Archives for October 2018

Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool Receive Haka from New Zealand Rugby League (Video)

October 31, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool Football Club invited the New Zealand Rugby League team to make use of their facilities at the Melwood training ground ahead of their match against England at Anfield this weekend. As you can see from the video below, the warm welcome even included a Halloween jack-o-lantern with the Kiwis logo carved into it.

One good turn deserves another, so the New Zealand Rugby League squad treated Klopp and the Reds to a special performance of the haka. If you really need to get PUMPED UP! today for any reason, then have a watch below. You’ll see why this video is going crazy viral right now.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

Jose Mourinho Cleared of Foul Language Charges by FA

October 31, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has escaped a possible touchline ban over the charges that he used foul language in the tunnel following his side’s win over Newcastle United back on October 6. The Football Association has issued their ruling today, and an independent regulatory commission found that the allegations Mourinho used obscenities or offensive language, in his native tongue of Portugese, were not proven.

He will not be sanctioned for the incident, but the FA is surprised by this outcome and they still have not ruled out an appeal of the ruling handed out on Wednesday.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction vs West Ham United (League Cup)

October 31, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Happy Halloween! Get in the festive spirit with a London derby fourth round League Cup clash. Tottenham Hotspur will make the short trip to the London Stadium to take on a very banged up West Ham United side. Spurs are still in search of their first trophy of the Mauricio Pochettino era (no, the International Champions Cup simply does not count) and this tournament could provide the perfect opportunity to clear that hurdle.

That said, we don’t expect to see a lot of typical first team players in the starting lineup tonight, but we do think the Argentine will include a couple. Expect a lot of squad rotation for this match.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction vs Derby County, League Cup 4th Round

October 31, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Happy Halloween Chelsea FC supporters. Will the League Cup fourth round match against Derby County on All Hallows Eve end up as fright or delight for the Blues? The side has not lost in any competition since the Community Shield versus Manchester City; which means they have not lost a meaningful match yet in 2018-19.

Tonight they face their good friend Frank Lampard, now manager of Derby. They also might face a couple of their own loanees on the pitch tonight, having granted the Rams permission to play them. Chelsea deny that Lampard is being given special treatment when it comes to opposing loan player availability.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer

Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction vs Blackpool, League Cup 4th Round

October 31, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Happy Halloween Arsenal FC supporters! Will tonight’s fourth round of the League Cup clash at home against Blackpool be trick or treat for the Gunners? Obviously, manager Unai Emery will be keeping one eye on the huge Premier League fixture against Liverpool this weekend when fielding his team tonight, but at the same time Arsenal won’t be brushing this match off.

The draw at Crystal Palace was extremely disappointing and frustrating, and it felt like a defeat. There’s no better way to move on from the negative emotion of that result than to achieve a new positive result here.

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Filed Under: Arsenal, Football/Soccer

Chelsea Asst. Marco Ianni Fined £6,000 for Jose Mourinho Fracas

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Marco Ianni, the number two assistant under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, has certainly had much better moments in his life than the one which made him infamous on October 20. When a rejuvenated Ross Barkley scored the equalizer for Chelsea, deep in extra time against Manchester United and salvaged a point for the Blues, Ianni let his emotions get the best of him.

He ran over to the United bench and celebrated directly in front of Mourinho with a pumped fist. Mourinho got hot tempered and had to be restrained. A fracas ensued, but no punches were thrown.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer, Manchester United

Wayne Rooney Calls Out Man United Players, Defends Jose Mourinho

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Manchester United all-time scorer Wayne Rooney has defended his final manager at the club, Jose Mourinho, on at least a couple occasions since he moved to MLS. His latest defense of his former boss is certainly the strongest he’s made since he left the club. Sunday saw Rooney play his final 2018 Major League Soccer regular season match just hours after his two former Premier League clubs, United and Everton, squared off.

United won the match 2-1, but it was only their fifth win from the first ten league games. A team that finished runners-up last season currently sits far outside the top four. While Mourinho has been the target of heavy criticism from multiple angles, Wayne Rooney took aim on the players.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

NFL Increasing London Games, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Host Two in 2019

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

The NFL is continuing to ramp up their presence in London by announcing today that four regular season games will be played in the British capital next year. Two will be in Wembley Stadium and two in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The National Football League announcement comes just two days after the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles completed the third NFL contest in London in three straight weeks.

The NFL has been staging games in London for 11 seasons now and the increasing momentum points to the possibility of a London Super Bowl and/or London NFL franchise in the near future. The three games this season, all at Wembley Stadium, had an average crowd of 85,031.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, NFL, Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham vs West Ham Injury Report: Carroll, Reid, Wilshere, Alli, Rose

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

As the holiday song says “this is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.” And if you’re a hard-core London football fan, then you might want to make this local derby part of your All Hallows Eve plans.

Tottenham Hotspur travel to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United in what should be the most interesting and captivating matchup of the EFL Cup fourth round. Let’s take a look at who Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino and West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini will and won’t have at their disposable tomorrow night.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester City Starting XI Prediction, Injury Report vs Fulham

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Happy All Saints Day football fans. November 1 will see Manchester City host Fulham in the fourth round of the EFL Cup. City are coming off a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur when both sides were forced to play on a pitch in substandard conditions following the NFL clash between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles.

It was still pretty cool to see the NFL gridiron markings still on the pitch though. Looking ahead to Thursday, let’s see what the fitness/injury situation looks like for the cup clash.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester City

Arsenal Injury Report vs Blackpool: Bellerin, Monreal, Kolasinac, Koscielny

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

Happy Hallows Eve football fans! The League Cup reconvenes on Halloween with a slate of fourth round clashes that includes Blackpool visiting Arsenal FC. The Gunners just saw their winning streak end at 11 with a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Sunday. That’s a shame because had they won the match, they would have been just two victories away from tying the club record for consecutive victories.

Unai Emery will no doubt have plenty of material to work with when it comes to getting his side fired up for this one. Of course, at the same time one should not expect the Spaniard to field his strongest possible side, as the crunch clash with Liverpool in league play approaches this weekend.

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Filed Under: Arsenal, Football/Soccer

Chelsea FC vs Derby County Injury Report: Eden Hazard, Pedro, Mason Mount

October 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

There are numerous storylines surrounding the Halloween night League Cup encounter between Chelsea FC and Derby County at Stamford Bridge. Will the fourth round clash be trick or treat for Frank Lampard? Chelsea’s all-time leading goal scorer will manage against his former club for the first time.

Lampard and Derby will come into this clash with a healthy level of confidence having just ousted Manchester United, via a thrilling penalty kick shootout in the previous round. On top of the homecoming angle, you also have Chelsea granting two of their loanees permission to play against them.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer