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High Fives From Magic Mike

Welcome to "High Fives" the personal column of our ace Director of Football "Magic Mike".

Magic Mike's football credentials are first class. Last season he handily beat the Beeb’s expert tipster “Lawro” who never got a look in after Magic took an early lead at the start of the 2008/09 season.

A good number of our players were rescued by Magic’s tips in our Five Lives scheme which automatically gives you his tips, up to five times during the season, should you forget to enter them yourself. Magic Mike's canny inside knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of players and teams, combined with a passion for getting it right, is what you need to make an impact in this game. It also means you're going to have to be at your best to outdo him.

The Management - Score Five

And now, once again, over to Magic Mike...

See what Mike had to say in the olden days - visit his 2008/09 season archives.

previous predictions -

Rounds 1 & 2.... 2009-10 Season

"Happy As Harry"

 

Arsenal vs Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal come into the game on the back of two victories. Last weekend saw them hit Everton for 6 and in the midweek game Arsenal got a first leg advantage in the first leg of the Champions League group qualifier over Celtic. Arsenal have begun the season in sparkling form despite concerns in some quarters over the lack of new signings and should have far too much quality for a Portsmouth side that has seen an exodus of their top players. If a deal is not done to sell the club soon, they could face the possibility of the first Premier League side to go into administration. Portsmouth narrowly lost on the opening day of the season to Fulham and looked well short on ideas to trouble Arsene Wenger’s side. The banker of the round.

Magic predicts: Arsenal 3 - Portsmouth 0  BANKER

 

Birmingham City vs Stoke City at St Andrew’s Stadium. Birmingham are looking for two wins out of two at home and bounce back from the opening weekend defeat at Manchester United. Birmingham enjoyed a last gasp victory in midweek against a struggling Portsmouth, but now will face a stern physical test against Tony Pulis’ side.  Stoke’s away form last year was a big disappointment and they will be looking to improve on the road in this campaign. Their first away game on Wednesday ended in defeat at Anfield, where last season they picked up an unlikely point.  

Magic predicts: Birmingham City 1 - Stoke City 0

 

Hull City vs Bolton Wanderers at the Kingston Communications Stadium.  A brave performance from the Tigers last Saturday saw them lose narrowly at Chelsea, but they were crushed in their midweek game against a Tottenham side, rejuvenated under Harry Redknapp. Phil Brown faces the side where he served his managerial apprenticeship with the Tigers looking for their first points of the season.  Steve Hunt who was signed just in time to play against Chelsea has netted both the Tigers’ goals so far and will be looking to continue his scoring run.

Bolton lost out by the odd goal in their opening home match against Sunderland and without a midweek fixture, due to Arsenal’s participation in the Champions league, Bolton also go into the game looking for their first points of the season.  The good news for Bolton is that key players for them, Matt Taylor, Gary Cahill and Kevin Davies have recently signed extensions to their contracts, pledging their long term futures to the club. This is a game that both managers will be looking for a result to boost early season confidence.

Magic predicts: Hull City 0 - Bolton Wanderers 1

 

Sunderland vs Blackburn Rovers at The Stadium of Light. An early season managerial head to head between good friends, as Steve Bruce’s new look Sunderland take on a Sam Allardyce inspired Blackburn outfit. The Black Cats look for their first home league victory after losing out to Chelsea in midweek and try to build on the 1-0 opening day victory at Bolton. Darren Bent will be hoping to continue his fine start to his Sunderland career and add to the 2 goals he has scored in the opening 2 games as he looks to repay the faith shown in him by Steve Bruce, following a miserable spell at Spurs.

Blackburn lost out to the new “money men” of the Premier League last Saturday as they went down 2-0. Sam Allardyce will look to draw on the positives from that game and with Blackburn also not in action in midweek, due to Fulham’s participation in the Europa League, Blackburn will also be looking for their first points of the season. These sides met 5 times last season with Blackburn winning 2, Sunderland winning 1, all by a 2-1 margin, the other 2 games were goal-less draws. Another close encounter to be expected.

Allardyce may give a debut to Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic, after his recent GPB 6m signing from Hadjuk Split, to fill the void left by Roque Santa Cruz’s departure.

Magic predicts: Sunderland 1 - Blackburn Rovers 2

 

Manchester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers at The City of Manchester Stadium.  Mark Hughes will have been delighted with his side’s performance in the opening day victory over a dogged Blackburn side and will be looking for his all-star side to sweep aside newly promoted Wolves.  Emmanuel Adebayor scored on his Premier League debut for his new club last weekend and will be looking to add to his tally.  

Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy, takes on a club he once represented as a player as he looks to build on the fine midweek victory over Wigan, following the opening day defeat to West Ham. That victory was Wolves’ first away win in the Premier League as they did not secure any victory on the road in their ill-fated 2003/04 campaign. The win helped dispel fears that Mick McCathy’s side might endure a similar campaign to the Sunderland side he managed in the 2005/06 season, which started with 5 straight defeats and ended in relegation. 

Magic predicts: Manchester City 2 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

 

Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United at the DW Stadium.  A mixed week for these clubs as Roberto Martinez enjoyed his Premier League baptism when his side were well worth the 3 points at Villa Park but was disappointed to see his side lose to newly promoted Wolves on Tuesday night. A similar story for Sir Alex Ferguson as back-to-back 1-0 results, a victory and a shock midweek defeat to Birmingham and Burnley respectively saw his United side lose early season ground to Chelsea. Wigan will pose another stern test for the champions, who have injury problems at the back with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand looking set to miss out through injury whilst Jonny Evans has also been struggling with an ankle injury.

Antonio Valencia will play against his old club and will be out to make his mark in a game that United really need to win in order to avoid giving an early season initiative to their main rivals Chelsea.

Magic predicts: Wigan Athletic 0 - Manchester United 1

 

West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur at Upton Park. The early Sunday kick-off sees Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham side play their first home game of the season following on from the 2-0 victory at Molineux with goals from Mark Noble and Matthew Upson. They face a Tottenham side that, after a bright start to the season with 2 victories against Liverpool and Hull, sees them top of the league contrasting to the poor start last season where they were bottom. Six points is the same tally that Spurs had after ten games last season and hopes are high at White Hart Lane that their side might challenge for a top 4 place this season.

Magic predicts: West Ham United 1 - Tottenham Hotspur 3

 

Burnley vs. Everton at Turf Moor.  Burnley enjoyed a famous victory on Wednesday when they stunned Champions Manchester United and look to repeat the performance in another  north west derby against Everton. On paper Burnley’s opening  five fixtures looked quite daunting with their easiest game seemingly their opening game against Stoke, which they lost.  It remains to be seen whether the victory against United can be a catalyst for Burnley to survive in their first season. With Liverpool and Chelsea next up Burnley can go into those games with the belief they can compete at the highest level.

Everton were very disappointing in their opening day defeat against Arsenal and with the Jolean Lescott transfer saga to Manchester City still rumbling on, these are unsettling times for David Moyes’ side. Burnley might be playing this Everton side at a good time. Another upset could be in store.

Magic predicts: Burnley 1 - Everton 1

 

Fulham vs Chelsea at Craven Cottage.  An early season London derby with both sides on 100% records so far. Fulham are looking to build on their fine showing last season. In the corresponding fixture last season Clint Dempsey rescued a point for Fulham at the death and Roy Hodgson would settle for a similar result this time around.

Chelsea have hit the ground running this season under Carlo Ancelotti  and have taken an early season initiate from their main title rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. They will want to maintain this advantage and take nothing less than 3 points from their West London neighbours. Didier Drogba looks to be in fine form for Chelsea and everything augers well so far.

Magic predicts: Fulham 0 - Chelsea 2

 

The Monday night game sees Liverpool take on Aston Villa at Anfield.  In the corresponding fixture last season Liverpool outclassed a Villa side, who were in the middle of a poor run, to win 5-0.  The signs are that this season Villa might struggle to reach the heights of last season’s 6^th place finish as they disappointed in their opening fixture against Wigan. Liverpool bounced back from an opening day defeat at Spurs to thrash Stoke at Anfield and Rafa Benitez will be looking for a similar performance and victory over Villa. Glen Johnson has started his Liverpool career in outstanding form and scored in his home debut against Stoke.

Magic predicts: Liverpool 3 - Aston Villa 0

 

That's all for now - good luck this round