Wednesday Carabao Madness!

It's a big night in the League Cup as we've reached the 5th Round stage and the big boys are battling it out. We've got two big marquee match-up - Liverpool v. Arsenal at Anfield and Chelsea v. ManYoo from the Bridge. Now given the lack of respect of modern managers for this tournament, we're likely to see some academy prospects and back benchers rather than the stars. But still - it's Liverpool v. Arsenal and Chelsea v. United on one night. Cor!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 10 Update

A very good Tuesday morning to all of you out there in the PPP universe. I'm here as usual to update our standings. Well, nothing changed at in the top six as all of the clubs at the upper reaches of the Premier League won this weekend. Leicester's shocking 0-9 win at Soton just reinforced their position. It also dumped Soton into the bottom three, while Newcastle who drew bounced out of the drop zone. Given that several players have Newcastle to go down and none of us plumped for Soton, that's three or four points lost.

In the Championship, things keep shifting every week, with teams winning one week and losing the next. Meanwhile, my beloved Leeds United continue their stealthy campaign toward the title. We're now in third, poised for greatness.

In Europe, some outfit called "Granada" has usurped the great Barcelona at the top of La Liga (at least ahead of El Classico); that's another two points gone. Fortunately, Juve are giving us all two points in Serie A.

Leicester's hat-trick hero from Friday Jamie Vardy is now riding high on 9 goals in the Premier League this season, one ahead of Abraham and Aguero. Kevin de Bruyne added one to his tally of assists - he's now on 9 assists.

So, here are the current standings:

1. West Ham Rising - 34 points
2. MOT the Hoople - 33 pts
3. Swansong - 31 pts
4. Blue Devil - 30 pts
5. Someone Said -19 pts
6. Yellows - 18 pts
7. United We Stand - 17 pts
8. Pink Kits - 15 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 15 pts
10. Man Utd Rules - 13 pts
-   The Saint - 13 pts
12. The Bee's Knees - 12 pts
13. Gooner71 - 11 pts
-   Red Dragon - 11 pts
15. Red Devil 1FCK - 9 pts

A Late Start to a Busy Day of Sunday Football.

Due to the time change in the U.K. the matches start for the majority of us at 10 AM. The opening act starts with the Toon vs Wolves on NBCSN at 10 AM. There are three matches kicking off at 12:30 PM with the match of the weekend being a repeat of the CL Final as it's Pool vs the Spuds on NBC. There's also the Gunners vs Palace on Gold as well as the Canaries vs United on Gold.  Championship fans will be interested in two matches today, which is the South Wales Derby as the Swans host Cardiff as well as Bristol City vs Wigan. Make sure to be around for an action packed Sunday

It's Time to Watch Football!

It was an especially arduous Week #9 of the semester at work this week, so I'm really looking forward to immersing myself in the footer this morning. It all starts in a few minutes with my beloved Leeds United taking on Not a Big Club at their patch. It's a big Championship six-pointer and I can't wait.

At the same time, Man City take on Aston Villa. At 10am, it's Brighton hosting underperforming Everton. And the NBC match at 12:30pm is Burnley v. Chelsea.

So, pour yourself a cuppa and settle in, won't you chaps?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 9 Update

Hiya, PPPers. It's high time that we checked in with our humble game after an extended international break. It's been a busy week of midweek footer, so I held off until the dust had settled before tallying our scores this week. So where are we....

Liverpool, despite their draw with United over the weekend, still maintain a six-point lead at the top. Of traditional big clubs that most of us picked for the European slots, only Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal are in the mix, Leicester continue to defy the odds.

Newcastle have dropped back into the relegation mix alongside Norwich and Watford. In the Championship, the Baggies continue on top for the second week running, with my beloved Leeds bouncing back up from 5th to second. The big Yorkshire Derby early Saturday morning will be a real tester for us.

In Europe, Barcelona have replaced Real Madrid, bringing a lot of us two points. Juve continue on top in Serie A and Borussia are the upstarts in the Bundesliga, preventing us from grabbing two points in that one.

Sergio Aguero and his Belgian mate KDB are the top of the heap in the Golden Boot and, I don't know, "Golden Shoelace" sweepstakes, with Tammy Abraham keeping Sergio company on 8 goals. All of this means that we've got a new leader this week, West Ham Rising!

Here are the current standings:

1. West Ham Rising - 36 points
2. MOT the Hoople - 35 pts
3. Blue Devil - 34 pts
4. Swansong - 33 pts
5. Someone Said - 22 pts
6. Man Utd Rules - 20 pts
-   Yellows - 20 pts
8. United We Stand - 19 pts
9. Pink Kits - 17 pts
-   Red Devil 1FCK - 17 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 17 pts
12. The Bee's Knees - 16 pts
13. Gooner71 - 15 pts
-   The Saint - 15 pts
15. Red Dragon - 14 pts

Midweek Footer Madness!

It's a particularly hectic day at work today, but I'm going to try to peel my eyes away from the humdrum in order to follow the action tonight. We've got a full slate of Champions League as well as Championship action on offer. Of course, I'll be particularly focused on my beloved Leeds United's road trip to Preston North End. We managed to squeak out a tight 1-0 win over Brum at the weekend. I would take the same today to keep us on track with our promotion campaign.

Come on, you Leeds boys! MOT!

The LOB Boys in Scotia!

I had the good fortune to have a conference trip that took me to Saratoga Springs, NY last week, which allowed me to spend some quality time watching the footer with LOB charter member United We Stand. Here we are celebrating a tight victory by the Leeds boys against Birmingham City on Saturday. I'm hoping that we'll have some reunions in the near future, perhaps around the Euro 2020 festivities?

Manchester United vs Liverpool....enough said!

So, United have won twice as many Premier League matches as Liverpool... will that trend continue this morning at Old Trafford? I, for one, don't think it will happen. This United side is just not good enough and Liverpool, sadly, are that good.
I hope I am wrong


Join me
UWS

Footie in Casa Nocito

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm currently enjoying the hospitality of the Nocito family after a conference trip to Saratoga Springs earlier this week. And we've got some good stuff to watch this morning. It all starts with Everton v. West Ham in a moment. That's followed by the usual 10am EST kickoffs, including Spurs v. Watford on NBC Sports and Leeds v. Birmingham in my heart. Finally, it's high-flying Palace against City in the late one on NBC.

Join me for all the fun this morning, won't you?

Fourth Democratic Primary Debate Live!

A very good evening to all of you in LOB land. In a rare break from the footie action, I'm here to watch and chat about the fourth Democratic Presidential Primary Debate tonight. The action all starts in about an hour on CNN from Columbus, OH.

So, what will we see tonight. Elizabeth Warren comes into the debate as a freshly minted front-runner, having recently taken over the mantel from Joe Biden, who has been mired in Ukraine politics in recent weeks. Some attention will be paid to Bernie Sanders who is still recovering from a recent heart attack - expect some questions about his health and a typically gruff response from Bernie. And there should be plenty of impeachment talk.

It should be thrilling - drop on by with a cocktail of your choice for some political chat tonight.

Bulgaria v. England Live!

Well, well, well. This one wasn't supposed to matter, right? England were supposed to clinch their place at Euro 2020 in the Czech Republic on Friday evening; instead, they suffered their first qualifying defeat in ten years, a loss that was somewhere between irritating and alarming. That probably won't affect eventual qualification, which is almost assured, but it has made expectations for next summer more realistic. Tonight, Gareth Southgate's side are in Sofia to meet Bulgaria, who England defeated 4-0 at Wembley in September, thanks to a Harry Kane hat-trick. A similar result would be a tonic tonight. Come on, the Three Lions!

Euro 2020 Sunday

Who's up for some more Euro 2020 action today? I'll be tuning in to Scotland's match with minnows San Marino in a few minutes. That's the warm-up for the big one today - Wales v. Croatia.

Join me for all the fun today, eh?

Euro 2020 Qualifying Saturday

Happy Saturday, everyone! Well, yesterday's Euro 2020 action was rather disappointing with England succumbing to their first qualifying defeat in 10 years. But I'm back for more footer action this afternoon. At 2:45pm EST we've got Norway v. Spain on ESPN+.

Join me for all the usual LOB chatter this afternoon, won't you?

Czech Republic v. England Live!

Gareth Southgate's England team have been cruising through Euro 2020 qualifying, with four wins in four matches with some exciting performances and plenty of goals flowing through the side. Tonight they face the Czech Republic in Prague. This is not your granddad's Czech team, as evidenced by the easy 5-0 win at Wembley in March; however, the boys can ill-afford to take this one as a given. let's have a good, professional performance and win. Come on, you England boys!

Join me from 2:45pm EST onward for all the usual chatter here on the LOB.

Euro 2020 Qualifying Thursday

It's Fall Break here in sunny WNY, so, even though I'm marooned at work, it's fairly slow and I'm starting to look at the Euro 2020 qualification matches today. Everything appears to be on ESPN3, so I should be able to stream them in the office. Here's the schedule:

12pm EST - Belarus v. Estonia
2:45pm - Netherlands v. Norn Ireland
2:45pm - Slovakia v. Wales
2:45pm - Croatia v. Hungary
2:45pm - Latvia v. Poland
2:45pm - North Macedonia v. Slovenia
2:45pm - Austria v. Israel
2:45pm - Russia v. Scotland
2:45pm - Belgium v. San Marino

I'll probably have a look at the early one during my lunch and then tune into the Netherlands v. Norn Ireland one later on. Drop on by for a chat if you're around this afternoon.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 8 Update

A very good Tuesday to all of you in LOB land. As we head into the second interminable international break of the season, it's time to take stock of our humble PPP game again.

After another win and a bad loss for their main rivals Man City, Liverpool are sitting pretty atop the Premier League table, now eight points ahead. That seems like a cushion for those of us who backed the Reds for the title this season. Arsenal and Chelsea have popped back into the European frame, displacing upstarts such as Palace and West Ham. So there are more points around the pool. That said, Newcastle and Villa have jumped out of the relegation zone, replaced by Norwich and Everton, so some of us have lost out there.

My beloved Leeds United have dropped to fifth after a bad loss away to Evil Millwall at the weekend, so WBA and Forest are now in the automatic slots. In Europe, we've still got some chaos with Borussia Munchengladbach now on top of the Bundesliga. However, Juve have now pipped Inter at the top of the Serie A, so there are some points there.

Sergio Aguero didn't score at the weekend, so he's allowed Chelsea's Tammy Abraham catch up with him - they're level on 8 goals. Kevin De Bruyne didn't lay on any goals either but he's still streets ahead of any other assisters in that category.

So, here are the current standings as we head into Euro 2020 territory:

1. MOT the Hoople - 33 points
2. West Ham Rising - 32 pts
3. Blue Devil - 29 pts
4. Swansong - 25 pts
5. Someone Said - 23 pts
6. Red Devil 1FCK - 16 pts
-  United We Stand - 16 pts
8. The Bee's Knees - 15 pts
-  Pink Kits - 15 pts
-  The Saint - 15 pts
-  Yellows - 15 pts
12. Man Utd Rules - 14 pts
-   Red Dragon - 14 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 14 pts
15. Gooner71 - 13 pts

A Busy Sunday Morning Headed Into the October International Break

It's a busy Sunday Morning that starts with a 9 AM triple header with Citeh vs Wolves on NBCSN, the Gunners vs the Cherries on CNBC , and thanks to UWS you can watch Saints vs Chelsea on Gold. It's a quiet end of the day with the Toon vs United kicking off on NBCSN at 11:30 M. That will be the final Prem action for nearly a fortnight. Join me if you can

Saturday's Alright for Footer

Hurrah! It's the weekend again and we can settle in for some of the good stuff. First up this morning is Brighton hosting a faltering Tottenham Hotspur side. That's followed by the usual 10 am kickoffs, including league leaders Liverpool hosting Leicester on NBC Sports. My beloved Leeds are traveling to the Evil Den to meet Evil Millwall, but it's not not the Plus sadly. At the end of the day, there is West Ham v. Palace. You know you want to pull of a chair and enjoy your brekkies with me this morning.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 7 Update!

Happy Friday, PPPers! It's been an extra long week here at work, so I haven't had a moment until now to update the standings for our match. If you cast your mind back to the weekend, you'll remember that both Liverpool and City won handily, so those sides stay on top of the Premier League, helping out the few of us who picked the Reds to win the title. Leicester and West Ham continue in the top six, robbing all of us of valuable points. At the bottom, Newcastle have dropped back in for a cuppa, so many of us have added two points there.

In the Championship, my beloved Leeds enjoyed a big win over WBA in midweek but Swansea have still replaced them at the top after two consecutive wins. In Europe, normal service has been resumed in Germany and Spain, with Bayern and Real Madrid on top now. Inter remains on top in Serie A.

Finally, Sergio Aguero and his pal Kevin de Bruyne are top of the scoring and assist charts. That all means that we have a draw between Blue Devil and our current champion MOT the Hoople at the top of our league.

Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 35 points
-   MOT the Hoople - 35 pts
3. West Ham Rising - 30 pts
4. Swansong - 26 pts
5. Someone Said - 22 pts
6. Gooner71 - 19 pts
7. Red Dragon - 17 pts
8. Red Devil 1FCK - 14 pts
-   The Saint - 14 pts
-   Yellows - 14 pts
11. United We Stand - 13 pts
12. Man Utd Rules - 12 pts
13. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 11 pts
14. The Bee's Knees - 10 pts
15. Pink Kits - 9 pts

Championship Tuesday Live!

It's a big night in the EFL Championship, with a full slate of fixtures, including of course the big one for me - my beloved Leeds United taking on table topping (for the moment, anyway) West Brom. After an indifferent few weeks of results, we need to get back on promotion track tonight with a big win against the Baggies. We've been playing well and dominating matches but we haven't been able to find the finishing touch often enough. It's time to open up the floodgates. Come on, you Whites! #MOT!

I'll be pedaling home from work early this afternoon in order to enjoy this one from the comfort of my easy chair. Join me if you've got a chance.