, testing
10 games to go.... Who will win the EPL?
I'm sure everyone will agree that this 2015/16 season has to have been one of the most bazaar seasons so far.

Relegation favourites Leicester still top the league, the defending Champions Chelsea having to claw they way back from near the bottom of the table, Spurs so far out gunning Arsenal plus clubs like Arsenal, City and United seemingly trying to do everything they can NOT to win the title.

At the other end of things we have Big Sam edging the race between Sunderland, Norwich, Newcastle and Villa to avoid relegation, but only by a goal or three. Can Big Sam keep another team up?

Villa look odds on to go down but would it be ridiculous to say they CAN avoid the drop and be fighting for the title next season? It would seem totally ridiculous but let's just take a moment to consider what Leicester have done in the last 15 months....

Coud Swansea or Bournemouth be dragged into the fight or are they safe?

So just 10 games to go. Below are the remaining fixtures for the top 6 clubs and the bottom 4 clubs as they stand, so you can see how you think things will pan out?

Will Manchester have a club in the top 4 or Will West Ham sneak in?

Being in 5th and having to play in the FA Cup and Europe, can United overcome a tough run in to make top 4?

Can Spurs be the only North London Club to win the League since 2003/4?

Will Pep Guardiola be managing a team that is in the Europa League?

Can Arsenal somehow recover from their recent slump to lift the trophy?

So who do you think will:

be the 2015/16 Champions?
be in the top 4 places?
be relegated to the Championship?

Post below and add any reason to explain your thinking....

Here goes:
*European ties still to play
+ FA Cup ties still to play

Current Top 6 clubs fixtures

Leicester City:
Away - Watford
Home - Newcastle
Away - Palace
Home - Southampton
Away - Sunderland
Home - West Ham
Home - Swansea
Away - Man Utd
Home - Everton
Away - Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur*
Home - Arsenal
Away - Villa
Home - Bournemouth
Away - Liverpool
Home - Man Utd
Away - Stoke
Home - West Brom
Away - Chelsea
Home - Southampton
Away - Newcastle

Arsenal *+
Away - Spurs
Home - West Brom
Home - Watford
Away - West Ham
Home - Palace
Away - Sunderland
Home - Norwich
Away - Man City
Home - Villa

Man City+
Home - Aston Villa
Away - Norwich
Home - Man Utd
Away - Bournemouth
Home - West Brom
Away - Chelsea
Home - Stoke
Away - Southampton
Home - Arsenal
Away - Swansea

Man United*+
Away - West Brom
Home - Palace (Game postponed)
Away - Man City
Home - Everton
Away - Spurs
Home - Villa
Away - West Ham (Game postponed)
Home - Leicester
Away - Norwich
Home - Bournemouth

West Ham United+
Away - Everton
Home - Watford (Game postponed)
Away - Chelsea
Home - Palace
Home - Arsenal
Away - Leicester
Away - West Brom
Home - Swansea
Away - Stoke

Current Bottom 4 fixtures

Sunderland
Away - Southampton
Home - Everton (Game postponed)
Away - Newcastle
Home - West Brom
Home - Leicester
Away - Norwich
Home - Arsenal
Away - Stoke
Home - Chelsea
Away - Watford

Norwich City
Away - Swansea
Home - Man City
Away - West Brom
Home - Newcastle
Away - Palace
Home - Sunderland
Home - Watford
Away - Arsenal
Home - Man Utd
Away - Everton

Newcastle United
Home - Bournemouth
Away - Leicester
Home - Sunderland
Away - Norwich
Away - Southampton
Home - Swansea
Away - Liverpool
Home - Palace
Away - Villa
Home - Spurs

Aston Villa
Away - Man City
Home - Spurs
Away - Swansea
Home - Chelsea
Home - Bournemouth
Away - Man Utd
Home - Southampton
Away - Watford
Home - Newcastle
Away - Arsenal

Admin Saturday, 5 March 2016
North London Derby Preview
There have been many important games between the two North London club's recently but this one has an extra bite. Both teams are fighting for the Premier League title and Tottenham (for the first time in awhile) have a realistic chance of finishing above Arsenal in the league (Something that has not happened since 1995) and winning the league.
Spurs suffered a huge blow midweek when their title challenge was dented by West Ham in a fiery encounter at the Boleyn Ground. A win would have put them top of the league, but they couldn’t recover from going a goal behind. Arsenal, on the other hand, had a great opportunity to get their title challenge back on track when they played Swansea, but eventually lost in heartbreaking fashion.
Tottenham have been very impressive at home this season, losing just two of their 14 games at White Hart Lane. Arsenal meanwhile have been a strong away team, winning seven of their 14 games played. However, they have lost their last three matches in all competitions and have been severely underperforming on the pitch.
With only ten games remaining in the season, both teams know that they need to win if they are to maintain their title challenge.
Team News:
Tottenham with be missing Vertonghen, whilst Dembele has passed a fitness test.
Projected team line-ups:
Arsenal -
GK:OspinaDF:Bellerín, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal,MF:Ramsey, Coquelin, Campbell, Özil, SánchezST:Giroud.
Tottenham -
GK:LlorisDF:Walker, Alderweireld, Wimmer, RoseMF:Dier, Dembele, Alli, Eriksen, LamelaST:Kane

Admin Friday, 4 March 2016
Your all time (Premier League) club squad...
There is ALWAYS debate about who are the best players to play at your club. I've tried it with United and I just end up going around in circles as we've had so many greats...

So to narrow it down a little, who do you feel is your greatest club team during the Premier League years....?

What ever formation you think is most effective, the best players that have played for your club, including your 5 on the bench (which should be realistic, i.e. including a keeper and players to cover key positions) and if you have had more than one manager during this time, which would be your preferred manager...

If everyone lays it out as below, it should be easier to follow:

Man Utd: 4-4-2. MANAGER: Moyes. GK: Barthez, DEFENCE: Raphael, O'Shea, Brown, Fabio, MIDFIELD: Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Sung, ATTACK: Saha, Welbeck: BENCH: VanDerSar (GK) May (D) Butt (MF) P.Neville (U) Hughes (A)

This is an example and not my final squad by the way.... (Dave Moyes...! lol)

So, get to it and let everyone know who do you think is your best 11/squad/manager/formation since the Premier League began......

No prizes I'm afraid but I am always interested to see what fans of other clubs have to say about their teams... So get crackin'.... Enjoy

Admin
Bengaluru two past Shillong Lajong
SHILLONG: Bengaluru FC broke the jinx beating Shillong Lajong FC by unassailable margin of 2-0 in the Hero I-League encounter at the JN Stadium tonight. Goals by Udanta Singh (36') and Kim Song Yong (82') in either half summed up the first win for the steelmen over the Reds in Shillong.

Placed second in the standings now behind the league leaders Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC are certainly on course to stake a claim on their second Hero I-League Title.

Earlier, youngster Udanta Singh started on a high note for Bengaluru FC to make a breakthrough in the fifth minute when he smashed just wide of the nets. Bengaluru continued to press hard but the efforts by John Johnson and Kim Song Yong were unable to bear results. Udanta, meanwhile, had another unsuccessful shy at the nets in the 20th minute. He was finally rewarded 6 minutes after the half-hour mark when he found the back of the net from close range in the second attempt. The free kick by Osano was received calmly by Kim Song Yong and delivered towards the youngster who did no mistake to net his maiden goal of the season.

The scores remained 1-0 at half time in the favour of the away team.

Luck was surely not with Lajong today, two minutes into the second half, the Reds were deprived of a certain goal when Samuel Lalmuanpuia's screamer rattled the cross bar.

 Bengaluru FC, meanwhile, balanced out their tasks by then and were doing well on both fronts. After being turned down for an offside in the 80th minute, Kim Song Yong made sure he features in the scorers' list with a thudding header a couple of minutes later

A well-directed corner kick by Udanta was flicked into the net by the North Korean striker as Vishal Kaiht was completely off his position.

The score remained at 2-0 till the full time, even as Uilliams Silva was guilty of squandering an opportunity for the hosts in the stoppage time.

Bengaluru FC have the monkey off their back now and they are travelling to Goa to settle the score with Sporting Clube de Goa on 6th March.

Admin Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Betting Odds for Ronaldo's Next Club!
There has been much made of Cristiano Ronaldo and where his career end. Will he retire at Real Madrid? Will he go back to Manchester United? Or will he move somewhere else? These are questions that no one knows, however by checking the odds we can hazard a good guess at where he will go next.
Manchester United (11/8)
The club where his career really took off. Under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo became a superstar. His ability to score goals became feared throughout the world. Not only does he love Manchester United but also the fans would welcome him back with open arms and if his Real Madrid career does ever come to an end then Manchester would seem like the obvious destination.
PSG (9/4)
PSG fall into the more money than sense category, they are so rich that no other club in France can compete with them. Their ultimate goal is to win the Champions League and Ronaldo would certainly help with that.
Bayern Munich (7/2)
Munich are soon to be going through change, Pep Guardiola is leaving and Carlo Ancelotti is coming in. It may not Ronaldo’s first choice of club but in Ancelotti, Ronaldo has a friend and previous manager who he has enjoyed working under. German football may also be a good place for him due to the nature of the league.
Sporting Lisbon (4/1)
The club where it all began for Ronaldo, he was a prodigy even as a young child, and it was his skill on a football pitch that made fans fall in love with him. Although a move back to Portugal is unlikely, he could definitely fit straight back into the team where he would be loved once again...
These are the clubs that he is most likely to join according to the odds.. Now let's have a look at some of the less likely clubs.
Arsenal (100/1)
Arsenal were reported to have put in a bid for Ronaldo whilst he was still at Sporting Lisbon, and although that move fell through, Arsene Wenger would definitely still be interested in the Portuguese superstar.
Liverpool (100/1)
Given the connection to Manchester United, it’s unlikely that he would join Liverpool but the team are in need of a world-class player and could do with a Ronaldo type to attract some more talent.
Porto (100/1)
This one seems even more unlikely but stranger things have happened (I don’t know what, but I’m sure there’s been something). Porto, the arch rivals of Ronaldo’s former club Sporting Lisbon, may not be his first choice destination or even his 6th. …

Admin
Match Review: West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur

Wow, what a win. I normally try and remain neutral in my match reviews and previews but that’s just not possible today. That first half was probably the most dominating performance I’ve seen from West Ham all season, Spurs just couldn't get going. Antonio netted his fourth goal in as many home games in the seventh minute, a fantastic header from the near post from an equally good Payet corner. Then it was just attack after attack, chance after chance; we were playing well, but it must be said that Spurs were playing poorly. The pressing from Noble and Obiang seemed to unsettle a Spurs midfield without regulars Alli and Dembele and they just didn't seem capable to get any sort of attack going. Credit to Hugo Lloris as well who kept them in it, with a great save from a Mark Noble 25 yard rocket being worthy of a mention. In truth, it was disappointing to only be 1-0 up going in after 45 minutes and I was worried we would pay the price. Spurs didn't even manage a shot in the first half while we had 7, not to mention the disallowed goal for offside - that just shows how one sided it was.

Spurs are a very good team though and the way they came out in the second half showed that. Both teams had good chances and it was a fairly equal second 45. It didn’t help West Ham that James Collins went off injured meaning that 17-year-old Reece Oxford had to come on for him at centre back, while Ogbonna spent almost the whole half limping. Meanwhile Dele Alli’s introduction for Spurs made a big difference going forward for them. Harry Kane had a great couple of chances, one which should have been called offside and produced a great save from Adrian while there were a couple of testing long shots rifled in which the Spaniard had to deal with too. Payet’s delivery was consistently brilliant though and Antonio probably should have doubled his tally with a half volley from one of the Frenchman’s free kicks. That was an incredibly nervy 45 minutes though and I spent the last ten minutes with my head in my hands, more listening to the commentary than watching.

Slaven Bilic has to get immense credit for tonights win, with an injury/suspension struck defence, he went with the formation of 3-5-2, with Kouyate joining Collins and Ogbonna at Centre Back and allowing Antonio and Cresswell to wreck havoc down the wings. Noble and Obiang then got back when needed and pressed superbly in the middle of the park while Payet and Lanzini seemed to be given free roles, with them popping up everywhere in Tottenham’s half while Emenike was up top. It was also great to see him showing faith in Reece Oxford as well, bringing him on instead of Alex Song or even Doneil Henry. Carroll provided a good alternative when he came on, as did Diafra Sakho who it was great to see coming back from a long injury. 

A win tonight for Tottenham would have seen them take top spot, but Arsenal also losing will at least be a tiny positive for them. Leicester, meanwhile, must be laughing. West Ham are now just one point behind fourth place Man City (although they do have a game in hand) and with the way this season’s going, why not dare to dream of a Champions League spot?

Admin