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Thursday 15 December 2016
MIDWEEK SPORTS ROUNDUP: December 15
Football
Chelsea beat bottom placed
club Sunderland 1-0 to record their tenth straight Premier League victory. The
Stamford Bridge club are now sitting pretty, six points clear of both Arsenal
and Liverpool.
Liverpool beat Middlesbrough
3-0 in the midweek league programme, with two goals from Adam Lallana, but
Arsenal suffered their first league defeat since the opening day of the season
when they lost 2-1 to Everton.
Manchester City stay fourth,
seven points off the pace, after seeing off Watford 2-0.
Fifth placed Tottenham beat struggling
Hull 3-0 - Christian Eriksen netting twice - and a late winner from Zlatan
Ibrahimovic gave sixth placed Manchester United a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Seventh placed West Brom
continued their good recent run with a 3-1 win over Swansea. Salomon Rondon
scored a second half hat-trick in the space of 13 minutes.
Leicester and Burnley both
failed to halt their appalling run in away matches. The two sides lost 1-0 to
Bournemouth and West Ham respectively. Their result lifts West Ham to 15th
place.
The bottom five clubs are now
Crystal Palace (16th), Middlesbrough (17th), Swansea (18th),
Hull (19th) and Sunderland (20th). All five teams tasted
defeat in the latest round of matches.
Stoke and Southampton fought
out a goalless draw.
Good news for Manchester City
and Chelsea is that they will not face a points deduction after the mass brawl
near the end of their recent Premier League clash. The two clubs have only been
fined.
Brazilian midfielder Oscar
has opted to leave Chelsea, and will complete a £60 million move to Chinese
side Shanghai in the January transfer window.
City will be without Ilkay
Gundogan for several months after he suffered a serious knee injury.
Newcastle won 2-0 at Wigan to
stay top of the Championship. Brighton remain one point behind after beating
Blackburn 3-2, but third placed Reading are now a further eight points off the
pace, having lost 2-0 to Leeds this week.
Gianfranco Zola is back in
English football. The Italian has been appointed as manager of Championship
side Birmingham City, who sacked Gary Rowett this week. Birmingham are
currently eighth in the table.
Stourbridge, from the seventh
tier of English football, booked their place in the third round of the FA Cup
with a 1-0 win over League One high flyers Northampton in a delayed second
round match. The Midlands club will play Wycombe in the third round.
Rugby Union
England captain Dylan Hartley
has been banned for six weeks after his red card for striking an opponent
during Northampton’s European clash with Leinster. This means he will be
available for the full Six Nations campaign.
Cricket
Stuart Broad is hopeful of
being fit for the fifth Test between England and India, which starts in Chennai
on Friday. However, fellow pace bowler James Anderson has been ruled out,
apparently because of more issues with his shoulder injury that kept him out of
the early part of the series. India have already won the series, after winning
the fourth Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Tipster Street.
Tuesday 13 December 2016
WEEKEND SPORTS ROUNDUP
Football
West Brom showed why they have been so difficult to beat lately as they
pushed Chelsea all the way, before Antonio Conte’s side sneaked a 1-0 win that
extends their winning run in the Premier League to nine matches.
Arsenal remain second, three points behind, after coming from behind to
beat Stoke 3-1.
However, Manchester City and Liverpool both lost ground. Liverpool’s
frailties in defence and in goal were again evident as they could only draw 2-2
at home to struggling West Ham, and are now six points off the pace.
Manchester City meanwhile were hit by a Jamie Vardy hat-trick as he
broke his run of 16 matches without a goal for Leicester City. Leicester
stormed into a 4-0 lead, and Manchester City could only manage two late
consolation goals. Pep Guardiola’s side are now seven points behind Chelsea.
After an uncertain start, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is demonstrating exactly
why he was voted Player of the Year in the Bundesliga last season. The Armenian
midfielder scored a superb goal to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over
Tottenham.
Burnley won at home once again, seeing off Bournemouth 3-2.
There were also goals galore at the KCOM Stadium, where a late equaliser
from Fraizer Campbell secured Crystal Palace a 3-3 draw and deprived Hull of
what would have been a vital win.
After three wins in four matches, Sunderland suffered a setback as they
lost 3-0 at fellow strugglers Swansea. Fernando Llorente again scored twice.
Sunderland return to bottom spot, one point behind both Swansea and Hull and
two behind West Ham.
Southampton beat Middlesbrough 1-0, but less welcome news for the Saints
is that leading scorer Charlie Austin could be out for as long as four months
after dislocating his shoulder when they exited the Europa League against
Hapoel Beer Sheva last Thursday.
Watford’s Italian striker Stefano Okaka scored his first two goals for
Watford as they continued Everton’s recent woes by beating them 3-2 at Vicarage
Road.
Saturday’s six Premier League games produced a total of 29 goals, with
the home team scoring at least three in all of these matches. Sunday’s four
matches produced less in the way of goalmouth action, with three resulting in
1-0 home wins.
Newcastle remain one point clear of Brighton at the top of the
Championship after both sides won this weekend. The Magpies thrashed Birmingham
4-0 and Brighton beat Leeds 2-1.
Cricket
India won the fourth Test in Mumbai by an innings and 36 runs to take an
unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. England thought they had made a solid
total of 400 batting first, with Keaton Jennings making 112 on debut. However,
India replied with a mammoth 631 – Murali Vijay made 136 opening the innings
and the damage was really done when Virat Kohli (235) and Jayant Yadav (104)
added 241 for the eighth wicket. Second time around, England could only manage
195, despite defiant half-centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
Ravichandran Ashwin took 12 wickets in the match.
Rugby Union
England captain Dylan Hartley faces the prospect of being banned for the
start of the Six Nations after being sent off in Northampton’s 37-10 defeat to
Leinster in the European Cup. The result leaves Northampton needing to win all
three remaining group matches to stand a good chance of reaching the
quarter-finals.
Saracens thrashed Sale 50-3 to maintain their 100% record in Pool Three
of the same competition, and Sale now require a miracle to progress. In the
same pool, the hopes of Llanelli Scarlets hang by a thread after their 31-20
loss to Toulon.
Exeter also require a miracle in Pool Five in order to qualify, as they
went down to their third defeat, losing 13-7 to Bordeaux-Begles. Ulster won a
thriller against Clermont Auvergne in the same group, and their 39-32 win keeps
the group wide open.
Wasps moved to the top of Pool Two after beating Connacht 32-17.
Glasgow had an excellent win away to Racing 92, winning 23-14, while
Pool One leaders Munster beat Leicester 38-0, leaving Leicester with no room
for error in their remaining matches, having now lost twice.
Boxing
Britain's Anthony Joshua retained
his IBF world heavyweight title with a third-round stoppage of American Eric
Molina. The bout was stopped shortly after Joshua had sent his opponent to the
canvas. Joshua can now look forward to a showdown with former WBA, IBF and
WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium on April 29.
On the same bill at the Manchester Arena, Britain gained
another world champion when Kal Yafai beat Panama’s Luis
Concepcion to become the WBA super-flyweight title holder. Concepcion had been
stripped of the title prior to the fight after failing to make the weight, but
Yafai opted to carry on with the bout anyway, and claimed the crown with a
unanimous decision, winning by large margins on all three judges' scorecards.
Another Briton in line for a
possible world heavyweight title is Dillian Whyte, who beat Dereck Chisora by
the smallest of margins after that fight also went to the judges. The bout was
an eliminator for Deontay Wilder’s WBC world heavyweight title.
Tipster Street.
Friday 9 December 2016
PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH PREVIEWS – DECEMBER 10-11
Watford v Everton –
Saturday 1230
Positions: Watford 11th,
Everton 8th
Form (league matches only – earliest matches first):
Watford DWLWLL (7pts)
Everton LWLDLD (5pts)
- Neither side is in great
form at the moment, but Everton may just have the stronger squad and could
take three points if they play to their full potential. Watford’s Roberto
Peyreyra misses this match with suspension, however his ban has been
reduced to one match following his sending off and he will be back for the
midweek programme. Everton forward Yannick Bolasie will be out for 12
months with a knee ligament injury.
Arsenal v Stoke City
– Saturday 1500
Positions: Arsenal 2nd,
Stoke 9th
Form:
Arsenal DWDDWW (12pts)
Stoke WWDLWW (13pts)
- Stoke are undoubtedly in
good form, but may just find Arsenal, who have produced some truly
magnificent displays in recent weeks, just too hot to handle. Stoke also
have defensive injury problems, with Bruno Martins Indi feared to have
fractured his cheekbone last week, and Phil Bardsley not expected to
return until the New Year after his knee injury. Ryan Shawcross also
missed last week’s match with a calf injury.
Burnley v Bournemouth
– Saturday 1500
Positions: Burnley 15th,
Bournemouth 10th
Form:
Burnley WDWLLL (7pts)
Bournemouth DLLWLW (7pts)
- Burnley have won half of
their home matches so far, but have now lost three on the bounce when you
look at both home and away fixtures. Buoyed by their amazing comeback
against Liverpool last week, the Cherries might fancy another three points
here.
Hull City v Crystal
Palace – Saturday 1500
Positions: Hull 19th,
Crystal Palace 14th
Form:
Hull LLWLDL (4pts)
Crystal Palace LLLLLW (3pts)
- Crystal Palace’s players
responded superbly last week to comfortably beat Southampton and end a
six-match losing run. With Hull continuing to struggle – they suffered a
potentially damaging defeat to Middlesbrough on Monday – Palace have an
excellent opportunity to record back-to-back wins.
Swansea City v
Sunderland – Saturday 1500
Positions: Swansea 20th,
Sunderland 18th
Form:
Swansea DLLDWL (5pts)
Sunderland LLWWLW (9pts)
- After finally bagging a
win two weeks ago, Swansea came rapidly back down to earth at Tottenham
last week. Spurs not only won 5-0 but also had 28 attempts to Swansea’s
one. Sunderland remain in the bottom three, but with only Liverpool having
prevented them winning in the last four matches, they will fancy their
chances. Jermain Defoe continues to score goals for Sunderland, and more
may be required from him now that Duncan Watmore has suffered a
season-ending injury.
Leicester City v
Manchester City – Saturday 1730
Positions: Leicester
16th, Man City 4th
Form:
Leicester WDLLDL (5pts)
Man City DWDWWL (11pts)
- Leicester’s away form has
been poor all season, but now they cannot rely on their home form either.
The Foxes may try and excuse their 5-0 defeat to Porto in the Champions
League in midweek by saying they made 10 changes to the team, but the
truth remains that the English champions are in exceptionally poor form.
Manchester City may not be playing quite like potential champions at the
moment, but they must start as favourites.
Chelsea v West
Bromwich Albion – Sunday 1200
Positions: Chelsea 1st,
West Brom 7th
Form:
Chelsea WWWWWW (18pts)
West Brom LLWWDW (10pts)
- West Brom are riding high
in seventh place, but Chelsea made it eight wins in a row at Manchester
City last week, and the leaders must start as favourites to make it nine
in a row.
Manchester United v
Tottenham Hotspur – Sunday 1415
Positions: Man Utd 6th,
Tottenham 5th
Form:
Man Utd LDWDDD (7pts)
Tottenham DDDWLW (9pts)
- United still have only one
win in nine in the league, and with them having endured a Europa League
trip to Ukraine on Thursday, it’s difficult to be totally confident they
will win this one. Spurs could have the edge, or this could continue
United’s run of draws, unless United’s star players can come to the party
and deliver the points for Jose Mourinho.
Southampton v
Middlesbrough – Sunday 1415
Positions:
Southampton 12th, Middlesbrough 13th
Form:
Southampton DLLDWL (5pts)
Middlesbrough DWDLDW (9pts)
- Middlesbrough have drawn
five of their seven away matches to date, while Southampton have drawn
three home matches, so will this be another draw? Middlesbrough’s recent
form is slightly better than that of the Saints.
Liverpool v West Ham
United – Sunday 1630
Positions: Liverpool
3rd, West Ham 17th
Form:
Liverpool WWWDWL (13pts)
West Ham WLDLDL (5pts)
- Liverpool were rocked by
last week’s capitulation in the last 15 minutes in losing to Bournemouth.
They have conceded more goals than 13th placed Middlesbrough,
so there are defensive frailties in Jurgen Klopp’s side that any team
could exploit. However, Liverpool must be fancied given West Ham’s poor
form.
Thursday 8 December 2016
MIDWEEK SPORTS ROUND UP
Football
Arsenal won their last
Champions League match with a 4-1 win away to Basel, where Lucas Perez bagged a
hat-trick. With Paris Saint-Germain only drawing 2-2 at home to Ludogorets, the
Gunners’ victory allowed them to leapfrog PSG into top spot in Group A.
Leicester already knew they
had topped Group G and duly made 10 changes to their starting line-up for their
trip to Porto. Leicester will nonetheless be hugely disappointed with their 5-0
defeat.
Manchester City already knew
they would finish second ahead of their final group match, and also opted to
rest some key players. Celtic, who already knew they would finish bottom of
Group C, came away with a 1-1 draw after their goal was scored by Patrick
Roberts, who is on loan from City.
Tottenham’s hopes of
Champions League qualification ended in the last round of matches, but they
made sure of third place in Group E, and a place in the Europa League knockout
stage, with a 3-1 win over CSKA Moscow.
The draw for the knockout
stages of the European club competitions takes place on Monday.
In the FA Cup third round
draw, the most eye-catching ties are West Ham’s home draw with Manchester City,
and Liverpool being drawn to host Newport or Plymouth. Manchester United will
play Reading – managed by former United defender Jaap Stam – at home, Chelsea
host Peterborough or Notts County and Arsenal travel to Preston.
Lincoln became the fourth
non-league side to guarantee a place in the third round when they beat League
One Oldham 3-2.
 |
| The 'Baggies' one of four clubs charged by the FA this week |
Manchester City, Chelsea,
Watford and West Brom have all been charged with failing to control their
players after incidents in the matches at the Etihad Stadium and the Hawthorns
at the weekend.
Everton’s Yannick Bolasie and
Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore are both facing lengthy lay-offs with serious knee
injuries – neither is expected to play again this season and Bolasie may be
absent for as long as 12 months.
West Ham have agreed a deal
to sign Turkish midfielder Murat Saglam on a free from Wolfsburg in the summer.
He has been offered a five-year contract.
Cricket
Keaton Jennings had a dream
debut as he made a century on the first day of his Test career. The Durham
opening batsman made 112, initially adding 99 for the first wicket with
Alastair Cook (46), and then adding a further 94 for the third wicket with
Moeen Ali (50). Late on the first day, England were 230-4. Stuart Broad lost
his battle to be fit, with Jake Ball granted an opportunity as the fourth
seamer.
Form 2017, umpires are
expected to be granted the power to ‘send off’ a player for serious
disciplinary breaches.
Golf
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn has
been named as Europe’s captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup, which will be staged in
Paris for the first time.
Tipster Street
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