Aston Villa remember how to win, good news for Sheff Utd

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. There’s no sign of any fight from the teams supposedly battling to avoid the drop. Over the last seven matches, the bottom five have produced just three wins between them - which have all come against one another (West Brom over Sunderland, Middlesbrough over Hull and Sunderland over Hull).

2. Aston Villa ended a 12-match winless streak by beating Hull last night but the sense of achievement was diminished by the fact Hull have won just two of their last 26 league games.

3. West Ham became the first team to beat Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in 2009 and joined Fulham as one of the only clubs outside the Big Four to keep a Premier League clean sheet there.

Posted: May 5th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

FC Twente could finally get a result on the road in Europe

Schuper Schteve McClaren prepares his troops to face Marseille

The second coming of Steve McClaren, who was written off as a failure and forced to work abroad, has gone from strength to strength and his Dutch side FC Twente are now unbeaten in fourteen domestic games, of which they have won ten, and stand an outside chance of winning the Eredivisie.

The one area where drastic improvement is still required is European away games, of which they have lost their last eight, and the trip to Marseille tonight offers them a good chance of doing that. The visitors can be backed at 5/1 with Sky Bet while the draw is 11/4 with Ladbrokes .

Posted: February 19th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Everton FA Cup wins against Prem teams are like buses…

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Everton had gone ten years without knocking out a Premier League team in the FA Cup before eliminating Liverpool and Aston Villa, two of the top three, this year. The winner of Middlesbrough and West Ham’s fifth round replay won’t be looking forward to their quarter-final visit to Goodison Park.

2. The victory also marked the end of Aston Villa’s impressive sixteen match domestic unbeaten run and was Everton’s first win in six against Martin O’Neill’s side.

Posted: February 16th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Villa are still unlikely to break the Big Four and more

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Steve McClaren’s FC Twente are up to third in the Eredivisie after a 6-2 win over Sparta Rotterdam. It was the second home league game in succession where the Dutch side scored six goals, something McClaren never managed while with either Middlesbrough or England.

2. When Everton broke the Big Four in 2004-05 they had 33 points at this stage, compared to Aston Villa’s 28. They were also nine points above the team they displaced, Liverpool (who had a game in hand), indicating that Martin O’Neill’s side are unlikely to finish above Arsenal this season.

3. Is David Bentley really worth thirteen points? Paul Ince thinks the press have an agenda against him but Blackburn had 26 points after sixteen games last season, double the number they have at the same stage this season.

Posted: December 9th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Eight reasons why McClaren will get a result in Manchester

Manchester City/FC Twente, 7.45pm, ITV4, Free Bets, Best Odds

While billionaires Manchester City are struggling to have any real impact in the Premier League, everyone’s favourite laughing stock Steve McClaren is two points off the top of the Eredivisie with his new club FC Twente. The former England boss squandered his chance to show what he’s capable of against Arsenal in August but should take advantage of this opportunity by returning to Holland with a point or three. Here’s why:

1. Steve McClaren faced Manchester City eight times while manager of Middlesbrough and was never beaten, winning on five occasions.

2. During the period that City couldn’t beat McClaren, they managed three victories over Manchester United as well as wins over Chelsea and Liverpool. Significantly, the Citizens won their first three matches against post-McClaren Middlesbrough.

3. FC Twente have won their last two away games and had won four consecutive games without conceding before losing to Ajax last weekend.

4. The Dutch club haven’t lost consecutive games since the start of the Eredivisie season so should be capable of bouncing back.

Posted: November 6th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment