Wednesday 1 May 2013

Premier League Predictions - 4th-8th May 2013


An extended version of this week’s Porter’s Predictions due to some Premier League teams having midweek fixtures this week too. This week’s weekend and midweek fixtures include Norwich vs Aston Villa, Liverpool vs Everton, Manchester United vs Chelsea, Sunderland vs Stoke and Chelsea vs Tottenham.

Saturday

Fulham 3-1 Reading
Norwich 1-2 Aston Villa
Swansea 2-2 Man City
Tottenham 3-0 Southampton
West Brom 2-0 Wigan
West Ham 2-1 Newcastle
QPR 0-2 Arsenal

Sunday

Liverpool 1-1 Everton
Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea

Monday

Sunderland 1-1 Stoke

Tuesday

Man City 3-1 West Brom
Wigan 2-1 Swansea

Wednesday

Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham












Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Thursday 25 April 2013

Premier League Predictions - 27th-29th April 2013


Here we are with another round of Premier League fixtures meaning another round of predictions. Manchester United confirmed their 20th title on Monday night with a win against Aston Villa, but there are still key games left to decide European spots and in the battle for survival.

This weekend, there is Stoke vs Norwich, Reading vs QPR, Arsenal vs Manchester United and Aston Villa vs Sunderland. Here are my predictions for this weekend (with explanations too!).

Saturday
Man City 3-0 West Ham
Everton 2-1 Fulham
Southampton 1-1 West Brom
Stoke 1-1 Norwich
Wigan 1-3 Tottenham
Newcastle 2-1 Liverpool

Sunday
Reading 2-3 QPR
Chelsea 2-0 Swansea
Arsenal 2-2 Man Utd

Monday
Aston Villa 2-1 Sunderland



Saturday

Man City 3-0 West Ham
– City’s home form has been impressive all season long and I don’t think this Saturday against West Ham will draw up any exceptions. West Ham has been on good form, unbeaten in their last five games, but I think this run will end against the former champions.

Everton 2-1 Fulham – A disappointing loss against Sunderland last week will be the fuel Everton will use to produce a win this weekend. Prior to last week, Everton hadn’t lost since February and I think they will recapture this form. Fulham need Berbatov to get on the score sheet if they are to have any chance of winning. They haven’t scored a goal themselves since they played QPR at the start of the month (own goal vs Aston Villa). Everton should win though as they are unbeaten at home in 2013.

Southampton 1-1 West Brom –
In recent games, Southampton have been good at home but only been able to produce wins against the bigger sides. A point this weekend will take them past the magic 40-point mark which will most likely grant them Premier League football next season. There isn’t a lot West Brom can still go for this season as they no longer can achieve a European spot, but they shouldn’t sit back as Southampton will be tough opposition.

Stoke 1-1 Norwich ­–
Both sides won last weekend so they’ll hope to repeat this form this weekend. With the threat of the drop still in sight, this game should be a good one. Both sides lack a frequent goal scorer though so it should be close. If Stoke still had the home form they had in 2012 this year, this result would be going Stoke’s way, but with only one win at home in all of 2013, a draw is a more likely result.

Wigan 1-3 Tottenham –
Wigan are usually impressive at this time of year against the bigger teams. With Tottenham though still looking to earn Champions League qualification, I think their push for survival will be halted this weekend. Tottenham will be high in confidence after picking up a win against Manchester City last weekend so I think another win is on the cards for them this weekend.

Newcastle 2-1 Liverpool –
The loss of Luis Suarez for Liverpool is a big one, as he has helped his side get out of a lot of trouble. This is therefore a great opportunity for Newcastle to pick up all three points this weekend. Having won five of their last eight league games, Newcastle could reach the magic 40-point mark this weekend with a win, increasing their chances of survival. They’ll be hoping Cisse will be able to find the net for them this weekend.

Sunday

Reading 2-3 QPR – This fixture will be one of the best games to watch this weekend, in a ‘Go hard or face the drop’ match up. If either one of these sides loses this weekend they’ll be the first side to be relegated from the Premier League this season. A draw wouldn't be enough to keep both sides up for another day (till the result of the Aston Villa game), but I think QPR will be able to find a win, meaning Reading will be the first side to be relegated.

Chelsea 2-0 Swansea –
Chelsea have been undefeated in the last six games at home in the Premier League and Swansea have failed to pick up an away win the Premier League in 2013. Chelsea still need to secure their Champions League spot too so a win this weekend will take them one step closer. Swansea has failed to win in their last five games but they have drawn their last two games, so progress is being made. However, I don’t think they will be able to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal 2-2 Man Utd –
Manchester United secured another Premier League title with a 3-0 win against Aston Villa last Monday. Unlucky for Arsenal fans then as they will have to give Robin van Persie and the rest of the Manchester United squad the guard of honour when they walk out onto the Emirates pitch this weekend. Manchester United has stated that they are aiming to break the Premier League points record so don’t doubt that they will hold anything back this weekend. Like Tottenham and Chelsea though, Arsenal are still looking to secure a Champions League spot for next season, so I think a draw will be a most likely result.

Monday

Aston Villa 2-1 Sunderland – Both sides are still fighting for survival, so finding a win is vital. Aston Villa could send QPR and Reading down this weekend with a win and with Benteke finding the score sheet quite often in the last few games, this is looking likely. Sunderland will hope to continue their good start under new manager, Paulo Di Canio with another win but I think the likes of Weimann, Benteke and Agbonlahor will be too much for them to handle.














Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Thursday 18 April 2013

Premier League Predictions - 20th, 21st & 22nd April 2013


Another weekend is approaching so another weekend of Premier League action is on the horizon. Some of this weekend’s fixtures include Norwich vs Reading, QPR vs Stoke and Swansea vs Southampton on Saturday, and Tottenham vs Man City and Liverpool vs Chelsea on Sunday. Here are my predictions for this weekend’s action.

Saturday
Fulham 1-2 Arsenal
Norwich 1-1 Reading
QPR 1-0 Stoke
Sunderland 1-2 Everton
Swansea 3-2 Southampton
West Brom 2-1 Newcastle
West Ham 1-1 Wigan

Sunday
Tottenham 2-2 Man City
Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea

Monday
Man Utd 3-0 Aston Villa












Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Premier League & FA Cup Predictions - 13th-17th April 2013


Another weekend of Premier League and FA Cup fixtures just around the corner means another round of ‘Porter’s Predictions’ for you guys to enjoy. This round will also include the midweek fixtures too. Aren’t you lucky people!! Anyways, this load of Premier League fixtures include Aston Villa vs Fulham, Newcastle vs Sunderland, Arsenal vs Everton and Fulham vs Chelsea.

The FA Cup is at the semi-final stage which means games are now being played at Wembley. This weekend, Wembley will play host to Millwall vs Wigan and Chelsea vs Manchester City. Here are my predictions.

Premier League

Saturday
Arsenal 3-0 Norwich
Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham
Everton 2-1 QPR
Reading 1-3 Liverpool

Southampton 2-1 West Ham

Sunday
Newcastle 3-1 Sunderland
Stoke 1-2 Man Utd

Tuesday
Arsenal 2-1 Everton

Wednesday
Man City 3-0 Wigan
West Ham 2-3 Man Utd
Fulham 2-2 Chelsea

FA Cup

Saturday
Millwall 1-2 Wigan

Sunday
Chelsea 1-2 Man City












Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Thursday 4 April 2013

Premier League Predictions - 6th, 7th & 8th April 2013


As I do every week, here are my predictions for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures. The likes of Aston Villa, Southampton and QPR put up good fights against their opponents last weekend. Hopefully those teams mentioned and the rest of the Premier League teams will do this again to provide us with some exciting football games to watch. Some of the key games to watch this weekend include Reading vs Southampton, West Brom vs Arsenal, Tottenham vs Everton, QPR vs Wigan and Manchester United vs Manchester City. Here are my predictions.

Saturday
Reading 0-2 Southampton
Norwich1-2 Swansea
Stoke 2-2 Aston Villa
West Brom 2-3 Arsenal

Sunday
Liverpool 3-0 West Ham
Tottenham 2-1 Everton
Chelsea 4-0 Sunderland
Newcastle 2-2 Fulham
QPR 1-2 Wigan

Monday
Man Utd 3-1 Man City












Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Monday 1 April 2013

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United - FA Cup quarter-final replay

Stefan Wermu - Reuters 

Chelsea’s Demba Ba produced the only goal in the FA Cup quarter-final replay win against Manchester United, setting them up with a semi-final tie at Wembley against Manchester City.

The game lacked life during the first 20 minutes of the game, as both sides were unable to find any rhythm in their game and were producing sloppy passing.

This may have been down to the fact a lot of players may have been tired from playing internationals during the last week and league fixtures during the weekend.

After Ashley Cole was subbed off the field and replaced by Ryan Bertrand due to a hamstring problem, the game started to earn a bit of life.

Javier Hernandez tried to take a shot inside Chelsea’s penalty area, but he took one turn too many and lost the ball to Ramires, who cleared.

Chelsea had a chance of their own not long later when Eden Hazard went on a good run, wrong footing Chris Smalling along the way, and then rolling the ball to Demba Ba.

Ba then had a shot from the right side of the penalty area but this shot was saved by David De Gea which caused the ball to go out for a throw in.

Moments later, Chelsea was given a free kick thanks to a Nani handball. David Luiz took the free kick, which went over the cross bar convincingly.

After this, Nani tried to redeem himself with a long shot in Chelsea’s half, but the ball went wide of Petr Cech’s right hand post.

Hazard then formed a nice one-two partnership with Oscar inside Manchester United’s penalty area, but his shot went harmlessly over De Gea’s crossbar.

Hernandez was the next Manchester United player to have a shot from range on Cech’s goal. His shot was on target, and was only saved by the feet of Cech as the ball swerved in the air.

Just before half time, John Obi Mikel had a shot on the edge of the area for Chelsea but the ball hit Smalling and went for a corner.

Nothing came from this corner for Chelsea, so the half time score was 0-0.
Manchester United started off with the first chance of the second half as Luiz fouled Phil Jones on the edge of the area, giving them a free kick.

Nani took the free kick but his shot hit the wall and his following cross was plucked out of the air by Cech.

Two minutes later, Chelsea broke the deadlock.

Ba outstretched his leg to make contact with a Juan Mata ball and he put enough power on the ball to guide it past De Gea to the left side of the net, giving Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

Manchester United replied not too long after this with an opportunity to get on the score sheet.

A cross by Danny Welbeck gave Hernandez a close range header and a chance to score, but his header pulled out a fantastic save by Cech.

Mata responded for Chelsea after picking up a nice through ball by Hazard in the left side of Manchester United’s area, but his shot hit the side netting.

Michael Carrick then had a chance for Manchester United, but he should have passed the ball instead of taking the shot as he had better options around him. His shot from the edge of the area went wide.

Carrick made another error moments later as his lose pass was picked up by Hazard. Hazard then dribbled the ball to the penalty area but his shot went wide of the right hand post.

After this chance, Chelsea looked more likely to score as Oscar’s shot five minutes before the 90 minute mark went wide of the left hand post.

Robin Van Persie had the best chance in the last few minutes for Manchester United as he was able to volley a Patrice Evra cross, but his volley went over the bar.

This was an unusual site from Van Persie, who has been scoring goals for fun this season.

No more real opportunities occurred for either side, which meant the score finished Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United.

This win for Chelsea sets them up with a trip to Wembley to play Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on the 14th April.

Line-ups

Chelsea
01 Cech
02 Ivanovic
03 Cole (Bertrand - 21’ (Booked))
04 David Luiz
28 Azpilicueta (Booked)
07 Ramires
10 Mata (Booked)
11 Oscar (Booked) (Moses 90’)
12 Mikel
17 Hazard
29 Ba (Torres 90’)

Substitutes
22 Turnbull
26 Terry
34 Bertrand
08 Lampard
13 Moses
30 Benayoun
09 Torres

Manchester United
01 De Gea
03 Evra
04 Jones
05 Ferdinand
12 Smalling
07 Valencia
16 Carrick
17 Nani (Giggs 65’)
23 Cleverley (Booked) (Van Persie 61’)
14 Hernandez
19 Welbeck (Young 80’)

Substitutes
13 Lindegaard
36 Vermijl
11 Giggs
18 Young
25 Powell
26 Kagawa
20 Van Persie

Man of the Match: Demba Ba

Ref:
Dowd











Twitter - @ConorJPorter

Thursday 28 March 2013

Premier League Predictions - 30th, 31st March & 1st April 2013


Did you miss me? I missed you guys and gals!The Premier League is back after the international break with some exciting fixtures kicking off the run-in to the end of the season. Some of the fixtures this weekend include Sunderland vs Manchester United, Swansea vs Tottenham Hotspur, Everton vs Stoke, Aston Villa vs Liverpool and Fulham vs QPR. Here are my predictions for this weekend’s fixtures.

Saturday
Sunderland 0-2 Man Utd
Arsenal 2-0 Reading
Man City 3-1 Newcastle
Southampton 1-2 Chelsea
Swansea 1-2 Tottenham
West Ham 0-1 West Brom
Wigan 2-1 Norwich
Everton 2-0 Stoke

Sunday
Aston Villa 1-3 Liverpool

Monday
Fulham 3-0 QPR

twitter - @ConorJPorter

Thursday 14 March 2013

Premier League Predictions - 16th & 17th March 2013



All Premier League teams are back in action this weekend. Some of the ties include a Saturday early kick-off between Everton vs Manchester City, Aston Villa vs QPR, West Brom vs Stoke and Manchester United vs Reading in the Saturday Evening game. On Sunday, there is Sunderland vs Norwich and Tottenham vs Fulham. Here are my predictions for this weekend’s action (Kick-offs at 3pm unless stated).

Saturday

Everton 2-2 Man City (K.O. 12:45pm)
Aston Villa 1-1 QPR
Southampton 1-2 Liverpool
Stoke 1-1 West Brom
Swansea 2-2 Arsenal
Man Utd 4-1 Reading (K.O. 5:30pm)

Sunday

Sunderland 1-0 Norwich (K.O. 1:30pm)
Tottenham 2-1 Fulham
Chelsea 2-1 West Ham (K.O. 4pm)
Wigan 1-1 Newcastle (K.O. 4pm)

Twitter - @ConorJPorter
Other blogs and sites I contribute to: http://nflmad.wordpress.com/ & http://www.letstalksport.org.uk/

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Premier League & FA Cup Predictions - 9th &10th March 2013


This weekend’s football action is a mixture of Premier League and FA Cup with some exciting ties lined up that could provide some upsets.

Premier League fixtures include West Brom vs Swansea and Reading facing off against fellow strugglers Aston Villa on Saturday and Liverpool vs Tottenham on Sunday.

In the FA Cup, Everton play against Wigan and Man City host Barnsley on Saturday. Also, Millwall play against Blackburn and Man Utd host fellow Premier League side Chelsea on Sunday.

Here are my predictions for this weekend’s fixtures (Kick-offs at 3pm unless stated).

Premier League

Saturday

Norwich 1-2 Southampton
QPR 2-1 Sunderland
Reading 1-1 Aston Villa
West Brom 1-1 Swansea

Sunday

Newcastle 2-0 Stoke City
Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham (K.O. 4pm)


FA Cup

Saturday

Everton 3-1 Wigan (K.O. 12:45pm)
Man City 4-0 Barnsley (K.O. 5:30pm)

Sunday

Millwall 1-0 Blackburn (K.O. 2pm)
Man Utd 3-2 Chelsea (K.O. 4:30pm)

Thursday 28 February 2013

Premier League Predictions - 2nd, 3rd & 4th March 2013



This weekend’s Premier League fixtures include Chelsea vs West Brom, Southampton vs QPR, Swansea vs Newcastle and Wigan vs Liverpool on Saturday, Tottenham vs Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday and Aston Villa vs Man City on Monday night. Here are my predictions for this weekend’s action (all kick-offs at 3pm unless stated).

Saturday

Chelsea 3-1 West Brom
Everton 2-1 Reading
Man Utd 3-0 Norwich
Southampton 2-1 QPR
Stoke 2-2 West Ham
Sunderland 1-1 Fulham
Swansea 3-2 Newcastle
Wigan 1-2 Liverpool (K.O. 5:30pm)

Sunday

Tottenham 2-3 Arsenal (K.O. 4pm)

Monday

Aston Villa 0-3 Man City (K.O. 8pm)

twitter - @ConorJPorter

Thursday 21 February 2013

Premier League Predictions - 23rd, 24th & 25th February 2013


Back to normal business this weekend with Premier League fixtures including, Fulham vs Stoke, Man City vs Chelsea and West Ham vs Tottenham.

Last time out, Southampton pulled out a surprise 3-1 win against Man City, Arsenal only managed a 1-0 win away at Sunderland and West Brom defeated Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield. Liverpool also played an additional fixture a week later against Swansea, which they won 5-0.

This Saturday, Fulham host Stoke in the early kick-off, Reading play against fellow strugglers Wigan and QPR host Premier League leaders, Man Utd. On Sunday, Man City will play against Chelsea and Southampton will travel to St James Park to play Newcastle. One Monday fixture concludes this week’s Premier League, as West Ham will play Tottenham at Upton Park.

Here are my predictions for this weekend (All kick-offs at 3pm unless stated).

Saturday

Fulham 1-0 Stoke (K.O. 12:45pm)
Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
Norwich 1-2 Everton
QPR 1-3 Man Utd
Reading 3-3 Wigan
West Brom 2-1 Sunderland

Sunday

Man City 2-2 Chelsea (K.O. 1:30pm)
Newcastle 1-2 Southampton (K.O. 1:30pm)

Monday

West Ham 1-2 Tottenham (K.O. 8pm)

twitter - @ConorJPorter

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich - Match Report

Thomas Muller scores the second
goal for Bayern Munich - Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

Thomas Muller helps Bayern Munich defeated Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates giving them a two-goal advantage in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.

After a disappointing loss to Blackburn in the FA Cup at the weekend, this wasn’t the result that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was hoping for.

It only took seven minutes for Bayern Munich to break the dead-lock, after a shot driven into the ground by Toni Kroos from the edge of the area found its way to the back of the net.

And by 20 minutes, they were 2-0 up thanks to a Thomas Muller goal from a Daniel Van Buyten corner.

Throughout the first half, Arsenal had many chances to test Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

But holding up the ball from the likes of Theo Walcott and Mikel Arteta before shooting gave Bayern Munich’s defence enough time to come back and clear any opportunities.

With hardly any clear goal-scoring chances for Arsenal, the half time score was 2-0 to Bayern Munich.

Ten minutes into the second half though, Arsenal got their first and only goal of the game. Lukas Podolski managed to header in a Jack Wilshere corner, which for some reason was allowed to bounce in the box beforehand. It wasn’t attacked by any other players as it passed through the box either.

When subs Oliver Giroud and Tomas Rosicky came on for Podolski and Aaron Ramsey, they had an instant impact and produced another chance for Arsenal.

A good long ball by Rosicky to Walcott, whose cross found Giroud in the box, forced Neuer to produce a save to stop Giroud’s shot.

Bayern Munich restored their two-goal lead not long after though. A Phillip Lahm cross was able to find Mario Mandzukic who miss hit the ball, but it bounced its way across the goal line.

A few minutes later, Bayern Munich had two chances to increase their lead further. Luiz Gustavo’s shot from outside the box was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, and Mario Gomez’s shot on the rebound went over the crossbar.

As no more goals were scored, the final score was Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich.

Although Arsenal fans will be disappointed, they should be able to recover quickly as not a lot of people predicted them to beat Bayern Munich.

The teams will meet again on Wednesday 13th March at the Allianz Arena in Germany for the second leg.

Stats

Arsenal

Goals: Podolski – 55’

Line-up: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Arteta, Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey (Rosicky - 71'), Cazorla, Podolski (Giroud - 71’).

Unused subs: Mannone, Jenkinson, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin

Booked: Sagna, Vermaelen, Arteta, Ramsey, Podolski

Bayern Munich

Goals: Kroos – 7’, Muller – 21’, Mandzukic – 77’

Line-up: Neuer, Dante, Van Buyten, Lahm, Ribery (Robben - 63’), Martinez, Muller, Alaba, Schweinsteiger, Kroos (Gustavo - 73’), Mandzukic (Gomez - 78’)

Unused subs: Tom Starke, Rafinha, Shaqiri, Tymoschuk

Booked: Lahm, Muller, Schweinsteiger

Ref: Oddvar Moen

Attendance: 59,974

twitter - @ConorJPorter