Now that the World Cup line-up is almost complete, we can concentrate on League action again, and divert attention away from the perennial time-fillers that get the press worked up during the interminable international breaks, such as the question of whether Celtic and Rangers will be allowed to destroy Scottish football entirely by clambering over the dead bodies of more deserving English clubs and gaining entry into the Premiership. The “39th game” question also reared its ugly head again in the last couple of weeks just because the NBA managed to successfully stage a basketball game in the UK. So what? I don’t expect UK fans of US basketball to take precedence over their American counterparts any more than I wish to see English Premiership teams playing a regular season match in the Far East to cater for the sort of plastic fans who are creeping more and more disturbingly into the sport.

I’m sure these money grabbing schemes will continue to pop up regularly, particularly during the next international break in November, so let’s look instead at the coming weekend’s Premiership fixtures while wondering how much more risible Alex Ferguson can make himself look in this week’s post-match interview:

1) Aston Villa v Chelsea: Matches such as this one are made so much more difficult to predict when they come just after a round of international matches, as such a great number of the players will have been travelling huge distances to play for their countries, and maybe picking up injuries along the way. As I’m writing before the midweek fixtures, I’ll concentrate on previous meetings at Villa Park, and a striking fact is that Chelsea have only scored on two of their previous five visits. Neither side has really gained the upper hand either, with one victory each and three draws during that period. Taking into account current form, I think we can expect another tight match on Saturday, where goals may be at a premium.

2) Arsenal v Birmingham: As we’ve seen so often with this type of fixture in the past, the result will depend on how long Birmingham’s tactics of trying to frustrate the hosts will actually keep them at bay. You won’t be surprised to hear that City have only scored one goal in their last five visits to Arsenal, but two of those matches ended in draws, and two in narrow defeats for the Blues, so there remains the possibility of an uncomfortable afternoon for Arsenal fans, similar to their experience against Olympiakos in the Champions League recently, when dozens of shots rained in on the Greek goal from all angles, and were thwarted until very late in the game by some outrageous goalkeeping from Antonis Nikopolidis. I would still favour a home win, but it may be a nervy occasion for the Gunners. Incidentally, now that Carson Yeung’s takeover at Birmingham is complete, Alex McLeish should be a very worried man, as the first question is bound to be “where have all the fans gone?”. We all know the answer is entirely due to the manager’s brand of football, so I’d start looking for a new job if I were you, Alex.

3) Everton v Wolves: Everton are on a run of five wins and a draw from their last six games in League and Cup, and will be looking forward to a visit from a side who haven’t won at Goodison for 30 years. Admittedly, there have only been six games played during that period, but Wolves haven’t really been very convincing so far this season, and may find themselves in deep trouble once some of the sides around them in the table start putting a couple of results together. Last time out, Wolves absolutely battered Portsmouth at Molineux, but were frustrated in a 1-0 defeat by some desperate defending, inspired goalkeeping, and the denial of a certain penalty following Mark Wilson’s handball in the area. Having had two weeks to dwell on that match, their players will either be straining at the leash to overturn the injustice of that result, or will have been feeling very sorry for themselves, and laying themselves open to a heavy defeat on Saturday. I favour the latter.

4) Man.U. v Bolton: I think we’ve all had enough now, Alex. Your boring, boorish and bullying psychological tactics are making you look more and more ridiculous by the week, and I’m sure there will come a point when you actually start to believe the hypocritical nonsense you spout, which will be around the same time that you are found mumbling incoherently to yourself in the middle of the street on a cold night dressed in just your pyjamas, and carted off to the nuthouse. Well, we can all dream. The last time this fixture was played, United spent an hour being totally frustrated by Bolton until the thankfully now retired Rob Styles awarded a penalty for a non-existent foul on Ronaldo to set up a 2-0 win for the hosts. Mr.Ferguson conveniently chooses to forget the many occasions such as that one, on which referees unnecessarily help his side out, but they may need assistance on Saturday if Wayne Rooney misses out through injury, and his team continue to under-perform in the same manner as during their 2-2 draw with Sunderland. Bolton have sparked into life a little in recent weeks, and haven’t lost in their last five matches in League and Cup, so if United put out a weakened side, Wanderers are probably well-placed to end a run of six consecutive defeats at Old Trafford.

5) Portsmouth v Tottenham: I suppose Portsmouth fans don’t know whether to laugh or cry when they come up against a Harry Redknapp side, but at least they come into this match having ended their terrible run of seven defeats with a fortunate but hard-earned win at Molineux. There should also be a better atmosphere surrounding the club now that their second takeover of the year has been completed, but until the January transfer window, there may not be significant improvement in their performances on the pitch. Extra spice is added by the presence of Crouch, Defoe and Kranjcar in Tottenham’s squad, and this may turn out to be one of the more entertaining fixtures of the weekend. 2-2.

6) Stoke v West Ham: A word of advice for Robert Green, who seems to be in a small minority in thinking he is England’s best goalkeeper. I wouldn’t overly criticize him for the red card incident on Saturday in the Ukraine as he was let down badly by the increasingly cocky, casual and error-prone Rio Ferdinand, but if you are going to publicly condemn your teammates for their attitude and performances, as Green did after West Ham’s Carling Cup defeat at Bolton, you had better make sure you are not then going to make the sort of basic error which handed Fulham the lead at Upton Park last time out. A late equalizer in that match provided West Ham with a little hope of climbing out of their current predicament, but I’m sure a fixture as fraught with danger as this one would not have been top of their list to face next. The Hammers have, however, won their last four visits to Stoke, and haven’t been defeated there since 1983. If Carlton Cole could get more support from some of his teammates, the Hammers would be well placed to continue that run. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that support will be forthcoming.

7) Sunderland v Liverpool: It wasn’t so much the result that Sunderland achieved at Old Trafford last time out that surprised many observers, but more the manner of their performance, which was far more adventurous than most teams display when visiting Man.United. Had it not been for Kieran Richardson’s petulant actions leading to his sending off late in the game, the Black Cats may well have held on for a memorable win, but have an early opportunity to put that right with a visit from a Liverpool side who have clearly disappointed so far. Richardson will obviously be missing for this match, but the renewed form of Darren Bent leads me to believe that Sunderland can at least break their run of three consecutive renewals of this fixture in which they have lost without scoring.

8) Blackburn v Burnley: Forget Man.U. or Man.City, you may be surprised to hear that this is the big one for Burnley fans, as the virulent hatred between the two sets of supporters is unsurpassed in English football. The police will be on full alert, and are probably relieved that the fixture has taken place so rarely in recent years, with this being just the third meeting at Ewood Park since 1983. Blackburn will fancy their chances of taking the points as, according to Sam Allardyce, they would have taken something from their 6-2 defeat at Arsenal if Thomas Vermaelen’s foul on David Dunn had been given as a penalty. Who on earth do you think you’re kidding? On the positive side for the hosts, though, Burnley seem to have given up already in away matches. At least they have achieved a nice mathematical progression so far, with defeats of the order of 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and then 5-0. If you fancy them to continue this fine run, you can get odds of 200/1 against a 6-0 scoreline with bet365, but I would favour a rather narrower home win.

9) Wigan v Man.City: What can we make of Wigan? A side who win at Villa Park and then lose at home to Wolves. A side who beat Chelsea and then lose at Hull. A side to avoid like the plague when it comes to having a bet, that’s for sure. The second of Sunday’s two North-West showdowns features Wigan facing the one Premiership side who have never really managed to get to grips with them. City have never won a Premiership match at Wigan, and haven’t won at all in this fixture since it was played in League One eleven years ago. Circumstances at Eastlands are slightly different this time around, but this match may still present problems for Mark Hughes if Wigan can reproduce the form they showed against Villa and Chelsea. The problem neutrals have in advance is trying to predict which version of Wigan will turn up.

10) Fulham v Hull: Last and most certainly least comes this unpromising encounter, which you may remember provided Hull with their only League victory in the second half of last season. Fulham’s players are quite clearly capable of far better than their current lowly position would suggest, but there comes a time when they have to start proving it otherwise an unseemly scrap against relegation may ensue. A Manucho goal in the dying seconds last season secured three points for Hull that were celebrated as though they had won the World Cup, but Fulham performed admirably with ten men at West Ham last time out, and had a superb chance to snatch victory right at the death, so I am prepared to put my faith in them getting their season going here with a convincing win.

Four matches catch my eye this week from a “let’s throw more money at the poor bookmakers” perspective, and a successful £10 accumulator on Middlesbrough, Dundee United, Partick and Albion Rovers would return a healthy £63.98 with skybet.com if all won their matches.

Good Luck!