On Monday we passed on our pearls of football wisdom and explained to anyone that would listen (and indeed read) why Chelsea losing at home to Liverpool may just help their title bid.
We say âÂÂour pearlsâ but actually we had a bit of assistance from those dashing men in suits at Catalyst, using their rather nifty Power Table (What is this? Click here for a full explanation).
The âÂÂscore linesâ in our headline donâÂÂt refer to our predictions for this weekendâÂÂs matches, they arenâÂÂt even the scores FourFourTwo.com managed when playing FIFA 09 on âÂÂWorld Classâ last night. In fact theyâÂÂre the effectiveness ratings of the four sides matches against sides of the stature they face this weekend.
ChelseaâÂÂs overall effectiveness against âÂÂTier 3â sides at Stamford Bridge is 87%, while Sunderland are 0% effective away from home to âÂÂTier 1â sides (the 'Big Four' and Villa).
This means itâÂÂs pretty likely that the Blues are going to pick up three points on Saturday, which probably isnâÂÂt telling you anything you donâÂÂt already know, but maybe this isâ¦
Bolton Wanderers are only 7% effective against âÂÂTier 2â sides (SundayâÂÂs opponents Manchester City included), while City themselves are only 33% effective against the likes of Bolton and their âÂÂTier 5â chums.
So it looks like being a case of the painfully bad versus the startlingly mediocre at the Reebok on Sunday, with City probably relying on a bit of magic from a world class forward to tip the balance in their favour and prevent a stalemate.
If only they had someone like that on their booksâ¦
For the in depth subscribers edition go to www.powertable.co.uk and read more about the Catalyst Power Table in the December issue of FourFourTwo, out November 5.
