It was another dismal night for the Rovers and I hope that Big Sam wasn’t watching, as he is due for surgery on an artery anytime soon and seeing his team crumble at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night, wouldn’t have done his heart any good. Erik Nevland opened the scoring in the 43rd minute then two from Clint Dempsey in the 2nd half sealed the 3 points for Fulham.

On Saturday Blackburn are at home to Stoke City and a win for the home side would put them level with the Potters on 19 points, but Rovers have conceded 28 goals this season compared to Stoke’s 15 so I am going with a win for Stoke on current form.

Fulham host Bolton Wanderers at Craven Cottage on Saturday and after their good win against the Rovers in Mid-week, they seem to have turned the tide away from the relegation zone and will want to keep climbing, while Bolton remain in a slump, so I pick Fulham to bag the three points.

Manchester City host Hull at the City of Manchester Stadium and with the Tiger’s spirit and the Light Blues crazy “swings of form” and “string of draws” anything is possible. On paper this should be a walk in the park for Mark Hughes, but I wouldn’t put money on it.

Pompey host Manchester United and one would forgive Sir Alex if he played the “B” team here, but I guess he would like one of those “9 goal” efforts to help his goal difference, so expect a slaughter at Fratton Park, although Portsmouth have a new man in charge after news that Avram Grant will replace Paul Hart at the helm, I doubt that he will perform miracles just yet, but he does bring much needed skill and temperament – after all he took Chelsea to the Champions League Final, Carling Cup Final and he only conceded the Premiership on the final day of the season to Man United in May 2008, so that must be worth something to Pompey.

In another bottom half of the table clash, Burnley travel to Upton Park to face West Ham United. The Hammers under Gianfranco Zola, have failed to impress and are in and out of the relegation zone. Their only hope is if Carlton Cole comes good and fires in a brace.

Hapless Wigan Athletic are at home to giant killers Sunderland and with their 1-0 defeat of Arsenal last weekend and Wigan’s 9-1 thrashing by Spurs, I would not be surprised to see a draw or a Wigan win – as you know: this is a “Funny old game”

In the late match on Saturday evening Aston Villa host Spurs at Villa Park and one thing is for sure, Martin O’Neills lot will not be the same pushover that Wigan was, while Villa’s £12 Million signing from ‘Boro, Stewart Downing could make his debut. I doubt that Jermain Defoe and Co will have the same freedom that they enjoyed last Sunday. This could well be the pick of the day, with Martin’s boys piping Harry’s Hotspurs to the points.

On Sunday there are two great derby matches in Liverpool and London but the early match sees Wolves host Birmingham City, who’s only fan in SA – Chris Gibbons – will be locked to his TV.
Wolves have not enjoyed their stint in the Premiership and seem destined to drop back to the Championship and let Newcastle back up, while Alex McLeish will rely heavily on his countryman Barry Ferguson to ensure that Wolves stay where they are, second from bottom.

At 15:30 (CAT) Everton are at home to Liverpool in the big Merseyside derby, perhaps a little tainted this year by the Toffee’s poor run of form – they are in 14th place – but Rafa can’t be that confident either having seen his team lose to the likes of Fulham and get booted out of Europe. He was dead set on a top four slot early in the season and the Reds looked like making a real challenge for the title, but that seems to have slipped away from them as they struggle to get higher than 7th and with the “Bad Vibes” amongst the players, Rafa could come home with a carrot, though a draw would not surprise me.

The final match of the weekend in the London derby at The Emirates Stadium between Arsenal and Chelsea who are flying high at the top of the table 8 points clear of the Gunners, who do have a game in hand, but last weekend’s unexpected loss to the Black Cats has put a dent in Arsene Wenger’s plans. Add to that the injury to star striker Robin van Persie and all is not well in the home camp, although Theo Walcott is being touted to fill in for van Persie.
This should be a brilliant encounter, with no quarter asked or given. I expect a low scoring draw or a win for the Blues.