Graph

[brencarr]

Week 19 – Boxing Day fixtures and the half way point

Liverpool went to second-placed Leicester and won 4-0 to tighten their grip on the title, man of the match Trent A-A scored one, got 2 KCs and kept a clean sheet in a 4-0 win. They now have a lead of 13 points and there’s no way they will be losing 4 or 5 games in the next 19 .... it’s all over bar the shouting.

It certainly is for Man City, who went to Wolves needing a win to leapfrog the Foxes into second spot. In an action-packed game - including an early red card for Ederson, Sterling missing two penalties (for the price of one) - Wolves came from 2 down to win 3-2, leaving City 14 pts behind the leaders. That win moves Wolves up to 5th spot.

Chelsea suffered a shock 0-2 defeat at home to Southampton That win moves Saints up to 14th and means that Wolves are now only 2 points behind Chelsea .... who will no doubt be looking forward to the transfer window opening next week.

At the bottom of the table, Watford drew 1-1 at Sheffield United and Norwich lost 1-0 at Villa – which means the Canaries are now bottom on 12 pts with Watford on 13 and a 5-point gap to Villa in 18th.

Ten players made it into double figures this ‘week’, with Alexander-Armstrong the top man ....

TAA 18 pts
Firmino; Martial & Milner 12 pts
And 6 players on 10 pts

.... and in the overall scores ....

Vardy 136
KDB 108
Rashford 105
Aubameyang & Mane 104

The lead of the TFF table has changed hands for the 7th week in a row, and we have a new leader. Justin Merritt led last season from weeks 5 – 9 and he’s now back on top (and also in 3rd spot).

Lead position up 30 to 1,093 pts - averaging 57.5.... Last Minute (Justin Merritt)
100th up 40 (1,001)
1k up 41 (946)
10k up 42 (877)

No more games now .... for another 12 hours! It truly is, the most wonderful time of the year

[brencarr]

Week 20 – A VAR Christmas special

A short update for this set of fixtures as they are sandwiched between Christmas and New Year.

The top four all won, Liverpool beat Wolves 1-0 at Anfield (Mane), Man City beat Sheff Utd 2-0 at the Etihad with Aguero back in Pep’s team after his traditional mid-season break – but maybe not back in all of ours .... ever Leicester won at West Ham (despite resting all of my players) which was enough to see the end of Pellegrini and usher in the second coming of David Moyes Chelsea came from behind at Arsenal to win 2-1. The Gunners are currently in 12th spot in the table .... 6 points clear of the drop zone

At the bottom – blimey, Watford beat Villa 3-0 with Deeney scoring twice, all of a sudden they are 3 points from safety and looking good. That defeat keeps Villa in the bottom 3. Bottom club Norwich drew 2-2 with Spurs and had Pukki cut his toenails before the game he may have escaped a VAR decision that robbed them of the win .... or was it his armpit hair – I can’t recall It truly was another week of high VARce in the Premier League.

Difficult to say who was the top points scorer of this ‘week’ as it’s the second half of a double week for TFF .... but for the season long table ....

Vardy 136
KDB 118
Rashford 112
Aubameyang & Mane 111

Justin Merritt now has the top two spots in the TFF table ....

Leader up 35 to 1,128 pts - averaging 56.4.... Last Minute (Justin Merritt)
100th up 40 (1,041)
1k up 39 (985)
10k up 39 (916)

After a flurry of fixtures, there are now no more games until next year

[brencarr]

Week 21 – Happy New Year!

It certainly was a happy 2019 for Liverpool who this week became only the 3rd team to go unbeaten for 12 months in the Premier League (Arsenal 2003/4 and Chelsea 2004/5). They completed the feat with a 2-0 win (Salah, Mane) v. Sheff United.

Leicester & Man City vainly kept up the chase, the Foxes with a 3-0 win at Newcastle, even though Vardy was still on baby-sitting duties. Man. City beat Everton 2-1 with a brace for Jesus. Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Brighton means that an 8-point gap opens up between 3rd & 4th.

Arsenal beat Man United 2-0 (Pepe, Papastathopoulos) to drag themselves into the top half of the table. Pogba again absent with .... something or other.

Spurs lost 1-0 at Southampton (Ings) and West Ham had a little of the ol’ new-manager bounce beating free-falling Bournemouth 4-0 – a brace for Noble there. Watford had a man sent off and still managed to beat Wolves 2-1 and Villa won 2-1 at Burnley. All of which means that Norwich’s 1-1 draw at home to Palace leaves them rooted to the bottom and Bournemouth slip into the bottom three.


There were a few players who made double-figure scores this week ....

Jesus, Noble & Papastathopoulos (bless you ) with 12 pts
.... and eleven others with 10pts

New dad Jamie Vardy is taking his eye off the ball in the season-long campaign (he also has a calf ‘thing’ apparently)

Vardy 136 pts
KDB 120
Mane 118
Rashford 114
Aubameyang 113

(TAA on 112 is closing in on the top 5)


We have a new leader again this week – a run of Liverpool clean sheets maybe – or the rotation epidemic which is normal at this time of the year?

Lead position up 55 to 1,183 pts - averaging 56.3.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 45 (1,086)
1k up 45 (1,030)
10k up 45 (961)

If the reason for the chopping & changing at the top is transfer (or lack thereof) related, then the next week is going to sting, as we head into one of my favourite weekends .... the FA Cup third round (proper ). I’m just finalising my daisy chain planning which is going to rocket me up the table!

[brencarr]

Week 22 – Adam Idah hat-trick

Well, it was the FA Cup 3rd round (proper) this weekend, and it was a rather disappointing affair to be honest, as you will see by the scores below.

Brighton, Palace, Everton & Villa are the only casualties I can see, so there’s hope for a points-bonanza in the 4th round (maybe). There are also four replays featuring Premier League teams, which may be of interest .... or may just be another run-out for some ‘squad’ players.

Liverpool heaped ignominy on Everton by beating them (1-0) with their ‘kids’ ,
Man City saw off Port Vale (4-1), Aguero with just the one
Arsenal (1-0) scraped past a Leeds team that looked like they will be back amongst us next season,
Bournemouth & Norwich both scored 4 in their wins, but unless you had Billing and Idah in your teams you won’t have cared much,
All-in-all it was a very low-scoring week – even compared to the same week last season

Adam Idah top-scored this ‘week’ with all of his 18 points for the season

Leader up 24 to 1,207 pts - averaging 54.9.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 18 (1,104)
1k up 20 (1,050)
10k up 17 (978)

There are 2 League Cup semi-final, first leg, derby games in the next 2 days. Get ready for more rotation for the two Manchester clubs, Leicester & Villa.

[brencarr]

Week 23 – Aguero hat trick

With a 1-0 win at Spurs (Firmino), Liverpool set the record for the best ever start to a season by a club in Europe's top five leagues. With just one draw in 21 games, their 61 points leaves them 14 ahead .... with a game in hand
They have gone 38 Premier League games without defeat, which is another record, and have also kept clean sheets in the last 6 league games, with one in the FA Cup during that time as well. I’m sure there will be more records coming from them before the end of the season.

Southampton gained some revenge on Leicester for the 9-0 defeat they endured in October, they won 2-1 at the Foxes, Ings once again on the scoresheet. That’s Leicester’s third loss in 5 games and they have lost 2nd spot to Man City who won 6-1 at Villa. The Aguero hokey-cokey was in full swing this week, his hat-trick in that game moved him past Thierry Henry and level with Frank Lampard on 177 Premier League goals – still way behind Shearer – and don’t even mention Jimmy Greaves et al.

Chelsea beat Burnley 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and Man United put 4 past hapless Norwich at Old Trafford, Rashford scored twice in that game as he celebrated his 200th game for the club. Chelsea & United remain 3rd & 4th respectively.
Sheffield United’s wonderful season continued as they beat West Ham 1-0. They are in 6th spot, 2 points behind Man United and only 8 points off the magical 40

Aubameyang scored and also got sent off in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Palace.

At the bottom – Watford have continued their amazing resurgence under Nigel Pearson, winning 3-0 at Bournemouth and climbing out of the bottom three – at the Cherries expense.

Norwich are now 8 points from safety and look in trouble.

There were several Man City players in the top-scorers this week ....

Aguero with 20 pts
Mahrez 15
Rashford 12
KDB 11
Jesus (and seven others) on 10 points.

Top season-long scorers ....
Vardy 141
KDB 131
Rashford 127
Mane 120
TAA 119

Much better scores this week ....

Leader up 67 to 1,274 pts - averaging 55.4.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 59 (1,163)
1k up 61 (1,111)
10k up 55 (1,033)

There are 4 FA Cup replays over the next few days, featuring 5 Premier League teams.

[brencarr]

Week 24 – Liverpool march on

Newcastle, Spurs & Man United won their FA Cup replays, Watford’s game was postponed due to flooding which means they are going to have a fixture pile-up - if they get past Tranmere they will have 4 games in 9 days. They are on a good run of form so it could be worth considering one or two of their players .... maybe? Troy Deeney would have been one to consider but he fluffed his lines this week with a penalty miss (saved by Gazzaniga) in a 0-0 draw v. Spurs.
That draw was enough to keep the Hornets out of the bottom three as Villa could only manage a draw at Brighton and Bournemouth lost again, this time 1-0 at bottom club Norwich . West Ham also drew (1-1 v. Everton) to remain in the congested bottom third of the table. There are only 12 points separating Norwich (bottom) on 17 and Arsenal (10th) on 29

The fifth draw of the weekend would probably have been more of an upset a few months ago but Man City drawing 2-2 at the Etihad with Palace barely warranted a raised eyebrow, good news for Aguero owners here though as the Argentinian scored both for City

That draw left the door open for Leicester to leapfrog Man City into second place – but this time it was Pope the hero as he saved Vardy’s penalty in a 2-1 win for Burnley.

There was a genuine upset at St. James’ Park as Newcastle beat Chelsea with a 94th minute winner after being second best for 93 minutes

Southampton missed the chance of going into the top half of the table after throwing away a two-goal lead to lose at home to Wolves (2-3), Jimenez with two there.

The tie of the week was the final game, Liverpool v Man United but sadly this isn’t the ‘too-close-to-call’ clash that it used to be, and Liverpool won 2-0 to extend their lead at the top of this year’s title race .... I mean .... procession, they are 16 pts clear with a game in hand. A few facts on Liverpool ....

They have taken 91 points from the last 93 available to them in the Premier League.
They became only the second team to score in their first 22 games of the season (Arsenal 2001)
They have kept 7 clean sheets in a row for the first time since December 2006

.... they will win the league this season and have thoroughly deserved it. The only question now is whether or not they can become the new ‘invincibles’ and how many points can they get

Top scorer of the week was Raul Jimenez with 17, then Gazzaniga with his penalty save and clean sheet on 14, Aguero, VVD & Almiron each scored 12 pts.

Vardy’s missed opportunity from the spot means he treads water for another week and the pack are closing in ....

Vardy 141 points
KDB 133
TAA 129
Rashford 128 .... but potentially out for a few weeks now
Aguero 124


Those seven clean sheets for Liverpool will have some TFF managers very happy indeed

Matthew Baird remains leader for the 4th consecutive week and has a handy lead of 44 points over a much-changed chasing pack

Leader up 40 to 1,314 pts - averaging 54.8.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 43 (1,206)
1k up 40 (1,151)
10k up 40 (1,073)

[brencarr]

Week 25 – The backing of the board

Just to be clear – I make each set of 10 games a ‘week’, so I realise that the TFF week is still ongoing but, for the sake of consistency, here we are

First of all, there was the final FA Cup replay from round 3. Watford put out their ‘B’ team for this tie, or should I say Tranmere put out Watford’s ‘B’ team .... 2-1 a.e.t .... so, the Hornets get to have a week off next week, as we head into the 4th round. Tranmere get to host Man United, where OGS has just been given the backing of the board .... so, he’s safe then

In the Premier League, the top 3 all won, Liverpool 2-1 at Wolves, Man City 1-0 at Sheff United and Leicester, who beat West Ham 4-1. Chelsea saw old boy David Luiz sent off for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and also went into a 2-0 lead, only to throw it away for a 2-2 draw. That meant Man United could close the gap in 5th .... but Burnley went to Old Trafford and won 2-0 United now on 34 points in 5th .... only 1 point more than HALF of Liverpool’s 67 points at the top

At the bottom, Norwich remain last after losing 2-1 at Spurs, Watford lost 2-1 at Villa and Bournemouth finally won (3-1 v Brighton) after a 6-game winless streak. The middle to bottom of the table is ridiculously tight .... the five teams in 10th-14th places are all on 30 points, just 7 points from the drop zone.

Ayoze Perez top-scored this week, he scored twice and got a KC in the Leicester win, Florian Lejeune also scored twice in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw at Everton, he came on after 70 minutes and scored in 90+4 and 90+5 minutes ....

Perez 15
Lejeune 14
Seven players scored 10 points

Vardy’s lead is seriously under fire in the season-long table as he blanked again and also limped off ....

Vardy 143
KDB 138
TAA 134
Aguero 129
Rashford 128

Low scores again this week as our leader stays top for the 5th week ....

Leader up 37 to 1,351 pts - averaging 54.0.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 39 (1,245)
1k up 40 (1,191)
10k up 39 (1,112)

This year’s leader is exactly 100 points behind last years at this point .... and 20 points outside last year’s top 100

Hopefully we can get some points out of the FA Cup this week .... Aguero at home v. Fulham anyone

[Canaryfan]

Chelsea saw old boy David Luiz sent off for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and also went into a 2-0 lead, only to throw it away for a 2-2 draw.

May have won had they taken a 2-0 lead, but Arsenal equalised at 1-1 as well as 2-2.

[brencarr]

Chelsea saw old boy David Luiz sent off for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and also went into a 2-0 lead, only to throw it away for a 2-2 draw.

May have won had they taken a 2-0 lead, but Arsenal equalised at 1-1 as well as 2-2.

Ahh yes, so they did

[brencarr]

Week 26 – FA Cup 4th round weekend

Well, that was a disappointing week, not least scoring-wise. Several Premier League clubs put out their reserves/youth team or at best - a weakened side.

There were a couple of big scores, Man City beat Fulham 4-0 (Jesus with 2), Man United won 6-0 at Tranmere (with 6 different scorers), but that was about it, and I managed to avoid most of the points that were handed out. Liverpool drew 2-2 at Shrewsbury after leading 2-0 (with their ‘B’ team) – there are also replays for Newcastle (0-0 with Oxford) and Spurs drew 1-1 at St. Mary’s. These replays are scheduled to be played during the Winter ‘break’

Slavan Bilic enjoyed his return to the London Stadium, his West Brom team won 1-0 despite going down to 10 men.

The draw for the 5th round has kept most of the top-flight teams apart, so we could have an all-Premier League final 8 .... but I doubt it .... the F.A. Cup is just not exciting the clubs, nor the fans these days


Leader up 22 to 1,373 pts - averaging 52.8.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 19 (1,264)
1k up 18 (1,209)
10k up 16 (1,128)

The poor returns this week have done nothing to help close the gap with last year’s lines

[brencarr]

Week 27 – Liverpool go 22 points clear

It’s all about the reds (again) this week as the procession continues. Liverpool had 2 games, first they won 2-0 at West Ham in a re-arranged fixture, then they beat Southampton 4-0 at Anfield. Two clean sheets, 3 goals for Salah, 2 for the Ox, KCs for most of the defence .... we finally had a high-scoring week.
Liverpool also set a new record – their 22-point lead is the biggest ever in the top flight, and they have equalled Man City’s 20-game streak of Premier League home wins, only bettered in the top flight by Shankly’s Liverpool. They have now taken 100 points from a possible 102

Just in case there was anyone around who thought the title might still be in doubt (besides Klopp) the teams in 2nd, 3rd and 4th all failed to win
Man City lost 2-0 in an ill-tempered game at Spurs, there was plenty of involvement for VAR in that game, red cards given and missed, penalties given, not given, saved, handbags.
Third & forth placed teams, Leicester & Chelsea, drew 2-2 with a brace for Rudiger.
Man Utd v Wolves and Burnley v Arsenal both ended 0-0, in a week where half of the games ended in a draw.

Bottom club Norwich drew 0-0 at Newcastle, Watford were leading Everton 2-0 just before half time but Yerry Mina scored 2 in stoppage-time and Walcott got the winner for the Toffees on 90 minutes. West Ham also let a 2-goal lead get away from them as they drew 3-3 at home with Brighton. Snodgrass with a brace in this game to ensure he was the only player in the TFF weekly top ten who isn’t a Liverpool player
Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Villa leaves them both just out of the drop zone.

With those 2 wins for Liverpool this week they just about swept the weekly boards ....
Salah 22 pts
TAA; Robertson; Alisson & Snodgrass, all on 17
Henderson 15
VVD; Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, all on 15
Firmino 13

TAA has also now caught the mis-firing Vardy at the top of the season scores ....
Alexander-Arnold 151 pts
Vardy 145
KDB 140
Robertson 134
VVD 132

Much better scores all round this week and we have a new leader, who also manages the teams in 2nd & 5th places
Lead position up 47 to 1,420 pts - averaging 52.6.... GUTTY 5 (Chris Hill)
100th up 75 (1,339 pts)
1k up 71 (1,280)
10k up 67 (1,195)

As I did last season, I will now add the top ten places in each update. This time last season, the eventual winner wasn’t in the top 10 for another 2 weeks.

1) .... 1,420 .... Chris Hill .............. GUTTY 5
2) .... 1,415 .... Chris Hill ............. Guttys Eggs
3) .... 1,413 .... Gill Hodgkiess ..... Gill 2
4) .... 1,408 .... Matthew Baird .......Real Madras 4
5) .... 1,408 .... Chris Hill .............. GUTTY 1
6) .... 1,407 .... Russell Jackson ..... Russell Athletico
7) .... 1,405 .... Dean Anscombe .....Team 5
8) .... 1,403 .... Matthew Sewell ..... Ivor big Van Dijk
9) .... 1,400 .... Justin Merritt ......... Sleeper
10) .. 1,400 .... Reg Taylor ............ I LOVE MY GARDEN

There now follows something of a Winter break, as the next set of ten games is spread over 2 weeks .... although, before that, have 3 FA Cup replays in the next few days.

[brencarr]

Week 28 – Winter 'break'

This ‘game week’ was split over 2 weeks and included three FA Cup replays. We also had storms Ciara and Dennis and the Man City v West Ham game was postponed from the start of this period, and played at the end of it. In the interest of keeping my ‘week’ as the set of 10 Premier League games, I have included the re-arranged game in this update. This means that more than ever, my week won’t match TFF’s gameweek as they have included the City game in ‘next week’ .... trust me, it’ll work out fine

That said – let’s get on with it ....
Liverpool started everything off with a cup replay, but it won’t have effected TFF much. They won 1-0 but their average shirt number for the squad was 66.6, the starting eleven average was 63.9 Amongst all of the records the Reds have (and will) set this season, that’s the one which may take the most beating!
Liverpool also went to Norwich and had to battle to win 1-0. Man City beat West Ham 2-0 in the re-arranged fixture and Leicester drew 0-0 at Wolves. All of which means Liverpool are still 22 pts clear & Man City have a little breathing space in 2nd spot as they’re 4 ahead of the Foxes .... whether or not that matters has been thrown into doubt as Man City have followed the wishes of the majority of U.K. voters and got themselves out of Europe – banned for 2 years – pending appeal

Man United (somehow) won 2-0 at Chelsea, in a game which was another VAR-fest. Maguire could have been sent off with a ‘minus’ score but ended up with a clean sheet and a goal, for 12 points. Chelsea also had 2 ‘goals’ disallowed by VAR.
Spurs (somehow) won at Villa, Son Heung Min scored in time added-on in both halves and also had a penalty saved (he scored the rebound) – with Kane out he was looking a must-have but he’s now crocked as well.
The other top side, Sheffield United, beat Bournemouth 2-1 and remain in 6th spot.

At the bottom of the table – well, the bottom 7-8 teams all failed to win! Norwich remain 7 points from safety but after them you can perm any 2 from the next 8 teams as to who goes down.

Top scorers this week ....
Pepe 16 points in an Arsenal 4-0 win
Maguire 12
Son, Aubameyang & KDB with 10 points

Top 5 season-long points scorers
TAA 158
KDB 150
Vardy 147
Robertson 141
VVD 139


Harry Gregg OBE, died this week, aged 87.
Gregg, who was United’s goalkeeper, rescued a mother and her baby daughter, teammates Bobby Charlton and Jackie Blanchflower and manager Matt Busby from the wreckage of the plane on February 6, 1958.
Gregg became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when he joined United in December 1957 for £23,500 and went on to be voted the best at the following year’s World Cup in Sweden.
He was capped 25 times by Northern Ireland and played 247 times for United from 1957-66.
Fellow countryman George Best, who used to clean Gregg’s boots, said, ‘Bravery is one thing but what Harry did was about more than bravery'.
RIP Harry.


Look who broke into the top 100 this week .... Sandor Kovacs .... maybe having fewer teams is the way ahead

The lead has changed hands once again as Matthew Baird reclaims top spot.

Lead position up 60 to 1,480 pts - averaging 52.9.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 58 (1,397 pts)
1k up 58 (1,338)
10k up 56 (1,251)

1) .... 1,480 .... Matthew Baird .......Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,476 .... David Taylor ......... DANCING IN THE DARK
3) .... 1,470 .... Chris Hill .............. Guttys Eggs
4) .... 1,469 .... Dean Anscombe .....Team 5
5) .... 1,464 .... Chris Hill .............. GUTTY 5
6) .... 1,464 .... Gill Hodgkiess ...... Gill 2
7) .... 1,463 .... Chris Hill .............. GUTTY 1
8) .... 1,458 .... Jon Pregon ............ SUMADNESS
9) .... 1,457 .... Justin Merritt ......... Sleeper
10) .. 1,456 .... Russell Jackson ..... Russell Athletico

[brencarr]

Week 29 – Liverpool march on

The top game of this week – by any other season’s standard – would be 2nd v 3rd. The fact that Man City went to Leicester and won 1-0 was more or less irrelevant, especially if the former are indeed out of Europe next season anyway. That’s mainly because, Liverpool won again. In a ding-dong game at Anfield they beat West Ham 3-2 to stay 22 points clear and also to equal Man City’s record of 18 consecutive Premier League wins in the process – more records to follow I’m sure.

Leicester remain 6 points clear of Chelsea, who beat Spurs 2-1 in a game which VAR apparently missed, that can be the only reason Lo Celso wasn’t sent off. Sheffield United drew with Brighton and so Man United jumped 2 places into 5th with their 3-0 defeat of Watford. Wolves & arsenal also scored 3 in a high-scoring week (28 goals), Jota and Aubameyang both with a brace.

At the bottom – the bottom 5 all lost, Brighton drew their 3rd consecutive game (4 from 5) to inch further away from the drop zone. A couple of good results by anyone down there would be huge – just like Burnley, who continued their ransacking of the South coast teams. After winning 2-1 at Southampton last week they smashed Bournemouth 3-0 to move up to 10th .... only 4 points off a European spot

Top scorer of the week was D. Jota with 15 points - he also scored a hat trick in Europe in midweek (£3.9m & 6% ownership)

The season-long top 5 looks like this ....
TAA 165
KDB 152
Vardy 149
Robertson 145
Aubameyang 141

Not great scores again this week, even considering (as previously discussed) I missed off the City v West Ham game. This week’s leader would just scrape into the top 1,000 in last year’s chart

Leader up 40 to 1,520 pts - averaging 52.4.... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 43 (1,440 pts)
1k up 43 (1,381)
10k up 48 (1,299)

1) .... 1,520 .... Matthew Baird .......Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,519 .... David Taylor ......... DANCING IN THE DARK
3) .... 1,509 .... Jon Pregon ............ SU MADNESS
4) .... 1,509 .... Gill Hodgkiess ...... Gill 2
5) .... 1,505 .... Russell Jackson ..... Russell Athletico
6) .... 1,504 .... Chris Hill .............. Guttys Eggs
7) .... 1,501 .... John Hicks ............ Return of the Jell-i
8) .... 1,501 .... Chris Hill .............. GUTTY 5
9) .... 1,499 .... lee Jackson ........... Marvelous mayhem
10) .. 1,497 .... Kieron Clarke ....... The shit stirring ra

[brencarr]

Week 30 – Liverpool LOSE
A big week this week for lots of reasons – none of them may make a difference at the end of the season but ...

At the top of the table Liverpool lost their unbeaten run as they went down 3-0 at Watford. Sarr scored twice and Deeney smashed the third in .... almost as hard as he smashed Alexander-Arnold
So, the reds will have to settle for the joint-longest winning streak (18, with Man City) and the second-longest unbeaten run (44). Watford's victory over Liverpool was the biggest over a side starting the day top of the top-flight table by a team in the relegation zone since Leicester beat Manchester United 3-0 on November 23rd 1985
I’m still sure Liverpool will win the league this season, and there was a bonus for Sadio Mane this week as told the BBC World Service that he never knew Premier League winners got medals .... to be fair, why would anyone at Liverpool know (morning Murf )

Man. City weren’t playing in the league as they were winning their 3rd consecutive League Cup (2-1 v. Aston Villa). This also meant no game for Sheffield United or Arsenal who, despite having the week off, remained the only 'invincibles'.

Leicester had a chance to close the gap in 3rd place but they went to bottom-placed Norwich on Friday night and lost 1-0 The Canaries probably thought that they would be closing the gap at the bottom but their victory served only to wake everyone else up .... Bournemouth drew 2-2 at Chelsea (Alonso with both goals for them), Watford beat Liverpool and West Ham won 3-1 at Southampton. The bottom of the table is where the excitement will be in the final few weeks.

In the battle for European places, Wolves were the main movers. They went to Spurs and won 3-2, whilst Man United drew 1-1 at Everton. Dele Alli got 8 points with his two KCs before he potentially becomes the first player to miss a game due to the Coronavirus
There was all sorts going on at Goodison, Ancelotti was ‘sent off’ after the final whistle, VAR made another headline and both goalkeepers had a day to forget. Bruno Fernandes & Jota both in the points again .... and both ALMOST came into my teams again

Quite a few players made double figures this week ....
Sarr – 15 points
Lewis – 12
Alonso – 11
And nine players on 10 points .... six of the twelve came from Norwich or Watford (3 from each) .... no? .... me neither

In the season-long table ....
TAA - 165
KDB - 152
Vardy - 149
Robertson - 145
Jimenez - 144

The eagle-eyed amongst you will know that the TFF game week isn’t over yet, as there are midweek FA Cup ties, but I will be treating the 8 midweek games as a separate game week – as it was last season.

Another low-scoring week thanks to the fact there were fewer fixtures (and Liverpool lost).
Leader up 20 to 1,540 pts - averaging 51.3 .... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 18 (1,458 pts)
1k up 18 (1,399)
10k up 17 (1,316)

1) .... 1,540 .... Matthew Baird .......Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,537 .... John Hicks ............ Return of the Jell-i
3) .... 1,536 .... David Taylor ......... DANCING IN THE DARK
4) .... 1,523 .... Russell Jackson ..... Russell Athletico
5) .... 1,521 .... Gill Hodgkiess ...... Gill 2
6) .... 1,520 .... Kieron Clarke ....... The shit stirring ra
7) .... 1,517 .... Jon Pregon ............ SU MADNESS
8) .... 1,517 .... Chris Hill .............. GUTTY 5
9) .... 1,516 .... Mark Randell ........ Gazza
10) .. 1,508 .... lee Jackson ........... Marvelous mayhem

[brencarr]

Week 31 – FA Cup 5th Round

Well, Liverpool lost again, it’s only noteworthy because they haven’t lost all season and then they lose 3 in 2 weeks! This time is was 2-0 at Chelsea.

The ‘special one’ isn’t having a good time of things at Spurs, they lost 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out after drawing with Norwich .... Eric Dier put in a full shift in that game, he played 120 minutes and then waded into the stands to take on the supporters as well .... commitment!

Here are all the results and scorers ....

Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal .... (Sokratis, Nketiah)
Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool .... (Willian, Barkley)
Reading 1-1 (1-2 aet) Sheff United .... (McGoldrick, Sharp)
West Brom 2-3 Newcastle .... (Almiron 2, Lazaro)
Leicester 1-0 Birmingham .... (Pereira)
Sheff Wed 0-1 Man City .... (Aguero)
Spurs 1-1 Norwich won on penalties .... (Vertonghen, Drmic)
Derby 0-3 Man united .... (Ighalo 2, Shaw)

Those results mean that we have 8 Premier League teams in the quarter finals which is hopefully good news for those of us who have a few transfers up our sleeves

Leicester v Chelsea
Newcastle v Man City
Norwich v Man Utd
Sheffield Utd v Arsenal

There were only 6 players who made it into double figures this week .... most of them were defenders,
Almiron 15
Pereira 12
Ighalo 12
Shaw 11
Chilwell 10
Mendy 10

The season-long top 5 didn’t change, only Robertson played and he only managed 1 point.
TAA - 165
KDB - 152
Vardy - 149
Robertson - 146
Jimenez - 144


Leader up 44 to 1,584 pts - averaging 51.1 .... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird) .... his 10th week at the top
100th up 26 (1,484 pts)
1k up 24 (1,423)
10k up 18 (1,334)


Your top 10 for this week
1) .... 1,584 .... Matthew Baird ...... Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,559 .... David Taylor .......... DANCING IN THE DARK
3) .... 1,550 .... Gill Hodgkiess ....... Gill 2
4) .... 1,549 .... John Hicks ............ Return of the Jell-i
5) .... 1,546 .... Russell Jackson .... Russell Athletico
6) .... 1,543 .... Dean Anscombe .... Team 5
7) .... 1,539 .... Kieron Clarke ......... The shit stirring ra
8) .... 1,538 .... Matthew Baird ....... Real Madras 2
9) .... 1,536 .... lee Jackson ........... Marvelous mayhem
10) .. 1,536 .... Charlie Coleman .... catchmeifyoucan

[brencarr]

Week 32 – Manchester derby

OGS continues to confound his critics. United beat City 2-0 in the Old Trafford derby and are now unbeaten in 10 games and have beaten City 3 times this season .... so far (we’re both still in the FA Cup) . United have also done the double over Chelsea this season, the first time they’ve done so v. City & Chelsea in 60 years Maybe he's a keeper after all

City were the only team in the top half of the table to lose this week. Liverpool moved closer to the title with a 2-1 win v. Bournemouth, Salah & Mane with the goals. Leicester beat Villa 4-0 with Vardy & Harvey Barnes both scoring twice. Chelsea thumped Everton 4-0 and Wolves & Spurs both drew their games. Sheffield United won 1-0 to move above Spurs into 7th spot, just 2 points behind Man United in 5th.

It was back to normal at the other end of the table as the bottom 5 all lost, Norwich are bottom on 21 points, 16th-18th placed teams are all on 27 points.
Newcastle won 1-0 at Southampton to move 1 point above them into 13th place, they are on 34 & 35 points and ‘should’ both be safe I reckon.

Difficult to know who the top ‘weekly’ scorers were as the TFF counted the FA Cup scores in this week as well but the season-long top 8 are ....

TAA - 167 points
Vardy - 160
KDB - 152
Mane - 149
Salah – 148
VVD, Robertson, Jimemez - 146

No change at the top of the leader board but a couple of new entrants in the top 10 ....

Leader up 52 to 1,636 pts - averaging 51.1 .... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 47 (1,531 pts)
1k up 46 (1,469)
10k up 46 (1,380)

1) .... 1,636 .... Matthew Baird ...... Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,600 .... Gill Hodgkiess ....... Gill 2
3) .... 1,599 .... John Hicks ............ Return of the Jell-i
4) .... 1,592 .... David Taylor .......... DANCING IN THE DARK
5) .... 1,590 .... Kieron Clarke ........ The shit stirring ra
6) .... 1,588 .... Jon Pregon ........... SU MADNESS
7) .... 1,587 .... Roger Morgan ....... Is the Pope a Cataly
8) .... 1,587 .... Robert Neil ............ IT Forever
9) .... 1,586 .... Matthew Baird ....... Real Madras 2
10) .. 1,584 .... lee Jackson ........... Marvelous mayhem

[brencarr]

Week 33 (or week 46 as TFF says) – Return after Covid-19

I’m not a fan of this new mid-season break that they have implemented this year, I can’t see it catching on

Welcome back everyone, to a world with no crowds, 5 substitutes, no players names on their shirts and ‘cooling’ breaks – I hope this isn’t the ‘new normal’ they’re all talking about.

I hope you have managed to get through the recent dramas ‘off the pitch’ in one piece. These are certainly interesting times for all sorts of reasons, but the Premier League is back, so here’s the weekly TFF update.

The week started off with 2 re-arranged games. Aston Villa & Sheffield United played out a 0-0 draw to get us back underway, thanks in part to some good defensive efforts but also to the fact that the GDS & VAR technologies were seemingly still on a break If Sheffield Utd miss out on Europe by a point or 2, and/or Villa narrowly survive the drop, then fingers will be pointed – not a great re-start for the boffins

Man. City (3-0) overcame an Arsenal team, which also seemed still to be on a break. They were unlucky with injuries but David Luiz had a nightmare, gifting Sterling the opening goal and then getting sent off. In that game City had used the newly allotted 5 subs and still managed to run out as Ederson flattened Garcia in the closing minutes.

Everton were happy that City won as it meant that Liverpool couldn’t win the title at Goodison. They were even happier after the game as they managed a 0-0 draw. It’s only a matter of time for Liverpool though.

So, on to the normal batch of 10 matches ....
Man. City finished the week with a 5-0 win v. Burnley. The Clarets had a couple of players injured but also had 4 who are out of contract next week so weren’t included in the squad .... they had 2 goalies on the bench! Thankfully Burnley are safe in mid-table because they could be running out of players.

Leicester went to Watford and managed to break the deadlock in the 90th minute with a Ben Chilwell cracker .... only for Dawson to equalise 3 minutes later. The Foxes remain in 3rd, 3 points ahead of Chelsea who won 1-2 at Villa Park.

At the other end of the table, the bottom four all lost. Norwich went down 0-3 at home to Southampton, that victory for the Saints moved them 10 points clear of the drop zone. Bournemouth lost 0-2 v. Palace and West Ham lost by the same score at home to Wolves. Brighton scored an injury time winner to beat Arsenal 2-1 in an ill-tempered game at the Amex. Neil Maupay got the winner and advised the Gunners they should learn some humility (as well as how to defend I guess).

Spurs and Man United played out a 1-1 draw in London with another game in which VAR played a starring role, penalties given, not given, all wrongly according to the managers of course Roy Keane also suggested that De Gea and Maguire should have been made to get a taxi home after their performances. United are in 5th spot, level on points with Wolves in 6th.

15 players made it into double figures for the week, unsurprisingly eight of them were City players. Phil Foden top-scored for the week as he managed to score 3 of City’s 8 goals.

Foden 21
Mahrez 20
Ederson 14
Doherty & Hause 13


No change at the top of the leader board ....

Leader up 56 to 1,692 pts - averaging 51.3 .... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 64 (1,595 pts)
1k up 64 (1,533)
10k up 66 (1,446)

I found it difficult this week, getting any sort of passion or excitement for the games. I found that after 3 months it was a struggle. But here are 10 people who have no doubt been fretting and wondering about the restart and I’m sure they are as tuned-in as ever ....

1) .... 1,692 .... Matthew Baird ...... Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,677 .... John Hicks ............ Return of the Jell-i
3) .... 1,671 .... Keith Bond ............ Risa
4) .... 1,670 .... Gill Hodgkiess ....... Gill 2
5) .... 1,663 .... David Morgan ........ Riyad Dress To Mee
6) .... 1,655 .... Ian Lumley ............. Lums Legges 11
7) .... 1,655 .... Michael Thwaite ..... I AM LOCUTUS
8) .... 1,654 .... Charlie Coleman .... catchmeifucan
9) .... 1,648 .... Jon Pregon ............ SU MADNESS
10) .. 1,644 .... Paul Jamieson ....... Lastchancesaloon

[brencarr]

Week 34 (or 47) – LIVERPOOL ARE CHAMPIONS (Covid19 – Liverpool 19)

Liverpool’s 4-0 thrashing of Palace at Anfield and Man City’s 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge means that Liverpool have finally won their first Premier League, and 19th top-flight title. As a City fan I would have preferred to delay it for a further 2 matches – and I’m sure Raheem Sterling isn’t particularly looking forward to being part of the guard of honour when we play them next week

It’s the Reds’ first title for 30 years but I can’t remember one which was more richly deserved. They have one of the most engaging, entertaining and personable managers in the game. They have won the title with a fantastic style of football, excellent defence and exhilarating attack – many congratulations to all at the club – they are going to take some beating next year.

Liverpool are the ‘earliest’ and ‘latest’ winners of the title, having won it with 7 games to spare .... on the 25th June! I did spare a thought for the Liverpool fans who must be really annoyed at not being allowed to get out there and celebrate due to the restrictions – but then I saw the news footage

In other news .... I saw some awful games this week. The absence of crowds is really depressing and the sooner this season is over the better; I hope to god we can return to some sort of normal for next season

Man. United Beat Sheffield Utd 3-0 thanks to a Martial hat-trick .... United’s first in the league since RVP got one in 2013!
Leicester are still in third spot after they drew 0-0 with Brighton (thanks to a Schmeichel penalty save) which means Chelsea, Man United, Wolves (beat Bournemouth 1-0) and Spurs (beat West Ham 2-0) all close the gap on the Foxes.

At the bottom, Villa’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle was the only point gained by the bottom 5. Norwich look doomed, they are 6 points behind 4 clubs on 27/28 points. It’s going to be an interesting final few weeks in the relegation battle.

One thing I’ve noticed this week, at the end of the games, managers & players touch elbows to ensure social distancing – and then slap each other on the back

Next ‘week’ we have the FA Cup quarter-finals featuring 8 Premier League clubs, this would probably have been something of a spectacle but I reckon the lack of crowds will dampen the ‘magic of the cup’ .... is the final still being played at Wembley

A dozen players made it into double figures this week, Martial top-scored with his hat-trick....
Martial – 17
TAA, Schmeichel, M. Keane – 12
And 8 players on 10 points

The season-long leaders are ....
TAA – 186 points
KDB – 169
Vardy – 164
VVD & Jimenez 160

Leader up 60 to 1,752 pts - averaging 51.5 .... Real Madras 4 (Matthew Baird)
100th up 66 (1,661 pts)
1k up 65 (1,598)
10k up 58 (1,504)

1) .... 1,752 .... Matthew Baird ...... Real Madras 4
2) .... 1,739 .... John Hicks ............ Return of the Jell-i
3) .... 1,733 .... Gill Hodgkiess ....... Gill 2
4) .... 1,731 .... Keith Bond ............ Risa
5) .... 1,713 .... Jon Pregon ............ SU MADNESS
6) .... 1,713 .... Russell Jackson .... Russell Athletico
7) .... 1,712 .... David Taylor .......... DANCING IN THE DARK
8) .... 1,712 .... Neil Muller ............. Long Ball Merchants
9) .... 1,712 .... Charlie Coleman .... catchmeifucan
10) .. 1,710 .... Ian Lumley ............. Lums Legges 11

The tracked positions are finally making a little move Northwards on the graph ....

[brencarr]

Week 35 (TFF 48) - F.A. Cup quarter finals

Norwich (Cantwell) 1-2 Man Utd (Ighalo, Maguire)
Sheffield Utd (McGoldrick) 1-2 Arsenal (Pepe, Ceballos)
Leicester 0-1 Chelsea (Barkley)
Newcastle 0-2 Man City (KDB, Sterling)

The semi-final draw of ....

Arsenal v Man. City
Chelsea v Man. United

.... means we could have a Manchester (or London) derby in the final, or obviously not – but let’s dream.



There were also the usual 10 league fixtures which ended with a presumably hung-over Liverpool team losing 4-0 at the Etihad. KDB & Sterling were on the scoresheet again, as was Phil Foden who really does look like he could be a star for City & England for years to come – his first touch is excellent.

In 3rd and 4th spots, Leicester & Chelsea both lost – the Foxes went down 2-1 at Goodison and Chelsea lost 3-2 at West Ham (Willian with both for the Blues). These losses meant that Man United (won 3-0 at Brighton, Fernandes with 2) & Wolves (won 1-0 at Villa) both closed to within 2 points of Chelsea.

Sheffield United beat Spurs 3-1 to move above them into 7th place. Harry Kane had a goal disallowed by a ridiculous ‘letter of the law’ VAR decision , but did manage to grab a consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat which means he has now scored against all 29 of the Premier League teams he has faced #indiscriminate.

With 6 games remaining, Norwich (lost 4-0 at Arsenal) are still rooted to the bottom on 21 points, 7 points from safety. West Ham’s win moved them out of the bottom three and Southampton had a great result too, as they won 3-1 at Watford (Ings with 2) to reach 40 points and leave the Hornets (28 points) just a point ahead of the drop zone. Villa’s loss and Bournemouth’s 4-1 loss at home to Newcastle means that they remain a point behind Watford. Brighton, in 15th spot, are on 33 points and make up the 6 teams from which, any 3 could go down.

KDB’s form since the restart has seen him move into top spot in the overall TFF points table, with Danny Ings also finishing well (see what I did there ) ....

KDB – 189 points
TAA – 185
Ings – 169
Vardy – 168
Jimenez – 165

Lead position up 70 to 1,822 pts - averaging 52.1 .... Return of the Jell-i (John Hicks)
100th up 67 (1,728 pts) is our old mate Sandor Kovacs
1k up 69 (1,667)
10k up 63 (1,567)

There’s been carnage in the top 10 this week. After 13 weeks in the top spot Matthew Baird has been caught and overtaken by three managers with several teams coming with a well-timed run. The points swing in that Man City v Liverpool game alone would have been telling if you made the right moves .... or were already sat with the right team. Any transfers left, now that the title is over and there are still cup games to be played, will be invaluable.

1) .... 1,822 .... John Hicks ........... Return of the Jell-i
2) .... 1,813 .... Dean Burdin .......... Salsoul
3) .... 1,803 .... Keith Bond ............ Risa
4) .... 1,800 .... Matthew Baird ...... Real Madras 4
5) .... 1,792 .... Robin Hilton .......... Misty Cherry 2
6) .... 1,791 .... Mark Randall ........ GAZZA
7) .... 1,790 .... Paul Ryan .............. Rocket Science
8) .... 1,790 .... Gill Hodgkiess ...... Gill 2
9) .... 1,785 .... Paul Jamieson ...... Lastchancesaloon
10) .. 1,784 .... Michael Thwaite ... I AM LOCUTUS

[brencarr]

Week 36 (TFF 48 part 2) – Vardy hits 100

Here is the ‘weekly’ update which covers what would have been a normal set of 10 games and is actually the 2nd half of the TFF ‘week’.

Nothing much of interest at the top of the table. Liverpool had a regulation 2-0 win at Anfield v. Villa. Man. City lost 1-0 at Southampton, their 9th loss of this season Leicester beat Palace 3-0, a game in which Jamie Vardy became the 29th player to score 100 Premier League goals (206 appearances) – well done sir.
Chelsea & Man United kept the pressure up with a 3-0 win v. Watford and a 5-2 win v. Bournemouth respectively. Wolves slipped a bit in 6th place as they lost 0-2 v. Arsenal.

At the other end of the table, the bottom 4 all lost, which did their causes no good. Brighton’s win at Norwich leaves the Canaries on 21 points and moves the Seagulls up to 15th on 36 points, and probably safe for another year. West Ham's 2-2 draw at Newcastle inches closer to safety but they can still be dragged back into the mire, if any of the bottom 4 can find a couple of victories!


The TFF stats centre combines the last 2 sets of games for its ‘week’, so the scores are obviously higher than normal. Top of the pile though are two Man United players which is different!

Fernandes 25
Greenwood 22
Willian 18
Aubameyang 17
Antonio 17

The season-long leaders have had another reshuffle ....
TAA – 195 points
KDB – 190
Vardy – 180
Ings – 171
Mane - 167

Our leader is up 50 to 1,872 pts - averaging 52.0 .... Return of the Jell-i (John Hicks)
100th up 59 (1,787 pts)
1k up 57 (1,724)
10k up 54 (1,621)

36 points is all that separates 10th from 1st place at the top of the leader board, with John Hicks holding a 9-point lead .... squeaky bum time.

1) .... 1,872 .... John Hicks ........... Return of the Jell-i
2) .... 1,863 .... Dean Burdin .......... Salsoul
3) .... 1,852 .... Keith Bond ............ Risa
4) .... 1,847 .... Paul Ryan .............. Rocket Science
5) .... 1,844 .... Russell Jackson ... Russell Athletico
6) .... 1,842 .... Matthew Baird ...... Real Madras 4
7) .... 1,838 .... Gill Hodgkiess ...... Gill 2
8) .... 1,837 .... Mark Randall ........ GAZZA
9) .... 1,836 .... Tom Jenkins ......... Eat Dust
10) .. 1,836 .... Iain Roberts .......... Gravels Wolves

You can see from the graph that the end is in sight - and also that my target of 57 points/week may have been ambitious! The scores are way down on last season. .... I'll see you all in 3 days for another update

[brencarr]

Week 37 (TFF 49 part 1) - VARsical

I’ll just leave this comment here, and move on ....

Incorrect penalty decisions were made by the video assistant referee in all three of Thursday's games, the Premier League has told BBC Match of the Day.

Starting at the top – Liverpool won 3-1 at Brighton (Salah 2) which maybe just keeps Brighton in the mix at the bottom. The reds have now won 30 of their 34 Premier League games this season (drawn two, lost two); this is the fastest any side has ever reached 30 wins in a season in the history of the English Football League. They are currently on 92 points and are closing in on Man City’s record of 100.

Man. City themselves smashed Newcastle 5-0 at the Etihad, Mahrez’s goal in that game made City the first side since the Premier League began to have five different players score 10+ league goals in the same season.

Leicester drew 1-1 at Arsenal which allowed Chelsea to move above them into third, courtesy of a 3-2 win at Palace. Man. United continued their good run with a 3-0 win at Villa – who remain in strife. Sheffield United had an important win at home to Wolves, with John Egan scoring a 93rd-minute winner. United are now just 1 point behind Wolves in 5th/6th.

At the bottom – we finally had a team win a game as Watford put another nail in Norwich’s coffin with a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road. The Canaries must win their next game to avoid the drop.

With 4 games to play for everyone, this is the situation at the bottom, there’s a real possibility that goal difference will be the decider for the final 1 or 2 relegation spots.

Brighton ........... -11 .... 36
West Ham ........ -19 .... 31
Watford ............ -22 .... 31
Bournemouth .. -27 .... 28
Aston Villa ....... -29 .... 27
Norwich ........... -37 .... 21

Only 6 players made it into double figures this week ....
Mo Salah – 15 points
David Silva – 13
John Egan – 12
C. Taylor, Fernandes & Giroud – 10

There’s a ding-dong battle going on at the top of the season-long table ....
TAA – 197 points
KDB – 195
Vardy – 187
Salah - 180
Ings – 178

We have another new leader as Dean Burdin hits the top with Salsoul

Lead position up 56 to 1,928 pts - averaging 52.1 .... Salsoul (Dean Burdin)
100th up 53 (1,840 pts)
1k up 55 (1,779)
10k up 52 (1,673)

There are several new faces in the top 10 ....
1) .... 1,928 .... Dean Burdin .............. Salsoul
2) .... 1,923 .... John Hicks ............... Return of the Jell-i
3) .... 1,919 .... Keith Bond ................ Risa
4) .... 1,910 .... Iain Roberts .............. Gravels Wolves
5) .... 1,908 .... Paul Ryan .................. Rocket Science
6) .... 1,907 .... Mark Randall ............ GAZZA
7) .... 1,904 .... Russell Jackson ....... Russell Athletico
8) .... 1,893 .... Andrew Luckhurst ..... 3
9) .... 1,892 .... Justyne Murnaghan .. Justynes Jokers
10) .. 1,892 .... Peter Norris ............... Anyonebutpops

We have 4 more sets of 10 fixtures to go, plus 3 F.A. Cup games .... where to use those last few transfers...?

[brencarr]

Week 38 (TFF 49 part 2) – Antonio scores 4 to send Norwich down

Things took an interesting turn this week – only one team in the top 5 won, and only one team in the bottom 5 lost

Burnley ended Liverpool’s chance of a 100% home record in the league as they drew 1-1 at Anfield. Man. City won 5-0 again, this time at Brighton with Sterling getting a hat-trick.

Leicester were smashed 4-1 at Bournemouth, an Evans o.g., a Soyuncu red card .... a nightmare week for a Leicester block Chelsea were also well beaten, losing 3-0 at Sheffield United (McGoldrick 2). Man United, trailed, led and then drew with Southampton at Old Trafford, thanks to a 96th minute equaliser. Those results were excellent news for Wolves who beat Everton 3-0 to close the gap on Man United to 4 points.

At the bottom, Michail Antonio scored all four goals in West Ham’s 4-0 win at Norwich to send the Canaries down. Antonio became the first West Ham player to score four goals in a league match since Sept 1981 (David Cross v. Spurs). That victory was needed by the Hammers after Bournemouth’s win, especially as Villa beat Palace 2-0 and Watford beat Newcastle 2-1. With 3 to play, it’s still tight around the drop zone.

Sad news this week as Jack Charlton passed away aged 85. He played 629 games for Leeds United (70 goals) and won 35 caps for England scoring 6 goals and winning a World Cup medal in 1966. He also managed the Republic of Ireland for 10 years (1986-96).

Kevin de Bruyne has passed the 200 points mark for the season ....
KDB – 203
TAA – 198
Vardy – 194
Ings – 183
Salah - 182

Once again, this week, in a volatile top 10, we have a new leader and a couple of new entrants - a lack of Liverpool clean sheets and a couple of Man City 5-0 wins will do that. City have Bournemouth, Watford & Norwich to play and are still in the FA Cup .... if you have transfers left - what to do - stick or twist

Lead position up 68 to 1,996 pts - averaging 52.5 .... Risa (Keith Bond)
100th up 57 (1,897 pts)
1k up 56 (1,835)
10k up 52 (1,725)

1) .... 1,996 .... Keith Bond ................ Risa
2) .... 1,992 .... Dean Burdin .............. Salsoul
3) .... 1,974 .... John Hicks ............... Return of the Jell-i
4) .... 1,966 .... Paul Ryan .................. Rocket Science
5) .... 1,963 .... Dean Burdin .............. FISO25 DJBURDINI
6) .... 1,963 .... Rob Bilsborough ....... Taylors Tigers
7) .... 1,962 .... Andrew Luckhurst ..... 3
8) .... 1,960 .... Roger Morgan ........... Is the Pope a Cataly
9) .... 1,959 .... Russell Jackson ....... Russell Athletico
10) .. 1,958 .... Peter Norris .............. Anyonebutpops

[brencarr]

Week 39 (TFF week 50-ish) – Leeds United promoted

Liverpool are finishing the season like a team who have nothing to play for – having already won the top prize. They went to Arsenal and lost 2-1, thus losing the opportunity to set a new total points record. With 2 games left to play they can ‘only’ make 99 points

Man. City beat Bournemouth 2-1 and will finish in 2nd spot and WILL play in the Champions League next season after the decision to ban them was thrown out.

The race for the other European places is going to the final weekend. Chelsea beat Norwich 1-0 to remain 3rd, just one point ahead of Leicester (beat Sheffield United 2-0) and Man United who won 2-0 at Palace. United are undefeated in 19 games in all competitions, whereas the Eagles are in a bit of a post-lockdown slump and have now lost their last 6

At the bottom – West Ham were the big (and only) winners this week as they beat Watford 3-1, Antonio with a goal there, he now has 7 in his last 5 games. That moves them to 37 points and, along with Brighton (drew with Saints 1-1), they will (most likely) survive the drop – Watford, however, are left just 3 points ahead of the bottom 3. Aston Villa drew 1-1 at Everton.

Bournemouth entertain Southampton next – that could be a very bad day for The Cherries

This week, Harry Kane top-scored with 14 points, seven other players scored exactly 10.

The season-long top 5 is ....
KDB – 203 points
Vardy – 199
TAA – 198
Ings – 190
Martial - 185

Leader up 47 to 2,043 pts - averaging 52.4 .... Risa (Keith Bond)
100th up 44 (1,941 pts)
1k up 42 (1,877)
10k up 40 (1,765)

The top 10 have all made it over the 2,000 mark ....

1) .... 2,043 .... Keith Bond ................ Risa
2) .... 2,037 .... Dean Burdin .............. Salsoul
3) .... 2,017 .... Andrew Luckhurst ..... 3
4) .... 2,014 .... Paul Ryan .................. Rocket Science
5) .... 2,011 .... Iain Roberts .............. Gravels Wolves
6) .... 2,010 .... John Hicks ................ Return of the Jell-i
7) .... 2,008 .... Mark Randall ............. GAZZA
8) .... 2,007 .... Justyne Murnaghan .. Justynes Jokers
9) .... 2,007 .... Ben Hughes ............... 7UP
10) .. 2,006 .... Rob Bilsborough ....... Taylors Tigers

.... but they are going to struggle to match the top 1,000 from last season

[brencarr]

Week 40 (TFF week 51-ish) – FA Cup semi-finals – West Brom promoted

It's tough keeping track of the 'weeks' , but this is the next set of 10 games plus the 2 FA Cup semis

It will be an all London FA Cup final as Arsenal beat Man City 2-0 and Chelsea beat Man United 3-1, David de Gea having another stinker. This will have a huge bearing on the TFF run-in as I suspect many teams were Manchester-centric

Liverpool were awarded the trophy after they beat Chelsea 5-3 .... that defeat leaves Chelsea in 4th place on 63 points, the same as Man United in 3rd place as they dropped the ball at home to West Ham (1-1). Leicester drop down to 5th after losing 3-0 at Spurs (Kane 2) but are just one point behind .... and they host United on the final day

At the bottom – Villa beat Arsenal 1-0 which moved them above Watford, and out of the bottom 3, on goal difference. Just to add a bit more spice to the story, Watford sacked Nigel Pearson after they lost 4-0 at home to Man City (Sterling 2), their 3rd managerial sacking this season (Javi Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores)
As feared, Bournemouth have been put on the brink after a 2-0 home defeat to their local rivals Southampton. With one game to play the bottom looks like this ....

Brighton ............. safe
Aston Villa ....... -26 .... 34
------------------------------------
Watford ............ -27 .... 34
Bournemouth ... -27 .... 31
Norwich .............. gone

Norwich are not going without setting records themselves – they had 2 sent off in a 2-0 loss v. Burnley, and have now lost 9 consecutive league games. Burnley, on the other hand, have won more points since the restart than everyone except the 2 Manchester clubs.


Lead position up 63 to 2,106 pts - averaging 52.7 .... Salsoul (Dean Burdin)
100th up 70 (2,011 pts)
1k up 68 (1,945)
10k up 66 (1,831)

Only ‘countback’ can separate our top two as we head into the final (usually) goal-crazy week .... this will probably go to the FA Cup Final.
1) .... 2,106 .... Dean Burdin ............... Salsoul
2) .... 2,106 .... Keith Bond ................. Risa
3) .... 2,084 .... Andrew Luckhurst ..... 3
4) .... 2,083 .... John Hicks ................. Return of the Jell-i
5) .... 2,083 .... Paul Ryan ................... Rocket Science
6) .... 2,079 .... Justyne Murnaghan .. Justynes Jokers
7) .... 2,077 .... Mark Fisher ................ Farkelife
8) .... 2,075 .... Ben Hughes ............... 7UP
9) .... 2,074 .... Russell Jackson ........ Russell Athletico
10) .. 2,073 .... Dean Burdin ............... FISO25 DJBURDINI

[brencarr]

Week 41 – The final league fixtures

The Premier League finally ended today, a couple of months later than planned, but at least we got there!

Liverpool were already champions, they won 3-1 at Newcastle to end on 99 points, which is the second highest points tally ever – well played.
Man. City couldn’t be caught in 2nd place, they won 5-0 (again - the 4th time since the restart) at home against Norwich, who were already relegated. Man City ended the season with 102 goals, they have now scored 100+ league goals in a top-flight season five times, an English record. This game saw the final Premier League appearance of David ‘Merlin’ Silva, he will be missed at the Etihad

So, at the top end of the table the main issue was who would finish in the European qualification places. Chelsea beat Wolves 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to ensure they were ok and in the big decider game Man United won 2-0 at Leicester to finish 4th and push the Foxes down to 5th. Leicester were in the top 4 for 325 days this season – but not on the final day.
Spurs drew 1-1 at Palace but this was enough to leapfrog Wolves and ensure Europa League football next season , Wolves will join them if Chelsea win the FA Cup.

The battle at the bottom of the table has ended in disaster for Watford, who lost 3-2 at Arsenal, and Bournemouth, who won 3-1 at Everton but were sent down when Villa got a 1-1 draw at West Ham thanks to Grealish’s 10th goal of the season.

Aston Villa 35 points
Bournemouth 34
Watford 34
Norwich 21

Leeds United & West Brom have already been promoted, with one of Brentford, Fulham, Cardiff or Swansea to join them after the play offs.

Some awards were handed out this week ....

Golden Boot – Jamie Vardy (23 goals), the oldest winner (Premier League) at 33
Golden Gloves – Ederson (16 clean sheets)
Playmaker Award – Kevin de Bruyne, with 20 assists, equalling Thierry Henry’s record
Football Writers' Association Player of the Year – Jordan Henderson (I'm not joking )

TFF season leading points scorers
KDB – 228 points
TAA – 207
Aubameyang - 205
Vardy & Ings – 202
Martial - 199
.... Jordan Henderson 101

Leader up 65 to 2,171 pts - averaging 53.0 .... Salsoul (Dean Burdin)
100th up 59 (2,070 pts)
1k up 57 (2,002)
10k up 54 (1,885)

With just the FA Cup Final to come our leader has a 12-point buffer, is that enough .... how many players does everyone have in the final .... any transfers left?

1) .... 2,171 .... Dean Burdin ............... Salsoul
2) .... 2,159 .... Keith Bond ................. Risa
3) .... 2,149 .... Andrew Luckhurst ..... 3
4) .... 2,145 .... Ben Hughes ............... 7UP
5) .... 2,143 .... Paul Ryan ................... Rocket Science
6) .... 2,142 .... John Hicks ................. Return of the Jell-i
7) .... 2,141 .... Russell Jackson ........ Russell Athletico
8) .... 2,139 .... Justyne Murnaghan .. Justynes Jokers
9) .... 2,135 .... Dean Burdin ............... FISO25 DJBURDINI
10) .. 2,126 .... Paul Jamieson .......... Lastchancesaloon

[brencarr]

I knew there were some records broken this season but here’s a list from the Premier League’s website.

Team records

Earliest title win
Liverpool cemented first place with seven matches to spare, more than any previous title-winner.

Most consecutive home wins
Liverpool set a record of 22 straight victories when they beat AFC Bournemouth at Anfield in March. They went on to extend the run to 24 matches.

Most matches won
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool won 32 of their fixtures, equalling the record after Manchester City achieved the same total in both 2017/18 and 2018/19.

Most consecutive victories
From October 2019 to February 2020, Liverpool won 18 straight matches, matching Man City’s run which ended in December 2017.

Most points collected at home
Liverpool amassed 55 from a possible 57 at Anfield, the joint-most alongside Chelsea (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11) and Man City (2011/12).

Biggest away win
Leicester City’s 9-0 triumph at Southampton was the biggest away win and the joint-biggest victory overall, after Man Utd beat Ipswich Town 9-0 at home in March 1995.

Quickest team to score five in a match
Man City were 5-0 up against Watford after just 18 minutes in September, the earliest a team have managed five goals.

Five players scoring 10 goals
Man City also became the first team to achieve this feat in a season, with Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez all hitting double figures.

Four consecutive three-goal wins
With July’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa, Man Utd became the first team to win four consecutive matches by a margin of three or more goals.

Biggest win v leaders for bottom-three team
Watford’s 3-0 win against Liverpool was the biggest victory for a side in the relegation zone against the team top of the table.

Wins on every day of the week
Aston Villa became the first side to win on all seven days of the week in a single campaign.

Most penalties awarded
Man Utd were given 14 spot-kicks, the most a team have ever won in a season.

Fewest goals conceded by a promoted club
Sheffield United let in just 39 on their return to the competition. The Blades also became the first-ever promoted team to avoid defeat in their first nine away matches of a season.

Most times relegated
Norwich City were relegated for a record fifth time, scoring the fewest-ever away goals in a season, with seven. They also lost all 27 matches in which they fell behind, becoming the only team not to record a single point from a losing position.

Most times promoted
West Bromwich Albion were promoted from the Championship for a record fifth time.


Individual records

Most assists in a season
De Bruyne equalled Thierry Henry’s record of 20 goals set up from 2002/03. De Bruyne also became the first player to set up at least 15 goals in three different campaigns, and the fastest to reach 50 assists, doing so in 123 matches.

Most goal involvements in first 10 matches
Bruno Fernandes registered his 13th goal involvement in his 10th match, the joint-highest total for goals and assists in a player’s first 10 appearances.

Ever-present outfield title-winner
Virgil van Dijk equalled a record by playing every minute for the champions, emulating Gary Pallister (1992/93), John Terry (2014/15), Wes Morgan (2015/16) and Cesar Azpilicueta (2016/17).

Oldest to start 100 in a row
Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster became the oldest player to start 100 consecutive matches, completing his century against Southampton at 37 years and 86 days.

Oldest Golden Boot winner
Jamie Vardy finished as the top scorer at the age of 33, with 23 goals. The previous oldest Golden Boot winner was 32-year-old Didier Drogba, who scored 29 times in 2009/10.

Highest-scoring foreign player
Sergio Aguero become the top-scoring overseas player when he overtook Thierry Henry's total of 175 with three goals at Aston Villa in January. He finished the campaign with 180 goals.

Most hat-tricks in history
With his 12th hat-trick in the competition, netted against Aston Villa, Sergio Aguero broke Alan Shearer's record of 11.

First player to score in his side’s first six matches
Sergio Aguero achieved the feat when he found the net in an 8-0 victory over Watford.

Most goals in first two matches
With a goal against Liverpool and a hat-trick against Newcastle United, Teemu Pukki became the first player to score as many as four goals in his first two appearances.

Scoring against every team faced
A goal against Sheff Utd in July meant that Harry Kane scored against all 29 opponents he has faced. He is the only player to face more than one club and score against them all.

Most fouls on a player
Jack Grealish was fouled 167 times, the most in a season since records began in 1998/99.

Most chances created in a month
Emiliano Buendia created 29 goalscoring chances in December, the most by a player in a single calendar month since such data became available in 2003/04.

Earliest booking
Scott McTominay picked up a yellow card after just 24 seconds in Man Utd’s Boxing Day match against Newcastle, the fastest given since this data started being collected in 2006/07.

Most penalties conceded
David Luiz gave away five, the most by one player in a season.

Most Player of the Month awards
Sergio Aguero won a record seventh EA SPORTS Player of the Month award, surpassing Steven Gerrard and Harry Kane's six awards.

Most Manager of the Month awards in a season
Jurgen Klopp won the Barclays award five times, beating Pep Guardiola's four from 2017/18.

[brencarr]

Week ‘whatever’ - the F.A. Cup Final (Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea)

Just a quick update to give the final scores – I’ll do an end-of-season round up tomorrow.

Arsenal won the FA Cup Final, as they do – they have won each of their past seven FA Cup final appearances since 2002 - no team has had a longer run of successive final triumphs in the competition.

Pulisic scored the opening goal, which was the first FA Cup final goal scored by an American player, but Aubameyang was the Arsenal hero with both goals in their 2-1 victory. His 12 points also meant he moved up into 2nd place in the final TFF points standing.

KDB - 228 points
Aubameyang - 217
TAA - 207
Vardy - 202
Ings - 202

Aubameyang was also the TFF top goal scorer with 26, three more than Vardy & Ings.

The 2-1 Cup final didn't offer too much to shake up the top 10, a few teams understandably showing signs of a lack of transfers.

Leader up 12 to 2,183 pts - averaging 52.0 .... Salsoul (Dean Burdin)
100th up 16 (2,086 pts)
1k up 15 (2,017)
10k up 14 (1,899)

Our leader easily held on in the final and extended his lead to win by 21 points – well played Dean Burdin.
1) .... 2,183 .... Dean Burdin ............... Salsoul
2) .... 2,162 .... Mark Fisher ................ Farkelife
3) .... 2,160 .... Keith Bond ................. Risa
4) .... 2,160 .... Russell Jackson ........ Russell Athletico
5) .... 2,159 .... Ben Hughes ............... 7UP
6) .... 2,158 .... Justyne Murnaghan .. Justynes Jokers
7) .... 2,154 .... John Hicks ................. Return of the Jell-i
8) .... 2,153 .... Andrew Luckhurst ..... 3
9) .... 2,143 .... Paul Ryan ................... Rocket Science
10) .. 2,140 .... Tim Smith .................. Sankey Sinners

So, our season finally draws to an end, with something of a whimper – sans fans, sans passion, sans magic, sans everything.

[brencarr]

Covid-19/20 Season wrap up

Well that was a chore wasn’t it? I hope they can get fans back into the grounds soon – it’s been really flat without them.

First off, here is a list of the managerial casualties this season ....

Chelsea ........... Maurizio Sarri ............... Frank Lampard
Newcastle ....... Rafael Benitez ............... Steve Bruce
Watford .......... Javi Garcia ..................... Quique Sanchez Flores
Spurs ............... Mauricio Pochettino ..... Jose Mourinho
Arsenal ............ Unai Emery .................... Mikel Arteta
Watford ........... Quique Sanchez Flores .. Nigel Pearson
Everton ............ Marco Silva .................... Carlo Ancelotti
West Ham ........ Manuel Pellegrini .......... David Moyes
Watford ........... Nigel Pearson ................ Hayden Mullins (interim)
Bournemouth .. Eddie Howe .................... ?

.... and the success stories

Champions – Liverpool
Champions League qualification – Man City; Man United & Chelsea
Europa League group stage qualifiers – Leicester (5th place) & Arsenal (as FA Cup winners)
Europa League 2nd qualifying round qualifiers – Spurs (6th place)

The TFF scores were low compared to last season, the final average was 52 points per week, last season it was 58 and the season before was 54.4.

Wk ........ Leading team(manager) ...................... Total ........ Average
1 ... Lyon gilf 5 ..................... (Kevin Cleary) ........... 119 ...... 119
2 ... Jubbs XI ......................... (Julie Brian) ............. 190 ........ 95
3 ... Avengers Assemble A ... (Wayne Brignull) ...... 248 ...... 82.67
4 ... Johns Jokers XI ............. (John Hill) ............... 342 ........ 85.50
5 ... Summer Daisy .............. (Maggie Low) ............ 417 ...... 83.40
6 ... Avengers Assemble A ... (Wayne Brignull) ....... 478 ...... 79.67
7 ... Summer Daisy .............. (Maggie Low) ............ 563 ...... 80.43
8 ... Summer Daisy .............. (Maggie Low) ............ 583 ...... 72.88
9 ... Summer Daisy .............. (Maggie Low) ............ 613 ...... 68.11
10 . Suspicious Mince ......... (Oliver Clifford) .......... 653 ...... 65.30
11 . Suspicious Mince ......... (Oliver Clifford) .......... 722 ...... 65.64
12 . Suspicious Mince ......... (Oliver Clifford) .......... 778 ...... 64.83
13 . NO BLEeding chance .... (Matthew Assiratti) ... 832 ...... 64.00
14 . Suspicious Mince ......... (Oliver Clifford) .......... 872 ...... 62.29
15 . Micks tricks ................ (Michael Adlam) .......... 929 ...... 61.93
16 . Suspicious Mince ......... (Oliver Clifford) .......... 975 ...... 60.94
17 . Micks tricks ................ (Michael Adlam) .......... 1029 ...... 60.53
18 . Suspicious Mince ......... (Oliver Clifford) .......... 1063 ...... 59.06
19 . Last Minute ............... (Justin Merritt) ............. 1093 ...... 57.53
20 . Last Minute ............... (Justin Merritt) ............. 1128 ...... 56.40
21 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1183 ...... 56.33
22 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1207 ...... 54.86
23 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1274 ...... 55.39
24 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1314 ...... 54.75
25 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1351 ...... 54.04
26 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1373 ...... 52.81
27 . GUTTY 5 ..................... (Chris Hill) ................... 1420 ...... 52.59
28 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1480 ...... 52.86
29 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1520 ...... 52.41
30 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1540 ...... 51.33
31 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1584 ...... 51.09
32 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1636 ...... 51.13
33 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1692 ...... 51.27
34 . Real Madras 4 ............ (Matthew Baird) .......... 1752 ...... 51.53
35 . Return of the Jell-I ...... (John Hicks) ............... 1822 ...... 52.05
36 . Return of the Jell-I ...... (John Hicks) ............... 1872 ...... 52.00
37 . Salsoul ....................... (Dean Burdin) ............... 1928 ...... 52.10
38 . Risa ............................ (Keith Bond) ................. 1996 ...... 52.52
39 . Risa ............................ (Keith Bond) ................. 2043 ...... 52.38
40 . Salsoul ....................... (Dean Burdin) ............... 2106 ...... 52.65
41 . Salsoul ....................... (Dean Burdin) ............... 2171 ...... 52.95
42 . Salsoul ....................... (Dean Burdin) ............... 2183 ...... 51.97

‘Next’ season has already started in Scotland and the English Premier League gets underway in just 6 weeks, so I’m off for a lie down.

[murf]

Of the previous leaders....

risa - 3rd - 23pts adrift
Return of - 7th - 29pts adrift
Real Madras 4 & the rest )that I've checked)- outside the top 100! - at least 97POINTS ADRIFT!

[gio]

great weekly post this Brencarr.

Congrats for the work