Friday, September 28, 2012

England: Premier League Previews & Predictions


Eight Premier League fixtures in a day is almost unheard of in these times, but that's what we've got on what promises to be an action-packed Saturday after the midweek Capital One Cup programme. Table-topping Chelsea meet unbeaten Arsenal at Emirates Stadium at lunchtime before Tottenham travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, while Sunday plays host to the second-city derby between Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion.




Preview
Preview II

Paul Merson's Predictions

 Lawro's Predictions

10 Talking Points
Posted by The Editor at 12:22 PM 0 comments

Weekend Previews for Spain, Italy, Germany



Spain: La Liga

 Italy: Serie A

 Germany: Bundesliga
Posted by The Editor at 11:58 AM 0 comments

Barcelona invites 3 Palestinians after Hamas boycott and at least one says "no"


Barcelona has invited three Palestinians to attend its Oct. 7 match against Real Madrid in response to Hamas calling for a media boycott of the club after it gave a complimentary ticket to an Israeli soldier.



Palestine’s Mahmoud Sarsak ‘rejects’ FC Barcelona invite to match with Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Posted by The Editor at 11:55 AM 0 comments

Inside a gay pro player's closeted life


FOR 20 YEARS, GAY SOCCER PLAYER DAVID TESTO LIVED A CLOSETED LIFE. IN NOVEMBER, HE DECIDED IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO COME OUT. AND HE HASN’T PLAYED PROFESSIONALLY SINCE.
Posted by The Editor at 11:27 AM 0 comments

Friday MLS Forecast



The Forecast contemplates the stakes ahead of Chicago's visit to Sporting Kansas City and scans the rest of the fixture list.
Posted by The Editor at 11:00 AM 0 comments

Pimp My Ride - Djibril Cisse #9

Posted by The Editor at 10:56 AM 0 comments

David Conn: Why did the FA treat John Terry more leniently than Luis Suárez?


The Football Association regulatory panel that found John Terry guilty of using the words "fucking black cunt" towards Anton Ferdinand may, at least partially, have accepted Terry's defence that he did not use the words as an insult. It is otherwise difficult to understand the panel's apparently lenient sanction, of banning Terry for four matches, while Liverpool's Luis Suárez was hit with an eight-game ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
Posted by The Editor at 10:51 AM 0 comments

England: Capital One Cup Fourth Round Draw

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will host his former club Swansea in the Fourth Round of the Capital One Cup. Manchester United have a tough away trip to Stamford Bridge to take on European Champions Chelsea, who beat Wolves 6-0 in the previous round.

Sunderland face local rivals Middlesbrough in a North East derby, while Arsenal head to Reading for an all Premier League clash.

League Two Bradford, the lowest ranked club left in the competition, face Wigan at the DW Stadium.


Posted by The Editor at 10:48 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Fiorentina enjoy new lease of life after overhaul


Fiorentina signed a remarkable 18 players during the close season and their drastic overhaul appears to be paying off after a lively start to the new campaign.
Posted by The Editor at 10:45 AM 0 comments

England: Wednesday's Capital One Cup Wrap + Reports


Wayne Rooney returned from a monthlong injury absence, helping Manchester United to a 2-1 victory Wednesday that eliminated Newcastle from the League Cup. Arsenal and Tottenham advanced with ease on Wednesday.

Wrap

Manchester United 2 - 1 Newcastle
Jamie Jackson at Old Trafford

 West Brom 1 - 2 Liverpool
Henry Winter at the Hawthorns
Stuart James at the Hawthorns

 Carlisle 0 - 3 Tottenham
Louise Taylor at Brunton Park

 Arsenal 6 - 1 Coventry City
Kevin McCarra at the Emirates Stadium
Jason Burt at the Emirates Stadium
Posted by The Editor at 10:40 AM 0 comments

John Terry Verdict: FA find Chelsea captain guilty over racism charge


The independent regulatory commission delivered its verdict on Thursday after a four-day hearing, ruling that Terry must serve a four-game ban and pay a fine of £220,000.
Posted by The Editor at 10:31 AM 0 comments

Germany: Wednesday's Bundesliga Wrap



Didier Ya Konan scored twice to help Hannover climb to third place in the Bundesliga with a 4-1 win over Nuremberg on Wednesday. Hamburger SV was denied its second straight win when 10-man Borussia Moenchengladbach snatched a goal in injury time to earn a 2-2 draw at home. Stuttgart, Augsburg and all lost home. Stuttgart went down 3-0 to Hoffenheim, Augsburg lost 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen, and Freiburg was beaten 2-1 by Werder Bremen. Bayern Munich, a 3-0 winner over Wolfsburg on Tuesday, leads the standings with a perfect record of five wins from five games and 15 points.


Posted by The Editor at 10:25 AM 0 comments

Italy: Wednesday's Serie A Wrap + Table


Stephan El Shaarawy scored twice to help crisis-ridden AC Milan to a much-needed 2-0 win against 10-man Cagliari in Serie A on Wednesday. Elsewhere, Edinson Cavani missed a penalty but scored a hat trick as Napoli beat title rival Lazio 3-0 to move level on points with defending champion Juventus at the top of the table. Inter Milan strolled to a 2-0 win at Chievo Verona, courtesy of goals from Alvaro Pereira and Antonio Cassano. It was a comedy of errors at Catania as the home side beat Atalanta 2-1.



ITALIAN SERIE A 2012-2013 - FULL TABLE

Pos.TeamPlWDLGFGA+/-Pts
1Juventus5410112913
1Napoli5410112913
3Sampdoria532085310
4Internazionale53028539
5Lazio53027529
6AS Roma522111748
7Fiorentina52216428
8Catania52217708
9Genoa52127707
10AC Milan52036516
11Torino51314315
12Atalanta52124405
13Parma512257-25
14Udinese512269-35
15Bologna411258-34
16Pescara5113410-64
17Chievo510439-63
18Cagliari502329-72
19Palermo501419-81
20Siena4121541-1

Posted by The Editor at 10:22 AM 0 comments

Almeyda makes Serie A doping, fix claims in book


Former Parma midfielder Matias Almeyda has made astonishing revelations about match-fixing and doping in Italy in his autobiography.




"Throughout my career I smoked 10 cigarettes a day. Alcohol was also a problem. I burned everything off in training, but I lived on the limits,'' Almeyda said. "Once in Azul, my country, I drank five liters of wine, like Coca Cola, and I ended up in some kind of coma. To try to get it out of my system I ran five kilometers until I saw the sun spinning. "A doctor put me on a drip for five hours. It would have been a scandal as at the time I was playing for Inter. When I woke up and I saw my whole family around the bed, I thought it was my funeral.''


Posted by The Editor at 9:57 AM 0 comments

How video game is changing face of soccer

Both men were soon playing an average of three hours a day. "When we first came to school, most of us used to think soccer was a communist sport," admitted Scarborough with a smile. "Before we knew it, we were getting over tough breakups by going on nine-hour FIFA binges online."

The Alabama experience is illustrative of a quiet national revolution. Social scientist Rich Luker, the creator of the ESPN Sports Poll, recently pronounced soccer to be America's second most popular sport for those aged 18-24.
Posted by The Editor at 9:51 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Capital One Cup Previews (I couldn't find a decent article so here you go)


Capital One Cup

Posted by The Editor at 11:16 AM 0 comments

Germany: Tuesday's Bundesliga Wrap



Bayern Munich maintained their 100 per cent Bundesliga record with a 3-0 home victory over Wolfsburg on Tuesday evening. The result saw Bayern open up a seven-point cushion over Borussia Dortmund, the Westphalians having to settle for a point after relinquishing 2-0 and 3-1 leads against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Wrap
Posted by The Editor at 11:08 AM 0 comments
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