UEFA have drastically updated their MatchCentre to display the matches far more sensibly. I won't go into the changes, but let's just say it is much simpler to use and has much less scrolling! It also now displays team statistics, including results and averages of previous games between the two sides.
My complaints would be first that it is still not updated very well as the match goes on. It can take some time to get the 'live' results appearing, and corrections often have to be made so you can't trust what it says. [Portugal's own goal was originally credited to one of the Danish players]
Secondly, in the statistics section there are red (home) and blue (away) bars to show how many goals, cards, shots etc. each team has had. But while some of these are positive, others are negative. It can therefore be hard to see which team is dominating a game – if a team has a good number of shots but a low number of cards, it looks like an even game, but a good number of shots and high number of cards looks like a dominated game.
Most Unexpected Result: Armenia 3 – 1 Slovakia. Surprising because Armenia are 89 points lower in rank than Slovakia, who were in the World Cup!
Most Expected Result: Hungary 8 – 0 San Marino. Because San Marino are... one of the worst international football teams in the world.
Most Embarrassing Result: Serbia 1 – 3 Estonia. Serbia helped Estonia to their victory with an own goal in extra time at the end of the second half. This was the first of two own goals scored today.
Most Promising Result: Northern Ireland 0 – 0 Italy. Holding Italy to a scoreless draw is fantastic for any team. Northern Ireland would have no shame in losing to Italy, but drawing shows that their victory against Slovenia was not a fluke result. More importantly, Northern Ireland are the only team in the British Isles who didn't lose tonight! (England weren't playing; Ireland lost to Russia; Wales lost to Bulgaria; Scotland lost to the Czech Republic)
Most Unusual Result: Portugal 3 – 1 Denmark. Why Unusual? Portugal scored all the goals! At least they managed to win despite this.
Cleanest Game: Spain 3 – 1 Lithuania; Moldova 0 – 1 Netherlands; Northern Ireland 0 – 0 Italy. No cards of any kind. Spain continue the way they were going in the World Cup before the final (they were the only team to get no cards in the group stages). However, it's a very clean game for the Dutch. And Northern Ireland earn more kudos for not getting any cards against Italy, who have been known in the past to dive.
Dirtiest Game: Wales 0 – 1 Bulgaria. In this awful game one Welsh player – defender Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest) – got a straight red card. His teammate Sam Ricketts (Bolton) got a yellow, as did four Bulgarian players including another Bolton player.
08/10/2010
Formula 1 Race Sixteen: Preview
In Practice One MacLaren had a bad time, with Lewis Hamilton crashing out half-way through after clipping the kerb. Jenson Button almost made the same mistake, but recovered. The fastest drivers were (unsurprisingly) the Red Bulls with less than 5 hundredths of a second between them, and then Kubica, Sutil and Hamilton – who had set a fast time before his crash.
Practice Two had equally good results for Webber, Vettel and Kubica, with Alonso and Massa fourth and fifth fastest. After a very long wait while his car was fixed, Hamilton managed to get a few laps in but no fast times. Schumacher managed a faster time than his teammate for a change, and Petrov and Sutil also set good times. Right at the end of the session, Rubens Barrichello had an engine problem, but if he needs a change it's okay as he's only used six engines so far this season.
So it looks good for Red Bull here, and Webber could extend his lead over Alonso if things go well in qualifying and the race. Renault and Ferrari should get a good amount of points, and if MacLaren can get their act together after a bad Friday then they might also do reasonably well. I think Sutil for Force India should get a couple of points too. The Williams of Barrichello and Hulkenberg seem to be struggling.
Weather-wise, it looks to be soaking wet tomorrow for Practice Three and Qualifying, which means the grid could be completely mixed up. It will probably be dry on Sunday.
On Karun Chandhok watch: he's at home in England as he informed the BBC commentary boys by text during practice two! So no race and no commentating for him, and it looks like no racing for the rest of the season with Hispania, who will be racing Senna and Yamamoto for the rest of the season.
Practice Two had equally good results for Webber, Vettel and Kubica, with Alonso and Massa fourth and fifth fastest. After a very long wait while his car was fixed, Hamilton managed to get a few laps in but no fast times. Schumacher managed a faster time than his teammate for a change, and Petrov and Sutil also set good times. Right at the end of the session, Rubens Barrichello had an engine problem, but if he needs a change it's okay as he's only used six engines so far this season.
So it looks good for Red Bull here, and Webber could extend his lead over Alonso if things go well in qualifying and the race. Renault and Ferrari should get a good amount of points, and if MacLaren can get their act together after a bad Friday then they might also do reasonably well. I think Sutil for Force India should get a couple of points too. The Williams of Barrichello and Hulkenberg seem to be struggling.
Weather-wise, it looks to be soaking wet tomorrow for Practice Three and Qualifying, which means the grid could be completely mixed up. It will probably be dry on Sunday.
On Karun Chandhok watch: he's at home in England as he informed the BBC commentary boys by text during practice two! So no race and no commentating for him, and it looks like no racing for the rest of the season with Hispania, who will be racing Senna and Yamamoto for the rest of the season.
07/10/2010
Euro 2012 Qualification: 8/10/2010-12/10/2010 part 2
Here are the predictions and matches for groups F to I.
Group F
This has been one of the more interesting groups, with Georgia forcing unexpected draws. It also features Greece, who are always unpredictable, and Israel, who aren't in UEFA. With Malta, this is probably the most Mediterranean of the 9 groups.
8-9/10/10
Georgia (89) play Malta (150) and Greece (12) play Latvia (68) on the Friday, but for religious reasons Israel (36) play Croatia (11) on the Saturday. Georgia and Greece should win, but Israel-Croatia is worth paying attention to.
12/10/10
Latvia (68) play Georgia (89), and Greece (12) play Israel (36). With their recent performance Georgia could win, and Israel may hold Greece to a draw. Malta and Croatia play on November 17.
Group G
My favourite group, because it features my country England! It also includes Wales, Bulgaria – whose coach has resigned after they lost to Montenegro – and Switzerland. With their good wins in September, I expect England to easily win this group.
8/10/10 [England not playing]
Wales (84) play Bulgaria (54) and Montenegro (41) play Switzerland (21). Both games could go any way, although – and I hate to say this – Wales will probably lose.
12/10/10 [Bulgaria not playing]
Switzerland (21) play Wales (84) and England (6) play Montenegro (41). Switzerland and England are my predictions to win.
Group H
Iceland have done poorly in their games and are by far the worst team in the group, but Cyprus held Portugal to a 4-4 draw that makes things interesting. Denmark and Norway are the two Scandinavian teams. This is very much a Western Europe group.
8/10/10 [Iceland not playing]
Cyprus (43) play Norway (14), and Portugal (8) play Denmark (29). I honestly cannot say who will win, although I expect Portugal win if they can get over their draw.
12/10/10 [Norway not playing]
Denmark (29) play Cyprus (43), and Iceland (100) play Portugal (8). Cyprus might be able to beat Denmark, or it could go the other way. However, Portugal have a chance of an easy win against Iceland.
Group I
Poor old Scotland were demoted despite some reasonable football, to become the UK's third team. And now they have Spain to contend with. But with Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic and Lithuania this should still be an interesting group for them.
8/10/10 [Liechtenstein not playing]
The Czech Republic (37) play Scotland (47) and Spain (1) play Lithuania (42). While Spain should win, Scotland have a challenge I hope they will rise to and at least draw.
12/10/10 [Lithuania not playing]
Liechtenstein (149) play the Czech Republic (37), and Scotland (47) play Spain (1). I forsee a loss for Scotland, and a victory for the Czech Republic.
Group F
This has been one of the more interesting groups, with Georgia forcing unexpected draws. It also features Greece, who are always unpredictable, and Israel, who aren't in UEFA. With Malta, this is probably the most Mediterranean of the 9 groups.
8-9/10/10
Georgia (89) play Malta (150) and Greece (12) play Latvia (68) on the Friday, but for religious reasons Israel (36) play Croatia (11) on the Saturday. Georgia and Greece should win, but Israel-Croatia is worth paying attention to.
12/10/10
Latvia (68) play Georgia (89), and Greece (12) play Israel (36). With their recent performance Georgia could win, and Israel may hold Greece to a draw. Malta and Croatia play on November 17.
Group G
My favourite group, because it features my country England! It also includes Wales, Bulgaria – whose coach has resigned after they lost to Montenegro – and Switzerland. With their good wins in September, I expect England to easily win this group.
8/10/10 [England not playing]
Wales (84) play Bulgaria (54) and Montenegro (41) play Switzerland (21). Both games could go any way, although – and I hate to say this – Wales will probably lose.
12/10/10 [Bulgaria not playing]
Switzerland (21) play Wales (84) and England (6) play Montenegro (41). Switzerland and England are my predictions to win.
Group H
Iceland have done poorly in their games and are by far the worst team in the group, but Cyprus held Portugal to a 4-4 draw that makes things interesting. Denmark and Norway are the two Scandinavian teams. This is very much a Western Europe group.
8/10/10 [Iceland not playing]
Cyprus (43) play Norway (14), and Portugal (8) play Denmark (29). I honestly cannot say who will win, although I expect Portugal win if they can get over their draw.
12/10/10 [Norway not playing]
Denmark (29) play Cyprus (43), and Iceland (100) play Portugal (8). Cyprus might be able to beat Denmark, or it could go the other way. However, Portugal have a chance of an easy win against Iceland.
Group I
Poor old Scotland were demoted despite some reasonable football, to become the UK's third team. And now they have Spain to contend with. But with Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic and Lithuania this should still be an interesting group for them.
8/10/10 [Liechtenstein not playing]
The Czech Republic (37) play Scotland (47) and Spain (1) play Lithuania (42). While Spain should win, Scotland have a challenge I hope they will rise to and at least draw.
12/10/10 [Lithuania not playing]
Liechtenstein (149) play the Czech Republic (37), and Scotland (47) play Spain (1). I forsee a loss for Scotland, and a victory for the Czech Republic.
06/10/2010
Euro 2012 Qualification: 8/10/2010-12/10/2010 part 1
This weekend there are more Euro 2012 games. Here are the match previews for groups A to E.
Group A
This is really a group of two halves: three Western Europe countries with a Christian history, very close together and sharing (in some parts) the same language; and three Euro-Asian countries of an Islamic background
8/10/2010
Kazakhstan (126) play Belgium (62), Austria (61) play Azerbaijan (102) and Germany (3) play Turkey (21). It seems obvious that Belgium, Austria and German should each win their games.
12/10/10
Azerbaijan (102) play Turkey (21), Kazakhstan (126) play Germany (3), and Belgium (62) play Austria (61). While Turkey and Germany are likely to win their games, it's too hard to predict – from the numbers – who will win out of Belgium and Austria.
Group B
This group features Andorra – on their way to 0 points since their last draw was in September 2007 (now worth a mere 2 points) – and 'geographically in Asia' Armenia, as well as World Cup team Slovakia, Ireland, Russia and Macedonia.
8/10/10
Armenia (105) play Slovakia (16), Andorra (202) play Macedonia (71), and Ireland (33) play Russia Slovakia and Macedonia are set to win, but Ireland have a chance against their opponents.
12/10/10
Armenia (105) play Andorra (202), Slovakia (16) play Ireland (33), and Macedonia (71) play Russia (25). Armenia should win their game, and Russia theirs. Ireland have a stronger opponent, but may prove a challenge.
Group C
Here we find Northern Ireland – now the UK's second-best team after Scotland's performance and beating Slovenia. We also have Italy, Serbia and Slovenia, who are ranked similarly by FIFA, and the rather poorer teams of Faroe Islands and Estonia who kicked off the Euro 2012 qualifiers.
8/10/10
Serbia (15) play Estonia (85), Northern Ireland (45) play Italy (13), and Slovenia (16) play the Faroe Islands (138). Serbia, Italy and Slovenia should each win, since Italy have picked themselves up after the World Cup.
12/10/10
Faroe Islands (138) play Northern Ireland (45), Estonia (85) play Slovenia (16) and Italy (13) play Serbia (15). So while it's wins likely for Northern Ireland and Slovenia, Italy have a challenge on their hands.
Group D
A low-morale France are here, but none of the other teams played in the World Cup. Still, after France's last two matches they will struggle.
8-9/10/10
Luxembourg (130) play Belarus (55) and Albania (67) play Bosnia and Herzegovina (59) on the Friday, then France (27) play Romania (46) on the Saturday. While Belarus have an easy win to claim, the Albania-B&H match should be a challenge. Meanwhile, France may well struggle against Romania.
12/10/10
Belarus (55) play Albania (67) and France (27) play Luxembourg (130). It will be disappointing if France fail to win, and the other match will be tricky for either team to win. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania are not playing.
Group E
San Marino haven't won any points in a game since they beat Liechtenstein 1-0 in 2004! This group also features a competitive Northern European group of Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands (who came second in the World Cup).
8/10/10
Hungary (51) play San Marino (203), and Moldova (80) play the Netherlands (2). There's no game for Sweden and Finland. So two simple wins for Hungary and the Netherlands.
12/10/10
Finland (64) play Hungary (51), Netherlands (2) play Sweden (32), and San Marino (203) play Moldova (80). I'd expect Netherlands and Moldova to win, but Finland and Hungary have a struggle on their hands.
Group A
This is really a group of two halves: three Western Europe countries with a Christian history, very close together and sharing (in some parts) the same language; and three Euro-Asian countries of an Islamic background
8/10/2010
Kazakhstan (126) play Belgium (62), Austria (61) play Azerbaijan (102) and Germany (3) play Turkey (21). It seems obvious that Belgium, Austria and German should each win their games.
12/10/10
Azerbaijan (102) play Turkey (21), Kazakhstan (126) play Germany (3), and Belgium (62) play Austria (61). While Turkey and Germany are likely to win their games, it's too hard to predict – from the numbers – who will win out of Belgium and Austria.
Group B
This group features Andorra – on their way to 0 points since their last draw was in September 2007 (now worth a mere 2 points) – and 'geographically in Asia' Armenia, as well as World Cup team Slovakia, Ireland, Russia and Macedonia.
8/10/10
Armenia (105) play Slovakia (16), Andorra (202) play Macedonia (71), and Ireland (33) play Russia Slovakia and Macedonia are set to win, but Ireland have a chance against their opponents.
12/10/10
Armenia (105) play Andorra (202), Slovakia (16) play Ireland (33), and Macedonia (71) play Russia (25). Armenia should win their game, and Russia theirs. Ireland have a stronger opponent, but may prove a challenge.
Group C
Here we find Northern Ireland – now the UK's second-best team after Scotland's performance and beating Slovenia. We also have Italy, Serbia and Slovenia, who are ranked similarly by FIFA, and the rather poorer teams of Faroe Islands and Estonia who kicked off the Euro 2012 qualifiers.
8/10/10
Serbia (15) play Estonia (85), Northern Ireland (45) play Italy (13), and Slovenia (16) play the Faroe Islands (138). Serbia, Italy and Slovenia should each win, since Italy have picked themselves up after the World Cup.
12/10/10
Faroe Islands (138) play Northern Ireland (45), Estonia (85) play Slovenia (16) and Italy (13) play Serbia (15). So while it's wins likely for Northern Ireland and Slovenia, Italy have a challenge on their hands.
Group D
A low-morale France are here, but none of the other teams played in the World Cup. Still, after France's last two matches they will struggle.
8-9/10/10
Luxembourg (130) play Belarus (55) and Albania (67) play Bosnia and Herzegovina (59) on the Friday, then France (27) play Romania (46) on the Saturday. While Belarus have an easy win to claim, the Albania-B&H match should be a challenge. Meanwhile, France may well struggle against Romania.
12/10/10
Belarus (55) play Albania (67) and France (27) play Luxembourg (130). It will be disappointing if France fail to win, and the other match will be tricky for either team to win. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania are not playing.
Group E
San Marino haven't won any points in a game since they beat Liechtenstein 1-0 in 2004! This group also features a competitive Northern European group of Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands (who came second in the World Cup).
8/10/10
Hungary (51) play San Marino (203), and Moldova (80) play the Netherlands (2). There's no game for Sweden and Finland. So two simple wins for Hungary and the Netherlands.
12/10/10
Finland (64) play Hungary (51), Netherlands (2) play Sweden (32), and San Marino (203) play Moldova (80). I'd expect Netherlands and Moldova to win, but Finland and Hungary have a struggle on their hands.
03/10/2010
Mark Lawrenson Predictions: Episode 7
Depression for Liverpool
Predictions here
There were no Monday matches this week, but I'm still late - sorry!
Correct predictions are in bold.
Mark's winner prediction success: 6/10 (over all seven weeks: 49.9%)
Mark's score prediction success: 3/10 (over all seven weeks: 15.7%)
This is ML's best week yet, with the most correct scores that he's ever had. Unfortunately, however, this hasn't helped Liverpool, who are down at the bottom of the league. They have 31 more games to get themselves back in shape. Also, Fulham and Man Utd are the only teams to have not lost a game this season.
Next weekend: Euro 2012 qualifiers are on Friday/Saturday and Tuesday. Previews and after-match posts to come. Also, it's the Japanese Grand Prix for Formula 1, also known as stupidly early racing (that I might get up for).
Predictions here
There were no Monday matches this week, but I'm still late - sorry!
Correct predictions are in bold.
| Home Team | Away Team | Predicted winner | Predicted score | Actual winner | Actual score |
| Birmingam | Everton | Everton | 0-2 | Everton | 0-2 |
| Stoke | Blackburn | Draw | 1-1 | Stoke | 1-0 |
| Sunderland | Man Utd | Man Utd | 1-2 | Draw | 0-0 |
| Tottenham | Aston Villa | Tottenham | 2-0 | Tottenham | 2-1 |
| West Brom | Bolton | Draw | 1-1 | Draw | 1-1 |
| West Ham | Fulham | West Ham | 2-1 | Draw | 1-1 |
| Wigan | Wolverhampton | Wigan | 2-0 | Wigan | 2-1 |
| Man City | Newcastle | Man City | 2-0 | Man Utd | 2-1 |
| Liverpool | Blackpool | Liverpool | 3-1 | Blackpool | 1-2 |
| Chelsea | Arsenal | Chelsea | 2-0 | Chelsea | 2-0 |
Mark's score prediction success: 3/10 (over all seven weeks: 15.7%)
This is ML's best week yet, with the most correct scores that he's ever had. Unfortunately, however, this hasn't helped Liverpool, who are down at the bottom of the league. They have 31 more games to get themselves back in shape. Also, Fulham and Man Utd are the only teams to have not lost a game this season.
Next weekend: Euro 2012 qualifiers are on Friday/Saturday and Tuesday. Previews and after-match posts to come. Also, it's the Japanese Grand Prix for Formula 1, also known as stupidly early racing (that I might get up for).
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