FanPost

IKTS Week 36: Keeping a jinxing eye on other European hopefuls.

How sweet it is to relegate West Bromwich, particularly as big Sam spewed that Arsenal could be in a relegation battle! Excellent goals by Smith Rowe, Pepe, and Willian translated in a 3-1 win after the most impressive Pereira had reduced the deficit to 2-1. For ESR and Willian, the game marked their first goals in the Premier League for the Gunners, and in fact the first goal ever for Willian since moving from West London. Speaking of West London, how about the win at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea had a couple of glimpses at the Arsenal goal, but never capitalized due to excellent defending, while Jorginho tried an own goal, only for Kepa to save towards Aubameyang who gave an instant assist to ESR. Had Arsenal not scored, the referee would have been (theoretically) obligated to give the Gunners a free kick at the six-yard spot as Kepa did after all handle a back pass at the goal line. This was the first league double for Arsenal against Chelsea since the Invincible season of 2003-2004. Leicester got punished by Newcastle for lax defending, with Willock scoring the first goal of the game in a 2-4 win for the visitors. Leeds took care of the noisy neighbors. Crystal Palace won at relegation bound Sheffield United. Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-2 at the Etihad with Aguerro sending a Panenka straight into Mendy’s arms, and Zouma bundling Sterling in the surface without a penalty call by the officials. Liverpool easily took care of Southampton. Wolverhampton were lucky to win against Brighton. Manchester United came from 1-0 down at Aston Villa to win 1-3 with Watkins getting two yellow cards, adding up to a red card and a one match suspension in Aston Villa’s next game, at home against Everton. Speaking of Everton, they won at West Ham by a single goal, keeping a clean sheet. Fulham lost at home to Burnley, sealing their relegation. Manchester United was beaten by Leicester, possibly because of fatigue. Southampton took care of Crystal Palace by the score of 3-1. Aston Villa and Everton ended up scoreless. Last, but not least, Liverpool won 4-2 at Manchester United in a display that looked more alike last year's dominant displays by the reigning Champions. Overall, there were 61 points attributed to the seven participants, for an average of 8 and 5/7 points. There were only five correct IKTS predictions.

Scores for the week:

ben from portsmouth 10 (1)
Gaeux_HR 10 (1)
hansdampf 9 (1)
sonnyfromsuffolk 9 (1)
inthekcmix 9 (0)
ClevelandJames 8 (0)
Ray from Norfolk 6 (1)

Stars of the week: ben from portsmouth and Geaux_HR share first place on 10 points (and one correct IKTS prediction each) with hansdampf and sonnyfromsufoolk in third place on 9 points (and one correct IKTS prediction each) while inthekcmix is in fifth, also on 9 points (but no correct IKTS predictions) but ClevelandJames is right behind.

Clever pick of the week: Ray from Norfolk was the only participant with the correct score for Liverpool versus Southampton while only hansdampf predicted the correct score for Sheffield United versus Crystal Palace and (more impressively) ben from portsmouth had the correct score for Manchester United versus Chelsea. There were also two correct IKTS predictions for the Aston Villa versus Manchester United game, courtesy of Geaux_HR and sonnyfromsuffolk.

Crisis pick of the week: Only inthekcmix and sonnyfromsuffolk predicted that West Bromwich would earn a draw at Arsenal. The other participants knew better.

Standings after week 35:

ben from portsmouth 294 (35)
ClevelandJames 283 (35)
sonnyfromsuffolk 266 (30)
Ray from Norfolk 247 (26)
hansdampf 244 (27)
Geaux_HR 241 (27)
inthekcmix 218 (18)

After Week 35, ben from portsmouth is ahead of ClevelandJames by 11 points, while sonnyfromsuffolk is now 28 points behind.

Cup game: Arsenal was unable to score against Villarreal, thus exiting the Europa League after a frustrating return semifinal game. Only sonnyfromsuffolk predicted the correct outcome and goal difference, but not the correct score, hauling two points. No other points were awarded.

Cup standings:

hansdampf 23 (4)
inthekcmix 20 (4)
sonnyfromsuffolk 18 (0)
Geaux_HR 17 (2)
ClevelandJames 15 (1)
ben from portsmouth 15 (1)
Ray from Norfolk 14 (1)

In the Cup competition, hansdampf wins over inthekcmix by three points, while sonnyfromsuffolk snatches third place form Geaux_HR.

Upcoming schedule:

Week 36: Friday May 14, Saturday May 15, and Sunday May 16:

Newcastle – Manchester City
Burnley – Leeds
Southampton – Fulham
Brighton – West Ham
Crystal Palace – Aston Villa
Tottenham – Wolverhampton
West Bromwich – Liverpool
Everton – Sheffield United

Instead of the customary COYG:
Go Seagulls!
Go Wolves!
Go Blades!