Players: 37 out of 49 (disappointing). Points scored: 198. Highest score: 9 (Tom Palmer, Mark Young). Average score: 5.35. Prediction of the Week: Mazair Sattari (Fulham 0-1 Reading).

Results: Aston Villa 1-1 Middlesbrough (5); Bolton Wanderers 3-1 Arsenal (0); Charlton Athletic 1-1 Everton (8); Fulham 0-1 Reading (1); Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City (3); West Ham United 1-0 Sheffield United (10); Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (5); Newcastle United 1-0 Portsmouth (3); Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Wigan Athletic (3); Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Cardiff City (1).

It was billed as the match of the season, the title decider (in November?! - are you serious?), a battle to the death between Rooney red and Ballack blue. Hope Arnold (Manchester United) and Dave Taylor (Chelsea) went into the weekend with much more than three points at stake.

Indeed, the opportunity to put some diminishing daylight between pole position and the runner-up spot, snaffle the psychological advantage and take a sizeable leap towards wrestling the Predictorship title from Mike Dufficy had to be more important than a meaningless Premiership clash at Old Trafford. And so it proved.

While Manchester United and Chelsea were cancelling each other out on Sunday afternoon (much to the chagrin of this writer, who was banking on a 1-0 home win to rescue a wretched weekend of predicting), Dave was 1-0-ing his way to a three-point lead at the top of the table.

Dave was one of four predictors to return home with three correct scores (Tom Palmer, Nick Watson and Mark Young were the others) while Hope was busy “forgetting to submit her scores because of Thanksgiving”. Luckily for the turkey-gobbling United fan, three one-all draws and a goalless Championship encounter at Sheffield Wednesday gave her five points - just two less than Dave - to keep her title aspirations very much alive and kicking, which is more than can be said for the poor turkeys.

Nick Watson is a point behind Hope after predicting a “goal shy week” (18 goals in 10 games confirmed his suspicions), Mark Young moves into the top 10 for the first time after “giving thanks for lots of correct results” (six, in fact) and Tom Palmer makes headway in mid-table after netting nine times to share this week’s top score spoils with Mark.

Although they narrowly missed out on “prediction of the week” to Mazair Sattari, it shouldn’t go unnoticed that John Collins, Cathryn Harker and the aforementioned Mark scored maximum points for Tottenham 3 Wigan 1, which, in a drab week for goals, is highly commendable.

At this time of year, it’s important to spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves. This week’s unfortunate is Gabe Bevilacqua, mourning the loss of Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, who sensationally “blew out his knee” (sounds painful!) on November 19 to pretty much end the Eagles’ season. We hope you can come to terms with your loss, Gabe.

Quote of the week: “We bought 23 single tickets at Hangar Lane station and our unsung hero was Jay Tabb, who knew we had to change at Hammersmith to go to Shepherd’s Bush. I feel a bit sorry for him as I didn’t even put him in the team” - Coventry manager Micky Adams on his squad’s London Underground adventure after their team bus got stuck in traffic on the way to Shepherd’s Bush-based QPR.

Hello and welcome to week whatever it is. A reasonably fruitful one - two correct scores: Portsmouth 2 - 1 Watford and Blackburn 1 - 1 Spurs - netting me a profit of just over 9 quid. I’ve also been speaking to a couple of experienced sports gamblers - basically I’m doing this all wrong and if I think that I’ve discovered some sort of way to properly predict football scores then I’m living in a dream world. But that’s just details and I’m not going to worry about it. This week I’m keeping it simple - I’ve basically got two different scorelines and I’m planning to win big…

Players: 41 out of 49. Points scored: 264. Highest score: 11 (Wendy Nathan). Average score: 6.43. Prediction of the Week: Middlesbrough 0-0 Liverpool (Norman No Mates, Michael Whitty).

Results: Arsenal 1-1 Newcastle (0); Chelsea 1-0 West Ham (2); Everton 1-0 Bolton (5); Manchester City 3-1 Fulham (0); Middlesbrough 0-0 Liverpool (2); Portsmouth 2-1 Watford (7); Reading 2-0 Charlton (8); Sheffield United 1-2 Manchester United (5); Blackburn 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (12); Wigan 0-0 Aston Villa (1).

West Ham fan Wendy Nathan hits the nail on the head this week with 11 points and three correct scores to surge six places up the latest table to a very modest 35th.

Wendy’s correct scores - Portsmouth-Watford, Reading-Charlton and Blackburn-Tottenham Hotspur - were matched by Steve McHugh, who returns to the top 10 with the Poshest team in the Predictorship. David Roberts, the only other predictor to make it into double figures this week, jumps four places to 16th and Ted Warland climbs the same number of positions to 32nd with three correct scores (as above but Sheffield United-Manchester United instead of Portsmouth-Watford). Does any of this matter? At this stage of the season, probably not.

Meanwhile, Dave Taylor, king of the 1-0 scoreline, is now a point clear of Hope Arnold at the top and Nick Watson enjoys a more fruitful day at the bookies, scooping two coupon-busting correct scores. No doubt he’ll tell you all about it very soon and right here on FC Camena. A reminder, too, to vote for your favourite prediction of the week on this very site. Your fellow predictors need your support, so do it now!

News has reached us that one club among the 49 represented in the Predictorship is the biggest club in the world when it comes to the number of associates (registered paying supporters). The figure is 160,392, but what is the club in question? You’re bound to find out next week.

And finally …

Silly quote of the week: “It’s difficult to run anywhere when you’re already out there” - Everton boss David Moyes bemoans Steve McLaren’s decision to play Andy Johnson as a “wing forward” against Holland. Try running somewhere on the pitch and preferably towards the Dutch goal, Andy. That would be a good start.

“An inch or two either side of the post and it would have been a goal” - Dave Bassett, the highly perceptive former Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley and Leicester gaffer.

Welcome to the Predictorship’s latest innovation - Prediction of the Season. Think Match of the Day’s Goal of the Month competition minus Gary Lineker’s words of wisdom - “All you have to do is vote for your favourite” - and a lovely piece of incidental music (e.g. The Life of Riley).

Please vote for your favourite prediction of the first 12 weeks by leaving a reply to this post. It couldn’t be simpler, and you don’t even have to give a reason. The three predictions with the most votes will go through to the Prediction of the Season final, featuring approximately 10 selections made during the whole of the 2006-2007 season.

Sorry - no tickets to a Premiership match of your choice, no luxury hotel accommodation and no spending money to the predictor who agrees with the PPP (Predictorship Prediction Panel).

Get voting now - there are only 12 weeks until you’ll have to do it all again …

1. MARK YOUNG: SCOTLAND 6-0 FAROE ISLANDS (WEEK 2)
Scotland were expected to defeat the mighty Faroe Islanders in this Euro 2008 qualifier, but who’d have thought the goal-shy Scots would run riot and score a hatful? Mark Young, actually.

2. NEIL HAYES: ARSENAL 1-1 MIDDLESBROUGH (WEEK 3)
Middlesbrough should have been walloped at the impressive Emirates Stadium, but Arsenal have struggled to make their new home a fortress. Neil’s crystal ball was on splendid form here, and he repeated the trick in week 10 with his second unique score of the season - Arsenal 1 Everton 1.

3. JILL TAYLOR: WEST HAM 0-2 NEWCASTLE (WEEK 4)
The Hammers, complete with Tevez and Mascherano, had narrowly lost to Liverpool and drawn with Villa when they encountered Newcastle, who had lost miserably away to Villa and at home to Fulham. There was no method to Jill’s madness - except for the fact that she always predicts 2-0 scorelines.

4. NICOLA SAVAGE: READING 1-1 MANCHESTER UNITED (WEEK 5)
On the back of two successive wins, newly-promoted Reading hosted Manchester United, still fuming after defeat to Arsenal. Reading should have been the whipping boys. They weren’t, and Nicola was the sole predictor to reap the rewards. And tasty they were too.

5. NORMAN NO MATES: ENGLAND 0-0 MACEDONIA (WEEK 7)
It turned out to be one of the most depressing spectacles in the history of English football. If we’d consulted Norman before kick-off, we wouldn’t have wasted 90 minutes of our lives watching it.

6. PATRICK BEVILACQUA: WIGAN 3-2 CHARLTON (WEEK 12)
The Predictorship Prediction Panel always appreciates predictors who correctly predict high-scoring games and Patrick went out on a limb to conjure up this beauty. Before the fixture, Wigan had only hit the back of the net sporadically (ignoring the demolition of Manchester City) and Charlton had netted just once in three games. It was almost a miracle it ended 3-2.

Note: Only unique predictions are eligible. All of the above were the only correct score predictions for the games shown. So, for example, you’d be a bit gutted if you predicted Manchester United 0 Charlton 7, along with at least one other player, and the game in question ended Manchester United 0 Charlton 7. No match ball, no recognition, early bath.

I’ll keep this brief, this week was rubbish. I won absolutely nothing. £20 down the khazi. In fact it’s been a poor week for football, from my point of view: saw Ipswich lose at home to Sheffield Wednesday, lost £20, let in 10 goals whilst playing for the HIT Entertainment 5-a-side team and watched England throw away a friendly match against Holland. Still, mustn’t grumble – I’m still £29 up overall. I’ve decided not to be quite so mathematical about it all next time and use the Force, that sort of thing…

Put an end to hours of deliberation, consideration and procrastination with this essential guide to what you should be predicting each week for the Premiership’s 20 clubs. Put the following into practice and rise like a phoenix to the top of the league in no time at all. If you are not entirely satisfied with this service, be sure to return to your chosen method of predicting within 28 days. This does not affect your legal rights. So let’s make a start with …

ARSENAL
Forget “1-0 to the Arsenal”: they’ve had three 1-1 draws and three 3-0 wins at home this season. Despite their unpredictable away form (Manchester City - lost, Manchester United - won, Reading - thrashed), always go for a win unless they’re playing Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United (despite what it says above). Seriously consider increasing the margin of victory if Henry is “on fire”.

ASTON VILLA
Rock solid under Martin O’Neill. Five 1-1 draws - including away at Chelsea and Arsenal - and only beaten by Liverpool so far this season. Draws are unfashionable in the Predictorship but a guaranteed success with the Villa, re-christened TBICAB (work it out!) by “Baggies Boy” Mark Young. Food for thought: they’ve also achieved three 2-0 home wins this term. Hmmm.

BLACKBURN
The first of the Premiership’s “who cares?” teams. The Rovers never seem to win but are always there or thereabouts in mid-table. Did they really walk away with the Premiership title in 1994-95? Never plump for a win, home or away, unless they’re facing a team below them in the table. Even then, Robbie Savage is likely to throw a wobbler and get sent off, so err on the side of caution.

BOLTON
Big Sam has two aces up his sizeable sleeves: Kevin Davies, the most boring, no nonsense striker in the league, and El-Hadji Diouf, the dirtiest, saliva-shedding thug in the footballing world, and it’s beyond comprehension how they always seem to strike when Bolton need them most. Good for a goal or two against any team outside the “big four”, they’ve yet to score more than two goals in a game and have only conceded more than two against Manchester United. You do the maths.

CHARLTON
Ripe for relegation. Bent (of the Darren variety) is always likely to stick one in the back of the net sooner or later, but if you award their opponents at least one more goal than them (increase the margin when they play away) you won’t be too far wide of the uprights. Five points from the last 60 away from home says it all. Reliably pathetic after Christmas.

CHELSEA
The most despised team in the Premiership should collect three points every week, which makes Lampard and Co. a delight for predictors across the globe. What will it be this week? 2-0, 3-0, maybe 4-0? They’ve already conceded six goals this season, so if you’re feeling bold why not credit an opposition defender with getting up at the back stick and nodding one home. No? 2-0 it is then.

EVERTON
Solid like Aston Villa, so 1-1 - especially away from home - is a good bet. They’ll never leak too many goals and will occasionally give their Merseyside rivals Liverpool a good tonking. Have just started losing 1-0. With Tim Cahill injured and Andy Johnson unable to hit a banjo with a barn door (as they don’t say anywhere), Everton will be brought to you today by the numbers “0″ and “1″.

FULHAM
Unglamorous and nearly impossible to predict from week to week. Your guess is as good as mine.

LIVERPOOL
This season has been one of underachievement so far, as losses to Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal and the worst away record in the league prove. Still, if you’re vying for the Predictorship title it’s best not to take any risks, so go for a shaky win unless they’re entertaining any of the above-mentioned giants. You might want to think again if Gerrard is injured, suspended or “not up for it” or Crouch is taking on the appearance of a daddy long legs in a soapy bath.

MANCHESTER CITY
Personally, you’d have to pay me to watch City. Three 0-0 home draws, seven goals all season (just three away from Manchester) and not a lot of talent. Joey Barton’s bare-faced cheek was the most exciting thing to happen to City since Stuart Pearce introduced mascot “Beanie” to the touchline.

MANCHESTER UNITED
Just do the sensible thing: 3-1, home or away, unless they’re playing Chelsea (predict a narrow win for the Reds), Arsenal (2-0 at a stroll - ignore this season) or Liverpool (1-0 or 2-0). When Rooney fully regains his scoring touch, expect some vidiprinter-busting scores like 5, 6 and 7 (seven). Will you have the balls to follow suit and bag a prediction of the week?

MIDDLESBROUGH
Another of the “who cares?” brigade. “Talent” like Mark Viduka, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and, er, Massimo Maccarone should produce a hatful of goals whatever the opposition, but the ‘Boro have netted more than once in only one game since the start of September and have been humiliated by relegation candidates Watford and Sheffield United in the process. Not as good as you think they are.

NEWCASTLE
They’ve neither scored nor conceded more than two goals in any of their 12 league outings so far and are prone to 2-0 away defeats. With Shearer retired, you know exactly what to do.

PORTSMOUTH
Nwankwo Kanu (excuse my Nigerian) has turned into a gangly-legged hitman and predicting threes and fours for Harry’s mob is not as absurd as it once was. Beaten at home just once this campaign. Throw caution to the swirling south coast breeze if you can’t make up your mind, but remember a ceremonial thrashing at the hands of a big club might never be far away.

READING
Leaking goals home and away of late, and scoring a few too, so let your imagination run wild.

SHEFFIELD UNITED
Like Newcastle, the Blades tend not to concede or score more than two in any given 90-minute period, despite Neil Warnock’s insistence on all-out attack with some, all or fewer of the dozen strikers at his disposal. Embarrassed a gaggle of Premiership clubs in Cup competitions in recent years but can’t cut the mustard in the top flight. Be adventurous and predict 0-0 at Bramall Lane.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
The first three games of the season sum up these underachievers: Bolton - lost 2-0 (away), Sheffield United - won 2-0 (home), Everton - lost 2-0 (home). Quite literally unpredictable. Clues: four games without a goal earlier in the season and never more than two a game, with or without England reject Defoe. Take this information, do your homework and try to fathom them out.

WATFORD
Marlon King is on the treatment table and out for the season, which will give you an excuse to predict heavy defeats away from home without feeling guilty or being answerable to Predictorship chairman David Roberts. One win and six draws (three of them goalless) so far this season.

WEST HAM
When you’ve stopped chuckling at the absurdity of signing two Argentinian “world-beaters” who have done nothing to turn the bubble-blowing Hammers into a half decent club, consider this: three wins, two 1-1 draws, seven defeats and six blanks. Yawn. Now start chuckling again.

WIGAN
Arguably the most boring team in the Premiership, although disposing of Charlton in a five-goal thriller last time out and thrashing Manchester City 4-0 could be a sign of better times ahead. 1-0, home or away, will do nicely when they take on teams below them in the table.

Players: 46 out of 49. Points scored: 238. Highest score: 8 (Basil Bradley, James Bradley, Paul Dolan, Saleel Sathe, Dave Taylor, Pete Yoder, Joe Zalewski). Average score: 5.17. Prediction of the Week: Wigan 3-2 Charlton (Patrick Bevilacqua).

Results: Manchester City 0-0 Newcastle (1); Chelsea 4-0 Watford (2); Everton 0-1 Aston Villa (0); Middlesbrough 1-0 West Ham (7); Portsmouth 1-1 Fulham (3); Sheffield United 2-2 Bolton (3); Wigan 3-2 Charlton (1); Blackburn 0-1 Manchester United (3); Arsenal 3-0 Liverpool (0); Reading 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur (0).

Eight weeks after relinquishing pole position to Hope Arnold, Chelsea’s Dave Taylor bounces back to the summit with eight points - a top score matched by six other predictors this week.

Dave, who always delivers 1-0 or 0-1 predictions, struck gold with the games at Middlesbrough and Blackburn but shot narrowly wide with the week’s third 1-0 scoreline, Everton 0-1 Aston Villa.

By her very high standards, Hope has an average week (six points) but joins Dave on 81 points with three fewer correct scores. It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that Dave and Hope represent the Premiership’s runaway leaders, Chelsea and Manchester United. With a three-point cushion and Arsenal’s Ted Warland nowhere in sight, these are dark days for league underdogs everywhere.

With no change at the wrong end of the table, there’s just time to mention Patrick Bevilacqua’s marvellous Wigan 3 Charlton 2 prediction, which will go forward to a Match of the Day-style Prediction of the Season competition where you can vote for your favourite, er, prediction of the season. Another trophy please, Mr Chairman!

And now for some important Predictorship Cup news …

Whether you’re “up for the Cup” or loathe the unnecessary distraction from the bread and butter of the league, you’ll all be entering the Predictorship Cup again this season.

In fact, when I say “all”, I mean everyone except Norman No Mates, who, due to an uneven number of predictors this season is expelled (not to mention the fact that he cheekily progressed to Round 1 last season at the expense of bona fide, subscription-paying Predictorship legend Simon Gold). The top 16 predictors as at December 31 will automatically progress to the first round proper and the rest (32 predictors) will scrap for the remaining 16 places in Round 1 in a nerve-jangling preliminary round which eliminated just about everyone working at GWR’s old Euston Road office last season. So much for home advantage.

Following a professionally-conducted draw, the preliminary round will take place on FA Cup Round 3 weekend (January 6-7), with the first round proper on January 27-28 (FA Cup Round 4 weekend). The other dates for your diary (which all correspond with FA Cup weekends) are: February 17-18 (Round 2), March 10-11 (quarter-finals), April 14-15 (semi-finals) and May 19 (final).

Lion John Collins is in no mood to loosen his grip on the magnificent Predictorship Cup trophy which sits proudly on a bookcase in the lounge of his Suffolk home for all to admire. John is confident of repeating his 2006 success and making it a famous double, so the rest of us had better pull our socks up and get stuck into the Cup when it returns in the new year. It would be rude not to.

On the subject of Cups, news has reached us on this side of the Pond that “The Men in Orange”, Houston Dynamo, saw off the New England Revolution to lift the Major League Soccer Cup.

Dynamo, who rose out of the ashes of the San Jose Earthquakes when they relocated (so I’m reliably informed) triumphed 4-3 on penalties after it finished 1-1 in “regulation time”. A gold star to anyone outside the US who knew Kenny Dalglish’s son, Paul, is a Dynamo forward or that former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol coaches the Revolution. And a knighthood and the freedom of New England to anyone who knew the Revs have the only Welsh player in Major League Soccer in their ranks - midfielder Andy Dorman. Flintshire’s Andy is apparently great at “evincing attacking flair”. Has John Toshack got his number?

“No-one hands you cups on a plate” - former Newcastle, Liverpool and England midfielder Terry McDermott

It had to happen sooner or later – I managed to lose money this week. Only one of my ten correct score predictions came in – Villa of all people, and after I’d slated them for being over rated. I managed to miss five correct scores by one goal. Frustration all round. Still, the odds were sufficiently long on that one game for me to only lose £1.

This week, I may branch out into doubles on match results – what with the lure of higher predictability at reasonable odds. Or I might just ride my luck some more with correct scores. Strangely, it’s almost as if the bookies have thought about all this and it isn’t actually very easy to make a quick buck – I was rather hoping there’d be enough idiots ploughing cash into ridiculous outcomes that there might be some rich pickings for those in the know. Although it’s going to take some guess work – my form algorithm has thrown up some dodgy results – too much trend bucking these days for my liking.

Players: 46 out of 49. Points scored: 245. Highest score: 12 (Haresh Mirani). Average score: 5.32. Prediction of the Week: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea (Haresh Mirani, Sally Moon).

Results: Bolton 0-1 Everton (0); Charlton 1-0 Manchester City (17); Fulham 1-0 Everton (4); Liverpool 2-0 Reading (16); Manchester United 3-0 Portsmouth (7); Newcastle 0-1 Sheffield United(2); Watford 2-0 Middlesbrough (4); Aston Villa 2-0 Blackburn (8); Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea (2); West Ham 1-0 Arsenal (0).

The streets of Chiswick are silent this week because Hope Arnold (75 points) has reclaimed pole position from West London gambling magnate Nick Watson (74), but it’s tighter at the top than a sumo wrestler’s mawashi.

In another exciting twist to this intriguing Predictorship season, both Christine Butters and Dave Taylor score eight points to close the gap on the leaders and Haresh Mirani, whose clever combination of Sally Moon and John Collins’ predictions has so far reaped rewards beyond his wildest dreams, fires in a massive 12 points. The Bengal Mumbai man soars from 11th to 5th with a stupendous five correct scores (the games at Charlton, Manchester United, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Tottenham). Incredibly, Haresh now has 20 correct scores in 11 weeks.

It’s a disastrous week for three of the bottom four predictors with no Premiership teams finding it in themselves to conjure up a draw. What it all boils down to is Stuart Claxton and Norman No Mates sinking deeper into the “relegation” mire and Della Torra, who earlier in the season was living it up in 4th place, about to topple into the doom-laden swamp.

News that the Los Angeles Galaxy (the only club to use the definite article, I wonder?) are interested in rescuing David Beckham from his bench-warming duties at Real Madrid is great news for all Stateside predictors - and the US economy. From David’s point of view, the chance to hook up with Alexi Lalas, the former Galaxy, New England Revolution, MetroStars and Kansas City Wizards defender, and the only man on the planet who could convincingly win a Chris Barron (lead singer of the Spin Doctors - anyone remember ‘Two Princes’?) lookalike contest, is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Brand Beckham + Major League Soccer = ka-ching!

The Predictorship might be a whole new kettle of fish if potty pundit Andy Gray gets his way. The Scottish journeyman, who once scored an incredible 46 goals for Dundee United in just 62 appearances (1973-75), wants to make the goals higher and wider to produce “100-150 more goals a season”. “If we don’t try it, we don’t know,” he gleefully told BBC Radio 5 Live last week, to which a listener replied why not just play with two balls, or smaller balls, have nine-a-side matches or play in the dark.

Another caller, tongue firmly in cheek, suggested top teams should have smaller keepers, no more than 5′8″ tall, leaving giant glovemen to sides such as “Watford and Charlton”. Football purists like Norm No Mates are livid that anyone - let alone a pillar of society like Gray - should suggest such a lame way of doing away with sleep-inducing 0-0 draws. “7-0 to the Arsenal just hasn’t got the same ring to it,” argues Norm. “And you set a dangerous precedent when you start offering the paying public value for money: the motorways would be jammed, Christmas shopping would never get done and stadiums would collapse under the weight of capacity crowds week in, week out expecting nine-goal thrillers, resulting in premature death or serious injury”. Where will all this madness end?

And finally, in tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson, who celebrated 20 years at Manchester United on Monday, here are a few memorable quotes from the durable Scot:

“The lads ran their socks into the ground”; “It’s a conflict of parallels”; “The philosophy of a lot of European teams, even in home matches, is not to give a goal away”; “It was particularly pleasing that our goalscorers scored tonight”; “As with every young player, he’s only 18″.

More next week …