Italian League Prediction Thread (Serie A)

[rendravolt]

Juventus are stronger than AS Roma and they need to beat AS Roma even it will be a very tight might for them. AS Roma with Jose Mourinho and his focus on defense won't be easily beaten.

Yes, we all know that and how Jose Mourinho got around the attack from Juventus was with a defense that was difficult to break down. Not only Juventus but any team will definitely find it difficult to get past Roma's strong defense and this is the only obstacle for Juventus to score a goal against Roma. However, I also cannot avoid the fact that Juventus has such a strong attack that this will be a very heated battle between the two teams.

Whoever makes a mistake is the team that loses and on the other hand, if Roma concedes first then Juventus' path to breaking into Roma's goal with more goals will also be realized. Well, Roma is not a team that gives up quickly and if they score first and then use a bus parking defense then it is certain that Juventus will lose this week's match.

[Mayor of ogba]

In the next match, Roma will face Juventus, and this is a nightmare for Roma because, so far, Juventus has a very solid and strong team. Of course, Roma will have difficulty facing Juventus' strength. Roma must continue to play by controlling their emotions because, in the previous match, Roma looked full of emotion and often received violations.

Roma will have reason to be fearful before this match. They don't have good head-to-head history against Juventus at home stadium or home-away stadium.

Juventus vs AS Roma Head to Head stats

Juventus is in good form in Italy Serie A and they won 6 home games at Allianz Stadium.

Roma is in good form in Serie A and they won two away games.

Juventus won 23 times in their past 41 meetings with Roma.

These stats are for matches since Juventus moved to their new and current stadium, Allianz Stadium. If you look at longer historic stats, before Juventus moved to Allianz stadium, Juventus are stronger than AS Roma too.

This match is important for both of clubs, Juventus need a winning to compete with Inter Milan for Scudetto and AS Roma need three points to compete with many clubs for the fourth position.

AS Roma always finds it hard to win against Juventus at Allianz Stadium, and even though Juventus was not playing well at season, AS Roma was able to get a draw against Juventus at Allianz Stadium. If I were to bet on this match I would bet on Juventus to beat AS Roma at Allianz Stadium.

[indah rezqi]

~~ Snip ~~

Juventus will try to become champions in this Serie A competition, and Juventus' main opponent at the moment is Inter Milan. Even though the distance between Juventus and Inter Milan in the standings is 4 points, I am sure that Juventus will get the opportunity to reach first place before the competition is over. because in the upcoming match, Juventus will meet an opponent who, in my opinion, is very easy to beat.

Juventus really have to improve their quality this season because yes, Juventus are still not completely good so far this season. But ya, at least there is still a second half of the season then of course, Juventus still has the time and opportunity to be able to improve the quality and performance of course to be even better. Maybe, in the transfer market there will also be new players or maybe also players who leave and yes, it is hoped that Juventus will make the right choice.

Because after all, basically Juventus is still unable to compete with Inter and at least, Juventus is still quite lucky because other top teams such as Milan, Napoli and also AS Roma are not in a better trend than Juventus this moment. Therefore, currently Juventus is still quite lucky because Juventus is still safe in second place in the current Serie A standings.

Juventus really needs to maintain its consistency to be able to pressure Inter Milan in the race for the Scudetto, Alleggri has to think of several solutions regarding the balance of his squad. On other hand, Juventus management should support Alleggri with a budget to add depth to the squad, they must find replacements for Pogba and Fagioli who have been banned from playing. As currently seen, only Juventus is able to become Inter rival team in the Scudetto race, other elite teams are having difficulty stopping Inter steps this season.

We know that competition in the next half of the season will be fiercer, if the point difference is not large it means that the position is not completely safe. In week 18, Juventus will face one tough match, namely against Roma. Alleggri certainly understands that Mourinho squad is not an easy opponent, they have just beaten Napoli. On paper, Juventus is superior, but Roma has ambitions to penetrate the top four of the standings, so the Bianconeri need to be fully alert.

[Jatiluhung]

Juventus are stronger than AS Roma and they need to beat AS Roma even it will be a very tight might for them. AS Roma with Jose Mourinho and his focus on defense won't be easily beaten.

Yes, we all know that and how Jose Mourinho got around the attack from Juventus was with a defense that was difficult to break down. Not only Juventus but any team will definitely find it difficult to get past Roma's strong defense and this is the only obstacle for Juventus to score a goal against Roma. However, I also cannot avoid the fact that Juventus has such a strong attack that this will be a very heated battle between the two teams.

Whoever makes a mistake is the team that loses and on the other hand, if Roma concedes first then Juventus' path to breaking into Roma's goal with more goals will also be realized. Well, Roma is not a team that gives up quickly and if they score first and then use a bus parking defense then it is certain that Juventus will lose this week's match.

Juventus cannot make the slightest mistake when facing AS Roma. Because after all, AS Roma is a team that waits for their opponents to make their own mistakes and open gaps in the defense and that's when AS Roma's front line players will break in and score goals. But so far Juventus' defense is no less great than AS Roma. And Juventus certainly has a much better attack.

I am sure that Juventus will not suffer the same fate as Napoli who lost very sadly in the last match to AS Roma. Napoli's defeat was very painful because they lost in front of their own supporters. And because Napoli also had to lose 2 important players in their next match because a red card would prevent the players from being able to play in the next match. Meanwhile, Napoli really needs Osimhen. But this week it is certain that Osimhen will not play because of a red card in the match against As Roma.

Juventus should not be provoked by the attitude of AS Roma players who usually have a strategy to provoke opponents.

[arimamib]

~

Juventus really needs to maintain its consistency to be able to pressure Inter Milan in the race for the Scudetto, Alleggri has to think of several solutions regarding the balance of his squad. On other hand, Juventus management should support Alleggri with a budget to add depth to the squad, they must find replacements for Pogba and Fagioli who have been banned from playing. As currently seen, only Juventus is able to become Inter rival team in the Scudetto race, other elite teams are having difficulty stopping Inter steps this season.

We know that competition in the next half of the season will be fiercer, if the point difference is not large it means that the position is not completely safe. In week 18, Juventus will face one tough match, namely against Roma. Alleggri certainly understands that Mourinho squad is not an easy opponent, they have just beaten Napoli. On paper, Juventus is superior, but Roma has ambitions to penetrate the top four of the standings, so the Bianconeri need to be fully alert.

To stay competitive, Allegri needs to explore solutions and find suitable replacements for Pogba and Fagioli. His strategic thinking regarding the balance of the squad is pivotal. The board should be ready to support him financially with providing squad depth. The Scudetto race is intense, and the competition is fierce, with Inter Milan showing a great form. To stay in the race, Juventus must not only win matches but also maintain a level of performance that matches or surpasses Inter's.

The mid-season point difference is a crucial factor. If the gap is not substantial, it implies that no position is entirely safe, and even a small slip-up could be costly. Juventus need to prepare for the challenges of the next half of the season that requires a proactive approach by addressing potential weaknesses in the squad. The match against Roma is a significant test. Despite being on paper the superior team, Juventus cannot underestimate Roma, especially after their recent victory against Napoli. Roma's ambitions to break into the top four make them a determined opponent, Mourinho's desire to beat a good team is always scary, and Juventus needs to be fully alert to secure a positive result.

[masulum]

AS Roma always finds it hard to win against Juventus at Allianz Stadium, and even though Juventus was not playing well at season, AS Roma was able to get a draw against Juventus at Allianz Stadium. If I were to bet on this match I would bet on Juventus to beat AS Roma at Allianz Stadium.

AS Roma may have difficulty facing Juventus in the final match this year. Juventus, which is now starting to find a solid playing rhythm, will provide an attack that can break AS Roma defense. I'm sure Juventus can score at least 1 goal in the first half of the match. To prevent this, Mourinho must be able to change the team's playing strategy and thinking about how to managed the defender to stop any of attack from Juventus. If Mou still applies the same and ineffective strategy as in other matches, then AS Roma will experience defeat.

[giammangiato]

Team	Point
Inter	44
Juve	40
Milan	33
Bologna	31
Fiorentina	30
Roma	28
Napoli	27
Atalanta	26
Lazio	24
Torino	24
Monza	21
Lecce	20
Genoa	19
Frosinone	19
Sassuolo	16
Verona	14
Udinese	14
Cagliari	13
Empoli	12
Salernitana	9

Inter and Juventus always 4 points away, this ranged combat is a lot of fun

[Mustang Shelby]

Roma performed very well after some bad results in the previous match. They have managed to get into 6th position and maybe they will continue to improve their ranking. I saw that in the previous two seasons they were always only able to appear in the UEFA European competition, so hopefully this positive result can enable Roma to appear in the Champions League next season.

In the next match, Roma will face Juventus, and this is a nightmare for Roma because, so far, Juventus has a very solid and strong team. Of course, Roma will have difficulty facing Juventus' strength. Roma must continue to play by controlling their emotions because, in the previous match, Roma looked full of emotion and often received violations.

Roma cannot escape that emotional feeling when they face Juventus in their next match. Seeing the caliber of team they will be playing against us enough for them to have some emotional feelings and be anxious of what the outcome of the match will be. Juventus are really fighting for that top spot and will give everything to make it to that top of the table even when it seems harder daily because of the teams that they need to challenge and replace at that top of the table. Roma won their last match with Napoli, hopefully this should be a booster and encouragement for them to play well in this match with Juventus. Juventus will not be taken their meeting with them lightly because they need all the three points and Roma will be looking to at least get a point in this game too.

The match between Rome and Juventus will naturally affect the summit. There is a possibility that Juventus will lose points in this match. If Roma makes a big surprise for them, I think Inter will not lose any points in the Genoa match. If Juventus loses points, they could lose the league.

[skarais]

~~~

Actually is going to be a nightmare for As Roma against Juventus because there is no way we can compare As Roma with Juventus because is obvious they are no matched with Juventus because Juventus is second to the best team on the Italian series A and they have a very good record this season, so perhaps As Roma may not be that lucky as they are on there match against Napoli because Juventus is far better than As Roma, and perhaps the only reason why As Roma was able to win Napoli was the short two players Napoli was using if not Napoli had the upper chance of wining the match.

Although it seems that Juventus and As Roma have a history because checking there last meeting with As Roma they were able to win Juventus although that was a long time ago, but I just have a strong feeling that As Roma will not take Juventus much of a time to win them and there is every possibility that there would be more than 3 goals on that match.

It depends on who wins the match, what is clear is that Roma and Juventus will play one of the great matches. If there is a favorite, then I think Juventus is the one who can be the favorite. Juventus has a good advantage in this match because they are playing at home, while visiting Roma seems to have to fight hard if they want to win the match. Of course it's possible, but the chances are low.

2 to 3 goals might be too low for a Juventus vs Roma match, but only if Mourinho doesn't employ a bus parking strategy throughout the match. Juventus deserves to be the favorite, but that doesn't make it easy for Roma to beat and underestimate them.

[Ruttoshi]

Roma performed very well after some bad results in the previous match. They have managed to get into 6th position and maybe they will continue to improve their ranking. I saw that in the previous two seasons they were always only able to appear in the UEFA European competition, so hopefully this positive result can enable Roma to appear in the Champions League next season.

In the next match, Roma will face Juventus, and this is a nightmare for Roma because, so far, Juventus has a very solid and strong team. Of course, Roma will have difficulty facing Juventus' strength. Roma must continue to play by controlling their emotions because, in the previous match, Roma looked full of emotion and often received violations.

Roma cannot escape that emotional feeling when they face Juventus in their next match. Seeing the caliber of team they will be playing against us enough for them to have some emotional feelings and be anxious of what the outcome of the match will be. Juventus are really fighting for that top spot and will give everything to make it to that top of the table even when it seems harder daily because of the teams that they need to challenge and replace at that top of the table. Roma won their last match with Napoli, hopefully this should be a booster and encouragement for them to play well in this match with Juventus. Juventus will not be taken their meeting with them lightly because they need all the three points and Roma will be looking to at least get a point in this game too.

Roma is at 6th position on the table with 28 points, this shows that they wouldn't be able to challenge Juventus who is 2nd on the table with 40 points. Juventus is stronger than them this season and they are playing their best to see that they will continue to be in the trophy race till the end of this season.

This will make it impossible for Juventus to allow Roma win them, and I don't think that a draw will be possible. Roma cannot be predicted in matches like this because they are aware of the current form of Juventus. I Wil bet on Juventus to win

[topbitcoin]

Roma performed very well after some bad results in the previous match. They have managed to get into 6th position and maybe they will continue to improve their ranking. I saw that in the previous two seasons they were always only able to appear in the UEFA European competition, so hopefully this positive result can enable Roma to appear in the Champions League next season.

In the next match, Roma will face Juventus, and this is a nightmare for Roma because, so far, Juventus has a very solid and strong team. Of course, Roma will have difficulty facing Juventus' strength. Roma must continue to play by controlling their emotions because, in the previous match, Roma looked full of emotion and often received violations.

This is still not necessarily a graveyard for Roma because after all this could be a momentum for them especially after managing to win quite convincingly against 9 man Napoli.
Juventus are definitely still the favorites in this match because after all with the current situation of Roma and Juventus, Juventus are still seeded especially they also play at home so surely this will be a pretty profitable thing for Juventus its just that there are indeed several other consideration that make it possible for Roma to win in this match.

Lukaku is still quite good at Roma  and even he became the top score for Roma as well as enlivening the top score of Serie A with his 8 goals to date so this could be another condition that makes it possible for Roma to score when facing Juventus especially Juventus obstacle to this day is their lack of productivity. 

[Silence Scream]

Roma performed very well after some bad results in the previous match. They have managed to get into 6th position and maybe they will continue to improve their ranking. I saw that in the previous two seasons they were always only able to appear in the UEFA European competition, so hopefully this positive result can enable Roma to appear in the Champions League next season.

In the next match, Roma will face Juventus, and this is a nightmare for Roma because, so far, Juventus has a very solid and strong team. Of course, Roma will have difficulty facing Juventus' strength. Roma must continue to play by controlling their emotions because, in the previous match, Roma looked full of emotion and often received violations.

Roma cannot escape that emotional feeling when they face Juventus in their next match. Seeing the caliber of team they will be playing against us enough for them to have some emotional feelings and be anxious of what the outcome of the match will be. Juventus are really fighting for that top spot and will give everything to make it to that top of the table even when it seems harder daily because of the teams that they need to challenge and replace at that top of the table. Roma won their last match with Napoli, hopefully this should be a booster and encouragement for them to play well in this match with Juventus. Juventus will not be taken their meeting with them lightly because they need all the three points and Roma will be looking to at least get a point in this game too.

I'm sure the Rome match will be very tough for them. I believe that Juventus' performance will be at the highest level. They focus on their goals with the motto of championship. Now they have to win every match and wait for Inter to lose in order to get closer to Inter. Inter will play against Genoa and I think they will win this match. If Juventus loses points to Rome in this match, the point gap with Inter will widen further.

[Ndabagi01]

The match between Rome and Juventus will naturally affect the summit. There is a possibility that Juventus will lose points in this match. If Roma makes a big surprise for them, I think Inter will not lose any points in the Genoa match. If Juventus loses points, they could lose the league.

This is a crucial match for both Juventus and Roma. I don't see Roma winning this game. Juventus is battling topple Inter Milan at the top of the table, but it will not be an easy task. Just as Inter Milan wants to maintain their lead at the top of the table, Juventus wants to close the gap points until they see an opportunity to take the lead.

[Jody.Drummer]

AS Roma always finds it hard to win against Juventus at Allianz Stadium, and even though Juventus was not playing well at season, AS Roma was able to get a draw against Juventus at Allianz Stadium. If I were to bet on this match I would bet on Juventus to beat AS Roma at Allianz Stadium.

AS Roma may have difficulty facing Juventus in the final match this year. Juventus, which is now starting to find a solid playing rhythm, will provide an attack that can break AS Roma defense. I'm sure Juventus can score at least 1 goal in the first half of the match. To prevent this, Mourinho must be able to change the team's playing strategy and thinking about how to managed the defender to stop any of attack from Juventus. If Mou still applies the same and ineffective strategy as in other matches, then AS Roma will experience defeat.

Juventus occupy second place with their good performance, while AS Roma are ranked 6th with their up and down performance. Juventus have a very good chance to give defeat to AS Roma, because strategically I see Juventus' strategy is more diverse and also more effective.
Will AS Roma appear with their mainstay strategy when dealing with a strong club, namely by parking the bus? Because I am very sure that Juventus will be more developed and will dominate the game, like that AS Roma will wait a lot in their defense area, unless AS Roma play more bravely by continuing to apply high pressing, it might make them able to buy and sell attacks.

[Spaceman1000$]

Roma performed very well after some bad results in the previous match. They have managed to get into 6th position and maybe they will continue to improve their ranking. I saw that in the previous two seasons they were always only able to appear in the UEFA European competition, so hopefully this positive result can enable Roma to appear in the Champions League next season.

In the next match, Roma will face Juventus, and this is a nightmare for Roma because, so far, Juventus has a very solid and strong team. Of course, Roma will have difficulty facing Juventus' strength. Roma must continue to play by controlling their emotions because, in the previous match, Roma looked full of emotion and often received violations.

Roma cannot escape that emotional feeling when they face Juventus in their next match. Seeing the caliber of team they will be playing against us enough for them to have some emotional feelings and be anxious of what the outcome of the match will be. Juventus are really fighting for that top spot and will give everything to make it to that top of the table even when it seems harder daily because of the teams that they need to challenge and replace at that top of the table. Roma won their last match with Napoli, hopefully this should be a booster and encouragement for them to play well in this match with Juventus. Juventus will not be taken their meeting with them lightly because they need all the three points and Roma will be looking to at least get a point in this game too.

It all depends on how consistent they would be from now till the end of the season but I doubt if they will drop out the top 7 of the table, they look good at the moment especially after trashing Napoli a couple of days ago which brought them to the 6th position, though they still have tougher opponents to face in the league but with wins like this against Napoli, it will help prepare them for the challenges ahead this season, i just hope they remain this way so they can clinch a spot in the champions league next season because its a been a while without Roma playing in the champions.

[Mayor of ogba]

The match between Rome and Juventus will naturally affect the summit. There is a possibility that Juventus will lose points in this match. If Roma makes a big surprise for them, I think Inter will not lose any points in the Genoa match. If Juventus loses points, they could lose the league.

This is a crucial match for both Juventus and Roma. I don't see Roma winning this game. Juventus is battling topple Inter Milan at the top of the table, but it will not be an easy task. Just as Inter Milan wants to maintain their lead at the top of the table, Juventus wants to close the gap points until they see an opportunity to take the lead.

Juventus and AS Roma match will be an interesting match to watch because both teams needed the three points to challenge for the Serie A title this season, or to qualify for next year's uefa champions league. But Juventus have a better chance of beating AS Roma because they are playing from their home ground.

[marcous]

~~ Snip ~~

in the Roma Napoli match we understand many things, the first being that Roma are now great but that Lukaku is dependent, for better or worse I don`t judge. The second is that Napoli are very nervous, their nerves are on edge, perhaps Mazzarri should work on this before working on tactics. My opinion

Yes that's right. Lukaku's presence at As Roma provides another color this season, even As Roma is slowly starting to develop, and I think AS Roma will continue to struggle to reach the top four positions. Maybe this is the main focus of the MOU this season, in the next match As Roma will play Juventus, hopefully they can achieve good results.

On the other hand, after watching Napoli's match this season, I realized that coaches are very influential in a team, especially in terms of brainwashing the players. Napoli are okay with losing Kim Min Jae but the rest are still surviving, it turns out the key is Luciano Spalletti. After changing coaches with Rudi Garcia, Napoli performed badly, even after changing coaches again, Mazzarri, Napoli immediately slumped. I even think that players like Oshimen and Kvaratsckhelia really believe that their motivation for Napoli has dropped drastically, so Zielinsky and Politano also failed, unlike last season.

I highly doubt Roma can achieve a good result against Juventus in the last game of the 2023 which would be in 29-30 December as Juventus is playing a much better football and Roma was not convincing at all,they won against Napoli but Napoli was playing with 10 and 9 men in the end and it was this time that Roma was able to score,when playing 11 vs 11 Roma could not score goals.

I agree though that Roma is performing well lately and the presence of Lukaku has greatly improved their performance as of lately and most probably they would be happy with a Europa League place spot in the end as competition for Champions is really hot right now in the Serie A.

Talking about Roma they can definitely achieve a good result against Juventus if they use the chances in this match but Juventus is in a situation in which they hardly need to achieve victory in this match, I think if Juventus loses any point in this game against Roma they will get even more space from Inter Milan and this can help Inter Milan to get closer to win the title at the end of this season.

Juventus is trying to reduce the points gap with Inter Milan, and continue to compete for the Scudetto. Beating Roma is one of the main conditions at the moment, but it does not rule out the possibility that Jose Mourinho squad could trouble their steps. This means that Roma has the attributes that can create a surprise in the sense of beating Juventus this week. However, statistically, Alleggri's squad is of course superior and we have seen the level of consistency between the two clubs this season.

There is a possibility that the match between Juventus and Roma will end in a draw, but I tend to suggest that Juventus can secure full points, especially since Juventus will act as hosts in the match. Roma success in beating Napoli last week cannot be used as a full reference, because Napoli lacked 2 players due to red cards, so you could say that Roma won because of luck yesterday.

Apart from this, who knows, Roma may still be lucky, and they managed to steal points at home to Juventus, so they can get close to the top four in the standings. I think this is a match that demands a lot of consideration, if we want to bet on them.

[Josefjix]

Juventus is trying to reduce the points gap with Inter Milan, and continue to compete for the Scudetto. Beating Roma is one of the main conditions at the moment, but it does not rule out the possibility that Jose Mourinho squad could trouble their steps. This means that Roma has the attributes that can create a surprise in the sense of beating Juventus this week. However, statistically, Alleggri's squad is of course superior and we have seen the level of consistency between the two clubs this season.

There is a possibility that the match between Juventus and Roma will end in a draw, but I tend to suggest that Juventus can secure full points, especially since Juventus will act as hosts in the match. Roma success in beating Napoli last week cannot be used as a full reference, because Napoli lacked 2 players due to red cards, so you could say that Roma won because of luck yesterday.

Apart from this, who knows, Roma may still be lucky, and they managed to steal points at home to Juventus, so they can get close to the top four in the standings. I think this is a match that demands a lot of consideration, if we want to bet on them.

There are presence of other competitive clubs in the Seria A but the presence of Juventus and Inter Milan matters because they're the leading clubs contending for the Italian title. They're both favorites to win but I would choose the Old Lady to win since it's been a while we witnessed chants and victory songs and happiness in Turin. Massimiliano Allegri is a promising coach and have helped the club from the scratch to limelight, Juventus can try to reduce the gap difference but they can't be able to dwell with equality points on the Seria A table.

[Zanab247]

Team	Point
Inter	44
Juve	40
Milan	33
Bologna	31
Fiorentina	30
Roma	28
Napoli	27
Atalanta	26
Lazio	24
Torino	24
Monza	21
Lecce	20
Genoa	19
Frosinone	19
Sassuolo	16
Verona	14
Udinese	14
Cagliari	13
Empoli	12
Salernitana	9

Inter and Juventus always 4 points away, this ranged combat is a lot of fun

This evidence is very clear that those 2 teams that will come close to the Italy serie A trophy are Inter Milan and Juventus because, Inter Milan use 4 points to top Juventus that has 40 points in the Italy serie A table but it will be difficult for inter Milan to miss any game that will make them to lose points till the end of the tournament. Many teams are ahead of Napoli in this season which are the eye of people in this season but their results 28 points show that Napoli will not win this trophy this season.

AC Milan and Bologna have a good points that is giving people hope that AC Milan and Bologna will soon be in a good chance to drag the second position with Juventus because, Inter Milan will not allow any team to have the same points with them till the end of the competition so that their performance will not be at risk in this season.

[tiCeR]

...

If you are just going to wait for the result when the match starts or after the match ends then yes, you will also miss this match without betting but indeed, I know it is an option.

But regarding the match between Juventus v AS Roma it is clear, that Juventus is still a better team when compared to AS Roma . Apart from their position in the current Serie A standings, at least Juventus so far this season has also been a team that at least has a good defense too, at least it is evident from the low number of conceded Juventus sofar this season.

But indeed, although Juventus have a good defense, at least there is still no strong guarantee for Juventus to be able to beat AS Roma in their match later . Because after all, even though Juventus have a strong defense but ya, at the same time the reality is that Juventus are not so good and do not have high aggressiveness in making goals. So ya, at least Juventus also still have weaknesses in making score goal and thus, there is no definite guarantee for Juventus to be able to win against AS Roma later.

I am only careful with words like "guaranteed" or "easy" and so on and so forth because if it was like that, we all would not be watching football anymore as there is no excitement since we all know the winner before the game started. But that is not true.

Today we were given a great example, albeit it was not in Serie A. Have a look how Newcastle played against Nottingham. I did not check out the Premier League thread yet, but I am sure I could find someone who wrote that it would be "guaranteed" or "easy" for Newcastle to beat Nottingham. I thought so too, but the result says otherwise!