MONDAY Aston Villa v Swansea Aston Villa got a fantastic 3-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and that will give them a lot of confidence. Alex McLeish got his team playing some great counter-attacking football, but they will need something a bit different to break down Swansea. I think McLeish wants his side to be solid defensively and play on the break and having players like Charles N'Zogbia and Darren Bent, who came on against Chelsea, back in the team helps them do that effectively. Villa are a mid-table side, but would I be surprised if someone came in to try to buy Bent in January? No, probably not. They have become a selling club. As for Swansea, they played really well in their 1-1 draw against Tottenham after going 1-0 down, and it was only a matter of time until they scored an equaliser. That was a really impressive performance from the Welsh side - especially if you consider that Spurs had just gone to Norwich and won easily - but, as we know, Swansea are just not the same force on the road. Prediction: 2-0 Blackburn v Stoke Blackburn's win at Old Trafford was undoubtedly the result of the weekend. People might say that was a weakened Manchester United team but they still had a lot of regulars in there and it was a great performance by Rovers. Steve Kean was missing all sorts of players himself and picked a young side. They were very competitive as always, but it is too early to tell whether players like Grant Hanley and Adam Henley have got the quality you need to play at Premier League level. Stoke will feel hard done by after coming back from 1-0 down to lead Wigan late on, but a draw was a fair result there, and the Latics' penalty was the right decision. The Potters are unhappy with those calls going against them but, to be honest, whenever the ball comes into the Stoke box everyone is pushing and pulling everybody else. They just have to be very careful. Prediction: 2-1 QPR v Norwich Norwich did it again on Saturday, in terms of never giving up against Fulham and getting themselves a point. Their manager Paul Lambert makes sure they keep going until they drop. QPR were a bit unlucky at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday - they played well against Arsenal but were ultimately beaten by one goal - and, because they have been on such an awful run of results, I just have a feeling this might just be the game where they pinch a win at last. Quite a few QPR players will know that they might be down the pecking order by the end of January if manager Neil Warnock brings people in as we expect him to. That might spur them on a bit as well. Prediction: 2-0 Wolves v Chelsea Chelsea are in a bit of a mess at the moment. They were abject in their defeat by Aston Villa last time out. Again, the goals they conceded were very poor - and some of their defending for the chances Villa did not take was just ridiculous. It is clear there is a lot of rebuilding to be done. What is a surprise for me is that Andre Villas-Boas says they are miles away from signing Bolton defender Gary Cahill in terms of his personal terms. That's strange, because normally that side of things is already half-done at the start of any transfer, when the buying club speak to the player's agent, saying 'we are thinking of signing him, what sort of money would he want'. Cahill will make a difference if the Blues do get him, I don't think there is any doubt about that. He defends - compare him to David Luiz, who is a good footballer but not a good defender, and there is a big difference. Wolves battled away for a point at Bolton, which is what they always do. Unfortunately for them, you just know it is going to be a long, hard season. They have brought in Emmanuel Frimpong on loan from Arsenal, who will improve them, but it is their lack of goals which concerns me the most. Even if they pick up good results here and there, which they are capable of, you know they are going to be close to the relegation zone until May and it is too early yet to say whether they will be safe or not. Prediction: 1-1 Fulham v Arsenal (1730 GMT) I'm not quite sure what's going on at Fulham. It looks like one or two players, like Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson, might want to leave, but they are playing well enough and will feel they should have beaten Norwich. Arsenal, with Robin van Persie in the sort of form that he is in, are obviously dangerous and should be too strong for Martin Jol's side. Bringing Thierry Henry back on loan is a no-brainer too. I'm not sure how many games he will play, even with Gervinho's absence at the Africa Cup of Nations, but he has experience, ability and guile. He won't be ghosting past defenders anymore but he is still a very good player and why shouldn't Arsene Wenger make the most of his know-how. But, even with their resurgence and the unexpected results at the turn of the year involving some of the teams above them in the table, I don't think Arsenal are all of a sudden title contenders again. I see them beating Fulham, but the Gunners have dropped silly points along the way too and I cannot see them catching the two Manchester clubs. Prediction: 1-2 Here are all 200 of Mark Lawrenson's Premier League predictions for the 2011-12 season, together with how the League Table would look like if all his forecasts were correct... http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Mark_Lawrensons_Predictions_2011-12.html
TUESDAY Tottenham v West Brom (1945 GMT) Tottenham did not play well at Swansea and, for me, that was the game they had to win to show me they are title contenders. I need to see them play poorly on the road and win, because that is how you win the league. But I think we will see a very different performance when they come back to White Hart Lane. You know they will go at West Brom's throats and, although the Baggies are usually solid defensively, Spurs have the players like Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to unlock them. West Brom were very ordinary in their defeat by Everton on New Year's Day, which was a surprise considering the nice little run of form Roy Hodgson had them on at the end of 2011, but I cannot see them getting anything here. Prediction: 2-0 Wigan v Sunderland (1945 GMT) What a win that was for Sunderland against Manchester City on New Year's Day, to continue Martin O'Neill's good start as Black Cats boss, and he has now picked up 10 points in five games since he took charge. Sunderland are growing in confidence and O'Neill has got those players playing above themselves. His assistant Steve Walford deserves some recognition for getting them organised defensively too, because that obviously played a large part in their win over City, and he is O'Neill's man on the training ground. But Wigan deserve credit for their draw against Stoke and I thought it was a clever move by Roberto Martinez to bring Ben Watson on to take the penalty that earned them a point. They will be on a high after that result, and I can see them getting something against the Black Cats too. Prediction: 1-1 Man City v Liverpool (2000 GMT) I'm going to this game, and you just know the heat will be on Manchester City. After a draw and a defeat in their last two games, everyone will be talking about them wobbling under the pressure at the top. I can see Liverpool pinching a draw, and possibly stopping City scoring, but I don't think the alarm bells should start ringing if City boss Roberto Mancini's men do draw another blank. This is clearly a bad run for them but, even at the top of the table, teams lose form. Even when Arsenal went the whole season unbeaten a few years back, they still dropped points. I don't really understand why Mancini left David Silva and Sergio Aguero on the bench against Sunderland and rested Mario Balotelli altogether. He has to be careful about leaving players out because he thinks they might get tired, because if they are told they are tired, they will act like it. I also think you should pick your best team possible in order to win matches because, if you leave players out and you don't win, you are left thinking 'what if'. So Mancini has to pick his strongest team for this game, and worry about tiredness another time. Luis Suarez is available, which will be a big boost for Liverpool, but I think they will try to frustrate City - like West Brom and Sunderland before them. The Reds have been very solid defensively recently, and I think they will pull it off. Prediction: 0-0 WEDNESDAY Everton v Bolton (2000 GMT) Everton are on a good run and they have developed a useful habit of scoring late goals, which is always handy - especially as they don't get many full-stop. Landon Donovan should be available for this game after his move, which will help in that department. Bolton might well be without Gary Cahill by the time this game is played, and it is difficult to see how they can turn things around. Yes, they were better against Wolves on Saturday, but Wolves are another team in the bottom four and they still didn't beat them at home. I know Bolton beat Blackburn but I didn't see that as a result to kickstart their season, and Wanderers boss Owen Coyle has a lot of work to do in the January transfer window. A lot of Coyle's players are out of contract in the summer, not just Cahill, and the next month will be a really key time for the club, selling and buying. Do I think by the end of January, that Coyle will have brought enough people in to improve their chances of staying up? I would probably say no, not from what I have seen so far. There is no goals in that team, which is their biggest problem. Kevin Davies is handful but is never prolific and I just don't think Ivan Klasnic or David Ngog are good enough to make a difference at this level. If you compare Bolton to Blackburn, another side at the bottom end of the table, then Blackburn have been in a lot of games that they ended up losing, because they fight and they don't give up easily. I don't see the same fight in Bolton. Prediction: 2-0 Newcastle v Man Utd (2000 GMT) In the end, Newcastle were beaten comfortably at Anfield on Friday, but that was only because of the impact Steven Gerrard had for Liverpool after coming off the bench. And I think the Magpies will prove tricky for Manchester United, because they will have a real go up front. Demba Ba leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations soon but he is obviously a man in form and Manchester United are short of numbers at the back too. There has been talk of Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson having a fall-out before Saturday's shock defeat by Blackburn, but if that is the case then I would expect Rooney to return for this game with a point to prove. Even if Rooney is back, and even if Newcastle don't play well, their work-rate and organisation in all areas means they are difficult to beat. Prediction: 1-1 Here are all 200 of Mark Lawrenson's Premier League predictions for the 2011-12 season, together with how the League Table would look like if all his forecasts were correct... http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Mark_Lawrensons_Predictions_2011-12.html
All matches will observe a 20 minute silence due to the untimely death of Gary Ablett. By order. Liverpool City Council.
I think it's great that not606 has given you this new hobby of waiting for footballers to die. How else would you fill your time? It does concern me slightly that you'll be feverishly searching the internet, rubbing your hands in glee at the prospect of being able to display your moral-free 'wit' at the expense of another dead ex-football player. <mentalhealthissues>
Searching the Internet? All you have to do to find out about the death of anyone from the tea lady at Burton Albion to the manager of Manchester United is look on the Newcastle board.
I'm glad you think it's perfectly 'cool' to wish people on an internet forum dead. It's what makes you you.
I see, originality is what you're after? Why keep making the same jokes about over-sentimental football fans then? <hypocrite>
