Derby County were the first club relegated from the FA Premier League yesterday (29/03/2008). They were the bookies favourites to get relegated at the start of the season and the bookies are rarely wrong. However I believe the future is bright for Derby County as they have one of the best English managers in Paul Jewell and given time he will turn things around.

Arsenal kept their chances of winning the FA Premier League alive, with an awe inspiring comeback against Bolton. At half-time Arsenal were a man down after Abou Diaby was sent off and losing 2-0, however they still managed to beat Bolton 2-3.

Manchester United beat Aston Villa 4-0, with Rooney and Ronaldo on top form, these guys look unstoppable at the moment. Shame Rooney can't deliver the goods when playing for England.

Liverpool won the Merseyside derby with Torres getting the only goal of the game. Everton rarely creating a chance with Yakubu playing up front as a lone striker.

So the race for the Premier League is still in the balance with all the top four clubs winning. Manchester United are still in the driving seat, but Arsenal and Chelsea are applying the pressure, so it looks like it's going to be a close finish.

Just goes to show that football is a funny old game, my predictions were completely wrong and the matches lived up to the hype surrounding them on what was billed as 'Grand Slam Sunday'.

With Manchester United beating Liverpool 3-0 and Chelsea beating Arsenal 2-1, Manchester United have now gone 5 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Manchester United's task was made easier with the Mascherano sending off, however Liverpool at this point were already 1-0 down. I believe that referees should continue this crack down on players using intimidation tactics. When I was a lad, I was told to accept the referee's decision and just get on with the game, as nothing could change their mind.

Players have to realise that they have to accept the referee's decision and any attempt to intimidate them will result in a yellow card. The top four clubs always think they can get away with this tactic. I hope the clampdown is not just a one off and referees continue to crackdown on this behaviour.

It looks like Arsenal are cracking under the pressure and don't seem to be able to grind out results. Whereas Chelsea are playing to their strengths and keeping their title hopes alive by leapfrogging over Arsenal to go second in the table. Drogba is on fine form and banging the goals in, along with Anelka up front, Chelsea have the impetus to challenge Manchester United.

Arsenal are by far the best passing team in the Premier League at the moment, but sometimes they try too hard to pass the ball into the back of the net. If Arsenal had followed Chelsea's example of root one football, then the outcome would have been different and the title race would be more interesting.

Liverpool's title race is all but over with the defeat to Manchester United, so they will have to settle for 4th place. Whereas Manchester United look like favourites to retain the Premier League, but then Chelsea and Arsenal aren't out of the race just yet.

This Sunday (23/03/2008) sees the top four Premier League football clubs do battle (Manchester United vs Liverpool and Arsenal vs Chelsea). These fixtures could make or break the season. With Manchester United currently leading the pack and sitting three points clear at the the top of the Premier League, but that could all change with a slip up against Liverpool and Arsenal defeating Chelsea.

So are these fixtures going to live up to the hype surrounding them, probably not, as they usually end up cancelling each other out and not making good viewing for a neutral fan. That won't stop me watching them on the box and hopefully enjoying a humdinger of a weekend.

Predictions

I predict that Manchester United will beat Liverpool 2-1 and Arsenal and Chelsea will cancel each other out resulting in a 1-1 draw.

Martin O’Neill has resigned from his post as manager of Aston Villa with only five days before the FA Premier league starts. This has left Aston Villa in a right state as O’Neill has left with immediate effect. Leaving the club to appoint Kevin MacDonald as the assistant manager. He will have to pick the side to play West Ham and that team will more than likely not include James Milner who is scheduled to sign for Manchester City in the next few days.

Why Did O’Neill Leave?

Rumours have it that O’Neill was unhappy that with the amount of money that was going to be available to buy players from the sell of James Milner to Manchester City. Recently Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner had been quoted saying that they must sell to buy, which is not really what O’Neill wanted to hear as he had started to build a young team and to have to sell your best players it not the way the club will challenge for the Champions League or even Premier league title.

This is why we think O’Neill resigned, because he’d taken Villa as far as he could with the resources at his disposal. He wanted to challenge for the Champions League places and Premier league title and had the right framework in place, especially with young English players, but his hand was force to sell and then not be given enough funds to buy in better quality players.

Who Will Villa Appoint?

We predict that Glenn Hoddle will be mentioned for the Villa job or even Sven Goran Eriksson getting another crack at managing a Premier league team.

So if your one of the lucky ones that place a bet and predicted that Martin O’Neill would resign before the start of the season then you will love our prediction league game for the FA Premier 2010/11 season. Even if you didn’t predict that Martin O’Neill would resign still check out our website as you might be better at predicting the results.

http://www.predictaddict.co.uk

Good luck for the new season and we hope your team has a successful campaign. Let’s hope O’Neill gets the England job!