After winning the Lancashire League in the first year of existence, Liverpool FC was elected to the Football League Second Division for the 1893-1894 season.

As was the case with the previous season, Liverpool FC was extremely successful in their second season as well, and won the Second Division by a good margin, suffering no defeats in the process. As a result they were promoted to the the highest level of English football at the time – the first division!

As you would expect, Liverpool FC didn’t just go on to win the league in their first season, but started a building up period with the aim to win the league, as well as the domestic cup competition. The first seed of success was sown in 1896, when Liverpool FC signed Tom Watson to manage the team.

Tom Watson was the manager of Sunderland AFC, and had a proven track record, since he had guided Sunderland AFC to the title 3 times in 4 seasons, and remains their most successful manager to this day.

Over the next 5 years he built a strong squad around players like Alex Raisbeck, Bill Perkins, Billy Dunlop, Jack Cox and Sam Raybould. The Liverpool FC team that started the 1900-1901 was considered to be their strongest team yet.

To give you an idea of the time this took place, this was when handlebar mustaches were in high fashion, the players travelled to the away games by train and/or horse and carriage, Queen Victorias reign was coming to an end and goats would be grazing on the grass-covered terraces of Anfield during the week.

The season got off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, in front of a crowd of 20,000 at Anfield, followed by a 2-1 win away at Stoke City, before West Bromwich Albion had to suffer a 5-0 defeat by the Anfield outfit.

Fourth game of the season was the first so called Merseyside Derby, an away game against Everton FC at Goodison park. Liverpool FC came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw, ending their 100 percent record. Things went worse the next week, when their unbeaten run was brought to an end by title favorites Sunderland AFC, who came away from Anfield with a 2-1 win.

Manager Tom Watson wasn’t most pleased to lose out to his former club, but in the end he and Liverpool FC would have the last laugh.

Liverpool FC would have to go through testing times first though, and by the turn of the year even the most optimistic supporter wouldn’t have believed the team would go on to win the league that year. Further damage was added to the campaign and their confidence through further defeats, and by mid-February Liverpool FC found themselves in 8th spot in the league table.

With nine points difference to the top team of the league, Nottingham Forest, things looked bleak. However, Liverpool FC turned things around in what was to become a trademark of the clubs title winning teams, so before the last game of the season against an already relegated West Bromwich Albion site, they were level with Sunderland AFC in the title race.

West Bromwich Albion was no pushover though, fighting for honour and pride. Liverpool FC was fortunate to be in the lead by one goal to nil at half time. After a hard fought second half, Liverpool FC managed to hang on to their lead, and as a draw would have sufficed their first league title was a reality.

Coming back on the train from the midlands, the newly crowned champions were met by a large crowd at the central station, and team captain Alex Raisbeck was carried shoulder high through the streets to the tune of ‘The Conquering Hero’.

On returning to Anfield, the League Championship trophy was proudly placed in the trophy cabinet for the first time. It wasn’t to be the last time this happened though.

West Bromwich Albion first played a league game against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, 7th November, 1908, 20 years after the Football League had been formed – with Albion one of its Founder Members. This was Tottenham’s first season in the Football League – 26 years after they were founded as Hotspur F.C. – and they would go on to pip West Brom for promotion to the English First Division that season. Both teams finished the 1908/09 season with 51 points but Spurs had a better Goal Average of just 0.02 goals and so were promoted.

Goal Average (the number of goals scored, divided by the number of goals conceded) was used before Goal Difference was introduced in England in 1976, after a successful trial at the 1970 World Cup. Goal Average had always been a controversial system of deciding promotion and relegation when two teams had finished level on points as, even if they also had the same Goal Difference, it would favour teams scoring and conceding less goals rather than those who scored and conceded more. Goal Difference was introduced to favour a more attacking approach to football. (In 1909, Tottenham Hotspur did also have a superior Goal Difference over West Bromwich Albion so it wouldn’t have mattered which system was in place).

The game, a Second Division clash, was played at The Hawthorns (at 551 feet, the highest ground above sea level in the UK) in front of a crowd of 27,224 with ‘The Throstles’ winning 3.0 to go top of the table ahead of local rivals Birmingham City. The goals were scored by Hewitt (2) and Garraty. Billy Garraty was one of the game’s finest utility players at the time and had previously played for Midlands rivals Aston Villa and Leicester Fosse (later, Leicester City). He is the great-great grandfather of current Aston Villa player, Jack Grealish.

This was West Brom’s first ever win over Spurs, after losing two previous FA Cup ties. They also won the away game at White Hart Lane that season by three goals to one. Garraty and Hewitt (2) also scored Albion’s goals in that match – played in front of 35,532 fans on 13th March, 1909 – but it wasn’t enough to beat Tottenham in the overall promotion race. The Throstles would have to wait some two seasons before going back up to the First Division as Champions in 1910/11.

West Bromwich Albion’s highest home league win against Tottenham Hotspur came on 12th February, 1927. Albion won 5.0 with goals from Davies (2), Carter (2) and Short. The attendance for that match was 15,998. Joe Carter scored 145 league goals for WBA between 1921 and 1936 and is sixth in their list of all-time top goalscorers. West Brom had also scored five goals against Spurs five years earlier on 28th October, 1922 in a 5.1 win. Jones, Davies (2), Gregory and Crisp scored for Albion that day, with Seed replying for Tottenham.

Tottenham Hotspur’s biggest league win at West Brom came as recently as 31st January, 2015 with a 3.0 win in the Premier League, their goalscorers being Christian Eriksen and two from Harry Kane (one, a penalty) in front of a crowd of 25,079.

The highest aggregate score in league games between these clubs at The Hawthorns was in a First Division match on Boxing Day, 1963 in a 4.4 draw, watched by 37,189 fans. Kaye, Clark, Fudge and Howe scored for The Baggies, with Tottenham’s goals coming from Smith, Jones and two from Jimmy Greaves.

One of the most exciting matches between the two teams at West Bromwich Albion’s home ground came on Easter Monday, 1969. West Brom won 4.3, in front of a holiday crowd of 24,173, with goals from Hope, Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown and Jeff Astle with two. Spurs replied with two more goals from Jimmy Greaves and one from Cyril Knowles.

Brown and Astle are all-time greats for West Bromwich Albion with Brown topping their goalscorer lists with 218 league goals and Astle at number four with 137 league goals.

Incredibly, matches between these two old rivals have finished 4.3 to The Baggies on no less than five occasions (including the 1969 match). The match on 23rd August, 1952 was played in front of the record league crowd at The Hawthorns for matches against Spurs – 56,552 – and included a penalty for Spurs from one Alf Ramsey, later to become England’s World Cup-winning manager.

Tony Brown, with 12 goals, is West Brom’s highest scorer in matches between these two clubs including two December hat-tricks at the Hawthorns – 12th December, 1970 and Boxing Day, 1966. However, even Brown’s prolific goal feats are eclipsed by Spurs’ highest scorer in these matches: ‘Bobby’ Smith with 17. Robert Alfred Smith was a prolific centre-forward for Tottenham Hotspur and a key part of Bill Nicholson’s ‘Double’ winning side of 1961, scoring in both the 1961 and 1962 FA Cup Finals. Bobby Smith is Tottenham Hotspur’s second highest goalscorer of all time – behind Jimmy Greaves – with 176 league goals in 271 appearances for the club.

The lowest attendance for a WBA v Spurs league match at The Hawthorns came on Tuesday 6th April, 1915 in the First Division. Albion won 3.2 in front of just 5,813 though the First World War had been raging for almost exactly eight months by then. Many players and fans from both sides who might previously have been in attendance were already in France and Belgium and, with Germany’s first use of poison gas marking the start of the Second Battle of Ypres later that month, the Football League suspended league matches shortly afterwards and for the duration of the war.

Similarly the clubs played a match on 2nd September, 1939 which also finished 4.3 – but to Tottenham this time – including hat-tricks from Jones for WBA and Morrison for Spurs. Unfortunately for Spurs the match was declared null and void due to Churchill’s declaration of war on Germany the following day and the league programme being suspended again: this time because of the outbreak of World War Two.

When also meeting Tottenham Hotspur at home in the league, West Bromwich Albion have won the fixture in two of the three seasons when they have gone on to win the FA Cup: 1954 and 1968; also when they won the League Cup in 1966. Tottenham have won at The Hawthorns when going on to win both of their league titles – in 1951 and 1961.

It’s Premier League match time at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea are set to host Sunderland in game-week thirteen.

Sunderland are coming off a 1-1 draw against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Steve Bruce’s squad equalised immediately following van der Vaart’s 64th minute strike to give Spurs the lead, the Black Cats will take courage from that performance ahead of their upcoming meeting with the Premier League champions. Asamoah Gyan scored his third goal in two starts and the Ghana skipper underscored how crucial he is going to be to Sunderland’s fortunes this season.

Between the Sunderland posts, Gordon, playing his first game of the season after recovering from a broken arm, was brilliant on the day, beginning with a third minute save that kept Luca Modric from putting Spurs ahead early. Later, Gordon stopped a Bentley strike on the stroke of half-time. Gareth Bale was off-colour and did not test Sunderland’s back-line.

Steve Bruce replaced Richardson with Malbranque and the move resulted in animmediate opportunity with a free kick awarded after Malbranque was brought down by Gomes just outside the box. Sunderland were lucky when Bentley was booked for diving after a challenge by Zenden inside the box, when it could easily have been a penalty in Spurs’s favour. That said, the Black Cats dominated a match they should have won.

Chelsea barely managed to eke out a win against a stolid Fulham on Wednesday. But the Stamford Bridge squad will be happy that they took full points and extended their lead over second placed Man United in the table, while exorcising the ghosts of Anfield where they lost to Torres-inspired Liverpool last week. Fulham owe it to Schwarzer between the posts for not having gone down by a bigger margin.

Chelsea kept the pressure up in the  first half after Essien put them ahead off a Malouda cross in the 31st minute. But Ancelotti’s charges came under immense pressure in the second half and only a goalkeeper of Cech’s calbre could have kept out the scoring opportunities Fulham created, especially an outstanding volley by Zoltan Gera in the 82nd minute that Cech punched clear.

Chelsea will be without Michael Essien in the weekend’s game against Sunderland; the Ghanaian was sent off late in injury time after a lunge on Fulham Dempsey.

Sunderland have drawn four of their matches on the road this season, while losing the other two to Newcastle and Wigan. Chelsea have had a perfect record at home, winning all six matches played at Stamford Bridge. Sunderland would do well if they snatched a point from Sunday’s game.

Sunderland’s starting eleven against Tottenham Hotspur comprised: Gordon, Onuoha, Turner, Bramble, Ferdinand, Henderson, Cattermole, Riveros, Richardson, Zenden and Gyan; Bardsley, Wellbeck and Malbranque took part as substitutes.

The following players were in Chelsea’s starting eleven against Fulham: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov, Kalou, Drogba and Malouda; Ramires, Sturridge and Ferreira were used as substitutes.

The formal name of the club is Wigan Athletic Football Club, or Wigan Athletic FC. They are popularly referred to as the Latics,and train at their home venue, the DW Stadium, in Greater Manchester, England, with a capacity of just over 25,000.

Founded in 1932, Wigan are the youngest team in the Premier League.

The owner of the club is Dave Whelan, and the manager, Roberto Martinez.

They were only promoted to the Premier League in 2005, and finished last season at 16th place on the League table.

In the current season, Wigan started badly, losing 4-0 to Blackburn, and 6-0 to Chelsea in their first two matches. Then they pulled off a surprise, beating Tottenham 1-0 in the third.

Early Season Preview:

I wouldn’t blame you, if at first glance, you were pessimistic about Wigan’s prospects this season. They have lost some quality players, who did duty for the Latics in the last season, and the previous.

However, with Robert Martinez at the helm and a striker of the calibre of Hugo Rodalegga, anything is possible. And Wigan might surprise all of us yet.

The team that beat Tottenham in the third round match of the ongoing season comprised of:

Al Habsi, Gohouri, Alcaraz, Boyce, Stam, Figueroa, McCarthy, Thomas, Diame, Boselli, Rodallega, Pollitt, Caldwell, Mustoe, Watson, Gomez, McArthur, and McManaman.

Left back Maynor Figouroa has been a consistently good player, and hence his great popularity with fans and rival clubs.

In fact, Wigan’s biggest worry should be to hang on to Figouroa, or he could leave them, just as his predecessors, Wilson Palacios and Antonio Valencia, did.

With Sunderland managing to lure away Titus Bramble, there is a greater burden on Wigan and Figuoroa alike to keep their goal safe from rival strikers.

Crystal Palace’s Victor Moses is in his second season with Wigan, and is widely believed to have great potential that he could well fulfill this season.

Martinez has signed Antolin Alcaraz and Ronnie Stam, with wide experience playing in Europe, as possible replacements for Titus Bramble. He has also brought in James McArthur and Mauro Boselli.

‘Keeper Ali Al Habsi is with Wigan on loan from Bolton.

The most significant departure is that of former skipper Mario Melchiot.

A relegation battle appears imminent for Wigan, and their first two matches were not the start the squad would have envisaged.

In late news coming in from the transfer window deadline day, yesterday, Wigan have done well by signing Chelsea’s Franco Di Santio, and also by getting Manchester United’s Tom Cleverly, on loan.

And their victory over Spurs in the third match bodes well for the Latics who could manage to stave off relegation, while not finishing much better than they did last year.

The official name of the club is Arsenal Football Club, or Arsenal FC. It is usually referred to simply as Arsenal, or by its nickname, the Gunners.

The club’s registered office is at Drayton Park, London, and it was founded in 1886, and was known as Dial Square, at the time of its founding.

Arsenal’s home venue is the recently built Emirates Stadium that has a seating capacity of about 60,000.

The club’s owners are Arsenal Holdings plc, and the Chairman is Peter Hill-Wood. The players are coached by manager, Arsene Wenger, a Frenchman.

The squad comprises of the following players: Almunia, Clichy, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Diaby, Nasri, Eboue, Sagna, Wilshere, Arshavin, Chamakh, Fabianski, Rosicky, Robbie van Persie, Vela, Walcott, Song, and Gibbs.

The new signings this season are Chamakh and Koscielny, while the players who have left are Gallas, Eduardo and Sol Campbell.

Arsenal have won 13 top division titles in English football, including 3 Premier League titles, the last one in 2003-04.

In their EPL 2010-11 opener on August 14, Arsenal took on Liverpool, and the match ended in a draw, fortuitously for Arsenal, in the 90th minute, after a goalkeeping error by Liverpool keeper, Pepe Reina resulted in an own goal.

Pre-Season Preview

Arsenal’s summer has been dominated by the Cesc Fabregas story. The speculation as to whether or not the Spain star would bid goodbye to the club has continued right up to the week before the Premier League kicked off.

But now there’s no doubt that Fabregas will stay on at Arsenal, although it may not be for more than a year, and unlikely to be for five years as the club»s manager Arsene Wenger has claimed.

The other Arsenal players appear excited by Fabregas’s s decision to continue with the club, as this year, Arsenal fancy themselves as hot prospects for the League title.

The last trophy the club won was in 2005, when they lifted the FA Cup.

Holland’s Robin van Persie could be the man to help Arsenal break their title drought. In the tradition of his predecessors at the club, Thierry Henry and Ian Wright, Van Persie’s goal scoring is crucial to the club’s success.

As long as the striker remains fit, rival defences will shudder at the prospect of playing against him.

Teenager Jack Wilshere has been singled out by England coach, Fabio Capello, to play for the national squad. Clearly, a bright future lies ahead of the young man, and the current Premier League season could play a big role in moulding Wiltshere into a competent international.

Every time Wiltshere starts for Arsenal, he will be the focus of attention of those trying gauge his potential as an England player of the future.

Arsene Wenger is clearly aware that this could be Fabregas’s last year with the club, and he wants to ensure that he has the guns to transform the championship dream into reality.

He was quick to sign up Marouane Chamakh, a few days after the transfer window opened. Another big buy is defender, Laurent Koscielny.

Eduardo, William Gallas and Sol Campbell, players who have left, are past their sell-by date. Eduardo, in particular, broke a leg three years ago, and is yet to recover fully.

Arsenal will always be in the reckoning without quite winning the title. They will give the leaders a run for their money, and in the last month or so will probably fight for a place in the top four and a champions league contention.

And that’s a goal I think the Gunners will surely achieve.

It’s Premier League match time at Molineux again, as Wolves look forward to hosting Liverpool in a second leg meeting on January 22, in match week 24.

The first leg encounter between the sides, hosted by Roy Hodgson’s squad, on December 29, ended 1-0 in Wolves favour, only their second win, at Anfield, in 60 years. This was Hodgson’s last game at the helm, as it transpired, and he was subjected to hostile booing by the crowd as were his substitutions, Babel and Konchesky. Some of Hodgson’ decisions could certainly be called into question, such as, for instance, benching Agger and playing Kuyt as a winger.

That said, the manager cannot be blamed for the utter ineptitude of his players, and there was plenty of evidenmce of that, on the day. Wolves outplayed Liverpool, whose decline is no longer in the realm of speculation, and new manager Kenny Dalglish has his task cut for him, as he tries to rebuild the squad.

The winning goal for McCarthy’s side came 12 minutes after the interval when Ward was put through by Ebanks-Blake who latched on to a poor clearance by Kyrgiakos. Going forward, Wolves were crisp and inventive, and aggressive, to boot. The Merseysiders had just one clear goal scoring opportunity when Fernando Torres fired a great cross that fell in Meireles path via Elokobi’s foot, but the Liverpool midfielder’ failed to convert. On the whole, Torres’ lack of confidence was palpable.

Head to head, in 5 league matches between the sides, Liverpool leade 2-1. In their last 10 league games, Wolves have won 4 while losing 6, while Liverpool have not done much better in their last 10, winning just 3, while drawing 2 and losing 5.

Wolves have won 5 of 11 games hosted, this season, while losing 4 and drawing the remaining 2; Liverpool’s away record has been poor, with 8 losses in 11 games on the road, while drawing 2 games and winning just the one.

Relegation favourites at 19th place, Wolves are coming off a 4-3 lossaway at Man City, while Liverpool, currently in 13th place on the points table, drew 2-2 with Everton at Anfield, in match week 23.

On current form, Liverpool should be happy if they could bank a point from the game.

Wolves’ starting eleven against Man City had the following men: Hennessey, Zubar, Stearman, Berra, Ward, Hunt, Milijas, Jones, Jarvis, Doyle and Fletcher. Mujangi Bia, Mouyokolo and Henry were the substitutes used.

Liverpool had the following men in their starting eleven against Everton: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Meireles, Spearing, Lucas, Kuyt, Torres and Maxi. Shelvey and Kyrgiakos featured as substitutes.

It’s match time at the Emirates as Liverpool gets set to take on Arsenal on Saturday, August 20, in what promises to be an intriguing match between two teams in transition.

While Liverpool will hope to continue on the upswing that began when Dalglish took the reins from Hodgson last season, Arsenal will hope to learn to cope with life after Fabregas and Nasri.

The last time these two teams met was in April, at the Emirates, a match that extended to 12 minutes of injury time. Van Persie scored off a 98th minute penalty and three points from the game would have kept Arsneal’s title dreams alive. As it transpired, Liverpool had a 102nd minute equaliser, also a penalty, taken by Kuyt. The draw meant a virtual end to the Gunners’ hopes of lifting the Premier League trophy, their last title that they won back in 2005.

Arsene Wenger would have hoped for a good beginning to the current campaign, away at St James Park, on August 13, to boost his men’s morale. The match was a case of possession without scoring for Arsenal who had the ball for 60% of the time. But the game will be best remembered for an ugly spat between Barton and Gervinho that saw Gervinho sent off with a red card.

Eomrvinho went down in the Newcastle area, and though referee Walton chose to ignore the incident, Joey Barton deciced to punish the Arsenal opener for what the Newcastle player considered as a blatant attempt to cheat. Barton grabbed Gervinho’s collar, and the Arsenal debutant responded by slapping the Newcastle man.

As for the match itself, Arsenal had several scoring chances but these came for mistakes by Newcastle rather than any creativity from Arsenal. Kieran Gibbs appeared not to have recovered from a thigh injury he sustained a week before; Arshavin had a few patches of brilliance, and Van Persie appeared rusty from lack of match play.

In Liverpool’s opening match against Sunderland, on Saturday, Suarez showed why he could prove to be the winning edge for Liverpool this season. The Uruguayan, fresh from his winning exploits in the Copa America missed a penalty but within minutes made up for it with a brilliant goal that put the Merseysiders ahead, on 12 minutes. Suarez glanced home a brilliantly delivered free kick from Adams. Sunderland got an equaliser on 57 minutes when a volley from Larsson beat keeper Reina. But in the end it was a disappointing result for Liverpool who showed aggressive intent from the starting whistle. Liverpool were distinctly unlucky that Kieran Richardson who tripped suarez in the area was not sent off in the early minutes of the game; a 10-man Sunderland would have struggled, especially in a first half that saw Liverpool on the attack.

But if the Reds had raised hopes with a brilliant attacking display in the first half, they let down their supporters in the second, as they allowed Sunderland to mount their fight-back. That said, the Merseysiders had many positives in the game, not least the dominating presence of Suarez, supported brilliantly by midfielder Adams, and a show of great energy by Downing.

Here’s all the latest gossip and news about the Premier League, ahead of the new season due to begin on August 13:

Arsenal: Arsenal midfielder Mark Randall has joined Chesterfield on a one-year contract that will expire in June 2012. Randall, an Arsenal academy product, who has played in recent years on loan to clubs such as Burnley, MK Dons and Rotherham.

Aston Villa: Ashley Young has been signed by Manchester United, who acquired the Villa winger on a five-year contract, for a reported sum of 17 million pounds.

Blackburn: Striker Benjani is expected to stay on with the club after being given a new deal.

Bolton: The Wanderers are due to lose defender Gary Cahill, who could join Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City once his contract expires, this summer.

Chelsea: Villas-Boas has taken over as the new Chelsea boss after the exit of Carlo Ancelotti. Thirty-three year old Villas-Boas who managed Portuguese club Porto, last summer, won four trophies in his debut managerial season. Chelsea paid 13.3 million pounds to secure his release from Porto.

Everton: Defender captain Phil Neville is unlikely to retire for two more years, taking the advice of Toffees boss David Moyes who talked Neville out of contemplating retirement after he picked up a foot injury last season.

Fulham: Dutchman Martin Jol has taken over as Fulham’s manager following Mark Hughes’ resignation. The 55-year old Jol is no stranger to Fulham, a team he managed between 2004 and 2007, when he let them to successive fifth place finishes in the Premiership.

Liverpool: Manager Kenny Dalglish is not happy about the start date of the new Premiership season. The new season is due to begin on August 13, within 72 hours of the completion of a round of friendly internationals, in which several league players are likely to be involved. The start date would leave players with little time to travel back to play in the league, according to Dalglish.

Manchester City: City defender Shaleum Logan has been signed to play for Brentford. Logan featured in three matches for City, last season after having spent the previous season on loan at Tranmere.

Newcastle: Scottish Premier League club Celtic were rebuffed after their 1.5 million pound deal for Fraser Foster was rejected by Newcastle. Foster played for the Scottish club on loan last season.

Norwich City: Manchester United defender Ritchie de Laet will spend the next year on loan with Norwich.

QPR: Keeper Radek Cerny is due to stay on with the newcomers to the Premiership after signing a one-year extension contract.

Stoke: Manager Tony Pulis expects an expensive summer with transfer fees likely to go up, across the League.

Sunderland: Birmingham winger Sebastian Larsson and Coventry keeper Keiren Westwood are set to join Steve Bruce’s squad on July 1.

Swansea City: Swansea are set to lose goalkeeper de Vries to Wolverhampton Wanderers, on a free transfer.

Tottenham: Spurs have lost in their bid for a judicial review of the Olympic stadium decision. Along with Lleyton Orient, Tottenham contested the decision to hand the stadium to West Ham and Newham Council, as its future occupants.

West Brom: Albion are set to lose keeper Carson who is likely to join Turkish club Busaspor.

Wigan: manager Roberto Martinez has chosen to stay on at Wigan after spurning an offer from Aston Villa.

Wolves: Tottenham’s O’Hara has signed a 5-year contract with Wolves, who reportedly paid a transfer fee of 5 million pounds for the mid-fielder.

English Premier Football League Game week 22 Match Preview – Part 2

Chelsea vs. Stoke

With Chelsea just managing to beat Southend in the cup, they will be looking for all three points in their home game. Chelsea should start with Anelka and should win the game quite easily. Even though Liverpool made hard work of their match the previous weekend against Stoke, Chelsea should be able to overpower this newly promoted side. Despite having only won only 2 of the last 6 games, Chelsea at home with the in form Anelka bagging a few goals in the last few games are getting their act together as the premier league enters in to the final half of the season,

Stoke having gained a point from their travels to Anfield will be buoyed when travelling to Stamford bridge. With Stoke losing 3 and drawing 3 in the last 6 games, you can be certain that stoke will not will the game at Stamford bridge.

Game Prediction: Chelsea Win 1:0

Man City v Wigan

With Kaka taking all the headlines in the big money transfer gossip of the century, and only having 1 win in the last 6 games, it amazes me that Mark Hughes is still in the job to spend the billions that are available. Craig Bellamy and Santa Cruz are also on the City shopping list this January transfer market so we may well see 3 new faces at Man city February. Although it seems to me that kaka will not be moving to a Mickey Mouse team even for a 1 million us dollars a week.

It looks like Wigan are set to lose Palicious to Spurs for 14 million sometime over the next few weeks. Having won 4 games in the last 6, Wigan are in good form are will be looking to pile even more pressure on Mark Hughes by winning this game.

Game Prediction: Wigan Win 2:1

It’s super match time at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea raring to host Man United in match week 18, on Sunday, December 19.

Chelsea lost 3-1 in the traditional season opener when they met the Red Devils in the Community shield final at Wembley on August 8. On the back of that result, there was much speculation about how the league season would unfold.

Before that game, United were talked about as a team over-reliant on Wayne Rooney who hadn’t scored a goal since March. Additionally, Rooney’s poor form at the World Cup in South Africa did not augur well for Sir Alex’s charges.

Berbatov and Nani had proved inadequate replacements for the departing Ronaldo and Tevez, in the 2009-10 season, when the Old Trafford squad had fallen a point short of the title, riding on Rooney’s prolific form during the season.

United’s win in the Community Shield final was fuelled by second half substitutes Berbatov and Nani combining brilliantly up front, and was augmented by new signings in Valencia and Hernandez, and an ageing Scholes, who belied his years with some spectacular passing.

Van der Sar was safe as ever between the posts; Vidic and Evans were solid in defence. Rooney who only played in the first half was quiet, apart from a brilliant squared pass to Valencia off an aerial ball from Scholes, that set up Valencia’s goal. Carrick kept it simply with short effective passes, while Park and Owen had quiet games without much energy on display.

While Hernandez’s goal-scoring ability was highlighted, when he netted United’s second of the match, it was Valencia who was outstanding on the day with his runs down the right flank. Cole was simply unable to handle the Ecuadorian’s pace and guile.

In Cech’s absence, Hilario did duty between the posts, for Chelsea. He was let down by the back four with Terry appearing not to have shaken of the ghosts of the World Cup. Though Ivanovic and Ferreira were efficient without being brilliant, they were exposed to dangerous crosses following Cole’s inability to close the spaces on Chelsea’s left flank.

Lampard, in deep midfield, like Terry, appeared to be still in the throes of his World Cup hangover, while Mikel who partnered him did not do enough to close down the space in the rivals’ midfield.

Kalou was the lone bright spot with brilliant runs and dribbles but suffered for lack of support from his attacking partners. Anelka appeared unconnected and did not pose any threat to the United goal. Malouda showed glimpses of his potential but like Kalou sought support that he did not get.

Drogba fresh from his surgery that kept him out of much of the World Cup was a shadow of his self as he came on as a second-half substitute, while Sturridge and Benayoun did not have sufficient scope to display their prowess, in brief second-half cameos.

Much proverbial water has flowed under the Premier League bridge since the Wembley game that broke a run of three successive defeats for the Red Devils against the Blues.

Chelsea began their season brilliantly with back to back 6-0 wins, albeit against much weaker opponents in West Brom and Wigan. they followed that up with wins over Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool, and after five match weeks appeared to be running away with the league title, even as arch-rivals Man United recorded a couple of away draws against Fulham and Everton, sandwiched by home wins against Newcastle, West Ham and Liverpool, in their first five games.

Away losses to Man City and Aston Villa on either side of a home win against Arsenal, reduced Blues’ momentum somewhat, but they stayed at the top of the table, even as Bolton, Sunderland and West Brom snatched a point each from the Red Devils in their next three games.

The Old Trafford squad began to regain their stride with back to back wins in their ninth and tenth games against Wolves and Blackburn; United won their ninth and tenth against Stoke and Tottenham to keep the Old Trafford hat in the ring.

The next games took the steam out of Chelsea’s campaign, with three losses to Liverpool, Sunderland and Birmingham, and two draws to Newcastle and Everton. With just the solitary win in this span, against Fulham, Ancelotti’s squad were suddenly third in the points table after heading it for 15 weeks.

Meanwhile, Manchester United recorded wins against Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn, alongside draws against Man City and Aston Villa in their games from 11 to 15. With match 16 against Blackpool called off owing to inclement weather, United are sitting pretty, just a point behind new table toppers Arsenal.

A look at the last nine league games between Chelsea and United makes interesting reading. Chelsea have enjoyed an overwhleming dominance over the Red Devils during this span, with five wins and just the solitary loss.

chelsea’s home record this season has been excellent, winning six of eight games hosted, while losing just the one and drawing the remaining one.

United’s away record has not been very good in terms of matches won; on the road, Sir Alex’s squad have won just a single game, while drawing six.

Both sides should go with a full-strength eleven on December 19. Chelsea will welcome Lampard’s return to the fray, and that should give the Blues the stability they currently lack in midfield.

Chelsea’s probable starting eleven: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Kalou, Drogba and Anelka.

Man United’s probable starting eleven: Van der Sar, Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Berbatov and Rooney