Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Liverpool look to knock Manchester United off their perch

"My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their ******* perch," former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson famously once said of the rivalry between the two clubs.

But now, after almost 20 years of dominance in English football, Sir Alex has stepped down and Liverpool have the chance to do the same to their most bitter rivals at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The Anfield outfit is resurgent under Brendan Rodgers, sitting seven points off the top of the Premier League with two games in hand over leaders Chelsea.

United, meanwhile, have struggled during a transitional period under new boss David Moyes, who has described the clash as the biggest in the Premier League.

Is now the time for Liverpool to knock the Old Trafford giants off their perch?
Sunday, 16 March 2014 07:30

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Taxi! Bendtner looks set for Arsenal exit

Nicklas Bendtner has edged closer to the exit door at Arsenal following his altercation with a taxi driver in Copenhagen on Tuesday evening.

When asked if the incident was the final straw for the forward, the Arsene Wenger told reporters: "He is at the end of his contract at the end of the season.

"Nobody gave him any permission to go to Copenhagen and he will be fined for that.

"Honestly I don't know really what happened because I haven't spoken to him.

"The only thing that is for sure is he had nothing to do in Copenhagen."
Saturday, 15 March 2014 12:00

Friday, March 14, 2014

Moyes, RVP & the Man Utd happy family

It appears that David Moyes and Robin van Persie may have kissed and made up.

The Manchester United striker denied that he was unhappy at the club and provided his full backing to Moyes in an interview on Thursday and stated: "The truth is I’m very happy here at this club. I signed for four years and I’d be delighted to stay even longer, beyond the next two years I have left on my contract.

"This is how I feel, although it’s not what has been suggested in the media.

"I’m very happy with my team-mates and I’m very happy with my manager and his staff."

So all seems well in the Manchester United family, for now...!
Friday, 14 March 2014 10:30

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Groundhog Day for Manchester City in Europe

You can forgive Manuel Pellegrini for feeling a sense of deja vu as he wakes up on Thursday morning.

Manchester City were dumped out of the Champions League by a clinical Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday night, and it was an all too familiar story for the Premier League side.

Just as in the first leg, Lionel Messi and Dani Alves were on hand to score the goals that would seal City's exit while Pellegrini's men suffered another red card, after Martin Demichelis' dismissal at the Etihad Stadium, as Pablo Zabaleta was given his marching orders.
Thursday, 13 March 2014 10:00

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Champions League circus comes to town

So the first two teams are in the hat for the Champions League quarters following Tuesday night's action, with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid going through at the expense of Arsenal and AC Milan.

On an eventful night in Germany, Arjen Robben caused controversy for the manner in which he earned a penalty against the Gunners, which Thomas Muller would miss during the 1-1 draw, with Arsene Wenger insisting after the match that the Dutchman was a master at diving.

In the other game of the evening, Clarence Seedorf's Milan side were forced to jump through hoops as Diego Costa and Co. proved too strong for the Italians in what turned out to be a thumping 4-1 win.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014 12:00

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Bayern attempt to stop Arsenal by any means necessary

Arsenal face a monumental task of repeating their Allianz Arena heroics from last season and claiming the victory that would take them through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Gunners need to win by two-clear goals in Germany following their first-leg loss to Pep Guardiola's side and, speaking ahead of the game, the Bayern boss admitted his side will lose out if they allow Arsenal to have the ball.

He said: "If we let Arsenal keep the ball, we will have a lot of problems.

"They have a lot of quality, every single player has unbelievable technical skills with the ball. They have players like [Santi] Cazorla, [Mesut] Ozil, [Tomas] Rosicky and [Mikel] Arteta - it is no problem for them to keep the ball in their lines.

"So the only way to avoid that is to keep the ball for ourselves - and obviously we have to be aggressive."
Tuesday, 11 March 2014 12:00

Ronaldo tops star-studded Goal Rich List

Cristiano Ronaldo has pipped Lionel Messi to the top spot of the 2014 Goal Rich List.

The Real Madrid star is the hottest property in football and boasts an estimated wealth of €148 million [£122m] - just €2m [£1.5m] more than his Barcelona rival.

The list, topped by the now-retired David Beckham in 2013, features the likes of Wayne Rooney, Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Click here to see the full Goal Rich List top 10.
Monday, 10 March 2014 12:30

Monday, March 10, 2014

Golden oldie Eto'o rolls back the years

Samuel Eto'o proved age is just a number as he put in a talismanic display in Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Tottenham on Saturday.

The Cameroon striker, who turns 33 on Monday, opened the scoring after pouncing on a mistake from Jan Vertonghen before winning a penalty following a challenge from Younes Kaboul.

Eto'o's also made light of recent accusations that he was older than 32 with his goal celebration as he hobbled up to the corner flag and pretended to nurse a bad back.

I knew about it. It was fine, it was the best way to diffuse a situation which was funny - make fun of a funny situation - it was good," said Jose Mourinho.
Sunday, 9 March 2014 12:00


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Sherwood hopes Spurs switch on against Chelsea

Tim Sherwood has warned his Tottenham side that a repeat of their last away outing in the Premier League could see them on the receiving end of a drubbing against Chelsea.

Spurs face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge having failed to win their in the league since 1990, when Gary Lineker scored the only goal of the game.

And Sherwood has called for improvement after seeing his side stumble to a shock 1-0 defeat against Norwich City at Carrow Road before picking up a narrow victory at home against Cardiff City.

"If we play like we did against Norwich they're gonna need more lightbulbs for the scoreboard," Sherwood warned ahead of the trip to face Jose Mourinho's side.
Saturday, 8 March 2014 11:50

Mourinho reveals Madrid mirror queues

Jose Mourinho has revealed how some of football's top names get ready for the biggest games.

The Chelsea boss says Real Madrid players would spend the final moments before entering the tunnel making sure they look their best during his time at the Bernabeu.

"Lots of times at Real Madrid, the players would be queuing in front of the mirror before the game while the referee waited for them in the tunnel," Mourinho told Esquire.

"But that's how society is now. Young people care a lot about this: they are twentysomething and I am 51 and if I want to work with kids I have to understand their world."
Friday, 7 March 2014 11:45