Archives for November 2018

Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction, Team News vs Fulham FC

November 30, 2018 By paulmbanks 3 Comments

Sunday will see three Premier League derbies taking place and Chelsea versus Fulham will be the first of the trio to kick off. The match will see recently appointed Craven Cottagers boss Claudio Ranieri go against one of the many teams that he used to manage during his long and storied career.

Ranieri was hired to take Fulham, who currently sit 20th of 20 places in the table with just eight points so far, and guide them to safety from relegation. Thus, a draw here would be a massive win for him. Let’s take a look at who will be in the first team that he faces on the pitch on Sunday when comes back to Stamford Bridge.

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Filed Under: Business, Chelsea, Football/Soccer

Chelsea vs Fulham Injury Report: Hazard, Ampadu, Moses, Anguissa, McDonald

November 30, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

Claudio Ranieri has a very tough assignment in his first away match in charge of Fulham, as he’ll face Chelsea, the team he managed 14 years ago. Of course, Ranieri knew the job of salvaging Fulham, the league’s absolute bottom side right now, would be a major challenge when he took the gig.

The Italian will face a Blues side that lost its first match of the season, in any competition, only just last weekend at Tottenham Hotspur. The hosts come into this clash with a nearly perfect level of fitness too. Star man Eden Hazard will face a late fitness test due to the twisted ankle he suffered in last weekend’s defeat, but it’s largely thought that he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.

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Filed Under: Business, Chelsea, Football/Soccer

Alexis Sanchez out “a Long Time” with “Aggressive Muscular Injury”

November 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Alexis Sanchez has just not been himself since he moved over to Manchester United from Arsenal last January, and he’s not going to have an opportunity to come correct any time soon. The Chilean has failed to produce since making the switch to Old Trafford, and now he faces a spell of potentially six weeks on the sidelines due to a major hamstring injury.

More specifics will be known, and a potential timeline for his return defined once the team gets the results of his scans, but manager Jose Mourinho gave a very detailed answer about the seriousness of the injury Sanchez suffered in training on Thursday. “It is an aggressive muscular injury,” Mourinho said at his Friday news conference.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction vs Everton FC (Merseyside Derby)

November 30, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

The Merseyside derby comes at the perfect time to get Liverpool FC refocused and quickly over the disappointment of the Wednesday night Champions League loss at Paris Saint-Germain. Reds manager Jurgen Klopp hit out at the officiating in that defeat, and the play-acting of Neymar frustrated Liverpool as a whole.

Defender Andrew Robertson spoke up against the Neymar theatrics, and now midfielder James Milner has publicly remarked on this topic as well. “You can’t really be surprised by that,” Milner said. “If you are surprised by that, you are a bit foolish.”

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

Liverpool FC vs Everton: Merseyside Derby Injury Report, Team News, Match Preview

November 30, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

If the North London Derby is this Premier League weekend’s heavyweight title fight, then the Merseyside Derby is the biggest undercard. It’s always a huge deal when the two sides separated by just about one mile get together, but this edition is even bigger than usual with both sides currently inside the top six in the table.

Liverpool come into this match off the heels of a draining Champions League loss at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. The Reds midfield play in that defeat has come under fire, and Reds manager Jurgen Klopp will have some selection issues in that position group this weekend.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

North London Derby: Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal FC Starting XI Predictions

November 30, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

The North London derby commences Sunday afternoon as Tottenham Hotspur head to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal FC. Emotions always run high whenever this rivalry resumes, and this edition will be an even bigger deal as both teams are fighting for UCL qualification slots.

Both sides also head into this match having won their midweek European clashes, but still have major squad questions to answer. Let’s take a look at who could start in the first team for both sides. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Arsenal, Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal FC vs Tottenham Hotspur Injury Report: Lacazette, Koscielny, Dembele, Sanchez

November 29, 2018 By paulmbanks 2 Comments

The North London derby headlines this weekend’s slate of Premier League action, as two bitter arch-rivals will clash on Sunday afternoon. Visiting Tottenham Hotspur sit just three points ahead of host Arsenal FC in the current Premier League table, and the fight for Champions League qualifications places will be fierce.

Another big London club, Chelsea, sits sandwiched between the two North London sides doing battle here, and by the end of Sunday we’ll see where we stand, and if some shuffling had occurred.

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Filed Under: Arsenal, Business, Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester United Activate Option to Extend David de Gea Another Year

November 29, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

On Tuesday night, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said his club must ensure that David de Gea, “the best goalkeeper in the world,” stays with the club long term.

Following a very dominant performance, in which the Spaniard registered a clean sheet versus Young Boys in a 1-0 win that clinched United’s place in the UEFA Champions League knockout round, Mourinho said that De Gea wants to stay put, and that his camp and the club are working on getting a deal in place.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs Southampton FC

November 29, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

Manchester United are off to a very rough start this Premier League season. With only 21 points from a possible 39, manager Jose Mourinho (who for some reason felt the need to remind everyone of his past European accomplishments, unprompted, on Tuesday night) is doing a job, at least thus far, which is among the worst in recent club history.

You can forget about the league title this season, and going forward they need to pick up all the points they can and when they can in order to secure a top four finish. They are playing a team very close to the bottom of the table in Southampton this weekend, and getting anything less than three points from their trip to the south coast would be considered disastrous.

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Filed Under: Business, Football/Soccer, Manchester United, Southampton

Man United vs Southampton FC Injury Report: Lindelof, Rojo, Darmian, Ings, Target

November 29, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

When Manchester United visit Southampton FC on Saturday, it’ll be a match-up of two teams that really need to get the ball rolling now if they are to realize their goals of this Premier League season. United are seven points off the pace for the top four, but sitting in seventh place, they need to leapfrog a couple teams in order to get back in next season’s UCL qualifying position.

Given their astronomical payroll, finishing outside the top four is way beyond unacceptable. For Southampton, they currently sit in the final relegation position of 18th. They are just one point behind Burnley for safety, but after sweating out the very real prospect of the drop last season up until the very end, they don’t want to experience that anxiety again this season.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United, Southampton

Northern Illinois Football Game Preview: MAC Championship vs Buffalo Bulls

November 29, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

With apologies to Kris Kross, who will be the MAC Daddy or Daddy MAC come Friday night in Detroit? Will it be this 2018 Northern Illinois football team who claimed the Western division title, or the winner of the East division, Buffalo Bulls?

Both teams dominated their divisions so thoroughly that they were able to clinch their berth in Detroit rather early. That left them able to coast down the stretch and take their foot off the gas pedal. You can see this reflected in the results of their early and mid season conference games versus late in the league season.

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Filed Under: College Football, NIU Huskies