Arsene Wenger has not collected trophies quite as greedily as his Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson but in terms of his impact on English football he has no equal.

Ferguson transformed an under-achieving United into the most succesful club in English football but Wenger has set the benchmark for modern-day club football in terms of style.

Like the great Dutch sides of yesteryear, Arsenal’s players, whichever part of the globe they come from, are schooled in Wenger’s philosophy of pure football, one-touch passing and dazzling counter-attacking.

They have evolved from a side built on the traditional English assets of power, grit and workrate to become among the slickest footballing teams in Europe. On their day they are the best team in the world to watch and are a textbook for how the game should be played.

Wenger became Arsenal’s longest-serving manager on Thursday and his latest squad appears equal to anything that has gone before. Great managers are judged on their ability to rebuild teams when key players either get too old or move on and both Wenger and Ferguson are masters at it.

Despite a good start to the season for United, it still looks like the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo might return to haunt them.

Arsenal, though, have Andrei Arshavin quickly establishing himself as the new darling of the fans following Thierry Henry’s move while ball-playing defender Thomas Vermaelen is making his mark. The Gunners are oozing potential.

Wenger appears to have crafted another great squad and with Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott on the way back from injuries, this could be the season that the Frenchman starts collecting silverware again after four trophy-less years…

PHOTO: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger addresses a news conference in Liege, September 15, 2009. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Are Bolton Wanderers so bad that not one of our Reuters Soccer Blog predictions panel thought they would win at Birmingham City?

Ye of little faith. Manager Gary Megson may not be very popular with the Bolton fans but his side will always fight. A 2-1 win at a promoted club wasn’t all that shocking.

Obviously Chelsea losing at Wigan was a real eye-opener so let’s not beat ourselves up about not guessing that. Kudos to Mitch for at least predicting a draw but he’s not getting the extra points he claims we promised him.

Generally it was a pretty dreadful weekend all round, even for the many of you out there like Chipking who have been showing us up in recent weeks.

Scores were only swelled by Stoke v Manchester United being a double-pointer.

This meant leader Simon Evans, Kevin’s Dad (making a guest appearance and adding to Kev’s total), week winner Mitch Phillips, Mike Collett and Asia Sports Desk all got 10 for rightly predicting that Ryan Giggs would come off the bench and inspire a 2-0 victory.

We threatened minus points for those who got Man U wrong but we’ll defer any penalties given Miles only got three points overall anyway…

My crystal ball is obviously geared towards the first and last game of the weekend programme but useless otherwise.

I was the only one of the panel to score a full five for Saturday’s early game where Everton, I thought unsurprisingly, beat bottom club Portsmouth 1-0 while I was also out on my own saying money bags Manchester City would overcome West Ham 3-1 on Monday.

So here are our running scores, let us know how you did in the comments. Don’t gloat too much.

Reuters Soccer Blog: Simon Evans 59, Kevin Fylan 56, Mitch Phillips 52, Patrick Johnston 48, Paul Radford 46, Mike Collett 43, Miles Evans 38, Justin Palmer 35, Neil Maidment 34, Julien Pretot 32, Mark Meadows 30, Asia Sports Desk 28

PHOTO: Bolton boss Gary Megson REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Manchester United played Stoke City off the park on Saturday yet for 62 minutes they lacked the cutting edge to turn their superiority into goals.

Enter Ryan Giggs.

The veteran Welshman was introduced as a substitute for the often infuriating Nani after 57 minutes and took just five more to provide the pass from which Dimitar Berbatov broke the
deadlock.

He then teed up John O’Shea for United’s second with a pinpoint free kick.

When Cristiano Ronaldo departed for Real Madrid, the spotlight turned on Nani and new recruit Antonio Valencia to fill his boots.

But Giggs, the club’s record appearance maker, is proving that there is no substitute for class and know-how.

Gone are the days when his twinkle toes would leave defenders swinging at thin air, but the 35-year-old’s value to Alex Ferguson’s squad is still immeasurable.

Giggs appears to have an uncanny ability to read a football match, to unlock a defence with a simple pass. He made three of United’s four goals against Manchester City last week and his two assists against Wigan Athletic helped his side go back to the top of the Premier League.

He could again be United’s trump card this season as they try to win a fourth consecutive title and reclaim the Champions League and its no wonder that Ferguson has always treated him like a favourite son.

Few players in the history of the club have endured as long as Giggs and, treated carefully, there appears no reason why he cannot continue at the top level for another couple of seasons.

In the meantime, Nani and Valencia should look and learn and remember the old adage that football is essentially a simple game too often made complicated.

PHOTO: Manchester United’s John O’Shea celebrates scoring against Stoke City with Ryan Giggs during their English Premier League match, Sept. 26, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Let’s be honest here, people, predicting the English football scores has proved to be a lot trickier than many of us imagined.

You’d have thought that the frankly obsessive interest most of us here at Reuters Soccer Blog Heights take in football would see us approach this competition with the pitiless, sweeping brilliance of Celta Vigo in their ‘EuroCelta‘ heydey of 1998-2000*.

But no. It turns out we’re strictly second division, rather like Celta now, in fact, when it comes to predicting the scores. Still, at least we now know why.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger puts his success in football down to being brought up in the Croix d’Or bistro in Duttlenheim. Wenger said:

“I even learned about tactics and selection from the people talking about football in the pub… who plays on the left wing and who should be in the team.”

This is good news for me, as my dad was brought up in a pub so I’m going to get him to do my predictions this week. Expect great things.

To recap, briefly, you get one point for predicting the right result, and make that five points if you get the score spot on. This week there are double points, and possible forfeits, for Stoke v Manchester United, and there are always bonus points available, but I’m afraid they are entirely on my whim. Here’s how things stand at the moment:

Reuters Soccer Blog: Simon Evans 46, Kevin Fylan 42, Paul Radford 41, Patrick Johnston 40, Justin Palmer 35, Miles Evans 35, Mitch Phillips 35, Mike Collett 28, Neil Maidment 26, Julien Pretot 25, Mark Meadows 16, Asia Sports Desk 15

Rest of the World: Maid leads with a whopping 63, Chipking is second on 54 and UTV got a mighty 15 on debut.

How are the rest of you doing? Remember, the scoring has been so poor that you can still join in at any time and expect to overtake most of us within a couple of weeks. Look at UTV: another week like last week and she’ll be in mid-table security.

So, here are this week’s games. I’ll add in our predictions as they come in from around the Reuter Soccer Blogosphere. And please, give us yours in the comments section.

Portsmouth v Everton: Simon Evans: 1-1; Terry Fylan: 0-2; Paul Radford: 0-0; Patrick Johnston:1-2 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 2-2; Mitch Phillips:1-0; Mike Collett: 0-2 ; Neil Maidment: 0-2; Julien Pretot : 2-1; Mark Meadows: 0-1; Asia Sports Desk: 1-1

Birmingham City v Bolton Wanderers: Simon Evans: 2-1; Terry Fylan: 1-0; Paul Radford: 2-1; Patrick Johnston: 1-0 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 2-1; Mitch Phillips:1-1; Mike Collett: 1-0 ; Neil Maidment: 1-1; Julien Pretot : 1-0; Mark Meadows: 2-1; Asia Sports Desk: 1-1

Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa: Simon Evans: 1-2; Terry Fylan: 1-2; Paul Radford: 0-1; Patrick Johnston: 0-2; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 1-3; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Mike Collett: 0-2; Neil Maidment: 1-3; Julien Pretot : 1-1; Mark Meadows: 0-2; Asia Sports Desk: 0-1

Liverpool v Hull City: Simon Evans: 2-0; Terry Fylan: 6-0; Paul Radford: 6-0; Patrick Johnston: 5-0 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 2-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Mike Collett: 5-0; Neil Maidment: 4-0; Julien Pretot : 4-0; Mark Meadows: 2-0; Asia Sports Desk: 3-0

Stoke City v Manchester United: Simon Evans: 0-2; Terry Fylan: 0-2; Paul Radford: 0-0; Patrick Johnston: 1-2 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 0-2; Mike Collett: 0-2; Neil Maidment: 1-2; Julien Pretot : 1-3; Mark Meadows: 0-1; Asia Sports Desk: 0-2

Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley: Simon Evans: 1-1; Terry Fylan: 3-1; Paul Radford: 3-1; Patrick Johnston: 4-1 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 3-2; Mitch Phillips: 2-0; Mike Collett: 3-1; Neil Maidment: 3-0; Julien Pretot : 3-1; Mark Meadows: 2-0; Asia Sports Desk: 2-1

Wigan Athletic v Chelsea: Simon Evans: 0-2; Terry Fylan: 0-3; Paul Radford: 0-3; Patrick Johnston: 0-2 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 0-2; Mitch Phillips:1-1; Mike Collett: 0-4; Neil Maidment: 0-3; Julien Pretot : 0-2; Mark Meadows: 1-4; Asia Sports Desk: 0-3

Fulham v Arsenal: Simon Evans: 1-1; Terry Fylan: 2-2; Paul Radford: 1-2; Patrick Johnston: 0-2 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 1-4; Mitch Phillips: 0-1; Mike Collett: 1-3; Neil Maidment: 1-3; Julien Pretot : 1-3; Mark Meadows: 1-1; Asia Sports Desk: 1-3

Playing on Sunday:

Sunderland v Wolverhampton Wanderers: Simon Evans: 2-1; Terry Fylan: 0-0; Paul Radford: 2-1; Patrick Johnston: 3-0 ; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 1-1; Mitch Phillips:0-0; Mike Collett: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 2-1; Julien Pretot : 1-0; Mark Meadows: 0-0; Asia Sports Desk: 0-0

Playing on Monday:

Manchester City v West Ham United: Simon Evans: 3-0; Terry Fylan: 4-1; Paul Radford: 3-0; Patrick Johnston: 2-1; Justin Palmer: ; Miles Evans: 2-2; Mitch Phillips: 0-1; Mike Collett: 3-0; Neil Maidment : 3-0; Julien Pretot : 3-0; Mark Meadows: 3-1; Asia Sports Desk: 3-0

* They really were good, as well. Lubo Penev, Valery Karpin, “After You” Claude Makelele, Alexander Mostovoi, Mazinho… (And sorry to any fans of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Benfica or Juventus for bringing back unpleasant memories).

PHOTO: Michael Owen gets a rude awakening from Mazinho as Alexander Mostovoi looks on during their UEFA Cup third round first leg match at Balaidos, November 24, 1998. Celta won 3-1. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

People can be divided into 10 types: those who understand binary and those who don’t.

I mention this only because a look down our scores for this week would reveal a great many ones and zeroes, and very few fives.

To recap: in this game, you get a point for predicting the right result from the English football, but make that five if you bag the correct score.

The big winner for us this week was Simon Evans, our man in Miami, who is the new leader after grabbing 14 points, including correct scores on Villa and Bolton.

Other than that, there wasn’t much to shout about on our side of things. Here are the latest scores…

Reuters Soccer Blog: Simon Evans 46, Kevin Fylan 42, Paul Radford 41, Patrick Johnston 40, Justin Palmer 35, Miles Evans 35, Mitch Phillips 35, Mike Collett 28, Neil Maidment 26, Julien Pretot 25, Mark Meadows 16, Asia Sports Desk 15

Rest of the World: No time to go through all the entries, but it did look like a terrific week for Chipking. Looks like the Chipmeister got three on the nose. Must be way out in front by now. Decent start from a couple of newbies as well, by the looks of things. Remember, in this game you keep your own score. Just tell us where you stand … we’ll believe you.

Let us know how you did in the comments, and feel free to rush over to the glass windows at Reuters Soccer Blog Heights making “shush!” gestures, in the style of Mr. Olic.

Back on Friday for more… But if you’re in the mood for more things binary, check out the guitar solo here…

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s Ivica Olic celebrates a goal during their Bundesliga win over Nuremberg in Munich, September 19, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Rarely can a defeat, and such a heart-breaking one at that, have been greeted with so much enthusiasm by the losers as Manchester City’s 4-3 reverse at Old Trafford.

Sports professionals are forever banging on about “taking the positives” from setbacks but for everyone connected with City, their performance and the whole occasion on Sunday showed that they really will be a force to be reckoned with over the next few months and years.

Despite being shorn of several of their best players and going behind after two minutes, City hung on to United like a terrier with a mouthful of trouser.

Every time United shook them off with a goal, they came back with a tighter bite. Even when the champions were peppering their goal during a period of dominance in the second half, City stayed in the game.

They were felled by Michael Owen’s 96th-minute winner, sparking wild scenes on the touchline and some enjoyable jousting from the managers.

Current England rugby manager Martin Johnson has said that he felt sure England would win the 2003 World Cup final after seeing how Australia celebrated their semi-final win over New Zealand and United’s joy, even allowing for the dramatic nature of the finale, was a few notches up on anything seen in a derby win for decades.

“They seemed quite excitable at the end which shows you what this win means to them,” said Mark Hughes. “It was reminiscent of some of the scenes with Brian Kidd and Alex Ferguson in days gone by and I saw Gary Neville running on the pitch like a lunatic.”

A smiling Alex Ferguson said: “Sometimes you’ve got a noisy neighbour and you have to live with it. You can’t do anything about them and they keep on making noise.”

Hughes responded by saying his former boss had better get used to it. “We are not going to go away,” he said.

Ferguson, for once, decided not to pass comment on City’s spending power — which was probably a good idea given the fact that his team on Sunday cost an estimated 126 million pounds to the 122 of City.

But he knows that the funding City have will keep them on an upward trend and that performances and occasions like that on Sunday - for all the defensive frailties on show - will help attract more big names next time the transfer window opens.

“We are disappointed to leave here with nothing, but that shows how far this club has come,” said Kolo Toure. “We showed to everyone today we have the qualities and the spirit to mix it up with the big boys.”

Ferguson photo by Phil Noble

It’s that time of the week again, folks. The best brains at Reuters Soccer Blog are off, so it’s just the usual crew of no-hopers here to embarrass ourselves trying to predict the outcome of the weekend Premier League action, and with no help from that lottery bobbins bloke.

To recap: with one point available for getting a correct result — and make that a whopping five for the correct score — there are at least 50 points up for grabs each week. Given that most teams have played five matches the total number of points a perfect tipster would have got by now would be well over 200.

Nobody’s perfect, of course (The Beatles released Wild Honey Pie, remember) but you might expect someone to have done a bit better than the following rogue’s gallery:

Reuters Soccer Blog: Kevin Fylan 35, Paul Radford 34, Patrick Johnston 34, Simon Evans 32, Miles Evans 30, Mitch Phillips 24, Mike Collett 18, Neil Maidment 14, Julien Pretot 14, Asia Sports Desk 10, Mark Meadows 8

The Rest of the World: How are you doing? Maid? Chipking? Angel? Have you overtaken us yet?

Now, just to add a bit of spice here, I’m introducing a Game of the Weekend feature, which will carry double points for anyone getting it right, de-merits for those getting it wrong and other bonuses and penalties entirely at my whim and discretion.

This week, it’s Manchester United v Manchester City. So choose your score carefully…

Burnley  v Sunderland: Patrick Johnston: 0-2; Mike Collett: 2-2; Asian Sports Desk: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-0; Miles Evans: 1-1; Justin Palmer: 2-2; Simon Evans: 1-0; Neil Maidment: 1-2; Mark Meadows: 0-1; Paul Radford: 1-2; Mitch Phillips: 3-2; Julien Pretot: 2-2

Arsenal v Wigan Athletic: Patrick Johnston: 3-1; Mike Collett: 4-1; Asian Sports Desk: 3-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-1; Miles Evans: 3-0; Justin Palmer: 2-0; Simon Evans: 4-1; Neil Maidment: 3-0; Mark Meadows: 2-0; Paul Radford: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 4-0; Julien Pretot: 4-1 

Aston Villa v Portsmouth: Patrick Johnston: 3-1; Mike Collett: 3-0; Asian Sports Desk: 3-0; Kevin Fylan: 1-0; Miles Evans: 2-2; Justin Palmer: 3-0; Simon Evans: 2-0; Neil Maidment: 3-0; Mark Meadows: 1-0; Paul Radford: 3-0; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Julien Pretot: 2-0 

Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City: Patrick Johnston: 0-1; Mike Collett: 0-1; Asian Sports Desk: 0-1; Kevin Fylan: 1-2; Miles Evans: 1-3; Justin Palmer: 2-1; Simon Evans: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 1-1; Mark Meadows: 2-1; Paul Radford: 1-0; Mitch Phillips: 0-0; Julien Pretot: 0-1 

Hull City v Birmingham City: Patrick Johnston: 2-0; Mike Collett: 0-0; Asian Sports Desk: 2-2; Kevin Fylan: 1-2; Miles Evans: 1-2; Justin Palmer: 1-1; Simon Evans: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 1-0; Mark Meadows: 0-0; Paul Radford: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 0-0; Julien Pretot: 1-0 

West Ham United v Liverpool: Patrick Johnston: 1-1; Mike Collett: 1-2; Asian Sports Desk: 1-2; Kevin Fylan: 2-1; Miles Evans: 2-1; Justin Palmer: 1-3; Simon Evans: 2-2; Neil Maidment: 0-2; Mark Meadows: 1-3; Paul Radford: 1-2; Mitch Phillips: 0-1; Julien Pretot: 1-2 

Playing on Sunday

Manchester United v Manchester City: Patrick Johnston: 3-1; Mike Collett: 2-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-2; Kevin Fylan: 4-0; Miles Evans: 2-0; Justin Palmer: 2-0; Simon Evans: 1-2; Neil Maidment: 2-1; Mark Meadows: 2-1; Paul Radford: 3-0; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Julien Pretot: 2-1

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Fulham: Patrick Johnston: 1-2; Mike Collett: 2-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 0-0; Miles Evans: 1-1; Justin Palmer: 1-1; Simon Evans: 0-0; Neil Maidment: 0-2; Mark Meadows: 1-1; Paul Radford: 1-2; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Julien Pretot: 1-2

Everton v Blackburn Rovers: Patrick Johnston: 2-0; Mike Collett: 0-0; Asian Sports Desk: 2-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-0; Miles Evans: 3-1; Justin Palmer: 3-1; Simon Evans: 2-1; Neil Maidment: 2-0; Mark Meadows: 1-0; Paul Radford: 4-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Julien Pretot: 3-1 

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur: Patrick Johnston: 3-1; Mike Collett: 1-1; Asian Sports Desk: 4-1; Kevin Fylan: 2-2; Miles Evans: 2-0; Justin Palmer: 2-1; Simon Evans: 2-1; Neil Maidment: 2-1; Mark Meadows: 2-1; Paul Radford: 2-1; Mitch Phillips: 2-2; Julien Pretot: 2-0

We’d love it, love it, if you have a go as well … Who knows, if we get plenty of entries we might start thinking about prizes…

Canary Wharf Kev

SOCCER PIC OF THE WEEK: Austria Vienna’s Szabolcs Safar fails to save a ball from Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente (not pictured) during their Europa League match at San Mames in Bilbao, September 17, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Zolles

The Champions League is back and our reporters are currently wringing out their wet things (Mitch Phillips at Chelsea)/basking in the evening sunshine by the River Manzanares (Iain Rogers at Atletico) and undergoing all climactic variations in between.

Tonight’s first tranche of eight matches includes a repeat of the very first Champions League final, with AC Milan visiting Marseille, plus the European debut of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka for Real Madrid, with the Spaniards visiting Zurich.

We also have Manchester United at Besiktas, Wolfsburg hosting CSKA, Atletico at home to APOEL, Bayern Munich visiting Maccabi Haifa and Juventus against Bordeaux.

We’ll have every goal as they go in here, plus a few bits of commentary from me, and our reporters if the comms hold up, along the way.

I really appreciate comments, so please give your views in the comment section below. And can you name the player in the photo…?

 - - - -

FC Zurich 2 Real Madrid 5: Cristiano Ronaldo responded to some less than flattering chants among the home fans by scoring from a free kick from the edge of the area. 1-0 in the 27th minute and Real Madrid are on their way to, well, Madrid. Seven minutes later and it’s 2-0 Real. This time Raul, who tapped in Gonzalo Higuain’s shot and is closing in on that record for goals in the European Cup. Let me have a rifle through the stats book… But in the mean time, Higuain has bagged the third himself. Too easy for Real… or is it?

The crowd livens up again with a 64th minute penalty from Xavier Margairaz and a minute later Silvan Aegerter makes it 2-3. Game on? Well, it got nervy for Real bu another free kick from Ronaldo sealed matters, with Guti’s effort in the 95th minute the cake icing.

Marseille 1 Milan 2: First goal of the 2009-10 edition of the Champions League goes to Milan, and Filippo Inzaghi. A superb cross from Seedorf for Inzaghi, left unmarked at far post, and he taps in from close range. 1-0 to the Italians in the 27th minute. Marseille level four minutes after the restart through the former Manchester United and Real Madrid defender Gabriel Heinze, who heads home a Benoit Cheyrou free kick. 2-1 to Milan with another Inzaghi goal with 16 minutes left on the clock.

Wolfsburg 3 CSKA 1: Wolfsburg have taken to the Champions League like a duck to water. The Brazilian Grafite, a much underrated player I remember well from my time in Germany, scored the first two goals, the first after 35 minutes, the second a penalty five minutes later. Alan Dzagoev pulls one back with 13 minutes to go. But Grafite completes his hat-trick three minutes from time and surely this is over now!

Chelsea 1 Porto 0: Don’t know what happened to my earlier udpate. Chelsea are ahead in the second half after Nicoals Anelka saw his first effort stopepd and then managed to fire on from a tricky angle.

Juventus 1 Bordeaux 1: Vincenzo Iaquinta puts Juventus up in the 63rd minute but Jaroslav Plasil evens things up with 15 minutes to go.

Maccabi Haifa 0 Bayern Munich 3: It’s raining goals now. The Germans are away thanks to a goal from Daniel van Buyten. Most of these matches going to form now and Bayern duly wrap up the win with two late goals from Thomas Mueller. Not a bad week for Mueller, who also scored two as Bayern beat Dortmund 5-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Besiktas 0 Manchester United 1. United are finally awake. It was a powerful shot by Nani that led to the goal in the 77th minute. The keeper parried it and Paul Scholes nodded in off the post, from a reasonable way out. Good header that.

The only match to finish goalless is Atletico Madrid v APOEL.

PHOTO: A mystery Chelsea player at training in Cobham, south of London, September 14, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Now we’ve got that pesky international interlude behind us (it’ll all end in tears, you know it will) we can get back to the serious business of predicting the scores in the Premier League.

Remember how it works: We, at Reuters Soccer Blog, publish our individual predictions for the weekend Premier League matches here on a Friday. You, laughing snidely at our pathetic efforts, send in yours in the comments section below the post.

As the weekend goes by, we get embarrassed and you get to poke fun. You get a point for predicting the right result, and make that a whopping five points if you get the exact score. Simples.

And if you’re thinking of joining in for the first time now … go ahead. The scoring has been so low that with a couple of correct scores you’ll catch up in no time. Really, we don’t seem to be very good at this here at RSB.

Even better, The Contest is operated on the honour system, in the great tradition of Seinfeld, so feel free to keep your own score. I do sometimes award bonus points, though, so keep checking back to the home page at Reuters Soccer Blog to see how you’re doing.

The Reuters scores so far: Paul Radford 31, Justin Palmer 28, Patrick Johnston 25, Simon Evans 25, Miles Evans 24, Kevin Fylan 23, Mitch Phillips 16, Mike Collett 14, Neil Maidment 11, Asia Sports Desk 5, Mark Meadows 5 (last three on debut)

The Rest of the World: Insert your score here (or in the comments).

So, without further ado, here are this weekend’s matches, and the predictions we have so far. I’ll update the post as we get more.

Blackburn v Wolves: Patrick Johnston: 1-0; Mike Collett: 0-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-0; Kevin Fylan: 2-0; Miles Evans: 1-1; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 0-1; Neil Maidment: 1-1; Mark Meadows: 1-1; Paul Radford: 2-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Julien Pretot: 1-1

Liverpool v Burnley: Patrick Johnston: 4-1; Mike Collett: 4-2; Asian Sports Desk: 4-1; Kevin Fylan: 0-1; Miles Evans: 3-0; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 2-0; Mark Meadows: 2-0; Paul Radford: 3-0; Mitch Phillips: 2-0; Julien Pretot: 4-0

Manchester City v Arsenal: Patrick Johnston: 1-2; Mike Collett: 1-0; Asian Sports Desk: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 0-2; Miles Evans: 1-0; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 1-2; Neil Maidment: 1-2; Mark Meadows: 2-2; Paul Radford: 1-0; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Julien Pretot: 1-1

Portsmouth v Bolton: Patrick Johnston: 1-0; Mike Collett: 0-1; Asian Sports Desk: 0-0; Kevin Fylan: 0-0; Miles Evans: 2-2; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 0-0; Neil Maidment: 1-0; Mark Meadows: 0-0; Paul Radford: 3-1; Mitch Phillips: 0-1; Julien Pretot: 1-2

Stoke v Chelsea: Patrick Johnston: 1-1; Mike Collett: 2-1; Asian Sports Desk: 0-0; Kevin Fylan: 1-2; Miles Evans: 3-1; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 0-3; Neil Maidment: 0-0; Mark Meadows: 0-2; Paul Radford: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 0-0; Julien Pretot: 0-3

Sunderland v Hull City: Patrick Johnston: 3-0; Mike Collett: 2-3; Asian Sports Desk: 2-0; Kevin Fylan: 0-0; Miles Evans: 1-2; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 1-0; Neil Maidment: 2-1; Mark Meadows: 1-0; Paul Radford: 2-0; Mitch Phillips: 2-0; Julien Pretot: 3-1

Wigan v West Ham: Patrick Johnston: 1-1; Mike Collett: 0-2; Asian Sports Desk: 2-2; Kevin Fylan: 1-0; Miles Evans: 0-1; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 0-1; Mark Meadows: 0-1; Paul Radford: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Julien Pretot: 0-2

Spurs v Manchester United: Patrick Johnston: 1-2; Mike Collett: 3-1; Asian Sports Desk: 1-1; Kevin Fylan: 1-4; Miles Evans: 1-3; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 2-1; Neil Maidment: 2-1; Mark Meadows: 1-1; Paul Radford: 2-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-3; Julien Pretot: 2-2

Birmingham City v Aston Villa: Patrick Johnston: 1-1; Mike Collett: 2-0; Asian Sports Desk:2-0 ; Kevin Fylan: 2-2; Miles Evans: 2-0; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 1-1; Neil Maidment: 1-3; Mark Meadows: 2-2; Paul Radford: 1-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-1; Julien Pretot: 2-0

Fulham v Everton: Patrick Johnston: 2-1; Mike Collett: 2-0; Asian Sports Desk: 2-0; Kevin Fylan: 1-2; Miles Evans: 0-0; Justin Palmer: ; Simon Evans: 2-1; Neil Maidment: 2-2; Mark Meadows: 1-0; Paul Radford: 0-1; Mitch Phillips: 1-0; Julien Pretot: 1-0

PHOTO: Germany’s Miroslav Klose scores against Azerbaijan in their World Cup qualifier in Hanover September 9, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

Very few of our panel should be enjoying their English Bank Holiday Monday. Most must hang their heads in shame.

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal was an eventful game to say the least, with a penalty, bizarre own goal, a late strike disallowed for offside and Arsene Wenger harshly being sent to the stands where he didn’t have a seat.

Nevertheless, 2-1 to the champions was a pretty predictable score but only our Kevin had his wits about him to forecast it.

Three of our panel (the flying Justin Palmer, Simon Evans and Neil Maidment) correctly guessed Everton would end an early slump and beat Wigan 2-1 but in truth it was only thanks to a penalty deep into injury time from former Wigan man Leighton Baines.

Justin got another bumper five points for predicting Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over Burnley to gain the top score of the weekend with 15. Simon was close behind after bagging a second maximum for Manchester City’s attacking riches grinding out a 1-0 win at Portsmouth, who have finally starting buying rather than selling players.

So here’s the run down overall (with a few sunbathing absentees last week): Paul Radford 31, Justin Palmer 28, Patrick Johnston 25, Simon Evans 25, Miles Evans 24, Kevin Fylan 23, Mitch Phillips 16, Mike Collett 14, Neil Maidment 11, Asia Sports Desk 5, Mark Meadows 5 (last three on debut)

Let us know how you did and what your general total is (remember 1 point for correct result, 5 for correct score). I see maid did very well indeed…

PHOTO: Fans react as Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger climbs onto the stand after being sent off during their English Premier League soccer match against Manchester United in Manchester, northern England, August 29, 2009, REUTERS/Phil Noble