3rd-5th December

The 3rd LMS game of the season kicked off with 118 players taking part, hoping to win the prize pot of £590. Nine different teams had been picked in this opening round. Brentford v Newcastle was the only game that didn’t feature.

Things were meant to kick off with a Saturday lunchtime derby as Everton were due to welcome Liverpool for the last ever league derby at Goodison Park – Allan Jones, Dave Nicholls, Jack Smith, Paul Boddy and Paul Hallett had picked the Reds – the game was postponed due to storm Darragh and they progress to the next round, as per rule 10. In the 3pm games, Aston Villa played bottom of the table Southampton at Villa Park – 73 players had picked Villa (this is the most picks in any round ever) and they went through with a 1-0 win. Crystal Palace hosted Manchester City at Selhurst Park – 9 players had been hoping for a City win but a 2-2 draw saw them drop out (including Game 2’s winner, Ken Nelson). In the teatime game, Manchester United faced Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford – 8 players had picked United but the new manager bounce has gone and a 3-2 defeat sees them exit.
On Sunday, Fulham played Arsenal at Craven Cottage – 13 players had picked the Gunners but a late VAR decision meant that this game finished 1-1 and they exit. Ipswich took on Bournemouth at Portman Road – Becci Morton, Carl Jackson, Lisa Mensah and Martin Grierson had picked the Cherries and a 95th minute winner to make it 2-1 just about edges them through. Leicester faced Brighton at the King Power stadium – Ben Donafee, Gary Donely and Gemma Jackson had picked the Seagulls and, despite leading 2-0, they drop out after a 2-2 draw. The late Sunday game saw a London derby as Tottenham hosted Chelsea at the Tottenham stadium – David Hegarty had picked Chelsea. It came to light after the deadline that he thought this new game kicked off with last week’s midweek game and thought he had picked Chelsea to beat Southampton!However, despite going 2 goals down, a 4-3 win puts him through (pay more attention next time!
On Monday night, West Ham played Wolves at the London stadium – Michael Grierson and Tony Smith had picked the Hammers and a 2-1 win puts them through.

In total, 33 players drop out at the first hurdle, leaving 85 players still standing for Round 2. Deadline for Round 2 is Friday 13th December at noon. A full update can be viewed here.

		ROUND 1
		7-DEC to 9-DEC
1	Abi Donafee	Aston Villa
2	Adam Dealing	Aston Villa
3	Adam Rawes	Manchester United
4	Adele Ward	Manchester City
5	Alfie Robinson	Arsenal
6	Allan Jones	Liverpool
7	Alex Ramsden	Aston Villa
8	Andrew Carter	Aston Villa
9	Andy Burns	Aston Villa
10	Anthony Donafee	Aston Villa
11	Andrew Wilkinson	Arsenal
12	Becci Morton	Bournemouth
13	Ben Donafee	Brighton
14	Bill Murphy	Manchester United
15	Cameron Green	Aston Villa
16	Carl Jackson	Bournemouth
17	Carl Jackson Snr	Aston Villa
18	Charlie Folksman	Aston Villa
19	Chris Grierson	Aston Villa
20	Chris Mowles	Aston Villa
21	Dan Milton	Aston Villa
22	Dan Wei	Aston Villa
23	Dave Brown	Aston Villa
24	Dave Goodall	Manchester City
25	Dave Latham	Aston Villa
26	Dave Nicholls	Liverpool
27	Dave Phillips	Aston Villa
28	Dave Rogers	Aston Villa
29	Dave Weston	Aston Villa
30	David Hayhoe	Aston Villa
31	David Hegarty	Chelsea
32	Eilish Doherty	Arsenal
33	Ewan White	Aston Villa
34	Gary Donely	Brighton
35	Gary Nelson	Aston Villa
36	Gary Storer	Aston Villa
37	Gemma Jackson	Brighton
38	Georgia O’Driscoll	Arsenal
39	Gerry Doherty	Aston Villa
40	Gisela Mowles	Aston Villa
41	Graeme Tinker	Aston Villa
42	Harry Dealing	Aston Villa
43	Hayley Beaton	Arsenal
44	Ian O’Brien	Aston Villa
45	Jack Horsler	Aston Villa
46	Jack Smith	Liverpool
47	Jackie Milton	Aston Villa
48	James Donafee	Arsenal
49	James Grierson	Aston Villa
50	James Murphy	Aston Villa
51	Janet Carr	Aston Villa
52	Jason Harrison	Manchester City
53	Jenny Rothwell	Manchester United
54	Joel Wilkinson	Aston Villa
55	Joey O’Brien	Manchester City
56	John Lamming	Aston Villa
57	John Roberts	Aston Villa
58	Jonny Trash	Aston Villa
59	Josh Cheal	Aston Villa
60	Ken Nelson	Manchester City
61	Kevin Murphy	Aston Villa
62	Kevin Robinson	Aston Villa
63	Lauren Haigh	Aston Villa
64	Lee Abbott	Aston Villa
65	Lee Jones	Aston Villa
66	Lin Maiden	Aston Villa
67	Linda Beaumont	Manchester City
68	Lisa Mensah	Bournemouth
69	Luke Taylor	Arsenal
70	Lynn Storer	Manchester United
71	Marie Robinson	Aston Villa
72	Mark James	Aston Villa
73	Martin Emmett	Aston Villa
74	Martin Grierson	Bournemouth
75	Martin McShane	Manchester United
76	Matthew Saveall	Aston Villa
77	Melvin Pool	Aston Villa
78	Michael Agnew	Manchester City
79	Michael Grierson	West Ham
80	Michael Thomas	Aston Villa
81	Neil Metcalf	Aston Villa
82	Nick Carr	Aston Villa
83	Olly Woodward	Aston Villa
84	Pat Boddy	Aston Villa
85	Paul Allman	Aston Villa
86	Paul Barlow	Manchester United
87	Paul Boddy	Liverpool
88	Paul Conway	Aston Villa
89	Paul Giles	Aston Villa
90	Paul Hallett	Liverpool
91	Paul Maiden	Aston Villa
92	Paul Murphy	Aston Villa
93	Pauline Jackson	Arsenal
94	Peter Carroll	Aston Villa
95	Peter Carter	Manchester United
96	Phil Haigh	Aston Villa
97	Ralph Dealing	Aston Villa
98	Richard Dixon	Aston Villa
99	Richie Gibbons	Aston Villa
100	Rob Pollock	Aston Villa
101	Robin Horsler	Aston Villa
102	Ross Milton	Aston Villa
103	Sandra Emmett	Arsenal
104	Sean Ginnelly	Arsenal
105	Sean Hale	Aston Villa
106	Sean Woodward	Aston Villa
107	Shaun Magee	Manchester City
108	Ste Matthews	Arsenal
109	Ste Milton	Manchester United
110	Ste Wilkinson	Aston Villa
111	Steve Rogers	Arsenal
112	Steve Smith	Aston Villa
113	Steve Watson	Aston Villa
114	Tony Ainsworth	Manchester City
115	Tony Raybould	Aston Villa
116	Tony Smith	West Ham
117	Trevor Faulkner	Aston Villa
118	Zac Robinson	Arsenal

TEAM	PICKS	%
Arsenal	13	11%
Aston Villa	73	61%
Bournemouth	4	3%
Brighton	3	3%
Chelsea	1	1%
Liverpool	5	4%
Manchester City	9	8%
Manchester United	8	7%
West Ham	2	2%
	118	100%

ROUND 2
Saturday 14 December 2024
Arsenal 15:00 Everton
Liverpool 15:00 Fulham
Newcastle 15:00 Leicester
St. James’ Park, Newcastle
Wolves 15:00 Ipswich
Nott’m Forest 17:30 Aston Villa
Sunday 15 December 2024
Brighton 20:00 Crystal Palace
Man City 16:30 Man Utd
Chelsea 19:00 Brentford
Southampton 19:00 Spurs
Monday 16 December 2024
Bournemouth 14:00 West Ham