Weekend Sports Round Up (Nov 26-27)

Football

The top four in the Premier League all won this weekend. Chelsea recorded their seventh consecutive win, and ended Tottenham’s unbeaten league record, with a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

Second placed Liverpool and third placed Manchester City both remain one point behind Chelsea. Liverpool beat Sunderland 2-0 and City triumphed 2-1 at Burnley.

Arsenal stay fourth after a 3-1 win over Bournemouth, in which Alexis Sanchez scored twice.

Manchester United remain sixth, but are now 11 points off the pace after being held 1-1 by West Ham. It was United’s fourth successive draw in home league matches, and manager Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands for the second time in a month after showing dissent against a decision to book Paul Pogba.

An extraordinary 5-4 win over Crystal Palace allowed Swansea to move away from the foot of the table. Palace were leading 4-3 before Fernando Llorente scored twice in stoppage time, and the South London side have now suffered six consecutive defeats. Sunderland now return to the foot of the table.

Other Premier League results were: Southampton 1 Everton 0, Watford 0 Stoke 1, Leicester 2 Middlesbrough 2 and Hull 1 West Brom 1.

Newcastle lost 1-0 to Blackburn but stay two points clear in the Championship. Second placed Brighton, third placed Reading, fourth placed Birmingham and fifth placed Leeds all won.

Celtic won the Scottish League Cup by beating Aberdeen 3-0 in the final. Celtic have a commanding lead in the Scottish Premiership, but the ‘Old Firm’ now occupy the top two places for the first time in a number of years. Rangers won 2-1 against Partick to move into second spot.

Motor Racing

Nico Rosberg is the Formula One Drivers champion for the first time after he finished second in Sunday’s final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. His Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton completed his strong end to the season by winning the race, but with Rosberg coming in second, all Hamilton could do was trim the German’s championship lead to five points. There was controversy as Hamilton defied team orders and started slowing down the race in the hope he could bring other drivers into contention and force Rosberg down to fourth place or lower. Britain’s Jenson Button was forced to retire after 12 laps in what was his final race before retirement.

Rugby Union

England recorded their 13^th straight victory with a 27-14 win over Argentina. However, in some ways this might go down as the best victory of all, given that England played almost the entire match with 14 players. Elliot Daly was sent off in the fifth minute for taking out a player in the air, and although Argentina would themselves have a player red carded, this did not occur until the dying minutes of the match. Despite their numerical disadvantage, England took a 16-0 lead, and the only points Argentina scored in the entire match were during a period when England had a man in the sin-bin and were thus down to just 13 players. England conclude their autumn programme against Australia next week, and will be without number 8 forward Billy Vunipola who suffered a serious knee injury during Saturday’s match.

Ireland’s superb form continued as they beat Australia 27-24. They thus become the first team to beat Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the same year since England in their World Cup winning year of 2003.

Wales beat South Africa 27-13, with the Springboks seemingly in the midst of a slump.

Scotland negotiated a potentially tricky fixture with a 43-16 win over Georgia. Stuart Hogg scored two tries as his team-mates contributed four more touchdowns.

In the English Premiership, Saracens sneaked past Gloucester 24-20 and remain four points clear of Wasps, who beat Sale 34-24. Bristol gave a spirited fight in their quest for their first win of the season but lost 21-16 to Leicester.

Cricket

England are up against it in the Third Test against India in Mohali. Already 1-0 down in the series, they batted disappointingly in the first innings and posted just 283, with Jonny Bairstow top scoring with 89. India took a commanding lead after replying with 417, and although Ben Stokes took five wickets and Adil Rashid four, India’s lower order prospered – number eight Ravindra Jadeja top scored with 90, and Ravi Ashwin and Jayant Yadav also made half-centuries in the latter part of the Indian innings. During the final session of day three, England were also struggling with the bat second time around at 47-2.

Boxing

Britain’s Terry Flanagan successfully defended his WBO lightweight belt as he stopped Puerto Rican challenger Orlando Cruz in the eighth round.

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PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH PREVIEWS – (NOV 26 – NOV 27)

Burnley v Manchester City – Saturday 1230

Positions: Burnley 12^th, Man City 3^rd

Form (league matches only – earliest matches first):

Burnley LLWDWL (7pts)

Man City LDDWDW (9pts)

• After another disappointing away day at West Brom, Burnley return to their Turf Moor ground where they have won four matches so far. Manchester City meanwhile are not always turning their dominance of matches into goals, as evidence by their last two matches – a draw with Middlesbrough and a victory over Crystal Palace where the winning goal came just seven minutes from time. However, a City win remains the most likely result here given the difference in the strengths of the two squads. City’s Vincent Kompany is injured again and will miss several weeks of football.

Hull City v West Bromwich Albion – Saturday 1500

Positions: Hull 18^th, West Brom 9^th

Form:

Hull LLLLWL (3pts)

West Brom DDLLWW (8pts)

• For struggling teams, results sometimes seem like one step forward followed by two steps back. Any optimism Hull might have gained from finally getting a win disappeared with a 3-0 loss to fellow strugglers Sunderland last weekend. West Brom must be favourites to record what would be for them a third straight win.

Leicester City v Middlesbrough – Saturday 1500

Positions: Leicester 14^th, Middlesbrough 15^th

Form:

Leicester DLWDLL (5pts)

Middlesbrough DLDWDL (6pts)

• Middlesbrough have performed creditably in their last two matches despite securing only one point, after drawing with Manchester City and only losing to Chelsea by a single goal. Despite their continued successes in the Champions League, Leicester continue to struggle in the Premier League, and their unbeaten home record came to a halt against West Brom two weeks ago. Leicester could be without Danny Drinkwater if he is found guilty of violent conduct for an alleged elbow against Watford, and Jamie Vardy has not scored, in club colours at least, for some time. It all means Middlesbrough must have a great chance of winning this one.

Liverpool v Sunderland – Saturday 1500

Positions: Liverpool 2^nd, Sunderland 19^th

Form:

Liverpool WDWWWD (14pts)

Sunderland DLLLWW (7pts)

• Sunderland have won their last two matches, but Liverpool will surely represent stronger opposition than Bournemouth or Hull. Three points for Jurgen Klopp’s side look likely here. Sunderland’s Paddy McNair has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Swansea City v Crystal Palace – Saturday 1500

Positions: Swansea 20^th, Crystal Palace 16^th

Form:

Swansea LLDLLD (2pts)

Crystal Palace DLLLLL (1pt)

• This is an encounter between two sides who are quite simply both in wretched form. Swansea came within a minute of beating Everton last weekend and they must put aside that disappointment here for a match they must be targeting for a win.

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur – Saturday 1730

Positions: Chelsea 1^st, Tottenham 5^th

Form:

Chelsea WWWWWW (18pts)

Tottenham WDDDDW (10pts)

• Tottenham exited the Champions League in midweek with a very disappointing display, but in the Premier League at least they seem to still have the knack of not losing, even if they do not always win. Having said that, Spurs unbeaten record faces a huge test here. Not only have Chelsea scored 17 goals in putting together six wins on the bounce, they are also taking care of matters at the other end of the field, keeping a clean sheet in all of these matches. This could well be the day Spurs lose that unbeaten record.

Watford v Stoke City – Sunday 1200

Positions: Watford 8^th, Stoke 13^th

Form:

Watford DWDWLW (11pts)

Stoke DWWWDL (11pts)

• This is difficult to call – both sides are a little inconsistent, and both have the players to win the match. With Watford enjoying home advantage, and having won their last match, they possibly have a slight edge.

Arsenal v Bournemouth – Sunday 1415

Positions: Arsenal 4^th, Bournemouth 10^th

Form:

Arsenal WWDWDD (12pts)

Bournemouth DWDLLW (8pts)

• Bournemouth will be delighted with their current position in the top half of the table, but will surely find life difficult against Arsenal, whose unbeaten record in all competitions now stands at 18 matches.

Manchester United v West Ham United – Sunday 1630

Positions: Man Utd 6^th, West Ham 17^th

Form:

Man Utd DDLDWD (7pts)

West Ham DWWLDL (8pts)

• Manchester United have now won just two of their last nine league matches. However, with West Ham’s mini-revival having ended – they have just one point from the last three matches – Jose Mourinho’s side must be favourites here.

Southampton v Everton – Sunday 1630

Positions: Southampton 11^th, Everton 7^th

Form:

Southampton DWDLLD (6pts)

Everton DDLWLD (6pts)

• Both sides have been recording a lot of draws lately, so is that the most likely result? Or will the fact Southampton come into the game on the back of a Thursday Europa League trip to Prague give Everton the edge?

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MIDWEEK SPORTS ROUNDUP:

Football

Leicester City may not be setting the Premier League alight this time around, but their European fairytale continued when a 2-1 win over Club Brugge ensured they would qualify for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League as winners of their group.

It appears Leicester will be the only English side to top their group. Manchester City drew 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund and will now definitely finish second behind Barcelona. Arsenal drew 2-2 with Paris Saint-Germain and will qualify in second spot in their group unless they can better PSG’s result in the final round of matches and this knock them off pole position.

The perceived wisdom is it is best to qualify in top spot so a team can secure an easier round of 16 match against a second place finisher. However, with both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich set to be among the second placed teams, the advantages of winning your group may not be quite as significant this year.

Tottenham will not be featuring in the knockout stages of the competition. Their last match will now be nothing more than a play-off to decide whether they finish third and this go into the Europa League. Spurs produced a disappointing performance away to Monaco and lost 2-1.

Celtic lost 2-0 to Barcelona and are now sure to finish bottom of the group containing Barca and City. Lionel Messi scored twice, and the Argentinian ace has now netted nine times in his four Champions League appearances this season.

One team currently on course to qualify in first position are Germany’s Borussia Dortmund. They enjoyed an extraordinary 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw in a match that saw a record number of goals for a Champions League match. Seven goals were scored between the 10^th and 32^nd minutes alone.

Two of England’s Champions League entrants are facing the prospect of being without players for a few weeks, for different reasons. Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater faces a violent conduct charge, after being alleged to have elbowed Watford’s Valon Behrami last weekend. Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany is injured again – he collided with his goalkeeper Claudio Bravo during their match with Crystal Palace, and while the issue was initially thought to be a head injury, it now transpires he also picked up a knee injury in the process.

Sunderland defender Paddy McNair will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Cricket

England start the Third Test against India in Mohali on Saturday, seeking to bounce back from their Second Test defeat, and there could be several changes to the team. Pace bowler Stuart Broad is likely to miss out with a foot injury, paving the way for Chris Woakes to return. Ben Duckett is expected to be dropped, with Jos Buttler coming in as a specialist batsman. Finally, Zafar Ansari may be omitted in favour of Steven Finn or Jake Ball if England opt to play the extra spinner.

Rugby Union

After making several changes for their comfortable win over Fiji, England are set to revert to their first-choice line up for Saturday’s match with Argentina, where they are expected to face a stiffer test. Most controversially, Semesa Rokoduguni misses out after his man-of-the-match display against Fiji, with Jonny May coming back in to the team. Mike Brown is recalled at full back in place of Alex Goode.

Wales play South Africa, and should have prop Gethin Jenkins back after he missed the win over Japan with injury. South Africa suffered a shock defeat to Italy last weekend.

Ireland possibly have the toughest autumn international programme of all the home nations, and after two matches against New Zealand they now conclude their series against Australia. CJ Stander, Rob Kearney and Simon Zebo all remain doubtful for the match with various injuries.

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Latest News On Our £100 to £50'000 Challenge

It's been a short while since we mentioned our £100 to £50'000 challenge.

We are now in to Month Five having started on 6th July with £2 stakes.

We have some good news & some bad news!

First the bad news...

Due to a losing month for our tipster Value Favs (October) we lost a little of our betting bank. Our aim at the end of Month Four was to have a betting bank of £210, we unfortunately dropped below this target finishing our month with £180.64

The good news however is..
It shows that being professional by using a percentage of your betting bank can be very beneficial. Although the tipster we are following has had a losing month, we haven't lost our whole bank, indeed we never will!

At the end of Month Five our target is £250, we are likely to drop below this, but we shall make the shortfall up by continuing to use a percentage of our betting bank.

More updates will be issued over the coming months.



Tipster Street.
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WEEKEND SPORTS ROUNDUP

Football

Chelsea are the new leaders in the tightly contested Premier League title race, but they were made to work hard for a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.

Previous leaders Liverpool were held 0-0 at Southampton.

Manchester City are third, but level on points with Liverpool, and only one behind Chelsea, after finally coming through 2-1 against Crystal Palace. After appearing to be totally out of contention for a place in the team, Yaya Toure was not only recalled to the City starting line-up, but scored both of his side’s goals.

Arsenal and Manchester United are fourth and sixth respectively, after a late Olivier Giroud goal secured the Gunners a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

Fifth placed Tottenham maintained their unbeaten league record after coming from behind in the dying minutes to beat West Ham 3-2. Spurs trailed 2-1 with two minutes of normal time remaining, before a Harry Kane brace turned the match on its head.

Swansea slipped to the foot of the table, and are still to win under new manager Bob Bradley, after a late Seamus Coleman goal gave Everton a share of the points in a 1-1 draw.

Sunderland moved off the bottom after beating fellow strugglers Hull 3-0, Leicester’s domestic woes deepened as they lost 2-1 at Watford, and Bournemouth beat Stoke 1-0.

Newcastle extended their lead at the top of the Championship to five points with a 2-0 victory at Leeds. Second placed Brighton were held 1-1 by Aston Villa, but the Seagulls retain a four point cushion over third placed Reading.

Tennis

Andy Murray’s glittering year ended in fine style as he beat his great rival Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals. Brushing aside concerns that he may be jaded after both his semi-final and one of his group matches took over three hours to complete, Murray was in imperious form. In 2016 the Scot won his second Wimbledon title, won Olympic gold and ended the year with 24 straight wins and five consecutive tournament victories. Nevertheless, he still needed to win Sunday’s final to stay as world number one, ahead of Djokovic.

The older Murray brother, Jamie, and his Brazilian doubles partner Bruno Soares finished the year as the number one ranked doubles pairing. This was despite their semi-final defeat to Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. Finland's Henri Kontinen and Australian John Peers went on to beat Klaasen and Ram in the doubles final.

Cricket

England fell to a heavy defeat in the Second Test against India in Visakhapatnam. In a match where the toss appeared to be vitally important, India not surprisingly took the chance to bat first, and scored 455. England could only reply with 255, then as batting got more and more difficult, India made 204 second time around to leave England an unlikely 405 to win. After reaching 75-0, England collapsed to 158, giving India victory by 246 runs. Alastair Cook, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow all made half centuries at some stage in the match. After his first innings 53, Bairstow remained 34 not out in the second innings as the England line-up fell around him. The third Test starts on December 8 and pace bowler Stuart Broad is extremely doubtful with a foot injury.

England Women completed a 4-0 ODI series whitewash in Sri Lanka, but were very grateful that their lower order batting came good in the final match. Nat Sciver (77) and Danielle Hazell (45) led the recovery from 58-6 to 240-9 in the England innings. Sri Lanka could only manage 78 in reply, with Laura Marsh claiming figures of 4-21. Despite the retirement of Charlotte Edwards and the continued absence of experienced batsman/keeper Sarah Taylor, England managed to win all six of their international series in 2016.

Rugby Union

England enjoyed a relatively comfortable 58-15 win over Fiji, scoring nine tries in total, and racing into a 31-0 lead inside 27 minutes. Jonathan Joseph and Joe Launchbury both scored two tries, although Launchbury could be banned from the remaining autumn internationals after being cited for an alleged kick in the head.

Ireland could not repeat their heroics of two weeks previously and lost 21-9 to New Zealand in Dublin.

Wales and Scotland both sneaked narrow wins. Wales beat Japan 33-30 and Scotland beat Argentina (England’s next opponents) 19-16.

In the English Premiership, Saracens won 28-13 at Sale to remain top of the table. Second placed Bath had to overcome a spirited display from neighbours Bristol, who are still without a league win, before prevailing by a 13-6 margin.

Rugby League

Australia retained the Four Nations title after beating New Zealand 34-8 in the final.

Golf

Henrik Stenson of Sweden clinched the Race to Dubai title, but it was Britain’s Matthew Fitzpatrick who won the DP Tour Championship event in Dubai, one stroke ahead of Tyrrell Hatton.

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PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH PREVIEWS (NOV 18th – 20th)

Manchester United v Arsenal – Saturday 1230

Positions: Man Utd 6^th, Arsenal 4^th

Form (league matches only – earliest matches first):

Man Utd WDDLDW (9pts)

Arsenal WWWDWD (14pts)

• Arsenal are on a long unbeaten run across all competitions, and United have been much less consistent to say the least. However, in a home match against one of their fierce rivals, you certainly don’t expect United to roll over and die, and perhaps a draw is on the cards here. ArseArsenal full back Hector Bellerin is expected to miss four weeks of football after being injured against Tottenham two weeks ago.

Crystal Palace v Manchester City – Saturday 1500

Positions: Crystal Palace 16^th, Man City 3^rd

Form:

Crystal Palace WDLLLL (4pts)

Man City WLDDWD (11pts)

• City again failed to win, despite dominating, against Middlesbrough last time out. However Palace’s wretched run continued with a last gasp defeat to Burnley two weeks ago, and you have to fancy City here.

Everton v Swansea City – Saturday 1500

Positions: Everton 7^th, Swansea 19^th

Form:

Everton LDDLWL (5pts)

Swansea LLLDLL (1pt)

• Having made a good start, Everton now find themselves with only one win from the last six, and they were heavily beaten by Chelsea last time out. However, you still have to back the Toffees to beat Swansea, who appear to be in a very sorry state indeed right now.

Southampton v Liverpool – Saturday 1500

Positions: Southampton 10^th, Liverpool 1^st

Form:

Southampton WDWDLL (8pts)

Liverpool WWDWWW (16pts)

• After a good start, Southampton have found the going harder in their last three matches. Failing to beat Chelsea and Manchester City was no disgrace, but two weeks ago struggling Hull came away from their match with the Saints with all three points. Liverpool are of course scoring goals for fun in their rise to the top of the table, and Southampton certainly face a difficult match by any measure. However, Jurgen Klopp’s side are struggling to keep clean sheets, and Southampton have enough attacking talent to stand a chance here. Adam Lallana, injured during England’s friendly, is expected to miss this match, but a lengthy absence is not expected.

Stoke City v Bournemouth – Saturday 1500

Positions: Stoke 12^th, Bournemouth 13^th

Form:

Stoke DDWWWD (12pts)

Bournemouth WDWDLL (8pts)

• Stoke extended their unbeaten run to six in the last round of matches, while Bournemouth have suffered disappointing defeats to Middlesbrough and Sunderland in their last two matches. The Cherries are still to win away from home this season, so Stoke appear to have the edge here.

Sunderland v Hull City – Saturday 1500

Positions: Sunderland 20^th, Hull 18^th

Form:

Hull LLLLLW (3pts)

Sunderland LDLLLW (4pts)

• Both teams finally ended wretched runs of form by winning in the last round of matches, but now they face another hugely important match. Both sides will believe this is one they can win if they play to the best of their ability, but given neither side has won that often this season, perhaps a draw is the most likely result. A serious knee injury will keep Hull forward Will Keane on the sidelines for 12 months.

Watford v Leicester City – Saturday 1500

Positions: Watford 8^th, Leicester 14^th

Form:

Watford LDWDWL (8pts)

Leicester LDLWDL (5pts)

• Leicester lost their 14-month unbeaten home record last time, and now go back on the road where they have gained just a single point so far. The champions are now just two points clear of the relegation zone. Watford are sitting pretty in the top half of the table, but a key factor here might be how the Hornets respond to their 6-1 mauling by Liverpool. Again, with no compelling reasons to confidently back either side, this could be a good bet for a draw.

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United – Saturday 1730

Positions: Tottenham 5^th, West Ham 17^th

Form:

Tottenham WWDDDD (10pts)

West Ham LDWWLD (8pts)

• Despite being the league’s only unbeaten team, not everything is rosy for Tottenham right now. Their goals total is well below that of the teams above them, and it is more than a month since they scored anything other than a penalty in any competition. However, West Ham are still not firing on all cylinders, and having netted only four times in their last six league matches, will surely find scoring against Spurs’ superb defence very difficult. Tottenham may just edge a low-scoring encounter.

Middlesbrough v Chelsea – Sunday 1600

Positions: Middlesbrough 15^th, Chelsea 2^nd

Form:

Middlesbrough LDLDWD (6pts)

Chelsea LWWWWW (15pts)

• Middlesbrough may have claimed creditable results in their last two matches, but surely face an uphill battle here with Chelsea having scored 16 goals in winning all of their last five matches. If Chelsea produce anything close to their exhilarating performance against Everton two weeks ago, then ‘Boro really have their work cut out.

West Bromwich Albion v Burnley – Monday 2000

Positions: West Brom 11^th, Burnley 9^th

Form:

West Brom DDDLLW (6pts)

Burnley WLLWDW (10pts)

• West Brom gained a much needed win at Leicester in their last match, but Burnley also won to continue their excellent start to the season. However, Sean Dyche’s side have struggled on the road so far - just one point gained and one goal scored - and while West Brom have been far from excellent at home, the Baggies may start as marginal favourites.

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MIDWEEK SPORTS ROUNDUP: November 17

Football

England drew 2-2 with Spain in the friendly international at Wembley, after conceding two late goals. It had appeared that an Adam Lallana penalty and a diving header from Jamie Vardy had put them on course for an impressive victory. Officially, this now marks the end of Gareth Southgate’s four-match stint as England caretaker manager, but he is widely predicted to be offered a four-year deal by the time of England’s next match, a friendly against Germany in March.

Northern Ireland suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Croatia in another friendly, but Michael O’Neill had selected something of an experimental line-up.

A number of non-league sides are through to round two of the FA Cup after beating Football League sides in replays. Eastleigh won 3-1 away to Swindon, and James Armson scored a hat-trick for Brackley in their 4-3 extra time win over Gillingham. Solihull beat Yeovil in a penalty shoot-out. The FA Cup dreams of Westfields, from the ninth tier of English football, ended after they lost to Curzon Ashton, themselves from the sixth tier.

Manchester City Women, Britain’s sole remaining representatives in the Women’s Champions League, are through to the quarter finals. They beat Brondby 2-1 on aggregate in the round of 16 encounter, after drawing 1-1 in Denmark in the second leg.

Cricket

England were delighted to welcome back James Anderson to their team for the second Test. Now recovered from his shoulder injury, England’s all-time leading wicket taker bagged two wickets, however India were going well late on day one at 297-3. Virat Kohli was 141 not out and Cheteshwar Pujara earlier made 119.

England Women ensured series victory in their ODI series in Sri Lanka, despite missing captain Heather Knight and key pace bowler Katherine Brunt with injury for the third match. Stand-in captain Danielle Hazell took 2-24 in 10 overs as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 161, then England raced to a five-wicket win inside 30 overs. Beaumont smashed 78 from 79 deliveries with three sixes.

Tennis

Andy Murray had a routine victory over Marin Cilic in his first match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, but then found it much harder against Kei Nishikori before finally coming through in three sets – after three hours and 20 minutes - to record his 21^st straight victory. World number one Murray stands top of his group and is all but certain to make the semi-finals.

Rugby Union

England play Fiji in their second autumn international this coming Saturday. At time of writing, it was expected they would make at least three changes to the side that beat South Africa – Alex Goode for Mike Brown at full back, Semesa Rokoduguni for Marland Yarde on the wing and Nathan Hughes for Tom Wood at flanker.

After beating New Zealand in Chicago two weeks earlier, Ireland now try and repeat the feat on home turf. Meanwhile, Wales face Japan and Scotland play Argentina.

Boxing

Stephen Smith lost a unanimous points decision as he unsuccessfully challenged American Jason Sosa for the WBA world super featherweight championship.

However, another British boxer retained his world title. Jamie McDonnell was victorious in his WBA bantamweight bout with Liborio Solis of Venezuela.

WEEKEND SPORTS ROUNDUP: November 11-13

Football

Goals from Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill took England to a 3-0 win over Scotland in the Group F World Cup qualifying match. After four matches of the campaign, England are still to concede a goal. Scotland had much of the play, at least until England scored their second, but are now facing an uphill battle to qualify.

A James McClean goal gave the Republic of Ireland an excellent 1-0 win away to Austria, and they now top Group D. Wales slipped to third in the same group after only drawing 1-1 at home to Serbia.

Northern Ireland enjoyed a comfortable 4-0 win over Azerbaijan to move ahead of them, on goal difference, into second place in Group C.

Cricket

After their batting problems in Bangladesh, England can take a great deal of heart from their performance in drawing the First Test against India in Rajkot. Centuries from Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Joe Root led the way to a massive first innings score of 537. India replied with 488, then England pressed home their advantage in the second innings with an opening stand of 180. The stand was broken when Haseeb Hameed, who enjoyed an impressive debut, fell for 82, but captain Alastair Cook batted on to 130 before declaring his side’s innings at 260-3. Faced with surviving 49 overs, India had some nervy moments before batting out time at 172-6. Adil Rashid was England’s best bowler with seven wickets in the match. The Second Test starts on Thursday.

England Women took a 2-0 lead in their four-match ODI series with Sri Lanka, and in doing so secured qualification for next year’s World Cup, which will be staged in England. England complied a formidable total of 295 batting first, with half centuries for Lauren Winfield, Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver, and Sri Lanka could only reply with 173.

Motor Racing

The Formula One World Drivers’ Championship is still alive going into the final race in Abu Dhabi on November 27. Lewis Hamilton recorded his third victory in a row to win a Brazilian Grand Prix that was stopped and re-started several times due to rain. However, Hamilton’s Red Bull team-mate Nico Rosberg finished second and remains 12 points ahead in the Championship, and must still be regarded as the favourite. Hamilton would need to win in Abu Dhabi and Rosberg finish fourth or lower for the Briton to snatch the title.

Rugby Union

England recorded their first win over South Africa since 2006 with a 37-21 win at Twickenham. England have won all ten matches since Eddie Jones took over as head coach, and this latest victory saw them score 23 unanswered points in a period either side of half-time between the 34^th and 49^th minutes. Courtney Lawes, winning his 50^th cap, was one of four England try scorers. Both Lawes and his second row partner Joe Launchbury produced excellent performances, and given that neither would have been certain to play had it not been for a raft of injuries, their displays may have given Jones some selection headaches.

Maro Itoje, one of England’s injured forwards, was named breakthrough player of the year at the World Rugby awards.

As in last year’s World Cup, Scotland went down to Australia by a single point – 23-22 on this occasion.

Wales stuttered to a 24-20 win over Argentina, but after last week’s mauling by Australia, they may have been satisfied with any sort of win.

Given that the match was sandwiched between two encounters with New Zealand, it was perhaps not surprising that Ireland changed their entire starting line-up for their match with Canada. The scores were tied at 14-14 late in the first half, before Ireland pulled clear, eventually winning 52-21.

Rugby League

England lost 36-18 to Australia, thus ending their involvement in the Four Nations. England were competitive in the first half but were blown away by three unanswered Australian tries in a 12-minute period early in the second half that gave them a commanding 28-6 lead.

Scotland enjoyed one of their best days to date in international rugby league as they snatched an 18-18 draw against New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand will now contest the Four Nations final this weekend.

Tennis

Britain’s Jamie Murray and his Brazilian doubles partner Bruno Soares won their opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. The pair are seeded second in the doubles tournament. Jamie’s brother Andy starts his singles campaign at the tournament later today (Monday).

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International Previews – 11th to 15th November

(All times UK)

European World Cup Qualifying Group F – England v Scotland – Friday 1945

World rankings:

England 12, Scotland 57

Qualifying form (earliest matches first):

England WWD

Scotland WDL

• On paper, England are much stronger than Scotland, but will the fear factor play a part and limit England’s performance. Scotland are sure to be up for this one, and could maybe take at least a point. Jack Wilshere is recalled to the England quad now he has more game time under his belt after featuring regularly for Bournemouth during his loan spell. West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell and Sunderland ‘keeper Jordan Pickford are in the England squad for the first time, after injuries to Danny Drinkwater and Fraser Forster. Scotland are definitely without defenders Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney, while forward Steven Fletcher remains a doubt. Speculation is growing that defeat for Scotland could mark the end of Gordon Strachan’s time in charge of the team.

European World Cup Qualifying Group C – Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan – Friday 1945

World rankings:

N. Ireland 36, Azerbaijan 88

Qualifying form:

N. Ireland DWL

Azerbaijan WWD

• Azerbaijan have yet to concede in this qualifying group, and have a creditable draw against Czech Republic to go with their wins over San Marino and Norway. With Northern Ireland’s strength also being at the back, this could be a goalless draw, or a match settled by a single goal either way. Northern Ireland will be without the injured Stuart Dallas and Jamie Ward.

European World Cup Qualifying Group D – Austria v Ireland – Saturday 1700

World rankings:

Austria 30, Ireland 33

Qualifying form:

Austria WDL

Ireland DWW

• Ireland have made a great start to their campaign, but this is a tough away fixture and they may be content to come away with a draw. James McCarthy has been ruled out, with James McClean and John O’Shea also doubtful.

European World Cup Qualifying Group D – Wales v Serbia – Sunday 1945

World rankings:

Wales 11, Serbia 43

Qualifying form:

Wales WDD

Serbia DWW

• Wales have made a slightly disappointing start to the qualifying group, while Serbia stand top of the group. Home advantage may just give Wales the edge though. Defenders Ben Davies and James Collins will both miss the match due to injury.

Friendly – Italy v Germany – Tuesday 1945

World rankings:

Italy 13, Germany 2

• Italy are not enjoying one of their ‘golden ages’ right now, and are maybe something of a team in transition. However, they could fancy their chances here, especially if Germany rotate their squad.

Friendly – Northern Ireland v Croatia – Tuesday 1945

World rankings:

N. Ireland 36, Croatia 16

• The extent of Northern Ireland’s recent resurgence will be sorely tested by a strong Croatia side.

Friendly – England v Spain – Tuesday 2000

World rankings:

England 12, Spain 10

• This is a tough match for England by any measure. However, Spain are not quite the fearsome side they were a few years back, and England may fancy their chances. England may well play to win here as well, instead of making the multiple substitutions often associated with friendly internationals. As things stand, this will be the last match of Gareth Southgate’s spell as England caretaker manager.

Tipster Street.

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