Portsmouth v Everton (12:45) – Prediction: 1-3
Portsmouth are still without a single point this season, but they can count themselves unlucky in the last few games. They also managed to pick up a win mid-week in the Carling Cup. However, after Everton’s troubled start, following the Lescott transfer saga, since then they have been picking up results and have scored 11 goals in three games, with three clean sheets. Everton also have a number of big players returning. Yakubu is always a goal threat and he showed that in their cup game in mid-week. Portsmouth may be in with a shout, but Everton are playing really well at the moment and I cannot see the home defence being able to cope for the entire 90 minutes.

Birmingham v Bolton (15:00) – Prediction: 0-1
I think that this will definitely be a tight affair. Birmingham have looked strong defensively this season, but they do struggle going forward. Now that Benitez is fit for them, he could pose a threat to Bolton. The away side however, have managed to grind out three results in the last two weeks. First they beat Portsmouth in a 3-2 thriller, then scored late to deny Stoke three points last weekend, and finally in the Carling Cup they picked up a good win against West Ham. Bolton may not play the most attractive football in the league, but they can put teams under pressure. I think that they will just about steal the full three points in this game.

Blackburn v Aston Villa (15:00) – Prediction: 1-2
Everyone had Villa down as a team in crisis after the first game of the season where they lost at home to Wigan. Since then though, they have been picking up results, without actually playing that well. That has to be a good sign for them, considering what they could be like if they started to really get into their stride. Blackburn on the other hand have looked a little bit inconsistant. They have been without a few injured players, that are starting to come back now. I think they will be fine once the season picks up pace, but I cannot see them winning against Villa this weekend.

Liverpool v Hull City (15:00) – Prediction: 4-0
Already I am looking at Hull and worrying about their Premiership survival. Last season I remember Phil Brown getting on the mic at the end of their last league game and singing a song because it was so brilliant that they had managed to stay up. In truth their survival was never in their own hands. They lost their final game of the season, but so did Newcastle. If Newcastle had managed to get a point out of their game at Aston Villa then it would have been them staying up. Hull have also sold, in my opinion, their best defender in Michael Turner. They looked very ordinary in mid-week as Everton took them apart to win 4-0 at the KC Stadium. Liverpool were under early pressure after losing a few games, but now with Torres, Gerrard and Kuyt hitting a good run of form, then I can really see Liverpool giving Hull and Phil Brown more things to worry about.

Stoke v Manchester United (15:00) – Prediction: 0-1
Stoke have a much stronger squad this season and I think that they will be capable of much more than last season, especially in away games. However, in games against the big four, I cannot see them picking up any solid points. They have a chance of holding out for a draw, but I think that in the full 90 minutes, the big teams will have those moments of class to just out do Stoke. Stoke played well against Chelsea, but they still came away from the game with no points. United look a little big shakey at the back with Ben Foster in goal, and Rio Ferdinand looking off the pace of the game at Old Trafford against Man City last Sunday. I think it will be a close game with both teams having chances to win 1-0, in the end though, I think United will edge the game out.

Tottenham v Burnley (15:00) – Prediction: 3-0
Tottenham had a brilliant start to their Premiership season, but they have had two tough games against Man United and Chelsea in the last two weeks. However, they showed that they still had confidence, picking up a 5-1 away win in the Carling Cup against Preston in the week. Peter Crouch looked in good form with a hattrick. Burnley have also had a good start to their Premership season, where they remain unbeaten at home. Their away form on the other hand is not great, and I think that they could have similar success to Stoke last season. They will definitely struggle on the road, and I think that Tottenham have the players to cause them real problems. I predict a comfortable win for Spurs.

Wigan v Chelsea (15:00) – Prediction: 0-3
Wigan have struggled since their opening win against Aston Villa that had everyone raving about how well they could do this season. They looked very impressive against Villa, especially closing the ball down and putting the opposition under pressure. Since then though, they have not managed to recreate a similar performance. They have never beaten a big four club in over 30 attempts and have already been punished 5-0 and 4-0 against Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. Chelsea on the other hand look unstoppable at the moment. Under Ancelotti they look like a different team. When Scolari was incharge this time last year, he had an equally good start, however, under Ancelotti the team look hungry and determind. Didier Drogba will be a key player in their season, and after he was given the all clear following his injury scare last week, he will be a big player against Wigan.

Fulham v Arsenal (17:30) – Prediction 1-2
Arsenal looked good value in their win last weekend over Wigan, following their two disappointing results in Manchester. Arsenal are still without a few key players, such as Nasri and Arshavin, but they seem to be doing well enough with what they have. Eduardo has shown that he is still the same player following his injury, and Rosicky is finally back to being match fit. Fulham on the other hand do not look as steady as they did last season. Maybe the number of games piling up for them could be difficult to cope with. Their season began a lot earlier than most other teams, with Europa league qualifiers. I think that Fulham will have their chances, but ultimately, Arsenal will have more fire power.

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Chelsea vs Porto – Prediction 2-1
Porto are no pushovers as they clearly showed last season in their tie against Manchester United. Porto forced United to concede two away goals in a draw that ended 2-2. I think it can be expected that Porto will go to Stamford Bridge with a similar game plan. If you sit back and let Chelsea play their football then you are in trouble. However, if you take the game to them then they could find a few games in their, so far, polished team. Chelsea will be without a number of key players for this game. Both Drogba and Bosingwa are suspended following their behaviour in last years second leg semi final with Barcelona. They are also without Deco and Ferreira due to injury, along with Joe Cole, Zhirkov and Alex. It seems most likely that Kalou will get the nod to start in place of Drogba, and Ivanovic moves over to the right hand side. This has sometimes been a weakness for Chelsea, especially under the diamond formation which lacks width. Using the diamond requires the wing backs to get foward and supply some width to the team. Ivanovic is most a center back who will play at right back, but he lacks the pace and attacking flair that Bosingwa adds. Even with a few players missing, I think Porto will give Chelsea problems, but overall they will be too strong.

Besiktas vs Manchester United – Prediction 0-2
Turkey is not an easy place to go for your first game of the Champions League group stages and United can no doubt expect a hostile atmosphere. However, Besiktas have struggled to find any early form this season and have only won once in their previous five league games. Man United on the other hand are now reasonably injury free and will recall Rio Ferdinand to play in defence for the second game running. United had a reality check at the weekend when Jermain Defoe put Tottenham ahead inside the first minute of the game, but for the second game running United came from behind to take three points against a London club. (2-1 at home to Arsenal, 3-1 away to Tottenham) United will also look at Wayne Rooney to continue his fine run of form with six goals in six games for the Old Trafford club this season. Overall, I do expect the game to be difficult for United, but I think that they have the quality to take all three points.

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This summer Manchester United signed 16 year old Paul Pogba from French club Le Harve. At the time of the signing Le Harve President, Jean-Pierre Louvel, was publicly critical of United and alleged that United have offered money to Pogba’s parents in order to push through the signing. United denied that any such offers had been made and that the transfer was agreed within the laws set out by the world governing body, Fifa.

Since the announcement that Chelsea had breached the rules to sign Kakuta, a host of clubs have also been complaining about the signing of their own youngsters by large European clubs. Once again Jean-Pierre Louvel echoed his belief that Manchester United breached the rules in their signing of Pogba this summer. Now it appears that Man United have written to Le Harve threatening to sue the club if they continue to publish their accusations.

Interestingly enough, according to the BBC website, Fifa has received no complaint from Le Harve for the signing of Paul Pogba. From my opinion it looks like nothing more than sour grapes on behalf of Le Harve. Yes, the rules involving the signings of players under 18 need to be clarified and restricted, but the signing my very well be within the current rules of the game.

As it stands the signing of players under 18 is relatively cheap for large clubs because they have to pay less money to the original club for its development of the player. Therefore, the deal is a relatively small gamble. You take a chance on a youngster being the ‘next big thing’, but ultimately if they fail to show their potential then they have not cost the club a great deal of money.

However, the life of that player will definitely be altered. Moving across the world to a different country purely because of a football club, then finding out that you do not cut it at the club most be very difficult to deal with. I do not think that enough of these cases are talked about openly in the press. The press very much seem to focus on the affects of a player becoming hugely successful. An example would be Federico Macheda who signed from Lazio to Manchester United.

Lazio complained in the same way that Le Harve have complained this summer. But Macheda has already shown signs of becoming a world class player, leaving Lazio feeling robbed of a talented player. However, think about it from the point-of-view of the player for a moment, imagine uprooting your family and your life to move to a different country for a football team. Imagine if you fail to become a success, was it worth the uprooting and the large change in lifestyle?

Does a 16 year old really know what is best for them at that age? They see a big name like Real Madrid, Manchester United or Barcelona. But many of the players signed under youth contracts do not develop to become stars for those clubs. Players should have to remain within the same country under the age of 18 and then be allowed to decide whether or not they wish to pursue deals abroad.

Many clubs sit there blaming other specific clubs for the problem, but the truth is that almost all clubs are doing this. Every club wants the best players available to them and because of the state of the current rules this becomes very easy for larger teams. It is the rules that are wrong and that should be changed. Punishing clubs at this state will be a very pointless task. There is no doubt that Chelsea will appeal this decision and I would be at least 75% confident that the ban on transfers will be lifted.

Ammend the rules before punishing clubs.

Man United have been sloppy in recent weeks and their season may be about to fall apart. First they lost at home to Liverpool, then instead of rebounding away against Fulham, they picked up a second defeat running. Last weekend the title looked to be slipping from them when they were 2-1 down against Aston Villa at home, however their 3-2 come back did not inspire them to put their bad run behind them. In mid week they looked tired and off the pace of the game against Porto who had United under pressure in the very early minutes of the game.

Sunderland are a team lacking consistancy. Sometimes they put on an excellent performance but the week after they are horrible. They have some very good players and a fairly large squad compared to teams like Everton. However, they may be a little worried about playing United, even though United are struggling a little bit right now. Even with the home advantage Sunderland have not beaten Man United in the league at the Stadium of Light since March 1997. United have won four and there have been two draws.

Sunderland’s last six league home games:
1-2 Wigan [L]
1-1 Tottenham [D]
2-0 Stoke [W]
1-0 Fulham [W]
1-2 Aston Villa [L]
0-0 Blackburn [D]

Man United’s last six league away games:
2-0 Fulham [L]
1-2 Newcastle [W]
0-1 West Ham [W]
0-5 West Brom [W]
0-1 Bolton [W]
0-1 Stoke [W]

Man United will be without Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans is also a doubt. Wayne Rooney suffered a rib injury against Porto but could still make the team. Sunderland could be without captain Dean Whitehead who is a doubt with a calf injury. Calum Davenport could be recalled to the lineup after missing the game with West Ham. Teemu Tainio could also return.

Man United do not lose many games in a season and although they are on a bit of a bad run at the moment I still think that they have enough to beat Sunderland. United have a lot of quality players and like last weekend, even when they aren’t having great games, they can still have moments of brilliance and score the goal you need to win. Sunderland do not have a good record against the so called big four, and I think they are still a long way to go before they are top half finishers in the Premiership.

Prediction: 0-2

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Saturday 21st March 2009
Portsmouth 2-1 Everton [12:45]
Goals: Baines 4, Crouch 22 & 75
Everton took the early lead through Leighton Baines as his side looked to pile the pressure on Portsmouth. David Moyes was left fuming when Portsmouth were given a corner which should have been an Everton goalkick. It only seemed fair then for the home side to equalise from that corner through Peter Crouch. Portsmouth showed that they were the more desperate of the two sides as they took the lead in the second half. Again from a corner, Peter Crouch rose high and nodded into the net for his second goal of the day and his 11th of the season. Three points for Portsmouth are a boost to their relegation battle, especially with the number of games running out. David Moyes may well be feeling hard done by but I am sure he is more disappointed at conceding two goals from corners after taking the lead early on.

Blackburn 1-1 West Ham [15:00]
Goals: Noble 35, Andrews 51
A well earned draw for Blackburn which keeps them above the relegation zone by two points. West Ham perhaps played the better football and their first half goal was well setup. Even with a hint of offside against Boa Morte, Mark Noble put the ball into the back of the net with the outside of his foot to score his fifth goal of the season. El Hadji Diouf had the ball in the back of the net in the first and second half but both times he was ruled to be standing in an offside position. Half time subsitute Keith Andrews equalised for Blackburn just six minutes into the second half and in the end, I think that a draw was a fair result for both sides.

Fulham 2-0 Man United [15:00]
Goals: Murphy 18 (penalty), Gera 87
Things went from bad to worse in this game for the champions. Manchester United lost two games on the trot for the first time in 147 games. The game started well for Fulham as they put United under pressure. Bobby Zamora headed on goal in the 18th minute and Paul Scholes had no choice but to handle the ball on the line. The referee pointed to the spot and Scholes was shown a red card. Danny Murphy powered the penalty into the net, sending Van der Sar the wrong way. Van der Sar and Schwarzer made some smart saves during the game to keep both of their teams in the game. United had most of the ball in the second half and looked to snatch at least a point from the game, but when Andy Johnson broke for Fulham and found Zoltan Gera in the box, Gera did extremelly well on the finish and put the game beyond United in the last few minutes. United’s afternoon instantly became worse as Wayne Rooney was shown a second yellow card after hurling the ball across the pitch in the direction of the referee.

Stoke 1-0 Middlesbrough [15:00]
Goals: Shawcross 84
For two sides that started the afternoon in the relegation zone, this game was as big as they will come this season. With both teams desperate to remain in the Premiership, games like this one can be very costly come the end of the season. The game was not very pretty but both sides managed to create their fair share of chances. Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen made some great saves to deny Middlesbrough the lead. The final ten minutes approached and both teams were going for the winner. However, on 84 minutes, a Rory Delap long throw found the head of Ryan Shawcross, who made a good run, and put Stoke 1-0 up. Middlesbrough tried to respond, but Stoke defended in numbers and earned themselves the full three points and moved out of the relegation zone.

Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea [15:30]
Goals: Modric 50
After a suspicious package was found in London the kick off for this game had to be moved forward by 30 minutes. And after a goalless first half, it is quite possible that Chelsea knew that United were losing when they were in the dressing room at half time. However, it was Tottenham that took the lead early on in the second half. Aaron Lennon made a great run down the right and managed to cross the ball in passed Ashley Cole, the ball found Luka Modric who slotted the ball straight into the bottom right corner. The final 30 minutes of the game were almost completely dominated by Chelsea, the final 10 minutes saw them throwing everyone into the box in a bid to earn a point. It simply was not to be. Overall, another good performance from Tottenham, who are almost certain to avoid relegation now.

West Brom 1-1 Bolton [15:00]
Goals: Taylor 67, Shittu 81 (OG)
This game may have been a draw but both teams put in a good performace. On another day the result may have been different for either side. West Brom defended well in the first half and also managed to create a few chances. Bolton were much the same, but in the second half they took the lead thanks to a decent finish from Matt Taylor. West Brom were more attacking after that goal and were desperate to earn at least a draw to keep their Premiership status alive. Their goal came in the 81st minute when Robert Koren’s shot deflected off Danny Shittu’s left and into the left corner of the goal. Bolton may feel that this was a game that they should have won, but West Brom played their part and a well earned draw keeps alive their survival chances, however small.

Newcastle 1-3 Arsenal [17:30]
Goals: Bendtner 57, Martins 58, Diaby 64, Nasri 67
Newcastle put in a much better performance in this game than in their last game away at Hull. Although they lost and the score does not flatter Arsenal, Newcastle had their chances to change the scoreline. A first half penalty for Newcastle after Almunia brough down Ryan Taylor was taken by Obafemi Martins. The penalty was weak and Almunia guessed the right way. All even at half time, but Arsenal looked the more danagerous team early in the second half. Andrei Arshavin’s well taken freekick found the head of Nicklas Bendtner on 57 minutes to give Arsenal the lead. Some poor defending at the other end though, instantly saw Newcastle equalize through Martins. However, Newcastle soon ran into trouble with defensive injuries to Steven Taylor and Sebastien Bassong who had already been replaced in the first half. Arsenal quickly took advantage of the situation with Abou Diaby and Samir Nasri scoring twice in three minutes to put the game beyond Newcastle.