Orient Finally Break Home League Duck

Leyton Orient finally recorded their first home league win of the 2014/15 season against a lacklustre Crewe Alexandra side on Saturday afternoon at Brisbane Road.

In a game that the O’s dominated, they were on the front foot from pretty much the word go. With Chris Dagnall having two early runs that caused some problems for the Crewe defenders and home debutant Andrea Dossena having a volleyed cross/shot easily held by Crewe keeper Ben Garratt. Dagnall would again run down the Orient left before teeing up Millwall loanee Josh Wright whose shot could only find the Crewe keeper.

Crewe eventually came close to scoring as Brad Inman rounded Orient keeper Adam Legzdins, but his shot was cleared powerfully by O’s Right-Back Elliot Omozusi. It would be a breakaway from Orient that would lead to them opening the scoring 23 minutes in.

Plasmati opens the scoring

Chris Dagnall again made hay down the left flank before his left-footed cross picked out the head of Italian striker Gianvito Plasmati, who only had to head down and across the goal to score his second goal in two games. The 6’6” Italian had a quiet game on the whole, but his major contribution was the goal and what an important goal it transpired to be. Being very aware that one goal wasn’t enough, the O’s would double their lead about 10 minutes later.

The ball came to Josh Wright, who looked up and saw Dagnall lurking with intent in the box. Wright’s cross seemed to be heading slightly too far to the right of Dagnall and away from the goal, but the Liverpudlian forward adjusted and stretched his body brilliantly to rifle a half-volley past Garratt and into the back of the net. The goal was just what he deserved and would add further zest to what was a brilliant performance from the man who missed the crucial penalty in the shoot-out at Wembley in May. This ended the action in the first half, but the second half was further development from a good first half performance.

Dean Cox and Nathan Clarke each had their chances dealt with by the Crewe defence, as did Vito Plasmati, before he was replaced by last season’s top scorer David Mooney. However, it would be Mooney’s partner in crime Dagnall who’s run at goal that would create another goal.   Dagnall’s shot could only be parried by keeper Ben Garratt, and Cox pounced on the loose ball to slot it home for 3-0. A cool finish from one of Orient’s Wembley scorers made a home win seem even closer, but after Andrea Dossena was substituted for Gary Sawyer after about an hour of play, it seemed to change the dynamic of the game.   We then saw a period of the game in which the Orient defence became nervy and the whole team seemed to sit back and allow Crewe more room to come at them.  Sure enough, Crewe nearly found a way back into the game. A shot from range hit Nathan Clarke, before it bounced up in a great position for Anthony Grant to fire a shot from all of 20 yards out, giving Adam Legzdins no chance as it flew past him into the top corner. Crewe then created further chances, but Marcus Haber skied the ball over and Jamie Ness found Adam Legzdins in seeming unstoppable form, with the former Derby keeper producing a world class save to thwart the on-loan Stoke midfielder.   Had that chance gone in for Crewe, Orient fans would have been in for a very nervous last 5 minutes or so.

From the resulting Crewe corner, Orient broke and Chris Dagnall found substitute Mooney, who finished his chance and the game superbly with his first goal in 11 games. That proved to be the end of Orient’s goal scoring, but before full-time Scott Cuthbert had a shot blocked by the Crewe defence. A 4-1 home win for Mauro Milanese’s side, who had only won once at home all season before that, moves Orient up to 19^th in League 1. Crewe, on the other hand, fall to the bottom of the table, piling more pressure on boss Steve Davis.

Andrea Dossena's volleyed cross/shot

Man of the Match:  Many candidates as Orient played very well, but one constant in all four goals was Chris Dagnall. The man who missed the crucial penalty at Wembley delivered what was his best performance in an Orient shirt since signing from Barnsley in January. A very tough call, but Dags’ work rate and pace caused Crewe all sorts of problems and his goal was superbly taken. Mentions also for Romain Vincelot, Andrea Dossena, Josh Wright and Scott Cuthbert. 

Orient, How We Got This Far...

As I, as well as most Orient fans, prepare for the biggest game in the club’s history, I take a look at the Orient’s season and look forward to a day out at Wembley this weekend.

What a Start

Eldin: "Bosnia's Number 1"

It says something about the strength of Orient when they went all the way up to Carlisle on the opening day of the season and won 5-1, the only bad points being Carlisle’s goal (coming from a questionable penalty) and Nathan Clarke’s injury. In fact 12 games unbeaten from a team that only had a 19 man squad before a ball was kicked is quite something. The performances were impressive and the football was slick, but the defeat at Coventry in October opened the door to patchy form until the arrival of Eldin Jakupović.

Goalkeepers

Shwan Jalal: Nervous

This season has carried on the theme of previous seasons of late; the theme of many goalkeepers. Jamie Jones was the first choice up to his injury over Christmas.  Jake Larkins played well when called upon immediately after Jones was injured, but was dropped in favour of fan favourite Eldin Jakupović.  After Jakupović’s first recall to Hull, Ben Alnwick’s disappearance was as quick as his arrival.  It was the low point of the season for the Os as well, because his very short term replacement, Shwan Jalal, had a stay at the Matchroom Stadium that Orient fans will prefer not to look back on. Jakupović then returned for a while the steady the ship before his second and final recall by Hull. Jones was by then ready to come back, thankfully, but surely one big reason that the automatic promotion push failed was the forever changing wearer of the gloves. It never helps a defence when they don’t have complete confidence in the man behind them. Rumour has it that, to fill the unexpected void left by Alnwick, Russell Slade was actually trying to loan in Jalal’s Bournemouth teammate Ryan Allsop (a former Orient favourite) but was told to have Jalal. Anyway it’s happened and we move on.

Strikers that can’t score

Simpson: 100% effort, 0% goals

We’ve seen it before haven’t we? Jamie Cureton, Michael Symes and David Mooney mark 1 (2011/12 version) ‘couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo from a yard away’. Yet again there have been a couple this season: most noticeably Yohann Lasimant, who has hardly ever come off the bench, and Robbie Simpson, whose stoppage time miss against Preston in November set the tone for his season. Luckily Mooney mark 2.5 and ‘Super’ Kevin Lisbie have got 39 goals between them in all competitions, and January signing Chris Dagnall has now got the goals flowing after a quiet spell that followed his two goal debut. The problem I have with that is that even in some games where the Mooney/Lisbie partnership hasn’t produced goals they have still tended to keep ‘Dags’ on the bench without much of a look in. I’m happy to concede though that having 4 strikers like Lisbie, Mooney, Dagnall and Batt provides a good balance of attacking options, with Batt often proving difficult for opposing defences to handle when coming off the bench. Finally, having said something about strikers who can’t score, some mention ought to be made about two midfielders who can. Dean Cox and Moses Odubajo, who score and create chances, have been a revelation on the wings. Full-backs sometimes look baffled when the pair switch wings or have ‘free’ roles, while some opposing defenders have been seen to freeze at the sight of

Odubajo running directly at their goal. Cox’s determination and industry makes up for his lack of height while his leadership led him to captain the team twice in 2012/13. Besides, Mooney’s red card obtained while standing in as captain should mean he is unlikely to be offered the armband again any time.

Coxy is used to celebrating

Going Up?

Let’s not tempt fate…

Watford Sting Toothless Town

Beppe Sannino's Watford side beat Mick McCarthy's Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon at Vicarage Road. 

In a rather underwhelming first half, Ipswich had the better of the opening 15 minutes. Frank Nouble was a thorn in 'Orns wing-back Davide Faraoni's side. But Johnny Williams' movement was stretching Watford's defence, with a shot from Williams not convincingly dealt with by Manuel Almunia, who was lucky that neither Anthony Wordsworth nor Daryl Murphy were following in on the Watford captain's risky punch away. But, and against the run of play, the Hornets then took the lead. 

Riera celebrates with Daniel Tőszer

The ball came to left wing-back Albert Riera, who took on Ipswich right-back Luke Chambers, before leaving him for dead and cutting inside and unleashing a curling shot past ex-Bristol City goalkeeper Dean Gerken into the back of the net. The ex-Liverpool player showed why he might well be loaned back to Watford when he starts his contract at Udinese in the summer with a goal that would be more expected in front of the Kop at Anfield. 

After Watford had taken the lead, the remainder of the first half settled into more of a balanced contest. The first half ended with a good chance for the visitors, with Nouble’s athleticism causing havoc down his sides left, before the ball came to Johnny Williams. However, the on loan Crystal Palace man couldn’t find the target with his shot missing the goal by a relatively small margin. 

As they had in the first half, Ipswich started off the stronger side with Williams feeding Frank Nouble, but the ex-West Ham striker got too far underneath the ball and sent it flying somewhere in the direction of Stevenage. Watford’s repost was a shot by Troy Deeney that, despite being on target, wasn’t challenging Dean Gerken. 

The game was about to get more frenetic, however, when after having been put under pressure by a back pass Manuel Almunia had little option other than to gift Ipswich a throw in. From it, Nouble’s deflected cross found Anthony Wordsworth. His side-foot finish was a very easy one in truth, with poor marking from Swede Joel Ekstrand, and a lack of authority from Almunia gifting the former Colchester man a rare goal. Town would then have another chance when another Johnny Williams cross was headed towards goal by Luke Hyam, but Almunia tipped the ball on to the bar, before Daryl Murphy fouled Albert Riera before missing the rebound. 

The save by Almunia would be the turning point in the game. A free-kick from Daniel Tőszer floated on to the head of Gabriele Angella, the Italian defender getting a free run on goal and flicking the ball past Gerken for Watford’s second of the afternoon. Mick McCarthy accused his defence of “Switching off” at that set-play, and they did in all fairness allowing Angella to bag his eighth goal of his first season in England. And as if the “Yellow Army” weren’t getting enough enjoyment from watching their team, Watford would score again. 

Scorers Riera and McGugan celebrate with Almen Abdi

Davide Faraoni had the ball on the right wing and passed it to Tőszer, who managed to avoid the temptation of going down under the challenge of two Ipswich defenders but lost the ball. Luckily for Watford, Lewis McGugan pounced on the loose ball to get Watford’s third.

The former Nottingham Forest midfielder managed to thread the ball through the legs of both Christophe Berra and Dean Gerken on the way into the net. That was the end of the goals, but that wouldn’t stop both teams having two similar chances to add to their tallies.

First, Stephen Hunt, on as a substitute for Ipswich, took the ball down before volleying just over. Watford sub Sean Murray would also take the ball on the volley, but his dipping shot didn’t dip enough for a fourth. 

Man of the Match: Albert Riera was a threat down Watford’s left flank, scored the goal of the game, and received a standing ovation when he was taken off for Daniel Pudil late on. The former Liverpool and Manchester City man is set to join Udinese in the summer but, as most of the players in Watford’s match day 18, may be loaned back to Watford next season.

Gillingham undone by fluent Os

David Mooney scores Orient's first goal of the game

Leyton Orient returned to form with a 5-1 thrashing of a lacklustre Gillingham side on Saturday afternoon at Brisbane Road. The match itself started, like every other match in the top five divisions, seven minutes later than usual as a mark of respect to the 96 Liverpool fans that had died at Hillsborough in 1989, but Orient seemed unaffected by the relative sombreness of the occasion. At the heart of what was an excellent first half performance by them was the quality and, at times, incisiveness of their passing, which enabled them to dominate play and helped to revive their main strikers, all of whom had been rather quiet for several games. 

Orient’s first goal came following a great passing move down the left-side that found Everton loanee John Lundstram, who’s beautifully weighted through ball gave David Mooney what looked like a tight angle to shoot. But shoot he did, and drilled his shot past former O Stuart Nelson to score his 19th goal of the season in all competitions. With the goal timed at just five minutes, Gillingham fans and players must’ve been expecting a long day at the office. However, even the most optimistic Orient fan couldn’t have envisaged what was about to happen.

 A few minutes later Orient left-back Elliot Omozusi received the ball from Lundstram, and advanced into the Gillingham penalty area before finding Mooney. The Irishman managed to turn 2 Gillingham defenders and laid the ball off to Dean Cox, who scored his 14th goal of the season with a right footed 20-yard pile-driver which flew into the corner of the net.

And it was Cox switching the play to Moses Odubajo that set up the third of the afternoon. The young wide man, who has been scouted by Tottenham recently, baffled Gills left-back Joe Martin before firing in a powerful cross for Kevin Lisbie, who used the power from the cross to head home past Nelson, giving the Gillingham bench plenty to consider. Orient, on the other hand, were flying high and scored again about 30 seconds later.

 Almost straight from the restart, dawdling by right-back Elliott Hewitt allowed Lisbie to knick the ball from the young Welshman, before heading straight for the Gillingham penalty. As Lisbie cut in from the left, his strike partner Mooney anticipated his intentions perfectly, latching onto a perfectly weighted squared pass to bag his 20th goal of the season. The striker is currently having his best season in England and, despite inconsistent form recently, is only two more goals away from 20 league goals. Gillingham fans were probably wishing that they had a striker of Mooney’s calibre as the goal prompted a notable exodus from the visiting supporters' stand for some early refreshments. Those who weren’t heading for drinks were chanting “We want our money back”, which was justified considering Orient’s whirlwind 35 minutes. Gillingham hardly posed a threat all half and were thankful that Orient didn’t score again.

The second half was a more cagey affair, but with 12 minutes to go, after a Gillingham corner was cleared by Lundstram, Lisbie knocked the ball down 40 yards out for Mooney’s replacement Chris Dagnall. Dagnall then ran forward to the edge of the Gillingham penalty area, with both Jake Hessenthaler and Adam Barrett desperately trying to usher him to a safe area. Just as it began to look as if Dagnall’s chance to score had gone, he managed to slot the ball between the two defenders and past Nelson for goal number five. The goal itself led to a great number of Gills fans heading for the turnstiles. But those who stayed were to witness a late consolation.

Joe Martin’s cross from the left came all the way to Craig Fagin, whose volley hit defender Mathieu Baudry, who was trying to clear the ball, before finding the net. The Gillingham fans that had stayed then began ironic chants of “Easy, Easy, Easy”, which was greeted by laughter from around the ground. But the damage had already been done and Orient fans could go home happy with the result.

Man of the Match: There were several really good performances from Orient players in the game and picking a single man of the match isn’t easy. However, Orient’s domination of most of the game was made possible by the excellent central midfield pairing of Romain Vincelot and John Lundstram pulling a lot of the strings. Vincelot looked back to his best, but Lundstram showed why Everton may need him in a few years’ time. His tackling was spot on, his passing was top notch, and even experienced players like Nathan Clarke were looking for the Liverpudlian at times which just shows how good this young man is. My man of the match award therefore goes to John Lundstram.

Was the Derby a Wake-Up Call for Moyes?

Last week, Manchester United lost quite comprehensively to their big rivals Manchester City.  I watched the match and found some of United’s defensive play rather disappointing. I’ve set out below what I saw as their main defensive weaknesses and have added some thoughts on what I think they could improve upon.

Defending Issues

Obviously, Moyes’ hand had already been played in terms of who was playing at right-back. Rafael was unfit and Chris Smalling has previous experience of a Manchester derby. So, in respect, it might have been a good move, but Smalling was given a hard time by Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri, thanks to Antonio Valencia’s seeming inability to cover for his team-mate. Meanwhile, on the other side of the United defence, there was a similar ill-balanced contest going on in the form of a one-man roasting of Patrice Evra by Jesus Navas. Turning to the middle of the defence, a Sir Alex Ferguson Man United team would more likely have had a younger centre-back with Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic and Michael Carrick would’ve been sitting deeper in his midfield role.  However, David Moyes has signed Marouane Fellaini to play in that position but obviously he doesn’t want to defend.

Of particular concern was the fact that all of City’s goals came from crosses into the box, while David De Gea’s failings in relation to communicating with his back-four seems to be, and always has been, a problem and a liability.

Lack of Ability

Another reason that United lost the match is the lack of meaningful cover upfront. After Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney, there is precious little in terms of back-up. Danny Welbeck has the first touch of a League Two Goalkeeper, “Chicharito” is out of favour, and Angelo Henriquez is out on loan. So keeping RVP fit would be crucial, surely? Obviously not though, as United look to play-on without the man who is arguably their best player. Added to these problems are Ashley Young’s inability to stand up for more than five minutes, Wilfried Zaha’s inexperience, and the whole Shinji Kagawa affair, which I think Moyes could’ve dealt with better by just playing him when Rooney was injured. Furthermore, the lack of strength in midfield for United (Carrick and Fellaini) allowed Yaya Toure and Fernandinho to dominate proceedings. And the lack of looking for the midfield rock to build the team on has seemingly come back to haunt the Red Devils. In fact, if you look at the successful Premier League teams of the past, there was always some sort of strength in that department. Arsenal’s Invincibles had Patrick Viera and Gilberto, Chelsea had Claude Makelele and Michael Ballack, and the current Man City side being tipped for a good year has the aforementioned pairing.

So if United are serious in mounting a title challenge this season, they need to strengthen in those areas. 

What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

Do We Really Need the International Break?

Tonight, on ITV (in England), it’s England vs. Scotland. It’s a fiercely contested derby game between bitter footballing, and now seemingly political, rivals. And for these players, after tonight’s game, the whole English and most of the Scottish squad can return to their respective clubs without a fuss. But other times England might be playing Australia or Brazil away from the comfort of Wembley, and returning back to England can be a hassle to say the least. I am now going to look at what effects far-flung international friendlies can have on the players and their clubs, as well as the fans home and away, also taking into account their usefulness to the international squad’s manager, before making my own conclusion on the matter.

I heard, the other day, that the Spanish national team were travelling all the way to Columbia to play in an international friendly. Now, the amount of air miles racked up by the players in that squad will be beyond belief, considering that there is also jet-lag and acclimatisation to contend with. Then there is the flight back to Spain and the subsequent journey to places such as Barcelona, Manchester or any other city in Europe. And that’s not the only problem that domestic clubs have when players return.

Players have previously come back with injuries, keeping them out of domestic action for up to Christmas and New Year, and sometimes beyond. Another problem is if players return late from midweek international duty, it means that they aren’t ready for Saturday afternoon at 3pm when their season starts. And if it’s not injury or lateness, there’s fatigue or just generally not feeling up to playing on the following weekend.

From the country’s perspective, it’s a good thing to have a friendly before the start of the season. It whets the fans’ appetite for the new season and is also a good way of assessing where the national team stand. But the negatives for the players and squads seem to outweigh the positives on this front, because as good as international friendlies can sometimes be, they seem to be of little value for most teams.

In my opinion, friendlies in the international game just don’t get me jumping out of my seat. They are full of offside strikers, substitutions, and general "flim-flam" building up to, and in the aftermath of, the match. So please FIFA, make international breaks just for competitive matches!!!

Premier League Predictions - Part 2

So here's my predictions for the remainder of Premier League clubs:

Manchester United 

The legend might be gone but his squad still remains, which means that David Moyes should have no problem in bringing the squad together. But the £1mln signing of Uruguayan right-back Guillermo Varela is a strange one; United already have stength in depth in this position, with Rafael, Fabio, Phil Jones and Johnny Evans. And at left-back there’s Patrice Evra, Alex Büttner, Fabio and, as a last resort, Anderson. Anyway, besides this, with few changes to the squad, United look on target for European Qualification, so I predict a 2^nd place finish for the Red Devils with Robin van Persie getting the golden boot. I suspect that Mourinho's greater experience at the top will give Chelsea the edge over Moyes' United this season.

Newcastle United 

Alan Pardew’s French Revolution was taking shape in January: Moussa Sissoko’s one man show against Chelsea, Yoan Gouffran and Hatem Ben Arfa out wide. But since Joe Kinnear has come back in through the door, the spending has stopped and signs of discontent have emanated from St James'. Kinnear has not endeared himself to the Newcastle faithful; fumbles in an interview with talkSPORT have highlighted this, where he referred to “Yohan Kebab” and “Hatem Ben Affri”. With little transfer movement, the Newcastle tactics are unlikely to change. The performances of the team must improve though if they want to avoid a relegation scrap, which I think they will. The season is unlikely to be extraordinary for the Toon Army, but a solid 16^th place finish is possible, avoiding a relegation scrap.

Norwich City 

The Premier League’s East Anglian representative has had two good seasons of mid-table Premier League football. Despite this, there were some nervous times last season. Chris Hughton has spent his money on securing the services of Javier Garrido, Leroy Fer, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Nathan Redmond (who worked with Hughton at Birmingham), and Martin Olsson. Though, he lost club captain Grant Holt toWigan. With question marks over the Premier league abilities of his new signings, I don't expect Norwich to perform as solidly as they did last year. I think that they’ll finish 18^th and lose their place in the Premier League.

Southampton 

Last season, the team had a shaky start under Nigel Adkins, but were given a new lease of life when Mauricio Pochettino came through the door, avoiding relegation safely come May. Saints fans will hope that the club's progress since January will carry on into the new season. Pochettino is now speaking English, is signing players to add to the squad he inherited, and has the support of the clubs fans and board. So Southampton with Dejan Lovren and Victor Wanayama look on course for 10^th place in my opinion.

Stoke City 

Mark Hughes arrives at Stoke with a mission to turn the team into a footballing side, who play more than just the long-ball. The hallmarks of the Pulis-era are likely to remain though: Ryan Shotton is a long-throw specialist; Peter Crouch is a target man; and January signing Jack Butland is now a full-time Stoke player. As with many clubs, Hughes's signings lack Premier League experience: Alex Grant (Portsmouth); Marc Muniesa (Barcelona); and Erik Pieters (PSV Eindhoven). Hughes himself will be looking to dispel his torrid time at QPR. With new players on board, the transition is underway. Though, I don't predict this transition will be swift; a slow start to the season is likely to leave them 14^th in May, though the City display in the second half of the season should leave them in good stead for 2014-15.

Sunderland 

Last season Sunderland's performance got progressively worse, leading to the sacking of Martin O’Neil and his subsequent replacement by Paolo Di Canio. Di Canio has bought in bulk, bringing in nine new players: Emmanuale Giaccherini, Vito Mannone, Jozy Altidore, El Hadji Ba, Cabral, David Moberg Karlsson, Modibo Diakite, Valentin Roberge and Duncan Whatmore. Though only two are from English clubs and one (Mannone) from the Premier League. Nevertheless, the squad and new signings have quality, which should see Sunderland finish 11^th in the table. Perhaps if Di Canio proves himself managerially, he may become a contender for future vacancies at the 'big' clubs.

Swansea City 

Michael Laudrup came into English football and set out his stall very early. He signed Michu on the cheap, then beat QPR 5-0 and West Ham 3-0. Swansea were the surprise side of the last season: winning the Capital One Cup, beating Arsenal at the Emirates, and giving Liverpool a lesson in Tipi-Taka football at Anfield. This year they have brought in Jordi Amat, Wilfried Bony, Jose Canas, Jonathan De Guzman (Loan),Alejandro Pozuelo, Jonjo Shelvey and Jernade Meade. The Europa League is an obvious distraction for Swansea; many clubs have tried to compete in both Premier and Europa leagues in the past and failed. Despite that, I think Laudrup can weave his managerial-magic again, as long as he keeps key players fit for the whole season. If he does this, the Swans will finish 8^th, with Michu and Wilfried Bony fighting it out a top club goalscorers.

Tottenham Hotspur 

“Gareth Bale FC” risk losing their strongest asset as the new season begins. To add to this, Spurs have struggled to bring players in, with the £17mln Paulinho, Chadli and Soldado being the only notable new players at the club. Spurs have failed to attract their other targets though: Christian Benteke has agreed a stay at Villa Park and Udinese forward Matej Vydra has not made the switch. Bale's future is integral to Tottenham's season. If he stays, the club will be able to challenge the top-four; if not, they may struggle to keep the pace. Either way,a 5^th place finish is well within their grasp.

West Bromwich Albion 

The loan capture of Romelu Lukaku defined WBA's 2012-13 season; he scored countless goals for the Baggies and was their star player. With Lukaku back at Chelsea, Steve Clarke has brought in Goran Popov (Loan) and Nicolas Anelka. Whether Anelka can reproduce his past goalscoring magic is an open question. I think not and believe that he'll be overshadowd by Shane Long in the goalscoring stakes. With a strong back-bone in thesquad, the Baggies look set for mid-table safety - 12^th place.

West Ham United

The Hammers met most people’s expectations last season: a safe mid-table finish. “Big Sam” Allardyce has looked to improve on this, spending money on Goalkeeper Adrian, Defender Razvan Rat, Midfielder Danny Whitehead and Striker Andy Carroll. Carroll showed in 2012-13 that he fits into the Allardyce style of play perfectly. With Carroll leading the attack, West Ham look set for 13^th in the table. However, the improvement Hammers fans crave is unlikely.

To summarise, here's my predicted Premier League table:

POSITION	CLUB
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Chelsea Man Utd Man City Arsenal Tottenham Everton Liverpool Swansea Fulham Southampton Sunderland West Brom West Ham Stoke Aston Villa Newcastle Cardiff Norwich Crystal Palace Hull