Reuters Soccer Blog

MONDAY UPDATE: Well the cold weather only put pay to Wigan v Bolton in the end so I guess we’ll have to count the points for that game whenever it’s rescheduled (that will be a nightmare to remember and a challenge for my maths).

Below are the updated scores for the panel, who thanks purely to luck had a better weekend than usual despite there being one game less! Simon Evans guessed right that City boss Mark Hughes wouldn’t last til Xmas Eve, but in reality the decision to sack him had been taken long before the game. Given the festive spirit, Simon can have the dubious bonus point.

Season’s greetings to all, I reckon we’ll have to skip the Boxing Day fixtures given panel members and contributors will be too full of brussel sprouts and brandy butter to file their predictions but we’ll see.

Reuters Soccer blog panel: Patrick Johnston 172, Paul Radford 160, Mitch Phillips 154, Neil Maidment 136, Simon Evans 125, Mike Collett 126, Mark Meadows 126, Kevin Fylan 126, Julien Pretot 120, Miles Evans 107, Martyn Herman 95, Asia Sports Desk 93, Sonia Oxley 56, Justin Palmer 41
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ORIGINAL POST:
I’m freezing at the top of a mountain watching skiing in northern Italy (where in fact the natives all speak German) and I hear it’s shivering cold in the UK and other parts of Europe too.

What better way to warm ourselves up than our Premier League predictions competition. Admittedly our panel have not exactly been red hot of late (see the midweek matches) but some of our outside contributors have outshone us all.

Not an obvious standout game this weekend but I guess Gianfranco Zola’s struggling West Ham against his former side Chelsea is an interesting one so we’ll make that our double pointer. Remember, one point for a correct result and five for getting the score spot on.

Please play along in the comments below and don’t be put off about having to register, we are not MI5. I’ll add in our panel’s predictions just as soon as my frozen fingers thaw out.

Reuters Soccer blog panel: Patrick Johnston 169, Paul Radford 146, Mitch Phillips 143, Neil Maidment 124, Simon Evans 114, Mike Collett 117, Mark Meadows 117, Kevin Fylan 113, Julien Pretot 112, Miles Evans 99, Martyn Herman 91, Asia Sports Desk 90, Sonia Oxley 46, Justin Palmer 41

Playing on Saturday
Portsmouth v Liverpool:  Patrick Johnston 1-2, Paul Radford 0-2, Mitch Phillips 0-1, Neil Maidment 0-3, Simon Evans 1-2, Mike Collett 1-3, Mark Meadows 1-2, Kevin Fylan 0-3, Julien Pretot 0-2, Miles Evans 2-1, Martyn Herman 2-1, Asia Sports Desk 1-1, Sonia Oxley 1-3, Justin Palmer

Aston Villa v Stoke City: Patrick Johnston 2-1, Paul Radford 1-0, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Neil Maidment 3-0, Simon Evans 4-1, Mike Collett 2-1, Mark Meadows 2-1, Kevin Fylan 2-0, Julien Pretot 1-1, Miles Evans 2-2, Martyn Herman 2-2, Asia Sports Desk 2-0, Sonia Oxley 2-1, Justin Palmer

Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur:  Patrick Johnston 2-1, Paul Radford 1-3, Mitch Phillips 1-0, Neil Maidment 0-2, Simon Evans 1-3, Mike Collett 1-3, Mark Meadows 1-3, Kevin Fylan 1-4, Julien Pretot 1-2, Miles Evans 1-1, Martyn Herman 1-3, Asia Sports Desk 1-1, Sonia Oxley 1-2, Justin Palmer

Fulham v Manchester United: Patrick Johnston 1-1, Paul Radford 2-1, Mitch Phillips 0-1, Neil Maidment 1-2, Simon Evans 2-2, Mike Collett 1-2, Mark Meadows 2-2, Kevin Fylan 1-2, Julien Pretot 1-3, Miles Evans 1-2, Martyn Herman 2-4, Asia Sports Desk 1-3, Sonia Oxley 1-2, Justin Palmer

Manchester City v Sunderland: Patrick Johnston 3-0, Paul Radford 0-1, Mitch Phillips 3-0, Neil Maidment 1-1, Simon Evans 1-1 (bonus points if Mark Hughes doesn’t make it to Xmas Eve with his job?), Mike Collett 2-1, Mark Meadows 2-0, Kevin Fylan 1-0, Julien Pretot 2-0, Miles Evans 2-0, Martyn Herman 1-0, Asia Sports Desk 2-0, Sonia Oxley 2-0, Justin Palmer 

Arsenal v Hull City: Patrick Johnston 2-0, Paul Radford 3-0, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Neil Maidment 3-0, Simon Evans 1-0 (bonus point if Wenger moans about having to play on Boxing Day?), Mike Collett 3-0, Mark Meadows 2-0, Kevin Fylan 3-0, Julien Pretot 2-1, Miles Evans 3-0, Martyn Herman 5-0, Asia Sports Desk 4-0, Sonia Oxley 2-0, Justin Palmer 

Playing on Sunday
Wolves v Burnley: Patrick Johnston 2-2, Paul Radford 2-1, Mitch Phillips 2-0, Neil Maidment 2-1, Simon Evans 2-3 (bonus points for last gasp diving header from subsitute David Nugent?), Mike Collett 1-2, Mark Meadows 0-0, Kevin Fylan 2-2, Julien Pretot 2-0, Miles Evans 2-1, Martyn Herman 1-1, Asia Sports Desk 1-1, Sonia Oxley 2-1, Justin Palmer  

Everton v Birmingham City: Patrick Johnston 1-2, Paul Radford 0-0, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Neil Maidment 1-2, Simon Evans  1-1, Mike Collett 2-2, Mark Meadows 1-1, Kevin Fylan 1-1, Julien Pretot 1-0, Miles Evans 2-1, Martyn Herman 3-1, Asia Sports Desk 2-1, Sonia Oxley 1-1, Justin Palmer

West Ham United v Chelsea: Patrick Johnston 0-3, Paul Radford 0-2, Mitch Phillips 0-1, Neil Maidment 0-2, Simon Evans 2-2, Mike Collett 1-3 (Bonus poınt ıf Anelka scores ın 23rd mın for thırd game runnıng ??), Mark Meadows 0-4, Kevin Fylan 1-3, Julien Pretot 1-4, Miles Evans 1-2, Martyn Herman1-3, Asia Sports Desk 1-2, Sonia Oxley 0-2, Justin Palmer     

Playing on Monday
Wigan Athletic v Bolton Wanderers: Patrick Johnston 4-3, Paul Radford 1-0, Mitch Phillips 0-0, Neil Maidment 1-2, Simon Evans 2-1, Mike Collett 1-0, Mark Meadows 1-2, Kevin Fylan 2-1, Julien Pretot 2-0, Miles Evans 3-2, Martyn Herman 5-1, Asia Sports Desk 1-0, Sonia Oxley 2-2, Justin Palmer

PHOTO: REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci