As predicted, Chelsea beat Aston Villa one-nil on Saturday, avenging their loss there last season. Chelsea fans will be pleased that Chelsea put in a professional away performance, but the Blues will face two more tough tests as they face two home matches against Juventus in the Champions' League, followed by Wigan in the Premiership. The Juve match should prove trickier on paper, but in reality, Wigan will be another tough match for Chelsea, who need to address their poor home form this season.
It was a tough weekend for the top five. Manchester United beat Blackburn two-one at Old Trafford, thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. I expected a greater winning margin from United, but Blackburn put in a fantastic performance and a point would not have been undeserved for them.
Arsenal and Liverpool unexpectedly slipped up against Sunderland and Manchester City respectively. If it wasn't before, the title is now well and truly in the clutches of Manchester United and it is not surprising that bookmakers Paddy Power have already paid out on United to win the title. I found it surprising that the report on BBC News tonight said Liverpool were 'held' to a draw with City. I may be being petty here, but to be 'held' to a draw, I would assume the side who are held have the lead first, which Liverpool did not.
Bolton did turn out to be tricky for West Ham, with two first-half goals enough to win, despite the Hammers' goal. Middlesbrough and Wigan produced a goalless draw, while at the Britannia Stadium it looked as though Portsmouth had thrown all three points away as Stoke came from a goal down to lead two-one before a late Pompey equaliser goalscoring frenzy during the last 20 minutes.
My 'tip of the day' in the Championship was a disaster as Preston North End became only the second side to suffer defeat at Southampton this season. The Saints took a three-goal lead in the first half and a goal from Ross Wallace was not enough to turn the match for North End.
It was a disaster for me all round on the Championship predictions as everything I predicted failed to happen.
In League One, however, despite failing to predict a loss for Huddersfield, Leeds and Peterborough both won as predicted.
In League Two, I had more success. Bradford had an unexpected crushing four-one defeat at Barnet, but Darlington and Gillingham won as predicted, while I predicted the result spot-on for Brentford, a two-one win.
My predictions Results
Aston Villa v Chelsea Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea
Manchester Utd v Blackburn Manchester Utd 2-1 Blackburn
Arsenal v Sunderland Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Middlesbrough v Wigan Middlesbrough 0-0 Wigan
Stoke v Portsmouth (home win or draw) Stoke 2-2 Portsmouth
Southampton v Preston Southampton 3-1 Preston
Norwich v Burnley Norwich 1-1 Burnley
QPR v Ipswich QPR 1-3 Ipswich
Coventry v Birmingham Coventry 1-0 Birmingham
Nottingham Forest v Derby Nottingham Forest 1-3 Derby
Crewe v Huddersfield Crewe 3-1 Huddersfield
Leeds v Cheltenham Leeds 2-0 Cheltenham
Hereford v Peterborough Hereford 0-2 Peterborough
Barnet v Bradford Barnet 4-1 Bradford
Rochdale 1-2 Brentford Rochdale 1-2 Brentford
Gillingham v Macclesfield Gillingham 3-1 Macclesfield
Darlington v Grimsby Darlington 1-0 Grimsby
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