Football/Soccer Archives

Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs Valencia (UEFA Champions League)

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Manchester United head to Valencia in midweek for a UEFA Champions League group stage fixture that provides manager Jose Mourinho an opportunity to rotate his squad. With knockout round qualification already secured, and one eye on the massive league clash against Liverpool next weekend, Mourinho will rest some of his regulars.

That will give the Red Devils a decided advantage in the arch-rivalry game next weekend, as Liverpool face a must win UCL match at Anfield tomorrow night. Getting back to United, Mourinho has pretty much already named three starters for the European fixture in Spain.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

United vs Valencia Injury Report: Martial, Shaw, Smalling, Lindelof, Bailly

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

Manchester United head to Valencia for their final UEFA Champions League group stage clash having already booked their passage to the knockout round. Juventus are also going through, but United could topple them as group winner if the Serie A juggernaut fails to beat Young Boys, and United emerge triumphant in Spain.

It’s a long shot sure, but it could still happen, provided the Red Devils can overcome a situation that could be branded an “injury crisis” at the back. Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling are all definitely out of commission for this match and Eric Bailly is doubtful due to a muscle problem.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Manchester United

Tottenham Won’t Have to Face Luis Suarez in UCL Clash at FC Barcelona

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Tottenham Hotspur have a monumental task in front of them tomorrow night, but at least it just got a bit easier now that they won’t have to face Luis Suarez. The high-flying, prolific goal scoring FC Barcelona forward won’t be involved in the UEFA Champions League group stage clash finale at the Camp Nou Tuesday night.

Suarez is recovering from a knee injury, one that required stem cell treatment, and could be on the shelf for a couple weeks. That said, Spurs still face a massive uphill task in Catalonia, given how Barcelona haven’t lost a UCL home contest since early 2013, an unbeaten run of 28 straight and counting.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Liverpool FC vs Napoli: Team News, Injury Report, Press Conference Videos

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

Here we go! It’s Napoli at Liverpool FC, a UEFA Champions League group stage clash where the stakes are as high as possible. For Napoli, they need a draw or better to go though. For the Reds, they need a two goal (or better) victory to book a place in the knockout round. Let’s go through the team news for both sides.

Reds winger Sadio Mane is expected to be in the first team after he returned to the bench in the weekend’s 4-0 rout at AFC Bournemouth. Meanwhile central defender Dejan Lovren missed that road trip due to a head injury. He hopes to recover in time for this epic clash.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur vs FC Barcelona Injury Report: Umtiti, Malcom, Aurier, Trippier

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

The good news for Tottenham Hotspur is that they control their own destiny when it comes to qualifying for the UEFA Champions League knockout round. The bad news is that their destiny is a must win road match at FC Barcelona. Did we mention that Barcelona are undefeated in their last 28 UCL home matches?

Spurs attacking midfielder Dele Alli says his team is heading to Catalonia with confidence, aware that Barca could make mistakes just like any other team.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction vs FC Barcelona

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

FC Barcelona have not lost a home game in the UEFA Champions League since September of 2013. Unfortunately for Tottenham Hotspur, they almost certainly have to break this very long streak in order to advance beyond the group stage. The second knockout round spot from Group B will go to either Spurs or Inter Milan, with the latter having a much easier opponent in PSV Eindhoven.

Tottenham has a big enough challenge already, but it gets even rougher when you look at the selection issues manager Mauricio Pochettino will have in defense. With both Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier doubtful, it means that Kyle Walker-Peters is likely to start at right back.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

Maurizio Sarri Wants Chelsea to Get Up for Small Teams Like they Did for Man City

December 10, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Heading into the headliner fixture of the Premier League weekend, Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Manchester City, Blues boss Maurizio Sarri played some brilliant mind games. Before the crunch clash at Stamford Bridge, Sarri doubled down on statements he made earlier this season in which he claimed his side wasn’t in the same class as the reigning champions.

On Saturday, Chelsea wasn’t just in the same proverbial league as Man City, they were better as they handed the Sky Blues their first defeat of the Premier League season. With that result, City fell below Liverpool and into second place in the standings. Chelsea are now fourth, tied with Arsenal on points, but +5 over the Gunners on goal differential.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Football/Soccer, Manchester City

Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction vs Napoli (UEFA Champions League)

December 9, 2018 By paulmbanks 8 Comments

Liverpool host Napoli Tuesday night in a Champions League group stage fixture that is for all the marbles. Cue up the motivational music from the Rocky film franchise and let your cheesy action film cliches fly because this one is literally ALL OR NOTHING!

Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti has already made the kind of statements that BRING IT ON! saying his side will be aggressive in this one and not hunker down. In the same news conference, Ancelotti brought up a couple games, one domestic, one European, which are certainly sore memories for Reds supporters.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

Liverpool FC vs Napoli: UEFA Champions League Match Preview, FYIs

December 9, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Passage to the UEFA Champions League knockout stage is on the line when Napoli visits Liverpool FC on Tuesday night. The Serie A side only needs a draw to get through to the next round, but manager Carlo Ancelotti insists that his team won’t park the bus in this match.

His side currently leads Group C with nine points, while Liverpool is third with six points. Paris Saint-Germain in second with eight so the Reds will need a two-goal victory in order to ensure a place in the round of 16. A one-goal win for the Reds would then leave their fate up to PSG’s result over Red Star Belgrade, or various tiebreakers.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Liverpool

Raheem Sterling Responds to Racial Abuse by Slamming Media Coverage

December 9, 2018 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling has made an extremely strong response to his being racially abused by a Chelsea supporter during his side’s 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Both police and Chelsea Football Club are investigating the incident, and now Sterling has taken to social media and made his first public remarks about the incident.

Raheem Sterling posted a deep and profound message on his official Instagram account where he hit out not at the Chelsea fan, but at media coverage in general. Sterling posted photos of Daily Mail stories about teammates Tosin Adarabioyo and Phil Foden in order to convey an example of the difference between how white and black players are covered by the media.

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Filed Under: Chelsea, Entertainment/Media, Football/Soccer, Manchester City, News and Current Events, Politics, Social Issues

Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI Prediction vs Leicester City FC

December 9, 2018 By paulmbanks 3 Comments

Tottenham Hotspur head to the King Power Stadium tomorrow for a key Premier League clash against Leicester City, but they will likely also have one eye on the Tuesday night UEFA Champions League fixture against Barcelona. That’s because they will need to win the midweek clash at the Camp Nou in order to keep their European campaign going.

That said, we still expect Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino to field a strong side for the match in the Midlands.

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Filed Under: Football/Soccer, Tottenham Hotspur

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