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John Terry at the center of bad news ahead of Chelsea vs Manchester United
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.News related to John Terry, however, is making more noise across the globe. The Chelsea skipper has been stripped from his England captaincy following David Bernstein’s decision to do so. According to the media in England, the FA chairman communicated the news to Terry via a phone call. A statement by the FA explained:
Chelsea vs Manchester United Preview
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. The only blot in United’s copy book recently has been a 1-2 loss to Liverpool. Chelsea has recently had more blots than Andre Villas Boas can really deal with. Chelsea has drawn their previous two games in the Premier League. They drew their game against Swansea.
Chelsea vs Manchester United kicks off live on FOX this Sunday
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.
Swansea City vs Chelsea Preview
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. Chelsea are unbeaten domestically since the year commenced but they are eager to bounce back from their disappointing goalless draw away to Norwich City.
Fourth-placed Chelsea are 5 points behind Tottenham Hotspur. Although the title seems far from their reach, the Blues maintain the ambition of gaining as much points as possible.
Liverpool vs Manchester United light up weekend of FA Cup Fourth Round entertainment
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.
The EPL’s top 6 teams & 10 big records they made in the first half of the season
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…
Tottenham Hotspur in EPL title crusade: The pressure is on Manchester City!
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.Of course, Spurs need long-term consistency to achieve such a feat. In addition, they have to fight against the historical and financial power of England’s top teams. These include Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City. The competition between the English Premier League’s top six contenders is tight – both in terms of points and mental strength.
Liverpool vs Manchester United ignite the FA Cup’s Fourth Round draw
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.
Can Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal emulate Liverpool’s great start to the FA Cup?
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!
Chelsea’s Juan Mata backs Villas-Boas and Torres as Blues maintain hopes for glory
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. “It's true we've had a little crisis of results,” Juan Mata admitted before reiterating his belief in Chelsea’s criticized manager.
“But Villas-Boas is doing things very well and both the players and the club have a lot of confidence in him. He won everything with Porto last year.”
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Chelsea 2: Has Frank Lampard’s late winner kept Chelsea’s title dream alive?
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.Wolves almost took a first minute lead, but David Jones cold not finish after pouncing on Jose Bosingwa’s errant back-pass.
The visitors settled into the game and began to dominate possession for long spells. Heavily criticized striker Fernando Torres looked sharp in the opening exchanges, and released Juan Mata with a slick through ball, only for Wayne Hennessey to rush out and smother the shot.
Will Arsenal and Chelsea have to Battle it out for Fourth this Season?
Arsenal started the season poorly but recovered with a series of wins and an unbeaten run and now sits fourth. Chelsea started the season well but a winless run saw the distance between themselves and the top sides increase. The two London clubs played each other in West London recently and Arsenal came away with all three points. The game, as entertaining as it was, proved that both sides were defensively vulnerable. Arsenal has been defensively vulnerable for many seasons. Chelsea however is known for their defensive stability and it is rather unusual to see them concede 24 goals at this stage of the season.
And by now, we all know that goals win games but defences win titles.
Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in fight to win their last game of the year 2011
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.”
How will Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas revamp his squad during the January transfer window?
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.”It is a common belief of fans and pundits that one of the biggest tasks facing AVB is revamping an aging squad.
This January, Villas-Boas will have an opportunity to revamp the Chelsea dressing room, and if he truly believes that this season’s title bid is “over,” what better time to do it?
With half a season left, AVB would have time to bed in players who would fit his system and style of play if he was to make moves in January, rather than waiting for next summer.
As far as incoming transfer targets for Chelsea, players from AVB’s former club FC Porto are an obvious choice. Not only does Villas-Boas have a good relationship with many of them, but Porto’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League could mean they cash in on some of their big name stars.
Luka Modric discards January transfer as Spurs are enjoying a great season
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.As the January transfer window is about to open, speculations surrounding the 26-year-old have emerged again. Rumors suggest that Modric might respond to Chelsea’s midfield problems by joining Andre Villas-Boas’ struggling Blues.
The player, however, has been quick to discard them. On Thursday, the English press reported Luka Modric as saying:
AVB could be better than ex-Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, says Ramires
Talking to Arena SporTV, the Brazilian midfielder offered his support for the young and often criticized AVB. Ramires was quoted as saying:“I already knew him from my days in Portugal, but not personally. He treats every player equally, regardless of who they are.
“He has everything to be as good as [Jose] Mourinho or even better. Of course, in order for that to happen, we need to help him, too.
“He has everything to be the best coach in the world. I can say that he is one of the best coaches I have had in my career.
Liverpool vs Blackburn, Man United & Man City in Monday’s 10:00am EST fixtures
Third-placed Spurs and fifth-placed Arsenal have been scheduled to perform on Tuesday night. As the campaign reaches its midpoint, the top 6 teams in the standings are all poised to avoid defeat. On paper, they are superior to their upcoming opponents. After the Chelsea vs Fulham game, the Red Devils, the Merseyside Reds and the Citizens will involve in 3:00pm GMT (10:00am EST) fixtures.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United are poised to halt Wigan Athletic’s impressive 3-game unbeaten run. The Latics claimed a 2-1 victory away to West Bromwich Albion on December 10. They pursued this result with a dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea before avoiding defeat against Liverpool in a goalless match.
Chelsea vs Fulham: Blues pursue Premier League title race despite 11-point gap
Fears that the game would be called off went out of the way. This is when Chelsea confirmed, through a statement on Wednesday, that the planned metro strike in London would not affect the Boxing Day action. The home crowd could witness the Blues’ seventh win at Stamford Bridge whereas Fulham carry the humiliation from their 5-0 defeat to Manchester United at Craven Cottage. Forcing Chelsea to their first draw or to their third loss at the Bridge won’t be easy.
The truth is that Fulham have won only once away this season. That was against Wigan Athletic at the DW stadium on October 29.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea to seal EPL midweek action on an exciting note
Matchday 17 kicked off on Tuesday with Wolves and Norwich City playing out an eventful 2-2 draw. With this point, Norwich managed to maintain their position ahead of West Bromwich Albion in ninth position. Wolves, however, did just enough to stay out of the relegation zone with 15 points.Elsewhere, it was disaster for under-fire coach Steve Kean as Blackburn Rovers got hit with their 11th defeat of the season. This result kept Blackburn rock-bottomed, 2 points behind nineteenth-placed Bolton Wanderers.
Wednesday night’s stage was set for the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool to compete. At Villa Park, the Gunners bounced back from their loss to the Citizens with a hard-fought victory.
Why England captain John Terry must receive the same (or worse) treatment as Luis Suarez
There was no video evidence backing the FA’s decision, and Liverpool have complained about the decision seeming to be based largely on the word of Patrice Evra.While Liverpool have a justified gripe in that regard, it is hard to feel sorry for Suarez, a man who is currently under another investigation for aiming an abusive hand gesture toward Fulham fans, and has previously been convicted for biting an opponent while playing for AFC Ajax. After his infamous handball during the 2010 World Cup, it is also unlikely that Suarez has many sympathizers in Ghana after his latest incident.
Suarez has had his supporters during this case, but some of the people defending him have stooped to a pathetic level while doing so.