English Premier League

The EPL resumes on Saturday following the international break and of the top four, only Manchester United will enjoy home advantage. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men welcome near-neighbours Bolton to Old Trafford, while leaders Chelsea face a tricky-looking trip to the West Midlands to take on Aston Villa.

Harry Redknapp takes his third-placed Tottenham down to the south coast for a clash with former club Portsmouth and Manchester City make the short journey to Wigan on Sunday, hoping to avoid the fate suffered there by Chelsea three weeks ago. Elsewhere, Arsenal will be confident of keeping up the pressure on the top four by beating struggling Birmingham at the Emirates, Everton will also fancy their chances of picking up a home win at the expense of 17th-placed Wolves and West Ham will have to show a lot more resolve than they have in recent weeks if they are to pick up what would be just their second win of the league campaign at Stoke.

Liverpool, meanwhile, desperately need three points to avoid losing touch with both Chelsea and Manchester United, but will have a battle on their hands at the Stadium of Light where they will meet a Sunderland side buoyed by their draw at Old Trafford last time out. Sunday sees fierce Lancashire rivals Blackburn and Burnley go toe to toe at Ewood Park and the final game of the round is a Monday night fixture at Craven Cottage where Fulham entertain fellow-strugglers Hull.

Aston Villa v Chelsea
Villa Park Saturday 17th October 2009

Aston Villa welcome Chelsea to Villa Park on Saturday boosted not only by a run of just one defeat in their last six Premiership outings, but also by the fact that they have lost only one of their last ten home meetings with the West Londoners. Villa boss Martin O’Neill has spent the international break dampening down speculation that Emile Heskey may be heading out of the club in January in a bid to secure regular first-team football and nail down a place in the England squad for next year’s World Cup. The 31-year-old has been strongly linked with a return to former club Wigan.

Defensive duo Wilfred Bouma and Luke Young, meanwhile, may come into contention for squad places on Saturday as both close in on a return to full fitness. O’Neill’s opposite number Carlo Ancelotti has been busy nutting out new deals with a number of his key players, with both Salomon Kalou and Alex pledging their respective futures to the Blues. On a more worrying note for the Italian, however, midfielder Michael Ballack picked up an ankle injury while away on international with Germany and may subsequently miss the trip to the Midlands.

Chelsea will inevitably start as strong favourites, but Ancelotti’s men were soundly beaten on their last away trip to Wigan and will have to improve markedly on that performance to overcome a Villa side who have already beaten Liverpool and drawn with Manchester City this season. The draw may represent a good value bet.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea

Portsmouth v Tottenham Hotspur
Patton Park Saturday 17th October 2009

Portsmouth finally ended their disastrous losing streak last time out with a hard-fought and slightly fortuitous victory at Wolves and Paul Hart’s men will be fired up to double their points tally for the season at the expense of high-flying Tottenham on Saturday. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp of course enjoyed great success during his spell at Fratton Park and his return to his former club adds extra spice to what is shaping up to be a fascinating encounter.

The last week has seen plenty of off-field intrigue, with Redknapp revealing that he tried to help Pompey by sounding out potential buyers for the beleaguered club, billionaire business man Ali Al Faraj then purchasing a controlling interest at Fratton Park, Avram Grant returning to the south coast outfit as Director of Football and Chief Executive Peter Storrie dismissing rumours linking goalkeeper David James with a move to either Manchester United or Saturday’s opponents, Spurs.

Paul Hart had hoped to be able to call upon Onismor Bhasera for this game, but the Zimbabwean full-back is still involved in a contractual wrangle with his South African employers Kaiser Chiefs and therefore remains ineligible. Tottenham will make the short journey south in good heart, having suffered just one reverse on the road all season and could be boosted by the presence of England defender Jonathan Woodgate in the travelling party. The former Real Madrid man has yet to feature this term after picking up a groin problem in pre-season, but has now returned to full training along with fellow central defenders Ledley King and Michael Dawson.

Roman Pavlyuchenko’s season of woe continues, however, with the out-of-favour striker picking up a muscle problem while away on international duty with Russia. Peter Crouch, meanwhile, enjoyed better international fortunes in midweek, scoring twice for England against Belarus and the gangling target-man will be keen to start against one of his former clubs.

Recent meetings between the two sides at Fratton Park have produced a mixed bag of results, with the last six clashes ending in three wins for Pompey, two for Spurs and one draw. Tottenham’s backbone will certainly be put to the test in what is likely to be a bruising battle with a Pompey side scrapping for survival, but they look far more resilient this season and should just edge out the hosts.

Prediction: Portsmouth 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Hyundai A-League Round 11

Adelaide United vs Sydney FC
Round 11 kicks off on Friday evening with Adelaide United playing host to leaders Sydney FC. Aurelio Vidmar felt that his side were unfortunate not to have picked up at least a point from last week’s trip to Perth, but was again forced to defend his tactics as the Reds drew their fourth blank of the campaign. The Adelaide boss has had his attacking options further restricted heading into this game with the news that Travis Dodd has been ruled out by a calf injury.

On a more positive note, defender Scott Jamieson has escaped any disciplinary action following his clash with Andy Todd during the Perth defeat, although the club do still face a team misconduct charge over the half-time fracas.

Sydney FC, of course, head to Hindmarsh Stadium in confident mood following their stunning victory over arch-rivals Melbourne last time out. Vitezslav Lavicka’s side have now won three of their last four and may welcome back Swiss defender Stephan Keller this week following his recovery from injury. T

he former FC Zurich man faces a battle to force his way back into the starting eleven, however, with youngster Sebastian Ryall deputising to great effect and forming a solid partnership with Simon Colosimo. Ryall and Colosimo played key roles in blunting Melbourne’s attacking edge last week and will be confident of producing a repeat performance against a misfiring Adelaide side.

Prediction: Adelaide United 0-1 Sydney FC

Brisbane Roar vs Central Coast Mariners
Brisbane Roar’s preparations for their home game against Central Coast Mariners have been thrown into disarray by the dismissal of Frank Farina. The former Socceroos coach was charged with drink driving late last week, forcing assistant Rado Vidosic to take charge of team affairs for the game against Gold Coast United. Vidosic will be in caretaker charge once again on Saturday, but will be denied the services of reliable goalkeeper Liam Reddy who is set to be sidelined for up to six week with a thigh injury.

Midfielder Michael Zullo and defender Andrew Packer, however, are both close to full fitness and may come into contention for squad places this week. The Mariners will be keen to take full advantage of the Queensland club’s turmoil as they seek to end a run of three games without a win. The return from international duty of influential midfielders John Hutchinson and Michael McGlinchey is a major boost for boss Lawrie McKinna, although he will be keen to ensure that his side show more resilience in defending set-pieces than they have in recent weeks.

The Roar are likely to enjoy plenty of possession in this one, but the Mariners employ a tactical style that can be very effective on the road and should pick up a point.

Prediction: Brisbane Roar 1-1 Central Coast Mariners

North Queensland Fury vs Wellington Phoenix
In Saturday’s other game North Queensland Fury welcome Wellington Phoenix to Townsville hoping to finally chalk up their maiden home victory. Ian Ferguson’s side have shown plenty of character in recent weeks, picking up creditable draws from trips to Wellington, Perth and Central Coast, but their inability to replicate that form at home has left them languishing at the foot of the ladder.

Robbie Fowler will be again be looking to lead from the front as he searches for his first goal since Round 6 after dismissing speculation in the week that he is a player-manager target for English League One outfit Tranmere Rovers. He may receive additional support in the final third from rangy fellow-striker Dyron Daal who is set to be employed in an attacking midfield role.

Wellington, meanwhile, saw many of their squad members travel to the Middle East last weekend to feature in New Zealand’s World Cup Qualifying Play-Off against Bahrain and Ricki Herbert will be hoping that they show no ill effects from that gruelling trip. Chinese international striker Jiang Chen is poised to make his senior bow at Dairy Farmers Stadium as the Kiwi club look improve on a miserable tally of just eight goals in nine games and break their run of five consecutive draws with a much-needed win.

 Fury have been improving steadily, however and might just have enough to overcome a slightly jaded Phoenix side in what promises to be a tight tussle.

Prediction: North Queensland Fury 1-0 Wellington Phoenix

Newcastle Jets come into their Sunday clash with Melbourne Victory under something of a cloud, having gone five games without a win and facing the possibility of being without defensive cornerstone Ljubo Milicevic. The one-time Melbourne man is struggling to overcome a heel injury in time to face his former club and may be replaced by rising star Ben Kantarovski or veteran defender Ange Costanzo.

Melbourne’s confidence will not be sky high either, following their stunning defeat at the hands of Sydney FC last week, but they have been boosted by the news that veteran Thai striker Sutee Suksomkit is keen to extend his stay in Victoria once his nine-game guest player contract expires. Both he and fellow import Marvin Angulo could be available for selection as early as next week.

Victory have a habit of bouncing back from defeat in emphatic style and could well do so again at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Sunday. The Jets are always competitive, but the visitors should have enough quality to bag the points.

Prediction: Newcastle Jets 0-2 Melbourne Victory

Gold Coast United vs Perth Glory
Second-placed Gold Coast United may have got back to winning ways at the expense of Brisbane last week, but they face a stiff challenge on Sunday when third-placed Perth Glory are the visitors to Skilled Park. Miron Bleiberg will be delighted to welcome key men Jason Culina and Shane Smeltz back from international duty, but the colourful United boss has been dealt a blow with the news that full-back Adam Traore has sustained knee ligament damage and could be sidelined for up to eight weeks.

 His counterpart Dave Mitchell, meanwhile, will be without defender Andy Todd who has been hit with a two-game suspension following his dismissal against Adelaide and is also sweating on the fitness of marquee striker Mile Sterjovski, who has been struggling to overcome a nagging foot injury and fellow Socceroo Chris Coyne, who has a back problem.

Skipper Jacob Burns is available once again having served his one-match ban and he could be joined in the starting line-up by last season’s joint-top scorer Eugene Dadi. Todd has been a tower of strength at the back for Glory this term and the Englishman’s presence will be sorely missed, especially against the league’s top scorers. His absence, combined with Glory’s worrying tendency to concede possession cheaply may just tip the balance in favour of the Queenslanders.

Prediction: Gold Coast United 3-2 Perth Glory
Gareth Morgan