Saturday football

[Coffee]

"The next couple of weeks sees the Premier League down to five games each weekend. The PL will also be deprived of our football until next month, a heavy burden indeed. Diet football, no defeats and time for the AFCOM to play itself through. Burnley and Luton played out a draw last night thanks to a last minute equaliser for the visitors. That did little for either side, and particularly for Burnley, as both remain in the relegation zone. Burnley are four points adrift of the two sides above them – Luton and Everton – with a worse goal difference and having played a game more. Things look grim for the Clarets. *SATURDAY* CHELSEA vs FULHAM (1230) It’s got increasingly tricky to predict Chelsea’s results. They should win this one, as they should have won many of their other games, but they have managed to eclipse even West Ham in the screwing up promising positions game. Add to that the local rivalry and Fulham having beaten Arsenal. So how do you choose between these two? Dunno. Home win. NEWCASTLE UNITED vs MANCHESTER CITY (1730) Speaking of inconsistency, Newcastle are just one point and one place above Chelsea. City, in third, are aiming to get their season back on track and will hope to close the gap over leaders Liverpool to two points. Another hard one to predict. Away win. *SUNDAY* EVERTON vs ASTON VILLA (1400) Villa started the weekend in second and within spitting distance of Liverpool. The Toffees have lost their last three and are above the drop zone by virtue of goal difference. Everything says Villa. Away win. MANCHESTER UNITED vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (1630) Who, apart from his bank manager, would be in Erik ten Hag’s shoes? He surely has one of the most difficult manager jobs in English football. Spurs, in contrast, have a swagger about them under boss Postecoglou. Whether they’ll still have confidence and attacking vitality without Son, who’s away with the Korean national side, is anyone’s guess. It will be interesting to see if Timo Werner does any better with them than he managed at Stamford Bridge. Draw. *CHAMPIONSHIP* Leicester resume their customary position at the top of the pile, with a 10 point lead over Ipswich – thanks also to Ipswich’s poor recent form, having failed to notch up a win in their last five. The Foxes visit ninth-placed Coventry in today’s early game, while the Tractor Boys visit Sunderland in the late kick-off. Southampton are licking their lips at Ipswich’s misfortune and will overtake them briefly if they beat Sheff Wed. Leeds go to Cardiff and West Brom host Blackburn in the other play-off-related games. Millwall have their peckers up after three straight wins that have pulled them away from the danger area. They host Boro this afternoon. At the bottom, Rotherham look done for, but QPR, Sheff Wed and Huddersfield – and possibly Birmingham, Stoke and Plymouth – continue their battle to avoid joining Rotherham in League 1 in August."

[onsideman]

"claretandbluedagger 12:15 Mon Jan 15 Yeah, the might of Cape Verde. Nice one Chris ?üëç"

[claretandbluedagger]

"Ghana lost 2-1 to Cape Verde, 92nd minute winner. Good to see Chris Hughton hasn’t improved as a manager. Kudus didn’t play, hamstring injury."

[pdbis]

Man Utd would have more points if Haton played in goal instead of Banana.

[Jasnik]

Still a crock of shot 're onana...

[irisiris95]

How McTominay doesn't get into this ManU midfield is unbelievable....Moyes prob taking notes as we speak

[threesixty]

I heard keepers have different rules for afcon regarding call up times. Not sure if true.

[Burnhammeronsea]

"Onana ,Mancs keeper refuses to play in Cameroons first game tomorrow so he can play against Spuds today but Kudus not allowed to play against Brighton a whole week before Ghanas game tonight. Who pulls the strings when it comes to international matches?"

[Mex Martillo]

"I agree and it's not just Guardiola, it's also the setup behind Guardiola, which is based on Barcelona when Guadiola was there. The setup was put in place with the aim to bring Guardiola into a top environment that wou!d be attractive to him. Their transfers are also very good bringing in top p!ayers often before they have peaked to pay less than teams like ManU or Madrid would probably pay. However, all that is down to massive spending that at the end of the day is behind the whole show."

[Manuel]

"As said just recently the best sides are attacking sides, which is why the most entertaining games involve the sides at the top. Most of the other games, for a neutral, are generally shit."

[Steady]

Everton v Bristol City would be a kicking match if they ever played each other

[Full Claret Jacket]

"Everton are a thoroughly unlikable shithouse team. Mouthing off, late challenges, off the ball filth. Out to kick teams off the pitch. Draw with Villa today in a gruesome borefest. Everton are the sort of team our bunch of wimps will be overrun by."

[Sir Alf]

Villa pressing very well and do everything so quickly. Emery really has transformed that team / club. They’re passing and movement so much sharper than the days under Gerrard and the previous manager. The core of the team is the same. Emery proving that a manager can make all the difference. Just wish we could try to play like this at times when against teams outside top 4

[Fauxstralian]

"happygilmore 10:23 Sat Jan 13 Re: Saturday football Woeful from Newcastle sitting back for an hour, got what they deserved in the end. Howe didn't seem to have any tactical idea, could be under pressure Not sure they were sitting back more driven back. Couldnt get the ball and spent so long chasing shadows they were knackered when they did get the ball. Shouldnt have needed a late winner and just looks like a movie we have seen before where they wind up around February and win 15 in a row or such like. Dont think thats changing until Pep leaves (this season & one more?) or we get to the bottom of the 115 charges that mean they have an extraordinary squad. As said earlier though clubs like Chelsea and Man U have probably spent more but pissed huge amounts of it up against the wall. One thing Pep has done is bring in youngsters as well ... Palmer , Lewis & now Bobb"

[Manuel]

"Martillo - But a lot (LOT) of that is down to Guardiola, other clubs have spent big too, like Chelsea. I wonder if they sold Palmer just for FFP reason, seems an odd one as the boy is absolute quality and has to be a shoe in for the Euro's at this point."

[Mex Martillo]

"The Premier has certainly done better than other leagues in distributing the wealth and limiting the gap in quality across the division, but more needs to be done about City. Lovely to watch, but the gap in quality in every area and especially on the bench, don't seem right to me."

[Manuel]

"Great game of football, it's looking like City are going to finish like a train again to win their 4th straight title. Beat Sheff Utd next week and we're 8 pts clear of Newcastle."

[Fifth Column]

Anyone watch Guinea Bissau v ivory coast? After 5 mins the GB right back has the ball facing his own goal from about 15 yards out and instead of passing it back to the keeper he half turns and smashes it out for a corner. The ball is probably still travelling now. Even his own keeper's body language was WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING. AFCON is back!! Fofana in midfield for IC looked good and scored a great goal. Is he the one we're supposedly bidding for?

[happygilmore]

"Woeful from Newcastle sitting back for an hour, got what they deserved in the end. Howe didn't seem to have any tactical idea, could be under pressure"

[Fauxstralian]

A brilliant game Newcastle hung in and were dangerous on the break but the second half was one way traffic especially after DeBruyne came on ... could have had about 6 goals with decent finishing KDB ...fantastic player Still have Haaland to come back

[Mex Martillo]

"Amazing attacking from City. Bobb, nice goal. Just what they need another classy p!ayer."

[Sydney_Iron]

"3-2 Man City, Bobb in injury time wins it but what a great game! City look back to their best, KDB will give them a huge lift, wish we could play a bit more like this, Take Note Moysie!!!!. Norwegian freak out for a while i heard? Pep must have flogged him too hard...........LOL"

[Sydney_Iron]

"3-2 Man City, Bobb in injury time wins it but what a great game! City look back to their best, KDB will give them a huge lift, wish we could play a bit more like this, Take Note Moysie!!!!. Norwegian freak out for a while i heard? Pep must have flogged him too hard...........LOL"

[fraser]

What a game this is at Newcastle.. To be fair they've been completely outplayed but have scored two fantastic goals and City's was a bit special too

[Coffee]

Championship Runaway leaders Leicester lose 3-1 at Coventry.

[happygilmore]

Fulham were doing alright until clumsy Diop gave away the penalty. I thought Chelsea should have had a red card earlier but VAR not interested