Weekend Predictions: The End of Man Utd’s Quintuple Dream (If They Ever Really Had One)

By: Daryl | March 6th, 2009

It’s that time of the week again. I’ve picked three games below and provided a bit of info, some betting odds and my predictions.

The challenge is for you to make your own predictions in the comments, if you’re brave enough.

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid, Sat, March 7th, 20:00
After beating Barca last week, El Derbi Madrileno gives Atletico another chance to influence the La Liga title race. Both Real and Ateltico have midweek CL games to worry about, but the mixture of pride and points at stake should ensure a proper ding-dong of a game.

Prediction: According to Real Offside it’s been 10 years since Atletico won at the Bernabeu. So I’m backing Atletico to put up a good fight, but Real to win 2-1.

Odds: Real Madrid 8-11, Draw 5-2, Atletico 4-1
2-1 win for Real: 13-2
Raul to score first: 9-2
Aguero to score first: 8-1
3-3 draw: 45-1
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: Soon after kick off, Leo Franco will start feeling woozy.

Offshore Oscar: Disagrees with me. He sees the midweek CL games being enough to distract both teams and force a draw.

Torino vs Juventus, Sat, March 7th, 20:30
It’s the Derby della Mole. My Italian isn’t great, but I’m assuming that means it’s played underground by blind mammals. Either that, or it’s the Turin Derby and the Mole refers to this Torino/Turin landmark.

Painfully bad jokes aside, the Turin Derby has a little more backstory than most. In a nutshell: Juventus was the team formed by carmakers FIAT for the workers to support, and Torino is the team that split from Juventus. So it’s not exactly friendly. From the Derby della Mole Wiki entry:

In the stadium Juventus fans usually shout out “Inferior!” and “Minors!”, however Torino fans have been known to shout “Cheats!” and “Scum!” due to Juventus’s match fixing allegations. Violence often breaks out on and of the pitch. In 2007/2008 there have been riots before the match between hooligans and police, 40 arrests, 2 injured policemans,trash cans set on fire and many vandalized cars and shops are the result.

So that’s nice.

But it’s not just about rivalry. Juve are now seven points behine leaders Inter, while Torino – not having a great season – are just one point clear of relegation.

Prediction: I see Torino battling to a 1-1 draw and a valuable point.

Odds: Torino 12-5, Draw 2-1, Juve 6-5
1-1 draw: 9-2
Torino to come from behind and draw: 6-1
Juve to come from behind and draw: also 6-1
More odds at PaddyPower

Fulham vs Man Utd, FA Cup, Sat, March 7th, 17:15
Can Man Utd really do the quintuple or whatever it’s called? The Club World Cup and the Carling Cup are already bagged, and the Prem trophy isn’t far behind. But Fulham are tough opposition at Craven Cottage and Man Utd have a big Champions League fixture vs Inter in midweek. And – quintuple or not – you know where Alex Ferguson’s priorities lie.

Prediction: A barnstorming 3-2 win for Fulham, as Fergie rests a few key men.

Odds: Fulham 15-4, Draw 12-5, Man Utd 4-5
3-2 to Fulham: 55-1
Bobby Zamora to score first: 10-1
Darron Gibson to score first: 20-1
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: Cristiano Ronaldo to do extra pre-match skin exfoliation in the hope of avoiding any more “ugly” jibes.

Time for a look back at last week’s predictions.

Here’s what I went with:
Man Utd 0-1 Spurs
Inter 1-1 Roma
Bremen 2-3 Bayern

And here’s what actually happened:
Man Utd 0-0 Spurs (Utd win on pens)
Inter 3-3 Roma
Bremen 0-0 Bayern

So based on our scoring system (one point for correct result, two extra points for correct score) I get a grand total of one point for the Inter vs Roma draw. Here’s how everyone else did:

Gold
John: 7 points (went negative and predicted three goalless draws and a Utd spot-kick victory.)

Silver
Drabik: 3 points (no correct scorelines, but all three correct results)

Bronze – shared between:
Wayne Farry: 2 points (Man Utd win and Bremen-Bayern draw)
elle: 2 points (Man Utd win, Inter draw)
Nelson 2 points (Man Utd win, Bremen- Bayern draw)
mikejones 2 points (Man Utd win Inter-Roma draw)

A lot of people (myself included) scored just one point so miss out, while some people scored zero points. Better luck next time.

And next time is now. Please leave your predictions for the following games:

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
Torino vs Juventus
Fulham vs Man Utd

And then we’ll see how everyone did next week.