Return of the Ronster

This is my first post in ages-long hiatus due to buying & moving into a flat…

After years of total domination by the Big Four, this year's Premiership has been a welcome change with the increased competition. Man City, Villa & Spurs are threatening the established pecking order. Vila have beaten Liverpool, Man U & Chelsea this season. The so-called lesser sides have also taken points off the Big Four- Wigan, Burnley. The result is that with 20 games played Man U have already lost 5 games. But they have suffered badly with injuries to their defence. Chelsea could lose points with Essien, Drogba & Mikel away at the African Cup., Meanwhile Arsenal have capitalised on recent slip-ups by Chels & MU , with 5 wins & a draw since the 3-0 home loss to Chelsea, but then were held to a draw by Everton. Liverpool have a lot of work to do just to get into the last Champions League spot. I’m still sticking by my pre-season prediction that the title will be between Chelsea & MU, with the Blues edging it.

The FA Cup Third round saw no upsets on the Saturday. Then United lost to Leeds on the Sunday, & Liverpool lost their replay to Reading. It’s the first time in 50 years both teams have gone out in R3.

Australian Open

Andy Murray, seeded 5, has a tough draw- Nadal in the quarters & then potentially Del Potro in the semi. Will Federer reach an incedible 23rd consecutive (!!) Slam semi. He’s seeded to meet Davydenko in the quarters, who recently broke his duck against Roger & has now beaten him twice on the trot; after that Djokovic is seeded for the semi.

Clijsters & Henin contested the Brisbane final, Clijsters winning the 3rd set breaker. I think these two will be a familiar sight in the next few years playing each other in the semis & finals of the Slams. Henin has a tricky draw, & will probably face Dementieva in the 2nd round. The Russian is probably the fittest player on the womens tour, & Henin could suffer with the heat, given that Melbourne had a record high night temperature this week.

Tips for the titles: Clijsters & Del Potro.