StevieDay1983

That clears that up then! 
Yeah, the scheduling does seem a bit bonkers, an early KO might have made more sense.

I'm still amazed our game is a 7:45pm kick off on the same day that Wales are playing Portugal in the rugby. Town is going to be a mess and the atmosphere at the Cardiff City Stadium is going to be obscene. This is the most optimistic I've been about a South Wales Derby game but it's still always a tough one. This game means everything to Swansea. They would rather beat us and get relegated than lose to us and stay up. We need to adopt that mentality for this game if we want to win. I still think Swansea are always worth backing to beat us though because it's their big cup final and they ramp their levels up for it so those odds on an away win do seem generous. Cardiff fans have a habit of getting a bit toxic when things don't go right straight away too which is an annoying side to them. If we start well, we could pump the Jacks but if we start poorly then it could be another dour derby day.
To summarise, my heart says a Cardiff win. My head says a draw. My worst fears say a Swansea win! 

Hi @Catchy,
We are currently in the process of re-vamping the daily racing tips section so please bear with us. We always appreciate constructive feedback that will hopefully improve Punters Lounge so thank you for leaving this message and making us aware of your thoughts. 
Cheers!
Steve

@Catchy  Thanks the the feedback and apologies for the inconvenience caused here. Our developers are working tirelessly on a more reliable solution which should be ready by the end of next week.
More than this, as @StevieDay1983 mentioned, we are excited to announce some exciting developments. Our horse racing section is expanding to offer a wider range of tips, including lucky 15 tips, as well as a dedicated ITV racing area - we’re expanding our football tips section too if you’re interested. Again, we expect these to be live by the end of next week.
On top of this, we’re also going to give the site a facelift over the coming weeks to improve the usability of the site so if you have any feedback (positive or negative) please let us know.
We’ll also investigate how we can notify you guys when daily tips are ready.

Not that I was anyway near, though wouldn't it be a good idea to give the manager of the month prize to the highest placed team of the month who followed the correct entry criteria?
Otherwise, we could end up with many many months of unclaimed prizes.
And @StevieDay1983 don't be too hard on yourself in regards to Raheeeeeeeem Sterling this weekend. He also had the double anchor of me selecting the nimble chap to weigh him down as well 😄

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League enters the first international break of the season with a new leader at the top of the table. Rob Cooper's email this team in have dislodged Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC at the summit. In fact, Zakariya FC have dropped all the way down to 9th after a mediocre 69 points total. It just goes to show how high the quality is this year. Rob will be thanking not only Erling Haaland as his captain for bringing home 40 of the 92 points he earned but there were also solid points returns from the likes of Cristian Romero, Andrew Robertson, Bryan Mbeumo, Martin Odegaard, James Ward-Prowse, and Darwin Nunez. He even enjoyed the luxury of having Gabriel Martinelli's 5 points on his bench unused.
Still, the 92 points Cooper's men earned wasn't enough to earn him Manager of the Week. Not even close. In fact, it wasn't even @Gray306 with his Ju-Lo's Lamborghini with 105 points. Or @TFC's TFC with their 108 points haul. This week's Manager of the Week went to @Chris P's Dynamo Langdale. Unsurprisingly, his decision to triple captain Haaland was the moneymaker. Even so, Haaland's 60 points were added to by impressive double-figure returns by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Son Heung-min, and Dominik Szoboszlai. Well played!
Unfortunately, us staff members here at Punters Lounge must grieve the reputation of one of our own this week. For it is our very own tech wizard @Steve Coleman who must parade through the streets of his current hometown naked and full of shame after amassing a meagre 22 points to end up with the lowest score of the week. Steve will have his team in for extra training next week with only Bukayo Saka, James Maddison, and Alexander Isak earning more than 2 points each!
A special shout out to Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC who was the winner of the August Manager of the Month but, unfortunately, did not fulfil the required criteria of posting their team name and username in the competition sign-up thread so did not win the monthly prize that was available. Let's hope this month's Manager of the Month does meet the eligibility!
We now have a two week break until the next round of Premier League matches with the deadline for transfers not until 11 am BST on Saturday 16th September. Let us know which players you're thinking about putting in and shipping out. I would also like to apologise to all Chelsea fans for bringing Raheem Sterling into my team this week. Absolutely jinxed you didn't I! 

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League enters the first international break of the season with a new leader at the top of the table. Rob Cooper's email this team in have dislodged Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC at the summit. In fact, Zakariya FC have dropped all the way down to 9th after a mediocre 69 points total. It just goes to show how high the quality is this year. Rob will be thanking not only Erling Haaland as his captain for bringing home 40 of the 92 points he earned but there were also solid points returns from the likes of Cristian Romero, Andrew Robertson, Bryan Mbeumo, Martin Odegaard, James Ward-Prowse, and Darwin Nunez. He even enjoyed the luxury of having Gabriel Martinelli's 5 points on his bench unused.
Still, the 92 points Cooper's men earned wasn't enough to earn him Manager of the Week. Not even close. In fact, it wasn't even @Gray306 with his Ju-Lo's Lamborghini with 105 points. Or @TFC's TFC with their 108 points haul. This week's Manager of the Week went to @Chris P's Dynamo Langdale. Unsurprisingly, his decision to triple captain Haaland was the moneymaker. Even so, Haaland's 60 points were added to by impressive double-figure returns by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Son Heung-min, and Dominik Szoboszlai. Well played!
Unfortunately, us staff members here at Punters Lounge must grieve the reputation of one of our own this week. For it is our very own tech wizard @Steve Coleman who must parade through the streets of his current hometown naked and full of shame after amassing a meagre 22 points to end up with the lowest score of the week. Steve will have his team in for extra training next week with only Bukayo Saka, James Maddison, and Alexander Isak earning more than 2 points each!
A special shout out to Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC who was the winner of the August Manager of the Month but, unfortunately, did not fulfil the required criteria of posting their team name and username in the competition sign-up thread so did not win the monthly prize that was available. Let's hope this month's Manager of the Month does meet the eligibility!
We now have a two week break until the next round of Premier League matches with the deadline for transfers not until 11 am BST on Saturday 16th September. Let us know which players you're thinking about putting in and shipping out. I would also like to apologise to all Chelsea fans for bringing Raheem Sterling into my team this week. Absolutely jinxed you didn't I! 

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League enters the first international break of the season with a new leader at the top of the table. Rob Cooper's email this team in have dislodged Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC at the summit. In fact, Zakariya FC have dropped all the way down to 9th after a mediocre 69 points total. It just goes to show how high the quality is this year. Rob will be thanking not only Erling Haaland as his captain for bringing home 40 of the 92 points he earned but there were also solid points returns from the likes of Cristian Romero, Andrew Robertson, Bryan Mbeumo, Martin Odegaard, James Ward-Prowse, and Darwin Nunez. He even enjoyed the luxury of having Gabriel Martinelli's 5 points on his bench unused.
Still, the 92 points Cooper's men earned wasn't enough to earn him Manager of the Week. Not even close. In fact, it wasn't even @Gray306 with his Ju-Lo's Lamborghini with 105 points. Or @TFC's TFC with their 108 points haul. This week's Manager of the Week went to @Chris P's Dynamo Langdale. Unsurprisingly, his decision to triple captain Haaland was the moneymaker. Even so, Haaland's 60 points were added to by impressive double-figure returns by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Son Heung-min, and Dominik Szoboszlai. Well played!
Unfortunately, us staff members here at Punters Lounge must grieve the reputation of one of our own this week. For it is our very own tech wizard @Steve Coleman who must parade through the streets of his current hometown naked and full of shame after amassing a meagre 22 points to end up with the lowest score of the week. Steve will have his team in for extra training next week with only Bukayo Saka, James Maddison, and Alexander Isak earning more than 2 points each!
A special shout out to Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC who was the winner of the August Manager of the Month but, unfortunately, did not fulfil the required criteria of posting their team name and username in the competition sign-up thread so did not win the monthly prize that was available. Let's hope this month's Manager of the Month does meet the eligibility!
We now have a two week break until the next round of Premier League matches with the deadline for transfers not until 11 am BST on Saturday 16th September. Let us know which players you're thinking about putting in and shipping out. I would also like to apologise to all Chelsea fans for bringing Raheem Sterling into my team this week. Absolutely jinxed you didn't I! 

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League enters the first international break of the season with a new leader at the top of the table. Rob Cooper's email this team in have dislodged Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC at the summit. In fact, Zakariya FC have dropped all the way down to 9th after a mediocre 69 points total. It just goes to show how high the quality is this year. Rob will be thanking not only Erling Haaland as his captain for bringing home 40 of the 92 points he earned but there were also solid points returns from the likes of Cristian Romero, Andrew Robertson, Bryan Mbeumo, Martin Odegaard, James Ward-Prowse, and Darwin Nunez. He even enjoyed the luxury of having Gabriel Martinelli's 5 points on his bench unused.
Still, the 92 points Cooper's men earned wasn't enough to earn him Manager of the Week. Not even close. In fact, it wasn't even @Gray306 with his Ju-Lo's Lamborghini with 105 points. Or @TFC's TFC with their 108 points haul. This week's Manager of the Week went to @Chris P's Dynamo Langdale. Unsurprisingly, his decision to triple captain Haaland was the moneymaker. Even so, Haaland's 60 points were added to by impressive double-figure returns by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Son Heung-min, and Dominik Szoboszlai. Well played!
Unfortunately, us staff members here at Punters Lounge must grieve the reputation of one of our own this week. For it is our very own tech wizard @Steve Coleman who must parade through the streets of his current hometown naked and full of shame after amassing a meagre 22 points to end up with the lowest score of the week. Steve will have his team in for extra training next week with only Bukayo Saka, James Maddison, and Alexander Isak earning more than 2 points each!
A special shout out to Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC who was the winner of the August Manager of the Month but, unfortunately, did not fulfil the required criteria of posting their team name and username in the competition sign-up thread so did not win the monthly prize that was available. Let's hope this month's Manager of the Month does meet the eligibility!
We now have a two week break until the next round of Premier League matches with the deadline for transfers not until 11 am BST on Saturday 16th September. Let us know which players you're thinking about putting in and shipping out. I would also like to apologise to all Chelsea fans for bringing Raheem Sterling into my team this week. Absolutely jinxed you didn't I! 

Hello all, Just joined the forum to join in with the great Horse racing debate. Been a massive fan of National Hunt racing since I've been a Kid. So thank you for letting me join the Forum

A couple of months back, I had them down as potential automatic promotion and title contenders. Unfortunately, they had an awful transfer window losing Marc Bola and Chuba Akpom whilst also losing last season's key loan signings of Ryan Giles, Zack Steffan, Alex Mowatt, Cameron Archer, and Aaron Ramsey. The recent additions of Lukas Engel and Emmanuel Latte Lath have done a little bit to cover those losses but there's still been no activity on the loan front. I feel they need another 4-5 additions to be promotion contenders and even then it feels like they've left it too late. I think a top-half finish is best for them now but results need to match the performance levels otherwise Michael Carrick's position could be brought into question, even if that would be harsh.
On the Cardiff front, we were unreal against Birmingham in midweek. The increased level of competition within the squad is starting to bring the best out of players such as Ryan Wintle, Rubin Colwill, and Ollie Tanner. The signing of Manolis Siopis has the potential to be the most influential signing we've made since Aron Gunnarsson. We've been crying out for a dominant defensive-minded central midfielder for seasons now. He's an absolute war dog. I still think Ipswich away is a tough ask. There's no denying our away games so far have been up there with the toughest so if we can avoid defeat then we'd have only lost 1 of our 3 away league games to Leeds, Leicester, and Ipswich.
It's a tough one this week but I'll foolishly optimistically back...
Draw @ 3/1 with Bet365
Anytime Scorer: Ike Ugbo @ 10/3 with Bet365
 

Sheffield United being priced at 2/1 to beat Everton with Bet365 is an outrageous price given how awful the Toffees have been. My mate is a Blades fan and he's always boasted about how United make Bramall Lane a really tough place to go. We could see that from their last game against Manchester City. My only reservation is how much that City game took out of them. I'd fancy them to get the 3 points at that value though! 

Looking at some of my betting for this month I think I've been using dismal odds but there's always next month and there has been a bit of a late recovery!
Welcome to the forum, decent bit of reasoning behind those bets which is always nice to see. As one of Britain's foremost experts on goalscorer betting* I like the notion of Bowen being in a "state of grace". I know what you mean and he's very much one of those players who is in my imaginary notebook as someone always worth a second look as they seem to make a mockery of the typical odds they're quoted at.
* Source: Wild conjecture and my ego.
 

Surely it's only a matter of time before middlesborough start winning games and move up the table
There's so much promise in there play
The stats suggest they getting there shots on target, but just missing match winner's  at the moment
The transfer window shuts 1st September 
Rumours are they intrested in getting players in
 
I see they 8-11 for a top half finish
Worth a few quid of mine at that price

It might be early days but Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC have made a name for themselves by remaining top of the table in what was generally a tough week for most. Their below-average 43 points was enough to hold on to top spot but it is very tight at the top with just 10 points splitting the top 11 teams. The tightness only intensifies as we go further down the table.
The Manager of the Week award goes to Fabian Pereira's Tricolor21 side who picked up an impressive 87 points. Raheem Sterling being picked as the captain saw 38 points achieved alone so that was a genius decision. Bruno Fernandes also chipping in with 12 points helped the cause too.
Now, who is it that picks up the Name of Shame for this round? Despite the low average score the lowest score in the Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League was far from the worst we've seen down the years. The unwanted accolade goes to Pat Somers and their Garage Band FC.
Unfortunately, the brutal nature of this league means that you can have the coolest team name going yet still not be immune to a barrage of abuse! Salt has been rubbed into the wound for our Pat with 10 points sitting on the bench. Pedro Porro wondering what on earth he's got to do to get into the starting XI! Let's aim for more than 19 points next week, Pat! Otherwise, we might have to give you an abusive gif! 
Top-flight football makes a return to Kenilworth Road on Friday night as Luton take on West Ham in an 8 pm BST kick-off. Anyone brave enough to add Hatters players to their team in anticipation of a shock win? Bet365 are offering 15/4 on a home win and 3/1 on Carlton Morris to score anytime. I will send endless amounts of respect to the manager who shoves him in their team if he scores. If he doesn't, well... you've only got yourself to blame! 
Anyway, the deadline for this coming week's games is 6:30 pm BST on Friday 1st September. Get your transfers done before then! All the best! 

I've had a vision of the future and it's Paul Heckingbottom saying "By heck we're bottom"

Chelsea
PS  @StevieDay1983 You absolute mug! what on earth were you thinking last week?!?!
 

It might be early days but Ya'u Ado's Zakariya FC have made a name for themselves by remaining top of the table in what was generally a tough week for most. Their below-average 43 points was enough to hold on to top spot but it is very tight at the top with just 10 points splitting the top 11 teams. The tightness only intensifies as we go further down the table.
The Manager of the Week award goes to Fabian Pereira's Tricolor21 side who picked up an impressive 87 points. Raheem Sterling being picked as the captain saw 38 points achieved alone so that was a genius decision. Bruno Fernandes also chipping in with 12 points helped the cause too.
Now, who is it that picks up the Name of Shame for this round? Despite the low average score the lowest score in the Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League was far from the worst we've seen down the years. The unwanted accolade goes to Pat Somers and their Garage Band FC.
Unfortunately, the brutal nature of this league means that you can have the coolest team name going yet still not be immune to a barrage of abuse! Salt has been rubbed into the wound for our Pat with 10 points sitting on the bench. Pedro Porro wondering what on earth he's got to do to get into the starting XI! Let's aim for more than 19 points next week, Pat! Otherwise, we might have to give you an abusive gif! 
Top-flight football makes a return to Kenilworth Road on Friday night as Luton take on West Ham in an 8 pm BST kick-off. Anyone brave enough to add Hatters players to their team in anticipation of a shock win? Bet365 are offering 15/4 on a home win and 3/1 on Carlton Morris to score anytime. I will send endless amounts of respect to the manager who shoves him in their team if he scores. If he doesn't, well... you've only got yourself to blame! 
Anyway, the deadline for this coming week's games is 6:30 pm BST on Friday 1st September. Get your transfers done before then! All the best! 

Tottenham    Brentford double for me   .

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League is still in its infancy for this season and that is summed up by the erratic position shifts we're seeing over these opening weeks. Y'au Ado's Zakariya FC sit on top of the table after an impressive 79 points haul this week. It was a fantastic team effort with double-figure totals coming from Pervis Estupinan, Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, Kaoru Mitoma, and Yoane Wissa. The lead at the top is just 5 points though so it's all very tight.
A special shout out to the likes of @bobsyerunkle's Smash It Up, @StevenKing's Lucky Pierre, Rob Cooper's Email This Team In, Christopher Adams' 30 Seconds, Fred Lessing's Don't Ever Lose, and Umar Abubakar Zubairu's Sadio AC who all saw their teams surpass the 70-point mark.
Now, what about the real reason we're all here for? Who are we putting in the village stocks today? It was a tough week with the common captaincy choices of Erling Haaland and Salah scoring low. Even so, the lowest score was just above the teens mark. Jonathan Pope's inappropriately named Very Good could only muster 21 points. Might want to reconsider that team name unless performances improve buddy! However, it is @Johnrobertson's Jambos2828 that hasn't quite replicated his own Hearts team's encouraging start to the season with a 20-point tally giving him the Name of Shame award for this week. Now, go outside and give yourself six of the best!
Brighton players seem to be dominating the fantasy league points at the moment and Bet365 is offering odds of 16/1 on a bet builder for the Brighton vs West Ham game of...
Brighton to Win, BTTS, Anytime Scorer: Kaoru Mitoma, and Assist: Pervis Estupinan.
It certainly feels that Mitoma and Estupinan are worth having in your fantasy teams and your bet builders!
The transfer deadline for this week's games is 6:30 pm BST on Friday 25th August. Best of luck to you all!

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League is still in its infancy for this season and that is summed up by the erratic position shifts we're seeing over these opening weeks. Y'au Ado's Zakariya FC sit on top of the table after an impressive 79 points haul this week. It was a fantastic team effort with double-figure totals coming from Pervis Estupinan, Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, Kaoru Mitoma, and Yoane Wissa. The lead at the top is just 5 points though so it's all very tight.
A special shout out to the likes of @bobsyerunkle's Smash It Up, @StevenKing's Lucky Pierre, Rob Cooper's Email This Team In, Christopher Adams' 30 Seconds, Fred Lessing's Don't Ever Lose, and Umar Abubakar Zubairu's Sadio AC who all saw their teams surpass the 70-point mark.
Now, what about the real reason we're all here for? Who are we putting in the village stocks today? It was a tough week with the common captaincy choices of Erling Haaland and Salah scoring low. Even so, the lowest score was just above the teens mark. Jonathan Pope's inappropriately named Very Good could only muster 21 points. Might want to reconsider that team name unless performances improve buddy! However, it is @Johnrobertson's Jambos2828 that hasn't quite replicated his own Hearts team's encouraging start to the season with a 20-point tally giving him the Name of Shame award for this week. Now, go outside and give yourself six of the best!
Brighton players seem to be dominating the fantasy league points at the moment and Bet365 is offering odds of 16/1 on a bet builder for the Brighton vs West Ham game of...
Brighton to Win, BTTS, Anytime Scorer: Kaoru Mitoma, and Assist: Pervis Estupinan.
It certainly feels that Mitoma and Estupinan are worth having in your fantasy teams and your bet builders!
The transfer deadline for this week's games is 6:30 pm BST on Friday 25th August. Best of luck to you all!

I'm quietly optimistic we can beat Sheffield Wednesday but we'll need to play more like a home team and take the attack to the Owls. We made the mistake of sitting back and playing a patient game against QPR in our last home game and we got sucker-punched. Wednesday will do the same. I know a few Wednesday fans are pessimistic about it. @waynecoyne, how do you feel about it?

Whilst we still have the formality of Arsenal beating Palace to come later (let's see how well that one ages) here's next weekend's fixtures in the Premier League. Another tough test for Newcastle but at least they play host to Liverpool. Sheffield United have the dubious pleasure entertaining Man City while the latter's Red rivals have what could be a tricky game at home to Forest, and will be hoping their attacking players finally find their shooting boots. Thoughts, bets and angles on these games welcomed below.

See above for all of this week's games in Leagues 1 and 2 and the Scottish Premiership. See below for the thoughts and bets of the Punters Lounge Massive! 

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League is still in its infancy for this season and that is summed up by the erratic position shifts we're seeing over these opening weeks. Y'au Ado's Zakariya FC sit on top of the table after an impressive 79 points haul this week. It was a fantastic team effort with double-figure totals coming from Pervis Estupinan, Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, Kaoru Mitoma, and Yoane Wissa. The lead at the top is just 5 points though so it's all very tight.
A special shout out to the likes of @bobsyerunkle's Smash It Up, @StevenKing's Lucky Pierre, Rob Cooper's Email This Team In, Christopher Adams' 30 Seconds, Fred Lessing's Don't Ever Lose, and Umar Abubakar Zubairu's Sadio AC who all saw their teams surpass the 70-point mark.
Now, what about the real reason we're all here for? Who are we putting in the village stocks today? It was a tough week with the common captaincy choices of Erling Haaland and Salah scoring low. Even so, the lowest score was just above the teens mark. Jonathan Pope's inappropriately named Very Good could only muster 21 points. Might want to reconsider that team name unless performances improve buddy! However, it is @Johnrobertson's Jambos2828 that hasn't quite replicated his own Hearts team's encouraging start to the season with a 20-point tally giving him the Name of Shame award for this week. Now, go outside and give yourself six of the best!
Brighton players seem to be dominating the fantasy league points at the moment and Bet365 is offering odds of 16/1 on a bet builder for the Brighton vs West Ham game of...
Brighton to Win, BTTS, Anytime Scorer: Kaoru Mitoma, and Assist: Pervis Estupinan.
It certainly feels that Mitoma and Estupinan are worth having in your fantasy teams and your bet builders!
The transfer deadline for this week's games is 6:30 pm BST on Friday 25th August. Best of luck to you all!