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Tottenham vs Everton: Spurs with “no chance” but to match Man United’s 45 points
It is not common to see Manchester United sharing their seat with Tottenham Hotspur, especially at such a point in the season.
Interestingly, that’s what could happen at the very end of Matchday 20. Rampant Spurs will welcome Everton on Wednesday night at White Hart Lane. Both teams were supposed to open the 2011/12 English Premier League season. However, instability in England’s capital – due to the riots – led in the cancelation of this fixture. Finally, it is going to come on—and at a perfect time for Harry Redknapp’s men.
Yes, the atmosphere at the club is presently high and the statistics at White Hart Lane are stunning. Since their humiliating 5-1 defeat to Manchester City on August 28, Tottenham Hotspur have not lost on home soil.
Manchester United’s title bid stutters as they are beaten 3-0 at Newcastle United
Manchester United fell to a shocking 3-0 loss at the Sports Direct Arena that leaves them three points behind league leading Manchester City.
With City beating Liverpool 3-0 the previous day, the Red Devils traveled to Newcastle knowing only a win would be good enough to keep pace with the league leaders.The game had a frantic opening, with both teams struggling to get to grips with the windy conditions.
Manchester United had the first chance to take the lead when Dimitar Berbatov got on the end of an Antonio Valencia cross, but the Bulgarian striker’s header bounced back off the goalpost.
Newcastle began to gain the upper hand as the game wore on, with central midfielder Cheick Tiote exerting a lot of influence on the game. The Geordies took a deserved lead at the 33 minute mark when Shola Ameobi flicked on, and Demba Ba hooked the ball past Anders Lindegaard for his 15th Premier League goal of the season.
Newcastle United vs Manchester United: Can the Red Devils keep pace with Man City?
Losing to rock-bottomed Blackburn Rovers on New Year’s Eve was a terrible thing to encounter for Manchester United. Dropping points away to Newcastle United tonight would only worsen the situation.
Following Manchester City’s convincing 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Tuesday, the pressure is on Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils to clinch a positive result at the Sports Direct Arena. Manchester United are currently sandwiched in second place, three points behind the Citizens and three points above Spurs, as the hunt for the English Premier League trophy is starting to look more like a three-horse race. Tottenham Hotspur maintained their hopes alive, thanks to a 1-0 defeat of West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane yesterday. Harry Redknapp’s men are ready to take advantage of the Red Devils’ slips; Manchester United cannot afford to draw yet again against the Magpies and Phil Jones has not lost hope.
Manchester United poised to end 2011 as EPL leaders above Manchester City
The Red Devils simply have to overcome Blackburn Rovers’ underdog threat to enter 2012 as English Premier League leaders. That’s all they’ll need to edge Man City… at least, temporarily.
Former Blackburn boy Phil Jones is publicly a fan of his ex-club. However, the Manchester United defender will be left with no other option than wishing defeat for the visitors on Saturday.
Rock-bottomed Blackburn Rovers are yet to win away from home but they’ve managed to secure draws at 5 separate occasions.
“We won’t find it easy, though. It’s going to be tough,” Phil Jones reminded ahead of the game according to Manutd.com.
“I know what sort of squad Blackburn have and there are some cracking players there. We can’t take them lightly.”
It is interesting to observe that Manchester’s two foes, City and United, are joint leaders at such a point in the campaign. They share the same record in terms of wins, draws and losses.
Who are the best players in Manchester? Picking a combined best XI from Manchester City and Manchester United
As we prepare to enter 2012, Manchester rivals City and United are promising to give English fans one of the more exciting title races in Premier League history.
The common belief seems to be that City have the best players, while United have a magical X-Factor provided by Sir Alex Ferguson that will bring them a 20th English title.Here we choose a starting XI from the two combined squads. The team will play in a 4-3-3 formation and is based on Premier League performances this season (so without ruining the suspense, Carlos Tevez will not be in it!). With the talent on offer from both teams, it was certainly no easy task.
GK – Joe Hart (Manchester City)
England international Joe Hart has been an ever-present in league leading City’s Premier League campaign so far. Hart’s positional sense and shot stopping ability have been a defensive anchor for City as the goal fly in at the other end.
Rampant Manchester United step up title challenge with 5-0 win over Wigan Athletic
Manchester United continued their dominant form with a resounding 5-0 win over relegation strugglers Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day.
Dimitar Berbatov netted a hat-trick for United, while Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia also got themselves on the score sheet. Striker Connor Sammon was sent off for Wigan, who are now left deep in the relegation mire.United have now drawn level on points with league leading Manchester City, after the Citizens were held to a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Wigan are left in the relegation zone one point adrift of safety. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers are the teams directly above Wigan, and will play tomorrow at Arsenal and Swansea City respectively.
United entered this game looking for a fourth straight win, while Wigan will have had their confidence boosted by draws against Chelsea and Liverpool in their previous two games.
Liverpool vs Blackburn, Man United & Man City in Monday’s 10:00am EST fixtures
Monday’s afternoon ride in the English Premier League is not to be missed. Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City will all be in action.
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.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea to seal EPL midweek action on an exciting note
English Premier League followers got served with drama and entertainment on Wednesday night. Spurs and Chelsea are expected to end the midweek action with an exciting London derby.
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.
Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick declares title race wide open
It was not so long ago many fans and pundits were describing this season’s Premier League title race a one horse race.
Seven days ago, Manchester City held a five point lead at the top of the table, and their season opening unbeaten streak stood at 14 games.City had scored 48 goals during that spell, including a 6-1 mauling of defending champions Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The City juggernaut had three of the Premier League’s top 10 goal scorers in Sergio Aguero (11 league goals), Edin Dzeko (10) and Mario Balotelli (8). The Citizens also boast England’s number 1 goalkeeper, and an embarrassment of depth and resources in every department.
Just when it seemed City were set to pull away from the chasing pack, they suffered their first setback last Monday when Chelsea produced a 2-1 win over City at Stamford Bridge.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal and Spurs vs Chelsea mark action-packed midweek in the EPL
When it’s winter in England, the players and the coaches get even harder at work. Matchday 17 of the Premier League falls in midweek!
After losing 1-0 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last Sunday, the Gunners will try to bounce back away to Aston Villa on Wednesday. The Villans succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in the hands of Liverpool and eventually dropped onto the 10th position in the table. Fifth-placed Arsenal, meanwhile, failed to close the gap on Chelsea.
Arsene Wenger conceded that the team’s title chase might be over following the loss against Manchester City. The race for a top four finish, however, is still very much open. Will the disappointed Gunners be able to provide a spirited performance against Aston Villa?
Man City vs Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United & Spurs spice up EPL Week 16’s Sunday
At the exception of Chelsea, all the biggest clubs in the English Premier League will be in action on Sunday. Manchester vs Arsenal will highlight Week 16’s exciting fixtures.
Queens Park Rangers will host league champions Manchester United in the lunch time kick-off. The Red Devils could dethrone Manchester City at the top of the table for a few hours, at least. Chris Smalling, who spoke to ManUtd.com and PA Sport, knows exactly how Sunday’s games could affect the race for the Premiership title:“City have obviously had that psychological edge over us over the last few weeks in terms of being top. If we can go above them it will put a lot of pressure on them when they play a couple of hours later.”
Manchester United will have to cope with the absences of Nemanja Vidic in defense and Darren Fletcher in midfield as both players won’t return to action anytime soon. However, the return of striker Berbatov should boost the Red Devils’ chances of finding their way out against Queens Park Rangers.
Will the inclusion of 'Big Names' Improve the Image of the Europa League?
The Europa League draw takes place on the 16th of December. Some unexpected but required names will be in the draw.
The Europa League was meant to be the Champions League’s sister competition. The name was changed to Europa League from the former UEFA Cup to add more prestige to the competition. This change did very little to change the way the Europa League is treated by so-called ‘big’ sides. Teams which have virtually no chance of winning the Champions League play reserve sides in Europa League matches at times.The competition needed an improvement in its image and maybe the inclusion of teams with better pedigree will do so. Schalke’s status as Champions League semi-finalists from last season definitely helps the image as does the inclusion of Premier League top duo Manchester City and Manchester United. Added to that is another former Champions League winner Porto and former Champions League finalist Valencia. Porto is the defending champion.
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher takes extended break from football for health reasons
Scotland international midfielder Darren Fletcher is suffering from a serious abdominal health condition that means he will be taking an extended layoff from competing.
A Manchester United spokesman told BBC Sport that Fletcher “had accepted medical advice to take an extended break.” The Old Trafford source also added that Fletcher was taking the action “in order to afford the best chance possible of achieving full remission once again.”The loss of Fletcher is yet another blow to a United team that is also missing fellow midfielders Tom Cleverley and Anderson. The defensive duo of Rio Ferdinand and captain Nemanja Vidic have also suffered injury problems this season, while striker Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez is ruled out for another three weeks.
While United fans will want to see their club strengthen during the January transfer window, the thoughts of many will be focused on Fletcher achieving a full and safe recovery.
Europa League prepares to welcome high-profiled Man United, Man City & Porto
The 2011/12 UEFA Europa League will soon be cut down to 32 teams. Incredibly, Manchester United, Manchester City and FC Porto are sure knockout stages contenders…
Like Trabzonspor, Ajax, Valencia, Olympiacos and Viktoria Plzen, these big clubs finished third in their respective Champions League group. Now, they await their fate in the UEFA Europa League. The knockout round draw for the competition will take place on Friday. Considering the improved caliber of the teams in the Europa League, there may be no easy matchup for demoted Manchester United, Manchester City and Valencia.
However, they’ll enter the draw as seeded teams based on the number of points they achieved in the UEFA Champions League. Manchester City head the list of seeded contenders above Manchester United, Olympiacos and Valencia. FC Porto, Ajax, Trabzonspor and Viktoria Plzen complete the A to H table.
Manchester United crash out of UEFA Champions League after disastrous 2-1 loss at FC Basel
Manchester United fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat in Basel that saw them eliminated from the Champions League group stages for only the third time since 1994.
Marco Streller and Alexander Frei hammered the nails into the United coffin, while Phil Jones headed a late consolation for the English champions.United have reached three of the past four UEFA Champions League finals, and went into this game knowing a win or draw would be enough to advance to the knockout stages.
The Red Devils dominated possession in the early stages and adopted an attacking mentality. The pressure was turned up though when Basel took a 9th minute lead with their first genuine attack.
Xherdan Shaqiri produced a dangerous low cross that was redirected by David de Gea, and Marco Streller was on hand to fire Basel into a 1-0 lead.
Shocking: Manchester United and Man City fail to reach Champions League Last 16
Incredibly, Manchester United and Manchester City have failed to reach the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16!
The Red Devils needed a positive result in Switzerland. Instead, they lost 2-1 against a daring FC Basel team. Marco Streller scared Manchester United early on as Patrice Evra and David de Gea had no chance inside the defensive area. Nani and Wayne Rooney were hoping to turn the tables around for Manchester United but their efforts couldn’t answer the fans’ calls. Even the experience of Ryan Giggs didn’t influence the result for the Red Devils. Xherdan Shaqiri, however, displayed a man-of-the-match performance as FC Basel’s attacking line appeared too strong for Manchester United’s backline.
Champions League: What Day 6 means to the doomed, the safe and the unsecured
There are seven more places at stake in the UEFA Champions League. Which teams will qualify from the group stages of the competition to reach the Last 16?
The doomed teams
Group A’s Villarreal, Group C’s Otelul Galati, Group D’s Dinamo Zagreb, Group E’s Genk and Group G’s Shakhtar Donetsk will have absolutely nothing to defend but their pride on Matchday 6 of the UEFA Champions League. The dream of reaching the Round of 16 and the option of playing in the UEFA Europa League are two things which do not exist anymore for those teams.
However, their involvement in Tuesday and Wednesday’s Champions League night could torment the remaining contenders. In Group A, for example, Villarreal could favor Manchester City by spoiling Napoli’s golden chance of progressing.
Man United, Chelsea & Man City facing Champions League to Europa League demotion
Calculations reveal that Arsenal could become the sole English survivors in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League ahead of the Last 16.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are interestingly more or less in danger of exiting the continent’s top competition for the Europa League. Unlike Barcelona, Real Madrid, Internazionale or Bayern Munich, the English trio cannot afford to relax on Matchday 6.
Andre Villas-Boas’ big test
Andre Villas-Boas led Chelsea to a 3-0 defeat of Newcastle United last weekend, but this result doesn’t mean that the coach has finished proving himself in the eyes of his critics. The Portuguese man is facing a tough challenge in the form of Valencia.
Since quite a number of years now, one of the Blues’ priorities has always been to win the UEFA Champions League. Today, they are in a serious condition which they can still overturn, though. A goalless draw will be enough for them to pass onto the knockout stages of the competition.
Chelsea vs Liverpool & Arsenal vs Manchester City light up Carling Cup Last 8
The option of ending the 2011/12 season with at least one trophy in the bag still exists for Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United.
These English Premier League giants are all English Carling Cup contenders at the delight of millions of football fans across the world. Although Kenny Dalglish and Roberto Mancini have blasted the congestion of fixtures, the excitement of the public ahead of the League Cup quarter-finals hasn’t decreased.
In London on Tuesday night, two great games will unfold. Chelsea will host Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. This will be both sides’ second meeting in the space of ten days.
A few days ago in the English Premier League, Liverpool condemn bitter rivals Chelsea to a 2-1 defeat at the Bridge as Andre Villas-Boas’ Chelsea career went under scrutiny. The Merseyside Reds could embarrass the Blues once again.
Manchester United striker Michael Owen leads tributes for Gary Speed
Wales national team manager Gary Speed tragically ended his own life this weekend at the age of 42.
Speed’s body was found by his distraught wife in their Cheshire home early on Sunday morning after he had committed suicide by hanging himself.From the outside it seemed like Speed was a man who had it all. On the field he was a retired Premier League legend who was in the process of leading Wales to their best run of results in decades. Off the field he had a beautiful wife and two young children, sadly for reasons not known to the public he decided to commit the harrowing act of ending his own life.
Speed had a status within the game unmatched by many former players. He performed consistently well for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanders and Sheffield United. Midfield workhorse Speed also had an impressive international career for Wales.