Saturday 30 June 2018

FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 30th June (YB)

Today sees the first 2 matches of the last 16 and I'm really looking forward to these as it'll see two teams that would be classed as 'likely to make it to the finals' will be going home after them! I think they're going to be hard fought matches, but I think it'll be Portugal and France going through to the quarter finals. Here are my score predictions for today...

France 2-1 Argentina
 Uruguay 1-2 Portugal



FOOTBALL: England vs Belgium Match - 1st Defeat (YB)

Well the England vs Belgium match was rather dismal. I was hoping to get a good look at how England fared against a better team, but with both teams swapping out the majority of their main players, it was difficult to really see what to make of England and I think we played fairly well anyway despite the defeat.

Next match is Tuesday against Colombia. I think Colombia have been quite poor in the group stages, so they should be easy enough to beat if England play as well as they did in their first two matches.

Good luck, England!




Thursday 28 June 2018

FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 28th June (YB)

Last four matches of the group stages today. I think Belgium, Tunisia, Japan will win, but I think Senegal vs Colombia will be a draw. Here are my score predictions...

England 2-3 Belgium
 Panama 1-2 Tunisia
 Japan 2-1 Poland
 Senegal 2-2 Colombia
As for yesterday's matches... Again I watched two out of the four matches. First I watched South Korea vs Germany and what a brilliant win for South Korea. Germany got no less than they deserved! They have played terribly throughout the group stages and deserve the early exit they've been dealt! And what was Neuer thinking?! I know they were behind, but is stupidity lead to a second easy goal for South Korea! I know South Korea are out too, but their win against Germany is something their country should be proud of them for!

Then I watched Serbia vs Brazil. Serbia were playing well enough, but were no match for Brazil, even if Brazil weren't ultimately convincing. Once again, I feel Neymar and Gabriel Jesus were just poor throughout, totally unimpressed. And Neymar is just a big head, all about showboating and trying to claim his own glory instead of putting the team first. I miss the days of Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos et al. What a Brazilian team that was! Still, I'm glad Brazil are through and hoping they step up their game in the next round. The team certainly has enough talent between them, they just need to start acting as a team and forget the glory-getters!

I didn't see the Mexico vs Sweden match, but I was surprised Sweden won by such a big margin. I actually expected Mexico to win. I also expected Switzerland to beat Costa Rica but that ended in a draw! You can already tell this World Cup is going to be one full of shocks, so maybe England stand a chance this time!

Wednesday 27 June 2018

FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 27th June (YB)

Another four matches today. Today, I think Brazil, Switzerland, Germany & Mexico will win. Here are my score predictions for today...

Serbia 1-2 Brazil
 Switzerland 2-1 Costa Rica

South Korea 0-2 Germany

Mexico 2-1 Sweden

As for yesterday's matches, again I watched 2 of them. The first was Denmark vs France and what a totally boring match that was. Denmark probably played better, marginally. But France did not look like a winning team at all. Very poor play, very dismal match. Nothing more to say.

I also watched Iceland vs Croatia. Didn't Iceland play well?! Clearly outplayed with the quality of Croatia, but you have to admire Iceland for doing as well as they have, even if they won't be moving on to the next round.

I saw the results for the other matches. I was surprised Peru beat Australia, I thought either Australia would win or it would be a draw. And as for Nigeria vs Argentina... It was looking like Argentina were out and Nigeria were through until Rojo's goal. You have to feel for Nigeria and to be honest, I feel like they'd have earned their place going through more than Argentina as up until today, Argentina have been absolutely terrible!

Tuesday 26 June 2018

FOOTBALL: Best Goals In The Group Stages (World Cup) (YB)

We've seen some pretty fantastic goals in the group stages so far. Here are six of the best in my opinion...

1. Luka Modric (Croatia) vs Argentina | 21st June 2018

2. Philippe Coutinho (Brazil) vs Switzerland | 17th June 2018

3. Heungmin Son (South Korea) vs Mexico | 23rd June 2018
4. Denis Cheryshev (Russia) vs Saudi Arabia | 14th June 2018

5. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) vs Spain | 15th June 2018

6. Xerdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) vs Serbia | 22nd June 2018

FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 26th June (YB)

Four more matches today. I think Australia, France, Croatia & Nigeria will win today and here are my score predictions...

Australia 2-1 Peru
 Denmark 0-2 France
 Iceland 1-3 Croatia
 Nigeria 2-1 Argentina

I saw two of yesterday's matches. Firstly, I watched Uruguay vs Russia. After Russia's first two group matches, I thought it was likely Russia would win, but Uruguay finally stepped up their game and they won a comfortable 3-0 against them.

The other match I saw was Iran vs Portugal - well, Portugal didn't exactly play with enthusiasm and while they should've really won thanks to that goal from Quaresma, their gameplay was unenthusiastic to say the least. And the 'great' Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty - the icing on the cake. But Iran did not deserve that penalty that allowed them to get a draw from the match in the closing moments. It should not have been a penalty. I think referees feel under pressure to change their minds when they've already made a decision because of VAR.

I didn't see the Saudi Arabia vs Egypt match, but I thought Egypt would win it. The old Egyptian goalkeeper spectacularly saved a penalty though.

I also didn't see the Morocco vs Spain match, but did expect Spain to win, but yet another draw there. I wonder how today's matches will go? This whole World Cup has been full of shocks and surprises!

Monday 25 June 2018

FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 25th June (YB)

There are 4 matches today, as we're into the last matches of the group stages now. Today, I think Egypt, Russia, Portugal & Spain will win and here are my score predictions for today...

Saudi Arabia 1-2 Egypt

Uruguay 2-3 Russia
Iran 1-4 Portugal
Spain 3-1 Morocco
There are already some teams that have qualified for the round of 16 - Russia, Uruguay, France, Croatia, Mexico, England and Belgium so far. And the last round of matches will be played this week to settle who else will be going through. Argentina are probably one of the most shocking to be heading home after only the group stages.

As for yesterdays matches... England vs Panama - what a game for us England fans! I thought we'd win, but who would have expected a 6-1 victory?! 6-1!!! Brilliant hat-trick from Harry Kane, but great play from the whole team. Panama were just silly behavioural wise - giving away the first penalty was stupid and blatantly a penalty, but the second penalty, I don't know what they were thinking! The referee spent an age telling them to stop mauling the England players and that he had his eye on them before he let England take their corner, but despite is warnings, Panama continued the mauling and blatantly brought down not one, but two England players leading to a second penalty. Silly play from Panama and they threw away the game.

I missed the Japan vs Senegal game unfortunately, but I thought it would be fairly evenly matched, but I thought one of them would win, but it turned out it was so close, it was a draw.

I did see the Poland vs Colombia match. I thought that match would be quite close, but Colombia slaughtered Poland. Poland were all over the place and only really had one decent shot from Lewandowski. Their whole game was embarrassing to their country and Colombia really to the game to them and got a well deserved 3-0 win.

Sunday 24 June 2018

FOOTBALL: England vs Panama Match - WOW! (YB)

WOW! What a match! Who else lost count of the goals?! 6-1 was an amazing result for England. In the first half, the goals were just flying in left, right and centre! Panama were totally outplayed and outclassed by us!

I think that victory left a lot of England fans with high hopes, but I think we need to remember, at the end of the day, that we were playing Panama, so I don't think we should get too carried away just yet. We played well, but our first real test will come against Belgium, if we play as well then, then I think we'll be allowed to get a little bit carried away as Belgium has an amazing team!

We were cheering on England...


FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 24th June (YB)

Three matches again today. I think England, Japan & Colombia. Here are my score predictions for today...

England 2-1 Panama

Japan 2-1 Senegal

Poland 1-2 Colombia

Yesterdays matches were great! Belgium really thrashed Tunisia and it was a great match. Great goals and gameplay from Belgium. Though Tunisia played well for the best part and then really tried.

Mexico beat South Korea which is exactly what I expected. They both played well, but Mexico clearly outshone South Korea.

Germany vs Sweden was a close one. They both played really well and Germany, for me, did not look like potential winners. Sweden could have realistically scored more and I feel for them getting beat in the last moments of the game.

Saturday 23 June 2018

HORSE RACING: Royal Ascot - Day 5 Predictions (YB)

Onto the fifth and final day of Royal Ascot. Here are my predictions for today...

14:30 - Win: Beyond Reason, E/W: On A Session, Outsider: Nate The Great
15:05 - Win: Crystal Ocean, E/W: Barsanti, Outsider: Red Verdon
15:40 - Win: Van Beethoven, E/W: Junius Brutus, Outsider: James Watt
16:20 - Win: Harry Angel, E/W: City Light, Outsider: D'bai
17:00 - Win: Dreamfield, E/W: Undrafted, Outsider: Silent Echo
17:35 - Win: Light Pillar, E/W: Fun Mac, Outsider: Uber Cool

So, how did my predictions do yesterday? Out of my 6 win predictions I got just 1/6 correct. As for my E/W predictions, just 1/6 correct. And finally, my outsider predictions got me a whopping 0/6! Pretty terrible again on day four! Judging by how terribly I've done, I doubt day 5 is going to go much better!


FOOTBALL: World Cup Predictions - 23rd June (YB)

Another three matches today. I think Belgium, Mexico & Germany will win & here are my score predictions for today...

Belgium 2-1 Tunisia

South Korea 0-2 Mexico
Germany 2-1 Sweden
Yesterday's matches... Nigeria beat Iceland! I really thought Iceland would win that match. Nigeria were so lively, I think they wore out the Iceland team. Well deserved win though and a great match.

Brazil vs Costa Rica, well Brazil won, but they didn't half leave it until the last minute, with both goals being scored in extra time! Great set up from Firmino for Coutinho's goal (yet still Firmino doesn't get a first team spot even though he's done more in the matches as a sub than the likes of Gabriel Jesus!) and a great set up from Douglas Costa for Neymar's tap in. Glad to see Brazil win in the end, but it really was last minute!

The Serbia vs Switzerland match was amazing! Really, really enjoyed this match, non-stop action and both teams were really going for it. Serbia had some great chances, but only converted one very good goal from Mitrovic. But what a goal for Xhaka for Switzerland, that was an amazing goal! And Shaqiri scored a brilliant winner too!