This Saturday's Premier League games might not reach the hype of tomorrows big clash between Manchester United and Liverpool but is sure to be an entertaining affair. The matches must spread fear into this weekends gamblers, with little or no indication as to which way most of the games will go.
Stoke v West Ham, 12:45
This game could spell real trouble for the Hammers who are still yet to have a point on the board after four games. Avram Grant is set to miss the game because of Yom Kippur and although he did well at Pompey last season some of his signings have been questionable and another loss here could see him staring down the barrel. West Ham may not have the best finances however they have far out spent a lot of the other teams in the league but until they get a settled squad rather than their constant mix of changing players this West Ham team looks doomed, perhaps their new owners should look around the league at teams like Blackburn and Bolton and see how a settled squad can create a solid base to perform consistently. Stoke is a really tough place to go and play and it isn't getting any easier as Villa found out last week and although Stoke haven't had the best start to the season I suspect they will pick up all 3 points in this fixture. Prediction 3-0.
 Aston Villa v Bolton, 15:00 
This is a very tough game to call, Villa have won both their home games despite struggling on the road, however their win over Everton a few weeks back wasn't the most convincing, I suspect both teams will cancel each other out however I can see Villa nicking this game with some of their pacey players. Prediction 1-0.
 Blackburn v Fulham, 15:00 
Ewood park is a fortress for Rovers and Fulham have never really travelled well. I don't suspect that this fixture will buck the trend. Fulham manger Mark Hughes of course used to manage up at Blackburn and did a fantastic job and whilst he will know a lot of the players I don't think Fulham will be able to deal with Blackburn today. Rovers are still the only Premier League team who launch every free kick from every inch of the pitch into the the opposition box with Paul Robinson's long  kick raining down from out of space Fulhams defence will have their work cut out. Whilst many people think that Blackburn aren't a good footballing team to watch I am not of the persuasion. I think their ability to use their assets so well is great part to their game and enthralling to watch (not in the same way as Arsenal of course). Prediction 2-1.
Everton v Newcastle, 15:00
I suspect Everton will finally get their first 3 points of the season today. Everton have a very exciting team and if they could only get off to a flyer some season soon then Everton have got the players to challenge the top six. They do of course need to add a top striker or at the very least give Yakubu a start. I suspect they will see off Newcastle today with ease. Prediction 3-0.
Tottenham v Wolverhampton, 15:00
If Spurs could finish a game like they start it they would be a fantastic team, Harry made a mistake last week by playing Bale at left back against West Brom, he is their man who can unlock any defence in the country and needs to play as far forward as possible. If he plays on the wing today I suspect he will have a hand in any goals they might score. Wolves are another team who possibly get overlooked, I believe they will comfortably stay in the League this season and could possible give Harry yet another draw today. Prediction 2-2.
West Brom v Birmingham, 15:00
Big game in the Midlands this, West brom have made a solid start at home this season and I don't think they will make life easy for Birmingham who are far more comfortable playing at home. I fancy West Brom to win this local derby. Prediction 2-0.
Sunderland v Arsenal, 17:30
There is not much left to be said about Arsenal this week. If they can take their form on the road they will be right up their at the end of the season, this will be a tough test though and if they win this kind of game after a CL week then some real progress will finally be showing. A nice early goal and Arsenal will score as many as they want, the longer it stays 0-0 the harder it will be. Prediction 1-3.

We Create our own "News" Of The World.

There's a lot to be said about the relationship between the British press, sport and its stars. Frequently the press talk up our chances of success at every level only to smack it down again until its grovelling in remorse, when the pressures and goals they've created don't come to fruition.

This however for me isn't the biggest problem at the moment, the press are now so eager to sell papers or gain exposure they are willing to wait until the most damaging, inappropriate or in their case appropriate time to release these stories. Now not only does sport and its stars have to worry about what their doing wrong, they have to worry about when everyone will find out, now not only are the press waiting for the expectations they created to fall apart, they actually want our hero's to do it and on their clock at that.

It's as if someone is paying them to sabotage our chances of success or sour the names of sports we love, ever since the media over reaction to John Terry's private life or if you look further back Sven's, sport has often played second fiddle to off the field activities. Far to frequently this has been the case and the end result has eventually negatively impacted our chances of the success the back pages promised us, and yes the whole round reciprocal nature of the press can make you physically sick. Firstly they tell us we are going to win (the world cup), then they create a scenario whereby this is even more difficult (John Terry's captaincy and Capello being forced to act on it) then they lambaste our stars when the success doesn't occur (Rooney), then they do it all over again.

They literally do it all over again, just as England appear to have turned a corner with their 4-0 win over Bulgaria topped off with three and a half Assists for Wayne, the back and front pages are you guessed it, covered with an alleged affair carried out by Wayne Rooney with a hooker during his wife's pregnancy, just days before another important international fixture, to the extent whereas the FA had to confirm that Rooney was travelling with the England squad. This cannot be good for Wayne and cannot be good for England but if it sells papers, who cares about England success.... oh its the papers themselves that will again attack Rooney if he under performs on Tuesday night. Whilst the behaviour in his private life may not be ideal, it is after all his private life and his whole credibility as a role model wouldn't be ruined if the press kept his private life private. Dizzy yet?

A small side note to this is the publicity that has been created during the recent spot betting scandal in cricket. The Cricket this summer has been entertaining but it has not drawn the crowds in like a big summer of test match Cricket, added to that a county Cricket schedule that is under fire. Cricket hasn't had the best summer but it should be warming up this winter as England travel to Australia to fight it out in the Ashes, but the papers again have attacked one our own sports, the News of the World suggesting the story was the biggest of the last ten years. However the only thing that we can be sure of is the fact that the News of the World forked out one of the biggest sums of money to create its own story, in its own Orwellian, Kafkaesque, James Bond villain fantasy, leaving the biggest predicament being who to hate the most, the vindictive out for itself "newspaper" or the gullible Cricketers, one of them as young as 18 whom could only dream of the amount of money being thrown around. The real question is, did they really need to do it? Hasn't Pakistan been through enough recently?