Back Southampton to sink Pompey in tie of the round

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Portsmouth have lost four of their last five away games without scoring, they haven’t won on the road since early October and to make matters worse, they have a dismal record at the home of their nearest and dearest.

Their last five trips to The Dell/St Mary’s, two of which occurred in the FA Cup, have all ended in defeat and the aggregate score in those games is an uninspiring 12-2 to the League One side.

Southampton boss Alan Pardew’s most unique strength as a manager is his ability to manufacture an electric atmosphere, not that he needs to do much

Posted: February 12th, 2010 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Portsmouth flop is expected to take the Southampton job

Tony Adams is Sky Bet’s 8/11 favourite to be named Saints’ boss

Photo Credit: Chris Ison/PA Wire

After months of bad news, things seemed to be looking up for Southampton last week: the club were saved from going instinct and star player Kelvin Davis spurned West Ham’s advances to stay at St Mary’s.

However, any Saints fans who were getting their hopes up about a brighter future will have been disappointed to hear that after much talk of Gordon Strachan - the man who took them to the 2003 FA Cup Final - returning, Tony Adams is Sky Bet’s 8/11 favourite for the job.

Adams spent three-and-a-half months in charge of Portsmouth last season before being sacked and the last man to take charge of Southampton shortly after leaving Pompey - Harry Redknapp - got them relegated and deserted

Posted: July 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Will Middlesbrough or Newcastle reveal themselves as unlikely escapologists?

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Alan Shearer, the new Messiah, is getting desperate. His plan to get Michael Owen scoring backfired, he keeps ineffectively tinkering with players and formations and even turned to an opera singer for inspiration. But while Newcastle look hopeless now, the most memorable acts of escapology are the unexplainable ones - transformations from hopelessness to safety that nobody anticipates. Will any of this year’s bottom three join the elite group of teams who have saved their season with just four games to spare?

» In the last twelve seasons, only five sides have escaped relegation having been in the bottom three with four games to go.

» The encouraging news for Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom is that three of those five “Great Escapes” have taken place in the last two seasons – West Ham two years ago and Bolton and Fulham last year.

Posted: April 28th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Five reasons why Arsenal won’t beat Spurs on Sunday

Tottenham/Arsenal, 1.30pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Arsenal are on their longest unbeaten run of the season while Spurs are still in the relegation dogfight but their home form is still impressive under Harry Redknapp. Here are five reasons why they will maintain that by taking at least a point off their superior rivals:

1. Arsene Wenger’s side have won just one of their last seven away matches in all competitions. They have drawn their last three matches in all competitions and five of their last eight league games.

2. Tottenham are unbeaten in three meetings with their North London rivals.

3. Spurs have lost just one of thirteen home games under Harry Redknapp, winning eight.

4. Redknapp went unbeaten in his five home league meetings with Arsenal while managing Portsmouth and Southampton.

5. The Fabregas Factor

Posted: February 7th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

The New Football Pools are giving away another £260,000 this weekend

Just predict the outcome of fifteen matches to win big

A fortnight ago chickendinner told you about The New Football Pools’ Footy 15 competition, whereby you could win a big cash jackpot by correctly identifying the winners of fifteen matches.

This week the jackpot is a massive £260,000 while prizes are available to everyone who gets eleven or more right. To help out those of you who would like to enter but don’t follow the Championship, here is a stat on each of the five games you have to pick a winner for in that league:

Bristol City v Barnsley
The away side haven’t won any of the last seven encounters between these teams. Bristol City have won their last two home games against Barnsley.

QPR v Reading

Posted: January 30th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

All the stats on this weekend’s televised FA Cup football

Preston face Liverpool and Southampton challenge Man Utd

It’s FA Cup third round weekend but instead of Motson and Lawro it will be Tyldesley and Pleat putting words to the pictures as ITV and Setanta take charge of proceedings. Here are some statistics about the three matches they have decided to screen this weekend:

Preston v Liverpool
Saturday evening sees the Mark Lawrenson derby take place at Deepdale as the club the BBC pundit supports face the one he spent most of his career at. Alan Irvine’s side have a good record in the FA Cup, having reached the fifth round in each of the last three seasons while Preston have won ten of their thirteen home league matches. Lawro predicted a draw in his column and while that sounds like a reasonable shout, there hasn’t been a draw at Deepdale since last April and that was the only one in the last fourteen months. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are both expected to figure for Liverpool, who have gone out at this stage twice in four seasons under Benitez, while being taken to a replay in another.

Southampton v Manchester United

Posted: January 2nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment