Manchester United vs Liverpool
The Red Devils earned a point in controversial fashion last Sunday. Two crucial penalty decisions went in their favor as Chelsea dropped a 3-0 lead and thus two precious points at the Bridge.
Manchester United are now two points behind league leaders Manchester City. Ferguson’s men could temporarily claim the top spot but will Liverpool allow them to do so?
The Merseyside Reds have a pretty good record against Manchester United so they can confidently fancy their chances of winning. Liverpool should find pride, favor and hope in the following: their FA Cup triumph over Man United in January, Man City’s 6-1 humiliation of the Red Devils at Old Trafford and Blackburn Rovers’ 3-2 giant-killing at the same venue back in December.
Newcastle 0-4 Arsenal- this is a score-line that will give quite a few jitters to an Arsenal fan. This was the score at half-time of the match last season. The final score was 4-4. Chelsea produced a good performance against United for the most part. 57 minutes had gone by at Stamford Bridge- Chelsea led 3-0.
The Red Devils may have had the upper hand over their rivals at Stamford Bridge over the years, but this has changed dramatically over the last decade as since the 2002-03 Premier League season Sir Alex Ferguson's side haven't won a single game at the venue after nine attempts.
FOX is expecting big returns on broadcasting a major EPL clash on the FOX Network which is widely available throughout the US on Terrestrial, Satellite and Cable Television. This is the second match in as many weeks that FOX airs a live Barclays Premier League match. The first was on January 22nd which drew record television audiences in the US with apx 1.3 million US viewers as American soccer fans watched Arsenal lose to Manchester United 1-2 at home.
The issue of racism continues to rage in English football as a man has been charged for making racist comments during Tuesday night’s Manchester United vs Stoke City match against some of the away players. The fan, identified as 57-year-old Howard Hobson, is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Hobson will go to court on Wednesday.
United has won three Premier League games in a row- these three wins have placed the drubbing they received in the hands of Newcastle somewhat away from everyone’s minds. However, in that match, each of United’s weaknesses was exposed terribly. Since then United has beaten Bolton, Stoke and Arsenal.
Stamford Bridge will be on fire this weekend. The home crowd will be behind the Blues who face the prospect of grabbing their 8th win on home soil. Meanwhile, the Red Devils will try to force Chelsea to their 4th defeat at the Bridge.
The full 90 minutes of action will be available live on FOX. On January 22, 1.3 million people reportedly followed Arsenal vs Manchester United which ended 2-1 in favor of the away team.
Chelsea vs Manchester United may draw as many viewers as the race for the English Premier League title is tight. Manchester United could be 3 points behind current league leaders Manchester City before Sunday’s match.
Andre Villas-Boas definitely needs to inspire his men in the absence of Ivorian stars Drogba and Kalou. The away record of the London-based club is quite inconsistent this season. Out of 11 away matches, Chelsea have won 5, drawn 4 and lost 2.
Spurs’ fate was decided on Friday night. Van der Vaart’s 42nd minute goal helped them defeat Watford 1-0 en route to the Last 16 of the competition. Also on Friday was Everton vs Fulham. Murphy’s penalty goal gave the lead to the London side but Everton issued a comeback thanks to goals from Stracqualursi and Fellaini.
On Saturday, the FA Cup will continue with Queens Park Rangers vs Chelsea at 7:00am EST and 12:00pm GMT. Villas-Boas’ Blues cruised to victory in the previous round with a 4-0 result against 2010 FA Cup finalists Portsmouth. They are poised to beat QPR even in the absence of African stars Drogba and Kalou.
At 7:45am and 12:45pm GMT, Anfield will once again transform into the center of attraction as Liverpool will host Manchester United.
1) Who scored the first goal of the season?
How else to start but by recalling this moment which happened at Anfield? On Matchday 1 of the 2011/12 English Premier League, Liverpool hosted Sunderland. The Merseyside Reds were given the chance to take a seventh-minute lead through the penalty spot. This opportunity, however, went missing as striker Luis Suarez wasted it.
The Uruguayan later redeemed himself with a twelfth-minute strike which became the first goal of the 2011/12 English Premier League season. This will remind some people that Luis Suarez also makes the headlines for good reasons…
The top three zone in the Premiership is not Tottenham Hotspur’s usual place – especially not during the second half of the campaign. The reality, this year, is that the London club can optimistically dream about lifting the prestigious trophy in May.
The Third Round produced everything football has to offer – controversy, drama, upsets and goals. Liverpool opened this season’s FA Cup competition with a 5-1 demolition of Oldham Athletic at Anfield. The result didn’t portray the visitors’ brave performance as the Merseyside Reds put on a great show.
At White Hart Lane, Spurs made fun of Cheltenham Town. A spirited performance from Giovanni dos Santos inspired Harry Redknapp’s second-string side. Norwich City trounced Burnley 4-1 at Carrow Road to make a rare appearance in the Fourth Round while Derby County ousted Carling Cup contenders Crystal Palace on a 1-0 score line.
In one of the biggest headlines, Swindon Town made a giant killing by securing a 2-1 victory over Premier League team Wigan Athletic. Newcastle United left it late at home to Blackburn Rovers, Everton beat Tamworth 2-0, Stoke City won 3-1 away to Gillingham and Aston Villa defeated Bristol Rovers as expected.
The Merseyside Reds overcame the pressure of playing the first fixture of this year’s FA Cup competition. Oldham Athletic never looked dangerous anyways, until they tried to prove otherwise on the pitch. Inside the 28th minute, Robbie Simpson stunned Pepe Reina with an incredible shot from long range which hit the top right corner of the net.
At that moment, followers of the match perhaps thought that Liverpool – probably distracted by the absence of goal poacher Luis Suarez – would succumb to an upset. However, Kenny Dalglish and his men had other ideas.
The legend rallied his team from the sidelines and the prayers of the anxious home crowd quickly received a response through Craig Bellamy’s equalizer in the 30th minute. Game on!
The 23-year-old Spanish midfielder can look down at this individual performance at Chelsea with pride. The former Valencia play maker has already provided 9 assists and scored 5 goals in 23 appearances for the Blues. However, his good form has been overshadowed by the entire team’s flaws from a general point of view.
Brazilian midfielder Ramires opened the scoring for Chelsea during the second half, before Stephen Ward equalized in the 84th minute. The Wolves fans thought their side had earned a battling point, but Lampard broke the hearts of the Molineux faithful when he volleyed home Ashley Cole’s cross.
Remarkably, Liverpool have never lost at Anfield in the league but they haven’t managed to pick up enough points on home soil either. From a possible 27 points, the Merseyside Reds have won just 15. This is the result of their 3 victories and 6 draws at Anfield.
“If you want to be really positive you could say we are undefeated at home but we've said before we don't want to set our standards that low,” Kenny Dalglish miserably told reporters on Thursday.
“We want to be winning our home games as often as we possibly can and we've certainly given ourselves opportunities to have won every home game. We haven't done that but we will keep going and we believe we will do.”
Speaking after the 1-1 Boxing Day draw with Fulham, Villas-Boas told BBC Sport that “with City and United continuing to get the points they are getting, it’ll be difficult. Maybe the Premier League is over for us at the moment.”
The Croatian midfielder’s name was constantly mentioned in the headlines, especially last summer, as Chelsea looked favorites to land the player’s signature. All the same, Harry Redknapp won the transfer battle and Modric remained at White Hart Lane.
Talking to Arena SporTV, the Brazilian midfielder offered his support for the young and often criticized AVB. Ramires was quoted as saying: