Liverpool has stepped up their interest in Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler despite being warned off by the German club. Former Manchester United shot-stopper Zieler is rated as a rising star in the Bundesliga, and the Reds are believed to be willing to offer up to £8million to land him.
The Potters shot-stopper, who has impressed at the Britannia Stadium this season, informed Bosnian reporters that he expects to move to Anfield in the summer window Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has revealed that he hopes to move to Liverpool this summer, as speculation continues to surround the future of current Anfield shot-stopper Pepe Reina.
Liverpool could target a move for Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy following his heroics against the Reds at the weekend. McCarthy, who had only just returned to the Royals side following a lengthy lay-off with a shoulder injury, pulled off a number of world-class save to deny Liverpool and earn his side a point in a goalless draw.
Jack Butland is set to join Stoke after a £4million offer has been accepted by Birmingham City. This could set off a goalkeeping merrygo round with Asmir Begovic touted by many of Europe's top teams. This is certainly a missed opportunity by Liverpool, the young keeper is highly talented and has impressed in the last two seasons at St Andrews.
Sir Alex Ferguson is on the hunt for a new goalkeeper and he could look to bring Liverpool's Pepe Reina. The United boss is rumoured to be losing faith in both De Gea and Lindegaard even though both have been given their chance to make the number one jersey their own this season and according to the Mirror he has asked David Gill to fund a buy for a genuine number one.
Ingenious. Got a keeper who's a bit dubious underneath the high ball? Simply place a sign saying 'CLAIMS SPECIALISTS' behind his goal facing the opposition strikers for the entire match. They won't even bother crossing the ball anymore knowing that the goalie would only claim it from the air like a specialist in any case.
Liverpool took the early lead after just two minutes of play when Luis Suarez was pulled down in the penalty box by Ryan Shawcross and skipper Steven Gerrard stepped up to slot the subsequent penalty past Asmir Begovic.
Despite taking the early lead, the traveling Kop were soon silenced by two Jon Walters goals, and a Kenwyne Jones header, which extended Liverpool's winless streak at the Britannia Stadium to five matches.
Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham (Wikimedia Commons)
As Chelsea secured their spot in next seasons Champions League competition, Tottenham must anxiously await to see if they too can book a spot in Europe's coveted competition. Tottenham (20-9-8, 69 points) sit in the fourth and final Champions League spot with one match left in their season however Arsenal are a mere two points behind Spurs with a game in hand.
Matthew Etherington of Stoke City (Wikimedia Commons)
With only two matches left in the Premier League season, both Tottenham and Stoke City will look to finish strong especially the Spurs as they chase the final Champions League spot. The Britannia should surely be rocking on Sunday afternoon in hopes of continuing a three match unbeaten run.
A better start than recent weeks We didn't concede an early goal. Yes, the opposition is not as strong as Chelsea or Manchester City but let's not forget that West Ham also scored early against us. We can only take it a step at a time and against the team the fixture decides.
Stoke player Michael Owen (l) and Swansea player Leon Britton-Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Two contrasting playing styles battled against one another at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon, as Michael Laudrup's classy Swansea outclassed a lacklustre Stoke City by three goals to one.
It was a first half that offered very little in the way of entertainment.
Michu of Swansea City-Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images
On Saturday, Swansea City will host Stoke City at Liberty Stadium. Swansea find themselves in ninth place with 30 points (7-6-9), while the visitors are right behind them in tenth place with 29 points (6-5-11). Last weekend, the Welsh side drew 0-0 away to Everton at Goodison Park, with the Potters having worse fortunes andlosing 4-0 at home to Chelsea.
Chelsea moved up to third in the Premier League courtesy of a 4-0 win at Stoke, with the unfortunate Jonathan Walters scoring two own goals and missing a penalty. Walters gifted Chelsea the lead in first-half injury time when he dove to head a right-wing cross beyond his own goalkeeper.
And the striker was also in the wrong place at the wrong time on 62 minutes to nod Juan Mata's cross beyond Asmir Begovic under pressure from Frank Lampard.
The "silly" transfer season continues all throughout the world of football but who will score the biggest name in January?
The Premier League's top clubs are always linked to some of the biggest stars in world football, whether it be Radamel Falcao, Karim Benzema, Theo Walcott, and so many others.
Ahead of the game between Manchester United and Stoke City on Saturday we at Truly Reds have invited the excellent Stoke City fans website to a session of Questions and Answers. The editor of...
Playing at Britannia Stadium English Premier League Home Team Stoke Keeper Asmir Begovic Midfield Michael Kightly; Geoff Cameron; Charlie Adam; Dean Whitehead; Forwards Jonathan Walters; Peter Crouch; Defense Andy Wilkinson; Robert Huth; Ryan Shawcross; Marc Wilson; Subs Away Team Man City Keeper Joe [.
In the end, a point was all we took home from Britannia Stadium. The most despicable place on
Earth (that's saying a lot considering my contempt of this place call Shite Hart Lane) where
education was never taught to these people and the still use fire as their form of light
source.
Newcastle United get themselves back in the Champions League zone after successfully beating
Stoke City 3-0, leaving their rival Tottenham Hotspurs behind, as Harry Redknapp's boys picked up
another defeat on the weekend, this time against Queens Park Rangers.
French midfielder, Yohan Cabaye, put on a classy performance on the day as he bagged a brace and
also assisted Pappiss Demba Cisse for the other goal, putting Newcastle on a potential surprise
Champions League inclusion thins summer.
In keeping with this weekend's Bloodsport theme, below Frank Dux reenacts Ricardo Fuller's
malicious stamp on a Chong Li-played Branislav Ivanovic. A savage challenge it was, one deserving
of a lengthy suspension to go along with the red card initially issued. Nastiness aside, we somehow
managed to carve out a second consecutive win, Roberto Di Matteo's first in the Premier League for
the club.
There was hope. Hope in Dalglish's return. Hope in Suarez' arrival. Hope in the introduction of
a more pleasing brand of football. And then, in a moment, it seemed to have all been ripped
away.
People talked about the club being bigger than any one player, and they rationalised that things
would be alright given that that particular player hadn't really made much of a contribution
to any kind of success over the previous eighteen months.
Stoke City have enjoyed a promising start to the season and it is clear that despite the
increasing number of matches they have been playing due to Europa League involvement, Tony Pulis'
men can cope with the challenging demands.
One of the reasons why the Potters have been so impressive is a strong defense, anchored in the
Premier League by Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who has been able to focus exclusively on the
domestic front due to the presence of veteran Thomas Sorensen in the squad.
There is a buoyancy to both of these teams given their undefeated starts to the season, and with
the respective managers having also acquired a host of fresh recruits prior to the close of the
transfer window it feels likely this fixture will be characterised by a sense of adventure and
renewed excitement.
Chelsea became the third member of the traditional "Big Four" to drop points on opening weekend
as they could only muster a 0-0 draw against Stoke this afternoon. Andre Villas-Boas will be
disappointed with his side's lack of a cutting edge, but Stoke boss Tony Pulis will be pleased with
his side's resilience.
It's often a question that football fans can never really answer, but why do certain players
seem quite happy to sit on the bench? More often than not players are always wanting to play, so
transfers to clubs where the opportunities are limited always confuses the fans. For example, one
particular player is currently trying his very best to escape from Stoke City for no obvious
reason.
Fulham boss Mark Hughes has conceded that there is no point in keeping want-away Australian
goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer at Craven Cottage but unless he finds an adequate replacement, the
37-year old will have to stay.
An adequate replacement doesn't seem to be all that far away. Manchester City's Shay Given is
equally intent on moving away from his current club as the emergence of Joe Hart has left the
former Newcastle player as the second-choice at the Eastlands.
Liverpool have made an enquiry about West Ham striker Carlton Cole. (Sky
Sports).
Analysis: West Ham might be keen to hold on to Cole, but it's safe to say that
Liverpool can't live and die by the Torres if they're to be taken seriously this season.
In the words of Isaac Newton, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Chelsea's
management would certainly concur with this law of motion as the sale of veteran center-half
Ricardo Carvalho to Real Madrid is bound to result in new faces heading to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have reportedly received €8 million for allowing the Portuguese defender to complete
a reunion with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Clint Dempsey has never made it a secret that playing UEFA Champions League Soccer is the biggest remaining unaccomplished goal of his career.
On Sunday, he showed just how badly he wants to achieve that goal.
Dempsey played arguably his best game of the season, scoring a goal and setting up an Emmanuel Adebayor winner to help lead Tottenham to a 2-1 victory vs.
You may remember that Stoke lost 1-0 to Chelsea last weekend thanks to Ashley Cole popping up and dinking one over Asmir Begovic in the 86th minute, though it would appear that the bods responsible for The Potters' matchday programme seem to remember there still being time for a late, late equaliser.
Peter Crouch proved that Stoke's route one football can be sexy with this wonderstrike against
Manchester City at the weekend. The ball didn't touch the ground from the moment is left goalkeeper
Asmir Begovic's boot until it bounced around behind the goalline. Fantastic skills from Crouch, who
struggled along a tightrope between humility and pride [.
Day One in the books, and I'm as happy as Sylvie in the photo above. 46 points from Begovic, Van
Der Vaart and Gyan. Day Two looks to me much more interesting, with the Manchester derby very much
at the forefront. But first a look back at yesterday. Stoke City v. Birmingham City Stoke bossed
the first half Pennant is the master of the high, looping cross All of said crosses were aimed at
Potters keeper refuses to play Shrewsbury After Stoke rejected two bids for him from Chelsea, Asmir
Begovic found the thought of facing Shrewsbury a bit too much to take. The keeper was named in the
starting line-up for last night's Carling Cup clash but refused to play. The Potters instead has to
rely on Carlo Nash, the [.
The form of Poland international Wojciech Szczesny has left manager Arsene Wenger with a real goalkeeping crisis. Wzczesny was made a first-team regular after inconsistent performances from his international teammate Lucas Fabianski. However, the 22-year-old has also been putting in several inconsistent performances this season, which has already led to him being dropped from crucial matches.
1: Well, children, first up today is that awfully nice Asmir Begovic who is a Bosnian and who plays for Stoke. Now that ought to rule out anyone signing for Arsenal, but apparently no although the price tag of £15m suggests that it is the price that could put [...]
Before we take a look at tomorrow's friendly against Spain, it's worth a quick
review of tonight's playoffs for the last four places in Euro 2012.
The first thing that jumps out is the quality of the teams in the playoffs. Since Euro '96
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey
have all reached the knockout stages of at least one of the subsequent competitions with Portugal
reaching the final in 2004.
For those who came second in their Euro 2012 qualifying group, the play-off's await. Nicholas
Spiller picks out a potentially thrilling match between Portugal and Bosnia taking place this
Friday (11/11/11)...spooky! The two locking horns in the World Cup 2012 Play-offs Revenge is a
dish best served cold.
Following the Manchester massacres, Spurs finally got their season up and running with an
excellent win away at Wolves.
After soaking up the pressure in the first half, we took the lead through the debutant Emanuel
Adebayor, before Jermain Defoe made sure of the points. It was refreshing to see two Spurs strikers
playing together and both getting on the score sheet, while in midfield Scott Parker impressed
alongside transfer victim Luka Modric.
Andre Villas- Boas GQ style and football IQ did not impress Stoke
One of the most anticipated coaching debut's this season ended on a disappointing note as Andre
Villas- Boas a one time Mourinho protege could not get his side to crack open Stoke's doughty
defense.
Chelsea began with Fernando Torres declared match fit after surviving a concussion scare in the
match against Italy but despite the striker looking lively, he and Salomon Kalou were unable to
finish.
The Chelsea Daily Drivel is a daily update of all the stories concerning our club, the rumours, the
opinions and more....
So here are the Chelsea news updates on Wednesday 25th August 2010 including: Begovic
reportedly goes on strike at Stoke & Pulis says "You won't join Chelsea!
