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Another week in the NFL and another handful of great, meaningful games to keep an eye on.

But before we get to the great games, it needs to be mentioned that the New York Giants star receiver, Plaxico Burress, shot himself in the leg on Friday night. His life isn’t in danger and the bullet only struck skin and muscle. Since he is fine and out of the hospital, now we need to look at the latter part of that injury. If the bullet damaged more than a little bit of muscle then Burress could miss more than just a couple games. And, of course, if reports are correct and he has a concealed weapon in a bar in New York City, then Burress broke the law and may face criminal charges.

As for the games on the field, Burress’ New York Giants have a big game against the Washington Redskins. This isn’t that big of a game for the Giants, since they have a three game lead in their division. However, a win will virtually lock-up the division for the G-Men. However, a win for the Redskins will put the Skins in a great position to make the playoffs. A loss will make it difficult for the Skins to get into the playoffs.

Another big game is the Carolina Panthers at the Green Bay Packers. The Panthers can move a step closer to locking up at least a Wild Card spot with a win. The Packers can stay in the mix to win their division if they win. A loss would hurt both teams about equally.

The Bears at the Vikings is a big game too. These two teams are currently tied atop that NFC North. The winner will lead the division, the loser will be in a rough spot just to make the playoffs.

Two other big games to watch are the Atlanta Falcons visiting the San Diego Chargers and the New Orleans Saints at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both of these games have major playoff implications for the teams involved.

Game : Liverpool (2nd place- 33 points) vs West Ham United ( 15th place- 17 points)

Competition : English Premier league

Date : Monday, 1 December 2008

Time : 20.00 GMT

Gianfranco Zola takes his West Ham to Anfield in the first Premiership fixture in the month of December. Anfield has been a Liverpool fortress in the Premiership this season, with the Reds yet to be defeated at home.

Liverpool beat Marseille 1-0 on Wednesday to seal their progress to the knockout stages, but were dealt a cruel blow when it was learnt that Fernando Torres had strained his hamstring again. Torres’ absence means that Robbie Keane comes back into the starting XI. The last time West Ham visited Anfield, Torres scored a hat trick as Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 victory.Fabio Aurelio is another injury casualty for the Reds, and summer signing Andrea Dossena should take his spot at left back.

Liverpool last five games – all competitions ( scorers in brackets)

Liverpool 3-0 West Bromwich Albion ( Robbie Keane*2, Alvaro Arbeloa)
Tottenham 4-2 Liverpool- Carling Cup ( Damien Plessis, Sami Hyypia)
Bolton 0-2 Liverpool ( Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard)
Liverpool 0-0 Fulham
Liverpool 1-0 Marseille ( Steven Gerrard)

Liverpool performance- last five games at Anfield.

Liverpool 1-0 Portsmouth ( Steven Gerrard)
Liverpool 1-1 Atletico ( Steven Gerrard)
Liverpool 3-0 West Bromwich Albion ( Robbie Keane*2, Alvaro Arbeloa)
Liverpool 0-0 Fulham
Liverpool 1-0 Marseille ( Steven Gerrard)

It isn’t quite difficult to decipher from the above stats how important Gerrard is to Liverpool. At 10Bet, Gerrard is at 6.550 to score first and at 2.800 to score anytime.

West Ham secured a crucial win against Sunderland last week, with Valon Behrami scoring the only goal of the game. While the Hammers’ away form has not been that inspiring ( 4 losses out of 7), Zola would certainly not like to look at the history books for this fixture. The last time West Ham beat Liverpool at Anfield was in September 1963, when Zola himself had not been born.

West Ham last five games- all competitions – West Ham scorers in brackets.

Man Utd 2-0 West Ham
Middlesbrough 1-1 West Ham ( Hayden Mullins)
West Ham 1-3 Everton ( Jack Collison)
West Ham 0-0 Portsmouth
Sunderland 0-1 West Ham ( Valon Behrami)

West Ham away form- last five games
WLLDW

Corresponding fixture last season- Liverpool 4-0 West Ham ( Torres*3, Gerrard)

Liverpool to win this 2-0, with goals from Keane and Gerrard.

Game : Tottenham Hotspur (16th) vs Everton ( 7th)

Competition : English Premier league

Venue : White Hart Lane, London, England

Date : Sunday, 30 November 2008

Kickoff : 15.00 GMT

Everton’s David Moyes takes his Everton side to White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon for his 300th game in charge of the Toffees. And despite the Merseyside team being 10 places above their opponents, Spurs will be firm favourites going into this game thanks to their recent revival under Harry Redknapp.

Tottenham Hotspur have lost just one game since Redknapp took over from Juande Ramos, and that was against Fulham. After collecting just two points from their first eight fixtures, Spurs moved out of the relegation zone last week with an impressive win over Blackburn. They also beat Mario Breen’s NEC Nijmegen 1-0 in the midweek UEFA Cup tie.

Tottenham Hotspur- last five games performance ( Spurs scorers indicated in brackets)

Man City 1-2 Tottenham ( Darren Bent*2)
Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 Liverpool ( league Cup) ( Roman Pavlyuchenko*2, Fraizer Campbell*2)
Fulham 2-1 Tottenham ( Fraizer Campbell)
Tottenham 1-0 Blackburn (Roman Pavlyuchenko)
NEC 0-1 Tottenham ( Jamie O’Hara)

Last five home games
WWWWW ( Beat Bolton, Liverpool, Dinamo, Liverpool again and Blackburn Rovers)

Everton are struggling with injuries as they travel to North London. Nuno Valente and Tony Hibbert are both sidelined. Moyes will also have to do without the services of forwards Victor Anichebe, Louis Saha and James Vaughan.

Last five games- all competitions

Bolton 0-1 Everton (Marouane Fellaini)
Everton 1-0 Fulham ( Louis Saha)
West Ham 1-3 Everton ( Joleon Lescott, Louis Saha*2)
Everton 1-1 M’Boro ( Yakubu)
Wigan 1-0 Everton

Last five away games
LLWWL

Everton did the double over Tottenham last year, and have won their last two league games at White Hart Lane.

Last season corresponding fixture-
Tottenham 1-3 Everton ( Gardner/ Lescott, Osman, Stubbs)

Spurs to continue their winning run. While Everton still have the likes of Cahill, Arteta and Yakubu in their squad, Spurs are on a winning spree, and will have Corluka and King back in defence. Spurs 2-0 Everton , with goals from Pavlyuchenko and Bent.

Yesterday we took a look back at the Thanksgiving games and we also looked at the first half of the upcoming games (this weekend).

Now we’re going to tackle the second half of the games.

Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers

How much longer do we have to wait for the Chargers to start playing good football before they are simply deemed a bad team?

This week is pretty much their last chance. And I think they will beat the Atlanta Falcons.

My Pick: The Chargers

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders

This is one of those games that nobody really cares about. These are two horrible teams.

The Raiders are at home so we’ll go with them.

My Pick: The Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots

This should be a great game. Both of these teams look to be headed for the playoffs. However, they can’t afford to stumble down the stretch.

This night come down to Cassell versus the Steelers defense and Big Ben needing to stay upright against the Pats defense.

I just think the Pats defense is a little too slow and Cassell (fresh off two 400 yard games) will have trouble against the Steelers’ defense.

My Pick: The Steelers

Denver Broncos at New York Jets

The Jets are flying high after their huge win against the Titans. The Broncos are way too inconsistent.

However, I think the Broncos will come to play and the Jets are going to have a major letdown.

But the Jets will pull it out late.

My Pick: The Jets

Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings

This will be a black and blue battle.

I’ll go with the home team.

My Pick: The Vikings

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans

This is a show down between a slightly underachieving team (the Texans) and a majorly underachieving team (the Jaguars). The Jags will be ready for this one.

My Pick: The Jaguars

Yesterday we took a look back at the Thanksgiving games and we also looked at the first half of the upcoming games (this weekend).

Now we’re going to tackle the second half of the games.

Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers

How much longer do we have to wait for the Chargers to start playing good football before they are simply deemed a bad team?

This week is pretty much their last chance. And I think they will beat the Atlanta Falcons.

My Pick: The Chargers

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders

This is one of those games that nobody really cares about. These are two horrible teams.

The Raiders are at home so we’ll go with them.

My Pick: The Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots

This should be a great game. Both of these teams look to be headed for the playoffs. However, they can’t afford to stumble down the stretch.

This night come down to Cassell versus the Steelers defense and Big Ben needing to stay upright against the Pats defense.

I just think the Pats defense is a little too slow and Cassell (fresh off two 400 yard games) will have trouble against the Steelers’ defense.

My Pick: The Steelers

Denver Broncos at New York Jets

The Jets are flying high after their huge win against the Titans. The Broncos are way too inconsistent.

However, I think the Broncos will come to play and the Jets are going to have a major letdown.

But the Jets will pull it out late.

My Pick: The Jets

Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings

This will be a black and blue battle.

I’ll go with the home team.

My Pick: The Vikings

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans

This is a show down between a slightly underachieving team (the Texans) and a majorly underachieving team (the Jaguars). The Jags will be ready for this one.

My Pick: The Jaguars