Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction, Team News at Standard Liege

December 11, 2019 By 1 Comment

Arsenal FC head to Standard Liege tomorrow night for what will be their UEFA Europa League group stage finale. With qualification already all but assured, interim boss Freddie Ljungberg might rotate his starting XI.

The Gunners have been playing their reserves and kids all along in this tournament, but right now their focus has to be on getting above mid-table in the league. Actually, the main focus needs to be on finding a long term replacement for Unai Emery, but that’s another narrative for another time.

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Filed Under: Arsenal, Football/Soccer

Man United Starting XI Prediction, Team News vs AZ Alkmaar

December 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment

sir alex old trafford man united

Having already secured qualification to the knockout round, Manchester United are now seeking to claim the top spot in their UEFA Europa League group when they host AZ Alkmaar tomorrow night. Just a draw will suffice to see United earn a place among the seeds when the draw for the round of 32 takes place on Monday.

Of course, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men will play to win, and if they do so, it’ll be three wins in three home European matches this season. You might remember the reverse fixture, which ended in a goalless draw and zero shots on goal for the Red Devils as the match where Solskjaer came off as extremely tone deaf. He labeled the outcome, in which AZ were forced to play in a different stadium due to a natural disaster, as a good result.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

Christian Pulisic Gets High Praise from Matthew McConaughey

December 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Chelsea FC are through to the UEFA Champions League knockout round, having secured round of 16 passage in their very last group stage match, a 2-1 win over Lille. There were heroes aplenty, but one in particular, American Christian Pulisic, is getting a lot of attention today.

One of those playing close attention to the Hershey, Pennsylvania native is Oscar winning actor Matthew McConaughey. (“Alright, alright, alright!”) The 21-year-old winger is really coming into his own now, with a recent scorching hot scoring streak, but also changing the game when he doesn’t score or assist.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Entertainment/Media, Football/Soccer

#14 Notre Dame Deserved Better Bowl, but System Retains Flaws

December 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment

It’s a familiar refrain from Notre Dame haters everywhere: “the Fighting Irish get preferential treatment in the bowl selection process!” Well, that’s not true to begin with, and this year, the polar opposite is true. Having completed a 10-2 regular season, and ranked #15 in the college football playoff and #14 in the Associated Press, Notre Dame is headed to the Camping World Bowl, i.e. the Citrus Bowl’s junior varsity game.

In 2015, ND went 10-2 and got a Fiesta Bowl bid; where they lost 44-28 to Ohio State. In 1994, Notre Dame got to the Fiesta Bowl despite going only 6-4-1 that regular season. They lost to 11-1 and #4 Colorado by a score of 41-24 in that contest. The bowl system has changed a lot over the years, but the flaws remain.  

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Filed Under: College Football, Football/Soccer, Notre Dame

Kentucky Guard Tyrese Maxey Has High NBA Draft Lottery Stock

December 10, 2019 By 1 Comment

Like any freshman, Tyrese Maxey is going to have his ups and downs. As the leader in minutes played and second leading scorer on #9 Kentucky, the Wildcats will sometimes see their fortunes rise and fall along with Maxey. In his very first collegiate game, Maxey put himself on the national map in the Champions Classic in New York, scoring 26 points the day after his 19th birthday on then #1 Michigan State.

Averaging 13.1 points per game (just behind Nick Richards’ team leading 14) through the first eight games of the 2019-20 season, the combo guard was recently named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy (national player of the year) preseason watch list.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats

Arsenal FC Issue Update on Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin Injuries

December 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Ahead of Thursday’s trip to Standard Liege, for the UEFA Europa League group stage finale at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Arsenal issued an injury update. Defenders Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney both got hurt last night in the 3-1 win at West Ham United.

The victory was sorely needed for the Gunners as it ended a winless in nine across all competitions stretch. But it obviously came with a cost. Tierney suffered a shoulder injury during the match that could see him sidelined for some time. Bellerin hurt his hamstring before the match and was replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles; who definitely needed the playing time. Bellerin’s issue doesn’t appear to be too serious.

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Filed Under: Arsenal, Football/Soccer

Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction at Bayern Munich (UCL)

December 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment

You can expect a very different final score line when Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur play the reverse fixture of their notorious, record-setting October meeting. That result, in London, was a 7-2 trouncing by the visitors and it marked the low point of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure at Spurs.

The next month the Argentine was sacked, but his side still qualified for the UCL round of 16. With knockout round passage secured, look for new manager Jose Mourinho to rest most of his starters, and for Troy Parrott to make his first European start, in place of Harry Kane, who will be given the night off. Bayern will sit a lot of their stars as well, but we think the Bavarians will get the victory here.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham vs Bayern Team News: Kane, Winks, Ndombele, Boateng, Cuisance

December 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment

bayern munich

A whole lot has changed since back in October when Tottenham Hotspur got obliterated 7-2 at the hands of Bayern Munich in a UEFA Champions League group stage contest. Both teams have since sacked their managers, and qualified for the knockout round.

Tottenham brought in living legend Jose Mourinho to replace Mauricio Pochettino while Niko Kovac was relieved of duties in the Bayern dugout; Hans-Dieter Flick is in charge on a temporary basis. With both teams already through to the round of 16, you can expect a lot of regulars to get rested in this one. Mourinho has already confirmed that, stating Harry Kane will sit this one out. Given that Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele are both doubts due to ankle issues, one should not expect either midfielder to be risked here.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Jurgen Klopp Hyperbolizes Liverpool’s UCL Match at RB Salzburg

December 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment

As late night host, comedian and hard core life long Liverpool supporter John Oliver once joked of Jurgen Klopp: “he does not understand the concept of not going at full pace all the time.” And that’s what we love about him! The German, ahead of Liverpool’s final UEFA Champions League group stage match tomorrow night at RB Salzburg, took the hyperbole to the fastest pace he could.

A loss would see the reigning European champions bounced from the tournament without even having advanced to the round of 16. And thus Klopp literally referred to this Tuesday night affair as “the most important game of our life.” That is hype and hoopla that the network with the broadcasting rights will absolutely LOVE!

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at Dinamo Zagreb (UEFA Champions League)

December 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Tuesday night will see Manchester City’s pre-match media conference with both manager Pep Guardiola and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. The session, ahead of City’s trip to Dinamo Zagreb, will complete the UEFA Champions League group stage competition.

Perhaps this session, held at Stadion Maksimir at 7.30pm local, will give us an insight into what kind of team Guardiola will select for this match. Given how City have already won group C and qualified for the round of 16, Pep won’t have to field his strongest side possible. With that mind, we made a first team projection that incorporates a few of the reserves.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester City

Man City at Dinamo Zagreb Team News: Stones, Aguero, Zinchenko, Kulenovic

December 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment

john stones

Manchester City heads to Dinamo Zagreb for their final UEFA Champions League group stage match on Tuesday 10 December at Stadion Maksimir. Already through to the knockout round, as winners of Group C, this will be a low stress affair for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Out of the running now for defending their back-to-back Premier league titles, City can now turn their focus towards trying to win Europe’s greatest tournament this season. They can worry about that later, as this match won’t have too much consequence on that. In looking to the team news for this one, their opponents have just one injury issue, Sandro Kulenovic, who is out until the new year with a broken foot.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester City

2019 Illini Football: What it Was and What it Was Not

December 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment

peanut-tillman-illini-football-jaylen-dunlap

Bill Parcells was completely right: “you are your record.” When you’re 6-6, it means you’re mediocre. However, the epitome of mediocrity that is/was 2019 Illini football feels a little different because being average is a major improvement from where the program has been lately.

Going from really bad to rather pedestrian is real, legitimate progress, but it’s certainly not a magical season by any means and to suggest that it is is laughably and incoherently wrong. Illini football had one amazing upset, against all odds, over a New Year’s Six bowl team. They also achieved a thrilling, record-setting comeback against a fellow mediocre side. The rest was 4-6 with four wins over some pretty bad teams.

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Filed Under: College Football, Illinois Fighting Illini
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