The highlight games for this weekend’s action are MAN CITY versus BURNLEY and ARSENAL versus WOLVES. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these as well as all game-week 10 EPL matches, with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at time of publication.
CRYSTAL PALACE v NEWCASTLE
Friday 27th
Friday Night football live on Amazon Prime with a 20.00 kick-off in England
After predicting that Crystal Palace would beat Burnley on Monday and Win To Nil, the betting slip was torn up after just 6-minutes on the clock when Palace conceded a goal against a Claret side that had only scored 3, in the previous 7-fixtures.
Although Roy’s Boys did play better after the break, Burnley were resilient and wouldn’t let Palace back into the game, holding on to inflict a defeat on the Eagles by a 1-0 scoreline.
Michy Batshuayi did have a clear chance midway through the 2nd-half but failed to convert.
The defeat leaves Crystal Palace in a cluster of 3-teams on 13-points, 11th in the Premier League table and 2-points more than today’s visitors.
The cluster being Palace, Manchester United and Arsenal and the Eagles have 1-point more than Pep’s Low Flying City.
Newcastle didn’t really put up much of a fight against Chelsea in the early Saturday Afternoon fixture after the International break succumbing to a 2-0 defeat, a goal conceded in either half.
Steve Bruce left Miguel Almiron on the bench after the Paraguayan had been away and only got back in Newcastle late on Thursday.
The slight problem with that what annoyed Steve is, although Miguel played the full 90-minutes in the first game away in Argentina, Mr Almiron was suspended for Paraguay’s second game of the International break and could have returned to Tyneside and have a week to prepare himself for the Chelsea fixture.
Big Brucey wasn’t happy with Miguel’s agent neither with the guy stating that his client would have left Newcastle in the summer but for the Coronavirus.
The poor little virus is getting blamed for everything.
Miguel Almiron is a good player but if it’s believed that Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid wanted him, Steve Bruce was correct in calling the agent a clown.
Mr Almiron should just get his head down and stay in the Northeast for the time being and tell the agent guy to keep stum.
Andy Carroll got 15-minutes at the end and is a threat but the big fella hasn’t scored in the Premier League for over 2-years so needs a goal.
The Magpies have 11-points from the opening 9-fixtures and sit in 15th-place in the table but a trip South to take on Crystal Palace will be a tough ask to try and improve their position.
The Toon Army were allowed down to London the last time Newcastle played at Selhurst Park in February, just before the suspension of the 2019/20 Premier League season.
Apart from paying £6 quid for a bottle of Newcastle Broon Ale, the Magpies faithful didn’t have much else to shout about with their idols suffering a 1-0 defeat in the Capital.
Patrick Van Aanholt scored the solitary winning goal just before the break to give Roy’s Boys a victory.
The only other source of action happened in the 95th-minute when Newcastle’s brilliantly named Valentino Lazaro was shown a straight Red Card for denying Wilfried Zaha a chance to score.
Valentino, who was on loan at St James, didn’t last much longer on Tyneside and now plies his trade in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach.
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BRIGHTON v LIVERPOOL
Saturday 28th
Early Saturday Afternoon football with a 12.30 kick-off in England live on BT Sport.
Brighton got one of the results of the weekend going to Villa Park to take on Dean Smith’s Claret and Blues and coming away from the Midlands with all 3-points following a victory by a 2-1 scoreline.
Villa started strongly but against the run of play, Danny Welbeck ran clear with no defenders in sight and coolly slotted home to give the Seagulls a half-time lead.
The home side did equalise after the break but again, with Villa dominating the play, Solly March scored to put Graham Potter’s boys in front for a second time.
With time running out, it looked like Solly had conceded a penalty and even looked guiltily himself, however, the dreaded VAR, who were watching the Snooker on Eurosport, had to be seen to be concentrating and advised the on-field referee Michael Oliver, who had awarded the penalty, to have a look on his monitor.
Whilst not an exact rule of thumb, once the referee looks at the monitor, it usually means that the decision will be changed.
Mr Oliver did just that and reversed the penalty, which bemused everyone, even Sunny Solly.
Brighton held on for a famous away-day victory that gives them 9-points which is basically a point a game and leaves Harry’s boys in 16th-place in the Premier League table.
There were a few betting slips torn up and thrown away or thrown away and torn up after everyone’s Accas were down the drain following Brighton’s victory.
Although Liverpool are beset with injuries at the minute, Jurgen’s Reds were outstanding in the Sunday night fixture against Leicester, and in the process, broke their incredible club record of 63-unbeaten home games, extending that to 64 without defeat at Anfield.
The supposedly make-shift defence of James Milner, Joel Matip, Fabinho and Andy Robertson looked the most solid that the cardboard Scousers have seen all season and Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomes and Jordan Henderson may struggle to get back into the team once fit.
The Reds were helped on their way through a Foxes own-goal by Jonny Evans.
Diogo Jota, scoring in the 4th-consecutive Premier League home game, made it 2-0 before the break. Bobby Firmino added a 3rd to kill off the game late on to give Jurgen a victory against his predecessor Brendan, who he not only took over from at Anfield but moved into Mr Rodgers house when Big Brendan left.
The 3-0 victory lifts Liverpool into 2nd-place in the Premier League table, with the same 20-points as Tottenham but with a slightly inferior goal difference.
Both Liverpool and Tottenham have scored 21-goals each, however, the clean sheet against Leicester was only the 2nd of the season, meaning Spurs have conceded less to stay top.
Liverpool have 3-more Premier League fixtures before they entertain Tottenham at Anfield, which will be 2-games before Christmas so the current Champions could find themselves top of the pile when Santa arrives.
That would be a nice present for all connected at Anfield.
It is fitting that one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Ray Clemence, who recently passed away, finds the 2-clubs he played for most, both at the summit of Premier League.
Respect Ray!
Liverpool entertains Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday before this trip to the South Coast.
Another little story from the EveryTip archives, done during the first lockdown in the Spring, for our new Australian friends.
This is taken from the ‘Liverpool All-Time Premier League Best Eleven’ published in April.
During the 1997/98 Premier League season, Jamie Redknapp featured in a famous game at Anfield in November ‘97 when Barnsley FC, making their one and only appearance in the Promised Land, went over to Liverpool and beat the Reds 1-0 (see EveryTip’s-The Greatest Premier League Football Games of All Time)
In the return fixture at Oakwell a few months later in March 1998, Jamie again played in the game.
That particular game at Oakwell, back in ‘98 as somehow gone under the radar and is rarely mentioned in any Sky Sports or BBC Sports historic programmes.
However, in the history of the Premier League, this game is one of the most controversial of all time, full of goals, comebacks, Red Cards and last-minute winners.
On a bright and sunny Spring Day, Liverpool, armed with 2,000 or so fans, headed to Yorkshire to avenge the 1-0 defeat back in November.
Along with Jamie, the Reds team included, David James, Rob Jones, Steve McManaman and Karl-Heinz Riedle, as well as Paul Ince and Michael Owen.
Barnsley took the lead 10-minutes before the break, through Neil Redfearn.
Looking like the Reds of Oakwell would go in at the interval leading, Karl-Heinz equalised for Liverpool just before half-time.
That was only the start of the excitement as 10-minutes into the restart, Barnsley’s Darren Barnard was shown a straight Red Card for a supposed professional foul on Michael Owen.
The controversy had begun as no person in the stadium, including the Liverpool players and fans thought that the foul, at worst, warranted no more than a Yellow.
Within minutes of being reduced to 10-men, Barnsley were also losing when Karl-Heinz Riedle scored his 2nd, a superb goal to put Liverpool 2-1 in front.
Midway through the 2nd-half, Barnsley were reduced to 9-men when it was adjudged that Chris Morgan had elbowed Michael Owen, who was quickly becoming public enemy Number-1 at Oakwell.
The referee again showed a straight Red Card to Chris and again it appeared harsh.
Oakwell erupted and both the players and crowd went berserk towards the referee, with some of the faithful trying to attack the man in black.
It was only down to the quick thinking of the players that the referee wasn’t set upon.
After 70-minutes of play in the Spring sun of Yorkshire, there had been 3-goals and 2-Red Cards. However, that wasn’t the end of the show, show, as Ant and would say.
To take on Liverpool with 11-men is an arduous task in itself, to try and fend them off with 10, was going to be tough but to play 20-minutes against the Reds of Merseyside, playing in Yellow that day, with just 9-men, was like the Alamo.
What’s more remarkable is that with only 9-men against 12 (Liverpool had an extra man wearing black!) Barnsley actually equalised in the 85th-minute when Georgi Hristov was brought down in the area by the Liverpool defender and amazingly the referee, who had been against Barnsley all afternoon, awarded a penalty to the Reds.
Neil Redfearn duly despatched and put the 9-men of Yorkshire back level with Liverpool.
Surely that was the end of the drama?
Not so, there was still time for another couple of incidents.
Steve McManaman scored what turned out to be the Liverpool winning goal with time running out.
The referee then showed a Barnsley player a 3rd-Red Card with Darren Sheridan getting a 2nd-Yellow following a confrontation with anyone who was in his vicinity.
A game with 5-goals, 3-sending offs, crowd invasions, 9-men equalising against 11-men and a last-minute winner, seems to have gone under the radar with the pundits.
Jamie Redknapp, although playing the full 90-minutes and given his TV exposure, never mentions the game, which in itself is strange.
Danny Murphy, who also played in the game, is a regular on BBC 1 and talkSPORT and never talks about it either.
Maybe it’s a game that the Liverpool players feel guilty about, having taken on little old Barnsley and could only beat them with the help of the referee.
At the Amex last term, this was a post-lockdown fixture taking place in July that saw the Champions-elect, come away from the South Coast with a victory.
Mo Salah and Jordan Henderson gave Liverpool an early lead with both goals coming before 10-minutes were up on the clock.
Leandro Trossard replied for the Seagulls just before the break.
Mo added his 2nd and the Reds 3rd, midway through the 2nd-half to give Jurgen’s Reds the victory by a 3-1 scoreline.
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MAN CITY v BURNLEY
Saturday 28th
A rare 15.00 Saturday Afternoon televised game in England with this game at the Etihad live on BT Sport.
Having signed a 2-year extension to his contract at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola would have wanted to celebrate with a victory against his old foe Jose Mourinho at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium.
Unfortunately for Pep, Dracula did a number on his ex-La Liga mate with Spurs inflicting a 2-0 defeat on Man City.
The City goalkeeper, Ederson seemed to bear the brunt of the blame from the Sky Sports commentary team. However, that did include Gary Neville the Red. So maybe, Big Ed shouldn’t take too much criticism to heart.
The first goal conceded was a result of Ederson running out to close down Son Heung-Min who slipped the ball through the City ‘keepers legs.
Gary seemed to think that the goalie should’ve stayed on his line but that would have just meant Nice-One Son had a bigger target to place the ball.
Maybe Ederson could argue his defenders hadn’t done their jobs properly and G-Nev should have mentioned that fact.
After the break, City conceded a 2nd, again with the attacker putting the ball through Ederson’s legs and again Gary Neville digging the Brazilian out.
Probably what Ederson could mention to Gary if and when the two next meets is that his defenders are shocking and Pep needs to sort that out.
Maybe Pep signed his 2-year extension so that if the bosses at the Etihad decide to get rid, Pepster will be well looked after.
The defeat leaves Man City in 13th-place with 12-points from the 8-fixtures played so far.
Pep’s Blues travel to Greece on Wednesday to take on Olympiacos in the Champions League before entertaining the Clarets.
A couple of seasons back the common scoreline from Turf Moor was 1-0 to the home side.
After drawing twice in the 7-fixtures so far and losing the remainder, Burnley got back to winning ways on Monday getting a great victory against Crystal Palace by?
Yes, a 1-0 scoreline.
The first goal that the cardboard Claret faithful have witnessed this term with this being the 4th attempt.
Chris Wood scored after just 6-minutes so Sean Dyche’s boys had 84-minutes to prevent Palace from scoring and hold out the win.
There were a couple of scares with Nick Pope saving against Michy Batshuayi and then bravely keeping out Christian Benteke in injury time, resulting in a bang on the big lads head.
That won’t bother the Pope with his side holding on for the 1-0 victory.
Burnley jumps out of the drop-zone and sit 17th in the table with 5-points.
The 5-points by the way, come from 8-fixtures, not 9, due to Manchester United being rubbish in Europe last term.
Sean will want his boys to push on now but to head to the Etihad to take on a wounded City side may be a tough task. However, the victory on Monday night will give the Clarets a much-needed boost.
When Burnley travelled the short distance over to Manchester back in post-lockdown June, 2-goals from Riyad Mahrez and a Phil Foden strike gave City a 3-0 lead at the break.
The David of the Silva’s added the 4th, early in the 2nd-half with Phil scoring his 2nd and City’s 5th with a half-hour to play.
Fortunately for Burnley, City took their foot off the gas and didn’t trouble the scorers for the remainder of the game running out comfortable winners by a 5-0 scoreline.
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EVERTON v LEEDS UNITED
Saturday 28th
Late Saturday Afternoon football with this game kicking-off at 17.30 live on Sky Sports.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin got off to a flyer against Fulham on Sunday scoring after 42-seconds to give the Toffees an early lead.
Everton did concede a goal 10-minutes later but the Sheffield Superstar 2, that is Big Dom, added his and Everton’s 2nd midway through the 1st-half.
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored a 3rd 10-minutes before the break to give Carlo’s Blues a half-time lead.
In the 2nd-half, Everton gave away a penalty which looked like Fulham would equalise, however, the luck was shining on the Merseyside’s when the Cottagers missed the spot-kick in some style.
Fulham did score a 2nd and were the better side, in truth, after the break but couldn’t get level which allowed Everton the victory by a 3-2 scoreline.
Carlo Ancelotti hadn’t lost 4-games in a row which was a possibility before this fixture but after the 1st, 4-victories and the draw against Liverpool, Carlo lost the services of Richarlison for 3-games, that all resulted in defeats.
The Brazilian was back against Fulham which tells its own story.
The victory leaves Everton with 16-points in 6th-place in the Premier League, 5-points more than today’s opponents.
The Toffees faithful will be hoping that Richarlison doesn’t go missing anytime soon.
Leeds United kept their 2nd-clean sheet from the 9-fixtures played so far, on Sunday.
However, the Whites didn’t score either for only the 2nd-time in the 9-games, gaining a point from a 0-0 draw against Arsenal.
The home side was the better side throughout the game and had several near misses hitting the woodwork a couple of times but couldn’t break down a solid defence.
It shows just how far Leeds have come and how highly rated both Marcelo Bielsa and his squad are regarded when most are disappointed and critical that Leeds couldn’t beat the Gunners even playing against 10-men for most of the 2nd-half.
In truth, Leeds United are Worlds apart from Arsenal both in history and Premier League stature and it is a compliment to the Elland Rd outfit that most think that Leeds should have beat Arsenal.
Kalvin Phillips was back in the starting eleven after missing 3-games through injury and makes a big difference to how Marcelo’s tactics are converted on to the pitch.
There was a slight scare for KP when it looked like the lad had sustained another injury midway through the 2nd-half but Kalvin jumped back up and continued for the remainder of the game.
The point gained against Arsenal lifts Leeds United a place to 14th, with 11-points from the 9-fixtures so far, which is a great return in their first season back in the Premier League for a while. The Whites have the best record of the 3-newly promoted teams and more points than the established ones such as Brighton, Burnley and Sheffield United.
It was the 28th of September 2003, when Leeds United last ventured West along the M62 to Goodison Park for a Premier League fixture.
Everton’s Steve Watson scored twice and Big Duncan Ferguson added a 3rd to give the Toffees a half-time lead.
Steve scored his 3rd for a brilliant hat-trick early in the 2nd-half and with no further goals, the home team got the victory by a 4-0 scoreline.
The Everton team sent out by David Moyes that day had ex-Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn between the sticks, Tony Hibbert, Joseph Yobo, Alan Stubbs, David Unsworth, Steve Watson, Thomas Gravesen, Lee Carsley, James McFadden, Tomasz Radzinski and Duncan Ferguson.
A young Wayne Rooney came off the bench to replace the hat-trick hero, Steve Watson.
Leeds United’s team, under the guidance of Peter Reid, consisted of Paul Robinson in goal, Gary Kelly, Zoumana Camara, Jose Roque Junior, Dominic Matteo, Jermaine Pennant, Jody Morris, Seth Johnson, Lamine Sakho, Alan Smith and Mark Viduka.
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WEST BROM v SHEFFIELD UNITED
Saturday 28th
A rescheduled Saturday Evening game live on Sky Sports with a start time of 20.00 in England.
It’s got to be better than The Voice.
West Brom may consider themselves unlucky, to come away from Old Trafford on Saturday without at least a point.
Early in the 2nd-half, the on-field referee David Coote awarded the Baggies a penalty after Conor Gallagher appeared to be caught by Bruno Fernandes in the United penalty area.
After the dreaded VAR, who were watching Strictly at the time, advised Mr Coote to go to his monitor and re-check the decision, as mentioned earlier, it was inevitable that the decision was going to be overturned.
Ten minutes later, United were awarded their own penalty following a handball by the West Brom defender Darnell Furlong.
After Sam Johnstone had saved Bruno Fernandes original spot-kick, the VAR got busy again and adjudged that Sam had come off his line, which although the decision appeared harsh, it was the correct one and after Bruno had re-took his kick, West Brom were losing 1-0.
Slaven Bilic was straight on the phone to the florist to send the VAR at Stockley Park a nice bunch of flowers.
A tale of two VARs!
In truth, although Manchester United got the decisions, West Brom weren’t good enough and lacked any real firepower.
The 1-0 defeat leaves the Baggies in the drop-zone with just 3-points from 3-draws and 6-defeats.
Sheffield United remain rock bottom of the Premier League table after another defeat on Sunday, this time against David Moyes West Ham.
There was a stat before the game that stated Mr Moyes hadn’t won at Bramall Lane.
That was put to bed on Sunday afternoon when the cardboard Bubbles came up the M1 for their night out in Sheffield.
The Blades are struggling to score at the moment with only 4-goals from their 9-fixtures, that have yielded just a point from a draw, with 8-defeats on the scorecard.
After a goalless 1st-half against West Ham, Sheffield United conceded just after the break when the Blades goalkeeper, Arron Ramsdale failed to stop a shot from outside the area.
Arron is struggling at the moment and the Blades are certainly missing Dean Henderson who is sitting on the bench at Old Trafford.
Strange that!
Play football every week or sit on the bench, hoping for a game now and again.
Chris Wilder was not happy, his face told everyone and will be working on the frontline in training this week to try and get some goals.
Another Blunt that wasn’t happy was little James from Swinton.
Having threatened to follow his first football love, Barnsley FC, if the Blades lost again, Jimbo has told his lovely girlfriend to still order the Barnsley strip for his Christmas present but will give Sheffield United a couple more games to see if they get a victory.
There’s still 5-fixtures left before Santa arrives in Swinton, however, the Blades don’t look like winning anytime soon, so little James will no doubt be swanning around in the Reds kit on December the 25th.
Barnsley are the form team of Yorkshire at the minute and are the top team in the Championship over the last 5-games, so Jimbo will soon be going back to supporting a proper football team like when he was a youth.
With West Brom having scored only 6-goals (3 of those in 1-game) and Sheffield United just 4, this looks like a goal-fest at the Lane on Saturday night.
At least I’m a Celebrity might get an airing on some of the tellies around England.
Remarkably, these two great English teams haven’t played against each other in the Premier League.
Sheffield United have been to the Hawthorns quite a few times over the last 27-years but all were Championship games with neither clubs being in the Top Flight at the same time.
It was February 2019 that Darren Moore’s Baggies last hosted the Blades, in which United’s Kieran Dowell scored the solitary winning goal for Chris Wilders side on their way to gaining promotion to the Premier League.
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SOUTHAMPTON v MANCHESTER UNITED
Sunday 29th
Early Sunday Afternoon football kicking-off at 14.00 in England live on Sky Sports.
Southampton came away from Molineux with a point following a 1-1 draw against Wolves on Monday Night Football.
After a goalless 1st-half, Theo Walcott rolled back the years to tap home after great wing play from Che Adams down the right.
A couple of moments later, Theo had the chance to score a 2nd when put clean through but fluffed his lines in front of goal and hit his shot wide.
Rolling back the years again!
With 15-minutes to go, the home side equalised and with no further goals, the game finished in a draw by a 1-1 scoreline.
Since losing the first 2-fixtures of the new season, Wreck-It Ralphs men are now unbeaten in the 7-subsequent games, 5-Wins and 2-Draws.
With 17-points, the Saints remain in 5th- place, which is still a brilliant situation to find themselves in.
Manchester United are back, that’s what the Old Trafford cardboard faithful were singing after watching their idols take West Brom apart in the late Saturday evening game.
That sentence maybe has to be re-written with an element of truth included.
Manchester United struggled to beat a poor West Brom side at Old Trafford that left the cardboard faithful, well cardboard!
United had not won at their home in the Premier League this season and have only won once in 5-games, that against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, before the visit of West Brom.
Bruno Fernandes was at the centre of 3-penalty decisions, one where he appeared to foul a Baggies player in the area, that was originally given by the on-field referee, David Coote then when he had taken another look on his monitor, overturned his own decision.
Ten minutes later, when United were awarded their penalty, Bruno had his spot-kick saved but VAR adjudged, correctly, that the West Brom goalie had come off his line too early and the kick was retaken.
Bruno wasn’t missing twice and promptly gave United the lead.
Ole’s Wheels weren’t sparkling but ultimately deserved the 1-0 victory mainly due to West Brom being not good enough.
It’s been a narrative of this column that if Ole continues to pick Fred and Scott McTominay then that will be his downfall.
Ole didn’t play both and actually replaced Fred with Scott, halving the problem but the pair are still not up to United’s standard and the Equaliser, Ed Woodward, needs to get the cheque book out in January and purchase a top-class midfielder. (Jack Grealish?)
It was noticeable that Ole introduced Edinson Cavani earlier on in proceedings after only giving the Uruguayan minimum minutes in previous games.
Edinson appears to be a level or two above the rest of the United players and his movement and play is something to behold.
It won’t be long before Mr Cavani starts a game in the Premier League and Paul Pogba may just appreciate playing with Big Ed.
The victory gives United 13-points from 8-fixtures and lifts Ole’s Wheels to 10th in the table, above City, which will please the cardboard faithful.
One positive Ole can take is that his chargers have only played the 8-fixtures, not 9, that all above, apart from Aston Villa, have played, so although 6-points from the top-2, there is the hope of a higher position once the game in hand is played.
Manchester United host Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday in the Champions League hoping to avenge the 2-1 away-day defeat.
A slight digression if one doesn’t mind.
Last week a brilliant young fighter, named Terri Harper along with Katie Taylor and Rachel Ball fought on an International Boxing bout live on Sky Sports.
This bill was screened live on Sky, plus Facebook and YouTube and had over 2 Million views for the entire show.
Women’s Boxing is now becoming Boxing, however, the only slight anomaly to that is, if the girls don’t want to be separated from the boys, they have to fight 3-minute rounds, not 2-minutes.
There’s a lot of everyone wanting diversity and equality in life, which is fine and acceptable and surely, the girls will subscribe to that philosophy, however, that philosophy needs to be put into practice and the girls need to fight 3-minute rounds.
There’s no point shouting that women are equal if the rounds are a minute less and that’s not from a man’s point of view but a boxing perspective.
To be considered equal is to fight equally.
Not knowing Katie Taylor personally, it’s assumed that KT would have no problem fighting 3-minute rounds.
Certainly, Terri Harper and Rachel Ball would.
Terri won the WBC (World Boxing Council) Super-Featherweight Title in Sheffield, England and successfully defended the belt against Natasha Jonas, where she earned a controversial draw.
Controversial, only because most thought Natasha had won but in truth, the champion is the champion for a reason and the challenger as to do enough to take the title away, which Natasha didn’t.
Firstly, what a tremendous achievement by such a wonderful young lady, yes lady, Terri is a girl and has stepped up to the plate, by winning the same coveted Green belt as that held by the WBC World Heavyweight Champion that is Tyson Fury.
Not many will put Terri and Tyson in the same sentence, this EveryTip column does.
Terri has earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as Tyson Fury.
Whilst a tremendous achievement by Terri, what is sometimes forgotten is the Boxing prowess that set women’s boxing on the journey that it affords.
Jane Couch MBE really is the pioneer for the Women’s Boxing of today and the likes of Terri Harper, Katie Taylor, Rachel Ball, Natasha Jonas, Savannah Marshall, Christy Martin, Bonnie Cannino, Holly Holm, Layla McCarter, even Rhonda Rousey and Nicola Adams.
Type Women’s Boxer’s in Google and lingerie comes up, which is a sad indictment on, firstly Google but also the British Boxing Board of Control who never acknowledged Jane Couch MBE.
Initially not granting Jane a licence because, get this, and this will shock many, Jane is a woman.
Even implying that PMT (Google it!) was a factor in not issuing the licence, stating that women were “too unstable to box”
That’s your men for you in the early 1990s.
Jane got her licence granted towards the end of 1990, then took nearly a decade to establish herself.
Miss Couch won the WBF (World Boxing Federation) title in 1999, on the same card as Cornelius Carr, who had the honour of sharing the ring with the great Dean Francis.
Jane fought on the Undercard of Micky Ward, who’s career is portrayed in the Oscar-Winning film starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, The Fighter.
On the same bill that night in Mashantucket, Connecticut USA, was a certain Prince Naseem Hamed who was defending his WBO (World Boxing Organisation) title.
Jane fought on Million Dollar bills in the States but couldn’t get a gig in Britain due to the sexual discrimination of the BBBofC.
On a June night in 2003, Jane Couch fought Lucia Rijker at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
On that particular bill in LA, was Lenox Lewis who defeated Vitali Klitschko to defend his WBC World Heavyweight Title.
Having also been on the same undercard as Roy Jones Jnr, Jane deserves tremendous respect and recognition for what she had to go through to get her to where she is now and women’s Boxing to where it is now.
Imagine waking up on Sunday and seeing the headlines ‘Katie Taylor shouldn’t box because of PMT’
That’s effectively what Jane Couch MBE had to deal with.
Respect Jane, keep on keeping on.
This fixture last term was a Game Week-4 encounter with both teams sharing the points following a 1-1 draw.
Dan James (before he was rubbish) scored for United after 10-minutes.
Jannik Vestergaard equalised for the Saints just after the break.
Southampton’s Kevin Danso, who had been booked in the 1st-half, received a second Yellow to ultimately beat his teammates into the showers.
Bet 365 offer Southampton at 11/4, the draw at 12/5 and Evens 1/1 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
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CHELSEA v TOTTENHAM
Sunday 29th
Late Sunday Afternoon football with this exciting game at Stamford Bridge kicking-off at 16.30 in England live on Sky Sports.
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea briefly went top of the Premier League table on Saturday, after a professional victory against Newcastle at St James Park.
It looked like Ben Chilwell had tapped home to open the scoring but after close inspection, it came off a Newcastle defender as an own goal.
Tammy Abraham, making a rare start for the Blues, repaid Frank’s faith and added a 2nd for Chelsea after the break.
With no more goals, Frank’s boys got a great 2-0 away-day victory that took the Blues to the summit of the Premier League, if only temporary following Tottenham’s victory a couple of hours later and Chelsea ended Game Week-9 in 3rd-place with 18-points, the same as Leicester but with a superior goal difference over the Foxes.
Chelsea are back in Champions League action on Tuesday and travel over the English Channel to take on Rennes before hosting Tottenham.
Tottenham scored an early goal at the Etihad on Saturday then added a 2nd after the break to hold on for a great 2-0 home victory against Man City.
Son Heung-Min took advantage of some poor defending by City and slipped the ball through Ederson’s legs to score for Spurs after 5-minutes.
It did look like City had equalised midway through the 1st-half but the dreaded advised the on-field referee Mike Dean to check his pitch-side monitor for a possible handball and as mentioned, once that occurs, the decision is usually reversed.
Gabriel Jesus aka Le-Bron James, using his hand in the build-up.
In the 2nd-half, Jose introduced Giovani Lo Celso just after the hour mark and within seconds of entering the field of play, scored Tottenham’s 2nd.
The victory took Tottenham above Chelsea to the top of the Premier League with 20-points, 2-more than today’s opponents, so this will be a top of the table clash between Jose’s past and present.
Although a great victory for Spurs, the fact still remains that Tottenham, apart from a win against Southampton in Game Week-2, haven’t beaten anyone else in the top half of the table and the Saints weren’t in the top 10 when Jose’s men beat them.
Tottenham themselves play in the Europa League on Thursday entertaining Ludogorets in their return tie.
At Stamford Bridge last season, this was a pre-lockdown game in February that the fans could enjoy, with Frank getting the better of Jose after his Blues got a victory by a 2-1 scoreline.
Olivier Giroud put Chelsea in front after 15-minutes with Marcos Alonso adding the 2nd just after the break.
A Blues player did score the 3rd, however, the unfortunate Antonio Rudiger turned passed a helpless Willy Caballero, late on in proceedings to give Tottenham hope but the final whistle blew to give Chelsea the win.
Bet 365 offer Chelsea at 11/10, the draw at 5/2 and 12/5 for Tottenham to come away with all 3-points.
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ARSENAL v WOLVES
Sunday 29th
Early Sunday Evening football starting at 19.15 in England live on Sky Sports to rival Songs of Praise.
Arsenal came away from West Yorkshire with a point following a 0-0 draw against Leeds United on Sunday.
Although a goalless draw, the Gunners did have to play, for the majority of the 2nd-half, with 10-men, after Nicolas Pepe went head-to-head with Leeds Ezgjan Alioski, literally, stupidly getting himself a Red Card for a supposed Glasgow-kiss.
The good men and women of the Scottish city were wincing and laughing after seeing the replays and wanted to immediately disassociate themselves from the incident.
After the game, the Scotland International, Kieran Tierney headed towards Mr Alioski, probably wanting to give the Macedonian star a proper kiss.
The point leaves Mikel Arteta’s men with 13, in 12th-place from the 9-fixtures so far, which, although isn’t brilliant, Pep 2 does have a point more than Pep 1.
Wolves came from a goal behind to gain a well-deserved point against Southampton on Monday Night Football.
After Southampton went ahead in the 58th-minute, Nuno Espírito Santo made a change, introducing Supermarket Man Pedro Neto.
Five minutes later Pedro tapped home to equalise, following a strike by Raul Jimenez that struck the post.
Although Wolves pushed for a winner, the Saints defended resiliently to earn a draw from a 1-1 scoreline.
A fair result for both sides with the point gained giving Nuno’s men 14, from the 9-fixtures so far and lifts Wolves to 9th in the table.
This will be another tough task at the Emirates but hopefully, Conor Coady will be back after Self-Isolating following a Covid scare.
Conor missed the match against the Saints that would have been his 122nd-consecutive game for the Wolves having not missed an outing for over 3-years.
That also meant the England defender missed out on the chance to break Wolves all-time successive appearance record of 127-games currently held by Phil Parkes.
Arsenal are in Norway on Thursday taking on Molde in the Europa League.
In November last year, at the Emirates, Raul Jimenez equalised an earlier Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goal to send both teams home with a share of the points following a 1-1 draw.
Arsenal were still under the helm of Unai Emery at the time.
Bet 365 offer Arsenal at Evens 1/1, the draw at 12/5 and 11/4 for Wolves to come away with all 3-points.
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LEICESTER v FULHAM
Monday 30th
A rare 17.30 Early Monday Evening game in England live on Sky Sports.
It was thought by many, this column included, that Leicester would beat a depleted Liverpool side on Sunday to return to the top of the Premier League table and end the Anfield dominance.
Not so, as in truth, Leicester were outplayed by the Reds and Jurgen did a tactical number on Brendan.
Jonny Evans was unfortunate to give Liverpool the lead by turning past Kasper Schmeichel after 20-minutes, then the Foxes conceded a 2nd just before the break to trail 2-0 at half-time.
Although Brendan made a couple of substitutions midway through the 2nd-half, Leicester were 2nd-best throughout the game and after Liverpool scored a 3rd late on, the Foxes ultimately lost the game by a 3-0 scoreline.
Sheffield Superstar Jamie Vardy, who had scored 7 of his 8-goals away from the King Power, was unusually quiet throughout the game and lacked any real support to try and unlock a supposedly make-shift defence, that looked more solid than when Liverpool’s regulars play.
The defeat leaves Brendan’s Not-So Wonderful’s still with 18-points but now in 4th-place in the table, having started the weekend at the top of the pile.
With Liverpool travelling to Brighton and Chelsea and Tottenham inevitably taking points off each other, Leicester will feel that this home fixture against a struggling Fulham team is the most favourable out of them all.
The Foxes head to Portugal before this home fixture to take on Braga in the Europa League.
Lennon, Rod’s dog, disappeared late Saturday afternoon, fearing the worse but did reappear with his tail wagging on Sunday evening after Leicester’s defeat against Liverpool.
On Saturday, Rod Stewart’s beloved Celtic were held to a Desmond 2-2 draw by Hibernian in the SPL that left them 8-points behind their fierce Glasgow rivals Rangers.
In the early Sunday afternoon kick-off in the Scottish Pub League, Rangers then went on to beat Aberdeen by a 4-0 scoreline to take Steven Gerrard’s ‘Gers 11-points clear of Neil Lennon’s Green and White Hoops.
The dog was nowhere to be seen and knew that worse was possibly to come when Leicester took on a depleted Liverpool in the Sunday Night kick-off.
Rod had his Liverpool shirt on with ‘Stewart’ and ‘75’ on the back and settled down with a can of Irn Bru to hopefully watch Brendan’s Wonderful Human Beings get beat.
That’s just what happened, the first Premier League defeat for Leicester in 3-games and the first time that Rod hasn’t slung his opposition shirt at the dog for a couple of weeks.
‘75’ by the way is not because Rod is aged 75, it’s the number of kids the Scottish crooner has.
Rod was happy, Lennon was happy and the kids, all of them, were happy too.
He’s Celtic, United but Brendan has decided that Leicester is the best place to be.
Fulham conceded a goal against Everton after just 42-seconds in the early Sunday Afternoon game.
When a team is struggling at the foot of the table, the last thing they would have wanted was to be 1-0 down with less than a minute on the board.
The brilliantly named Bobby Decordova-Reid did equalise 10-minutes later but before the half-hour mark was up, the Cottagers were behind again after the Toffees added a 2nd.
It then got worse for Scott Parker’s boys, as Everton scored a 3rd before half-time to leave Fulham trailing 3-1.
Before the International break, Ademola Lookman attempted and messed up a Panenka-style penalty in injury-time of their game against West Ham, that would have earned a draw.
So if a penalty was awarded against Everton then it would more than likely be someone else on spot-kick duty.
That’s just what happened midway through the 2nd-half when Fulham got a penalty.
This time it was up to Ivan Cavaleiro who surely wouldn’t miss.
Ivan unfortunately slipped and somehow managed to spoon the ball over the bar.
Whilst Ademola’s miss was an error of judgment, Ivan’s miss was just unlucky.
After Aleksandar Mitrovic had missed his spot-kick against Scotland that cost Serbia a place at Euro 2020, the Big Lad was nowhere to be seen when the referee pointed to the spot.
Just after the missed kick, Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored to pull a goal back and Fulham did play well for most of the 2nd-half, however, the missed penalty proved costly and Scott’s team suffered another defeat.
The Cottagers have 4-points from their 9-fixtures which is 1-win, 1-draw and 7-defeats and due to Burnley’s subsequent victory on Monday Night Football, drop into the bottom-3 of the Premier League table.
It was March 2019 that Fulham last visited the King Power Stadium before being relegated to the Championship a couple of months later.
Youri Tielemans scored midway through the 1st-half to give the Foxes a half-time lead.
Floyd Ayite, who was introduced by Scott Parker at the break, immediately repaid his manager’s faith by equalising minutes after the restart.
Unfortunately for the Cottagers, Jamie Vardy was in the Leicester lineup and the Sheffield Superstar did what Jamie does by scoring twice to give Brendan’s Wonderful Human Beings a victory over McDonald’s Boy Scott by a 3-1 scoreline.
Bet 365 offer Leicester at slight Odds On 1/2, the draw at 16/5 and 11/2 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
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WEST HAM v ASTON VILLA
Monday 30th
Monday Night Football with this final fixture of Game Week-10 kicking-off at the usual 20.00 in England live on Sky Sports.
West Ham got their 2nd-victory in succession by a 1-0 scoreline on Sunday, in the Tool Derby, when the Hammers beat the Blades at Bramall Lane.
David Moyes had never won at United’s home which is a great start but in truth, with the teams that David has managed and the times Sheffield United have been in the Premier League, Mr Moyes hasn’t visited Sheffield that many times over the years.
Whilst Preston manager, David went to Bramall Lane 3-unsuccessful times, with Everton, only a disappointing once and of cause Sheffield United weren’t in the Premier League when Mr Moyes had his short tenure at Old Trafford.
With Sunderland and West Ham, David hasn’t ventured to Sheffield’s 2nd biggest ground.
Michail Antonio was absent from the trip up North but his under fire replacement, that is Sebastian Haller, who hadn’t scored in 6-Premier League games, scored the solitary winning goal against Sheffield United with a brilliant strike from outside of the area.
Michail could be on the bench for this fixture against Villa and could even be plunged straight into the starting eleven, depending on his fitness.
The 1-0 victory gives West Ham 14-points and lifts Moyes Boys to 8th in the table.
After beating Arsenal at the Emirates, following 2-straight defeats, it looked like Aston Villa were back on track and a visit from a struggling Brighton side to Villa Park would have been just what Dean Smith had wanted.
However, even though Villa had the majority of possession, the defence somehow went walkabouts to allow Brighton to score after 12-minutes.
After the break, Ezri Konza equalised for the home-side.
Unfortunately for Villa, the Seagulls scored again with what turned out to be the winner, inflicting another defeat on Dean Smith’s Claret and Blues by a 2-1 scoreline.
It did look like Aston Villa had been given a penalty late on but inexplicably the dreaded VAR ruled against the foul and the decision was overturned.
Villa have 15-points and lie 7th, in the Premier League table.
A concern for Dean would be the injury to Ross Barkley who was taken off after 5-minutes in the defeat against Brighton.
Hopefully, for the Villa faithful, Ross will be back fit for this trip down to the Capital.
This was the final fixture of the protracted 2019/20 season at the London Stadium with both teams having one flip-flop on the bio-bubble beach.
Jack Grealish gave Villa a brief lead by scoring in the 84th-minute, brief as Andriy Yarmolenko equalised for the Hammers within seconds of Jack’s strike to earn West Ham a draw from a 1-1 scoreline.
Bet 365 offer West Ham at 11/8, the draw at 5/2 and 9/5 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3-points.
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