong footed with two draws. Benitez' days look to be numbered if he were to continue to drop points.

You know Liverpool's days in the Top 4 is more or less over when headlines sigh a relief when Crouch equalise as if they managed to avoid the worst of fate. However, in the race to be right at the top, you are screwed even if you finish with a draw. Suddenly, Liverpool are sounding like a mid-table club.

Really sad for what was once a mighty rival that would bring electricity to the air. Even Arsene Wenger jibed about Goodison Park being a more difficult place than Anfield.

Congrats to Raynaldo and Bedokian with the points while I carve out a measely 2-point to pull one point away to stay at the top.

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 19 - 21 Jan 2008

2008-01-19T17:28:00.000+08:00

If all goes well, I may have a bumper crop of English games to wager on as all indicators are giving the green light.

With the European campaigns taking a break at the moment, the top clubs are well rested prior to playing each domestic game which as a result, makes the results pretty predictable.

With 6 teams in the relegation zone, the relegation fight is really tight. Even point counts, with 3 points? Even better!

Hence the 3 points from the win over Portsmouth last week was a massive 3 points and even 1 draw today would be enough to lift them out of the relegation zone as there are current 4 teams on 20 points. What the chances of all 4 teams scoring points this week?

Good luck.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Fiorentina - Give 1.00 ball (Testing Theory)
Arsenal - Give 1.00 ball (Win)
Manchester United - Give 1.50 ball (Win)
Tottenham Hotspur - 1.25 ball (Win)
Newcastle United - Give 0.75 ball (Lose)

Sunday's Picks:

Inter Milan - Give 1.50 ball (Testing Theory)
AS Roma - Give 1.50 ball (Testing Theory)
Atletico Bilbao - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
Real Madrid - Even ball (Win)
Barcelona - Give 1.75 ball (Lose)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 4 - 0 - 3

Result This Season: 57.5 - 7 - 39 = 18.5-UP as at 20 Jan 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (19 Jan 2008)

2008-01-19T12:35:00.000+08:00

Reading vs Manchester United

"...It was a good thing we got the Newcastle game out of the way before the arrival of Keegan...."

- JayWalk, 19 Jan 2008

It was a good thing we got the Newcastle game out of the way before the arrival of Keegan. Not that with the presence of Keegan, they will beat us, but why take the difficult path when the easy one is available?

Keegan has proved to be a pretty good manager and had he come in a week earlier, the scoreline would have been less flattering for us.

With Allardyce gone under such bad terms, you can tell that the morale in the changing room was at an all time low. Newcastle's squad is quite talented with Butt, Smith, Owen, Viduka and Given, just to name a few, then how is it even possible to lose by a 0-6 margin?

The answer is heart or rather the lack of it. 31 goals attempted (21 on goal) vs 7 goals attempted (5 on goal) and you would have thought we were playing a team from the lower divisions.

But no.

This was the Mighty Toon Army we are talking about here and this must be a really low point in the history of the Tyneside club.

Anyway, I welcome the return of Kevin Keegan whom I think would be able to turn things around and bring exciting football back to Newcastle. Overall, it is good for the game. Go Kev!

On a lighter note, read "The Gospel according to St James" - Robbo Robson, 17 January 2008. Great read! Highly recommended!*

* Thanks to winz for the link.

JayWalk The Talk: Scholes and Neville are back to fitness although not quite enough to be contenders for the Starting XI yet (perhaps the FA Cup 4th Round against Totteham Hotspur?). Silvestre and Foster are in the sickbay for the long term and joining them would be Saha for a fresh new injury albeit minor. Looks like Fergie may not play him much for the rest of the season in order to keep him healthy. That way, Saha could be offloaded for a higher price in the summer.

Big headache for Coppell over at Reading side as Bikey, Sonko and Fae are playing in the Africa Nations Cup while Oster, Duberry and Little are injured. Coppell may have thrown the FA Cup replay game at midweek in order to conserve whatever first team players he has left ahead of this game but I am afraid, it may just be a case of too little too late.

However, the most fatal of all in the Reading changing room would be that of morale which is pretty non-existent at the moment. Already short of players, Coppell also have to deal with Shorey and Lita whom both have submitted their transfer request and expressed their desires to be out of the door at the end of this month.

JayWalk The Walk: ManUtd has to give up a 1.50-ball handicap with a decimal odds of 2.05 to clear it. At the moment, the distribution of punter's money is 80-20 in favour of the Red Devils.

Pundits are all focusing on the goals stats where ManUtd have the most goals scored while Reading is the team with the most goals conceded (tied with Derby).

The 47 goals leaked translates to a goal conceded every 42 minutes and so perhaps 1 goal lost in each half at the very least?

Problem with Reading right now is a shortage of central defenders and I would expect Tevez, Rooney, Giggs and Ronaldo to be running circles all around them. ManUtd on the other hand, has the best defensive record at a rate of 1 goal leaked every 180 minutes. With Wes Brown back from suspension to regain his place from O'Shea, I seriously can't see how Reading is even going to get a goal in.

In all, I believe that the Reading has already lost the game mentally, even before the kick-off whistle is blown. As I have said that Reading is currently leaking 2 goals on average every game and coupled with the fact the ManUtd is scoring 2 goals on average every game, I say a 4-0 result would be a higher probability than a 1-0 or 2-0 victory.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (19 - 20 January 2008)

2008-01-15T11:43:00.000+08:00

Normally, we pick games that are televised at prime time unless of course there are mega clashes like Arsenal vs ManUtd. Then again mega clashes are more often then not played at prime time.

So anyway, the prime time matches this week, in ihawk98's opinion is terrible. If we were to follow the rule of thumb, we would be predicting Reading vs ManUtd and Fulham vs Arsenal. The problem with one sided matches is the all of us will more or less predict the same outcome. At the end of the weekend, we all either score points or we all claypot. League table-wise, it would remain unchanged sans the overtaking of those who did not predict.

As such, ihawk98 has taken the liberty of picking closer matches for this weekend and I think we should drop the old practice dictated by the TV Guide and adopt this new approach as the new match pick rule of thumb.

Cheers.

EPL39: TUE 22/01 Liverpool vs Aston Villa at 04:00 am SIN/HKG

EPL40: SUN 20/01 Manchester City vs West Ham United at 23:55 pm SIN/HKG

Important Note: The Liverpool vs Aston Villa game has been rescheduled to Monday night (Tuesday morning SIN/HKG time). Please Note.

Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction LeagueResults 12 - 13 Jan 2008

2008-01-14T08:50:00.000+08:00

It has been proven (Cha Dum Yen can also vouch for me on this) that, overdose of gf/spouse leads to impotence on the SPUG EPL Prediction league.

I kena whenever I head home to Singapore while Cha Dum Yen will buang whenever the wife twists his ear for getting too engrossed with football.

While KingMeng is happy enjoying his Bintan weekend with his significant other, his predictions bombed yielding only a couple of singles to allow me to overtake the lead.

Congrats to Sheena who is the other 6-pointer of the weekend to allow her to jump 2 places back into the Top 10 and shaking off Everton in the process.

Well done!

Housekeeping Notes:

All of this season's tables will be kept in Flickr's photoset. Click Here.

For last season's, Click Here.

SPUG EPL Prediction League "Perfect Score" Hall Of Fame
Perfect Score = 2 correct-score predictions in a single weekend and hence the award of the full 10 points.

1) David.hvp (23 Dec 2007)
2) Beaver21 (23 Dec 2007)

Scoring System
3-Points for a correct outcome (Win, Lose or Draw)
1-point each for correct score on each side.

Double Entry
Later submission shall override earlier submission.

Penalty
No points for submission after kick-off. (Disqualification)

SPUG Blackout
The SPUG EPL Prediction League will be played here but if in the event Blogger/Blogspot servers go down, we will automatically carry on the league over to my personal blog at http://jaywalk.blog-city.com. Please bookmark this or at the very least stay in touch with one of us as we will also be helping all stay in the loop via the various channels like MSN, Skype, email as well as SPUG Off-Topic Chat.

Prediction League Past Winners

Copa America 2004 - WeiMeng
EPL 2004/2005 - Friday13
EPL 2005/2006 - ianrush
World Cup 2006 - EdwinSng
EPL 2006/2007 - Voxeros

Beer Fund Raising : 12 - 13 Jan 2008

2008-01-12T19:39:00.000+08:00

We welcome back the Italians from their winter break but not much of a difference to me considering the fact that I am not touching the Serie A for now until they become more predictable.

Still it is good to have all the leagues back to their regular schedule. A vast contrast to last week where I only have the Primera Liga to punt as FA Cup is out of my radar scope.

With 21 games played already, Sunderland is about 6 points off their schedule if they wish to reach the magic 40 points of Premier League survival. At 21 games, they should be at least at 23 points.

Still, a hearty congratulations to Roy Keane for beating Mick McCarthy dubious honour for the lowest points in a EPL season of all time (15 points).

So with McCarthy done and dusted, it's onwards to Premiership Survival.

Good luck.

Click here to find out how the Wanker Points Index came about.

Saturday's Picks:

Arsenal - Give 1.75 ball (Lose)
Everton - Give 0.25 ball (Win)
ManUtd - Give 1.75 ball (Win)
Barcelona - Give 1.75 ball (Win)

Sunday's Picks:

Inter Milan - Give 1.00 ball (Testing Theory)
Lazio - Give 0.50 ball (Testing Theory)
Getafe - Eat 0.25 ball (Lose)
Villarreal - Give 0.75 ball (Win 1/2)
Real Madrid - Give 1.25 ball (Win)
Blackburn Rovers - Eat 0.25 ball (Win)

HUAT AH!!!

Result This Week : 5.5 - 0 - 2

Result This Season: 53.5 - 7 - 36 = 17.5-UP as at 13 Jan 2008

Disclaimer: This is merely to log my own results. You are welcome to follow if you like but I must warn you that you bear your own winnings or losses, whatever the outcome. I have nothing to do with your bets. Please bet responsibly and within your means. There is no absolute sure thing in football betting. If you can't afford to lose, then don't bet.

Weekend Outlook (12 Jan 2008)

2008-01-12T10:49:00.000+08:00

Manchester United vs Newcastle United

"...the next month is going to be to our advantage as our opponents will be losing African players to the African Nations Cup...."

- JayWalk, 11 Jan 2008

We won comfortably last week over Aston Villa in the FA Cup 3rd Round match and that was good.

Stats-wise, we were all over them but I would have preferred if we maintained more possession.

It was a good thing we won and got things over and done with. Hence we don't have to deal with the redundant replays like Liverpool against Luton Town. Every unnecessary match we play, we risk exhaustion and injuries. Really not worth it. Sew up everything within 90 minutes is the best way to navigate through the already jam packed fixtures.

Looking ahead, the next month is going to be to our advantage as our opponents will be losing African players to the African Nations Cup. With Quinton Fortune being the last of the African players to leave the club, we will be playing at full strength against teams missing key players.

JayWalk The Talk: We will be missing Wes Brown due to suspension but Gary Neville is still not ready for top tier football despite an excellent showing in mid week's reserve game. I think Simpson will be handed another rare start this week alongside O'Shea, Ferdinand and Vidic.

Park is back and so no problem in the midfield department while we wait for reports with regards to Tevez's minor ankle injury to see if we can continue to field the winning combination of the stocky duo. Otherwise, it's Saha and Rooney up front.

Speaking of the bane of the African Nations Cup, Newcastle will be missing Beye, Faye and Geremi while Martins is 50-50 pending Nigeria's green light to release him. Carr, Emre and Milner are all injured with the departure of Allardyce as the cherry on top, in our favour.

JayWalk The Walk: Newcastle is already pretty screwed coming to Old Trafford, a place that they have never won in 36 years. We also happen to be the team to beat them the most in Premier League encounters with a immaculate record of 16 wins.

Bookies are making ManUtd to give a 1.75-ball handicap with a decimal odds of 1.975 to beat it. The way I see it, I expect the decimal odds to go down further as we get nearer to kick off which is an excellent sign of confidence on the home side.

Normally, I would shun 1.75-ball handicaps but given the fact that Newcastle's poor away form is further aggravated with the loss of Allardyce, I say let's go for ManUtd to bring home the 3-points and the wager.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.

SPUG EPL Prediction League (12 - 13 January 2008)

2008-01-08T13:03:00.000+08:00

Greetings one and all as we return from the FA Cup weekend break.

More of less predictable results for the top clubs except for Liverpool who shot themselves in the foot at Luton but at the end of the day, I can't see how that will be eliminated at the hands of Luton Town. Liverpool to win the replay!

Still, there is the problem of the extra match to jam into the already packed fixture, especially if the match immediately before or after is a tricky one.

Well, what is done is done. Too late to cry over spilled milk now. I wish the Reds all the best during the early rounds.

EPL37: SAT 12/01 Middlesbrough vs Liverpool at 22:55 pm SIN/HKT

EPL38: SUN 13/01 Bolton Wanderers vs Blackburn Rovers at 23:55 pm SIN/HKT

Good luck.