With those guys out of the way, it makes tonight’s matches even more interesting. The pressure is on both Aston Villa and Manchester United to find the win they need to retain their excellent positions so far this year. A trip to Eastlands to take on Man City does not make life easier for Martin O’Neill’s side, and the City boss has stoked the fires a little for tonight’s match - "Maybe a bit of anxiety is creeping in because of where they are in the league," The Sun quotes Hughes as saying. People seem to forget however, that Hughes is without Robinho and Bellamy for tonight’s clash, and though the Villains ended up with a draw against Stoke, their performance was still of a high standard. This seems to Footie Frog to be deflective tactics from Hughes, who saw his side go down 1-0 to West Ham last weekend, in another wonderful underperformance. Home advantage might help them this time out, but goals could be hard to come by for City, so Villa could just sneak it. Away win.
As for Man Utd, Footie Frog’s talk of pressure was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. There should be no worries in the Red Devils’ camp ahead of tonight’s match at St. James’ Park, with Newcastle performing miserably ever since a surprising point in the reverse fixture on opening day of the season. With the Toon struggling on a -10 goal difference, and Man Utd sitting pretty with a spectacular +35, it would take some vivid imagination from even the most heavily tattooed, rose-tinted-NHS-specs wearing Geordie to see anything but a comprehensive win for Fergie’s men.
With Van der Sar (who has not conceded in his last 17 games) and Rooney back for United, and a whole host of absentees for the Toon (including Butt, Owen, Guthrie, Barton, Nolan, Duff, Beye and Xisco) it should be further into the relegation mire for Newcastle. Watch out for Smith’s return against his old club, and a kid with an amazing goalscoring habit called Nile Ranger could be on the bench for the Magpies… Still, a comfortable away win.
Elsewhere, it will be long-balls galore at the Britannia stadium tonight, as Stoke welcome Bolton. Legend says that when Doppelgangers meet in life one of them must be destroyed to restore a balance. This is the case with these two sides. Both physical, aggressive sides, that use set-play or target-man based tactics to get their result, Pulis copied the plan word-for-word that Allardyce used for Bolton’s survival all those years ago. Both sides are desperately scrapping for points to keep their bacon safe, and both got decent results last weekend against Villa and Newcastle respectively. It will be interesting to see whether either can give the other a taste of their own medicine tonight, but for the good of the league one of them has to go down… Footie Frog thinks draw.
Another relegation threatened team, Blackburn (amusingly managed by the aforementioned Allardyce – yes that’s Bolton, Newcastle AND now the Rovers on whom he has worked his charms) entertain surprising high-fliers Everton at Ewood. In another game that will be more substance than style, this one will all depend on who can nick that goal. Though Rovers haven’t been dreadful of late, and Everton’s squad is thin, Footie Frog is backing the Toffees to add to the misery of the Blackburn faithful.
A second game in Lancashire, sees the ‘Battle of the W’s’. West Ham make the tiring trip to Wigan to play in front of a handful of people that presumed the Warriors were playing, only to leave when they realise they got the wrong sport. The only thing more depressing than Wigan’s attendance this season, has been their recent form, with no wins in seven. Oh, and the football on show tonight could leave many groaning (no, not at near misses – in pain). Wigan do welcome back Valencia and Mido, so should be more creative in attack – and let’s be honest, West Ham won last week, so they have to lose this week. That’s how it works with the Hammers. Home win, just.
Tottenham. Middlesbrough. Ever thought you’d see those two words in the same sentence without a ‘Downing’ in there somewhere? Well, tonight you get that chance as Boro head to White Hart Lane to take on the Carling Cup nearly-men. Spurs have to put the defeat behind them as quickly as possible, or a relegation-inducing slump could be on the cards – we all saw what happened last season, and they won the damn thing! A massive win for the Smoggies at the weekend against Liverpool will give them a lift going into this one, and if Downing can give the same performance as he did then, you can cross out the first line of this little preview. Defoe, King, Woodgate and Pavlyuchenko all out for Spurs, no injury worries for Boro, chances are Southgate’s men could sneak a win here. With home advantage for Spurs though, a draw is more likely.
The final match tonight is one that Phil Brown will be dreading. No one likes going to Craven Cottage, and the time is not right for Hull City to have to visit Fulham. The Cottagers are terrific at home, and with only one win in eighteen matches now for the Tigers, the pressure is certainly on to turn tings around. After Geovanni’s grumps last weekend, it will be interesting to see whether Phil Brown’s stance softens slightly when it comes to the reality of not selecting his best player. Hmm… best friends now methinks. It could go one of two ways for both Hull and Geo – the Brazilian could prove his critics wrong, and start putting in the performances like those at the beginning of the season and keep the Tigers up… or he could fade away, Hull will get relegated, and he will secure a nice move to somewhere sunny to flatter to deceive once again. Footie Frog hopes the former, but thinks the latter. Comfortable home win.
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