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Football Liverpool vs C Palace
SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER
Can Liverpool continue their push for the top 4? They’ve started well and I see no reason why they can’t get the full 3 points here. Palace have done ok so far, but this is a long season and I can’t see them getting anything from this game. 2-0 to Liverpool.
Man City vs Everton Gareth Barry
Fulham vs Stoke City
Two teams who invested pennies into their squads but will want to remain in the premiership. So far so good for Stoke who are currently gaining wins and Fulham have been...Fulham, who always turn it round in the second half of the season. So who will win here? This has all the hallmarks of stalemate and i’ll go for 0-0.
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FIXTURES & PREDICTIONS
A tough game for city as they welcome back City old boy Gareth Barry who’s on loan to Everton for a year. Barry will want to prove doubters wrong and so will try to drive Everton’s midfield. The loss of Felliani is a blow to Everton but they did manage to keep hold of Baines so it’s not all bad. City have been great this season but also pretty woeful in defence and so if Everton keep it tight they could cause problems. I still see a city win though 1-0.
Premiership
Tottenham vs West Ham
A blood and thunder game and West Ham have started well this season and will definitely want to put one over their London big spending rivals. Spurs have bought well but it could take a few days to settle in and so they could still be quite vulnerable here. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.
Cardiff vs Newcastle
Cardiff have surprised many and by adding close to 34 million in talent this closed season, Joe Kinnear Newcastle have spent not even a hundredth of that. With the just plain weird decision to appoint Joe Kinnear to Director of Football, it seems that all players throughout civilisation took one look and went ‘nope, I don’t think so’. Leaving Newcastle deep in the mire and longing for the end of the Mike Ashley regime. Sadly Obama isn’t a Newcastle fan and willing to force through regime change, so it looks like more of the same for the long suffering Newcastle fans. 1-0 to Cardiff.
Hull City vs A Villa
Southampton vs Swansea
Southampton need to show some return for the big outlay so far this summer and so far they’ve been ok but not really producing the goods. Swansea started badly but they’re slowly coming back to form and rising up the table. Both teams play good football and I can see a lot of goals here. I’ll go for a 2-2 draw.
Sunderland vs Man Utd
Sunderland have started slowly and are currently struggling to get any points. The stadium of light can be an intimidating place to come though and most teams will struggle. Manchester United won’t though and I can see the away side winning 0-2.
SATURDAY 19TH OCTOBER Newcastle vs Liverpool
In the past this game would guarantee goals galore and I can see this happening again. Newcastle at least have their supporters to create an atmosphere and they’ll certainly drive on their team. It will be noisy and there will be goals. 2-3 to Liverpool.
Chelsea vs Cardiff
Jose Mourinho
Hull may get the odd result, but Hull will struggle for most of the season and I can see them struggling here against Villa. Villa have shown huge signs of progress under Paul Lambert and by keeping Christian Benteke they can firmly establish themselves in the top ten this season. I’ll go for a Villa away win. 1-2.
Chelsea are hard to beat at Stamford Bridge at the best of times, but this season Mourinho will make sure they’re even harder. Despite Cardiff’s investment, Chelsea’s is even larger and with their squad they should stroll through this game. 2-0 to Chelsea.
SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER Norwich vs Chelsea
Norwich have been strong at home but Chelsea will be too strong for the Canaries here. Mourinho is master of grinding out away day results and so expect more of the same in the game. 1-2 to Chelsea.
West Brom vs Arsenal
West Brom need to put some points on the board as they’re currently not playing well and with the absence of Lukaku (on loan from Chelsea last year) they’re not getting the goals. They will come but whether they’ll Lukaku come against Arsenal I have my doubts. They might get a draw though – 1-1.
Man Utd vs Southampton
Southampton arrive with fresh memories of last years game where they outplayed United for much of the game only for United to snatch the game in the last minute. That will have hardened their resolve and with Moyes not being able to repeat the whole ‘united score in the last 5 minutes’ effect then the result might be very different. Do I see Southampton getting a win here? No, but I think they might push for a draw. 1-1.
Swansea vs Sunderland
Swansea have been coming back into form and certainly playing well in Europe has spread the word of the team. Sunderland have made a lot of changes and while something had to be done after last season, it will need time to settle those players in as a team, whether di Canio can do this remains to be seen, but he will want to see signs of teamwork considering it’s coming up to November now. I still see Swansea winning here though but it will be hard fought 1-0.
Arsenal vs Norwich Mesut Ozil
This should be a decent game with Norwich arriving at the Emirates. Norwich have shown they can play good football but if they try it here, they’ll be swamped. Arsenal are pass masters and with Ozil in full flow, Arsenal are extremely dangerous. Christiano Ronaldo showed his displeasure when Ozil was sold as he saw Ozil as the only one with the vision to read his play, Ozil should fit in nicely at Arsenal and while their defence is still dodgy, against lesser teams they should still win out. 2-0 to Arsenal.
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Everton vs Hull City
Everton will want the points and Hull city will oblige. Though the ghost of Felliani is still around, Everton have more than enough to win through against Hull. 2-1 to Everton.
Stoke City vs West Brom
Stoke have started superbly and West Brom have been wretched. Hughes has initially given the Stoke players a boost that was probably needed after their flirtation under Tony Pulis with relegation. West Brom just need any points going and trying to find them here at Stoke is a tall order. West Brom haven’t become a bad team overnight though and the loss of Lukaku has at least been replaced with Anelka. A draw is on the cards here 1-1. Nicholas Anelka
the premiership. Villa will certainly try to exploit any weakness in the new squad Andre Villas Boas is putting together. Villa are at home but will want to attack, will spurs sit back and do the counter attack? It might be a cagey affair and so i’ll go for a draw. 1-1.
MONDAY 21ST OCTOBER C Palace vs Fulham
Local derby and the locals will be in fine voice. Both teams will be fully aware of the relegation zone but these are still early days and there’s everything to play for. Fulham have the better players and are the more experienced at playing at this level, but Palace have to learn sometime and it has to be now. Fulham were pretty poor away from home last season so I’ll go for a draw 1-1.
C Palace vs Arsenal
Another interesting clash of styles. City should win this but I wouldn’t put any money on it. Allardyce has created a West Ham who will fight for every ball and bother the opposition when they have the ball. The hammers have also brought in quite a few quality signings for the right price and they’ll certainly push Manchester City all the way. 0-1 to City though.
SUNDAY 20TH OCTOBER Aston Villa vs Tottenham
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Andre Villas Bo
Palace play again in the space of 4 days and so will be wishing they won’t be facing a full strength Arsenal team. It will be interesting to see how well Ozil has slid in to play for the Arsenal team. There’s every chance that if they can sort out their defense then Arsenal can maintain their top 4 status. I can’t see anything beyond and Arsenal win here. So I’ll go for 1-0.
Hull will do well to keep the scoreline respectable here. Goal difference might make all the difference in the end of the season and games like these are all important. If they can contain Spurs then they can keep the goal margins down to one or two. 2-0 to Spurs.
A Villa vs Everton
Martinez’ Everton arrives at Villa and time will tell just how much Felliani will be missed. I have a feeling he will be a major loss but at least Everton have the 27 million to spend in January if needed. For this game, I think Villa will edge it and Benteke and Abonglahor will cause problems. 1-0 to the Villa.
Man Utd vs Stoke City Mark Hughes
Liverpool vs West Brom
Last season, West Brom beat Liverpool 3-0 and this will be remembered here. Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers will have learned from his mistakes and so will be wary of the baggies, and as this is at Liverpool I think they should win out. 2-0 to the home side. Brendan Rodgers
An excellent game to watch for the neutral as both will want to win and show what they can do to the rest of
Norwich will fancy this game as they’re at home and that form is good. Cardiff will want to mix it with the teams that will be around them for the rest of the season and so get some points here. Norwich to win this by a 2-1 margin.
Tottenham vs Hull City
SATURDAY 26TH OCTOBER
West Ham vs Man City
Norwich vs Cardiff
Mark Hughes returns to United and it will be a major shock for him to see no Fergie in the dug out. Stoke have been doing well under Hughes so far much to my surprise and though they’ll make it difficult for United I can’t see them winning here. 1-0 to United.
Swansea vs West Ham
This should be a good game with both teams going for the win. Laudrup has been recently linked with the job at Benfica which just goes to show what a good job he’s doing at Swansea. Allardyce is also doing a good job at the hammers and has been playing some good football to boot. Gone are the days of Bolton and the dire football we saw under him and with a little bit more backing Allardyce can buy a few more creative players to help him climb the table. A few goals will be scored in this game and I can see a 2-2 scoreline.
not always the case and with the tactical nous of Martin Jol, Fulham will still do well against the odds. Southampton should edge this one though as Fulham aren’t great on their travels. 1-0 to Southampton.
SUNDAY 27TH OCTOBER Chelsea vs Man City
Top game for a Sunday afternoon. Mourinho v Pellegrini’s teams meet for the first time and both will be vying for the title. Both sides have invested a lot of money and both have very strong squads. In a master stroke Chelsea have
managed to get hold of Samuel Etoo for free and he could make all the difference in the title race. City are up against it today as this game is at Chelsea so if they are to go on to win the league they’ll have to win games like this one. Chelsea to win 1-0.
Sunderland vs Newcastle The local derby of all local derbies. They hate each other and as long as they beat the other it doesn’t matter what happens in the league. Both teams look vulnerable but Sunderland are at home and that added expectation might bring a nervousness to their game. Newcastle to win 0 -1.
Samuel Etoo
Southampton vs Fulham
Games like these are 6 pointers and will point to how either team will end up at the end of the season. Southampton should do better as they’ve spent the money, but that’s
ENGLAND MATCHES Friday 11th October
England vs Montenegro
If England beat Montenegro then they’ll be assured of going through to at least the qualifiers. It’s in England’s hands at last but unless they get their full strength squad back then they will continue to struggle. Anyone witnessing the recent game against Ukraine, knows that they have no squad depth and look pretty clueless. They were awful against a pretty mediocre Ukrainian team and God help us when we play a half decent team in the World Cup. Having said that, Montenegro are nowhere near as good as they were in the first half of the campaign and as this is at Wembley, we should win. Close though and a nervous night awaits. 2-0 to England.
Open 7 days a week - Elviria All sports shown 10 TV’s Karaoke nightly Bingo Monday nights Golf Society
Tuesday 15th October
England vs Poland
Poland have nothing to play for anymore but there’s previous between our two nations. As this game is at Wembley then this should be pretty comfortable in the end and i’ll go for 3-0.
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Champions TUESDAY 1ST OCTOBER Arsenal vs Napoli
Arsene Wenger
Rafael Benitez
This should be a top game in the Champions league with the clash between Wenger and Benitez’ Napoli. Benitez did a fantastic job at Chelsea when taking over for the last 5 months of the season, getting them third and winning the Europa League. Not that a lot of Chelsea fans would notice as they didn’t like him as he stuck up for Liverpool and didn’t fall for Mourinho’s nonsense, Ah well at least Chelsea’s only reason for playing in the Champions League aka Roman Abramovich recognised Rafa’s class. This game should be a stonker and could go either way. Napoli have started well this season and they’re attacking talent will cause Arsenal problems. This game could well be a draw. 2-2.
League
Germans about an unfair balance between the huge money from the Arabs who own City and how Bayern are run in a typical German efficient way. 1-1 on the night. Both to go through in the group.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Man Utd
A tricky game for United as this game is in the Ukraine and Donetsk are high up in their league at the moment. I don’t expect many goals here and if United aren’t top of their game they could well lose this one. I’ll go for a bore draw though 0-0 and job done for United.
TUESDAY 22ND OCTOBER AC Milan vs Barcelona Mario Balotelli
WEDNESDAY 2ND OCTOBER Man City vs Bay Munich
City want to win in Europe and Pellegrini has enough pedigree and expertise to take them into the latter stages of the champions league. Bayern Munich are current European Champions though so expect to hear the sniping from the 94
This should be a great game between two entertaining attacking sides. Arsenal with Ozil should be even better going forward than ever but will still remain vulnerable in defence whilst Dortmund only just lost out in the Champions league final to Bayern Munich. I expect plenty of goals here and I’ll go for a 2-2 draw.
Schalke vs Chelsea
Schalke shouldn’t give too many problems to Chelsea here. And as Chelsea with Mourinho at the helm are masters of getting a result then expect a game of few chances and a win for the away side. 0-1 to Chelsea.
WEDNESDAY 23RD OCTOBER CSKA Moscow vs Man City
Celtic vs Barcelona
Celtic have done well to get to the group stages but now they find themselves in the group of death along with Barca, Ajax and AC Milan. Do I see Celtic getting through the group? No...but they may spring a few surprises along the way. 0-1 to Barca.
Arsenal vs B Dortmund
Balotelli has been reborn at Milan and Barca beware. After signing from Manchester City, Balotelli scored 12 goals in 12 games and this season he’s started in similar vein. Neymar and Messi will play for Barca and this should be an incredible match for the neutral. I’ll go for a draw. 1-1.
Celtic vs Ajax
So can Ajax mix it up with the big boys in the group of Death? If they are to get any points at all, then this is the game they can gain a few. They might even sneak a win as Celtic park is a hard place to get a result for any visiting team. 1-0 to Celtic.
With CSKA top of the Russian league and the temperatures rapidly falling at the end of October, then this could be a difficult game for Manchester City to deal with. Pellegrini is well aware of European football however and I think he’ll be happy with a point from this game 1-1.
Man Utd vs Real Sociedad
This should be a cake walk for United here at Old Trafford. Sociedad aren’t exactly playing well at the moment after qualifying for the Champions league and I can’t see them getting anything over United, especially away. So I think this will be a comfortable United win 2-0.
Club Profile: Liverpool Honours:
State of Play
18 League title, 5 European Cups, 3 Uefa Cups, 3 Uefa Super Cups, 7 FA Cups and 8 League Cups.
Team Shirt & Emblem: The Liver Bird. Adopted in 1901. Their kit was red shirts and white shorts until 1964 when Bill Shankly, saw it as important for all red. ‘Shankly thought the colour scheme would carry psychological impact – red for danger, red for power. He came into the dressing room one day and threw a pair of red shorts to Ronnie Yeats. “Get into those shorts and let’s see how you look”, he said. “Christ, Ronnie, you look awesome, terrifying. You look 7ft tall.”
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Why not go the whole hog, boss?” I suggested. “Why not wear red socks? Let’s go out all in red. – Ian St John.
Famous stand: Spion Kop
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In the 2nd Boer War in 1906, 300 men from the Lancashire regiment died and many were from Liverpool. In its prime the Spion Kop could hold 28,000 people and was one of the largest single tier stands in the world. It could hold more supporters than some entire football grounds.
20 years ago, Liverpool was untouchable in English Football. With 18 League titles to their name and 4 European cups, they had dominated much of the 70’s and 80’s but then came the era of Graeme Souness. Souness destroyed Liverpool’s whole successful structure due to his ego and wanting to do it his way. Rather than continue with a pattern that had been so successful in the past, replicated by great managers before him such as Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish, Souness thought he could do it better. Ending the boot room and bringing in many players ‘ideal’ for the modern game, Liverpool have never recovered since. Much has been made of Alex Ferguson’s stint at Manchester United being the reason for Liverpool’s demise. Fergie stated that ‘he wanted to knock Liverpool off their perch’ which of course he did, overtaking Liverpool’s title successes to reach 20. Souness did the damage though and by the time he got sacked the damage was catastrophic. There were fits and starts in the following 2 decades, with Houllier winning the treble of UEFA cup, FA cup and League cup and Benitez winning the European Cup for the 5th time and coming within 4 points of winning the league once more. Benitez would probably have continued this but by then the two American Carpetbaggers, Hicks and Gillette, had taken over the club and were fleecing it daily.
Thankfully things came to a head there and they were removed and Liverpool is now owned by FSG another American Consortium but one which is connected with sport and the Boston Red Sox baseball team. After a problematic spell with now England manager, Roy Hodgson, who was never good enough and then appointing fans choice, Kenny Dalglish (despite Dalglish being out of the game for 10 years) they came to the decision of appointing Brendan Rodgers. Still young and fairly inexperienced, Rodgers had been sacked from Reading and had managed Watford and Swansea. Now he found himself at one of the biggest clubs in the game. His first season was hit and miss, while talking a good game, Rodgers never seemed to shut up. He always has an opinion on everything and sometimes contradicts himself the day after. He also got rid of some old stalwarts from the Benitez era, like Kuyt and Maxi and this was probably down to the new owners wanting to get rid of the high earners at the club. FSG’s credo is to buy cheap and young and sell on for profit. Why they allowed Dalglish to spend so much money on expensive English players is anyone’s guess. Rodgers will never be allowed to spend such money again and this has been shown by him spending about 30 million on 8 new players this summer. After Fergie effectively knocked Liverpool off their perch, Liverpool find themselves back on it after 3 games unbeaten. This won’t last but it’s their best start to a season for 19, they’ve kept hold of Suarez and with the introduction of Sturridge, Coutinho and Toure and with no European football to drain them, they might even challenge for a top 4 place. 95
Robin van
2 themes have dominated Robin Van Persie’s career so far: Silky skills and his temper. Robin van Persie was born on the 6th August 1983, is a Dutch striker who has played for at the highest levels of the game. His teams have been Feyenoord, Arsenal and his current team, Manchester United.
Silky Skills Van Persie is the son of 2 artists who wanted him to continue creating, which he does paying football stating ‘I think football is where my creativity comes out’. Likened to the supreme player of the 1980’s, Marco Van Basten, Van Persie continues to terrorise defenders throughout the game.
Temper His parents split early on in his childhood and he went to live with his dad. This may be the reason for his misbehaviour that dogged his school life as he was excluded from class on a daily basis as he was always angry. His career at Feyenoord had incidences of anger where he got sent off and fell out with the Feyenoord manager Bert Van Marwijk and seen in glimpses for Arsenal and Holland. Feyenoord soon got rid of Van Persie, and due to his disciplinary problems the only taker around at that time was Arsenal.
Arsenal Signed by Arsenal in 2004, he started his career as a left winger with exceptional dribbling skills and a good striker of the ball.. But he was bought by Arsenal to replace Dennis Bergkamp and like Arsene Wenger had done with Thierry Henry, Van Persie was turned from left winger to striker.
Scandal
Player Profile Age: 31 Born: Rotterdam, Holland Marital Status: Married Salary: 12 million (2012) Club: Manchester United 96
Van Persie married Bouchra and had 2 children with her, but then Van Persie was arrested in 2005 for suspected rape of a former Miss Nigeria Holland winner, Sandra Krigsman. He was held for 14 nights in jail until he was released without charge. Krigsman later admitted making up the rape story but Van Persie had slept with her and after some awkward moments his wife Bouchra forgave him. Quite why Krigsman gets away with putting Van Persie in jail for 14 days and wasting police time is open to debate. In 2010 Van Persie signed a new contract at Arsenal stating ‘My heart
is with Arsenal and I just can’t picture myself in a different shirt.’
Within 2 years he had signed for Manchester United. Van Persie ended up being 8th all time scorer with 132 goals.
Persie Manchester United
Transferred to Manchester United for 22.5 million and considering he was top scorer with 37 goals in the previous season, this was a steal for United. In his first season all was well and Van Persie helped united win their 20th league title with his 30 goals.
The Now But all things have changed at Manchester United and rumours have been circling that Van Persie isn’t that impressed with Fergie’s replacement, David Moyes. On international duty in September rumours started to spread that Van Persie was unimpressed by Moyes training methods. These rumours tend to be spread by old team mates or friends who have met up again when back in their home country. One of the rumours said he was not happy and ‘he could not hide it on the pitch, adding that when he became frustrated, he was capable of doing something silly.’ And if Moyes doesn’t get it right, then the old petulant Van Persie may return. The friend continued. ‘He feels it isn’t the same with the new manager as he misses working with Fergie, who he really loved playing under. Some of Moyes’ training methods are not to his liking either.’ Van Persie strenuously denied this rumours but there’s no smoke without fire and for them to appear in the first place shows that they may not be quite so extreme as the papers are suggesting, but there are doubts nonetheless. So Moyes and Manchester United be warned, Van Persia left Arsenal as he felt he couldn’t achieve anything more there and if Moyes struggles this season (where 3 points are turned into one through being too defensive), then if whispers from Real Madrid or Barcelona come calling, this could be Van Persie’s last move. 97
t s n e m a n r u o TOctober
Golf
Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche
Muirfield Village Golf Club
l Vivendi Seve Trophy 3rd - 6th October
Oceânico Victoria Golf Club
Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, Paris, France
l The Presidents Cup 3rd - 6 October
Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
l Portugal Masters 10th - 13th October
CordeValle GC
Oceânico Victoria Golf Club, Vilamoura, Portugal
l Frys.com Open 10th - 13th October
CordeValle GC, San Martin, California
Lake Karrinyup CC
l Perth International 17th - 20th October
Lake Karrinyup CC, Perth, Australia
l Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 17th - 20th October
TPC Summerlin
TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada
l BMW Masters 24th - 27th October
Lake Malaren Golf Club
Lake Malaren Golf Club, Shanghai, China
l CIMB Classic 24th - 27th October
Kuala Lampur Golf & CC, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
Kuala Lampur Golf & CC
l World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions 31st October - 3rd November Sheshan International GC, Shanghai, China
the Costa
Golf
Guide
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your guide to golf on the Costa del Sol
Sheshan International GC
www.costagolfguide.com
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