Yep, Sunderland are the best team in the league over the last bunch of games. Read Martin's
preview for proof.
Kick-off is 3pm London time, 10am New York, 7am Vancouver, and sometime last night in New
Zealand. As usual, I'll be here half-an-hour beforehand to provide accompanying drivel and
conjecture.
So, Fabio Capello quits as the England national coach. This is, perhaps, unsurprising
considering the dog's abuse that he has taken while leading the national team through an almost
flawless qualification campaign, before finding that the decision over who would take the England
captain's arm-band was taken away from him without consultation.
With just over half an hour to play, Manchester United were 3-0 down at Stamford Bridge.
However, after coming back to make it 3-3, Michael Carrick has claimed he is disappointed we didn't
go on to get the win.
"We were slightly disappointed in the end," said Carrick. "Obviously, when you're
3-0 down and have your backs against the wall, if someone offers you a point then you'll be happy
with that but getting a third goal with a fair bit of the game to go, we fancied ourselves to go on
and win it.
With the return of Luis Suarez to the Liverpool on Monday night, having served his mammoth ban from
football, reports are that Manager Kenny Dalglish will opt to unleash the talismatic Uraguyan
striker from the bench.
Monday night's game from Anfield will see Liverpool pit their wits against 3rd-placed Spurs who are
something like 12 points ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League.
3pm ET, live in the US on espn2
Last four head-to-head:
0-4 Tottenham (a) 09.18.11
0-2 Tottenham (h) 05.15.11
1-2 Tottenham (a) 11.28.10
2-0 Liverpool (h) 01.20.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 3-0 Wolves (a); 2-1 United (h); 2-2 City (h)
Spurs: 3-1 Wigan (h); 1-0 Watford (a); 2-3 City (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Bellamy 6; Suarez 5; Carroll 3; Adam, Gerrard, Maxi, Skrtel 2; Henderson,
Johnson, Kuyt 1
Spurs: Bale 10; Adebayor 9; Defoe 8; van der Vaart 7; Lennon, Modric 3; Assou-Ekotto,
Kaboul, Walker 1
Referee: Michael Oliver
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Gerrard Spearing
Kuyt Henderson Bellamy
Carroll
With six days since the last match, there seems little need for drastic changes from the side which
beat Wolves three-nil.
szólj hozzá: E1-0M
With about half an hour left to go in last night's game against Stoke, a roar came from the
Stretford End, followed by a loud chorus of "the city is yours, the city is yours, 20,000 empty
seats, are you fucking sure?"
It was clear that Everton had taken the lead.
They say that lightning doesn't strike twice but both Equatorial Guinea and
Gabon scored late goals in their matches to make the last eight of the African Cup
of Nations.. Then again many experts said that Equatorial Guinea and Gabon shouldn't be hosting the
African Cup of Nations as neither country has any real football pedigree.
What an amazing story Mirandes is. The club, stuck in the third-tier of Spanish football, came
from a goal down to beat Espanyol 2-1 in their Copa Del Rey quarter-final second leg and progress
to the tournaments semi-finals on the away goals rule.
Espanyol took a precarious 3-2 first-leg lead to Mirandés tiny stadium in Miranda de Ebro in
northern Spain.
FC Barcelona would be looking to finish off the good job done at the Santiago Bernebeu last
Wednesday when they meet Real Madrid at the Fotress Camp Nou. In the league Camp Nou has been an
un-penetrable fotress till Betis broke it a week before. This season Barca has scored 67 goals at
Camp Nou and conceded just 6(2 in Super Copa, 2 in La Liga and 2 in Champions League).
Bolton's battle to avoid relegation received an unexpected boost with victory over a Liverpool side
who need to improve quickly if their season is not to unravel around them.
Midfielders Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker gave the home side a deserved 2-0 lead inside
half-an-hour and although Craig Bellamy's seventh of the season reduced the deficit, Gretar
Steinsson restored the two-goal cushion just five minutes into the second half.
Furious Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has threatened some of his players with the chop after
accusing them of showing a lack of respect in a 3-1 defeat at Bolton.
For the first time since returning as Reds boss just over a year ago, the Scot publicly criticized
his squad.
Dalglish believes they were distracted by Wednesday's forthcoming Carling Cup semi-final second leg
against Manchester City, which they go into holding a slender 1-0 lead, and the FA Cup fourth-round
tie at home to Manchester United next weekend.
Guh. Read Martin's preview to be cheered up. (He almost completely ignores our big loss. Glosses
over, I guess you could say.)
Last season Ramsey scored a late goal to win this for us 1-0. Here's a picture of that goal for
some inspiration:
Could history repeat itself?
Could do.
By Chris Wright
Forest got stuffed 4-0 at Leicester City in the FA Cup third round replay last night. Safe to
say, I don't want to talk about. Quite honestly, it could've been double figures had Leicester not
had the good grace to stop playing for the last half-an-hour.
Frank Lampard speaking to Chelsea TV after the Sunderland game was keen to point out that although
the win was important, we should be finishing off games rather than allow the nerves to kick in.
It's been something that has been our achilles heel this season without question.
Lampard said:
"We have to fight our way through that [the nerves at the end of the
game].
It has been a difficult week for those running Lewes Football Club. The arrival of former
manager Steve King back at The Dripping Pan raised an eyebrow or two when he returned to the club
during the summer, but the owners of the club have rightly remained tight-lipped over what King may
or may not have been up to and, although there are any number of theories floating around this
ground as to why he should have found himself at home this afternoon, no official announcement has
been made and Simon Wormull takes his place in the home dug-out today.
By Chris Wright
One-nil to the Arsenal. Against Leeds. Thierry Henry (who came on for the last half an hour)
scoring the only goal of the game, carving himself some room in the left channel and wafting a
gossamer shot into the bottom right corner to send the Gunners into the next round.
Paul Scholes made an incredible return to the Manchester United team today after retiring last
summer. Despite not playing football for eight months, Scholes was brought on for the last half an
hour against City in the FA Cup 3rd round game today.
Incredibly, he made more passes than any City player did all game, with a 97% completion
rate.
Liverpool step into the last remaining competition on their calendar, welcoming Oldham Athletic
to Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup. The League One side got past Southend United in the
second round after a draw forced the home replay, which the hosts won 1-0. Liverpool will be
looking to get past the third round for just the third time in six seasons after crashing out to
Reading and Manchester United in the past two seasons.
szólj hozzá: City v Liverpool 3:0 EXTENDED
Pepe Reina flubbed what should have been a fairly simple stop off a Sergio Aguero drive.
Liverpool dominated possession thereafter but it was City once again going up through Yaya Toure's
header at the half an hour mark.
Gerrard and Craig Bellamy were introduced by Kenny Dalglish after an hour and Liverpool looked
more mobile going forward although they failed to look threatening in the final third once
again.
Fulham 2 (Sidwell 85, Zamora 90) Arsenal 1 (Koscielny 21)
(Premiership)
It is always difficult to write a match report after a game like this. I was tempted to pen my
thoughts in the immediate aftermath, but decided to let the game settle a little and write in the
morning.
Jose Mourinho believes the outcome of Saturday's Clasico could have been different had Real
Madrid not wasted some glorious opportunities.
Karim Benzema fired them in front after Victor Valdes scuffed a clearance and the Barca defence
were unable to clear their lines. Real had chances to double their lead during an end-to-end
opening half-an-hour, with Cristiano Ronaldo uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal.
By Alan Duffy
Manchester United 4-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League 10th December
2011
It may not make up for their Champions League horror-show in midweek, but by comfortably beating
Wolves at Old Trafford, Manchester United at least rediscovered some of their attacking verve.
Here! Have some points!
It's easy to sit here and criticise, of course.
So here goes.
Why on earth did we sit back and (seemingly) play for a 0-0 draw against a fragile team who
let's face it we match up very well against?
When Swansea scored (a fluke, but a fluke that was absolutelydeserved) Fulham woke up and
attacked, and for half an hour gave Swansea a relative pasting.
I am sure like me, many of you were surprised when you saw the result of Wednesday's Champions
League match between French side Olympique Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia.
However, it is now emerging that Olympique Lyon's 7-1 drubbing of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions
League on Wednesday could have been as a result of a betting scandal.
By Chris Wright
Looks like Borussia Dortmund went a little 'heavy artillery' against Marseille as the night wore
on...
'INCOMING!'
'Dortmund One, be advised. We gotta direct hit!'
For the record, it didn't work. After finding themselves 2-0 down after half-an-hour, Marseille
eventually came from behind to win 2-3 thanks to a supoib 87th-minute Mathieu Valbuena goal, thus
booking the French side a spot in the last 16.
Fulham 1: Dempsey 85′Liverpool 0
Same old song and dance for Liverpool with a questionable sending-off and a Pepe Reina error to
spice things up, as the hosts get a late winner and the wasteful guests spend most of their
possession not finishing chances. Posts were hit, fouls weren't given, upper hand was wasted.
By Alan Duffy
Manchester City 5-1 Norwich City Premier League 3rd December 2011
The league-leaders kept their 100% home record this season with a goalfest at the Etihad Stadium
against Norwich. However, it took City over half-an-hour to break the deadlock, courtesy of a
superb piece of skill by Sergio Aguero.
By Chris Wright
Presenting the new Adidas 'Tango 12′ matchball as unveiled at the Euro 2012 draw in Kiev but
half-an-hour ago, a.k.a, the very ball that they'll be hoofing around in Polkraine as of next
summer...
Quick sweepstake: How long will it be until the first 'these new balls move around to much.
THFC1882 presents Mike Hooley with a match report from a less than glorious
night for Tottenham Hotspur:
Any hopes or expectations of progression to the knockout stages of the Europa League were all
but extinguished last night, with Spurs never recovering from perhaps their sloppiest start to a
game since the 4-0 reverse at Fulham in the FA Cup back in January.
It will go down in the records book as a comfortable 4-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano at the Camp
Nou tonight. But this game was much more than that. After the weekend's shocking 1-0 defeat to
Getafe, Barcelona found itself in the unusual position of looking up at Real Madrid. Before
tonight's kick-off Barca was six points behind Madrid and Pep Guardiola's team knew that they could
not allow that gap to grow any wider if they were to have any hope of retaining their La Liga
crown.
Arsene went with a 4-4-2 in a system that was designed to give games to players rather than a
clear tactical move. Mancini retained his 4-3-3 but was surprisingly defensive in his approach with
Kolarov playing as a left winger, at least for half an hour!
The first half was largely uneventful with neither side really creating many chances.
Matt Lawrence's diary of a lower-league footballer: Parking tickets, chicken dinners and
nil-nils
Matt Lawrence has played for seven league clubs including Fulham, Crystal Palace and Millwall,
for whom he appeared in the 2004 FA Cup final during his 16-year career.
The first leg of the 2011 Copa Sudamericana semi-final between Brazilian giants Vasco da Gama
and their opponents Universidad de Chile was played in the former's São Januário stadium on
Wednesday night. The Brazilians took the lead after half an hour through Bernardo and the goal
looked like it might decide the outcome of the first match.
A faulty umberella has been blamed for the abandonment of Sunday's La Liga fixture between
Granada and Real Mallorca.
Granada had just taken a 2-1 lead with about half an hour on the clock when the game was stopped
after a linesman was hit with a flying object in the face drawing blood.
Gary Gardner stepped onto the Colchester pitch in place of Blackburn's Jason Lowe in the 62nd
minute with England leading 2-0 against Iceland in their Euro 2013 qualifier tonight. Barely more
than half an hour later, the referee blew the final whistle and scoreboard read 5-0; Gardner adding
two sublime late goals and a lot more to his growing reputation.
Against Swansea, Liverpool started on top, couldn't take advantage of the early dominance, and
finished with a draw. Against Norwich, Liverpool started on top, couldn't take advantage of the
early dominance, and finished with a draw. Against Stoke, Liverpool started on top, couldn't take
advantage of the early dominance, and lost.
Even Robbie Keane's cartwheel was less over-used.Poor old Harry. One suspects that watching Spurs
desperately defend a one goal lead from the touchline is cause enough for coronary problems. But to
have suffered through that last half an hour whilst recovering from actual heart surgery at home in
Poole can't have done anything for the old ticker.
Remember how multiple home draws against inferior opposition ruined the '08-09 title chase? That
was fun. Let's do that again.
Out of all four of Liverpool's disappointing home draws – and I include United in that –
Swansea are most deserving of the point they leave Anfield with. Rodgers' tactics were excellent,
soaking up Liverpool pressure for 60 minutes before pummeling the home side for 10, then settling
back into their deep, resilient defense.
By Chris Wright
A pair of beautifully-taken goals from the Yaya Monster (the footwork before the second of
the two is definitely worth another look) and a penalty both won and dispatched by Mario Balotelli
saw Man City cruise to victory over a bare-bones Villarreal side that put in the worst performance
by a Spanish club in Champions League history (© Martin O'Neill).
By Chris Wright
I've been searching for this little gem since spotting it on MOTD on Saturday night, in which we
see a dewy-eyed Wolves fan (in a rather splendid Koala bear hat) bursting into tears after seeing
her side go two goals down to Swansea after about half-an-hour.
