Premier League Football Blog

Liverpool vs Chelsea In The UFC Again

2009-04-08T14:13:00.002+01:00

Just from time to time football throws up some spooky shit. Take the Champions League draw this year for example. For the 5th year in a row Liverpool will play Chelsea - surely there has to be some pyscho scouse voodoo shit going on there? Secretly I think that Liverpool love playing those European new boys, Chelsea. If it wasn't for last years blip they'd have a perfect record against the blues.

My money is firmly on Liverpool to beat Chelsea in the Champions League again - I wait to be proved wrong.

Alan Shearer Returns To Newcastle

2009-04-01T08:56:00.000+01:00

It's either going to be one of the funniest April fools ever (as long as you're not a Geordie) or Alan Shearer really is going to manage Newcastle until the end of the season.

Newcastle are currently kneck deep in shit so desperate times call for desperate measures. But, and it's a big but. The Newcastle fans don't see this as a desperate measure do they? Then honestly expect a man with NO managerial experience to rocket them up the league?!

Me thinks this is going to make excellent car crash TV.

Another One Hits The Slammer

2009-02-05T16:14:00.001Z

Seems it's the turn of Micah Richards to get in to trouble. You have to wonder how these footballers manage to get themselves into such shit on such a regular basis? Richards always came across well on TV, you'd never of had him down for assault outside a nightclub. Then again with everything that is going on at Man City at the moment maybe it has unsettle him?

Who knows, either way the reputation of footballers just seems to get worse and worse.

Chanting Steven Gerrards Name

2009-01-26T20:44:00.002Z

This made me laugh, the number of times that Steven Gerrard has got away with stuff is incredible. The one that springs straight to mind was the day when that kid "ran into his car", cough cough!

So with the recent run in with the law and various rumours about his Mrs it's only fitting that there are some quality Stevie G chants going around at the moment! Never mind, I'm sure he'll get away with it. England's saviour and all that.

Another Big Weekend Chelsea - Man Utd

2008-09-19T09:05:00.002+01:00

After Liverpools stuffing of Manchester United last weekend (did somebody replace the Man Utd team at half time with imposters?) it's yet another big weekend ahead. The current champions travel down to London to play Chelsea in what a lot of people are seeing as a must win game now. I don't think it's got to that stage yet but if Man Utd do lose on Sunday that will leave them 9 points behind Chelsea after only 4-5 games!

This weekends full fixture list looks like this:-

Saturday

12:45 Sunderland - Middlesbrough
15:00 Blackburn - Fulham
15:00 Liverpool - Stoke
15:00 West Ham - Newcastle
17:30 Bolton - Arsenal

Sunday

12:00 West Brom - Aston Villa
14:00 Chelsea - Manchester Utd
15:00 Hull - Everton
15:00 Manchester City - Portsmouth
15:00 Tottenham - Wigan

I'd like to give the egg chasers a mention this weekend as well. Tomorrow an England all stars 15 takes on a world 15 in the Help For Heroes match, raising funds for our over worked armsed forces. Amongst the big names taking part include Martin Johnson and Jason Robinson. I've got no idea how the hell a freindly is supposed to work in Rugby so it should be well worth a watch!

Liverpool vs Manchester United

2008-09-09T14:50:00.003+01:00

I've been out of the country for a couple of weeks, soaking up some US sunshine hence the lack of updates. It had absolutely nothing to do with me running from angry Man Utd fans after accusing the club of being an empty wallet! ;)

Anyway, so I was proved wrong and Manchester United did sign Berbatov whilst Man City turned their attention to the "I'll go anywhere where the money is" Robinho. Well done lads, I'm SURE he'll try really hard for Man City, yeah, honestly!

So after the early season international break this weekends fixture look like this:-

Saturday

13:45 Liverpool - Manchester Utd
16:00 Blackburn - Arsenal
16:00 Fulham - Bolton
16:00 Newcastle - Hull
16:00 Portsmouth - Middlesbrough
16:00 West Brom - West Ham
16:00 Wigan - Sunderland
18:30 Manchester City - Chelsea

Sunday

14.09. 14:30 Stoke - Everton

Monday

15.09. 21:00 Tottenham - Aston Villa

No prizes for guessing what the highlight of the weekend "should" be. Current league leaders Liverpool get to take on the holders Man Utd at Anfield. Expect bitterness a plenty.

The other interesting game sees Chelsea travel to Man City. This will give Robinho the perfect opportunity to see exactly what level his current team is at compared to a real title contender. Should be a laugh.

Spurs Accept Bid For Berbatov From Man City

2008-09-01T15:52:00.002+01:00

Didn't see that one coming, I'm mightily pissed off! Not for any other reason though than a few days ago I was very very tempted to stick a tenner on him not going to Man Utd. The bookies were treating it as a done deal (10/1 in some cases). I reckon Manchester United are an empty wallet this year, the Glazier dealings and debt finally catching up with them. I was fairly confident that they wouldn't be able to afford Spurs valuation and would end up signing nobody. Even the normally confident SAF has been noticable by his quiteness.

Oh well, next time I'll put my money where my mouth is.

Did You Learn Anything From The Opening Games?

2008-08-22T14:35:00.002+01:00

I know I didn't, surprisingly everything looks amazingly similar to how last season ended. Liverpool relying heavily on Torres + Luck, Arsenal still looking short of a title challenge, Chelsea looking awesome and Man Utd looking toothless up front. The rest will be in the mix for the other 16 spots.

Here's this weekends games, hopefully we'll get a few more goals this time:-
23.08. 16:00 Blackburn - Hull
23.08. 16:00 Liverpool - Middlesbrough
23.08. 16:00 Newcastle - Bolton
23.08. 16:00 Stoke - Aston Villa
23.08. 16:00 Tottenham - Sunderland
23.08. 16:00 West Brom - Everton
23.08. 18:30 Fulham - Arsenal
24.08. 14:30 Wigan - Chelsea
24.08. 17:00 Manchester City - West Ham
25.08. 21:00 Portsmouth - Manchester Utd

Are Manchester United Fans Worried Yet?

2008-08-08T13:12:00.002+01:00

If not they should be! Sir Alex Ferguson has said himself on numerous times, the best time to strengthen your squad is when you're at the top. For the first summer in possibly the last 15 years Manchester United haven't dont that. No signings of any note have come into Old Trafford, instead a number of promising home grown youngsters have been allowed to leave.

The Ronaldo saga seems to have distracted Manchester United from actually going out and strengthening, prefering to spend their time and energies on keeping the posing Portugese toss pot. Keeping Ronaldo is not the same as buying new players, it's just not! No doubt by the end of October we'll get to see if the Man Utd transfer strategy (all lack of it) has been a wise one or if as I think a lot of people suspect, the stregthening of squads by Liverpool and Chelsea has been enough to catch up and maybe overtake the Old Trafford outfit. Either that or will there be a mad scramble of signings this month?

Transfer Stories I'm Bored Of Hearing About Already

2008-07-16T12:24:00.002+01:00

Gareth Barry Leaving Villa - Who really gives a crap? He plays well in a mediocre England setup and all of a sudden he's hugely in demand. As a player he does everything OK, nothing special and there are dozens of foreign midfielders that are heguly more impressive. I really hope he goes to Liverpool :)

Ronaldo - Takes 10 shots and scores with 1. What people tend to forget (not least of all Ronaldo himself) about Ronaldo is that he plays well in a great team with huge support from the other players. Put him in a not so great team like Portugal and he looks a little ordinary. If the player wants away from Manchester United so bad then why not just sell him. Like when Beckham, Ruud and Cantona left in the past the Manchester United will survive.

Ronaldinho - Hands up if you really believed for one minute that he'd consider playing for Manchester City? Surely there aren't many hands. At least this one has finally come to an end today with the news that he's signing for Milan. It's funny how the people desperate for his signature wil now tell you that he was too old (at 28???) anyway and an injury risk. I'd like to see one noncy poncy modern day footballer who isn't an injury risk?

Berbatov - Moody little fucker isn't he?

Premier League 2008/2009 Opening Fixtures

2008-06-16T15:43:00.001+01:00

Just released, opening day fixtures for the 2008/2009 Premier League Season:-

Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion 15:00 Emirates Stadium
Aston Villa v Manchester City 15:00 Villa Park
Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City 15:00 Reebok Stadium
Chelsea v Portsmouth 15:00 Stamford Bridge
West Ham United v Wigan Athletic 15:00 Boleyn Ground
Hull City v Fulham 15:00 Kingston Comms Stadium
Manchester United v Newcastle United 15:00 Old Trafford
Middlesbrough v Tottenham Hotspur 15:00 The Riverside Stadium
Sunderland v Liverpool 15:00 Stadium of Light
Everton v Blackburn Rovers 15:00 Goodison Park

Greece - Is It Too Late To Change My Mind?

2008-06-11T12:34:00.002+01:00

So I watched the Sweden - Greece game last night. After singing the praises of what a good tournament I thought Euro 2008 was going to be how come the team that I pick to support tries to spoil the whole thing? They were rubbish! They were worse than rubbish, they were plain boring! Have you ever seen an international tournament start where the defending champions are doing nothing but passing it between the back 3 whilst the other team look on bewildered?

I was glad Greece got beat, no team with such a negative outlook deserves anything. The only trouble is now I have to find a new team to support through Euro 2008, any ideas?

First Impressions Of Euro 2008

2008-06-09T09:44:00.002+01:00

Are all good! Depsite there being no home nations in the finals I'm still going to watch most of the games.

From what I've seen so far it's got of to a great start, a few goals, plenty of fast paced games with both teams going for it. Considering it's the weaker half of the draw both Portugal and Germany looked good whilst both the host nations were a little unlucky to lose. Maybe I'm just biased but with so many star players playing in the Premiership I thing the speed of the game in this national tournament is a better than anything I've seen recently? The games for the most part have been genuinely exciting, not the dull "everybody sit back in case we lose" affairs that you often see in the early games of the European Championships. Maybe some of the players enjoy the faster pace?

I've decided I'm going to support Greece, not because they won last time but because I was holidaying in Greece at the time and made a few Greek friends whilst watching the footy in the local bars. Happy days. It was either that or Poland (we are practically Polish now in Britain aren't we?) but seeing as how they lost against the Square Heads I'll settle for Greece.

Champions League Final

2008-05-21T16:39:00.002+01:00

So after all the build we're finally nearly there, the Champions League Final. For the first time ever 2 English teams will compete in the final for Europe's premier club football trophy. Manchester United should start as slight favourites having already secured the Premier League trophy, however I think there are a couple of things that might favour Chelsea in this one "Roman's Billions"! Everybody is expecting a very close game and when that happens you just can't help getting that feeling that Roman has splashed a little cash to get a "fair" result. Back in his home land where rules are only there for the breaking, who knows what will happen? There's also the small matter of the pitch, it's crap. Newly put down and with clear gaps between the turf sections this is really going to go against the better passing of the two teams, especially if we get the heavy rain that has been forecast tonight. Anyway, we'll just have to wait and see, if I had a £1 to put on the game I think I'd put it on Chelsea.

The game will be covered everywhere, ITV and Sky are covering the final in the UK, with Sky showing it in HD. I can't even begin to list all the online channels (via SOPCAST and TVAnts) that are showing the Champions League Final. There are literally dozens of them, any ESPN channel will be a safe bet. Not that you should be watching this online anyway, get down the pub with your friends!

Premier League - All Over For Another Year

2008-05-13T21:19:00.002+01:00

So that it all done with for another year (well until August anyway). Congratulations go to Manchester United for holding their nerve on the last day. No sooner did this years Premier League season come to an end than the cheque books were out ready for next year. No doubt crazy amounts of money will soon be getting thrown about. This is how the final league table looks:-

Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Man Utd 38 17 1 1 47 7 10 5 4 33 15 58 87
2 Chelsea 38 12 7 0 36 13 13 3 3 29 13 39 85
3 Arsenal 38 14 5 0 37 11 10 6 3 37 20 43 83
4 Liverpool 38 12 6 1 43 13 9 7 3 24 15 39 76
5 Everton 38 11 4 4 34 17 8 4 7 21 16 22 65
6 Aston Villa 38 10 3 6 34 22 6 9 4 37 29 20 60
7 Blackburn 38 8 7 4 26 19 7 6 6 24 29 2 58
8 Portsmouth 38 7 8 4 24 14 9 1 9 24 26 8 57
9 Man City 38 11 4 4 28 20 4 6 9 17 33 -8 55
10 West Ham 38 7 7 5 24 24 6 3 10 18 26 -8 49
11 Tottenham 38 8 5 6 46 34 3 8 8 20 27 5 46
12 Newcastle 38 8 5 6 25 26 3 5 11 20 39 -20 43
13 Middlesbrough 38 7 5 7 27 23 3 7 9 16 30 -10 42
14 Wigan 38 8 5 6 21 17 2 5 12 13 34 -17 40
15 Sunderland 38 9 3 7 23 21 2 3 14 13 38 -23 39
16 Bolton 38 7 5 7 23 18 2 5 12 13 36 -18 37
17 Fulham 38 5 5 9 22 31 3 7 9 16 29 -22 36
18 Reading 38 8 2 9 19 25 2 4 13 22 41 -25 36
19 Birmingham 38 6 8 5 30 23 2 3 14 16 39 -16 35
20 Derby 38 1 5 13 12 43 0 3 16 8 46 -69 11

Football things to look forward to include the Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, the Uefa Cup final featuring Rangers and of course the FA Cup Final (featuring 2 no hopers that nobody really cares about :)

In the summer we've got the European Championships, unfortunately there won't be any British teams taking part in the finals. On the plus side there will be plenty of Premier League star players to watch.

Last Day Of The Season

2008-05-09T11:56:00.002+01:00

So we all know for sure now that the Premier League title for the 2007/2008 season is going to go all the way down to the last day, although not perhaps the 2 teams that many of us would have guessed going on form at the start of the season. Can you remember when Man Utd were having real problems scoring and Chelsea were all over the place with Jose rumours? To give us all a grand finale it has been arranged that the final games of the Premier League season will all kick-off at the same time, 3pm on Sunday the 11th of May 2008.

Manchester United will travel to Wigan on the last day whilst Chelsea host Bolton. As long as Manchester United can get the same result as Chelsea they will win the title (Unless of course Chelsea win by 19 goals). Chelsea will be hoping that Wigan provide a stiffer task for United than what West Ham did last Saturday. In the same way Manchester United will be hoping that Bolton can do more than what Newcastle managed in a game that many though would really test Chelsea.

At the other end of the table any 2 teams from Birmingham, Reading, Fulham and Bolton could still be relegated. Bolton have goal difference very much in their favour and barring some extremely high scoring matches they should be safe. That leaves Birmingham, Reading and Fulham all battling it out for one place of safety.

These are the final fixtures for the 2007/2008 Premier League Season:-

11.05. 15:00 Birmingham - Blackburn
11.05. 15:00 Chelsea - Bolton
11.05. 15:00 Derby - Reading
11.05. 15:00 Everton - Newcastle
11.05. 15:00 Middlesbrough - Manchester City
11.05. 15:00 Portsmouth - Fulham
11.05. 15:00 Sunderland - Arsenal
11.05. 15:00 Tottenham - Liverpool
11.05. 15:00 West Ham - Aston Villa
11.05. 15:00 Wigan - Manchester Utd

It is estimated that some 200 million people from all around the world will be tuning in live to watch how the Premier League is settled. I'll post details on Sunday morning of all the games that are showing live online. Combining live streams with your television might be the best way of capturing as much of the live football action as possible.

A Bad Week

2008-05-02T13:50:00.002+01:00

I've been sick all week so no updates. Typical as well, the week that saw Chelsea beat Man Utd to keep the title race alive and both teams make it to what will be the first ever all English Champions League final. I did look at going but the £3000 price tag put me off a bit!

Anyway enough of me and my bad stomach, here are the weekends second to last Premier League Fixtures.

03.05. 12:45 Manchester Utd - West Ham
03.05. 15:00 Aston Villa - Wigan
03.05. 15:00 Blackburn - Derby
03.05. 15:00 Fulham - Birmingham
03.05. 15:00 Middlesbrough - Portsmouth
03.05. 15:00 Reading - Tottenham
03.05. 17:15 Bolton - Sunderland
04.05. 13:30 Arsenal - Everton
04.05. 16:00 Liverpool - Manchester City
05.05. 16:00 Newcastle - Chelsea

Plenty of action there both at the top and at the bottom. As far as the title goes the long and short of it is that if Manchester United win both their games then baring a Chelsea miracle of goalscoring they will lift the title. If united draw or lose any game and Chelsea win both theirs then Chelsea win. It's as simple as that really.

At the bottom things are a little more complicated, too complicated for me to go into all the possibilities! I reckon Reading and Birmingham will go down though.

Chelsea - Manchester United

2008-04-25T14:26:00.002+01:00

So after months of hearing on Sky Sports about how "this game is the decider" I think it's fair to say that the game tomorrow between Chelsea and Manchester United at the bridge really is going to go a long way towards deciding where this years Premier League title goes.

I've already arranged for a few people to come around the house and catch all the action in full 47" ambilight HD glory. Can't wait, I just hope for all our sakes that the game lives up to the hype and isn't a replay of possibly the worst FA Cup final ever.

The full weekends fixtures look like this:-

26.04. 12:45 Chelsea - Manchester Utd
26.04. 15:00 Birmingham - Liverpool
26.04. 15:00 Manchester City - Fulham
26.04. 15:00 Sunderland - Middlesbrough
26.04. 15:00 Tottenham - Bolton
26.04. 15:00 West Ham - Newcastle
26.04. 15:00 Wigan - Reading
27.04. 13:30 Portsmouth - Blackburn
27.04. 16:00 Everton - Aston Villa
28.04. 20:00 Derby - Arsenal

Only 4 Games To Go

2008-04-19T08:54:00.002+01:00

As this Premier League season comes to and end every game both at the top and at the bottom becomes vital. If Manchester United win at Blackburn today it will leave them 5 points clear with only 3 games to play, a result that means they could afford to lose to Chelsea as long as they win and draw their last 2 games and still lift the title.

At the bottom last weekends results dragged several more teams into the mire although obviously it is still very much up to Bolton and Fulham to get themselves out. Fulham host Liverpool whilst Bolton travel to Middlesborough, neither of which are easy games. There is a fair chance that by Monday we should have a much clearer idea of who is going down. The top will also maybe become a little clearer after Chelsea play on Monday night.

Todays full fixture list looks like this:-
12:45 Arsenal - Reading
15:00 Fulham - Liverpool
15:00 Middlesbrough - Bolton
15:00 West Ham - Derby
15:00 Wigan - Tottenham
17:15 Blackburn - Manchester Utd

As you can probably guess from the timings the Arsenal v Reading game is being covered live on Sky (and Sky HD) today where as Blackburn v Man Utd is showing on Setanta Sports (Setanta don't have a HD channel yet!)

If you're looking to watch live football over the internet then these game may be available.

Arsenal - Reading - TrueSport 1 on SOPCast and TVAnts and BEN1 Sports on SOPcast.

Wigan - Spurs - TrueSport 3 on SOPCast and TVAnts.

Middlesborough - Bolton - TrueSport 5 on TVAnts.

Fulham - Liverpool - TrueSport 1 on SOPCast and TVAnts.

West Ham - Derby - Live7 on TVAnts.

Blackburn - Manchester United - Star Sports, True Sport 3 both on SOPCast and TVAnts.

Everton - Chelsea

2008-04-17T17:36:00.001+01:00

Only 3 days after drawing against Wigan at home Chelsea travel to Liverpool tonight to take on Everton in a battle that could prove pivotal in this years title race. Anything but a win tonight for Chelsea will really put Man Utd as firm favourites for the title.

Seeing as how tonight's game was re-scheduled especially for TV (against the wishes of both Everton and Chelsea) it goes without saying that Shy will be covering all the action live in standard and high definition.

Online the game is showing on True Sport 1 on SOPCast and TVAnts and Euro Soccer on TVAnts.

Chelsea - Wigan

2008-04-14T14:17:00.002+01:00

Just the 1 Premier League game tonight, and one which by all accounts should be a formality. Wigan play Chelsea at Stamford bridge, Chelsea trying to hold on to Manchester Uniteds coat tails at the top and Wigan fighting for survival in the Premier League. BetFair certainly aren't giving much chance of anything other than a Chelsea win, ha, we all know that Premier League isn't quite that predictable?! Coverage tonight is provided by Setanta who are taking a rare break from showing Celtic/Liverpool games. For those without there are a few options for watching this game online:-

Chelsea - Wigan, True Sports 1 on TVAnts and SOPCast or BEN1 Sports on SOPCast.

Super Sunday

2008-04-13T12:21:00.002+01:00

A couple of big games today for those of us lucky enough not to have been dragged to the garden centre by the other half.

At 1:30 Liverpool host Blackburn. No doubt Liverpool will be looking forward to concentrating on the game of football rather than the wrangling that seems to dominate the club at the moment. It will be interesting to see how all the board level arguing has affect the team, this could be a very tough game for Liverpool and a slip up would let Everton back into the race for fourth. The Liverpool - Blackburn game is being covered live on Sky Sports (also in HD).

Then later in the day Man Utd play Arsenal at Old Trafford in a game that will go a long way towards deciding this years title. A Man Utd victory will put Arsenal out of the race and maybe give them the momentum they need to win consecutive titles. On the other hand an Arsenal win will not only put them firmly back in the race but will also open the door for Chelsea as well. Kick-off is at 4pm on Sky Sports 1 (and HD).

As you would expect there will be plenty of online coverage of these 2 games.

Liverpool - Blackburn, live on True Sport1 on SOPCast and TVAnts.

Man Utd - Arsenal, live on True Sport1 on SOPCast and TVAnts as well as BEN1 Sports on SOPCast.

Live Internet Football

2008-04-12T13:02:00.002+01:00

Very busy today, just enough time to post these details of how to watch todays Premier League games live on the internet.

Spurs v Middlesborough - True Sports 5 on TVAnts.

Sunderland v Man City - True Sports 1 on SOPCast and TVAnts.

Reading v Fulham - Soccer on TVUPlayer.

Derby v Villa - Live 7 on TVAnts.

Birmingham v Everton - Star Sports on SOPcast and TVAnts.

Portsmouth v Newcastle - Star Sports and True Sport 3 on SOPCast and TVAnts.

Man Utd v Arsenal, Title Decider?

2008-04-11T16:11:00.002+01:00

Well not if Chelsea have any say in it but this weekends games between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford could prove to be pivotal in this years title race. Realistically if Arsenal lose that puts them out of the race, something they will be desperate to avoid seeing as how the Premier League title is there last chance at silverware this season after being dumped out of Europe on Tuesday by Liverpool. Manchester United on the other hand will see this game as an opportunity to strength their position at the top of the table, they stand a good chance of doing this after resting so many star players in their 1-0 walk in the park against Roma on Wednesday.

The rest of this weekends fixtures look like this:-

12.04 15:00 Birmingham - Everton
12.04 15:00 Bolton - West Ham
12.04 15:00 Derby - Aston Villa
12.04 15:00 Reading - Fulham
12.04 15:00 Sunderland - Manchester City
12.04 15:00 Tottenham - Middlesbrough
12.04 17:15 Portsmouth - Newcastle
13.04 13:30 Liverpool - Blackburn
13.04 16:00 Manchester Utd - Arsenal
14.04 20:00 Chelsea - Wigan

(All times BST)

I'll post details on how you can watch the games live over the weekend.

Man Utd - Roma

2008-04-09T16:56:00.002+01:00

Tonight, 7:45 kick off. Both tonight's second quarter final second legs are showing live on Sky Sports. Other than that just about every sports channel in the world will be showing the games, many available over the internet.

By the way did anybody see the Liverpool, Arsenal game yesterday? Way to show the rest of Europe why the Premier League is the best league in the world! Both teams went at it in what was really a traditional English cup tie. Thought Liverpool were a bit lucky with the penalty but then again it was one of those games where nobody deserved to lose. Should probably say well done to Chelsea as well, but then again I can't stand them. Buying 30,000 flags for your fans? You can't buy atmosphere and tradition Roman!