Showing posts with label Stoke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stoke. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 August 2012

EPL Super Sunday LIVE Commentary:



Hello and welcome to my EPL Super Sunday LIVE Commentary, with 2 EPL matches this Sunday for you.

But first, here is yesterday's evening result between Chelsea and Newcastle.

Chelsea 2 Newcastle 0 

Chelsea stayed at the top of the table after beating top 4 contenders Newcastle by 2 goals to nil.

Chelsea's new signings Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses were both unveiled before the match at Stamford Bridge.

Defender Cesar Azpilicueta and winger Victor Moses hold up the Chelsea shirt at Stamford Bridge.

Eden Hazard scored his first Chelsea goal from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute, after Torres was fouled by £5million signing Vurnon Anita inside the box.

First Chelsea goal: Winger Eden Hazard scores a penalty for his new club against Newcastle.


Fernando Torres made it 2-0 in the 45th minute after link-up play with Hazard found him in space before hitting the ball from outside the box into the top corner.



Today's Matches:


Stoke City vs Arsenal - LIVE at 13:30pm
Manchester City vs Liverpool - LIVE at 15:30pm

Stoke vs Arsenal:

Team Line-ups:

Stoke:
Begovic, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Pennant, Cameron, Whelan, Kightly, Walters, Crouch.
Subs: Sorensen, Shotton, Upson, Delap, Palacios, Jerome, Jones.

Arsenal:
Mannone, Mertesacker, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Cazorla, Diaby, Gervinho, Podolski, Cazorla.
Subs: Martinez, Djourou, Santos, Chamberlain, Coquelin, Ramsey, Walcott.


Reserve goalkeeper Vito Mannone starts his first Arsenal match for 3 years as Szczesny is out with a bruised rib.  
Walcott, Ramsey and Chamberlain are all on the subs bench.


Stoke City vs Arsenal - LIVE Commentary:

13:30:
The Stoke vs Arsenal match has begun at The Britannia.

1: Arsenal start with their Purple and Black kit against Stoke with red and white.

3: Stoke are trying to cause trouble with a long throw, but Arsenal clear the danger away.

4: Arsenal are trying to keep possession and pass well, but Stoke are closing them down well.

6: Crouch heads the ball towards striker Jonathan Walters inside the 6-yard box before he takes a shot towards goal and scores!

Ruled out: Stoke striker Jonathan Walters celebrates his goal against Arsenal, before realising that he was offside.

GOALLLL!

OFFSIDE 
He strayed offside

8: Podolski has a shot outside the 6 yard box, but defender Wilkinson blocks the ball for a corner after slipping on the floor. 

13: Arsenal pass well with nice build-up play inside the Stoke half but Giroud's cross is too powerful and hits the corner flag before going out of play for a Stoke goal-kick.

15: Podolski runs with the ball at his feet towards the box before getting bodychecked by Stoke defender Robert Huth from 20 yards out.
Free-kick to Arsenal and Huth gets a yellow card for the challenge. 

17: Santi Cazorla takes the free-kick low but the ball hits the Stoke defensive wall before Cazorla's rebound is wide of the goal.

18: 1st half possession:
Stoke - 31%, Arsenal - 69%

19: Arsenal pressing for an opening goal with Diaby and Gibbs linking up well before Gibbs' cross into the box just misses Gervinho.

20: Stoke try and go on the counter attack but Walters is tackled well by Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs.

25: Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has a shot but it does not trouble the goalkeeper, and goes over the bar.

26: Midfielder Abou Diaby finds Olivier Giroud with a nice through ball, but Giroud's attempted pass to Gervinho on the wing is snuffed out.

27: Cazorla is a younger version of Xavi and Iniesta. 
He likes the ball at his feet, can pass well and is very creative.

28: Stoke counter with Walters finding new signing Michael Kightly who unleashes a shot from 25 yards out.... SAVED and HELD by goalkeeper Vito Mannone.

30: Cazorla is caught by defender Marc Wilson. Arsenal free-kick towards Cazorla who has a low shot towards goal, but it is wide of the goal again.

33: Gervinho who passes to Arteta who gets tackled onto the floor with a lunging tackle by Whelan. Cazorla has a shot from 25 yards out which is higher than before, and it is swervin towards goal... PARRIED by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

34: Arsenal corner taken by Cazorla but nothing comes of it.

36: Stoke supporters are chanting: ' Same old Arsenal, always cheating'

37: Stoke try and worry Arsenal with a long throw, but goalkeeper Vito Mannone holds the ball in his arms.

38: Arsenal forward Gervinho wastes a chance down the wing, by losing the ball and letting it go out for a Stoke goal-kick instead of crossing the ball into the box.

45: The fourth official (AKA the best English referee Howard Webb) has signalled for 1 minute to be added on at the end of this first half.

Arsenal have a corner with Gervinho switching wings to give Wilkinson problems.

45+1: The referee blows the whistle to end the first half at The Britannia Stadium.

Arsenal have played well in the first half with Santi Cazorla, Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta all passing and linking together up well.
If only wingers Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain come on and trouble Stoke's defence a bit than Giroud and Gervinho had been doing then Then Gunners should win the match.
Stoke will look for the one goal, possibly with Crouch or Walters and then 'park the bus' which will frustrate Arsenal.

14:31:

The second half has kicked off at The Britannia Stadium.

Stoke 0 Arsenal 0

There are no substitutions for either side as of yet.

46: Arsenal playing a patient passing build-up play style and it looks like Stoke will get frustrated with this.

51: Cameras show that Arsenal forward Theo Walcott is warming up on the touchline, ready to come on soon... 

53: A Stoke corner is cleared away by the Arsenal defence.

55: Crouch has given away an Arsenal free-kick after hitting Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker on his head while trying to balance and win the ball at the same time.

Two giants in Crouch and Mertesacker matching each other.

57: Gibbs is robbed by Stoke winger Jermaine Pennant, who he does not see behind him. Pennant and Gibbs tussle for the ball on the wing before Pennant falls down inside the penalty box.....
The referee walks away from the scene and says no penalty.

Pennant and the Stoke fans are screaming for a penalty, but repalys shwo that it was a 50-50 challenge and Gibbs did not foul himand there was not enough contact for a penalty.

59: Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski out-muscles a Stoke defender before crosing the ball into the box.... goalkeeper Asmir Begovic holds the ball comfortably. 

61: A Podolski cross tries to find Giroud, but the defender clears the ball out for a corner.

64: Wilkinson tackles Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen and is late..... Yellow card given to the Stoke man. 
Reckless challenge by Andy Wilkinson and he is lucky not to be sent off.

66: Stoke SUB:
Jermaine Pennant OFF
Cameron Jerome ON

72: Arsenal SUB:
Lukas Podolski OFF
Gervinho OFF
Theo Walcott ON
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ON

Injection of pace for Arsenal with Walcott and AOC coming on with just over 15 minutes to go.

76: Stoke are pressing for a goal here now, with Crouch making deadly crosses into the box.

78: Stoke SUB:
Peter Crouch OFF
Ryan Shotton ON

79: Arsenal free-kick taken by goalkeeper Vito Mannone with Shotton moving into the right side of midfield for Stoke. 

80: If Stoke go on to win the match here, that would be cruel for Arsenal fans.
Meanwhile Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud is in a heap on the pitch after being kicked in the head by Stoke defender Robert Huth 

81: Stoke SUB:
Glenn Whelan OFF
Wilson Palacios ON

Arsenal SUB:
Santi Cazorla OFF

Aaron Ramsey ON

Arsenal's bright spark in this match comes off for Ramsey, who broke his leg here a copule of season ago after a challenge by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross who just happens to be on the pitch for Stoke...

 

85: 
BREAKING NEWS:

Manchester City vs Liverpool:

Team Line-ups:


Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Coates, Skretel, Johnson, Lucas, Gerrarad, Allen, Borini, Suarez, Sterling.
Subs: Jones, Enrique, Carragher, Henderson, Shelvey, Downing, Carroll.


Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, K Toure, Kompany, Kolarov, Nasri, Barry, De Jong, Milner, Y Toure, Tevez, Balotelli.
Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Savic, Rodwell, Razak, Silva, Dzeko.

88: Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has an ambitious shot as he sees goalkeeper Asmir Begovic off his line..
The ball goes over goalkeeper Begovic's head, but goes over the bar as well.
He could have passed the ball because he had a man free in space ahead of him who was onside, but he tried the spectacular at 0-0 with 88 minutes gone.
No comment.

90: Howard Webb signals for 3 minutes of stoppage time to be added on.

90+3: The referee has blown the whistle at the end of the match.

Stoke 0 Arsenal 0

Arsenal will feel hard done by because they could not finish their chances, despite having all of the possession and passing well.

Stoke will be the happier of the two teams, knowing that Arsenal pressed them throughout the match and could not even score.

My Man Of The Match:
Arsenal winger Santi Cazorla:

He was electric throughout the match, played well, passed well and created chances.
He will hope that he can start scoring soon.

Closed down: Arsenal winger Santi Cazorla is closed down well by Glenn Whelan and George Cameron.



Liverpool vs Manchester City - LIVE Commentary:

15:45:
17-year-old winger Raheem Sterling has been given a start for Liverpool ahead of Stewart Downing, while Manchester City winger David Silva starts from the bench along with striker Edin Dzeko. 

15:56:
Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard and Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany lead their respective clubs out.

4-2-3-1 formation for Liverpool with Sterling, Borini and Gerrard all behind Luis Suarez in attack.

3-5-2 formation for Manchester City with Kolarov and Milner the wing backs. Nasri is just behind Tevez and Baloteli.

16:00:

0: The referee, Andre Marriner has blown the whistle to start the match at Anfield.

0: Steven Gerrard takes a shot from 30 yards out, but it is wide of the goal.

2: Good atmosphere at Anfield, as Liverpool try and hold the ball up anmd pass well not giving City any possession.

3: Full-back Glen Johnson giving the Manchester City defence trouble earlier on with a darting run.

4: Liverpool SUB:
Lucas OFF (injury)
Jonjo Shelvey ON

Lucas is limping off the pitch, clutching his injury plagued knee and looks in pain. Does not look good for him, and it is sad that he is not able to continue.

5: 17-year-old Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling looks great, despite having only a few touches of the ball.
Looks fearless, and is running at the Manchester City defence with pace.

7: Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel outmuscles Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli for the ball and wins a throw-in for his team.

8: Balotelli looks for the foul after sticking tight to defender Martin Skrtel before getting tackled onto the floor. Free-kick to Manchester City from 30 yards out.

Manchester City full-back Kolarov takes the free-kick towards goal.... SAVE by Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina.


10: Sterling is certainly giving Manchester City something to think about down the wing, passes to Borini but Kolarov intercepts and clears the ball away from danger after putting the ball through Borini's legs skillfully and running past him.

17: Nice skill by Sterling on the wing, before crossing the ball into the box for striker Fabio Borini who hits the ball, but it is wide of the goal. Should have scored then...

19: Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez brings the ball around goalkeeper Pepe Reina before hitting the ball across goal... 
Defender Martin Kelly tries to clear with his head but he misses... The ball trickles towards goal...

HITS THE POST!
If only there was someone on the other side of the post City who have scored!

22: 
Match possession:
Liverpool - 39%, Manchester City - 61%

31: Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has the ball at his feet, before working some space and unleashing a shot towards goal... OVER THE BAR!!
Waste of a shot, after he found space to take the shot.

33: Liverpool full-back Martin Kelly crosses the ball into the box, before the ball takes a deflection from Manchester City defender and captain Vincent Kompany over the bar.

34: Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard steps up to take the corner, and whips it into the box..... defender Martin Skrtel runs at the ball.... before unleashing a deadly header towards goal.... GOALLLLLL!!!!!!!

Unstoppable: Martin Skrtel beats Pablo Zabaleta and Kolarov in the air before unleashing a header past Joe Hart.


Deadlock broken: Martin Skrtel celebrates his bullet header against Manchester City in the 34th minute at Anfield.
Champions shocked: Manchester City players react to conceding against Liverpool in the first half at Anfield.

Skrtel breaks the deadlock for Liverpool at the Kop End.
1-0 ahead against the defending EPL Champions.

45: The fourth official has signalled for 1 minute of added time.
45+1: Sterling clips Balotelli along the wing, and City have a free-kick in a dangerous position now.

45+2: The City free-kick was wasted, and now it is half-time.

Liverpool lead 1-0 after a bullet header by Skrtel.
Carlos Tevez and co will feel disappointed that they are not in the lead, because Tevez hit the post, and the City defence will feel that if they had tightened up at the back for the corner, they would not be trailing.

Expect late drama in the second half, because Manchester City will not take a loss unless they fight till the death.  

17:00:

45: The second half has begun at Anfield. 
Liverpool lead by a goal to nil thanks to Martin Skrtel. 
No subsitutions from either side at the moment.

53: Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is limping on the pitch after picking up a knock.

59: Cameras show that Manchester City's £15million signing Jack Rodwell is warming up and getting ready to come on soon.

61: Manchester City SUB:
Mario Balotelli OFF
Samir Nasri OFF
Edin Dzeko ON
Jack Rodwell ON 

64: Tevez crosses the ball into the box for Manchester City, before the ball ricochets off Liverpool defender Martin Kelly past goalkeeper Pepe Reina (who comes out of goal to try and punch the ball away), straight to Yaya Toure who shoots into an empty net.

Easy from there: Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure shoots from 6 yards out to score against Liverpool.


1-1, and Toure has equalised for City.

66: Liverpool SUB:
Martin Kelly OFF
Jose Enrique ON

66: Liverpool have a free-kick here from 30 yards out. Striker Luis Suarez steps up to take it before htting towards goal with a curling and swerving effort...

Suarez curls the ball past the Manchester City wall.... GOAL!!!!
What a free-kick by Suarez Liverpool have gone back into the lead now!


76: Manchester City SUB: 
James Milner OFF
David Silva ON


80: Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel is closed down well by the Manchester City defenders, so turns around and looks to pass to Reina....

The pass is weak but strong enough to find City striker Carlos Tevez lurking behind him who goes round Reina before tapping the ball into the empty net.

100th English goal: City striker Carlos Tevez takes advantage of a Skrtel mistake to equalise in the 80th minute.
Equaliser: Tevez takes off his shirt to reveal a message to the fans in a foreign language.
GOALLLLLLL!!!!

2-2 and Tevez has scored his 100th goal in English football.

82: Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has a shot from 20 yards out, but the shot just rises over the top of the bar as it flies over.  

83: Liverpool SUB:
Fabio Borini OFF
Andy Carroll ON 

86: Manchester City break with Kolarov finding striker Edin Dzeko with a through ball into the box. He hits the ball... OVER!!
Dzeko should have hit the target there...

90: The fourth official has signalled for 4 minutes of stoppage time to be added on at Anfield in the tense match where both sides are looking for a late winner.

90+2: Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson has a shot comfortably saved and held by Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart.

90+3: Suarez passes the ball straight to Joe Allen who unleashes a shot from 25 yards out.... OVER THE BAR!!
The shot was not controlled and that will be the last attack of the match...

90+4: The referee has blown the whistle to end the match at Anfield.

FULL-TIME SCORE:

Liverpool 2 Manchester City 2 

This epic match was ended, with City the happier of the two sides. Despite failing to mark well at the corner, they at least won a point against Liverpool - who should have ended the match with all of their shooting chances and won comfortably in the end.

Liverpool will be disapointed with conceding two sloppy goals but thankful that they were not punished as badly as Southampton were last Sunday.

Friday, 16 March 2012

UEFA Champions League and Europa League Round-Up, FA Cup 6th Round + 4 EPL Match Previews:


UEFA Champions League and Europa League Last 16, Second Legs Round Up:


Champions League Last 16, Second Leg Action:

Tuesday:
 
Inter Milan 2 Marseille 1 (Aggregate 2-2, Marseille go through on away goals)
Milito 75'           Brandao 90+2'
Pazzini 90+6'


Bayern Munich 7 Basel 0 (Aggregate 7-1)
Robben 11', 81'
Muller 42'
Gomez 44', 50', 61'


Bayern Munich celebrate their 7-0 thrashing of FC Basel, to move into the Last 8 of the Champions League.
 

Wednesday:

Real Madrid 4 CSKA Moscow 1 (Aggregate 5-1)
'Higuain 26'                      'Tosic 77'
'Ronaldo 55, 90+4'  
'Benzema 70'  
Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate their 5-2 win over CSKA Moscow, putting themselves into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League.



Chelsea 3 Napoli 1 (Aggregate 4-4) (AET 5-4)
This match was played at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea hosted Napoli in a do or die matchup for The Blues if they wanted to qualify for the Last 8 of the CL (after a 3-1 loss in the first leg in Naples).
Striker Didier Drogba opened the scoring after 28 minutes, after midfielder Ramires' cross was headered past the goalkeeper into the net.

Striker Didier Drogba heads Chelsea ahead against Napoli in the 28th minute at Stamford Bridge.

Napoli conceded a silly corner in the 47th minute, in which winger Juan Mata's cross was quickly converted with a powerful header by John Terry to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead on the night, and level the aggregate score.

Defender John Terry doubles Chelsea's lead against Napoli in the 48th minute with a powerful header.


Midfielder Goklan Inler halved Chelsea's advantage with a sweet striker from 30 yards out in the 55th minute.
Frank Lampard made it 3-1 to the hosts after he scored a penalty in the 75th minute to take the match to extra time.
Every player was tired and defender Branislav Ivanovic ended the match with a clinical shot from 12 yards out.
UEFA Champions League Last 8 Draw:

APOEL vs Real Madrid
Benfica vs Chelsea
Marseille vs Bayern Munich
AC Milan vs Barcelona

First leg ties to be played on the 27th/28th of March, second legs on the 3rd/4th of April.





Europa League Action (EPL Teams mainly):

Thursday:

Athletic Bilbao 2 Manchester United 1 (Aggregate 5-3)
Manchester United had to overturn a 1 goal aggregate lead and ensure that Bilbao did not score more than once, to keep their Europa League dreams alive.
Watch highlights here:


Sorry about the foreign commentary...

Manchester City 3 Sporting Lisbon 2 (Aggregate 3-3, Sporting win on away goals)
This match was played at The Ethiad Stadium, as Manchester City hosted Sporting Lisbon in a must-win match if they wanted
to continue in the Europa League.
Sergio Aguero (2) and a Mario Balotelli penalty was not enough for City to qualify for the Last 8 of the Europa League.
Fernandez and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel both scored for the visitors in the first half.



UEFA Europa League Last 8 Draw:
(Just for the record)

AZ vs Valencia
Schalke 4 vs Athletic Bilbao
Sporting Lisbon vs Metalist Kharkiv
Athletico Madrid vs Hannover 96

First legs: 29th of March, second legs on the 5th of April.




FA Cup 6th Round Previews:


Saturday:

Everton vs Sunderland: LIVE at 12:45pm
This match will be played at Goodison Park as Everton look to move into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2009, against a tough Sunderland side who have been under-rated so far this season and beat Arsenal 2-0 in the Fifth round to get here.
Everton playmaker Steven Pienaar is cup-tied for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Sunderland at Goodison Park.
Central midfielder Darron Gibson is also unlikely to return to action from a knee injury.
Manager David Moyes is expected to rotate his squad after making six changes for the midweek defeat at Liverpool - which included first starts in two months for defender Phil Jagielka and midfielder Jack Rodwell - but today reported "a couple of niggling injuries" to unnamed players.
Striker Nicklas Bendtner is expected to be fit for Sunderland.
The Denmark international left the field on a stretcher with a knee problem during the closing stages of last weekend's 1-0 Barclays Premier League win over Liverpool, but has made a rapid recovery.
However, full-back Kieran Richardson is losing his battle to recover from a calf problem in time and Wayne Bridge could continue, while suspended pair Lee Cattermole and Stephane Sessegnon and injured duo Wes Brown (knee) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/calf) remain on the sidelines.


It could have the makings of a replay, or a heated and close match.
Most pundits would expect Everton to prevail in whichever sort of fashion as Sunderland have not beaten them IN ANY COMPETITION since the 22nd of December 2001. 


Tottenham Hotspur vs Bolton Wanderers: LIVE at 17:30pm

This match will come from White Hart Lane as an out-of-form Spurs side host a Bolton side who they will look to as an easy team to get back to winning ways in the race for the Champions League in the EPL.

Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor is a doubt for tomorrow's match due to a hamstring injury.
Winger Aaron Lennon remains sidelined with a hamstring problem while Ledley King (knee) will have a fitness test today.
Defender William Gallas could make his first appearance since January after recovering from a calf problem, but defender Michael Dawson (ankle), goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes (knee), and midfielder Tom Huddlestone (ankle) are all out.

Midfielder Chris Eagles is a doubt for Bolton. He suffered a hamstring injury last weekend after coming on as substitute in the 2-1 victory over QPR.
England Under-21 striker Marvin Sordell is cup-tied due to his involvement with Watford, but Spanish defender Marcos Alonso is in contention for his first game in three months after coming through two reserves games unscathed.

Spurs will be very surprised if they do not beat Bolton, but do not underestimate The Trotters, who got to the FA Cup semi-final last season.


Sunday:

Chelsea vs Leicester City: LIVE at 14:05pm
This match will be played at Stamford Bridge as Roberto Di Matteo will be looking for his fourth win in a row as a 4-1 win against Napoli on Wednesday, but they host Championship side Leicester who will certainly be under-dogs in the race for a place in the semi-finals.
Di Matteo is confident that defenders John Terry and David Luiz will be fit to play against The Foxes on Sunday.
Blues captain Terry failed to finish Wednesday night's Champions League triumph over Napoli, while centre-back partner Luiz was limping badly afterwards with an ankle injury.
Di Matteo looks set to make changes after many players completed 120 minutes in midweek, while midfielder Raul Meireles is available after suspension.
Former Liverpool defender Paul Konchesky will return for Leicester, after serving a three-match suspension after his was sent off at the start of the month against Coventry.
Fellow defender Matt Mills, midfielder Ben Marshall and strikers Steve Howard and Jeff Schlupp are also pushing for recalls.
Midfielder Danny Drinkwater, back-up goalkeeper Conrad Logan and teenage defender Liam Moore are all cup-tied.

Liverpool vs Stoke City: LIVE at 16:00pm
The most interesting FA Cup match-up this weekend will come from Anfield as Liverpool host Stoke City in a match between two teams who have been having a rivalry lately.

Winger Craig Bellamy could return to the Liverpool squad for Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Stoke having missed the midweek Merseyside 3-0 derby victory.
Full-back Glen Johnson is still not match-fit having not played the last three matches while centre-back Daniel Agger remains sidelined with a cracked rib.
Stoke will be without suspended striker Ricardo Fuller.
The Jamaican serves the first of a three-match ban following his sending-off against Chelsea last weekend for a naughty stamp on defender Branislav Ivanovic.
Potters boss Tony Pulis has already confirmed goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen will get his chance in between the sticks after losing the number one spot to Asmir Begovic last month while striker Peter Crouch, rested against Chelsea, will also return.

4 EPL Match Previews:
This is a snippet of Round 30 of this season's EPL.
Manchester United will hope to bounce back (and move 4 points clear of rivals City) from their midweek defeat to Athletic Bilbao by beating Wolves on Sunday.
Fulham will look to extend their good form of late with a win over Swansea City, while Newcastle and Wigan will both be desperate to win to help themselves for Europe and avoiding relegation (respectively) 



Saturday:
 
Fulham vs Swansea City: LIVE at 15:00pm

This match will be played at Craven Cottage as 10th placed Fulham host 11th placed Swansea in an interesting match between two mid-table teams. 
Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell has suffered an injury setback that looks likely to rule him out for a further four weeks.
He was close to a return to first-team action but has had to have another operation on a hernia injury, putting his rehabilitation back and ruling him out of tomorrow's match against Swansea.
Midfielder Aaron Hughes returns to the squad after missing last weekend's match against Aston Villa with a calf complaint, while Zdenek Grygera is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Striker Orlando Sa is out for at least three or four weeks with a hamstring injury.
Swansea have no fresh injury concerns.
Swansea winger Nathan Dyer will be out through a red-card suspension against Stoke City.
Andrea Orlandi is back in training after a hamstring tear, while Kemy Agustien is likely to miss the rest of the season after ankle surgery.

Fulham will be gunning for the win against Swansea, but it will not necessarily be easy..
They need Clint Dempsey and Pavel Pogbrenyak on top form if they want to win tomorrow.

Wigan Athletic vs West Bromwich Albion: LIVE at 15:00pm
This match will be played at DW Stadium as bottom side Wigan host 14th placed West Brom. There are 14 points between the sides.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is waiting on the fitness of striker Hugo Rodallega and midfielder Albert Crusat ahead of tomorrow match against WBA.
Rodallega picked up a knock to his knee during last weekend's 1-1 draw against Norwich while Crusat injured a toe in training.
Goalkeeper Michael Pollitt is estimated to be 10 days away from a return after suffering a shoulder injury and midfielder David Jones is still sidelined with a knee problem.

West Brom centre-back Jonas Olsson is suspended after his sending off against Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend.
Defenders Craig Dawson and Gabriel Tamas will want to partner Gareth McAuley in the cenre of the defence. Right-back Billy Jones is also available again after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Striker Peter Odemwingie is unavailable (10% of playing) because of a calf problem. Shane Long, Somen Tchoyi and Simon Cox are all in contention to replace the Nigerian international.
Winger Jerome Thomas has shaken off his recent hamstring injury while midfielder Keith Andrews (knee) should be fit despite missing training during the early part of the week.

West Brom wil look to move comfortably past bottom placed Wigan, even without star player Peter Odemwingie.


Sunday:

Wolves vs Manchester United: LIVE at 13:30pm
This match will be played at Molienuex as under-fire Wolves host 1st placed Manchester United who are serious EPL title contenders, with only 9 matches left to play this season.
Manchester United will hope key striker Wayne Rooney shrugs off the knock he suffered during yesterday's Europa League defeat in Spain in time to face Wolves on Sunday. 
Paul Scholes is set to return in midfield against the home side, whilst defender Phil Jones hopes to shrug off a flu bug.
Wolves caretaker manager Terry Connor has no fresh injury problems.
Midfielder Karl Henry is the only player sidelined and he hopes to return from his hamstring injury.

FACT: Wolves have conceded 9 goals in 3 matches since captain Roger Johnson was dropped by caretaker manager Terry Connor.
Leaky, dangerous choice by Mr. Connor....

Newcastle United vs Norwich City: LIVE at 16:00pm
This match will be played at The Sports Direct Arena as 6th placed Newcastle host 12th placed Norwich.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is worried about the fitness of key duo Cheick Tiote and Danny Simpson ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Norwich.
Midfielder Tiote picked up a hamstring problem on Monday during the 2-1 defeat against Arsenal, while full-back Simpson suffered an adductor strain in the same game.
Apart from that, Newcastle have no new injury concerns, although striker Peter Lovenkrands (thigh) and fellow long-term absentees Leon Best, Sammy Ameobi (both knee), Steven Taylor (Achilles) and Sylvain Marveaux (groin) are ALL still missing.
Norwich expect to have midfielder Jonny Howson available again after an illness.
Defenders Daniel Ayala (hamstring) and Marc Tierney (groin) are still recovering to full match fitness.
Striker James Vaughan (hamstring) is another still not available for first-team selection.
Newcastle will be disappointed if they do not win on Sunday against a high-and-low Norwich side.
Having said this, The Canaries are very un-predictable and can take a result from anywhere...

Demba Ba, Jonas and Papiss Demba Cisse's partnership will be key for the hosts.

 
Thanks for reading my EPL Blog.
Pease continue to support me by following this blog and viewing frequently which you are doing very well.
This means a lot to me as it inspires me to put more work, time and effort towards this blog!
I will see all of you tomorrow.

Friday, 17 February 2012

UEFA Europa League Last 32 Coverage:



UEFA Europa League Last 32 First Leg:

Tuesday's Results:

Rubin Kasan 0 Olympiakos 1
Fuster 71'
Braga 0 Besiktas 2
Sivok 37'
Simao 58'

Today's (main) Fixtures:

Live from 18:00pm (unless stated):

Lokomotiv Moscow vs Athletic Bilbao
Ajax vs Manchester United
United face a tough test against Dutch opposition in Amsterdam. 
Defender Rio Ferdinand will captain United in their last-32 first-leg tie as full-back Patrice Evra is rested following an 'emotional week'.
Ryan Giggs (ankle) misses out along with striker Dimitar Berbatov, who was injured in training on Tuesday. 
Winger Nani (foot) and defender Phil Jones (ankle) return after missing the last four matches.
Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley are also in the 20-man squad.
Danger man: Ashley Young to give Ajax problems with his pace and creativity.


AZ Alkmaar vs Anderlecht
Lazio vs Atletico Madrid 
Legia Warsaw vs Sporting Lisbon
Viktoria Plzen vs Schalke 04
FC Porto vs Manchester City: LIVE at 20:05pm
City welcome back midfielder Yaya Toure and defender Kolo Toure against Porto tonight.
They are back from African Cup of Nations duty were they came 2nd.
Striker Mario Balotelli is also in contention after serving a domestic suspension but fellow striker Carlos Tevez who is back in training after his absence in Argentina has not been registered.
Danger man: Vincent Kompany to defend City's back-line against players like Hulk and Moutinho which he has done successfully since the start fo the season.

Stoke City vs Valencia: LIVE at 20:05pm
Stoke will be without defender Matthew Upson as he was sent off in their final group stage match against Besiktas in December and has to serve a one-match suspension.

Centre-back Robert Huth is available along with Jonathan Woodgate and Danny Collins are now eligible to play.

Danger men: Jermaine Pennant and Ryan Shotton with the pace down the wings to give Valencia's back four trouble thoroughout.


Udinese vs PAOK Salonki: LIVE at 20:05pm




Results and Analysis link here:

http://www.footballblogdirectory.co.uk/2012/02/manchester-clubs-1-stoke-0.html