Premier League Kits Weekly – Round 13

Arsenal managed to go scoreless for the first time this season in a 1-0 loss against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats looked like they always do at home for the big win. Arsenal did some mix and match, as their usual away blue shorts and socks would’ve clashed with the blacks of Sunderland. So the Gunners wore their blue shirts with white shorts and white socks, especially designed as alternates in case of color clashes.
Aston Villa squeaked out a draw against Burnley at Turf Moor on Emile Heskey’s late goal. Because of similarities in color scheme, Villa actually donned their designated change kits. Burnley looked fantastic as always in their home kits.
At St. Andrews, Birmingham City earned a rare win by knocking off Fulham 1-0. Both sides wore their standard kits without changes.
Hull City and West Ham United played a wild game involving six goals, five in the first half, and a Hull red card. In the end the score finished 3-3, a bad lack of three points for both sides. On the other side of the coin, but sides looked pretty good in their usual kits.
With three goals in the first twenty-two minutes, Chelsea blew Wolverhampton Wanderers out of Stamford Bridge. The final score ended up 4-0 to the Blues, but the real story was in the kit choice of Wolves. For the first time this season, to the best of my knowledge, Wolves wore their white change kits. The only difference from their listed away kit was the inclusion of red socks, so as not to have twenty-two players on the field with white socks.
Manchester City drew their sixth consecutive game with a 2-2 stalemate against Liverpool at Anfield Road. Both teams wore their standard kits.
Saturday’s late game saw Manchester United rout Everton at Old Trafford, 3-0. United donned their home kits while Everton added blue shorts and socks to their normal blue tops.
On Sunday, Tottenham completely overwhelmed Wigan to a degree not usually possible in a league like the Premier League. The 9-1 beating was severe enough to suggest that perhaps Spurs were so offended by Wigan’s dreadful, 1978-themed, orange disaster change kits that only nine goals (and five from Jermain Defoe!) would do. Tottenham wore their usual home attire for the outrageous match.
Color coordination was an issue at the Reebok where Blackburn Rovers defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-0. Blackburn wore last season’s change kits (and this season’s third alternates) instead of their usual white-topped change kits. Bolton’s standard home kits were the reason for the changes.
Finally, Stoke City knocked off DFL Portsmouth at the Britannia Stadium 1-0. Stoke watched Portsmouth miss a penalty in their standard home fare. Pompey did of course look nice in their usual kits, but looks alone are not enough to win games in the Premier League.
Tottenham 9 – Wigan 1

Tottenham Hotspur scored by far the most goals in the Premier League this season by knocking in an incredible nine goals, eight of which came after half-time. 9-1 was the final scoreline against Wigan at White Hart Lane to the delight of each and every yid on hand. Jermain Defoe (pictured) poured in five goals while Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjčar added goals against the hapless Latics. The most comprehensive three points of the season keep Spurs in fourth place but only on differential now (though they are seven goals shy of Arsenal on that front). Wigan slink back to fifteenth place, continuing their bizarre season.
Blackburn Rovers left Bolton Wanderers in the wilderness that is the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory at the Reebok. David Dunn scored for Rovers and a Samuel Ricketts own-goal late in the match doomed Bolton. Blackburn jump out of the muck at the bottom of the table and into eleventh place. Bolton are in eighteenth.
Ricardo Fuller scored in the 74th minute to send Stoke City to a 1-0 win over visiting Portsmouth at the Britannia Stadium. The Potters continue their nice run into the top ten of the table by reaching ninth place with the victory over last place Pompey. Portsmouth, after an encouraging spell several weeks ago, once again look to be the worst club in the league and are drifting now to three points short of even nineteenth place.
Bent Takes Down Another Giant

Darren Bent (pictured) scored for Sunderland, leading the Black Cats to another 1-0 victory over a major club at the Stadium of Light. The 71st minute goal gave Sunderland an important victory over Arsenal, coming just weeks after the bizarre 1-0 victory over Liverpool. Bent has now scored at least one goal against each of the traditional top-four clubs and Sunderland moved up to eighth place. Arsenal drop now from second to third in failing to pick up any points in the northeast.
Four goals in the final forty minutes saw Liverpool and Manchester City draw 2-2 at Anfield Road. Martin Škrtel and Yossi Benayoun scored for the Reds while Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland scored for City. The draw was the sixth consecutive for City, though not an unimportant one being away to Liverpool. For the Reds, failing to earn three points again leaves them thirteen points behind the leaders and still two points shy of a Champions League position. Liverpool are currently in seventh place with City in sixth, just a point clear.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea jumped out to an early, insurmountable lead over Wolverhampton Wanderers and cruised to a 4-0 thrashing of last seasons Championship winners. Florent Malouda scored just five minutes in and a Michael Essien brace before the 23rd minute sent the Blues to an easy 3-0 lead. Joe Cole scored in the second half to complete the rout of clearly overmatched Wolves. Chelsea keep to the top of the table, now five points clear of Manchester United. Wolves have just ten points from thirteen matches and are in the relegation zone in nineteenth place.
Lee Bowyer’s 16th minute goal was just enough for Birmingham City to earn a home victory over Fulham, 1-0 at St. Andrews. The three points send Brum all the way up to twelfth place, equalling the point total of the Cottagers, though falling short on goal differential.
A wild game at the KC Stadium saw two clubs badly in need of three points fail to earn them in a 3-3 draw between Hull City and West Ham United. Five goals came in the first half but the game was decided in the second. Bernard Mendy was sent off for Hull in the 54th minute, leaving West Ham with a man advantage. Manuel da Costa made Hull pay by scoring in the 69th minute and giving both teams a solitary point. Both sides remain dangerously close to the relegation zone with West Ham coming in at seventeenth and Hull in sixteenth place.
Stephen Caldwell’s ninth minute header looked to be enough for Burnley to earn three home points against another top four club. But Emile Hesky found the net in the 86th minute for Aston Villa, leaving the score 1-1 and giving shared points. Villa remain in fourth place and Burnley have to be satisfied with ninth.
Finally, Manchester United outplayed and eventually outscored Everton at Old Trafford, 3-0. Darren Fletcher’s absolute cracker in the first half stirred the crowd into a frenzy and provided United with a well-deserved goal. Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia scored in the second half to complete the dismantling of the Toffees in Manchester. United move back into second place with Arsenal’s loss, but are five points short of front-running Chelsea. Everton continue to struggle and remain in thirteenth place.
Premiership Predictions – Round 13

With international week behind and all of the World Cup positions now determined, the Premier League is free to return from it’s one-week sabbatical. A full slate of matches await and two make-up games on Wednesday will bring almost every club onto level terms in the games-played category.
The best match of the weekend could very well be the first one with Manchester City traveling to Liverpool for Saturday’s early game. This match would have been considered a top draw before the season started but at this point it’s two underachieving clubs who are desperately trying to keep up with the top four. A loss by either side is a massive blow to any hopes of a Champions League position come season’s end.
Elsewhere, Chelsea should have no trouble staying atop the league with a home fixture with Wolves. Arsenal have a tough draw at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland and Manchester United will host Everton.
Saturday:
Manchester City @ Liverpool – Liverpool
Wolverhampton @ Chelsea – Chelsea
Arsenal @ Sunderland – Draw
Fulham @ Birmingham City – Birmingham
West Ham @ Hull City – Hull
Everton @ Manchester United – United
Sunday:
Blackburn @ Bolton – Draw
Wigan @ Tottenham – Spurs
Portsmouth @ Stoke City – Stoke
Wednesday:
Everton @ Hull City – Hull
Blackburn @ Fulham – Draw
mao’s Challenge Table:
mao – 209
Jereme – 203
Trey – 195
Mark – 193
mao’s Results Thus Far:
Round 1 – 15 points
Round 2 – 9 points
Round 3 – 24 points
Round 4 – 24 points
Round 5 – 21 points
Round 6 – 19 points
Round 7 – 18 points
Round 8 – 14 points
Round 9 – 20 points
Round 10 – 12 points
Round 11 – 21 points
Round 12 – 12 points
Leaked USA World Cup Kits

Not entirely sure that these are real yet, I think we’re all supposed to find that out soon (maybe even in today’s Denmark friendly?). But as you can see, these images purport to show the USA Soccer kits for the 2010 World Cup, apparently inspired by the famous 1950 World Cup side that defeated England in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Clint Dempsey has been found posing in the white version, so perhaps they are real. An update will come as soon as humanly possible.
Kool Shen – Lame

Olympique Lyonnais further convoluted it’s 2009/10 kit experience by running an advert for a French rapper (and a fan of PSG no less) on their shirts in their rousing 5-5 draw with Olympique de Marseille last weekend. Lisandro can be seen above with the Kool Shen name and album information on the front of the kit. The connection is that Kool Shen is a big poker player and Lyon’s kit sponsors, BetClic, support all kinds of different gambling on their website. Clearly this is a low point in kit sponsorships.









