Saturday
Sunderland v Newcastle, 7:45am, Setanta: It’s a fierce north-east derby, and Newcastle’s away from home. Allardyce will have his players ready to go after the utterly dismal loss to Portsmouth, but Sunderland’s played decently in their last couple of games, getting a draw against Fulham and making City work very hard for a slim 1-0 win. 1-1
Derby v West Ham, 10am, Setanta: Even though Carlton Cole and Henri Camara are the only healthy strikers, and Derby’s home, which means they might actually have some goals in them, I can’t see West Ham slipping up here. West Ham 1-0
Sunday
Birmingham v Aston Villa, 8am, Setanta: Another local derby, which will be intense given it’s the first derby between the sides since Birmingham’s relegation. It’ll obviously be contentious, and the play probably won’t be the best, but Villa should have enough quality to win, even though Birmingham’s been the most consistent promoted team. Villa 2-1
Chelsea v Everton, 9am, Setanta Xtra: Chelsea will miss Cech and Terry, as they did last season, and honestly should have lost to Schalke mid-week, while Everton’s won their last four. But we’ve seen Chelsea play some lovely attacking football (I still can’t believe Abramovich may have been right) of late in the league. Chelsea 2-1
Bolton v Middlesbrough, 10am, Setanta: I still reserve the right to bash Megson when the opportunity presents itself, but Bolton earned an impressive point today at Bayern Munich. Plus, Boro’s been utterly dire on the road and can’t buy a goal. It baffles me how we’ve heard more about Benitez being “under pressure” than Gareth Southgate. It’s a strange world. Bolton 1-0
Manchester Utd v Blackburn, 10am, FSC: United is on a utter tear, scoring 22 goals in their last 5 games. They put 4 past Dynamo yesterday while resting Giggs, Hargreaves, Anderson, Brown, and Ferdinand. So much for the “poor” start to the season. Blackburn’s exceeded expectations, and I’m hoping they can be United’s bogey team as they were in 05/06, but I wouldn’t be surprised if United stays on form. United 3-1
Tottenham v Wigan, 10am: The fact that Spurs won an away game in the UEFA Cup today in Israel has to be a sign that Tottenham might be turning a corner, despite how poor the opposition was. At the same time, Wigan’s truly struggling, and probably won’t have named a replacement for Chris Hutchings by kick-off. Tottenham 2-0
Portsmouth v Manchester City, 11am: I know how good City’s been so far, but I think the Chelsea match was the start of the down-slide. City struggled to break down Sunderland at the home ground last week, while Portsmouth’s looked very good of late and is still unbeaten in the league at Fratton Park. Portsmouth 2-1
Monday
Reading v Arsenal, 3pm, Setanta: Despite Reading’s sophomore slump, they’ve still been a tough team to beat at the Majeski, with West Ham and Chelsea the only opposition to win there. But you’ve all seen Arsenal this season. As much as I’d love for them to drop points, I find it hard to believe it’ll happen. I mean, they’re on such a hot streak that Wenger saw fit to play his Carling Cup squad in yesterday’s Champions League match. Arsenal 2-0
Liverpool v Fulham is on FSC Saturday at 12:15pm
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