Week 4 preview and predictions:

Courtesy of the former Liverpudlian and BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson:

THIS WEEK'S PREDICTIONS

SATURDAY

Bolton v Everton

It's an improving Bolton side against difficult-to-beat Everton.

A real doughty, northern derby, and I can only see one real outcome, a draw.

Prediction: 1-1

Fulham v Tottenham

Tottenham had a couple of decent results at Craven Cottage last season, and their performance at Old Trafford last week will give them heart.

Fulham certainly haven't had the rub of the green so far - poor old Lawrie Sanchez must be wondering what's he's done to deserve it.

Prediction: 1-2

Liverpool v Derby

So far this season in the Premier League, Derby have been so poor at the back, it's frightening.

Liverpool have now got strength in depth, and they'll be able to freshen up and change the team that beat Toulouse in the Champions League.

Prediction: 3-0

Middlesbrough v Birmingham

Mido has come in and lifted everyone at Middlesbrough, and made a big difference to the club. They're also getting one or two injured players back.

Birmingham will scrap and battle, as they know they will have to do all season long. I'm not expecting a classic match.

Prediction: 2-1

Newcastle v Wigan

It's been a good start for Chris Hutchings as Wigan have beaten the teams expected to be with them around the bottom of the table.

But I expect Newcastle to win, they're unbeaten and Sam Allardyce has got competition for places.

Prediction: 2-0

Reading v West Ham

West Ham have made a stuttering start but they also have personnel returning.

Reading had been quite phenomenal before Saturday's 3-0 defeat and I can see them getting back on track with a draw at the Madejski Stadium.

Prediction: 1-1

Man Utd v Sunderland (1715 BST)

The return of Roy Keane to Old Trafford. But he's now had a realisation of what it will take to stay in this division. He's addressed that by bringing in a few new players this week.

I expect Sunderland to battle and scrap as their manager did when he played, but Man United will just have too much quality.

Prediction: 2-0

SUNDAY

Arsenal v Portsmouth (1330 BST)

It's been softly-softly, catchee monkey Arsenal, who have quietly made a good start and are just starting to click.

This will be a tough game for Portsmouth, coming so soon after their trip to Chelsea, where they played well without reward.

Prediction: 2-0

Blackburn v Man City (1500 BST)

I was impressed with the way Blackburn played at Everton. They get criticism at times, but they are a good team, with good players who work hard.

Man City have made a spectacular start, but this will be a tough test for them. I also think it will be a more open game than you might think.

Prediction: 2-1

Aston Villa v Chelsea (1600 BST)

Chelsea just have this amazing way of not getting beaten, they're strong through the middle and they know how to win.

If Villa sit back, Chelsea can dominate them, if they attack, Chelsea can hit them on the break.

Prediction: 1-2

A look ahead...

A look ahead at this weekends action

Week 3 Wrapup

From Thatsonpoint:

Premier League round three in the books...and we don't know anything.

Manchester City beats Manchester United.

Wigan Athletic has won two in a row.

At least Blackburn rallied to draw Arsenal. Jens, Jens, Jens.

Instead of all that, we'll start with Liverpool/Chelsea and a 'dodgy' penalty call by Robbie Stiles. That's not to say there wasn't contact between Steve Finnan and Flourent Malouda, but of all the things that aren't called penalties this was suspect.

Then of course, the draw helps Manchester United, who are now only five points behind Chelsea, instead of seven. In either event, United's margin of error is next to nothing for the time being.

And again, credit to City for a shocking debut, nine points from three games. Who'd have thought.

Elsewhere, it seems when anyone from the midtable play, anything can happen.

Week's stars

1. Geovanni, Man City -- If YouTube didn't became fascists, the I could link you to the Brasilian's curling tally. It was pretty damn impressive. (Thanks to a reader, got a link...be warned you don't want Scotland Yard on your ass.

2. Andre Bikey, Reading -- Cameroonian was immense in the back for Reading in their first victory of the season.
3. Lee Cattermole, Middlesbrough -- Academy product fires a late winner to get 'Boro its first points of the year.
4. Steed Malbranque, Tottenham -- Belgian/French dude scores twice in the first half to get Spurs season back on track vs. Derby County (who just added Eddie Lewis, yay!).
5. Kanu, Portsmouth -- Nigerian was all of the place in Pompey's 3-1 win.

Baked

Fulham's American captain Brian McBride had to be stretchered off after twisting his ankle in the 20th minute of his team's 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough. Very disappointing. Sounds like the longtime US international will be gone a while. More information likely during the week. Doesn't sound good.

Play Now Sports

I've used this comparison before, but I'll do it again. Wigan Athletic are George Costanza, the rest of the league is Play Now Sports. Nobody wants Wigan or Costanza, but like a 'weed in Hitler's bunker' they're tough to get rid of.

Lookalikes

Reading's goalscoring hero (and bane of Petr Cech), Irishman Stephen Hunt and late AC/DC frontman, Aussie Bonn Scott. Hopefully Hunt doesn't choke on his own vomit after a night of Guinness.



Sorry for a brief recap, lot of other stuff going on.

Adios.

The two goals the Premier League doesn't want you to see

An outstanding take from David Warner at AOL Sports Blog, not much else needs to be said:

I was a little hesitant to post this clip here, because I have a feeling that the Premier League will find out about these guys and file lawsuits against them, just like they did against YouTube, but really, this Steven Gerrard free kick has to be seen to be believed.


Clips like this would be a fantastic promotional tool for the Premier League, something that could show people just how exciting this league can be. If the Premier League actually worked with an online video site -- or created its own, like Comedy Central did -- to produce highlight clips like this that bloggers could share with their audience, then perhaps the league could attract even more sports fans. MLS has a YouTube account. U.S. Soccer has one, too. Why doesn't the Premier League?

Because they let lawyers determine their marketing policy. It's one thing to protect your copyright, but stop punishing your biggest fans for this. That's just stupidity.

After the jump: Obafemi Martins of Newcastle makes a bicycle kick goal that rips the heart out of Bolton Wanderers fans everywhere.

Warner's point is outstanding -- the more casual sports fans see of fabulous goals such as these, the more the league will grow. Personally, the more I see the Martins goal, the more amazing it is.

UPDATE: Here's a goal the Premier League would definitely rather you not see:

Perhaps efforts like Lehmann's are what the Premier League is trying to prevent it's fans from seeing.

Week 1 wrap up...

Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur. Michael Chopra's goal in the 94th minute gives Roy Keane's side a surprising result against the Hotspurs in an otherwise slow match

Derby County 2-2 Portsmouth. Derby turns the early pundits on their heads and picks up a point through a solid effort in their first match back in the big leagues. Pompey looked to put the match away with a goal in the final ten minutes but Derby was quick to equalize, scoring a goal two minutes later.

Bolton 1-3 Newcastle. Martins was simply brilliant yesterday with a class bicycle kick and odd goal from 35+ yards out. Not the best defensive effort from Bolton in what looks to be a long year for Sammy Lee's side.

Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool. Liverpool looked to be in control of the entire match but had to score twice to overcome an own goal by Laursen. Steven Gerrard's amazing free kick in the 87th minute gave Liverpool 3 points.

West Ham 0-2 Manchester City. Nearly every pundit had been predicting an doom and gloom for Man City but the new acquistions to Man City led Sven-Goran's side to simply outclass West Ham in all phases of the game. West Ham still had multiple opportunities to get points but couldn't find a way to finish.

Everton 2-1 Wigan. Didn't catch this game but apparently Wigan was dominated the entire match and scored a late goal to make it appear closer that the score indicate. Wigan's headed to the bottom of the table if this continues.

Middlesbrough 1-2 Blackburn. Despite the strange collapse of Benni McCarty in the 2nd half, Blackburn subs came through after a long delay and acquired the 3 points. Boro manager Gareth Southgate blamed the long delay for losing the momentum that they had been building.

Manchester United 0-0 Reading. The Reading backline simply couldn't be cracked as any cross or shot that wasn't blocked by the Reading defenders were stifled by a top-notch effort from Marcus Hanhemann, who looked to be unstoppable even with a broken hand.

Wayne Rooney left the game at halftime with a fractured foot; with Saha and Soljskaer still not fit, Carlos Tevez will don a Man U kit Wednesday night versus Pompey.

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham. Arsenal could have scored 5 goals against the weaker Fulham side but couldn't find the back of the net. Gunner keeper Lehmann nearly gave the match away with a pathetic effort clearing the ball in the first minute but a late charge and poor defense from Fulham in the last ten minutes put Arsenal ahead, thanks to solid efforts from Hleb, Toure and Van Persie. If Arsenal can find a way to limit errors and consistently finish, they will be tough to beat.

Chelsea 3-2 Birmingham City. Michael Essien's brilliant strike in the first ten minutes of the 2nd half put Jose's side ahead for good and avoided another surprising result in the 1st week of the season.

Week 1 Preview of the EPL...

Thanks to That's on Point (who inspired this Yank to make this blog in the first place) for the legwork. I've added my thoughts as I felt necessary:

Saturday

Sunderland v. Tottenham -- (Live on Setanta USA/Broadband, 7:45 EDT)
Will Sunderland run through walls for Roy Keane? Can Tottenham finally crack the top 4 and can they play any defense? With no Gareth Bale and not many fit defenders Sunderland could be in for the upset.

Bolton v. Newcastle United -- (Live on Setanta, 10 a.m.)
Who of Newcastle's famous strikers will Allardyce roll out on their front line against his former side? Will Anelka be in top form after the transfer rumors? Can Ivan Campo please get a haircut!

Derby v. Portsmouth -- (Delayed, FSC 2:30 p.m.)
Derby's first step towards relegation in spite of picking up top Yank prospect Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber won't appear in the lineup as the transfer won't be completed prior to the deadline. Why Feilhaber made the move that Eddie Johnson rejected is beyond me; for Feilhaber's sake I hope he plays well enough this year that the Rams will transfer him back to a premier league side after they go back down (sorry Jay DeMerit). Chalk up another clean sheet for David James.

Everton v. Wigan Athletic -- (Not shown in the US)
With Tim Cahill out and not much depth up front Everton would be in trouble against a more formidable side but Wigan appears to be headed to the bottom of the table. Should result in 3 points for Everton and a clean sheet for Yank keeper Tim Howard.

West Ham Utd v. Manchester City -- (Live on FSC, 10 a.m.)
How will West Ham respond from their tumultuous summer? Their summer transfers of Ljungberg, Bellamy and Parker should be much better suited for league success than Man City's attempt to form a Bulgarian international squad.

Aston Villa v. Liverpool -- (Live on FSC, noon)
Match of the weekend but I will be supporting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when this is shown (I know it's meaningless presason matches but I can't help myself) and will have to catch this on replay. Villa skipper Gareth Barry is targeting a top six finish and this will be a tough test to start out league play. Our first chance to see if Liverpool's summer spending spree were wise moves or not.

Sunday

Arsenal v. Fulham -- (Live on FSC, 7 a.m.)
Judging from the Emirates Cup, Van Persie and the Gunner's are on top form, while Fulham would be better off playing against Scunthorpe United. Anything less than 3 points would be disappointing for the Gunners.

Chelsea v. Birmingham City (Live on Setanta, 8:30 a.m.)
Good thing Chelsea has so much depth as they struggle with their fitness. Chelsea should get 3 points and see what kind of form they are in before their big match against Liverpool next weekend.

Manchester United v. Reading (Live on FSC, 11 a.m.)
Tevez won't be in the line-up yet but still... Man U in a romp.

I know I'm not the only one looking forward to the start of league play but the activity this summer really has piqued my interest.