The highlight games for this midweek’s action are WEST BROM versus EVERTON and LIVERPOOL versus CHELSEA. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these as well as game-week 29 and 33 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.
These midweek fixtures are a mixture of 6-Game Week-29 and 1-Game Week-33, spilt over 3-days, due to teams competing in various Cup Competitions. The Game Week-29 fixtures are the reverse of Game Week-2 that took place in September 2020.
Game Week-29
MAN CITY v WOLVES
Tuesday 2nd
BT Sport 20.00 in England
Man City continue their dominance of football both domestically and in Europe. After beating Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday, Pep’s High Flying City started Game Week-26 with a superb victory by a 2-1 scoreline.
If that paragraph is read again, most would just initially think the words are the story but look again and a narrative is hiding in the sentences.
Man City played their 1st-leg against Monchengladbach on Wednesday evening in Budapest, Hungary, not Germany due to the Coronavirus situation. The game finished at 22.00 in England but that’s 23.00 in Budapest.
After showering and changing, plus media duties, it was after midnight, regardless of whatever country in, early Thursday morning, that City returned to Manchester.
From the kick-off at 20.00 on Wednesday to the 12.30 start-time on Saturday, some 64.5 hours, the Premier League expect Pep’s Blues to play an important fixture.
The Bundesliga allowed Monchengladbach a further 5-hours of rest before arranging their league game on Saturday.
Chelsea had 116.5 hours between the start of their Champions League fixture on Tuesday and the next Premier League game on Sunday.
The week before’s Champions League game involving Liverpool, Jurgen’s Reds had 94-hours between kick-offs.
Out of the 16-teams left in the Champions League with all the 2nd-legs to play, Man City had the least amount of time to recover between the European game and the domestic League fixture, some having as much as 120-hours (5-days) between the two games.
When Man City play their next Champions League fixture, they will have played a Premier League game exactly 72-hours before and will play the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup a staggering, 93.5 hours later.
Three games in 7-days, plus the possibility of extra-time in 2 of the fixtures. Yes, it’s the price of success but the Premier League arranged Crystal Palace v Fulham, to kick-off 23-5 hours after the Man City v West Ham fixture.
Surely, the Premier League could help our top clubs, who are competing in Europe as ambassadors for the Premier League, by switching the two around so Man City v West Ham is Sunday and Fulham v Crystal Palace, who neither are in the FA Cup or Europe, play on Saturday, giving Pep’s Boys a longer time to rest.
When John Stones plays City Win To Nil, unfortunately, that mantra was temporarily on hold on Saturday as Johnny Boy started but City conceded a goal against West Ham.
Ruben Dias scored first for City but with both Ruben and John on show, the Hammers did equalise.
There is a 2nd-mantra involving the Barnsley Stone that says When John Stones Scores, City Don’t Lose. John scored the 2nd and ultimately the winner for Man City to give Pep’s Blues their 14th-consecutive Premier League victory and leaves them top of the table with 62-points from 26-fixtures played.
That’s a massive 12-points above Manchester United who sit 2nd in the Premier League table.
The Noisy Neighbours face the Numpty Neighbours on Sunday, the 3rd of 4, successive Premier League games at the Etihad, this one against Wolves being the 2nd after West Ham on Saturday and then Southampton come to Manchester on the 10th.
Man City are unbeaten in 20-successive games in all competitions and are now, just 6-short of the record for Longest Winning Runs, currently held by Ajax.
Watch this space!
Wolves earned a professional point in the late fixture against Newcastle at St James Park last Saturday, from a draw by a 1-1 scoreline.
After a goalless 1st-half, the excellent Ruben Neves, who was brilliant throughout, equalised a Newcastle opener, midway through the 2nd-period.
The point gained gives Nuno’s Gold and Blacks 34, from 26-fixtures, played and leaves them comfortable in 12th, with no real danger of being relegated and not much hope of disturbing the European places, so the Wolves faithful, both cardboard and real, will be able to watch their idols in the remaining fixtures, knowing that the Molineux outfit will be playing Premier League football next term, hopefully with the iconic stadium, full to the rafters with a vaccine full crowd.
At Molineux, in Game Week-2, which was City’s opener having been given the first set of fixtures off due to being Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
Those two were ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ Pep’s Blues were ‘Useless in Europe’, last term. City got an opening game victory by a 3-1 scoreline with 1st-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.
After the break, Raul Jimenez pulled a goal back, giving the cardboard Gold and Black faithful hope of a comeback.
City left it very late to seal the victory, with Gabriel Jesus scoring the 3rd in the 95th-minute, to give Pep’s High Flying City the win.
Bet 365 offer Man City at Odds On 1/6, the draw at 13/2 and a massive 16/1 for Wolves to come away with all 3-points.
Bet 365 offer 6/4 that Phil Foden Scores Anytime and Odds On 4/6 that Man City Win To Nil.
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BURNLEY v LEICESTER
Wednesday 03rd
Sky Sports 18.00 in England
Burnley were destroyed by a Gareth Bale inspired Tottenham side on Sunday, suffering a comprehensive defeat by a 4-0 scoreline, with 3 of the goals coming before the half-hour mark.
Sean Dyche got into his boys in the dressing room but in theory, the damage had already been done with Spurs rounding off the rout in the 2nd-half.
Luckily for the Clarets, Brighton, 2-points adrift, lost too, so no real damage done Burnley sit in 15th place with 28-points from the 26-fixtures completed, which is 5-points more than Fulham who occupy the final relegation place.
Leicester suffered a Premier League defeat in the midday Sunday kick-off, at the King Power against Arsenal.
That was the 2nd-home defeat in succession, following a loss in the Europa League the previous Thursday, which left Brendan’s not so Wonderful’s, shall one say, concentrating on the league.
No more Thursday night football for the Foxes, at least until next season. What would have irked the faithful, both cardboard and real, was that Leicester took the lead against the Gunners, through a Youri Tielemans goal after 8-minutes.
That just kicked Arsenal into gear, with the away team scoring twice before the break. Within 7-minutes of the restart, the Gunners scored a 3rd to take the game away from Leicester and although there was still a good 35-minutes to play, Arsenal never looked in trouble.
The Foxes lost Jonny Evans midway through the 2nd-half through injury. Added to the loss of James Maddison, two big players for Leicester, Brendan will be hoping the wheels don’t come off and allow Ole’s Wheels to pull away and Thomas’s Chelsea Tank Engines to close the gap.
Rod Stewart was happy on Sunday afternoon, sat proudly in his Arsenal shirt with ‘Stewart’ and ‘76’ on the back after Leicester were beaten and his beloved Green and White Hoops secured a victory, the day before, against Aberdeen (who?) in the Scottish Pub League.
The victory by a 1-0 scoreline, closed the gap between Celtic and Rangers to 15-points, with Steven Gerrard’s Rangers not playing at the weekend.
The Ger’s play their next fixture on Wednesday evening and need just 6-points, 2-more victories, to win the Scottish Premier League for the first time since 2011.
Some say it’s 7-points but in truth, it’s irrelevant as to how many points are needed as it’s just a matter of when not if, the Teddy Bears prevent Celtic from winning 10-in a row. It’s 6-points by the way, as the Rangers have a plus+64 goal difference having only conceded 9-goals in the 30-games played.
Celtic have a plus+42 goal difference, therefore, even if Rangers only win twice and lose the other 6, from the remaining 8-fixtures and Celtic win all 7, of theirs, the Green and White Hoops would have the same 88-points but would have to make up the 22-goal disadvantage.
That basically means the Rangers are the 2020/21 Scottish Pub League Champions.
The Australian branch of this EveryTip column, Andrew Hall, is a staunch Glasgow Rangers supporter and it’s been told previously how Andy and his dad took John Newsome up to Ibrox back in the early 1980s.
Andy resents the SPL being referred to as the Scottish Pub League, however, that’s basically what it is.
Rangers have just beaten Antwerp from the Belgium Pub League, over 2-legs of the Last-32 Europa League by an aggregate of 9-5.
When mentioned that Rangers of the Scottish Pub League had only beaten Antwerp of the Belgium Pub League, Mr Hall was incensed, however, it was pointed out that one of the teams in the Belgium Jupiler League is called Beerschot AC, who are currently 7th in the table and could be in next season’s Europa Pub League.
Beer-Schot !
Enough said
Lennon has gone, don’t worry, not the trusted pooch of Sir Roderick but the actual Celtic boss, Neil Lennon who was sacked or walked away, depending on who to believe after the Green and White Hoops capitulation in the said Pub League.
It was becoming an untenable position for old Neil who is, in some quarters, a legend at Celtic Park and the majority of the faithful will wish the lad well for the future and the Ginger One will soon be back in a dugout, either North of the Border or down in England. Lennon the puppy was treated like a doggie king over the weekend with the victory for Celtic and the defeat for Leicester.
Rod and Penny were all over the pooch with treats and took the lad out for a long Sunday afternoon lockdown walk where the dog was in his element barking out his favourite Rod tune,
‘He’s Celtic, United but Brendan has decided that Leicester is the best place to be’
Woof!
Leicester comfortably beat Burnley in Game Week-2 at the King Power back in mid-September 2020.
Ex-Fox boy, Chris Wood, put Burnley in front after 10-minutes which was quickly equalised by Harvey Barnes.
Erik Pieters gave Leicester the lead after the break, the knowledgeable out there will know that Erik is a Burnley player, meaning the Foxes 2nd was an own-goal. James Justin added a 3rd on the hour mark.
Burnley pulled a 2nd-goal back through Jimmy Dunne to give the cardboard Clarets hope but those were quickly dashed when Dennis Praet put the game to bed, scoring the 4th, giving Brendan’s Wonderful’s a great victory over Sean’s Clarets by a 4-2 scoreline.
Bet 365 offer, Burnley, at 3/1, the draw at 23/10 and Evens 1/1 for Leicester to come away with all 3-points.
Bet 365 offer 11/2 that Chris Wood Scores First and 11/2 that Burnley Win To Nil.
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SHEFFIELD UNITED v ASTON VILLA
Wednesday 03rd
BT Sport 18.00 in England
The worst team in the Premier League, Sheffield United lost again on Sunday night, this time a home defeat against Liverpool by a 2-0 scoreline.
Happy Chris wasn’t happy, his face told the story after the game, with the Blades conceding both goals in the 2nd-half to suffer the 21st-defeat from 26-games and leaves United rock bottom with 11-points, a massive 15-points from safety.
It’s fair to say that Sheffield United need one of those miracles to stay in the Premier League and will be heading for a Championship town next term.
That Championship town may not be Barnsley, as the Oakwell outfit could well find themselves in the Play-offs after their 5th-victory in a row on Saturday.
The Super Reds are now a point adrift of the play-off places, with a game in hand on the teams above. As mentioned regularly it’s thought that the points on the board are better than games in hand but Barnsley can only do what is asked and keep on keeping on.
There’s usually one team who have a late rally and make the play-offs, could this year see Barnsley be that team?
James from Swinton, nowhere near Bramall Lane is ecstatic at the thought of his first footballing love being in the Premier League and has already enquired about a season ticket for Oakwell next term.
Well, as Jimbo says, Swinton is closer to the Reds stadium than it is to Bramall Lane and the lad will be well looked after on match-days, with the fruit Kopparberg.
Only 2, mind, as there’s usually little accidents at home, involving the wardrobe, if Jim has more, the little fella is not fully house trained yet.
Aston Villa, minus a certain Jack Grealish, got a great away-day victory at Elland Rd, against Leeds United, by a single 1-0 scoreline on Saturday.
After suffering a defeat last time out, without the influential Jack, it was important to get back to winning ways so that it didn’t become a story, as with when Wilfried Zaha doesn’t play for Crystal Palace.
Anwar El-Ghazi scored the solitary winning goal in the 5-minute to give Dean Smith’s Claret and Blues the points that kept Villa in 9th-place with 39 on the board, 5-points behind Chelsea who sit 5th but significantly, from only 24-fixtures played, whereas Thomas Tuchel’s Blues have 26, in the bag.
As mentioned previously, it’s considered better to have the points on the board than games in hand, however, a fixture in hand that is against the bottom of the table team, gives Aston Villa a great chance to move up the table to challenge for Europe next term.
The Villains who remember the great 1982 season, will certainly be wanting those days back.
‘Shaw, Williams, prepared to venture down the left. There’s a good ball in for Tony Morley. Oh, it must be and it is! It’s Peter Withe.’
Sheffield United had a bad 1st-half at Villa Park in Game Week-2, with, firstly John Egan being shown a straight Red Card for holding back Ollie Watkins after 12-minutes.
The 10-men Blades were then awarded a penalty before the half-time whistle but another John, Mr Lundstrem missed the spot-kick.
John Newsome was laid in a hospital bed at the time, so it’s fair to say, it was a bad day for the Yorkshire John’s.
After the break, Villa’s Ezri Konza scored the solitary winning goal to give Dean the victory over Happy Chris.
Bet 365 offer Sheffield United at 13/5, the draw at 5/2 and 21/20 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3-points.
Bet 365 offer 13/2 that Ollie McBurnie Scores First and 2/1 that there are Under 1.5 Goals.
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CRYSTAL PALACE v MANCHESTER UNITED
Wednesday 03rd
Sky Sports 20.15 in England
The B and Q staff at the Croydon branch were not happy with the Crystal Palace, Fulham, Chelsea and Manchester United players on Sunday.
When the game between the first two finished at 14.00 on Sunday afternoon, the store was overrun with customers, who had converged to buy paint, so they could paint something, a wall or a fence or even a dog or cat and sit there watching the said paint dry, as it had got to be more exciting than watching Crystal Palace v Fulham on BBC 1, that finished in a drab 0-0 draw.
Roy’s Eagles, in the last 4-fixtures, have had just 13-attempts that have been on target, scoring 2-goals in the 4-games.
There were 2-defeats (To Nil), the draw against Fulham and a victory by a 2-1 scoreline against Brighton last Monday, that saw Palace touch the ball twice in the Seagulls penalty area.
There are rumours the Police are investigating the robbery of 4-points that simply can’t be explained. Significantly, the 4-games were all without Wilfried Zaha, so it’s clear to see that Roy’s Boys need Big Wilf, if the performance is to be, of an adequate standard.
The point robbed, sorry, gained against Fulham gives Crystal Palace 33, from 26-games played.
That’s 10-points more than Fulham, who sit in the final relegation place, edging the Eagles closer to safety, however, do need Wilfried back sooner rather than later.
Later, the staff at Q and B shut the doors at 16.00 and weren’t available for when the Chelsea v Manchester United game finished.
It’s a shame really for the bosses of the Orange DIY store as they would have made £ Millions selling paint as Thomas and his Blue Tank Engine’s against Ole’s Trollies was no better at Stamford Bridge.
It was predicted in last week’s EveryTip column that Ole would pick his go-to midfielders, Fred and Scott McTominay, as the Red Devil’s gaffer feels that United are a better team with those two when there really isn’t any evidence to back that up.
Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker, a couple of weeks back, had already pointed out that Manchester United hadn’t beaten any of the 5, that are considered part of the top 6 teams (Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea) this term, only scoring 1-goal and that was in the defeat against Tottenham by a 6-1 scoreline.
It’s worth adding that the caption put up by the production staff of the iconic BBC Match of the Day programme had the title,
‘MAN UTD v SO-CALLED BIG SIX’
However, Ole’s Elephants are one of the ‘So-Called Big Six’ so it really should have said,
‘MAN UTD v THE OTHER FIVE OF THE SO-CALLED BIG SIX’
As United can’t play themselves!
Man City at Old Trafford = 0-0
Arsenal at Old Trafford = 0-1
Chelsea at Old Trafford = 0-0
Tottenham at Old Trafford = 1-6
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge = 0-0
Liverpool at Anfield = 0-0
Arsenal at The Emirates = 0-0
The reason for that is simple, Ole keeps picking Fred.
At one point, in the game at Stamford Bridge, it looked like Fred was auditioning for the next Strictly Come Dancing, shuffling his legs, break-dancing and jigging but making absolutely no difference to proceedings.
United won’t win anything with Fred! Mark these words.
The point gained at the Bridge, leaves Ole’s Wheels 2nd, with 50-points, a massive 12, behind the Noisy Neighbours, who are next Sunday’s opponent and a point more than Brendan’s No So Wonderful’s, who themselves, slipped up on Sunday suffering a defeat.
Like Man City, Manchester United were also allowed the opening weekend off being useless in Europe so their Game Week-2 fixture against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford was the opener for Ole’s Trollies.
The Red Devil’s conceded after 7-minutes to an Andros Townsend goal which set the tone for the remainder of the game.
Wilfried Zaha scored twice in the 2nd-half, with Donny Van De Beek scoring for United in between Big Wilf’s notches.
The 3-1 scoreline flattered Ole’s Wheels as Jordan Ayew missed a penalty midway through the 2nd-half that would have made the victory for Palace even more convincing. It really is United’s away form that has elevated them into 2nd-place, so the reverse of the Old Trafford result could be on the card today.
Bet 365 offer Crystal Palace at 13/2, the draw at 7/2 and Odds On 4/9 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Bet 365 offer 6/5 that Bruno Fernandes Scores Anytime and 11/8 that Manchester United Win To Nil.
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WEST BROM v EVERTON
Thursday 04th
Sky Sports 18.00 in England
West Brom somehow got a victory against Brighton on Saturday with a single goal by Kyle Bartley giving Sam Allardyce’s Baggies the win by a 1-0 scoreline.
From the outside, it might be seen that Big Sam is again, working his magic but in truth, the West Brom were extremely lucky to get the result. Not only did Brighton have 70%-possession and 15-shots, with 6 on target, the Seagulls missed, not 1 but 2 penalties.
So whether by magic or luck, it certainly wasn’t down to Mr Allardyce that West Brom got the 3-points.
It was purely down to a Brighton team that have dominated their last 2-Premier League fixtures but have come away with nothing.
The Baggies have 17-points from 26-games played, however, remain 2nd-bottom or 19th in the table, 9 away from Newcastle, in 17th, who have the same 26-points as Brighton. West Brom have a minus-35 goal difference, whereas Newcastle have a minus-17 and the Seagulls have a minus-7 difference.
That basically means, in the remaining 12-Premier League fixtures, Big Sam’s boys have to win 3-more games than Steve Bruce’s Magpies and Graham Potter’s Seagulls and score 9-goals a game in those 3.
Obviously, that’s around about way of going about things but the Baggies have to, not only win but score copious amounts of goals to make up the minus-goal difference between the two.
All the teams from Arsenal in 10th-place down, have completed the full quota of 26-games, so none have any games in hand before these midweek fixtures.
Everton scored after 9-minutes at Goodison Park, on the Monday Night Football, against Southampton, that was thought, would start a goal-fest.
Unfortunately, for the watching millions, that didn’t materialise, with Richarlison’s early goal, being the only one, resulting in a victory by a 1-0 scoreline.
The Toffees had lost their previous 3-home fixtures and Carlo Ancelotti had never lost 4-home games in succession, so the win against Wreck-It’s Saints, prevented the Italian from gaining the unwanted record.
The victory gives Everton 43-points from 25-fixtures, the same as 6th-placed Liverpool but Carlo’s Blues sit 7th, due to a slightly inferior goal-difference.
Everton have played a game less than Liverpool, so will feel that 5th or 4th is attainable, being only 1 and 2 points, respectively, away from Chelsea and West Ham, who occupy those positions at the moment.
With West Brom slowly exiting the Premier League, it’s now fitting to include a little story from a trip to The Hawthorns back in October 1990.
The Australian branch of this EveryTip column reminded John Newsome of a day out taken to watch the Super Reds, Barnsley FC, against the Boing Boing Baggies at their highest ground in English football.
Back in the day, just over 30-years ago, it was a lot easier to borrow a mini-bus for an away-day outing.
Nowadays, several protocols have to be adhered to including driving licences for Trucks, Trains and Fork Lifts, which have to be produced, along with several certifications that are alphabetically arranged to allow a man (or woman) to show that the driver can legitimately drive said vehicle.
A CPC, a DVLA code, a B and Q docket, a KFC, all have to be shown, to at least, get inside the door of an Enterprise (other Mini-Bus Rental Companies are available!) and get the opportunity to rent an 8-seater at £300 quid for the day.
Saturday AM to Sunday AM.
The vehicle has to be returned early on Sunday morning, even though no one is up at Enterprise but still has to be brought back.
Under no circumstances can the CPC driver take his or her missus and 4-kids plus 2-dogs to Cleethorpes for the day, to make up for going on the razz with his or her mates on Saturday, simply not insured for such Sunday delights.
Back in 1990, all that was needed for a ‘borrow’ of an 8-seater, was a licence, it didn’t really need to be a driver’s, a TV was sufficient.
So Big Dave was the man, he was the oldest and technically the best driver, at that particular time.
Over 30-years later, this EveryTip contributor is the Number-1 behind the wheel and is welcome to prove that fact to all and sundry who wish to take the lad on. Many have tried, none have succeeded, all have failed.
With said TV licence in the wallet, the mini-bus was collected for the trip to the West Midlands.
Australian Andy was 21 that weekend so the excuse was had, to the occupants of the bus’s girlfriend’s, that it’s a day out for the birthday boy.
As never being in a relationship with a young lady, that sentence as gone straight over John Newsome’s head? John just told his mum not to wait up.
The boys set off armed with 8-cans of Skol (none of the boys could drink back then, however, have trained on) and ventured down the road to West Bromwich Albion which is situated in the middle of the country.
At the Services, when a break was needed, the lads did their business and quickly returned to the bus, Big Dave did a headcount and with everyone aboard, drove away.
Unfortunately, the sliding side door of the mini-bus wasn’t closed properly and did what sliding doors do and slid away, out of its rail and down the slip road of the Services.
Beautiful!
We quickly got the door and as none of the Barnsley Boys were Technicians, just put the said item on the back seat and carried on with the gap in the bus. As it was October, it was a tad cold!
The mini-bus pulled up outside The Hawthorns and with plenty of Policemen and women enquiring as to why there wasn’t a side door on the bus, the boys felt it safe to leave it under the watchful eye of the West Midland Constabulary.
The 90-minutes flew by, with the obligatory Pie at half-time and Barnsley gaining a great point from a draw by a 1-1 scoreline.
As it’s over 30-years ago, it’s thought the late great Stevie Cooper got the Reds equaliser, late on in proceedings. The late great because Steve, unfortunately, lost his life at the tender age of 39, back in February 2004.
Regular readers of this EveryTip column will have heard John Newsome mention David Currie, a brilliant Barnsley player of that period.
The Barnsley faithful had a great ditty, that was sung to the tune of Harry Woods Side By Side, covered by many great artists over the years. The Barnsley Boys sang,
‘Oh we ain’t got a barrel of money
But we’ve got Cooper and Currie,
With Lowndes on the wing, doing his thing,
Side by side’
Altogether now!
Steve unfortunately fell and cracked his head, however, didn’t realise the seriousness of the fall and died in his sleep.
Rest in Peace Steve Cooper!
The Barnsley faithful will always have a place in their hearts for Stevie Boy.
After the last gasp equaliser, the boys returned to the mini-bus minus the side door in place and to their amazement, the said bus was intact and ready for the ride up the M1 back to Barnsley to take the lads out on the sauce to celebrate Mr Hall’s 21st birthday.
It’s about an hour and a half from The Hawthorns to Barnsley, so the boys should be back in town for 7 PM at the latest.
Whilst meandering through the traffic heading to the motorway, a fellow Reds fan and friend of John Newsome, saw the mini-bus without the door and took the chance to jump in and hitch a ride home.
Three hours later, it became apparent that Big Dave had gone the wrong way, up the M6 and not the M1, the boys were now nearing Manchester which, geographically is nowhere near Barnsley.
To the younger viewers out there, Sat Navs or Google Maps had never been thought of, never mind invented, so it was just a matter of following signs, ask your Grandma or Grandad kids.
Big Dave obviously followed the signs, unfortunately, the wrong ones and the mini-bus ended up somewhere near Wales.
A few choice words were thrown out towards the big fella driving and then the ultimate happened, the trusty mini-bus, with its sliding door not doing what it was born to do and sat motionless on the back seat, ran out of petrol.
There’s a film that’s called Sliding Doors about a girl who misses the tube because the door closes before she gets on.
The other part of the film is about what happens if she made the tube before the sliding door shut.
Our mate who had jumped in to hitch a ride home, had his own sliding door moment, 8-years before the film had been made. The lad just sat there, with his head in his hands, thinking simply, ‘Why?’
The AA were called (not Alcoholics Anonymous but the breakdown recovery folk!) and the ‘know a man that can’ man not only filled us up with juice but re-attached the sliding door, making the remainder of the journey, a tad warmer.
The one and a half hour trip from West Brom back to Barnsley took 5-hours. The lads didn’t worry, they were straight out into town and danced the night away in the local nightclub, Japanese Whispers, followed by a Kay-Bab and a taxi home.
Some were lucky enough to trap off with an ugly bird, others, just stood and watched in awe with a pint in hand.
Big Dave took the mini-bus back on Sunday, the sliding door doing what sliding doors do and the extra-man vowing never to jump into a mini-bus ever again. A good day was had by all.
‘Oh we ain’t got a barrel of money
But we’ve got Cooper and Currie’
This was a very entertaining game at Goodison Park back in September with Everton getting the victory by a 5-2 scoreline.
Grady Diangana opened the scoring after 10-minutes to give Slaven’s Baggies an early lead.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Rodriguez replied for Carlo’s Blues to give the Toffees a half-time advantage.
Before the whistle was blown for the cup’s of tea, Kieran Gibbs was shown a Red Card to give him the 2nd-half off.
Slaven wasn’t happy and told the referee exactly what he thought about the decision and was promptly shown the same Red Card as Kieran, both sitting next to each other in the changing rooms watching Homes Under the Hammer on catch-up for the whole of the 2nd-period.
Straight after the restart, the 10-men Baggies equalised through Matheus Pereira. Unfortunately, the parity didn’t last long, when Michael Keane and 2 from the Sheffield Superstar 2, Dominic Calvert-Lewis, completed the rout, Dominic rounding off a superb hat-trick to give Carlo the 2nd victory from the first two games and Slaven’s boys 2-defeats from their opening pair of fixtures.
Bet 365 offer West Brom at 10/3, the draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 5/6 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
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LIVERPOOL v CHELSEA
Thursday 04th
Sky Sports 20.15 in England
Relegation-threatened Liverpool got back to winning ways on Sunday, comfortably beating the official worst team in the Premier League, Sheffield United by a 2-0 scoreline.
In a relegation battle with the bottom of the table Blades, 2, 2nd-half goals from Curtis Jones and Mo Salah, which was later credited as an OG by the United defender, were enough to give Jurgen’s Reds the victory.
Whilst it’s tongue in cheek to say relegation-threatened, it is Liverpool’s first win in the Premier League for 5-games, with defeats in the last 4.
Three of those losses being at Anfield. Liverpool remain in 6th-place, with 43-points from the full 26-fixtures played, the same 43-points as the Blue half of Merseyside, who have a game in hand over the Reds, having only played 25-times.
As mentioned earlier in the Crystal Palace v Manchester United preview, Chelsea played out a drab goalless draw on Sunday against Ole’s Wheels.
Thomas Tuchel did include Callum Hudson-Odoi in the starting lineup after last week’s episode, where TT brought Callum on as a substitute at half-time then took the lad off half-hour later, not happy with the attitude of the youngster.
Callum was taken off again on Sunday, this time in the interval but was quick to add an ice-pad to his left knee, to prevent further accusations of a poor attitude. The rumour was, the lad had put the ice on the wrong leg though.
Oliver Giroud, who is simply class, started too but neither team created any clear cut chances, with Thomas’s Blue Engines best player, being Fred.
Chelsea remain 5th, with 44-points from the 26-played a point behind West Ham, who occupy the final Champions League place and a point more than tonight’s opponent.
Andreas Christensen was shown a Red Card, seconds before the half-time whistle to give Liverpool a man advantage for the 2nd-half at Stamford Bridge in September. Sadio Mane then scored twice after the break to give Jurgen’s Reds a victory over Frank Lampard’s Blues by a 2-0 scoreline.
Jorginho missed a 2nd-half penalty that would have got Chelsea back in the game.
Bet 365 offer Liverpool at 6/5, the draw at 13/5 and 21/10 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
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Game Week-33
FULHAM v TOTTENHAM
Thursday 04th
BT Sport 18.00 in England
This is a reverse of the Game Week-16 fixture that took place in January
Fulham played in the drabbest of drab 0-0 draws on Sunday against Crystal Palace that was shown live on the council telly.
BBC 1 aired the fixture that kicked-off at 12.00 in England but by half-past, the partners were wondering why the other-halves were in the kitchen, helping with the Sunday dinner, preferring to peel carrots and potatoes than watch the dross offered up by Roy and Scott.
As mentioned in last week’s EveryTip column, Leeds United have lost twice as many times in the last 15-games as Fulham, yet have more points in that period than Ronald McDonald’s boys.
Sitting in the final relegation place, a point is simply not enough to prevent what’s becoming inevitable, that Fulham will be a Championship side once again.
With 23-points from 26-games played, the Cottagers do look the likeliest of the 3, that can get out of trouble but need to convert the draws into victories.
Marcelo’s Leeds United go all out for the win and if a loss occurs, so be it, yet Scott seems to prefer not to lose and gain a point.
Newcastle are the closest team to catch, sitting above Fulham with 3-points more, however, don’t play in these midweek matches, so Scott’s Boys could be level on points if a victory against Tottenham is secured.
Who do Fulham play in the final fixture of the 2020/21 campaign? That’s correct, Newcastle.
There’s 11-games to play before that final Sunday, so there may, or may not be, a final day, winner takes all, relegation decider between Steve Bruce and Scott Parker.
If your a Numpty from Barnsley, football is quite easy to understand, pick your best players, tell them that the white rectangular thingy’s at either end of the pitch, with netting in, is ultimately where the round thing needs to be put.
However, sometimes a native of Romania and Whitby can’t seem to work that out. It was mentioned in last week’s EveryTip column that Gareth Bale and Dele Alli enhance Tottenham, so why doesn’t Dracula pick them more?
Jose started Gareth in Sunday’s game against Burnley and Spurs were different class with GB opening and closing the scoring in the victory by a 4-0 scoreline.
In between Mr Bale’s goals, Harry Kane and Lucas Moura notched to give Tottenham the convincing win.
Dele Alli got a brief cameo towards the end, getting 24-minutes under his belt, admittedly after the 4-goals had been scored.
It was touch and go as to whether Dele would leave in January but maybe Mr Alli is working on the basis that Dracula Mourinho won’t see out next season and a new manager will be at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium.
That’s for the future but one thing is for certain, Tottenham are a better team with Gareth and Dele than without and if that Numpty, who writes this column, can see that, why can’t Jose.
Spurs edge above Aston Villa into 8th in the table with the same 39-points as Villa but a slightly superior goal difference.
Tottenham have played a game more than the Claret and Blues, with 25, completed. West Ham, who occupy the final Champions League place, have 6-points more than Tottenham but have played 26-times, so Jose and all connected will still feel a European place, whether Europa or the proper one, is still up for grabs.
At the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium in January, Harry Kane put Tottenham in front after 25-minutes that saw Spurs take a half-time lead.
Scott then made a couple of tactical changes, bringing on Ademola Lookman on 67-minutes, who made an immediate impact, crossing for Ivan Cavaleiro to head in an equaliser. With no further goals, the game finished in a draw by a 1-1 scoreline.
Bet 365 offer Fulham at 3/1, the draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 10/11 for Tottenham to come away with all 3-points.
Bet 365 offer 6/5 that Son Heung-Min Scores Anytime and 5/2 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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Ex-professional footballer known affectionately as The Beast, Jon Parkin has kindly given his predictions for the midweek fixtures.
Man City 3 v Wolves 0
Burnley 0 v Leicester 2
Sheffield United 0 v Aston Villa 2
Crystal Palace 0 v Manchester United 2
West Brom 0 v Everton 3
Liverpool 1 v Chelsea 2
Fulham 1 v Tottenham 1
JP had 6-Correct Results from Game Week-26 but significantly, Jon had 2-Correct Scores
John Newsome had 6-Correct Results too but with only 1-Correct Score.
Rest In Peace Glenn Roeder.
Respect!
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