The Chaaaaaaaampions…

Our predictions for this weekend’s fixtures

Time to get off that fence, readers…

England draw Australia, Cameroon and Slovakia in dress rehearsal

The Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaampions

Bookmaker offers tempting odds about beach ball reappearing on Sunday

Mark “Lawro” Lawrenson isn’t getting away lightly. Pies v Lawro is back! And it’s, er, the same as it ever was.
If you haven’t played Pies v Lawro before, here’s how it works. Lawro makes his predictions for the weekend’s games (mostly 2-0 to the big clubs), then I make mine, then you make yours. All [...]

Terrible moustache, Ian. Not-terrible defending, Alan
Hot on the heels of the news that the Guardian “jinxed” Liverpool’s tilt at a 19th league title, Sky Sports pundit Jeff Stelling has added to the weight of the hex:
“Manchester United are unquestionably weaker than last year, while Chelsea are no stronger and they are all a year older. [...]

This is where you get to pick Barca’s best starting line-up for this season. First up, I’ll reveal my selection (based on Barcelona’s squad at time of writing). No doubt Pep Guardiola will use several different formations this season but this is the default starting team I would go with:
My XI (in a 4-1-2-3 formation):
Victor [...]

Liverpool fans, superstitious? Yes, judging by the hundreds of comments left on the Guardian’s Liverpool FC pre-season profile, in which the newspaper’s football writers collectively predicted that Liverpool will win the league this season.
A sample of the reaction to this (brave) prediction:

The fixture list for next season’s Prem campaign were just released. For copyright reasons, Pies is not allowed to post them in full here (that’s ridiculous, btw), but we can highlight a few key dates for your diary:

1. Manchester United begin their defence of the title at home to Birmingham City on 15 August. A [...]