The Bank

Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction at Brighton

January 17, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

When Chelsea lost 1-0 at Manchester City over the weekend, there was plenty of blame to go around. Some of it fell on Romelu Lukaku directly, and when you’re the most expensive player in club history, it comes with the territory.

And of course, when you start trouble at your current club, with your current manager, you can get singled out, in a bad way, by your boss. And that’s exactly what Thomas Tuchel did on Saturday. Now the situation is supposedly rectified, so what does that mean moving forward, starting with a trip to Brighton?

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer

Chelsea FC Team News at Brighton: Mendy, Christensen, Chalobah

January 17, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Chelsea fell at Manchester City on Saturday, 1-0, and in doing so they saw their Premier League title dreams dashed. Now they’re not even the side closest to Manchester City in the table, as Liverpool (even with a game in hand) have surpassed the Blues.

Now it’s time to shift the focus to the top four instead, with “the rest of the season” beginning with a trip to surprisingly solid Brighton & Hove Albion.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer

Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction vs Leicester City

January 17, 2022 By Stuart Kavanagh Leave a Comment

In one of the rescheduled fixtures from a COVID ravaged festive fixture period, Leicester City plays host to Tottenham Hotspur at the King Power Stadium.

Meetings between these two sides are usually pretty high-scoring. Since Leicester returned to the top flight in 2014, Leicester vs Tottenham is the fourth-highest scoring fixture in the Premier League with 54 goals.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Team News vs Leicester; Son, Dier, Reguilon, Romero

January 17, 2022 By Stuart Kavanagh 1 Comment

Tottenham Hotspur travels to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City in a midweek fixture. It is a rearranged fixture that was supposed to take place in December because of a COVID outbreak within the Leicester squad. In an interesting twist of fate, neither side played at the weekend because of COVID outbreaks in their respective oppositions squads.

Tottenham has been resurgent since the appointment of Italian mastermind Antonio Conte and could bridge the gap to the top four with a victory here.

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Filed Under: Tottenham Hotspur

Andre Curbelo Finally Returns, Provides Illini with Big Lift

January 17, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

“He’s gaining ground on it,” Illini coach Brad Underwood responded when asked about the potential return of Andre Curbelo, the day before the blockbuster double overtime loss at home to #4 Purdue. Curbelo scored 20, on 8-14 shooting, and grabbed six rebounds, while handing out three assists.

He caught Purdue coach Matt Painter by surprise, as Curbelo had been out since the November win over Kansas State with a very mysterious injury. (It’s been described as a head and neck injury/head injury/concussion, but there really hasn’t been any official word)

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini, NBA

#4 Purdue 98, #17 Illini Basketball 88 (2 OTs): Notes, Quotes, Stats

January 17, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

In the words of Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan: “69 dude.” At the end of regulation, that was the tied score between #4 Purdue and #17 Illini basketball. In order to get there, the Boilermakers blew a 65-58 lead, when 12th year senior (not literally, but that is what it feels like at this point) Sasha Stefanovic hit a big three with 2:47 left in the regulation.

The Boilers biggest lead was 13, as they took a 37-26 lead into the second half. They did not trail after the 4:05 mark in the first time OT. The final score read 96-88 Purdue, with the visitors getting the signature road W after not one, but two overtimes.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini, Purdue Boilermakers

Erling Haaland Says ‘things will happen now’ Regarding Potential Transfer

January 17, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland is The Next Big Thing in football, so when he leaves Borussia Dortmund for his next club, it will be blockbuster news. According to the man himself, it seems like it’s going to happen this summer, and the preliminary negotiations will get started soon.

Haaland has been linked with absolutely all of the biggest clubs, in the entire world, including Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer, Manchester City, Manchester United

Is It Legal To Gamble On Sports In Texas?

January 17, 2022 By Dolorous Price Leave a Comment

Texas has among of the tightest gaming restrictions in the country….

In Texas, there are no legal online casinos where you can play for actual cash. This implies that gamers are unable to participate at or join any online casino that offers cash rewards, including slot machines and poker games.

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Filed Under: Business

Is Your Child a Golf Prodigy?

January 17, 2022 By Jeff Trudeau Leave a Comment

When a child showcases an interest in a sport, as a parent you dream of them reaching the pinnacle and imagining yourself in 20 years watching on from the stands as they win the biggest prize on offer. If your little boy or girl shows keenness and a certain amount of natural talent, why not dream big of them one day being presented with a green jacket at Augusta?

That is a long way off, and neither should you adopt the role of the overly pushy parent. What you can and should do is to encourage them to have fun and play the game for as long as they enjoy it. Forcing children to play any sport can have a negative effect and turn them away from a game they once loved. Allow them to play, not just because they are good but because they enjoy themselves.

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Filed Under: Golf

Thomas Tuchel Calls Out Romelu Lukaku for Poor Form in Loss to City

January 15, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Right now, Romelu Lukaku is learning, the hard way, that if you want to dish it out, you better be able to take it. Big Rom infamously called out manager Thomas Tuchel’s tactics last month, and made it clear that we wished to return to Inter Milan.

He has since apologized, and his speaking out against his own current club to the media saw him fined. Today, following a 1-0 loss at Manchester City that effectively ended Chelsea’s title hopes, Tuchel singled out Lukaku as a player who should have done more.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer

Illini Basketball vs #7 Purdue on MLK Day: Stats, FYIs, Metrics

January 14, 2022 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Monday morning sees the #7 Purdue Boilermakers visit #25 Illini basketball in a match-up of, arguably, the two best programs never to have won a National Title. How does one get to that point, you ask? By being dominant in conference play, but totally flopping in March. Of all that Purdue (13-2, 2-2 in the Big Ten) and Illinois (12-3, 5-0 in conference) have in common, these two patterns stand out the most.

Until 2019, Purdue hadn’t been to an Elite 8 since 2000. They still haven’t reached a Final Four since 1980. As for Illinois, they haven’t reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Meanwhile Illini basketball is totally snake-bitten by the second round, having been eliminated in round of 32 in 9/18 appearances; exactly half.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini, Purdue Boilermakers