Arsenal visit Portsmouth this weekend as the English Premiership resumes after a midweek of European football.
The Gunners appear to be in terrific form in the EPL but their will to finish third in the league doesn’t seem like an easy task to accomplish. Poor results midway through the second part of the league campaign cost the Gunners a lot of worries; holding on to the fourth spot even looked difficult at a point.
After a run of 20 matches unbeaten since their emphatic 3-0 defeat away to Manchester City, Arsenal look strong enough to face any other opposition in the league. The Gunners are mathematically on course to piping Chelsea and clinch the third place, but this is still a dream yet to come true.
The Blues’ local rivals are currently six points behind Chelsea and their manager Arsene Wenger prefers to take it game by game and he is fully concentrated on Wednesday’s Champions League clash away to Manchester United.
Middlesbrough v Manchester United: A crucial game for both sides
It ended in a 2-2 draw in the corresponding fixture last season… But this is definitely a result that neither team would love to get at this stage of the season as each point has become extremely precious for Manchester United as much as for Middlesbrough.
The Premier League’s leaders currently lay three points above Liverpool with a game in hand and four more games to go after their encounter against Gareth Southgate’s Middlesbrough. The Red Devils have now won all of their Premier League matches, since their 2-0 defeat away to Fulham, in a way that has revealed their mental strength in depth which explains how desirous they are.
After surmounting the scare of dropping points against Aston Villa, Sunderland and, Tottenham Hotspurs in their last games, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils face a tricky task away to relegation-threatened side Middlesbrough.
Alan Shearer and the impossible task of beating Liverpool at Anfield
A point out of a goalless home draw to Portsmouth on Monday evening was surely not the best result that Newcastle could have afforded. Owen’s missed opportunity from a one-on-one position against David James outlaid Alan Shearer’s relegation-threatened side two precious points. This kind of incident will definitely not be needed when the Magpies come up against Liverpool in Sunday’s lunch time kick off as the battle for Premier League survival has reached the “mission impossible” stage for Newcastle who languish in eighteenth place with 31 points and only four games to go.
Newcastle’s guilty trio, every opportunity is a glorious point for survival
Time is running out on Newcastle’s newly appointed manager Alan Shearer. The former BBC commentator is yet to enjoy victory with his side which is deepening into the anguish of relegation. But the media would inevitably look at one issue as the cause of the Magpies troubles: Newcastle’s trio led by Michael Owen in attack.
Spanish production company Mediapro will launch a new terrestrial channel offering pay-per-view matches from La Liga for €1 a game.
Mediapro holds a controlling stake in Spanish commercial broadcaster la Sexta. Its Gol TV channel is currently only distributed through Spain’s pay-TV operators.
There is no government law that allows payment for television broadcasts on digital terrestrial television (DTT), although the government said recently it would have the law ready soon. If and when Mediapro receives a licence, Gol TV will replace la Sexta’s second DTT channel Hogar 10.
“We’ll start digital terrestrial broadcasts with payment at the start of next season of the league, which begins the last week of August,” said Jaume Roures, CEO of Mediapro.
He also added that there were some decoders able to access pay-DTT ready for the market, but “not everybody will have to buy new pay DTT decoders since a lot of TV sets have a PCMCIA slot where the pay DTT card will be able to be inserted to access the future pay DTT channels.”
All matches will be broadcast in high-definition with Dolby Surround sound. Gol TV will broadcast matches from the Spain’s Primera Liga and plans to show other matches from the Champions League, Premier League and top-tier domestic football from France, Italy and Argentina.
Chelsea continue their quest for an automatic place in the Champions League next year by clinching at least the second spot in the league table at the end of the season. The Londoners Blues will have to face the likes of Roy Hodgson’s inform Fulham in Saturday’s local derby at the Bridge. Why Fulham could get the better of Chelsea.
Fulham’s players will enjoy at least six days of rest while their upcoming counterpart need to manage a busy and crucial week that could determine their European and domestic fate this season.
Fulham were only seconds away from recording an important draw against Liverpool almost four weeks from now, while they amazingly clinched a rare victory against Manchester United back in March, and also defeated Arsenal in the early stages of the Premiership campaign. The Whites could carry on with their rather impressive form against yet another of the big four – this time at Stamford Bridge.
Fulham held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw at home this season with Clint Dempsey emerging as the match hero as he netted a 90th minute equalizer to complete his brace and disappoint the Blues who had come back from a goal down to lead 2-1 at a point through Lampard’s second half strikes.
Is it game over for nearest rivals Juventus and AC Milan in the Italian Seria A? Probably yes!
Inter Milan go into Saturday’s game against Lazio well ahead of second place AC Milan with the aim of wrapping up their domestic campaign in grand fashion this year. After bowing out from Europe in March and failing to reach the Coppa Nazionale final, the defending Seria A Champions are desperate to retain their title this season.
Inter Milan are in a very healthy position as the league is drawing to a close but their Brazilian keeper is wary of a possible upset. Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Julio Cesar revealed:
“Ever since I have been in Italy, I have seen what has happened in Serie A. Teams that led by ten or 11 points didn’t always manage to reach their final goal,”
“However, something like this is not going through my mind. I just think we have to remain calm as ten points at this stage of the season is a lot.
“There are six games left until the end of the season and we have to continue our work like we have done until now.
“We have to stay alert because the league is not mathematically over.”
Surely, Cesar has some good points as he is aiming to focus on winning rather than giving everything away in the last moments like some clubs did in the past. Inter Milan are undoubtedly on the right track to clinching another Scudetto but the recent cases regarding their players could distract Inter Milan who are set to ease the pressure of being at the top of the table.
After losing Adriano who finally decided to end his troubled career, Inter Milan might have to try and contain one of their biggest stars, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The prolific goal scorer is considering a move from Inter Milan all though his contract is said to expire in 2013.
“I have a contract with Inter and I am fine here, but at the same time I would like to try something new because I have been in Italy for five years now,” the Swedish told Eurosport
“I have won everything in Italy and I have learned a lot from this country. However, there comes a moment in life, like when I was at Ajax, where you tell yourself that you have to try something new.”
Meanwhile, 24oredisport.com reports that Hernan Crespo would terminate his Inter Milan years at the end of this term to join Lazio in the summer.
Both teams will clash in a battle that will determine Inter Milan’s mental strength and team spirit status.
TORONTO, April 22, 2009 – Below is a list of soccer matches that will air live or on tape delay on GolTV from April 24 to May 1, 2009.
Saturday, April 25th 11:30 AM Germany Bayern Munich vs Schalke 04 DELAYED
4:00 PM Spain Valencia vs Barcelona LIVE
6:00 PM Colombia Chico vs Cucuta DELAYED
7:15 PM Colombia Santa Fe vs Millonarios LIVE
Sunday, April 26th 11:00 AM Germany Energie Cottbus vs Wolfsburg LIVE
4:00 PM MLS Toronto FC vs Kansas City LIVE
7:00 PM South American U17 Paraguay vs Colombia LIVE
Championship
10:00 PM South American U17 Bolivia vs Peru LIVE
Championship
Monday, April 27th 4:30 PM Spain Sevilla vs Real Madrid DELAYED
7:00 PM South American U17 Uruguay vs Argentina LIVE
Championship
10:00 PM South American U17 Chile vs Ecuador LIVE
Championship
Wednesday, April 29th 7:00 PM South American U17 Brazil vs Bolivia LIVE
Championship
10:00 PM South American U17 Colombia vs Peru LIVE
Championship
Thursday, April 30th 7:00 PM South American U17 Uruguay vs Ecuador LIVE
Championship
10:00 PM South American U17 Venezuela vs Chile LIVE
Barcelona’s run for the triple continues after a 1-0 win against Getafe at the weekend. The Catalans are trough to the semifinals of the Champions League, and they also have a place in the final of the Copa del Rey.
Undoubtedly, the only way for Pep Guardiola’s dream to come true, will be to keep winning games; but with a bunch of tough games ahead of his side in all competitions, this is no easy task.
Barcelona will face Sevilla FC this weekend in their next league game; however, they will need to give their all if they want to get all three points.
Barcelona are currently six points ahead of second place Real Madrid, but since the last 3-4 weeks, it seems they have had difficulties increasing their lead, as rivals Real refuse to drop points.
3-0 was the score line with which Pep Guardiola’s boys crushed Sevilla a few months ago; however this time, they might have a harder time on the pitch as they have failed to show a flowage of goals, lately.
Having been rested in Tuesday’s Champions League game, Lionel Messi is expected to start alongside Henry and Samuel Eto’o. Messi scored two goals in his first meeting against Sevilla this season, thus, he is certainly aware of what his fans will expect from him this time around.
A strong team with a great display will definitely be needed for their clash at the weekend; nonetheless, it will be interesting to find out how manager Guardiola will select his side.
Indeed, Sevilla is not the only team to pose a threat to Barcelona’s run for the triple, Valencia, Real Madrid, and Villareal are also next on the list. Surely, the line-up ahead of the Catalans is no joke. What is more, is that Chelsea are set to meet them in the first leg of the semifinals in the Champions League in less than two weeks, not forgetting that the Copa del Rey final is expected to take place in a few days.
Eventually, Pep Guardiola will have to manage his squad in order to be ready for a list of seven big matches, all lined-up in the next forty days.
Nevertheless, this must not be something to hard for the La Liga leaders as they have proved to everyone this season that when it comes to surprises, they are just the best. They have been in the spotlight throughout this season due to their outstanding form – goals and support are what have allowed them to go this far, and it is now up to them to finish what they started.
Finally, it is their next game against Sevilla this weekend that will determine how close they are to winning the league title, and with a Andalusia side fighting hard for a place in next year’s Champions League, it is clear that it is the better team who will be victorious. Of course, one could tip Barcelona as favorites, but still they will need to stay alert, for one mistake could cost them their success this season.
TORONTO, April 16, 2009 – Below is a list of soccer matches that will air live or on tape delay on GolTV from April 18 to 24, 2009.
Saturday, April 18th
11:30 AM Germany Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayern Munich DELAYED
2:00 PM Spain Getafe vs Barcelona LIVE
5:00 PM Brazil Palmeiras vs Santos LIVE
7:15 PM Colombia Junior vs Medellin LIVE
10:00 PM South American Chile vs Uruguay LIVE
Under 17 Championships
Sunday, April 19th 11:00 AM Germany Hertha Berlin vs Werder Bremen LIVE
1:00 PM Spain Valencia vs Sevilla LIVE
3:00 PM Brazil Sao Paulo vs Corinthians LIVE
7:00 PM MLS FC Dallas vs Toronto FC LIVE
Monday, April 20th 7:45 PM South American Under 17 Championship Brazil vs Peru LIVE
10:00 PM South American Under 17 Championship Bolivia vs Paraguay LIVE
Tuesday, April 21st 7:45 PM South American Under 17 Championship Venezuela vs Ecuador LIVE
10:00 PM South American Under 17 Championship Chile vs Argentina LIVE
Wednesday, April 22nd 7:30 PM MLS Toronto FC vs Chivas USA LIVE
Thursday, April 23rd 7:45 PM South American Under 17 Championship Colombia vs Brazil LIVE
10:00 PM South American Under 17 Championship Paraguay vs Peru LIVE
Friday, April 24th 7:45 PM South American Under 17 Championship Argentina vs Ecuador LIVE
10:00 PM South American Under 17 Championship Venezuela vs Uruguay LIVE
ARSENAL TAKE ON CHELSEA – MANCHESTER UNITED CLASH WITH EVERTON IN LIVE
SEMI FINAL FA CUP ACTION FROM WEMBLEY STADIUM THIS WEEKEND ON SETANTA SPORTS
TORONTO (April 15, 2009) – A berth in The FA Cup Final is at stake when Arsenal and Chelsea meet Saturday, April 18 at 12 noon ET/ 9 a.m. PT at Wembley Stadium live on Setanta Sports.
The second-half of The FA Cup live final four match-up on Setanta pits powerhouse Manchester United against Everton Sunday, April 19 at 10:30 a.m. ET/ 7:30 a.m. PT.
A win by both Chelsea and Manchester United would set up a rematch of the 2007 FA Cup final that saw Chelsea take the title with a 1-0 victory. The four clubs competing in this season’s semi finals have combined for a total of 60 FA Cup final appearances. Manchester United leads all English clubs in final appearances (18) and FA Cup titles (11).
Everton is attempting to become just the fourth club in the past 23 years to break the dominance of Arsenal (6 titles), Manchester United (6 titles), Liverpool (4 titles) and Chelsea (3 titles). Everton has won The FA Cup five times, the last time in 1995 when they beat Manchester United 1-0.
There is more than bragging rights on the line as each club will receive £1m (approximately $1.8 million CDN) from The FA. The winner of the final, also live from Wembley Saturday, May 30 on Setanta, will pick up an additional £1m.
A crowd of approximately 80,000 is expected to take in each of the semi-final matches at Wembley this weekend.
