What a cracking Sunday afternoon’s entertainment we had laid on for our enjoyment a few days ago in the four Premiership matches. Fifteen goals, three teams coming back from 2-0 down, even though Everton still lost, and confidence boosting performances and results for Liverpool and West Ham to keep the doom-mongers from the door for a little longer. We even had the startling and unprecedented admission from Alex Ferguson that Liverpool were the better side and deserved to win at Anfield! Unfortunately, it didn’t take much longer for him to revert to type and criticize the referee’s performance, even though in my opinion Andre Marriner got all of the major decisions correct.

There are some more tantalizing looking fixtures coming up this weekend, so I would imagine that there is plenty of scope for some more outstanding entertainment:

1) Arsenal v Tottenham: Twice in the space of a few days, Arsenal have thrown leads away to draw matches at AZ Alkmaar and West Ham in which they had appeared comfortable. So, not a good time to be reminded that in this fixture last season, they let advantages of 3-1 and 4-2 slip before Tottenham grabbed a 4-4 draw with two goals in the final two minutes. Spurs also lost points last weekend from a match they should have won comfortably, as numerous chances were missed, saved, cleared off the line or hit the woodwork, only for Stoke to administer the final blow with a late winner. If Aaron Lennon doesn’t recover in time for this match (It seems Harry would want to put him on the pitch on crutches even if he is unfit), and with Jermain Defoe still suspended, it is not an ideal time to visit an Arsenal side who will want to get those two draws out of their system quickly, and it is worth noting that Spurs haven’t won at Arsenal since 1993 either. This will be tough for the visitors, but last year’s encounter proves that anything is possible.

2) Bolton v Chelsea: Bolton will be relieved to have recorded their first home win of the season last Sunday just in time for a visit from Chelsea, who put their performances at Wigan and Villa firmly behind them with thumping wins in Europe and the League. These teams meet in the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge in midweek, but I wouldn’t look to that as any helpful guide as to what will happen in this League meeting. Of more relevance is the fact that Bolton have lost all of Chelsea’s last six visits without even scoring a goal. Bolton will be confident on current form of at least notching a goal on Saturday, but whether they can hold their visitors at bay is asking rather more of them.

3) Burnley v Hull: Despite the 3-1 scoreline, Burnley can count themselves a little unfortunate in the manner of Wigan’s equalizing goal last Saturday, but the final outcome makes this a vital match for them if they are not to be dragged into the nether regions of the table this early in the season. Admittedly, the visit of Hull won’t be seen as anything to be feared on current form, but Burnley are also on a poor run, having lost four of their last five in League and Cup. At least they are still scoring goals, though, whereas Hull managed just one pathetic shot on target during the whole of their unsurprising 0-0 draw with Portsmouth last time out. I don’t expect many goals here, either, but City may at least manage to provide Burnley with their first draw of the season.

4) Everton v Aston Villa: What a match these two produced last time this fixture was played, as Everton twice came back to equalize, with the second equalizer coming in the 90th minute, only for Ashley Young to dart up the other end and grab an injury time winner for Villa. With Everton having shipped eight goals in their last two matches (this is being written prior to the midweek trip to Spurs in the Cup), there is every chance that we may witness a similar scoreline on Saturday, but Villa just don’t appear to hold quite the same threat up front this season. John Carew has failed to score at all, even though he is keeping Emile Heskey out of the side, and Ashley Young has contributed just one League goal so far, which has placed far too much responsibility on the shoulders of Gabby Agbonlahor. A tough one to call, but an entertaining score draw may be the likeliest outcome.

5) Fulham v Liverpool: The question here is which team will be able to kick on from their achievements last Sunday? Liverpool gambled to good effect on Fernando Torres’s fitness against Man.U., but with another week to try and recover fully, he may well be able to play the whole match at Craven Cottage, and may even be joined by Steven Gerrard. Even with both of them in the side, though, it took a last minute goal from Yossi Benayoun to win this fixture for them last season, and with Fulham’s current resilience, this should provide a tough test for the Reds, and Fulham may well be able to snatch a point in what should be another tightly contested match.

6) Portsmouth v Wigan: We all know it, Paul Hart knows it, the players know it, but unless Portsmouth start putting away some of the straightforward opportunities they are creating at the moment, it will be impossible for them to drag themselves out of danger this season. The fact that they have only scored twice in a match on one occasion this season (and that was in a 3-2 defeat) is telling, and they also need to end their 0% home record at the earliest possible opportunity. Wigan had a stroke of fortune to equalize at Burnley last week, but the way they went on to convincingly win the match should sound alarm bells for Pompey. If Wigan can score another couple of goals here, we may witness the end for Paul Hart, but if we do, who would fancy the job?

7) Stoke v Wolves: A meeting of two managers you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley (or a bright one come to think of it). Stoke’s record at the Britannia, where they have only lost points to Chelsea and Man.United, will have them in hopeful mood for the visit of a Wolves side who have won just twice so far, leaving them just outside the drop zone. Now that Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has finally got off the mark in the Premiership, albeit from the penalty spot, I think he will be able to relax a bit and add significantly to his total in the coming weeks, but he will be facing a defensive unit that appeared to ride its luck extensively at White Hart Lane last weekend, before the smash-and-grab raid was completed by Glenn Whelan late on. I think the key to this one is how effective the Wolves’ defence will prove. If they can keep as tight as they did at Everton and Wigan, we may see another low-scoring draw just as in the last two renewals of this fixture, when it was played in the Championship.

8) Sunderland v West Ham: So, how will a 2-2 draw against Arsenal affect West Ham coming into this match? Had they blown a two goal lead, their confidence would have crumbled and we could have witnessed a right pasting here, particularly as Scott Parker will now serve his second suspension of the season. However, the fact that they were the team recovering from the two goal deficit will have improved the mood in the club entirely, both on the pitch and amongst the fans. The loss of Lee Cattermole to injury seemed to affect Sunderland more than I expected in their defeat at Birmingham, but their home form has been quite superb this season, with only Chelsea managing to take point from the Stadium of Light. The previous three renewals of this fixture have resulted in a narrow away win, a narrow home win and a draw, and I really wouldn’t be surprised if this was another tight struggle, perhaps providing the Hammers with a little more hope from an away point.

9) Man.United v Blackburn: As if complete capitulations at Arsenal and Chelsea weren’t bad enough, we now hear that Blackburn have several players suffering from swine flu. Ideal preparation for a visit to Old Trafford. Home win.

10) Birmingham v Man.City: At last! Somebody has obviously had a word with Alex McLeish as he finally threw caution to the wind last weekend and played more than one forward in a home match. How brave of him. The result? Their first two-goal haul of the season, three points and happy fans and owners, which begs the question why he has persisted in playing such an unadventurous system, even in home matches, for so long. I doubt whether he will continue playing 442 for this match, though, as he will be concerned about allowing players like Bellamy and Tevez too much space, even though City have failed to win any of their last three matches. Assuming , therefore, that he plays it tight, I think City may have to settle for another draw.

Three home selections and two away this week. For the cautious amongst you, combining the three home sides in Man.United, Middlesbrough and Inverness CT in a £10 treble would return £29.17 with Corals if all were successful. Adding the two aways, Southampton and Livingston, would create a £10 accumulator that would return a much healthier £96.25, also with Corals, if all won their matches.


Good Luck!