The highlight games for the weekend’s action are ARSENAL versus SHEFFIELD UNITED and MANCHESTER UNITED versus MAN CITY. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these and all game week 10 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 the time of publication
Last week, John had quite the impressive run, accurately predicting 10 correct results that came together for an impressive 570/1 Acca. And as if that wasn’t enough, he also nailed three correct scores!
Game Week-10
Friday 27th
CRYSTAL PALACE v TOTTENHAM
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
Crystal Palace felt the full force of the Newcastle effect at St James Park on Saturday in the Battle of the Birds with Roy’s Eagles succumbing to a defeat against Eddie’s Magpies by a 4-0 scoreline.
Although a loss and a bad day at the office, Newcastle will beat most teams this season, especially at St James so Mr Hodgson just needs to put the defeat to bed and move on to this fixture.
However, having said that, this fixture is against the Premier League leaders so it will be another tough ask.
Crystal Palace sit in 11th place with the same 12 points as Chelsea.
Tottenham are straight back in action following the Monday Night Football against Fulham at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium.
The Premier League Fixture Compilers (PLFC) have kindly sent Big Ange’s Spurs straight back out for another 8.00 PM start, 4 days after the victory against Marco’s Cottagers.
As already mentioned, Tottenham are back at the summit of the Premier League having dropped a few places due to Man City gaining a victory earlier in the weekend.
The Monday Night Football against Fulham produced a scintillating game to watch from the comfort of the sofa that saw Son Heung-Min score the opener in the 1st-half to give Tottenham a lead at the break.
Fulham did have some good chances but they weren’t clear cut and the Spurs Defenders controlled the attacks from the away team.
James Maddison scored early in the 2nd half to double Tottenham’s lead.
Mr Maddison was superb throughout the game and really makes the Spurs team tick.
The ex-Fox was Man of the Match and had stats as follows,
Goals-1 Rank-1st
Shots-3 Rank-1st
Chances created-4 Rank-1st
Touches in the opposition box-9 Rank-1st
Pressures-40 Rank-1st
A simply brilliant performance from James that helped secure another victory for Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou.
Big Ange’s Table-toppers now have 23 points from the opening 9 games completed.
This fixture at Selhurst Park last season, took place just after the turn of the New Year, on the 4th of January, with both teams under the guidance of different Managers, Patrick Vieira still in charge of Palace and Antonio Conte at the Tottenham helm.
After a goalless 1st-half, the New Year’s fun started, with Harry Kane scoring twice, plus Matt Doherty and Son Heung-Min adding 3 and 4 to give Tottenham the victory by a 4-0 away night score.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 13/5, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 19/20 for Tottenham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 6/4 that Richarlison Scores Anytime and 7/4 that a Penalty is Awarded.
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Saturday 28th
CHELSEA v BRENTFORD
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
The Posh West London Derby.
It was mentioned in last week’s column that Chelsea are on the up and the players are finally beginning to understand the methods of Mauricio Pochettino after a difficult start to the campaign.
This was evident in Saturday’s performance against Arsenal, where Mauricio’s Blues gained a great point from a draw by a 2-2 score.
Not only was the Draw predicted by EveryTip but the Archbishop was over the moon.
Chelsea were handed the first goal, so to speak when the unfortunate William Saliba was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area to gift the Blues a penalty.
It did appear harsh but a precedent had been set earlier on in the day at Anfield regarding handball in the area, so once the on-field referee, Chris Kavanagh, who hadn’t initially given the penalty, was asked to look at the pitch-side monitor, the inevitable occurred with a spot-kick awarded.
There was a bit of too-ing and fro-wing regarding who was going to take the kick with Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer both wanting to.
Enzo Fernandez was seen on TV saying to Raheem,
‘Cole, Cole!’
Which is Spanish for,
‘Let Cole take it Raheem as you are rubbish at spot-kicks and have missed 4 out of the last 7 you have taken for your club!’
Cole Palmer stepped up and coolly slotted home to give Chelsea a lead.
Mykhailo Mudryk added a 2nd early in the 2nd-half to cement the advantage but following a poor clearance by the Blues Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez who kicked the ball straight to Declan Rice, Arsenal pulled a goal back.
That error by Robert completely changed the momentum of the game and the tide then turned in Arsenal’s favour, eventually producing an equaliser.
Mikel’s Young Guns were now on the ascendancy, however, luckily for the Blues, time ran out and both shared the points.
It was a great display by Chelsea who, as one has already stated, are improving and it does appear that Mr Pochettino is beginning to get his tactics over to the players, which could manifest into a victory today in this West London Derby.
Chelsea sit in 10th place in the Premier League table with 12 points from 9 games played.
Crystal Palace also have 12 points.
That said, Brentford gained a great victory over Burnley at the GTech Stadium on Saturday, with the Bees inflicting a defeat on the Clarets by a 3-0 scoreline.
Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and Saman Ghoddos with the goals.
Saman’s one was particularly spectacular.
Whilst it was a brilliant victory that saw Brentford get back to winning ways and Bryan Mbeumo back to scoring goals, it could be added that the victory was only against Burnley.
However, Thomas Frank’s Bees can only beat the team put in front of them and on Saturday it just happened to be Burnley.
This West London Derby will be a tougher ask but Brentford will definitely be up for the challenge.
Brentford sit in 14th place with the same 10 points as Nottingham Forest and 2 points adrift of today’s opponents so a victory will see Thomas’s Bees jump above Mauricio’s Blues.
It was the Bees that took the West London bragging rights at Stamford Bridge in April, with Brentford gaining an away day victory over Chelsea by a 2-0 scoreline.
Cesar Azpilicueta was credited with an own goal before Bryan Mbeumo added a 2nd to give Thomas Frank’s boy all 3 points.
Betfred offer Chelsea at Odds On 8/13, the draw at 3/1 and 4/1 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Raheem Sterling Scores First and 6/4 that Chelsea Score in Both Halves.
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BOURNEMOUTH v BURNLEY
15.00 in England
Both of these ‘B’ Teams will feel that a victory is achievable today as both teams are currently useless.
It’s fair to say that Bournemouth are struggling at the moment with the methods of the New Manager Andoni Iraola appearing not to be getting over to the players.
In Saturday’s game against Wolves, Dominic Solanke scored first to give the home faithful something to cheer.
Bournemouth conceded an equaliser just after the break, then a moment of madness from Lewis Cook, who head-butted an opposing player, saw the Cherries reduced to 10 Men with Lewis receiving a Red Card.
The inevitable then happened in the 88th minute when the away team scored the winner to leave Bournemouth with another defeat, this time by a 2-1 scoreline.
That’s 6 losses from the opening 9 fixtures with the other 3 being drawn.
There is only Sheffield United, who sit at the bottom of the table, that are worse than Bournemouth who sit in 19th place with 3 points.
Neither have gained a victory, being the only 2 not to register a win so far.
Andoni doesn’t appear to be too concerned about his position as Manager, however, the New Owners won’t want the slump to continue so could make a change in the next couple of weeks, especially with another International Break occurring in November.
Burnley, with 4 points, sit a place and a point above Bournemouth in 18th, after the opening 9 fixtures, following another defeat
on Saturday, this time against Brentford with the Bees getting the victory by a 3-0 scoreline.
Vincent Kompany does appear to have more credit in the back than his counterpart today, however, although the Burnley owners come across as good guys in a documentary about the club, could easily become bad guys and get rid of Mr Kompany if they don’t want to see the club relegated.
It was always going to be a tough ask for the 3 newly promoted teams, however, at the moment, all 20 of the Premier League teams have the same Manager who started the campaign.
That could alter in the next month or so.
It was December 2019 when Burnley last visited the Vitality to take on Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Jay Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game in the 89th minute to give Sean Dyche’s Clarets the victory over Eddie Howe’s Cherries by a 1-0 score.
Burnley also got the win at Turf Moor later in the season which eventually saw Bournemouth relegated at the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
Burnley were then relegated themselves at the end of the 2021/22 season which coincided with Bournemouth being promoted to the Premier League.
The two have met again in the FA Cup, once in February 2021, when Bournemouth progressed and again in January 2023, which saw Burnley progress to the next round.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 11/10, the draw at 5/2 and 23/10 for Burnley to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/4 that Lyle Foster Scores Anytime and slight Odds On 10/11 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
Draw 1-1- Get 11/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ARSENAL v SHEFFIELD UNITED
15.00 in England
Arsenal gained a credible point away against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, coming from 2 goals behind to snatch a draw from a 2-2 scoreline.
The draw was predicted in this column last week.
A quick point on predicting football results and scores, firstly John Newsome and EveryTip predicted all 10 of last week’s results at approximate odds of 570/1 so it’s hoped all out there won a few quid especially with the heating going on now Winter is approaching.
Secondly, to actually predict the correct score is difficult and now becoming increasingly more difficult, especially with the dreaded VAR situation.
For example, a couple of weeks ago, this EveryTip column predicted that Tottenham v Liverpool would finish in a 2-2 scoreline.
The eventual result was a victory in favour of Tottenham by a 2-1 score, however, the game saw the unexpected incident regarding a legitimate goal being disallowed by VAR through the incompetence of the Stockley Park brigade.
In the late Saturday Afternoon game at Stamford Bridge, Declan Rice scored a great goal when the Blues Goalkeeper kicked the ball to the Arsenal lad who hit the ball first time into the net.
Chelsea were leading at the time by 2 goals to Nil.
Leandro Trossard scored an equaliser soon after DR Declan’s strike and with no further goals both London teams shared the points.
Arsenal dropped a place following the weekend’s fixture, now sitting in 3rd place with the same 21 points as Man City, who leap above the Gunners into 2nd.
Arsenal head to Spain to face Sevilla on Tuesday in Match-Day 3 of the Champions League Group Stage.
Despite the travelling and the Sangria, this fixture against Sheffield United has a Home Win written all over it.
Sheffield United put in a decent shift against Manchester United in the Saturday Night game at Bramall Lane but despite the endeavour, succumbed to another defeat by a 2-1 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
That’s the 8th loss from the opening 9 games, leaving the Blades at the bottom of the table with 1 point.
Ollie McBurnie converted a penalty just after the half-hour mark to put the scores level following a Manchester United goal a few minutes before.
Unfortunately, the inevitable happened late on in proceedings with the away United scoring the winner in the 77th minute, heaping more pressure on Paul Heckinbottom.
Like all of the Managers who see their clubs struggling at the wrong end of the table, By Heck is under pressure and is currently the Bookmakers favourite to be the first to lose his job.
Whilst no one wants to see a person lose his position of employment, it is the nature of the beast in Football Management and Paul knows that more than anyone, having been sacked by Leeds United and Hibernian (who?) a few years back.
The only team that hasn’t sacked Mr Heckinbottom is his hometown club of Barnsley.
James from Swinton, nowhere near Bramall Lane, was at the game against Manchester United on Saturday but wasn’t happy with his beloved Blades and again was convinced that the Premier League is corrupt and that there’s no way a referee would award Sheffield United a penalty.
Sheffield United were then awarded a penalty.
Jimbo shouted,
‘Corrupt!’
Just as Ollie McBurnie hit a superb spot-kick that no Goalkeeper was saving.
The Little Blunt went off to the local Spoons after the inevitable defeat and drowned his sorrows with a couple of Fruit Ciders waiting for the lovely Jade and the Dog to turn up and take him home.
Armed with a Chinese Take-Away, the lad went back and tried to convince Jade to change the Dogs name, drunkenly insisting on renaming the Pooch,
‘Corrupt!’
Over the park the next day, the dog just laid down and put his paw over his eyes in dismay as the Daft Blunt kept shouting,
‘Here Corrupt!, good boy, good boy!’
Jimbo is heading down to the Big Smoke to see his idols (lose) on Saturday and will give a live commentary on proceedings at the Emirates.
To those not familiar with Sheffield and London, the trip to the Emirates is probably one of the easiest journeys to make.
Although there are over 150 miles between the two cities, the train from Sheffield Station travels straight down to Kings Cross which is situated about 2 miles away from the Emirates.
So off the Rattler and a steady walk to the Stadium, nipping in the local hostelries for a quick pint or six.
Little James will no doubt want to head to Leicester Square again, trying to find Jamie Vardy for a fight.
Corrupt is a strong word to use and implies that money is exchanged between certain parties to influence games which mean Sheffield United keep losing.
Unfortunately, for all connected with the Blunts, it has nothing to do with corruption, Sheffield United just haven’t got the quality to survive in the Premier League and it’s of no blame to anyone, especially Paul Heckinbottom and his players, so unless the Owners invest in some decent footballers or can persuade Lionel Messi to leave Miami and head to the Steel City (both pretty similar environments!) then Sheffield United will be playing Championship football again next season.
As for corruption, Little Jimbo can’t even spell it and when asked to, just replied,
‘I T!’
It’s been exactly 3 years since Arsenal last hosted Sheffield United when Mikel Arteta’s Young Guns gained a victory over Chris Wilder’s Blades by a 2-1 scoreline.
Back in October 2020, following a goalless 1st-half, goals from Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe gave Arsenal the points.
David McGoldrick did score a late consolation goal to give the watching Blunts at home something to cheer.
The faithful were at home due to No Spectators being allowed because of the horrendous Coronavirus Situation.
Betfred offer Arsenal at massive Odds On 1/8, the draw at 7/1 and 18/1 for Sheffield United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Gabriel Jesus Scores Two Plus Goals and 9/4 that there are Over 4.5 Goals. (It’s Evens 1/1 for Over 3.5 Goals)
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WOLVES v NEWCASTLE
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
An Away Win was predicted for Wolves in this column last week, not only because Bournemouth are rubbish at the moment but because the ex-Cherry Boss Gary O’Neil, who was sacked by the Bournemouth New Owners in the Summer,
would have wanted to get one over his old mates.
After the home team had scored to take an early lead, Matheus Cunha equalised for Wolves just after the break.
The Cherries then had a player sent off (Lewis Cook) for head-butting Hwang-Hee Chan.
Hwang-Hee did go down easier than the Titanic but it was a silly thing to do by Lewis and was a straight Red.
The extra man advantage eventually wore down Bournemouth with Sasa Kalajdzic scoring the Wolves winner in the 88th minute, to give Gary’s Gold and Blacks a victory over Andoni’s Cherries by a 2-1 scoreline.
Mr O’Neil’s post-match interview was interesting with Gary insisting the win was no more important than a win over any other team.
Yeah, right oh Gary!
The lad had been waiting for this fixture since the Summer and whilst his nose may have grown a bit coming out with that statement, the victory was probably one of the highlights of the year in the O’Neil household and a few glasses of Champagne were partaken somewhere in the Black Country on Saturday Evening.
Nice one Gary O’Neil.
Wolves’ Ruben Neves and Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin scored a goal in each half to earn both teams a point from a draw by a 1-1 score, in last season’s encounter at Molineux.
After a difficult start to the season, Newcastle are back on track following another win on Saturday, this time against Crystal Palace by a 4-0 scoreline.
First-half goals by Jacob Murphy, Anthony Gordon and Sean Longstaff plus a Callum Wilson strike just after the hour-mark gave Eddie’s Magpies the victory over Roy’s Eagles.
The Callum Wilson goal was a thing of beauty, with just five touches of the ball between four players from one end of the pitch to the other.
Nick Pope rolled the ball out to Kieran Trippier, who instantly fed the ball to Jacob Murphy, who himself passed on to Callum who took a touch and then guided the ball into the Palace goal.
Beautiful!
Newcastle are now unbeaten in the last 8 games in all competitions, 5 in the Premier League, 2 in the Champions League and a Carabao Cup tie, that just happened to be a victory over Man City.
In the 5 unbeaten Premier League fixtures, there were victories against Brentford, Sheffield United (Eight!), Burnley and Crystal Palace with a draw against West Ham.
The Champions League games saw a draw against AC Milan and a victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
Kylian Mbappe? no problem!
The Match-Day 3 encounter of the Champions League Group Stage, takes place on Wednesday against Borussia Dortmund at St James Park.
Betfred offer Wolves at 7/2, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 8/11 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 6/5 that Callum Wilson Scores Anytime and 7/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Nick Pope- Newcastle
RIGHT-BACK- Kieran Trippier- Newcastle
CENTRE-BACK- Thiago Silva- Chelsea
CENTRE-BACK- Ezri Konsa- Aston Villa
LEFT-BACK- Lucas Digne- Aston Villa
MIDFIELDER- Douglas Luiz- Aston Villa
MIDFIELDER- John Stones- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Rodri- Man City
FORWARD- Sasa Kalajdzic- Wolves
FORWARD- Ollie Watkins- Aston Villa
FORWARD- Mo Salah- Liverpool
STAR MAN- Kieran Trippier- Newcastle
Sunday 29th
WEST HAM v EVERTON
13.00 in England
Sky Sports
Note the start time of 13.00 in England not the usual 14.00 Sky Sports slot.
West Ham were hammered by Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday with the home team getting the victory by a 4-1 scoreline.
Jarrod Bowen scored the Hammers’ goal when the score was 2-1, to give the travelling Bubbles hopes of a comeback.
Unfortunately for the watching faithful from London, Villa scored another 2 to run out easy winners.
West Ham dropped down to 9th in the table with 14 points from the opening 9 games.
What will probably irk David Moyes is that his old club Manchester United are now above West Ham in the table.
The Hammers travel to Greece to face Olympiacos on Thursday in the Europa League Group Game, which due to the travelling, could be a factor for this Sunday Afternoon fixture against the Toffees.
Everton may consider themselves unlucky following Saturday’s Merseyside Derby, firstly having Ashley Young sent off in the 37th minute, then having a penalty awarded against them for a Michael Keane handball in the area.
In truth, maybe 1 of Ashley’s 2 Yellow Cards, that came in the 18th and 37th minute, could at least be considered harsh but the handball by Michael Keane was a penalty, despite not being initially given by the on-field referee Craig Pawson.
The dreaded VAR were asked to check a couple of non-events before Michael stopped the ball going into the middle with his hand and straight away instructed Craig to check the Monitor.
As one knows, once this occurs, the decision is usually altered and on this occasion, the non-award of the penalty now becomes a penalty.
A couple of points regarding that, firstly the on-field referee should have awarded the spot-kick straight away and not relied on the Stockley Park brigade to make the decision and secondly, the commentators for TNT, which included Ally McCoist and Rio Ferdinand, straight away said the award was harsh.
No, it wasn’t, the ball was stopped from going into the middle of the area by an outstretched arm, which would have created a goal-scoring opportunity.
Michael Keane had no reason to extend his arm unless he wanted to stop the ball from going into the middle.
It was a penalty all day long, yet these commentators make the matter worse with their silly ‘comments!’
It was a penalty, end of.
Jordan Pickford had no chance with the spot-kick.
Liverpool then added a 2nd in injury time to leave Everton with the defeat by a 2-0 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
The Toffees sit in 16th place with 7 points from the opening 9 fixtures.
Sixteenth purely on the basis that the teams below Everton are rubbish.
At the London Stadium for last season’s game between these two, Jarrod Bowen scored twice in the 1st-half to give the Hammers the victory over the Toffees by a 2-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer West Ham at 21/20, the draw at 13/5 and 12/5 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Jarrod Bowen Scores First and 6/4 that Lucas Paqueta Gets A Yellow Card.
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ASTON VILLA v LUTON
14.00 in England
Aston Villa are good to watch at the moment and once again put in a stellar performance against West Ham on Sunday, gaining a victory by a 4-1 scoreline.
Douglas Luiz was superb throughout and scored twice before Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey added 3 and 4.
The Hammers did pull a goal back when the score was 2-0.
Going back to what was stated earlier about predicting the correct score.
John Newsome predicted that Aston Villa would get the victory by a 3-1 scoreline at Odds of 12/1.
Ollie Watkins made it 3-1 in the 74th minute and Leon scored the 4th in the 89th.
As most Betting Companies offer the option to ‘Cash Out’ it’s hoped a few took the opportunity in the 15 minutes between Ollie’s goal and Leon’s strike.
Aston Villa jumped up to 5th in the table with 19 points from the opening 9 fixtures.
Villa have a 100% home record from the 4 games played at Villa Park so it’s more than likely to be another victory today especially with this fixture being against a Newly Promoted team.
There was talk about Ezri Konsa possibly making the recent England Squad following some fine performances in a Claret and Blue shirt, however, at the moment, Gareth Southgate hasn’t picked the lad.
The Villa Centre-Back has been superb this season and has played every minute of every Premier League game so far and although hasn’t made the Three Lions Squad yet, it might just be a matter of time before Gareth includes Ezri, especially with another International Break coming up in the middle of November.
Back in July 2019, over 4 years ago, the following was published in an EveryTip column regarding the Best Young Premier League Players who were Under 21 at the time.
(https://www.everytip.co.uk/english-premier-league-2019-2020-best-young-players.html)
‘2. Ezri Konsa Aged 21 Aston Villa
Ezri Konsa made his name in football playing as a Centre-Back for Charlton Athletic before being snapped up by Brentford for around £2.5 Million in 2018.
After just a season with the Bees, Ezri gets his chance in the Premier League and has joined Premier League new boys Aston Villa in a deal worth around £12 Million.
The significant factor in signing for Aston Villa is Ezri links up again with current Villa boss Dean Smith, who managed the England Under-21 Centre-Back when he was in charge of the Bees.
Ezri has played for the England Under-21s and was part of the ill-fated trip to Italy for the UEFA Under-21 tournament this summer.
Fortunately for Big Ez he only played the final 40-odd minutes or so in the meaningless game against Croatia so cannot really be found culpable for the 2-defeats suffered earlier for Aidy Hoofroyd’s youngsters.
What Ezri does have in his favour which is worth more than gold is not only the advice and guidance of current Aston Villa manager Dean Smith, who was a very capable Centre-Back himself but much more in the advice and guidance of the Villa Assistant Manager John Terry.
If Ezri Konsa becomes half the player that John Terry was then he will have a great career and JT can guide Ezri into Gareth Southgate’s Full England Squad.
Whilst John Terry is a bit like Marmite (other Yeast Extract products are available) such as when he dresses up in a full kit for a game he wasn’t playing in, what cannot be in doubt is the brilliant Centre-Back JT was throughout his career with Chelsea, Aston Villa, England and a few games on loan at Nottingham Forest at the beginning of his career.
Whilst playing for Aston Villa in the latter stages of his career it was noted just how good a Centre-Back JT was when he was on show at Oakwell.
Aston Villa comfortably beat Barnsley FC 3-0 that day in September 2017.
John Terry had a sublime game marshalling the Defence and controlling all around.
It was argued whether he had to wash his shirt afterwards as there was limited sweat produced under such a cool performance and definitely no grass stains on his shorts as John didn’t need to go to ground against the Championship team in Red.
Some of the Reds faithful that day (including John Newsome) saw JT in a different light and found out just how good John Terry was.
Ezri has something else in common with JT in the fact that they both started their youth football at Senrab.
There are few clubs in the world, let alone Britain, that can boast of having such an influence on football as Senrab.
The Sunday League football club, based in the East End of London, has produced a huge number of Premier League stars and continues to provide an invaluable grounding for the footballers of tomorrow.
Some of the names that have started at Senrab include the greats such as,
Ashley Cole, Ledley King, Sol Campbell, and fellow Aston Villa ex-player and legend Ugo Ehiogu.
As well as another legend who briefly passed through Villa Park that of Ray Wilkins.
English Football owes a debt of gratitude to Senrab.
3. Douglas Luiz Aged 21 Aston Villa
Douglas Luiz or as he’s Brazilian will simply be known as Douglas and when he gets to the Midlands will become Dougie, has made the short move from Man City to Aston Villa.
The highly-rated Brazilian quit The Etihad for Villa Park in a £15 Million transfer subject to him securing a work permit to play in the Premier League.
That may become a stumbling block in the players’ future, bearing in mind that although Dougie was a City player, he couldn’t secure a work permit whilst in Manchester.
Pep’s High Flying Blues previously saw their requests shunned by The Football Association, whose work permit criteria for players from outside the European Union is rigorous.
However, Aston Villa are extremely confident that the midfielder’s application will be accepted and at £15 Million, is a snap in today’s inflated transfer market.
What will be the difference in Villa’s acceptance of a Work Permit is that Dougie will play regularly for Dean Smith, whereas Pep couldn’t guarantee this, thus it was harder for Man City to get the application granted.
Douglas joined City from Brazil’s Vasco da Gama in 2017 but never played a game for the Premier League champions.
The Centre-Midfielder spent the past two seasons on loan at Girona, making 46 appearances for the Spanish side.
Young Douglas is an extremely talented player with outstanding control in both feet and should fit nicely into the Premier League.
He is a tall muscular player who is of similar stature and style of Jordan Henderson or Cesc Fabrigas and should quickly become a fan favourite on the Holte End.
With Jack Grealish and Conor Hourihane by his side, Villa will have a midfield to rival any of the top sides and whether they win or lose will definitely be good to watch.
Douglas was player of the tournament at the Toulon Tournament in France this June as Brazil’s Under-21s won the competition.
Dean Smith makes Dougie his 10th signing so far.
The main problem that brings is trying to integrate them all and keep everyone happy when not playing.
Fulham did the same last season and found their way back to the Championship quicker than Usain Bolt nipping to the shops.
Dean Smith and John Terry will hope their new signings are not Fulham Flip Flops.’
Not bad fore-site from John Newsome, written over 4 years ago, with both Ezri and Dougie now flourishing at Villa Park.
There is a trip to the Netherlands to face AZ Alkmaar on Thursday in Match-Day 3 of the Europa Conference League Group Stage.
Luton head up the M1 to Junction 19, then onto the M6 to the Midlands for this Sunday Afternoon fixture against Aston Villa.
Roughly around an hour and a half for the Hatters faithful who are in for a fun day out to watch some brilliant football.
The Luton players might even get to kick the ball once or twice.
Luton were trailing by 2 goals to nil against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday, with around 20 minutes remaining before an inspiring turnaround saw Chiedozie Ogbene and Elijah Adebayo score to gain Rob Edwards’ boys a point from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The Archbishop was happy.
Luton sit just above the drop zone in 17th place with 5 points, gained from a win and 2 draws, along with 6 losses.
Although not a brilliant record or start to life in the Promised Land, it is better than Sheffield United, Burnley and Bournemouth and if Luton finish the season in 17th the Hatters faithful will, to quote a popular football phrase, be ‘over the moon’.
As with most of the fixtures involving Luton, the previous meetings between the respective teams were usually over 30 years ago, with this one being no exception.
Aston Villa last hosted Luton in October 1991, with the Villains gaining a home victory over the Hatters by a 4-0 score.
Dwight Yorke, Cyrille Regis, Kevin Richardson and Paul Mortimer with the goals.
The two have met a couple of times since in Cup Competitions, which included Luton knocking Aston Villa out of the Carabao Cup in August 2016, gaining a victory by a 3-1 scoreline.
Jake Gray, Cameron McGeehan and a Jores Okore own goal gave the Hatters, who were in League Two at the time, the win over the Villains, who themselves had dropped down to the Championship.
Jack Grealish was in the Villa team along with the Match Of The Day Laughing Pundit, Micah Richards.
Pele-Ruddock Mpanzu played in the game, that day in August 2016 and has been at Kenilworth Rd since 2013, now having the distinction of playing in the National League, League Two, League One, the Championship and now the Premier League with Luton Town and will probably feature today at Villa Park.
All the best Pele RM.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at Odds On 2/9, the draw at 5/1 and 11/1 for Luton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and 5/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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BRIGHTON v FULHAM
14.00 in England
Brighton come into this home fixture off the back of a defeat against Man City at the Etihad on Saturday.
Ansu Fati did score for the Seagulls, midway through the 2nd-half, giving the travelling faithful hopes of a comeback, however, Man City, who had already scored twice, held on for the victory by a 2-1 score.
Brighton haven’t won a game of football, in all competitions, for a month now.
Two losses and a draw from 3 Premier League games.
A loss in the Carabao Cup and another draw in the Europa League.
The defeat drops Roberto De Zerbi’s Men down to 7th in the table with the same 16 points as Newcastle.
There’s another Europa League Group Game on Thursday at the Amex against Ajax with the Seagulls hoping to register a first victory in that particular competition.
Fulham suffered a defeat against Tottenham at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium on Monday Night Football.
Following a Tottenham goal in each half, Spurs gained the victory by a 2-0 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip
column last week.
The Cottagers did put in a great effort but the Tottenham Defenders always appeared to be one step ahead and thwarted every attack.
The defeat leaves Fulham in 13th place with the same 11 points as Wolves.
Although Marco Silva’s men are not performing to the level of last season, there are mitigating circumstances, one being the loss of Aleksandar Mitrovic whose goals are a big miss for the club.
It’s early days yet but it’s unlikely that Fulham will get dragged into a relegation battle as there are plenty of other teams that aren’t as good, however, this will be another tough ask down on the South Coast.
When the Cottagers ventured down to the Amex last season, a single Manor Solomon goal was the difference between the two, giving Fulham the away day victory over Brighton by a 1-0 score.
Betfred offer Brighton at Odds On 1/2, the draw at 18/5 and 9/2 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Kaoru Mitoma Scores Anytime and 4/1 that Bobby Decordover-Reid Scores Anytime.
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LIVERPOOL v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
14.00 in England
Liverpool gained the bragging rights in the Merseyside Derby, inflicting a defeat on Everton by a 2-0 scoreline, with Mo Salah scoring both goals, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
The first goal was from a converted penalty after a handball by the Toffees Defender, eventually given by the dreaded VAR, which turned out to be used as a yardstick for 2 further penalty decisions later in the day, in the Chelsea v Arsenal fixture and the Sheffield United v Manchester United game.
With all 3 matches being on the Telly, the commentators had the easy lines of,
‘It shouldn’t be a penalty but because it was given in the fixture at Goodison Park, it will be given now!’
Then complain that that there is no consistency in the game.
Surely, with all 3 decisions being deemed as handball, the consistency is now there and the players will know in the future not to stop the ball with their arm/hand.
The pundits then come out with,
‘You can’t jump up without putting your arms up!’
That’s correct but what’s not correct is you can’t jump and stick your arm/hand out to stop the ball.
The ball is one of the main components of a game of football, the players know that only the Goalkeeper can touch the ball with his arm/hand, yet will constantly try to stop the ball with their arm/hand but are then surprised when a penalty is given.
The players surely now know this is not acceptable and the Stockley Park brigade will give a spot-kick.
The problem then arises when the referee or the dreaded VAR don’t give a penalty, for the same incident, next time.
That is then deemed inconsistent!
The penalty in the fixture at Goodison Park and the one given at Bramall Lane were probably the easier ones of the 3 to award, however, the one at Stamford Bridge could be considered the most contentious but the constant phrase that comes up by everyone is,
‘We want consistency!’
Well last week, there was consistency, it’s now whether it continues.
Jurgen’s Reds sit in 4th place with 20 points from the 9 games completed.
Liverpool face Toulouse at Anfield on Thursday in the Europa League Match-Day 3 encounter.
Nottingham Forest head to Anfield following a draw against Luton on Saturday.
What will have irked the Tricky Tree faithful is their idols had taken a comfortable 2-goal lead, both scored by Chris Wood and were looking good for a victory going into the last 7 minutes of the game.
Unfortunately for everyone connected with Forest, Luton scored twice to grab a share of the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
Nottingham Forest dropped a couple of places to 15th with the same 10 points as Brentford from the opening 9 games completed.
This iconic fixture between these two Greats of not only English football but also the European Game stretches back nearly 130 years to 1895.
In last season’s encounter between Liverpool and Forest at Anfield, it was Jurgen’s Reds that gained the victory over Steve’s Tricky Trees by a narrow 3-2 scoreline.
What was strange about that was all the goals came in the 2nd-half.
Half-time Balti Pie
47′ Diogo Jota- Liverpool (1-0)
51′ Neco Williams- Forest (1-1)
55′ Diogo Jota- Liverpool (2-1)
67′ Morgan Gibbs-White- Forest (2-2)
70′ Mo Salah- Liverpool (3-2)
Full-time Pan of Scouse
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 2/7, the draw at 9/2 and 10/1 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Darwin Nunez Scores First and 5/4 that Liverpool Win To Nil.
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MANCHESTER UNITED v MAN CITY
15.30 in England
Sky Sports
The Numpty Neighbours v The Noisy Neighbours
This has become a poignant fixture following the sad passing of both Sir Bobby Charlton and Francis Lee.
Both icons of the game should be afforded tremendous respect and recognition for their careers in both Red, Blue and the Three Lions shirt.
Note the start time, as the Sunday Afternoon Sky Sports live game usually kicks off at 16.30 in England, however, this Manchester Derby has been brought forward by 1 hour and does kick off at 15.30 in England.
That is the same for the usual 14.00 Sky Sports time slot which features West Ham and Everton now starting at 13.00 today.
The Premier League has stated that there is no particular reason for the change of the times to these unique slots.
However, John Newsome can offer up an explanation if one cares to listen.
The British Summer Time ends on Saturday the 28th of October 2023, thus the clocks go back 1 hour in England.
Therefore the actual 14.00 and 16.30 slots, are in effect still at the same time but due to the clocks going back, will now be 13.00 and 15.30.
In the following week, the Sky Sports Super Sunday slots will return back to 14.00 and 16.30.
This is probably due to a TV agreement with another part of the World whose clocks don’t change over the weekend of the 28th/29th of September, allowing the same time slot in those particular countries.
Manchester United are back on track after a monumental victory against the worst team in the Premier League, them being Sheffield United.
That was obviously said tongue in cheek with the Red United Team playing in Green struggling against a very poor Yorkshire Team that couldn’t beat Hartlepool at the moment.
Scott McTominay continued his fine goal-scoring streak scoring the opening goal before then trying to catch the ball in the area and conceding a penalty.
What was nice to see was the on-field referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot straight away and didn’t just continue to play and rely on the dreaded VAR.
Michael is one of the Premier League’s better referees who should be given credit where credit is deserved.
Scott’s moment of madness didn’t affect the outcome of the game, as when United were huffing and puffing in the 2nd-half and struggling to score, up stepped Diogo Dalot who scored a brilliant winner which was reminiscent of one of Sir Bobby’s brilliant goals.
Whilst it was a victory it wasn’t the best of performances that could be excused following the days’ sad news and the time of the kick-off, which whilst is brilliant for the single girls and boys out there, it offers up the fact that a few will have been on the beer for most of the Saturday and can be a bit naughty, with a couple of pitch invasion’s at Bramall Lane.
Casemiro missed the game following an injury picked up whilst playing for Brazil.
John Newsome did offer up a comment to his mates that this could be a ‘blessing in disguise’ for United, which forces Erik Ten Hag to change the Midfield lineup.
Whilst that is a purely personal opinion, Erik doesn’t know his best team yet and just threw Scott McTominay in there following calls from outsiders who think Scott is worthy of a starting place after a couple of outings for Scotland that saw the Jocks suffer defeats against Spain and France.
Whilst no one wants to dig out the lad, it’s remarkable to think that Scott McTominay is the answer to United’s problems.
It has been documented in this column on numerous occasions, that the fact that certain Managers constantly chose Fred and Scott as their Midfield Generals has sent the club backwards.
If Scott McTominay is the answer, what is the question?
This game against the Noisy Neighbours will certainly be a barometer as to where United are at the moment and whether Scott McTominay is cut out to be the go-to Midfielder.
There was a story that Casemiro regrets signing for Manchester United.
Really?
Following the emphatic victory, Manchester United moved up to 8th in the table with 15 points from the opening 9 fixtures.
Both teams play in the midweek Champions League Group Stage with United hosting FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford on Tuesday and City heading to Switzerland to face Young Boys on Wednesday.
Whilst it might not make much difference, it’s worth noting that United won’t travel anywhere and will have an extra day to recover from playing on Tuesday, whereas City travel to and from Switzerland and play a day later on Wednesday.
Pep’s High Flying Blues got back to winning ways on Saturday, with Man City inflicting a defeat on Brighton at the Etihad by a 2-1 scoreline.
Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland scored the City goals, both in the 1st-half before Brighton pulled a goal back midway through the 2nd-half.
Manuel Akanji received 2 Yellow Cards and the subsequent Red which although didn’t affect the game against Brighton as the 2nd Yellow was so late on in proceedings to
make a difference, will mean the Swiss is missing for this Manchester Derby.
The lad can play in his homeland on Wednesday but will sit out 1 domestic game due to the Red Card.
It was evident that Pep’s High Flyers played better with the return of Roadie Rodri, however, the Spaniard did pick up a needless Yellow Card for kicking the ball away in the 38th minute which could have resulted in serious consequences if another was received in the following hour or so.
Man City cannot afford to lose Rodri again so to pick up a Yellow for petulance was a bit silly.
Erling Haaland got back to scoring ways after going 3 games for Man City without notching.
It’s a surprise the Norwegian/Leeds lad wasn’t dropped.
Erling had scored a couple for Norway whilst on International Duty.
Man City temporarily returned to the summit of the Premier League for just over 48 hours until Tottenham gained a victory on Monday Night Football to return to the top, leaving City in 2nd place with 21 points, the same as Arsenal but above the Gunners on goal difference.
Man City have a plus+12 goal swing with Arsenal having a plus+10.
As mentioned, City travel to Switzerland for the Champions League game on Wednesday so although Switzerland isn’t that far, it does mean that United, who don’t travel and play a day earlier, will be the fresher of the two coming into this Derby.
It was the Red Side of Manchester (and London) that was the happiest following last season’s Derby at Old Trafford when somehow, United gained the victory over City by a 2-1 scoreline.
After a goalless 1st-half, Jack Grealish scored to give the away team a lead, however, goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford were enough to give Erik Ten Hag the win over Pep Guardiola.
In the fixture at the Etihad, if one remembers, Pep’s High Flying Blues gained a comfortable victory over Erik’s Red Devils by a 6-3 score, with Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scoring a hat-trick.
There was a 3rd meeting between the Manchester duo, that being the FA Cup Final at Wembley in June that saw City win the coveted trophy and the 2nd of a remarkable Treble.
The score in that Final was 2-1 in favour of the Blues.
Betfred offer Manchester United at 10/3, the draw at 3/1 and Odds On 8/11 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Julian Alvarez Scores First and 13/8 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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Firstly, an apology is offered up about last week’s column.
It was incorrectly stated that Philippe Clement was a Frenchman, when in fact the new Rangers Gaffer is Belgian.
A simple error as the lad does sound French and was last in charge of Monaco, however, PC is definitely from Belgium.
What is funny about Philippe is the Belgian (not Frenchman) started his career in Belgium, at a club called Beerschot, which is ironic really, with Mr Clement now managing in the Scottish Pub League.
Celtic remain at the summit of the SPL following their victory over Hearts (who?) on Sunday, whilst Rangers, under the guidance of Mr Clement for the first time, inflicted a defeat on Hibernian (who?) the day before.
Both scored 4 goals in the process, however, the Green and White Hoops did concede a goal, whereas the Teddy Bears kept a clean sheet.
This was the only thing that the loveable OzScot over in Melbourne could take from the weekend’s exploits in the Pub League and was last seen running around the local park, dodging Kangaroos, not only celebrating his 54th birthday but singing (badly!)
‘We’ve kept a clean sheet, we’ve kept a clean sheet, Celtic are rubbish, we’ve kept a clean sheet!’
The lad has to grasp hold of anything positive at the moment.
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