EPL Previews and Weekend Fixtures

31 October 2009

Arsenal v Tottenham

Bolton v Chelsea

Burnley v Hull

Everton v Aston Villa

Fulham v Liverpool

Man Utd v Blackburn

Portsmouth v Wigan

Stoke v Wolverhampton

Sunderland v West Ham

 

01 November 2009

Birmingham v Man City

 

 

The London derby is the one that everyone's been talking about. Third and Fourth Place clash this weekend. Arsenal have been in superb form. They play exciting football, and having just knocked Liverpool out of the League Cup, their confidence is growing. After lasts weeks fiasco against the Hammers of having let a 2 goal lead slip to a draw, Arsenal will not want to drop furthur points. Tottenham don't have the best record against their London rivals, they haven't beaten Arsenal in the League in 10 years! Given that this match is at the Emirates, I'd have to go with Arsenal for the win. Arsenal: Almunia is set to return after in favour keeper Fabianski sustained an injury midweek. Rosicky, Walcott and Denilson are all still recovering.  Tottenaham: Lennon is out injured and so is Giovani dos Santos, so Bently is likely to be given a start. Woodgate is still doubtful for the match, but if fit will surely be started. Defoe is out still serving his 3 match ban for his red against Portsmouth.

 

Chelsea and Bolton met midweek in the Carling Cup, Bolton were swept aside 4-0. Chelsea's good form have been supplemented by good fortune, Joe Cole is off the recovery table and John Terry, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole; who were all rested midweek, will be recalled.

 

Manchester United host Blackburn Rovers. News is that Ferdinand, Giggs and Vidic are all injured. While Fletcher and Park are still sidelined. With Gary Neville suspended for three games, the Rovers will do well to exploit a weakend United defence.

 

Liverpool's battle with injuries continue. Captain Steven Gerrard will not feature against Fulham as he has still not recovered from groin injury. Glen Johnson may have to also sit this one out as he has had a minor calf injury. Mascherano is back after serving his one game ban against Arsenal (for the double yelllow he picked up against United). While Aquilani is likely to be a sub, hopefully he'll get game. He looked pretty promising in his 15 minutes against Arsenal. Torres is also doubtful for the match and is likely to be benched. Liverpool will look to build on their win over United last weekend, after what one can only describe as an abysmal start to the season. They are 6 points adrift of leaders Chelsea, Rafa's Reds cannot afford anymore slip ups.YNWA

FIFA World Player of the Year 2009 nominees announced!

FIFA today released their shortlist for the FIFA World Footballer of the Year 2009. The List is as follows for men:

Michael Ballack (Germany)

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Iker Casillas (Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Diego (Brazil)
Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire)
Michael Essien (Ghana)

Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)

Steven Gerrard (England)
Thierry Henry (France)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Andrés Iniesta (Spain)
Kaká (Brazil)
Frank Lampard (England)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Carles Puyol (Spain)

Franck Ribéry (France)

Wayne Rooney (England)
John Terry (England)
Fernando Torres (Spain)
David Villa (Spain)
Xavi (Spain).

FIFA Womens's award nominees are:

Nadine Angerer (Germany), Sonia Bompastor (France), Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Simone Laudehr (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Abby Wambach (USA).

Last years top 5 (L-R): Xavi, Torres, Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka

La Liga Fixtures : Week 9

La Liga is now in week 9. After the midweek break for Copa del Rey, many teams will be looking forward to getting back to work in the League.

31 October 2009

Real Madrid - Getafe

Xerez - Sevilla

Osasuna - Barcelona

Athletic Bilbao - Atletico Madrid

01 November 2009

Mallorca - Racing

Villarreal - Tenerife

Espanyol - Valladolid

Zaragoza - Almeria

Malaga - Valencia

Deportivo - Sporting de Gijon

Pep Guardiola's men wil look to continue their domination at the top of the Primera Division. After what looked like their reserve side comfortbly overcame Cultural mid week in the Copa del Rey, the team immediately got back to work. Word has it that after returning from Leon on Thirsday morning, Guardiola had his squad taken to their training ground staright from the airport! Good news is that Henry is nearing fitness and may be included in the squad for this weekend. I am looking forward to his return, he hasn't scored for Barca since March. Hopefully he will  return to his best!

Real Madrid's woes continue. CR9 is not likely to be fit for this weekend. After thier midweek humilation against the third tier side Alcorcon, fingers have been pointed to coach Manuel Pellegrini. Many say that if he can't pull Madrid out of this, his job is up for grabs. The truth is that the Real Madrid team are in fact, not a team. They rely on CR9 too much and don't gell very well. However, this weekend's home match against Getafe is their's for the taking.

Los Che have finally gotten their start-stop kick off to the season under way. After drawing to Barca they swept aside Almeria. They seem to have finally gained some momentum in their quest for a European Spot. They were delivered a blow after recieving news that star man David Villa will be banned for 2 of their EUROPA Cup matches. Also constant interest and speculation about their players futures seem to dominate the headlines. Hopefullt they can put all this aside and continue to challenge Madrid and Barca.

TOP GOAL SCORERS

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barca)        7

David Villa (Valencia)               7

Pandiani (Osasuna)                   6

Lionel Messi (Barca)                 6

C. Ronaldo (Real Mardid)         5

Player Watch: Karim Benzema

Name: Karim Benzema

D.O.B: 19 December 1987

Position: Striker

Honours:

2004: UEFA European U-17 Football Championship (France U-17)

04/05; 05/06; 06/07; 07/08 – Ligue 1 (with Lyon)

2006 & 2007: Trophèe des Champions (with Lyon)

2007: Peace Cup (with Lyon)

2008: Coup de France (with Lyon)

2007-2008: Ligue 1 Top Scorer

2007-2008: Ligue 1 Player of the year

2007-2008: Ligue 1 Team of the Year

January 2008: UNFP Player of the month

2008: Bravo Award

Benzema recently became one of the Galacticos, after Real Madrid signed him from Lyon over the summer for €35 million. The Frenchman is tipped to become one of Real Madrid’s brightest stars. He will however, have to fight for the spotlight, as fellow Galacticos Kakà and Ronaldo are quite well known themselves;-)

Born and raised in Lyon, Benzema was part of the Olympique Lyonnais Academy. During his academy days, he was sought after far and wide by many a club. He eventually made his first team debut for Lyon in 2005 and signed his first professional contract with the club. In 2007 Benzema was given the no. 10 shirt and responsibility of lone striker.

Benzema played in all of the French youth team, from the U-16 category onwards. He was part of theU-17 squad that won the European Football Championship for that age group. In March 2007, Benzema made his international debut for France. He was eligible to play for Algeria, the country of his parents, but chose the French national team.

With four Ligue 1 titles under his belt, Benzema looked for a new challenge. Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal were options, all willing to part with their cash for the services of this youngster. However, one team was in the heart of Benzema, it was always his desire to one day don the white of Real Madrid. He signed for Los Blancos in the summer of 2009. He scored in his debut match against Shamrock Rovers in the pre-season. Not likely to scoop the award this year, but he confesses that one of his ambitions is to someday win the Ballon d’Or like fellow countrymen Zinedine Zidane and Raymond Kopa.

Player Watch: Andrey Arshavin

Name: Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin

D.O.B: 29 May 1981

Nationality: Russian

Club: Arsenal

Position: Midfielder

Honours:

2006 – Russian Footballer of the Year

2007 – Top Assist in the Russian Premier League

2007/2008 – UEFA Cup Top Assist

2008 – Included in the EURO 2008 Team of the Tournament

April 2009 – Premier league Player of the month

March & April 2009 – Arsenal Player of the month

Arshavin began playing football at the tender age of 7, when he was enrolled in the academy of FC Zenit St. Petersburg. He made his way through the youth ranks and debuted for the first team in 2000. In 2007 he helped Zenit St. Petersburg lift the Russian Premier League trophy. He also led the club to EUFA Cup and EUFA Supercup glory. In early 2008 interest from several European giants started to grow. Zenit turned down offers from FC Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspurs and Newcatle United. In January 2009, Zenit, in the last minute of the transfer deadline, finally accepted an offer from Arsenal.

He made his debut for his new club against Sunderland on the 21/02/09 and hasn’t looked back since then. Who can forget the 4 goals he scored at Anfield last season in the 4-4 draw?

For the Russian National Team, he debuted in May 2002 and was named captain in June 2009. He featured in the EUFA EURO 2008, which saw the Russian National Team steamroll into the Semis, only to be knocked out by Spain. He was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Arshavin’s versatile nature comes in handy for both Russia and Arsenal, due to his ability to play in several positions. He can play down the centre, as an assistant striker or as a winger.

This is Arshavin’s second nomination for the Ballon d’Or, having been nominated last year.

Ballon D'Or Nominees

A couple weeks ago, Ballon d’Or nominees were announced. 30 European based players have been short-listed for this prestigious award. The nominees are:

Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Diego (Juventus)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Julio Cesar (Inter Milan)
Kaka (Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Maicon (Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Luis Fabiano (Seville)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
David Villa (Valencia)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Yaya Toure (Barcelona)

La Liga, Spain’s Primera Division has the most nominees with 12 players based in Spain nominated. The next is the Premier League with 10 nominees and only 4 coming from Serie A. The winner is voted by France Football Magazine and will be announced of the 1st December 2009.


Over the next few weeks I will be profiling several of the nominees. Watch this Space...

Cristiano Ronaldo: last years winner

Carling Cup: Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool

Another disappointing night for Liverpool. Just when we thought they had finally found their rhythm this season, they were dealt a heavy reality check. The Arsenal “Young Guns” put on a spectacular show of football. One can only imagine the bright future that lies ahead for this club.




The match was fast paced and exciting. A good show of football all round. Rafa Benitez fielded what looked like his reserve side. Babel has still not found form. I could count the few times he didn’t loose the ball on one hand. Besides missing an open shot on goal, the most he did for the match was win a corner or two. He made a mess of most of his balls, leaving his teammates to clear up after him. Skrtel was impressive in defence as well as Kyrgiakos. It baffles me as to why Benitez didn’t start Yossi for this match. Maybe he took it too lightly. Seeing as though the chances of winning any silverware this season seem slim, one would think the Carling Cup could be a good opportunity to lift a trophy. Aquilani made his Liverpool debut. I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw. The Italian showed excellent vision and ball control. I have high hopes for him and what he can bring to Liverpool. Some of the other Liverpool youngsters made their mark. Degen in particular got stuck in there and won balls. While Jay Spearing did a good job tackling and clearing the ball. There was a few shady decisions from the ref. One, a handball appeal which i felt should’ve been given to Liverpool. However, that said, I feel Liverpool were outplayed by Arsenal. The Gunners played beautiful possession football, and i feel theý along with Chelsea are the English teams to watch this season. The moment of the match was Insua’s equalizer. What a beauty. A goal Steven Gerrard would be proud of. Its Arsenal into the quarter-finals after a well deserved win.



Goals: Fran Merida (Arsenal) , Insua ( Liverpool) & Bendtner (Arsenal)

Fran Merida celebrates his goal