[Trial] BPL Weekly Matches: Week #18 (20th - 21st Dec 08)

[lyfeforce]

Saturday 20th December 2008

Bolton Wanderers vs Portsmouth | 15:00 @ Reebok Stadium
Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City | 15:00 @ Ewood Park
Fulham vs Middlesbrough | 15:00 @ Craven Cottage
Hull City vs Sunderland | 15:00 @ KC Stadium
West Ham United vs Aston Villa | 15:00 @ Boleyn Ground

Sunday 21st December 2008

West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester City | 13:30 @ The Hawthorns
Newcastle United vs Tottenham Hotspur | 15:00 @ St. James' Park
Arsenal vs Liverpool | 16:00 @ Emirates Stadium

Monday 22nd December 2008

Everton vs Chelsea | 20:00 @ Goodison Park


Which would you say are the matches of the week?

P.S. Anyone knows what week no. this is?

[daylight]

start of the busy xmas/new year program.

[Wryer]

Goes without saying: Arsenal vs. Liverpool. No idea about the week though. :o

Man to watch:

Liverpool: Robbie Keane

As an Arsenal fan, I feel safer with Keane out of the line up. As much as his form is dismal, he always pick up his game against Arsenal with his running and passing. This is a player who knows how to play Arsenal since his T'ham days. I hope Rafa continues to put him on the bench. The Emirates reception won't be nice to him of course.

Arsenal: Song

I believe AW will play Song in a 4-5-1 to track and mark Gerrard. The last time Song played a full match against Gerrard was the 3-6 game at Anfield. He did pretty well then. He will need to protect his defence as well as watching Riera closely. As good as Sagna is, the winger will probably beat him a couple times, that's where Song needs to come alive - whether tracking Gerrard's run or covering for Sagna.

According to the law of averages, with both teams having similar records against the other Big 2, I would predict a 2-2 draw.

[anfielder]

P.S. Anyone knows what week no. this is?

According the BPL website, it's gameweek 18

[lyfeforce]

This is a very dangerous match to predict. Both teams have erratic form. Torres most likely will not be available to play. Liverpool will look to Gerrard to lift them up, Arsenal will mark him closely. But I hope it's not at the expense of their creativity.

Evertone vs Chelsea will be another interesting match to watch. Either many goals, stalemate or upset.

Bolton vs Portsmouth will be a hard fought match. There will be a physical battle and prone to injuries and cards.

Hull City vs Sunderland may spring a few surprises.

Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City will Allardyce's first game in charge of Blackburn. Wonder what tactics he'll use against a team commonly regarded as weak.

West Ham United vs Aston Villa is the most mysterious of them. I really don't know what to expect here. Most would bet on Villa but West Ham are no pushovers.

[poring24]

'tis gameweek 18 :o

[lyfeforce]

'tis gameweek 18 :o

Okay, thanks. :)

[lyfeforce]

Phil Brown’s Hull City take on managerless Sunderland in the Premiership at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

The Tigers head into the home game at the back of an impressive 2-2 draw against leaders Liverpool last weekend at Anfield.

The Black Cats also are boosted following last weekend’s 4-0 win against bottom-placed West Bromwich Albion at the Stadium of Light.

Hull City have been impressive in their debut top-flight campaign and are currently sixth in the table. Sunderland have struggled and are fighting for survival as they go into the away game placed 18th.

Hull have injury problems in their camp with A Gardner (thigh), C Folan (knee), A Dawson (Achilles) and C Fagan (leg) in the treatment room.

Amongst the Sunderland players, G McCartney (ankle), D Connolly (groin), C Gordon (foot), D Whitehead (dead leg) and D Ward (back) are nursing injuries.

The teams

Hull City (from): Myhill, Doyle, Dawson, Ashbee, Brown, Turner, Barmby, Windass, Geovanni, Hughes, Duke, France, Garcia, Mendy, Halmosi, McShane, Folan, Boateng, Ricketts, Marney, King, Zayatte, Cousin, Warner, Featherstone, Atkinson, Stelios, Cooper.

Sunderland (from): Gordon, Bardsley, McCartney, Tainio, Nosworthy, Edwards, Malbranque, Cisse, Richardson, Diouf, Whitehead, Miller, Murphy, Collins, Jones, Leadbitter, Yorke, Reid, Chimbonda, Healy, M’Voto, Ferdinand, Hartley, Fulop, Dowson, Meyler, Henderson, Prica, Colgan.

[lyfeforce]

Sam Allardyce will be looking to make an instant impact as the newly-appointed boss of struggling Blackburn Rovers, when his side take on Stoke City in the Premiership at Ewood Park on Saturday.

The Rovers are winless in 11 games and suffered their sixth successive league defeat last weekend to leave the Lancashire outfit precariously placed at the 19th position following 17 games.

The growing fears of relegation scrap lead to the sacking of Paul Ince this week and the former Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United boss Allardyce has been appointed in time for the clash against Tony Pulis’ league new-comers, who are currently in 13th place.

The Potters have proved to be a well organised side who are difficult to break down and Rovers will have their task cut out to prise open the rival defence. They come to Blackburn having drawn their last three league games.

Stoke captain Andy Griffin (knee) and Ryan Shawcross (back) have boosted the visitors as they have both overcome their injuries. However, striker Dave Kitson (knee) faces a late fitness test. Mama Sidibe (knee), Leon Cort (groin) and Liam Lawrence (knee) are out.

For Blackburn, M Olsson (hip), Z Khizanishvili (groin), V Grella (hamstring) and S Reid (knee) are injured.

The teams

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Brown, Simpson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Emerton, Khizanishvili, Warnock, Mokoena, Andrews, Tugay, Treacy, Pedersen, Roberts, Derbyshire, Villanueva, Santa Cruz, Fowler, McCarthy.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Griffin, Sonko, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Delap, Amdy Faye, Diao, Whelan, Pugh, Cresswell, Tonge, Fuller, Simonsen, Olofinjana, Davies, Soares, Dickinson, Wilkinson.

[lyfeforce]

The Trotters might go into this clash on the back of two straight defeats to Chelsea at the Reebok and then Aston Villa 4-2 at Villa Park last weekend, but won four of their previous five Premiership games, which earned Bolton boss Gary Megson the Barclays Manager of the Month award for November. However, Bolton have only won twice in the league at home this season and have only managed to score 6 times in front of their own fans, which is a cause of concern for Megson. Bolton, are 11th in table and will hope to collect all 3 points against Portsmouth.

Pompey were soundly beaten last time out 3-0 by Newcastle United at Fratton Park, but were unbeaten in their five league games before that. With, wins against Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers and draws with West Ham United, Hull City and West Bromwich Albion. While Bolton have found goals hard to come by at home, Portsmouth have struggled to find the net away from home and go into this clash 3 points above Bolton in 8th place in the Premier League.

Gary Megson has almost a full squad of players to choose from for this clash with Pompey, with only Joey O’Brien (thigh) and long-term injury Ricardo Vaz Te (knee) unavailable for the game at the Reebok on Saturday.

Portsmouth will be without Lassana Diarra, who is on his way to Real Madrid in January, while Glenn Johnson (knee), Younes Kaboul (ankle) and John Utaka (thigh) are all in a race to be fit in time to face Wanderers.

Bolton Wanderers: (from) Jaaskelainen, Samuel, Nolan, Cahill, Muamba, Taylor, Elmander, Smolarek, Gardner, Davies, Steinsson, Riga, McCann, Al Habsi, ****tu, Cohen, Sinclair, Fojut, Harsanyi, Basham, A O’Brien, Sissons, Obadeyi

Portsmouth: (from) James, Kaboul, Lauren, Johnson, Hreidarsson, Diop, Crouch, Nugent, Thomas, Defoe, Distin, Pamarot, Utaka, Mvuemba, Kranjcar, Ashdown, Hughes, Campbell, Duffy, Little, Sahar, Kanu, Davis, Christophe, A Traore, Begovic, D Traore, Wilson, Belhadj

[lyfeforce]

Fulham play Gareth Southgate’s Middlesbrough in the Premier League at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Roy Hodgson’s Fulham side go into this match unbeaten in their last five league outings, but 4 of those games have been draws, with the last win for the Cottagers coming against Tottenham Hotspur in November at home. Fulham are 10th in the Premier League and have only lost once at home all season in 8 matches, winning 5 and drawing the other 2 games.

Boro go into this clash on the back of a good 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Riverside Stadium last week, but have not won in their last 5 Premiership matches, with 3 draws and defeats to Hull City and Bolton Wanderers. Southgate will be hoping that Middlesbrough can get back to winning ways at Craven Cottage on Saturday and start to climb from their 12th place in the table.

Fulham will be strikers Bobby Zamora (thigh) and Diomansy Kamara (knee) for the visit of Boro, while Andranik Teymourian (knee) and Seol Ki-Hyeon (knee) are also ruled out of this clash for the Cottagers.

Southgate is without summer signing Justin Hoyte (knee) and Rhys Williams (knee), with Gary O’Neill and striker Mido to face late fitness tests for hamstring injuries along with Andrew Taylor, who is struggling to shake off a knee injury in time for the trip to London.

Fulham: (from) Schwarzer, Paintsil, Konchesky, Hangeland, Johnson, Nevland, Gera, Murphy, Gray, Hughes, Zuberbuhler, Etuhu, Bullard, Stoor, Dempsey, Davies, Andreasen, Leijer, Brown, Kallio, Baird, Smalling, Watts

Middlesbrough: (from) Turnbull, Taylor, O’Neill, Riggott, Pogatetz, Digard, Mido, Aliadiere, Emnes, Alves, Huth, Shawky, Tuncay, Downing, Arca, Jones, Bates, Johnson, McMahon, Wheater, Porritt, Owens, Hines, Grounds, Walker

[lyfeforce]

West Ham United play Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa in the Premier League at Upton Park on Saturday.

Gianfranco Zola’s Hammers side go into this match with just one win in their last 5 league outings, which was against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, but have also drawn with top two Premier League teams Liverpool and Chelsea away from home in this sequence. However, West Ham are just one point of the relegation zone in 16th place and will be hoping to come out of this clash with an inform Villa side with something on Saturday.

The Villans are unbeaten in their last 5 Premiership games, which has seen them draw with Manchester United and Fulham, while beating Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers and Everton. This run has seen O’Neill’s team climb into the Champions League places in 4th place above the Gunners. Villa are yet to draw an away game in the Premier League this season, winning 5 and losing 3 on their travels away from Villa Park.

The Hammers are unable to call on striker Dean Ashton (Os Trigonum syndrome), Daniel Gabbidon (groin), Lee Bowyer (thigh) and James Collins (calf) for the visit of the Midlands club, with Carlton Cole expected to partner Craig Bellamy upfront for West Ham.

Martin O’Neill is still without Wilfred Bouma (ankle) and striker John Carew (back) for the trip to Upton Park, but is expected to recall captain Martin Laursen along with Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor, who were all rested for the UEFA Cup tie with Hamburg on Wednesday.

West Ham United: (from) Green, Neill, Upson, Ilunga, Lopez, Dyer, Parker, Bellamy, Etherington, Cole, Boa Morte, Noble, Mullins, Spector, Faubert, Behrami, Stokes, Lastuvka, Tristan, Davenport, Collison, Di Michele, Sears, Stech, Hines, Jefferey, Widdowson

Aston Villa: (from) Friedel, L Young, Sidwell, Laursen, Barry, A Young, Milner, Harewood, Agbonlahor, Delfouneso, Davies, Knight, Salifou, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Shorey, Guzan, Cuellar, Gardner, Osbourne, Bannan, Herd

[anfielder]

an absolute horror tackle by Arca on Andy Johnson. Both got lucky.. Arca for escaping a red card and Johnson for escaping injury

[ahgohgoh]

sunderland are flying under ricky sbragia...

the last 3 matches have been very encouraging...

blackburn are picking up 3 pts as well... that means... man city in the drop zone??

i really smell blood at the blue side of manchester..

[anfielder]

it is a very very quiet thread when the big 4 are not playing.

[lyfeforce]

Actually, the attention was all on the Champions' League draw.

I must say, both Sunderland and Blackburn posted excellent results. And it seems Adams is just as bad a manager as he could be.

[Michael Shoemaker]

west ham v aston villa game was pretty good as well.

west ham was unlucky with that fluke goal....

[lyfeforce]

Yeah, in fact West Ham could have won, if not for Friedel. Villa had hardly possession in the ball.

And Murphy and Bullard were the stars the Fulham - Boro tie. It's good to see English midfielders in the traditional sense take the spotlight.

[Michael Shoemaker]

yeah. and also , good to see big Sam back again.

weird , no one talks about the clash between arsenal and liverpool today.

:o

[Kakashi82]

it's the calm before the storm... lol

[hiei02]

sunderland game was end to end stuff. pretty exciting for the neutrals.

[lyfeforce]

Newcastle United play Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Joe Kinnear’s Magpies go into this clash on a 5-game unbeaten run, but only one win in this streak against Portsmouth 3-0 at Fratton Park last Sunday, with draws against Stoke City, Middlesbrough, Chelsea and Wigan Athletic. However, Newcastle are still in the relegation fight and find themselves just 1 point off the drop zone in 14th place in the Premier League and just ahead of Sunday’s opposition Tottenham by virtue of goals scored.

Spurs go into this game on the back of a 0-0 draw with Premiership Champions Manchester United last Saturday at White Hart Lane, but still find themselves in the wrong half of the table in 15th place. Redknapp’s side have only lost twice in the league since his arrival from Portsmouth, but both of those defeats against Everton and Fulham have come in their last 5 matches, with wins against West Ham United and struggling Blackburn Rovers completing their results for this 5-match sequence.

Newcastle will be without strikers Obafemi Martins (groin) and Alan Smith (achilles) along with Joey Barton (knee) and Ignacio Gonzalez (achilles), with Mark Viduka and Michael Owen expected to lead the attack.

Redknapp has a growing injury list at White Hart Lane, with Giovanni (ankle), Alan Hutton (metatarsal), Jonathan Woodgate (back), Darren Bent (virus) and Jermaine Jenas (calf) all ruled out of the trip to the North East. Ledley King is still struggling with a persistent knee injury and is a doubt, but Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko are available after being cup-tied for the UEFA clash with Spartak Moscow on Thursday.

Newcastle United: (from) Given, Coloccini, Enrique, Bassong, Taylor, Cacapa, Guthrie, Owen, Duff, Harper, N’Zogbia, Xisco, Geremi, Beye, Butt, Ameobi, Kadar, Edgar, Tozer, Viduka, LuaLua, Carroll, Donaldson, Ranger

Tottenham Hotspur: (from) Gomes, Bale, King, Gunter, Woodgate, Corluka, Bentley, Huddlestone, Zokora, Gilberto, Lennon, Modric, Pavlyuchenko, Campbell, Cesar, Stalteri, Boateng, Rocha, Taarabt, Dawson, Ghaly, O’Hara, Assou-Ekotto

[lyfeforce]

Bottom-placed West Bromwich Albion play Mark Hughes’ cash-rich Manchester City, who have slid down to 17th place going into the weekend engagements, in the Premiership at the Hawthorns on Sunday.

The Baggies are fighting for survival and stare at the prospect of quick return to the Championship if they don’t get their act together soon enough.

Tony Mowbray’s side have failed to win in 10 league games out which they have managed to draw only two. Last weekend, they suffered a 4-0 mauling at Sunderland.

On the other hand, City have suffered a dip in form as from their last eight league games, they have just scored one win. Last weekend, they lost to Everton through Tim Cahill’s last-minute winner.

West Brom are boosted with the return to action of defender Leon Barnett following a knee injury. Roman Bednar, James Morrison and Borja Valero are also in the reckoning.

For Manchester City, skipper Richard Dunne should be back, but Robinho is doubtful due to recurrence of his ankle injury.

The teams

West Brom (from): Carson, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Meite, Barnett, Donk, Olsson, Robinson, Cech, Kim, Morrison, Greening, Valero, Koren, Teixeira, Brunt, Bednar, Moore, Beattie, MacDonald, Pele, Kiely.

Man City (from): Hart, Zabaleta, Richards, Dunne, Ben Haim, Garrido, Ball, Elano, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Kompany, Fernandes, Hamann, Vassell, Robinho, Sturridge, Caicedo, Jo, Onuoha, Evans, Schmeichel.

[lyfeforce]

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal play host to Premiership leaders Liverpool in the matchup that is guaranteed entertainment, at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The Gunners have been inconsistent this season and as such are occupying the fifth place in the table after having suffered defeats against Fulham, Hull City, Stoke City, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

The Reds have made their best start to the campaign and are serious contenders for the English top-flight title that has eluded them since 1990. Rafa Benitez’s side have only lost one league game this season so far that was away to Tottenham Hotspur.

Hence, the Merseysiders will be determined not to suffer from the same fate they last faced in north London.

Last weekend, Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw away to Middlesbrough while Liverpool dropped points at home with a come-from-behind 2-2 draw to Hull City.

Gunners boss Wenger has revealed that there is bright chance midfielder Samir Nasri could return from an ankle injury, but defender Kolo Toure is a doubt with a calf strain. Striker Nicklas Bendtner is also struggling with a knee problem.

Theo Walcott (shoulder) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) are still sidelined, while Eduardo is aiming to gain match fitness after recovering from a leg break.

Liverpool manager Benitez should be back in the dugout after surgery to remove kidney stone.

The Reds, however, are still without striker Fernando Torres (hamstring) and defender Martin Skrtel (knee), but full-back Fabio Aurelio (calf) may return after having missed three games.

The teams

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Nasri, Gallas, Djourou, Clichy, Denilson, Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Wilshere, Eboue, Fabianski, Vela, Ramsey, Van Persie, Adebayor, Bendtner.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Dossena, Aurelio, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Alonso, Riera, Kuyt, Keane, Ngog, Cavalieri, Insua, El Zhar.

[lyfeforce]

Everton play Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Chelsea in the Premier League at Goodison Park on Monday.

Toffees boss David Moyes will have cause for concern ahead of this clash with Chelsea, having seen his Everton side manage only one win at home in the Premiership this season in eight matches. The only team in the league with a worse home record is Blackburn Rovers and had it not been for the Merseyside clubs away form could easily have found them in a relegation battle instead of 7th in the Premier League. Everton’s only win at home came against Fulham at the beginning of November, which is something Moyes is hoping the Toffees can put right at Goodison on Monday.

Like Everton, Chelsea have also not been their best at Stamford Bridge this season, having lost twice after a four-and-a-half year unbeaten run that went back to 2004 and Claudio Ranieri and drawing four times. However, the Blues have also been superb away from home, winning all eight matches on their travels, scoring 21 goals and conceding just the once. Scolari must surely fancy Chelsea’s chances of extending this winning run. Given Everton’s poor form at Goodison as the Blues continue to push for the Premiership title in 2nd place, just a point behind leaders Liverpool.

As if Everton’s poor home record wasn’t enough to contend with ahead of the visit of Chelsea. Moyes also has no fully fit strikers available, with Victor Anichebe (back), Yakubu (calf) and James Vaughan (knee) all ruled out. In addition to this Louis Saha (hamstring) is also a doubt for the visit of the Blues, which might force Moyes to push Tim Cahill upfront as a makeshift striker or use 16-year-old Jose Baxter. Everton will also be missing defenders Lars Jacobsen (shoulder) and Nuno Valente (knee) for the clash on Monday.

Scolari has less injury worries, with defender Ricardo Carvalho (knee) still a week away from a return to action, while Florent Malouda (hamstring) is struggling to be fit in time to face Everton. Chelsea will also be without long-term injury Michael Essien (knee).

Everton: (from) Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Jagielka, Neville, Baines, Lescott, Van der Meyde, Castillo, Saha, Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar, Osman, Nash, Fellaini, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Irving, Kissock, Baxter

Chelsea: (from) Cech, A Cole, Terry, Alex, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, J Cole, Ballack, Lampard, Mikel, Drogba, Kalou, Anelka, Cudicini, Bridge, Sinclair, Deco, Malouda, Di Santo, Ferreira, Mineiro, Belletti, Stoch, Woods

[lyfeforce]

Tell me about it. -_-"

[Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng]

It might be part of their tatics to wear such kit to disrupt Arsenal passing game. They usually wear full grey ~

[lyfeforce]

Apparently, it didn't work. -_-"

[Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng]

Apparently, it didn't work. -_-"

Look so weird though..............it was abit confusing the jerseys for the viewers even more confusing for those on the pitch I would think.

[laksanice]

I guess the ref decide that Arsenal white shorts look similar to Liverpool grey, so he got them to switch to another colour.

the outcome is a fashion boo boo though. The grey kit is ugly, and the red shorts make it even more ugly.