Gunny's Premier League Picks August 18-19
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The second weekend of the Premier League is fast approaching after a great deal of fun the previous week. So I'll cut right to it and get to my picks.
August 18
Birmingham City v West Ham United
Birmingham drew midweek with Sunderland when former Blue Stern John netted late to share the points. West Ham got off on the wrong foot losing to Man City. Alan Curbishley the West Ham manager has completed a bit of late transfer window business by bringing in midfielder Kieron Dyer from Newcastle in a deal estimated to worth around £6m. My pick: Draw 1-1
Fulham lost 2-1 to Arsenal in the opener after playing with the lead for most of the match. Then in midweek they won 2-1 against Bolton. Even though new manager Lawrie Sanchez came off as a bit of a whiner after the Arsenal match I think he is finding the right mix for the cottagers. Boro look lost in the woods all alone in the rain. My pick: Fulham 2-0
Newcastle United v Aston Villa
Big Sam Allardyce is like a breath of fresh air for the Magpies from what I have seen. Striker Obefami Martins is in a rich vien of form early on as well. Villa have only scored from a spot kick this season and it looks like they may have trouble scoring all season, even with striker Gabriel Agbonlahor making the England U-21 squad. If Villa defender Olof Mellberg plays he will be making his 200th Premier League appearance for Villa. My pick: Newcastle 2-0
Two matches, two draws for Pompey so far but I think Harry Redknapp has this team starting to gel. Bolton has lost their first two matches. After this game Pompey travel to face chelscum and Arsenal and then host Liverpool. My pick: Portsmouth 2-1
A plucky Reading side drew with Manchester United and then got hit by the freight train that was chelscum when they made some very interesting substitutions after half time during the midweek. Everton are off to a really fast this season and are looking to extend their season starting winning streak to 3 games for only the second time in Premier League history. My pick: Draw 2-2
sp*rs v Derby County
HAHAHAHA, sp*rs bottom of the table, what a beautiful thing. I have always had a soft spot for Derby, mainly because Arsenal legend Charlie George went there after his time at Highbury. With all that I of course will throw out any sort of logistics when making this pick. My pick: Derby 101-0
Roy Keane is the real deal. He was as a player and he is proving it as a manager. Wigan did win in the midweek but it was only against Boro, who I think are a relegation candidate this season. My pick: Sunderland 2-1
August 19
Both teams have won all their matches so far this season. Blackburn beat Boro in the league, have won three in Intertoto and UEFA Cup qualifying. Arsenal pulled out a late winner against Fulham and handily defeated Sparta Prague 2-0 in the Czech city. In both Arsenal games Alexander Hleb has scored in the 90th minute, a trend I would love to see continue. Ewood Park is always a challenge for the Gunners so this should be a tough match. My pick: Arsenal 2-1
Liverpool v chelscum
Hopefully the Kop will be in full voice as the Russians come to Merseyside. Jose Mourihno made some dramatic substitutions against Reading midweek after half time. Being down 1-0 The Chosen One switched his side to a 3-4-3 formation and to be honest they looked unstoppable. My pick: Draw 1-1
Manchester City v Manchester United
The first installment of the Manchester derby will be played at The City of Manchester Stadium. New City Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has the blue half of Manchester singing loudly as they sit 4 points ahead of the red half. United have scoring woes as Wayne Rooney is injured and Cristiano Ronaldo is ruled out after being red carded during the match against Portsmouth. Carlos Tevez will play a huge role if United are going to get the points in this one. My pick: City 2-1
