FanPost

IKTS Week 15: A visit to Chelsea.

Arsenal only led 1-0 after the first half on a dynamic action instigated by Martinelli who passed to Saka for an excellent assist and a great header by Martinelli. But Saka got kicked repeatedly with impunity and had to be withdrawn as he was replaced by Nelson. With nobody to kick, Nottingham Forest failed to recognize that Nelson would score as Xhaka received a pass in excellent position and gave the ball to Jesus who found a free Nelson for a left footed shot that Henderson parried but Nelson was the first to react and scored with his right foot. The next goal involved Odegaard who passed to Jesus whose pass resulted in another Nelson goal. Nelson turned provider next for a Partey goal that looked quite similar to the goal against the noisy neighbors. Finally, Jesus assisted Odegaard for the fifth goal while Arsenal also kept a clean sheet.

On Saturday, Leicester lost 0-1 to visiting Manchester City who scored on a KDB free kick but the hosts should have scored by Tielemans who only hit the woodwork. Bournemouth scored twice but then conceded three goals and lost at the death 2-3 against the visiting noisy neighbors. Brentford and Wolverhampton ended 1-1 but Diego Costa earned a red card for stupidly headbutting Ben Mee. Brighton beat Chelsea 4-1 in a game that witnessed two own goals by Chelsea players while Potter's miserable return to Brighton was also remarkable for a goalkeeper substitution and a below par game for Cuccurella and Sterling, among others. Crystal Palace went one nil at home to Southampton. Newcastle beat Aston Villa 4-0 in another game that witnessed a goalkeeper substitution as Martinez suffered a concussion. Fulham versus Everton ended goalless. Liverpool lost surprisingly at home to Leeds 1-2 late in the game despite an earlier Salah 1-1 equalizer. Finally, Manchester United won 1-0 against West Ham with de Gea putting a strong performance to keep the clean sheet.

Overall, the 14 active participants combined for a decent haul of 115 points, for an average of 8 and 3/14 points per active participant, but we only had 7 correct IKTS predictions. A total of 27 goals were scored over 10 games, for an average of 2.7 goals per game.

Scores for the week:

rswansont 14 (2)
Sonny from Suffolk 13 (1)
Ray from Norfolk 9 (0)
billvacation 8 (0)
ClevelandJames 8 (0)
Seidman 8 (0)
ben from portsmouth 7 (1)
hansdampf 7 (1)
luismamontes 7 (1)
AsemBuckets 7 (0)
Mulz 7 (0)
Purple & Proud 7 (0)
skinnejay 7 (0)
Geaux_HR 6 (1)

Stars of the week: rswansont is first on 14 points (and two correct IKTS predictions) with Sonny from Suffolk in second on 13 points (and one correct IKTS prediction) while Ray from Norfolk is in third place on 9 points (but no correct IKTS predictions) in a week that is remarkable in that the podium is the opposite / mirror image of the bottom three of the previous week's scores.

Clever pick of the week: Only rswansont had the exact score for Fulham versus Everton while only luismamontes had the correct score for Manchester United versus West Ham. There were also two correct predictions for Crystal Palace versus Southampton and another three for Brentford versus Wolverhampton.

Crisis pick of the week: Only billvacation failed to predict a win for The Almighty Arsenal, thus getting a bagel, while all the other participants only scored a point as their judgement was clouded by billvacation's confusing prediction to the point that they failed to plump for a 5-0 score line.

Standings after week 14:

skinnejay 112 (19)
Ray from Norfolk 109 (11)
Geaux_HR 108 (18)
Sonny from Suffolk 107 (15)
luismamontes 104 (13)
Mulz 99 (15)
hansdampf 99 (14)
rswansont 97 (10)
ClevelandJames 95 (10)
ben from portsmouth 95 (9)
Purple & Proud 91 (13)
AsemBuckets 86 (6)
Seidman 85 (10)
billvacation 82 (10)
DustyGooner 9 (2)

After week 14, skinnejay leads Ray from Norfolk by three points, Geaux_HR by four points, and Sonny from Suffolk by five points.

Upcoming schedule: Saturday November 5 and Sunday November 6:

Leeds - Bournemouth
Manchester City - Fulham
Nottingham Forest - Brentford
Wolverhampton - Brighton
Everton - Leicester
Chelsea - Arsenal
Aston Villa - Manchester United
Southampton - Newcastle
West Ham - Crystal Palace
Tottenham - Liverpool

COYG!