Given going nowhere

After that embarrasing 5-1 loss to Liverpool Shay Given has been linked strongly with North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal. He was the star player for the lacklustre Newcastle side and there has been lots speculation about if he will leave in January. But manager Joe Kinnear has come out and ruled out the possibility of his top class keeper leaving the Jordies and said 'He [Given] is happy here - he won't be leaving.' If that is true that will boost the morale of this underachieving side and hopefully for Kinnear his team will click in 2009.

Kinnear has been made to deal with a few transfer rumours and Owen is one of them. The former Liverpool front man has made it clear he won't leave in January and will make his decision at the end of the season. Now, where Newcastle come will probably influence Owen's decision and getting relegated will not improve the chances of Michael to sign a new contract. I don't think they will get relegated but it is a possibility that Newcastle will want to wave away with some good wins and performances in the future.

Berba sinks Boro

League holders Manchester United continued their title challenge with a very comfortable victory over under achieving Middlesbrough. They dominated posssesion and had 25 attempts on goal but could only bear fruit on one occasion. It came in the 69th minute, when Carrick swung in a cross from the left wing they failed to deal with it and Berbatov turned in a very important goal. This win leaves United in a good position coming into the new year, seven points behind leaders Liverpool with two games in hand. Middlesbrough however are only outside the drop zone because of goal difference and manager Southgate will be looking for more from his players in 2009.

Stevie G behind bars

In the early hours of Monday morning Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was arrested after being involved in an incident in a bar which left a 34 year old man in hospital with facial injuries. This comes after Liverpool's thumping win over Newcastle in which Gerrard scored two goals. We are waiting to see what will become of this arrest and whether the Liverpudlian will be charged. If he is that will be a major blow to Liverpool as they press on to challenge for the title that has eluded their grasp for 18 years. We wish that injured man a speedy recovery and hopefully he will not be too affected by this event.

Premier League roundup

Yesterday eight intensive premier league matches took place as the teams endured the exhausting feat of playing 180 minutes in the space of three hard days. There were some surprises as Chelsea could only manage a point against London rivals Fulham, and bottom placed West Brom battled out a brave win against newly rivived Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-0 victory.

But lets start with league leaders Liverpool who went into the match at ST James' Park knowing that three points would assure them top spot for the start of the new year. But they didn't just get the three points, they did it in scintilating style, scoring a massive five goals to one and producing a very good performance in the process. Steven Gerrard scored a brace as Babel, Alonso and Sami Hyppia all got in on the act. This efficient performance has left any doubters of their title challenge ( including me) changing their way of thinking as the win has boosted their assault on the title they haven't won for 18 years. This loss leaves the Jordies in a big mess as 2009 approaches and the Magpies will be hoping for a much better second half to the season. They are currently 14th and only two points from safety!

While Liverpool were firmly putting the doubters away Chelsea were making doubters of their own as they failed to win against rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage. The Blues found themselves behind as Dempsey opened the scoring on the tenth minute mark, but equalized through a lampard tap in. And the second placed team got their noses infront after 70 minutes when Lampard bent a super free-kick round the wall and past Shwauzer from 30 yards. Surely they were going to win now! and it certainly looked like it, the game dragged ever nearer to the ninety minute mark but in the 89th minute Fulham got their first corner. This would be their last chance and boy did they take it. The ball was swung in by Davies and Dempsey rose over all to power his second of the game in from 12 yards. Chelsea were heart broken.

Elsewhere Pompey suffered another dissapointing defeat, this time to Arsenal as Defoe left the match in a huff. William Gallas with a late goal to get the win. Final score 1-0 to Arsenal.
Bolton got beaten by in-form Wigan at home, Zaki bagging the goal from a spot kick. This game ended 1-0 as well. Everton beat Sunderland convincingly, as new manager Sbargia doesn't get the success he had when caretaker manager. A Mikel Arteta brace and a late goal by Gosling giving Everton a deserved three points.
West Ham got an important win over struggling Stoke City, coming from behind to win 2-1 with Tristan getting the winner late on with Cole getting the equalizer just after half time. And Mark Hughes' return to Ewood park wasn't crowned with a win, as his City charges came back from behing to draw 2-2 with Blackburn. Sturridge and Robinho getting two ridiculously late goals to deny Blackburn an important home win as they remain in the relegation zone.

There is only one match tomorrow, with Manchester United entertaining Middlesbrough at home. Follow that match at skysports match tracker and get all the latest sports news at skysports.com which is my main sports website!

Boxing day build-up

Tomorrow, all 20 Premier League sides will get ready to enter the ring for the first of the hectic Christmas schedule where most teams will play 3 times in 7 days. It is an exciting prospect for every football fan and you can follow it all at the sky sports score centre.

The day will kick-off at the Brittania Stadium, where Stoke City will entertain world champions Manchester United. Most will think United will steamroll past the Premier league newcomers and it seems a formality as the Red Devils thrashed Stoke 5-0 earlier in the season, but is it? Stoke are strong at home and have great fans who will make themselves heard. If Delap can exercise his arms well enough the City fans may go home happy. But what worries me is that there is no other real attacking option. Ricardo Fuller is very talented but is too inconsistent and there is no light spark in midfield who can change a game. I expect it too be a relatively comfortable win if United can score an early goal which they have failed to do in the past couple of games and then there may be some more goals. I think it will end 3-0 to Manchester United.

Then 15 minutes later the referee will start the game at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea hosting bottom placed West Brom in a key match for both sides. The Blues will be looking to shake off the poor home form with a good win over West Brom while their opponents need somwthing to kick start their dissapointing season. I think Chelsea have to be the favourites for this match as they have too much quality, but if West Brom suddenly click then they could get something to go home with. 3-1 Chelsea.

I don't have time to go through all of the 10 matches, but you can find previews and stats at skysports.com. Enjoy.

Arsenal kneed in the Cap

Yesterday Arsene Wenger revealed that wonderkid and captain Cesc Fabregas will be sidelined for around four months with a rupture of a medial knee cruciate ligament. Fabregas suffered the injury in the Sunday match against league leaders Liverpool which ended 1-1. He and Xabi Alonso went into the tackle and Fabregas came out worst than his fellow countrymen and Alonso has since wished him well.

This leaves Arsene Wenger an uphill task of both getting the team's morale up and finding a captain. Will Gallas take over as skipper or will someone else take the armband? But that draw with Liverpool has surely put Arsenal out of the title race and now you could call it a three horse race, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United still in with a good chance of winning. But one thing we know for sure is that Wenger won't let his team give up, and they will still think they can win it.

Our best wishes go to Fabregas and we wish him a speedy recovery from a horrible injury.

On top of the world

Yesterday morning the red side of Manchester were celebrating a win against Liga de Quito which lifted them up from celebrated European champions to unstoppable World Champs. A 1-0 victory with ten men wasn't the perfect way to become kings of the world but they did it in the end due to a Wayne Rooney strike.

The Red Devils have now got two trophies to their name already this season and will be looking to add some more over the course of the season. The League Cup provides a great opportunity to give them a third title and a platform for the more illustrious trophies. But the players and fans alike know that it is going to be a long hard second half of the season and one thing we can be sure of is that league holders won't be underestimating the task ahead.

Derby day build-up!

Tommorow three of the top four will play for three points and battle it out for top spot. It is a scintilating line up starting with the Manchester derby and the North London derby (Chelsea v Arsenal). Liverpool play on Monday against a slight lesser opponents than their rivals, with West Ham visiting Anfield in the evening.
The two Manchester teams will take battle tomorrow as Man City look to prove that they can compete against the top teams and not just the average ones. But it is a more important match for the red side of Manchester as United need a win to keep the pressure on Chelsea and Liverpool. There has been the usual mind games from both the managers and the players and it is not going to stop until the referee blows his whistle to signal the start of the 150th Manchester derby. United are hopeful that Dimitar Berbatov will recover from a hamstring injury to face their rivals and they're also hoping that Tevez can start recovering his form which has not been the best. Man City's in form striker Robinho has recovered from an injury and they will be backing him to continue his good form after last weeks victory against Arsenal.
Arsenal need a win to keep their title ambitions alive but face a daunting task against Chelsea who have been truly magnificent this season under Scolari. But the blues welcome Arsenal to the Bridge after a poor week when they drew against Newcastle and Bordeaux, both unsatisfactory performances. Drogba will be missing as he serves his final match suspension but Nicolas Anelka is in fine form to play up front. Gallas is set to play against his former club and the defender added extra heat to the already hot kettle when he said Chelsea and Peter Kenyon made his life hell.
This is building up to be a fantastic day of football and don't miss it. If you want to keep track of what's going on go to skysports.com where you will find match stats and teams.

Shearer rejects Toon

Ex Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has rejected an approach from now permanant boss Joe Kinnear to work with the strikers. He is quoted saying he isn't ready for that job and Kinnear took it well. Kinnear is now looking to add some more coaching staff to the club after the magpies' boss informed us that "there is a possibility I might bring someone in on the coaching staff now."
Newcastle have done fairly well since the ex Wimbledon boss arrived and got a well earned point at Stamford Bridge last week. They have now drawn their second consecutive game goalless, this one against their rivals Middlesbrough, and currently sit just above Sunderland in 17th place.

England return

The England cricket team have returned home after bombings in different areas of India. They still have two more one day internationals and two test matches to be played. But the ICC and all the England team thought it was impossible to remain in India while their safety was in doubt. The team were eager to be back in familiar surroundings and with their families and are now in England but for how long we do not know.
England have had a torrid time on tour so far, suffering a 5-0 drumming in the one day internationals. India truly outclassed them but their is still hope in the test series which England can excel in if they can get back into some form. However, the tests are still in doubt as continued violence surrounds them. The second test which was due to be played in Mumbai has been moved to another venue.
The Indian cricket board wish the test series to take place next month even though the players' safety cannot be confirmed. The ICC are currently discussing with the Indian board about whether the tour should continue but I don't think it will. You cannot play any sort of sport which is open to the public if you're safety is in doubt, and even less so now because the attacks were aimed at tourists.
Our best interests go to those affected by the terrible terrorist attacks and we wish those wounded a speedy recovery.

Nasri got through and chipped it over Gomes but it wasn't strong enough to get over the line so Adebayor got in to tap it in ahead of the defender. It's surely over! But Tottenham and certainly Darren Bent did not think so and when he was brought on everything changed. Huddlestone got the ball in a good position and decided to give some and let fly. Almunia looked to have it covered but he parried straight to Bent who passed the ball into the net. 3-2.
And then in the 68th minute (only 4 minutes after Adebayor scored!) Van Persie was found after Adebayor intercepted a truly awful pass from Hutton and the dutch striker smacked it into the back of the net to make it 4-2. So the game looked finally over! Then it came to the 89th minute.

Jenas picked the ball up and ran with urgency to the edge of the box. If anything was going to happen it would be then. He then curled it into the left corner of the goal. It was a beautiful strike and got Tottenham back into the game!
And then a minute later the fourth official signalled for 4 minutes added time. Fabregas tried a clever pass but it didn't work and it was intercepted and passed forward with pace. It then bobbled to Modric about 25 yards out and he hit it on the volley. It got deflected and smacked onto the bar and came out. Was there a Tottenham player their? Yes there was. And it was Aaron Lennon who passed it into the net. All the Tottenham fans blew the roof off of the Emirates stadium. It was 4-4!
When Lennon went into the corner to celebrate, a fan went and hugged him and all the Tottenham players fell on them! The police had to take him off. It was a truly memorable affair and one we hope may happen again in the future.

Premier League round up

All 20 premier league clubs played midweek, 18 of them played on Wednesday. But lets start with fierce rivals Tottenham and Arsenal who played this week. All the usual hype built up to the game with players and fans wishing the game would start. Finally the referee blew the whistle and it kicked off. It was tense and nothing much happened in the first 10 minutes of this clash. It looked to be a tight game with few goals until the ball fell to David Bentley 40 yards out...

It came to David Bentley in the air and he chested it and let fly from over 40 yards and it swerved and flew into the net. Almunia could only get a little touch to it as he dived, not ready for Bentley's crazy volley. After that stunning strike Arsenal went to try and get themselves back into the derby with Van Persie testing Gomes with a 25 yard free-kick which the goalkeeper turned behind. They however failed to break the deadlock until the 37th minute when a great shot from Fabregas brought Gomes into another save which conceded a corner. The ball was put into the box and invited Gomes to come and collect from the air. But their was 6 players in his way and couldn't get there, the result giving Silvestre a free goal to aim at goal and stuck it in the bottom corner. Game on.

So the first half ended evens with some great football. The second half had barely started when Tom Huddlestone gave away a needless free-kick in dangerous position. It was delivered and this time Gomes didn't come for the ball and his defenders gave Gallas some space and he punished them by heading it into the bottom corner past Gomes. Should the goalkeeper have stayed on his line instead of collecting the ball? The game then calmed down and nothing really happened except for a couple of cautions. But when Van Persie put Nasri through it looked ominous.

For the next part have a look at the top. Thankyou.

Premier League build up for 29 Oct

All premierleague clubs bar two (whom play tonight) get ready to battle it out for 3 points tomorrow as a rare midweek schedule approaches...
However we are all anticipating the match against fierce rivals Arsenal and Tottenham. In form Arsenal will host their neighbours at the Emirates stadium and clashes like this really put recent form away and anything could happen. But Arsenal will be favourites for this match for they are in some good form and Tottenham are still bottom of the league. Nevertheless this match is most eagerly anticipated and with Tottenham's new manager Rednapp at the fore you could well see Tottenham coming out at least one point more to the good!
Some other matches which will be worth keeping an eye on are Liverpool v Portsmouth which will be a tight affair, West Ham's visit to Old Trafford (how will they bounce back from losing to London rivals Arsenal?) and Chelsea v Hull City, Hull are in some good form and sit at 3rd in the table!

England defeat Middlesex in the Stanford Super Series!

Yesterday England recorded a win over Middlesex in the first match of the exciting series. they eventually won by 12 runs with Owais Shah getting an impressive 39 not out off 37 balls.
England had won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Prior and Bell put up 43 for the first wicket until Bell was run out after good fielding from Carter. After that it was stop start and no one could get a decent partnership going as Prior went soon after Bell and Pietersen followed for a lowly 5. But Flintoff came to the wicket and managed 16 off 17 balls to bring some stability to the team and lift the poor score. Then Owais Shah came to the fore and smashed 39 off 37 balls to give England a decent 121-4, which isn't great for twenty20!
Middlesex came out to bat and England reject Strauss opened for Middlesex along with Ed Joyce. But disaster struck for the experienced Strauss as sidebottom bowled him for only 8. With runs hard to come by Joyce went for some balls and should have been caught by Collingwood but he dropped it. Pietersen was the next in line to drop a catch and this one was put into the sky from Carter but he dropped it. Then finally Carter got out when he tried to give it some off a ball from Broad but it never made the boundary as it was caught well from Shah. After that Middlesex just toiled out losing another wicket and ending with 109 runs from 20 overs.

Stanford super series

The Stanford Super Series is starting! Counties Durham, Essex, Kent and Middlesex all participated in the twenty 20 cup to qualify for the lucrative and much contreversial Stanford Super Series. Middlesex ended victorious and now face the prospect of playing in one of the most thrilling series ever.
Yesterday the Stanford Superstars beat Trinadad and Tobago by 22 runs and have started well. It is going to be really tough to beat them and they surely are the team to get a win over in this tournament. As well as getting a good half a million pounds each the players and the team will be thought of as a great twenty20 team.
England face Middlesex today and hope they hope they can record a win in their first match in this tremendous series.
You can follow the match on bbc.co.uk/fivelive. For UK viewers you can listen to full commentary at the same website!

Tips and critics

please post a comment and let me know how you think my new blog is working out. I'm new to all this blog stuff so i would appreciate some opinions!

Guinness Premiership

The new season started two months ago and is shaping up to be an exciting one. Champions London Wasps have struggled for the first five games, only winning one of the five and losing the rest. Bath however are in good nick, they've had a lightning start to the season winning four of their five opening matches and are currently sitting atop of the premiership with 19 points, three ahead of second placed Leicester. Leicester and Sale Sharks are also looking dangerous, winning four of their five matches and all have 16 points each. Harlequins also have the same points total as those three but have only 3 wins and 2 losses. And finally impressive Saracens, who have also made a good start to their season winning more than they have lost and currently have 15 points, complete the top five.

Rugby: Englands Autumn Test matches come ever closer

This is an exciting time for England: New manager, and a new and exciting fly half. This time last year they were on the way to another World Cup final, and Jonny Wilkinson was inspiring England yet again. Hopefully we can experience some more success under World Cup winner Martin Johnson. The Autumn series starts against a tricky match against the Pacific Islands on November the 8th. There we will see the team's attitude and way of playing under Johnson. The other three matches are against rugby super powers South Africa, Austalia and ending with a breathtaking trip to New Zealand to face the All Blacks. We hope that England can play as a team which wants to make it to the top once again and we want some real aggression in their play. Lets show the whole world how we can play!

Premier League round up this weekend

There were some interesting matches on this weekend and Chelsea v Liverpool must have been the pick of the lot. Liverpool eventually ran out 1-0 winners and that will have done wonders to their title hopes. Xabi Alonso was the one who got the goal at the 10 minute mark and since then Chelsea couldn't find any way back. This puts Liverpool three points ahead of Chelsea who are in second place with 20 points. It also ends Chelsea's' stupendous unbeaten run at home which had stretched to just under 90 matches!
Arsenal's young guns got a comfortable win over 10 men West Ham. Although it took them until 75 minutes to break the dead lock with an own goal from Faubert, they were in the lead and definately deserved their win.
Man Utd however succumbed to a 1-1 draw with sturdy Everton. In-form Darren Fletcher opened the scoring after combining well with Ryan Giggs and then finishing through Howards' legs. The Reds looked on top but in the second half Everton came out and equalized, Fellaini getting the goal after good work from P.Neville.
Else where struggling Tottenham got a good win over Bolton with goals from both their strikers, Pavluchenko and Bent getting on the score sheet, the latter with a penalty.

Premier League Table

Click here for the updated Barclays Premier League Table

And for the top fours' champions league groups click here:
Chelsea
Manchester United
Arsenal
Liverpool

I hope you find this useful!

Champions League review tues-weds 21-22

The latest champions league games were played this week with three of the four english clubs getting the three points. They were Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. Liverpool unfortunatley were unable to do more than draw against a tricky Athletico Madrid side.