h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ho Ho Ho.

Not a list of Wayne Rooney's favourite OAPs, but a signifier that this the Chritmas Edition of Fantasy Football.

All matches take place on Boxing Day, so entries by about Noon that day, I think:

Arsenal v Wolves
Chelsea v Fulham
Liverpool v Blackburn
Sunderland v Everton
Stoke v Aston Villa.

Arsenal 5 v 1 Wolves ~ Van Persie
Chelsea 3 v 0 Fulham ~ Lampard
Liverpool 2 v 0 Blackburn ~ Henderson
Sunderland 2 v 1 Everton ~ Larsson
Stoke 2 v 1 Aston Villa. ~ Crouch

Arsenal 3-1 Wolves (Van Persie)
Chelsea 2-0 Fulham (Sturridge)
Liverpool 3-0 Blackburn (Adam)
Sunderland 1-1 Everton (Larsson)
Stoke 2 v 1 Aston Villa (Walters)

Arsenal 4-0 Wolves (v Persie)
Chelsea 3-1 Fulham (Mata)
Liverpool 1-0 Blackburn (Adam)
Sunderland 0-2 Everton (Osman)
Stoke 3-2 Aston Villa. (Agbonlahor)

Arsenal 1-0 Wolves (Walcott)
Chelsea 3-1 Fulham (Sturridge)
Liverpool 1-1 Blackburn (Bellamy)
Sunderland 0-0 Everton
Stoke 2-1 Aston Villa (Crouch)

B

Arsenal 4 v 1 Wolves (van persie)
Chelsea 2 v 1 Fulham (Sturridge)
Liverpool 2 v 0 Blackburn (Kuyt)
Sunderland 1 v 1 Everton (Baines)
Stoke 2 v 1 Aston Villa (Walters)

Shit I've just notice we've got until Boxing day.



Now I've got something to do on Sunday

Apologies for that previous post - seems the sozzled christmas spirit got to me. Not sure what I meant by that myself



Arsenal v Wolves 3-0 (van Persie)

Chelsea v Fulham 2-0 (Sturridge)

Liverpool v Blackburn 3-0 (Suarez)

Sunderland v Everton 2-1(Bendtner)

Stoke v Aston Villa. 2-1 (Walters)

It was a little unexpected. We usually rely on Egon for drunken incomprehensible gibberish.

B

Arsenal 3 Wolves 0 (van Persie)
Chelsea 2 Fulham 1 (Sturridge)
Liverpool 1 Blackburn 1 (Adam)
Sunderland 0 Everton 2 (Drenthe)
Stoke 2 Aston Villa 1 (Crouch)

Drunken incomprehensible gibberish, how dare you!

Anyway, I'd stay for a chat but I'm off to the pub...

Arsenal 2-0 Wolves (Robin van Persie)
Chelsea 1-0 Fulham (Sturridge)
Liverpool 2-0 Blackburn (Adam)
Sunderland 0-1 Everton (Osman)
Stoke 1-1 Aston Villa (Agbonlahor)

Hmm. My rules don't seem to cover what happens if The first scorer is an own goal. Does anyone know if GreyDesk had a rule about it?

I've had a look on the ladbrokes website, and they ignore own goals all together. Is this standard betting rule, or do other bookies do it differently?

These are the ladbrokes rules on goalscorers, which I'm inclined to follow unless I can find any evidence of it being done differently:

All goalscorer bets are offered on selected major games as advertised. Bets are settled on the player to score in the match within 90 minutes.

First goalscorer - Stakes are refunded on any player who takes no part in the match or who comes on as substitute after the first goal has been scored. Own goals do not count for first goalscorer purposes and are ignored for settlement purposes. On some matches the first goalscorer betting may be limited to one specific team.

Last goalscorer - All players taking part at any point of the match are deemed to have played for the purposes of Last goalscorer bets, irrespective of whether they were on the pitch at the time the last goal is scored. Own goals do not count.

Score at any time/Score a hat-trick - All players taking part at any point of the match are deemed to have played for settling purposes. Own goals do not count.

If the only goal scored within 90 minutes is an own goal, then 'no goalscorer' will be deemed to have been the outcome.

If a match is abandoned before the first goal is scored, all bets are void. This includes 'no goalscorer' bets as these are offered on the basis of 90 minutes being played in the game. If the match is abandoned after the first goal is scored, all bets will stand.

Where there is a dispute concerning who scored the goals in a match, bets will be settled based on the decision of the Press Association (PA) immediately after the match is finished. If the PA amends their decision after this period, all bets will stand on their original result. If the result is not immediately available from the PA, the result published by the official governing body immediately the match/event is finished will be used for settling purposes. Any subsequent corrections or amendments to this result will not apply for settlement purposes.

(specifically the bits re: own goals, the rest doesn't apply especially

I don't think you can really allow Adam as first scorer, can you?

I have made a couple of predictions in the past that have specifically stated Sinclair(og) or similar, so I'd say it's up to the contestant to get it right.

B

That's my inclination, to treat maxi as the first and only goalscorer.

Given that no-one picked Maxi, I think I'm safe in saying the rule should be that there is NO first goalscorer at all. That would be the case in a void bet.

B

That seems reasonable enough

Oh, F.......azackerly!!

I've managed to pick two 'first-scorers' for today who aren't even in the matchday squad.

B