FourFourTwo.com would like to begin this weekâÂÂs blog by apologising on behalf of our newspaper, radio and television cousins, following an almighty storm of hysteria that, frankly, saw them get a bit over-excited about John Terry.
Ironically, in a week that saw a return to top-level football for Diego Maradona, some quarters of 'the meeja' seemed to think that scoring an offside goal against Germany made Terry the second coming of the little (in terms of height, if not width) Argentine.
Overlooking his ghastly defensive error which saw Germany equalise and Scott Carson bizarrely castigated, âÂÂJTâ has yet again been labelled âÂÂCaptain Marvelâ by the likes of ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley and whoever cobbles together Metro.
JT shepherds the ball... into the back of his own net
Indeed JTâÂÂs âÂÂheroicsâ have caused former Gillingham striker and part time radio pundit Tony Cascarino to compare the Chelsea skipper to Bobby Moore. Well, heâÂÂs about as quick on the turn as the great man...
The wide-spread media JT brown-nosefest rather unfairly saw impressive performances by England's new holy trinity of Matthew Upson, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Stewart Downing (no, really) overlooked by the majority, although the likelihood is that they won't all make it to South Africa (should England qualify, no egg-counting here, no sir).
Consistency
If Agbonlahor wants to become an England regular, he will have to find greater consistency at Premier League level, something that his Villa team-mates will need to match if theyâÂÂre to have any chance of making the top four this term.
This week Villa host Manchester United, knowing a win would see them leapfrog the champions and possibly Arsenal should the North Londoners not win at Manchester City (which they will, by the way).
Obviously beating one of the established top four sides (as Villa did last weekend, leaving William Gallas to question everything bar his own role as the catalyst of the Gunnersâ slump) can only aid a Champions League push.
But that result came after back-to-back defeats to Newcastle and Middlesbrough, meaning that even though they won at the Emirates, Villa are still chasing rather than leading the Gunners.
Agbonlahor - One third of England's new holy trinity
The race for fourth is ultimately going to come down to which of the two sides is less inconsistent (unless by being less inconsistent theyâÂÂre consistently bad, if you see what we mean...)
Meanwhile, United finally looked like they were back to somewhere near their best last weekend, sticking five past a previously resolute Stoke side at Old Trafford, with youngster Danny Welbeck stealing the headlines from goal-scoring centurion Cristiano Ronaldo with a stunning Premier League debut goal.
Despite being eight points behind the leading pair of Chelsea and Liverpool, United will certainly consider themselves in amongst the title shake-up, given they have a game in hand (at home to Fulham) and are still to welcome both of the top two to Old Trafford between now and May.
If they can do what Liverpool failed to do and win at Villa Park, theyâÂÂll go into what looks like being a massively busy and crucial six or seven weeks with even greater confidence, and we think theyâÂÂll do it... just.
One man who certainly isnâÂÂt high on confidence is Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes, who will come under even more scrutiny than usual on Sunday, with his predecessor Paul Robinson making his first return to N17 since his departure for Blackburn.
Confidence
Despite his erratic form last season, the tubby Yorkshireman was a massively popular figure amongst the White Hart Lane faithful, although that was as much to do with his often jovial demeanour and willingness to wave and indicate the score to the crowd on demand, as his ability between the sticks.
Some Spurs fans are already pining for RobinsonâÂÂs return, which seems more than a trifle foolhardy considering they would most likely have lost 4-1 or 5-1 at Fulham had the England man been in goal at Fulham on Saturday rather than Gomes. But he would have waved and smiled, and thatâÂÂs what itâÂÂs all about isnâÂÂt it?
ThereâÂÂs no doubt the Brazilian has talent, you only need to look at his record at PSV â the Brazilian won the title in each of his four seasons at the Philips Stadion, keeping clean sheets in 60% of his Eredivisie matches and once going on a run of 971 minutes without conceding a league goal.
While the Daily MailâÂÂs website may be happy to repeatedly settle for footballing look-a-likes that bear no resemblance other than the colour of their skin (see their Heurelho Gomes effort here), we at FourFourTwo.com towers have a far sharper - and less racist - eye, and have noticed that Gomes bears more than a passing resemblance to David Lloyd â the former England batsman and current Sky Sports pundit, not the tennisist and gym impresario.
White Hart Lane is not the place to go for clean sheets and we donâÂÂt expect either team to manage one on Sunday either, although we think Spurs might edge it, just, and start to climb the table again.
"If this doesn't help me catch the ball, nothing will!"
Two more sides at the bottom end meet at the Britannia on Saturday, as Stoke host fellow newly-promoted side West Brom. Not many would have tipped the Baggies to struggle more than Stoke and Hull, but thatâÂÂs the way things are looking a third of the way in to the season.
It is, perhaps, an indictment of the Premier League that the team that tries to play good football struggles while those who are perhaps that bit more direct and, dare we say it, one-dimensional look like having more than a decent chance of staying up, but itâÂÂs nothing weâÂÂve not seen before.
WeâÂÂll save you from more mind-numbing analysis of Rory DelapâÂÂs long throw, although we do wonder why it seems to be bringing the Potters more joy at home than it has on the road.
Bottom
It will almost certainly be a feature again on Saturday, and should West Brom be unable to cope with it they will most likely still find themselves bottom come the end of the weekend, given theyâÂÂve only scored twice on the road so far this campaign.
If West Brom keeper Scott Carson was a largely innocent party in the goal England conceded on Wednesday, the same can not be said about the three he let in against Chelsea last weekend.
Poor positioning saw him beaten three times and condemned the Baggies to a morale-denting home defeat. These are the kind of mistakes the youngster will have to cut out if he wants to earn regular England caps, and indeed if he wants to keep his side in the Premier League for longer than another six months.
FourFourTwo's Premier League Predicitions:
Saturday November 22 (3pm kick-off unless stated)
Chelsea 3-1 Newcastle
Liverpool 2-0 Fulham
Man City 1-2 Arsenal
Middlesbrough 1-1 Bolton
Portsmouth 1-1 Hull
Stoke 1-0 West Brom
Aston Villa 1-2 Man Utd (Live on Setanta Sports, 5:30pm)
Sunday November 23
Tottenham 2-1 Blackburn, 1:30pm
Sunderland 2-0 West Ham, 4pm
Monday November 24
Wigan 1-2 Everton, 8pm
Make your own predictions and win ã150,000 with Footy15.
Footy15 pundit predictions:
Alan Hansen
Aston Villa vs Man Utd - DRAW
Chelsea vs Newcastle - HOME WIN
Liverpool vs Fulham - HOME WIN
Man City vs Arsenal - DRAW
Middlesbrough vs Bolton - HOME WIN
Portsmouth vs Hull - HOME WIN
Stoke vs West Brom - HOME WIN
Sunderland vs West Ham - DRAW
Tottenham vs Blackburn - HOME WIN
Wigan vs Everton - AWAY WIN
John Barnes
Aston Villa vs Man Utd - DRAW
Chelsea vs Newcastle - HOME WIN
Liverpool vs Fulham - HOME WIN
Man City vs Arsenal - AWAY WIN
Middlesbrough vs Bolton - DRAW
Portsmouth vs Hull - HOME WIN
Stoke vs West Brom - DRAW
Sunderland vs West Ham - HOME WIN
Tottenham vs Blackburn - HOME WIN
Wigan vs Everton - AWAY WIN
Tony Cascarino
Aston Villa vs Man Utd - AWAY WIN
Chelsea vs Newcastle - HOME WIN
Liverpool vs Fulham - HOME WIN
Man City vs Arsenal - DRAW
Middlesbrough vs Bolton - HOME WIN
Portsmouth vs Hull - DRAW
Stoke vs West Brom - HOME WIN
Sunderland vs West Ham - HOME WIN
Tottenham vs Blackburn - HOME WIN
Wigan vs Everton - HOME WIN
Graham Poll
Aston Villa vs Man Utd - AWAY WIN
Chelsea vs Newcastle - HOME WIN
Liverpool vs Fulham - HOME WIN
Man City vs Arsenal - DRAW
Middlesbrough vs Bolton - HOME WIN
Portsmouth vs Hull - HOME WIN
Stoke vs West Brom - HOME WIN
Sunderland vs West Ham - HOME WIN
Tottenham vs Blackburn - HOME WIN
Wigan vs Everton - DRAW
