EPL Results – Chelsea beat Reading, Man Utd held by Portsmouth. Review of all Mid-Week Matches

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Portsmouth 1 - Manchester United 1
Cristiano Ronaldo and new Portsmouth signing Sulley Muntari saw red as Manchester United were held to another battling draw by Portsmouth.

The champions took the lead via a Payl Scholes goal assisted by United debutant Carlos Tevez. Portsmouth leveled in the 53rd minute through Mwaruwari Benjani.

The Manchester derby is up next for United while Portsmouth face Bolton at home.

Reading 1 - Chelsea 2
Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba ensured Chelsea didn’t drop any points at Reading. Both scored shortly after half-time to complete a fine comeback win. Earlier in the match, Andre Bikey capitalized on a mistake by Petr Cech to give Reading the lead.

Chelsea travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday while Reading play host to Everton.

Man City 1 - Derby County 0
Manchester City continued their perfect start to the season with a 1-0 victory over newly promoted Derby County at the City of Manchester Stadium.

19-year-old Michael Johnson scored a classy goal which was also his first professional goal.

Derby travel to Tottenham this weekend while City play hosts to Manchester United.

Birmingham 2 - Sunderland 2
The Premiership new-boys renewed their Championship rivalry after playing out an entertaining draw. Sunderland continued their late scoring antics as Stern John came off the bench to net the equalizer in the 90th minute.

Birmingham host West Ham United coming weekend while Sunderland travel to Wigan.

Fulham 2 - Bolton 1
Fulham dealt Bolton a second straight defeat after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

Ex-Fulham striker Heidar Helguson put Bolton in the front after a mistake by Fulham goalie Tony Warner. David Healy equalized for Fulham and Ex-Chelsea midfielder Alexi Smertin netted the winner.

Fulham play hosts to Middlesbrough this weekend while Bolton travel to Portsmouth.

Wigan 1 - Middlesbrough 0
On a night studded with goalkeeping errors, the costliest one came JJB Stadium when Mark Schwarzer's spill gifted Wigan a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.

Schwarzer could not hold Antonio Valencia's 55th-minute shot and Antoine Sibierski pounced to bundle the ball home for his second goal in as many matches.

Season Preview - Portsmouth

Last season: 9th, 54 points; FA Cup fourth round; Carling Cup third round

Transfers:

In: David Nugent (Preston £6m); Sulley Muntari (Udinese, £7m); John Utaka (Rennes, £7m); Arnold Mvuemba (Rennes, undisc); Sylvain Distin (Manchester City, free); Hermann Hreidarsson (Charlton, free); Martin Cranie (Southampton, free)

Out: Svetoslav Todorov (Charlton, free); Andy Griffin (Derby, free)

Official Website: http://www.pompeyfc.co.uk/

Official Kit: To be updated soon.

Portsmouth finished last season in their highest placing for half a century though their main problem last year was the inability to win away from Fratton Park. They recorded just 3 road wins in 2006-2007, along with 7 draws and 9 losses.

This time around they have spent a lot of money. They won the race to sign David Nugent Preston North End, they’ve got in midfielders Sulley Muntari and Arnold Mvuemba and a highly capable defender in Sylvain Distin.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

Portsmouth start of the season with the most ridiculously difficult stretch of games compared to any team in the Premiership. After opening the year at newly promoted Derby County, it's home against Manchester United and Bolton, away to Chelsea and Arsenal, back home against Liverpool, at Blackburn, and then home against Reading. Quite Insane!

Obviously after seeing all of the tough teams the first time around at the beginning of the year means Portsmouth will only see teams they should beat for the rest of the first half. Another tough run of games in December (Everton at home, Aston Villa away, Tottenham home, Liverpool away, and then Arsenal home) will be tricky as well. However by my estimation, the season ends with 13 winnable games in a row, the toughest of which is at Tottenham.

EPL08.com prediction:
League Position - 12
Pompey owner Alexandre Gaydamak handed Harry Redknap a 25-million-pound transfer kitty and Harry's made quite a few signings. Portsmouth might lack the big names but have one of the most balanced squads this time around. Expect them to surprise a few teams but they've got the cruelest of schedules to start off with. They might still manage a top 10 finish.

EPL08.com - Predictions for the 2007-08 Season

Here's how we feel the tables going to look like at the end of the season:

1. Chelsea
Though there's more pressure on Mourinho to win the Champions League, I feel Chelsea will have to wait for yet another season to lay their hands on the elusive European title. The league will be a consolation of sorts, but something Chelsea should be able to get back from United.

2. Manchester United
Though they have loaded their team up with a lot of stars, I expect Manchester United to slip up in the league and shine in Europe this season. A Champions League final vs Barcelona at Moscow would be a classique!

3. Liverpool
With the massive amount of money which Liverpool have splurged this year - a non-top three finish might see heads roll at Anfield. In fact supporters feel that this is the season where they can actually end their 17 year title drought.

4. Arsenal
Theres not much pressure at the Emirates Stadium this year. Arsene Wenger is building for the future. No one expects miracles this year and this might play to their favour. We might get to see some exciting free flowing football from the young gunners this season.

5. Tottenham
The Spurs have an attacking line-up which could match that of Manchester United. Berbatov, Defoe and Keane - each had in excess of 10 goals last season and the addition of ₤ 16.5 million Darren Bent just adds to their attacking riches. But again, there's going to be lot of expectations at White Hart Lane - especially because of the amount of money spent in the summer.

6. Newcastle
Under-achievers for ages - this is finally going to be a season in which the Magpies will redeem themselves to a certain extent. Mainly because of the genius of Sam Allardyce. They'll need their strike force to remain injury-free too.

7. Everton
Andrew Johnson needs to start slotting in a lot more goals if Everton are to finish anything higher than 6th position. They might a fancy a decent run in the UEFA cup this time around and also expect them to reach the latter stages of one of the domestic cups.

8. Aston Villa
Martin O'Neill has been a winner for too long to accept another season treading water at Villa Park. A lot of names have left Villa this season but they've got in a couple of good players too. I definitely expect them to push for UEFA cup. Watch out for Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young this season.

9. Manchester City
A top 10 finish might be on the cards. Sven-Goran Erikkson has pretty much bought a truck load of players and that too not for cheap. I bet he's not even see half of them play! Language is going to be a serious problem at City this season, but I still have a feeling that Erikkson might be able to prove his managerial acumen and pull off a top 10 finish.

10. West Ham United
There's absolutely no chance that the Hammers are going to get caught in a relegation battle again. They've acquired some real good players - Ljungberg, Bellamy and Parker and coupled with Alan Curbishley's massive experience, I expect the Hammers to squeeze into the top half.

11. Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn has hardly seen any transfer activity this season with the only major signing being that of Roque Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich. But Blackburn have a pretty strong squad - able mid-fielders and plenty of striking options.

12. Portsmouth
Pompey owner Alexandre Gaydamak handed Harry Redknap a 25-million-pound transfer kitty and Harry's made quite a few signings. Portsmouth might lack the big names but have one of the most balanced squads this time around. Expect them to surprise a few teams but they've got the cruelest of schedules to start off with. After opening the year at newly promoted Derby County, it's home against Manchester United and Bolton, away to Chelsea and Arsenal, back home against Liverpool, at Blackburn, and then home against Reading.

13. Bolton
After four consecutive top 8 finishes under manager Sam Allardyce - the Trotters are going to find the going pretty tough this time around. A lot will depend upon Anelka - who might still leave before the transfer window shuts and even El-Hadji Diouf is keen on a move to Lyon. Kevin Nolan needs to stand up and deliver though I feel a player like him deserves to play in a top 4 squad.

14. Reading
Their fairytale premiership debut - in which they finished 8th - is definitely not going to witness a repeat. Reading over achieved last season and they have also lost arguably their best player in Steve Sidwell, who left for the greener pastures of Stamford Bridge.

15. Middlesbrough
Last seasons 12th to 16th places were separated by only 7 points and it's pretty much going to be the same this year. Not much separating teams at these spots. Gareth Southgate isn't going to find it easy this season either. A cannot see a repeat of a UEFA Cup final appearance in the near future. Yakubu really needs to put on his striking boots.

16. Fulham
Fulham were lucky to survive last season, mainly courtesy of a win against a pretty depleted Liverpool side. New manager Lawrie Sanchez has brought in a host of Northern Ireland players. I expect the Cottagers to struggle this season too - thought Sanchez might be able to survive the drop.

17. Birmingham
Many expect Birmingham to go straight back to the Championship, but I feel that the team has enough quality to avoid relegation. They've got in Liam Ridgewell and Franck Quedrue to bolster the back. The striking options are a little weak, Cameron Jerome and Mikael Forssell have to really perform if Birmingham are to stay up.

18. Sunderland
It's going to be real close dog-fight and the fiery Roy Keane might not be able to retain his cool at the end of it. Keane did wonders in his first year at Sunderland, but even he'll known that the going is pretty different in one of the best top division leagues in the world. We'll keep a special watch on the Desi flavour ala Michael Chopra.

19. Wigan Athletic
Without Paul Jewell in charge, Wigan don't look to have much chance of staying up. Season before last, Wigan surprised a lot of teams by finishing in the top half. Last year they barely managed to avoid relegation by beating Sheffield United on the last day of the season. Things are not going to be rosy for new manager Chris Hutchings.

20. Derby County
In 12 months, Derby County went from third last in the Championship to promotion to the Premiership. The roller-coaster ride should be complete in another 12 months when the Rams find themselves back in the Championship.


Those are my predictions for the coming season and I'd love to hear yours. Been really busy with other work, so haven't been able to put up a team by team season preview yet. Expect
some of it to be up real soon.

Cheers and be sure to stay with us for the entire season.

Review: Latest EPL Pre-Season Friendlies. Arsenal win another tournament.

Ajax 0 - Arsenal 1
In a highly physical and bad-tempered affair, Arsenal came through to record a victory by a solitary goal scored by Robin van Persie – who was then stretchered off.

This was Arsenal’s second Pre-Season tournament victory, after winning the Emirates tournament last week. link

Aston Villa 3 - Inter Milan 0
Aston Villa warmed up for the new Premier League season with a commanding 3-0 win over Italian champions Inter Milan at Villa Park. Villa captain Gareth Barry scored two and set up the third as the Italians crashed to a defeat just a few days after they defeated Man United.

Peterborough 1 - Man Utd 3
Owen Hargreaves finally made his Manchester United debut as the Premier League champions enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 win over Peterborough.

Goals for United scored by Adam Eckersley, Richie Jones and Fangzhuo Dong.

Note: This game was played on Saturday. Before Manchester United’s triumph in the FA Community Shield.

By the way, Peterborough were managed by Sir Alex Feguson’s son – Darren.

Tottenham 2 - Torino 0
Tottenham manager Martin Jol opted for the strike duo of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov up front and was rewarded with a goal from each in a 2-0 win over Torino.

Man City 0 - Valencia 1
With five new signings in their starting line-up, Manchester City lost to Valencia. There’s plenty of work for Sven-Goran Eriksson to do before the Premier League opener at West Ham next week.

Sunderland 1 - Juventus 1
Sunderland warmed up for their season opener against Tottenham next week with an entertaining 1-1 draw with Juventus.

Colchester 1 - Bolton 2
Ricardo Vaz Te and Gary Speed were both on target as Bolton recorded a 2-1 win at Championship club Colchester.

Middlesbrough 2 - AZ Alkmaar 0
First-half goals from Stewart Downing and Yakubu gave Middlesbrough a 2-0 win over AZ Alkmaar.

Crystal Palace 0 - Everton 0
Everton were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in their final pre-season friendly.

Leeds 1 - Wigan Athletic 2
Jason Koumas scored both goals as Wigan beat crisis club Leeds 2-1 in a pre-season friendly at Elland Road.

Leicester 1 - Portsmouth 3
Portsmouth's new recruit David Nugent was on target as they came from behind to beat Leicester 3-1 in a pre-season friendly at the Walkers Stadium.

Wolves 2 - Reading 3
Reading warmed up for the start of the season with a 3-2 victory against Wolves at Molineux.

Preston 0 - Blackburn 3
Blackburn showed their Premier League class to comfortably see off Lancashire rivals Preston 3-0 at Deepdale.

Derby 2 - Espanyol 2
Steve Howard produced a late equaliser as Derby ended their pre-season preparations with a lively 2-2 draw against UEFA Cup finalists Espanyol.

West Ham 2 - Roma 1
Long-term injury absentee Dean Ashton was back on the scoresheet for West Ham as they came from behind to beat Roma 2-1 at Upton Park.

Via: Sporting Life

Portsmouth beat Liverpool. Lift Barclays Asia Trophy

Portsmouth beat fellow English team Liverpool 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out Friday to win the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong.

A goalless yet entertaining game could not be settled in 90 minutes and went straight to penalties without any extra time being played.

Portsmouth's John Utaka missed the first shot at goal. This was followed by Matthew Taylor, Lomana Lua Lua and Hermann Hreidarsson scoring before Nico Kranjcar scored the deciding shot.

Liverpool got its penalties from Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuijt while recently signed Fernando Torres (who made his much awaited debut) and Yossi Benayoun missed their shots.

Portsmouth goalkeeper David James was awarded the Man of the Match.

In an earlier match, Fulham beat South China 4-1 to grab third place of the pre-season tournament.

Via - ESPN