Daves On Soccer

Back in August, Cisko and I both made predicitions as to how the EPL Standings would look at the end of the year. Now that we've reached the halfway point of the season, it's time to see how we're faring. I've calculated how many positions off each of us are based on the current standings and how the teams are faring relative to their finishing positions from last season. Here's how things shake out...

		Landry	Cisko	2004/05
1	Chelsea	*	-1	*
2	Man Utd	*	-2	+1
3	Liverpool	+1	*	+2
4	Tottenham	+1	+1	+5
5	Wigan	+14	+14	na
6	Arsenal	-3	-5	-4
7	Bolton	*	+3	-1
8	Blackburn	+5	+7	+7
9	Man City	+5	+3	-1
10	West Ham	+6	+6	na
11	Newcastle	-2	*	+3
12	Aston Villa	-1	-4	-2
13	Charlton	-3	+1	-2
14	Fulham	+4	+3	-1
15	Everton	-7	-8	-11
16	Middlesboro	-10	-10	-9
17	West Brom	+3	+1	*
18	Portsmouth	-3	-9	-2
19	Birmingham	-7	-6	-7
20	Sunderland	-3	*	na
total positions off		78	84

Really these numbers just confirm what we already know...

• Wigan are the season's biggest surprise.
• Blackburn are also outperforming expectations.
  
• Middlesborough and Everton are the season's biggest disappointments so far (though Everton's slide was widely expected).
• Among the elite teams Arsenal are lagging.
• I am an infinitely better predictor of soccer performance than Cisko.