Two games into the Danske Bank Premiership and defending champions Linfield are occupying top spot and there is perhaps few who would not back them to still be there come the end of the season.
David Healy’s side have been in fine form in front of goal in the opening games scoring eight goals so far and last week Navid Nasseri opened his goalscoring account for The Blues after joining from Glentoran in the summer.
The only other side to have a 100% record after the opening two games is Larne who have managed wins against Dungannon and Carrick with five different players getting their name on the scoresheet in those opening games.
This weekend Linfield have their toughest test so far as they welcome Crusaders to Windsor Park, Stephen Baxter’s side opened their season with a narrow win against Warrenpoint and a further victory against against North Belfast rivals Cliftonville last week.
Larne also have a tough game as they take on nearby rivals Ballymena in what is sure to be an entertaining fixture at Inver Park and elsewhere Glenavon and Dungannon face off as both sides try to get their seasons up and running.
The full fixture list is as follows with all games kicking off tomorrow (Saturday 31st October) at 15:00 unless otherwise stated: –
Linfield v Crusaders (Friday 30th October at 19:45 – BBC Sport NI)
Cliftonville v Carrick Rangers
Coleraine v Glentoran
Glenavon v Dungannon Swifts
Larne v Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town v Portadown
Here is the league table after the first two rounds of fixtures: –
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Linfield | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 2 | Larne | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Crusaders | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Coleraine | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Warrenpoint Town | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Ballymena United | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Cliftonville | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Portadown | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
| 9 | Glentoran | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 10 | Glenavon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 1 |
| 11 | Carrick Rangers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 0 |
| 12 | Dungannon Swifts | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
There has been a change at the top of our prediction league with Richard replacing Darren at the summit thanks to correctly predicting the correct results in the Carrick v Larne and Dungannon v Warrenpoint games and a Linfield victory over Ballymena. This moves Richard three points clear at the top with Cameron in 2nd place on seven points and Rodney, Adrian, Keith and Darren are level on six points.
Here is the full leaderboard: –
| 1. Richard | 10 |
| 2. Cameron | 7 |
| 3. Rodney/Adrian/Keith/Darren | 6 |
Up first this week with his predictions is current leader Richard, as usual it is three points for a correct result and a point for a correct outcome.
Richard
Linfield 2-1 Crusaders
Cliftonville 1-0 Carrick Rangers
Coleraine 0-2 Glentoran
Glenavon 1-1 Dungannon Swifts
Larne 0-1 Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town 1-0 Portadown
Adrian
Linfield 2-0 Crusaders
Cliftonville 3-1 Carrick Rangers
Coleraine 2-0 Glentoran
Glenavon 1-1 Dungannon Swifts
Larne 1-0 Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town 2-0 Portadown
Rodney
Linfield 2-1 Crusaders
Cliftonville 3-0 Carrick Rangers
Coleraine 2-1 Glentoran
Glenavon 2-1 Dungannon Swifts
Larne 2-0 Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town 1-1 Portadown
Darren
Linfield 1-1 Crusaders
Cliftonville 1-0 Carrick Rangers
Coleraine 2-0 Glentoran
Glenavon 3-0 Dungannon Swifts
Larne 1-0 Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town 2-1 Portadown
Cameron
Linfield 2-2 Crusaders
Cliftonville 3-1 Carrick Rangers
Coleraine 2-0 Glentoran
Glenavon 0-0 Dungannon Swifts
Larne 3-3 Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town 1-1 Portadown
Keith
Linfield 1-1 Crusaders
Cliftonville 2-0 Carrick Rangers
Coleraine 0-0 Glentoran
Glenavon 0-0 Dungannon Swifts
Larne 2-1 Ballymena United
Warrenpoint Town 1-0 Portadown
