After an enforced break the Danske Bank Premiership returns today with a full programme of fixtures and Covid testing now in place for all players and officials with the first round of testing having taken place earlier this week.
There is certainly some tasty fixtures to get us back into the way of things and we also have two televised games to look forward.
The action gets underway at lunchtime when 3rd placed Crusaders welcome 2nd placed Larne to Seaview in a game been shown live on Sky Sports. A win for either side would see them move into top spot, at least until Linfield play later in the day. Larne manager, Tiernan Lynch, goes into the game having picked up the NI Football Writer’s Manager of the Month award for the third time on the trot, only the fourth manager to achieve this in history, but last time out his side lost for the first time this season so will need to bounce back. Stephen Baxter’s North Belfast side are currently on a four game unbeaten run so the break perhaps came at the wrong time for them but they will be motivated by the chance of returning to top spot even if it is only for a few hours.
The other game you can watch tomorrow is the evening kick off at Mourneview Park between Glenavon and Glentoran, which you can catch on BBCNI. Four games unbeaten for Glentoran have seen them move away from the relegation but like today’s opponents they disappointingly still find themselves in the bottom half of the table but a win today for either side and defeat for Coleraine in their game against Dungannon could move them into the top half.
Here is today’s full fixture list, all games kick off at 15:00 unless otherwise stated: –
Crusaders v Larne (Saturday 23rd January at 12:30, live on Sky Sports)
Ballymena United v Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers v Portadown
Coleraine v Dungannon Swifts
Linfield v Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon v Glentoran (Saturday 23rd January at 17:30, live on BBC NI)
Here is how the league standings look as we head into today’s games: –
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
1 | Linfield | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 28 |
2 | Larne | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 26 |
3 | Crusaders | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 25 |
4 | Ballymena United | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 20 |
5 | Cliftonville | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 17 |
6 | Coleraine | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 16 |
7 | Glentoran | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 14 |
8 | Glenavon | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 18 | -1 | 13 |
9 | Warrenpoint Town | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 18 | -7 | 12 |
10 | Portadown | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 24 | -13 | 8 |
11 | Dungannon Swifts | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 28 | -20 | 8 |
12 | Carrick Rangers | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 25 | -18 | 4 |
The return of the action on the pitch also sees the return of our Writer’s Danske Bank Premiership Prediction League and as always the guys will get three points for predicting a result correctly and a point for predicting the outcome of one of today’s fixtures, Darren is up first today.
Darren
Crusaders 0-0 Larne
Ballymena United 2-1 Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers 1-1 Portadown
Coleraine 2-0 Dungannon Swifts
Linfield 2-0 Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon 1-1 Glentoran
Richard
Crusaders 1-2 Larne
Ballymena United 3-0 Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers 0-2 Portadown
Coleraine 0-1 Dungannon Swifts
Linfield 1-1 Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon 0-0 Glentoran
Rodney
Crusaders 2-1 Larne
Ballymena United 2-1 Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers 2-1 Portadown
Coleraine 3-0 Dungannon Swifts
Linfield 2-0 Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon 2-1 Glentoran
Adrian
Crusaders 1-1 Larne
Ballymena United 1-1 Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers 1-3 Portadown
Coleraine 2-0 Dungannon Swifts
Linfield 4-0 Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon 0-1 Glentoran
Keith
Crusaders 1-1 Larne
Ballymena United 1-1 Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers 1-3 Portadown
Coleraine 2-0 Dungannon Swifts
Linfield 4-0 Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon 0-1 Glentoran
Cameron
Crusaders 1-3 Larne
Ballymena United 1-0 Cliftonville
Carrick Rangers 0-0 Portadown
Coleraine 2-0 Dungannon Swifts
Linfield 4-0 Warrenpoint Town
Glenavon 1-2 Glentoran
Here is the current leaderboard: –
1. Rodney | 52 |
2. Cameron | 48 |
3. Adrian | 36 |
4. Richard | 32 |
5. Darren/Keith | 31 |