Premier League (Wk 36)

As the great Ian Dury once said, reasons to be cheerful...

I've got the day off work - the sun's splitting the trees. I've just opened a bottle of rum (I'll apologise now for any grammatical fuck ups) - the missus won't be back until late tonight. And as if that wasn't enough... there's a belting weekend of Prem footy to look forward to. Life's good when you keep it simple.

Man U v Chelsea

Where do you start with this one? Man U have already confirmed their place in the CL final (how did Schalke make it to the semi?) and could put the league title beyond doubt. Chelsea, after looking very ordinary earlier on, could put the cat amongst the winged rats and thrust themselves into pole position. Fergie said he had a sleepless night before the Schalke game owing to his (not so risky after all) team selection. Me thinks he'll lose a few more Z's tomorrow night. Ancelloti's boys have nothing to lose, but a hell of a lot to gain. All said, I've got a gut feeling that United will sow it up on Sunday. 2-1

Stoke v Arsenal

My expat mate (and long suffering Gooner), Sean, has just reminded me that this fixture has more than its fair share of previous. To quote the good old BBC, "Wenger has long complained of Stoke taking a robust approach more akin to rugby." The difference between the two sides is that the Potters still have a chance of lifting some silverware. The Gunners aren't going to do any better than CL qualification, so it's a bit of a dead rubber. Still, I fancy the north London boys to take this by the odd goal.

Everton v Man City

You've gotta respect Everton, and David Moyes. No money to spend, shit starts to the last few seasons, yet they always seem to finish strongly. This'll be a tough game for City who are still without Tevez, but they'll be happy as Larry with a 4th place finish and an FA Cup final appearance. Everton by the odd goal.

Top 3, bottom 3 predos

No change at the top. It'll finish:

Man U
Chelsea
Arsenal

At the bottom:

W Ham
Wigan
Blackpool

One last thing to leave you with. I watched the Copa Libertadores match on the telly last night between Junior (Colombia) and Jaguares (Mexico). Cracking game which finished 4-4 on aggregate, the Mexican side winning on away goals. The best bit was, in the second half, when a supporter ran onto the pitch and was 'halted' by one of the players. I'm sure it'll pop up on You Tube before long.