Danske Bank Premiership: Glens have another chance to move off bottom spot

During the week there was a bit of a surprise result when Ballymena made it two wins on the bounce with a convincing 4-0 victory over Cliftonville, and after having a poor start to the campaign United are now in the top half of the table and only goal difference separates them from their Paddy McLaughlin’s side. Despite the defeat, the Reds remain 4th in the table but they missed a chance to close the gap on the sides ahead of them and are still six points behind 3rd placed Crusaders and are now ten points away from top spot.

Games between Linfield and Glentoran are always interesting for the neutrals and Tuesday night’s streamed game did not disappoint with both sides leading at different points in the game. In the end, a late Jimmy Callacher goal for the home side saw it end in a 3-3 draw, while there were also two red cards as the Glens finished with nine men on the pitch.

The Glens will have been frustrated by that late equaliser on Tuesday night as it means they go into today’s game still in bottom spot and still with a zero in this seasons wins column so far. And whilst a draw kept Linfield in 1st place and moved them a point further clear of Larne, they will have had their eyes set prior to the Glentoran game of moving four points clear at the summit going into this weekend’s fixture and will also be slightly disappointed not to have won for the first time this season.

Here are the current league standings: –

There are five games taking place today, Ballymena and Cliftonville do not play each other until Tuesday night.

At Milltown, Warrenpoint welcome the champions and current leaders, Linfield and Healy’s side will be hoping to immediately bounce back to winning ways after losing their 100% start to the league campaign on Tuesday night. Whilst games at Milltown are seldom foregone conclusions Barry Gray’s side have only picked up two points from the last 12 available to them and could be in danger of slipping further down the league table if they don’t address this slump soon.

Hoping to take advantage of any Linfield slipups at Milltown are Larne, who are the only other side unbeaten in the league this season. They play Coleraine at The Coleraine Showgrounds, the Bannsiders were backed by some as possible title challengers this season after a 2nd placed finish last season but haven’t had the best of starts and are currently 6th in the league and 12 points off 1st place. If Linfield fail to beat Warrenpoint and Larne win they will either overtake the current leaders or cut their lead to goal difference.

At The Oval, Glentoran play Dungannon and anything but a defeat will see them climb off bottom spot as Carrick are not playing until Tuesday night. Mick McDermott’s side trial rangers by a point but have a better goal difference.

Here is today’s full fixture list with all games kicking off at 15:00 unless otherwise stated: –

Cliftonville v Portadown

Coleraine v Larne

Glenavon v Crusaders

Glentoran v Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town v Linfield (Saturday 27th November at 17:30)

It was a low scoring midweek for the team in our Writer’s Prediction League as only Richard picked up a solitary point for backing Ballymena to beat Cliftonville, hopefully we will fare better today.

It is three points for a correct result and a point for a correct outcome: –

Richard

Cliftonville 1-0 Portadown

Coleraine 2-2 Larne

Glenavon 1-0 Crusaders

Glentoran 0-2 Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town 0-0 Linfield

Rodney

Cliftonville 2-0 Portadown

Coleraine 2-1 Larne

Glenavon 1-3 Crusaders

Glentoran 3-0 Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town 1-2 Linfield

Adrian

Cliftonville 2-0 Portadown

Coleraine 1-1 Larne

Glenavon 0-2 Crusaders

Glentoran 1-1 Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town 0-3 Linfield

Keith

Cliftonville 1-2 Portadown

Coleraine 0-1 Larne

Glenavon 0-1 Crusaders

Glentoran 2-1 Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town 1-1 Linfield

Darren

Cliftonville 1-1 Portadown

Coleraine 0-1 Larne

Glenavon 1-2 Crusaders

Glentoran 1-1 Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town 0-3 Linfield

Cameron

Cliftonville 2-0 Portadown

Coleraine 2-2 Larne

Glenavon 2-1 Crusaders

Glentoran 1-1 Dungannon Swifts

Warrenpoint Town 1-2 Linfield

Here is the current leaderboard: –