Summary Review: Round 7 (26/09/2009 to 28/09/2009) 02 October, 2009

Chelsea finally dropped their first points of the season, and it was actually quite a convincing win for Wigan Athletic. That was a major shock as Wigan had showed a tendency to struggle against the better teams this season, having previously shipped four and five goals to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively. While there is no doubt that Chelsea will bounce back from this defeat (what, you expect them to go on a losing streak?), it did demonstrate some of their vulnerabilities and their rivals can certainly take heart.

Liverpool racked up the goals against a pathetic looking Hull City as Torres waltzed his way through the opposition's something (I'm not sure what you call it, but it doesn't look like defence) three times. Speaking of hattricks, Robbie Keane did that, and went one better, as Tottenham Hotspur put five past Burnley. It's amazing how a team with a perfect record at home (against the likes of Manchester United no less) can be so rubbish away from it. Rubbish then leads us naturally to Portsmouth who, well, actually did show improvement against Everton, and could even be considered slightly unlucky not to take at least a point. But the cold hard fact is that they now still have no point. At this rate they are going, they will still have zero points at the end of the season (extrapolating the trend that is).

Sunderland put five past Wolverhampton Wanderers for an impressive 5 - 2 victory with Darren Bent continuing to find the net. He's starting to display the kind of scoring prowess previously on show at Charlton. Manchester City recovered from derby drama with Tevez scoring a brace to leave West Ham United in the relegation zone. How he must have wished he had scored against another of his former club last week instead.

Arsenal narrowly beat Fulham while Manchester United left Stoke City's home ground with more points that what most other teams could muster from the same encounter. Bolton Wanderers won a crucial relegation six-pointer at Birmingham City, but I guess both teams should be quite confident with realistically only two relegation places up for grabs this season (see Portsmouth, above). Finally, Blackburn Rovers ended Aston Villa's run with a last minute winner.

Predictions

Portsmouth - Everton
Prediction: 0 - 2
Result: 0 - 1

Blackburn Rovers - Aston Villa
Prediction: 1 - 1
Result: 2 - 1

Tottenham Hotspur - Burnley
Prediction: 2 - 0
Result: 5 - 0

Birmingham City - Bolton Wanderers
Prediction: 1 - 0
Result: 1 - 2

Wigan Athletic - Chelsea
Prediction: 0 - 3
Result: 3 - 1

Stoke City - Manchester United
Prediction: 1 - 2
Result: 0 - 2

Liverpool - Hull City
Prediction: 4 - 0
Result: 6 - 1

Fulham - Arsenal
Prediction: 1 - 3
Result: 0 - 1

Sunderland - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Prediction: 2 - 1
Result: 5 - 2

Manchester City - West Ham United
Prediction: 2 - 0
Result: 3 - 1

Round 7 Tally: 10 Predictions; 0 Correct Scores; 7 Correct Outcomes
Season Tally: 66 Predictions; 2 Correct Scores; 37 Correct Outcomes

Betting

Portsmouth - Everton
Bet: £20 on Away Win at 1.83
Result: Away Win (Won £16.60)

Birmingham City - Bolton Wanderers
Bet: £15 on Home Win at 2.25
Result: Away Win (Lost £15.00)

Sunderland - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Bet: £15 on Home Win at 1.72
Result: Home Win (Won £10.80)

Manchester City - West Ham United
Bet: £20 on Home Win at 1.40
Result: Home Win (Won £8.00)

Round 6 Tally: £70.00 in Bets; £20.40 in Takings
Season Tally: £465.00 in Bets; -£35.65 in Takings

Fantasy Football

My Team

55 points is not a disastrous gameweek total, but still poor enough to cause me a drop in overall rankings. The main cause of this would be Chelsea's unexpected result - Cech sent off and Cole conceded three. Fortunately, my other defenders all responded with clean sheets.

With an assist and a clean sheet, Lennon wasn't half bad a choice of captain, but what might have been if I had given the armband to Bent! One goal, three assists and maximum bonus for a total of 18 points!