IPWYMTSBlog Weekend Football Preview

Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion


This is an important game for both teams but for very different reasons. City have come off the back of two disappointing results against Midlands clubs and need a win to keep pace with Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea. WBA on the other hand will feel they dropped two points against Wigan at home in midweek and will be hoping to take anything they can from Eastlands.

Man City will be expected to win the game comfortably with the players at their disposal, but West Brom have taken points away from Old Trafford and Emirates this season. WBA must sort out their terrible defensive record if they hope to take anything from the game.

I hope RDM plays Vela upfront at City. He looked slightly lost out on the right wing against Wigan, especially as he had to keep cutting in on his left foot. Its highly unlikely though that RDM will change from 4-5-1 so I half expect to see the more pragmatic James Morrison come in for Vela.

Nicky Shorey will also have to play with Marek Cech being ruled out. I think Shorey is a class act but he seems to struggle to get games at clubs where he has been recently. Does this suggest some kind of attitude problem? Who knows, but in my opinion he is twice the player Cech is.

I think Man City will be too strong for WBA tomorrow and will have too much quality going forward for WBA to deal with.

IPWYMTS Prediction - Man City 3 - 1 WBA


Chelsea v Liverpool




Sometimes football just turns up these delicious moments that you think the gods must have created for our enjoyment. This game is one such moment. Two rival teams meeting, with one team having bought the others star striker who will play his first game against his former teammates. It's an incredible coincidence or excellent foresight by the Premier League.

This game has already been hyped beyond normality but the most intriguing thing for me is how Chelsea will line up. Tuesday night at Sunderland suggests that Ancelloti will go back to the often used (but not often successful at Chelsea) diamond formation. Rather than trying to shoehorn Frank Lampard into the crucial 'head' of the diamond position, on Tuesday that tole was played with aplomb by Anelka who was magnificent in his almost free role. That would suggest that it's most likely to be Soloman Kalou who drops out for Torres, meaning a front 5 for Chelsea of Lampard, Essien, Anelka, Torres & Drogba. Frightening.

Liverpool have won 3 in a row but Chelsea will be by far the biggest test Liverpool have faed since Kenny Dalglish's return. They would love nothing more than to ruin Torres' big day and the recent form of Raul Meireles and the pace of Luis Suarez against John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic suggest they have a chance.

IPWYMTS Prediction - Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool (with Torres to score the 2nd......)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Birmingham,United Kingdom

Weekend Football Preview - 15th January 2011

West Bromwich Albion v Blackpool

If you look back at WBA's season, it could be argues that it was the return fixture at Bloomfield Road where the rot began to set in. Denied of several key players through injury, WBA were even further hampered by two quick red cards for Pablo Ibanez and Gonzalo Jara and despite a strong performance from the 9 men, WBA came up just short losing 2-1. Since then, WBA's results have taken a sharp downward turn and they have slipped from the European places to just above the relegation zone.

WBA will be without several regulars tomorrow, through a mixture of injury, suspensions and managerial selection, but the team will have a stronger look to that which started last week's cup defeat at Reading. Where WBA really need to improve however is infront of goal. Ismael Miller's performance at Reading last week once again suggestion that he does not have the quality, desire (or robust physique) to perform at the highest level and even though Roman Bednar brought a 1000% in effort and desire, he once again is not going to score the goals that WBA need to stay in the Premier League.

A lot will depend on the fitness of Peter Odemwingie. His goalscoring touch seems to have eluded him of late, but he brings something that other WBA strikers do not. WBA also desperately need Graeme Dorrans to find his scoring boots. Last years top scorer is yet to find the net this season.

Blackpool have been nothing short of brilliant in their first season in the Premier League and have performed better away from home. In Charlie Adam they have one of the most creative and consistent performers of the season. While most people would have had this as a home banker for WBA at the start of the season, Blackburn will provide a really strong test.

IPWYMTS Prediction - WBA 2 - 1 Blackpool


Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers

Was last week's 7-0 win over Ipswich in the FA Cup the return to form of the Champions or was it an easy fixture against a struggling Championship side? There surely can be no better team to play to provide the answer than Blackburn Rovers. 

Chelsea's win last week was achieved with a number of reserves in the side and it is unlikely that they will return against a physical side like Blackburn, so it would seem a return to the line up that has struggled so much for Chelsea over the last 10 games. 

Despite scoring 7 goals in their previous fixture, Chelsea's problems remain putting the ball in the net. Drogba still does not look the same player as he was before he contracted Malaria (hardly surprising) and seems to remain in the team on reputation and promise of something happening. Daniel Sturridge has done everything he can to retain his place in the side with his goals and overall performance against Ipswich, but I cannot see anyone but Drogba playing against a defensive pairing of Samba and Nelsen.

Blackburn have had a couple of good results since sacking Sam Allardyce and will come to Stamford Bridge with confidence.

IPWYMTS Prediction - Chelsea 2 - 1 Blackburn Rovers 

Weekend Football Preview

It's FA Cup 3rd round day tomorrow and probably the day where Jeff Stelling's head is most likely to explode with too much information at the same time. To not suffer the same fate, I will concentrate on a few games, starting with my two teams.......

Chelsea v Ipswich Town

                                          Interesting mix of lower and upper case script................
 
 After Chelsea's awful performance at Wolves on Wednesday night a home tie against a Championship team could be exactly what they need. More than a result, Chelsea need a performance to get some confidence back into the team, to make them believe that they are the same team that were routing teams at the beginning of the season. 9 of the players who played on Wednesday night played in Chelsea's first two games of the season where they routed West Brom and Wigan 6-0 and they somehow need to get the confidence and fluency back that they showed at the beginning of the season when they looked unstoppable. 

Whether that performance will come against Ipswich is anyone's guess. It is likely that Ancelloti will play a number of the squad players (McEacheran, Kakuta, Van Aanholt), but I hope that he chooses to play some senior players as it is the likes of Essien, Drogba, Kalou and Malouda who desperately need to find some form from somewhere. 

Ipswich will have nothing to lose, especially having sacked Roy Keane today and despite being in poor form themselves, will go into the game with confidence, mainly due to Chelsea's recent poor performances.

I don't think it will be pretty, and I cannot see the it being the end of Chelsea's performance slump, but I'm sure (hoping??) they will have enough quality to prevail.


IPWYMTS's Prediction - Chelsea 3 - 1 Ipswich


Reading v West Bromwich Albion

Jonas Olsson - Don't tell him his headband makes him look like a girl.......

West Brom, like Chelsea, are on a terrible run of form and also face a Championship side in the 3rd round of the cup. WBA however travel to Reading, the team that knocked WBA out of this competition last year.


Unlike Chelsea however, West Brom have been playing well in recent games (bar Tuesday's 3-0 defeat at Fulham) and the usual reaction to WBA games of recent weeks seems to have been 'I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY LOST THAT.....'


The reasons that West Brom have lost those games though comes down to two simple facts;


Inability to put the ball in the net - Top scorer Peter Odemwingie has not scored since the beginning of December and his woeful penalty against Man Utd last week shows a lack of confidence the Nigerian international is suffering. It's not just Odemwingie..... Last year's top scorer Graeme Dorrans is yet to score this season.


Inability to defend set pieces - It doesn't halp having your first 4 choice centre backs either injured or suspended, but it seems since the loss of Jonas Olsson to injury back in November, WBA have had a soft centre and have conceded a large number of goals from set pieces and crosses into the box. Hopefully the return of the big Swede to the side tomorrow will see an end to the defensive softness and WBA can get back to winning ways.

IPWYMTS's Prediction - Reading 1 - 2 WBA


There are too many other games for predictions but I think the most likely shocks are to come from Scunthorpe (Everton), Doncaster (Wolves) and Sheffield United (Villa). And I would love Stevenage to beat Newcastle but I just can't see it.


Enjoy 3rd round day!


IPWYMTS