Top billings - 30 Dec, 2011 - 1 Jan, 2012

All leagues except for the Barclays Premier League remain on a winter break^, so, a look at the Top Billings in the EPL this weekend.

Top Billing of the week - Liverpool vs Newcastle United
Liverpool sit one position higher than Newcastle in the table with only a single point difference. So a win for Newcastle, who have been surprisingly impressive this season, will turn the tables! A stern test for the Reds to show their mettle.
Fixture: 7:45pm GMT, 30th Dec, 2011

Other major fixtures - 31st Dec, 2011 and 1st Jan, 2012:


Saturday Action:

Man Utd host Blackburn Rovers       - 12:45pm GMT

Arsenal host QPR                             - 3pm GMT

Chelsea host Aston Villa                   - 3pm GMT

Swansea host Tottenham                  - 3pm GMT

Sunday Action:

Sunderland host Man City                - 3pm GMT

Chelsea and Arsenal both face pretty tough opponents. Also, both teams have a difference of only one point between them. Now that makes an interesting bet on who'd enter 2012 sitting in the coveted Fourth place!


^The Winter Break in Serie A and La Liga lasts until January 7, 2012 while in League 1 until January 14, 2012 and in Bundesliga until January 20, 2012.

Review - Dec 26 - 27, 2011

Plenty of Action on Boxing Day!

Five star United, again!
After last weeks 5 - 0 thrashing of Fulham, United continue the scoring spree. This time Berba scores a hat-trick while Park and Valencia too get on the score sheet to put Wigan to the blade in an entertaining 5 - 0 victory.

At the Hawthorns, Manchester City find it difficult to break the deadlock and salvage only a single point versus West Brom.

While this draw puts United joint top with City in the rankings table, the Citizens would surely now feel more heat with only the goal difference keeping them ahead of United.

Elsewhere Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all draw their matches.

Chelsea draw 1 - 1 with Fulham - Scorers - Mata and Dempsey

Arsenal draw 1 - 1 with Wolves - Scorers - Grevinho and Fletcher

Liverpool draw 1 - 1 with Blackburn Rovers - Scorers - Adam (own goal) and Maxi

Bale fires a brace and the only goals in Tottenham's 2- 0 rout of Norwich City. The flying winger keeps imposing his authority and remains a major threat for opposing teams.

The next set of action on the New Years weekend!

Top billings - Dec 26 - 27, 2011

Top billings - Dec 26-27


With all leagues but the Barclays Premier League going on winter break^, lets have a look at the Top Billings in the EPL.

No top team is playing each other, so the biggies would be looking to keep their positions in the Table intact.

The Matches will be played on Monday and Tuesday (26th and 27th).


The Big Games:


Monday Action:

Chelsea host Fulham                         - 1pm GMT

Liverpool host Blackburn                  - 3pm GMT

Man Utd host Wigan Athletic            - 3pm GMT

West Bromwich Albion host City      - 3pm GMT




Tuesday Action:

Arsenal host Wolves                         - 3pm GMT


^The Winter Break in Serie A and La Liga lasts until January 7, 2012 while in League 1 until January 14, 2012 and in Bundesliga until January 20, 2012.

Midweek Review - Dec 21-22, 2011

Review for 21 Dec - 22 Dec, 2011

England:

United's High Five - Five star Manchester United hit 5 goals in their game vs the cottagers at craven cottage. Welbeck, Rooney, Nani, Giggs and Berbatov all add their name to the scoresheet.

Arsenal secure a 1 - 2 away win, with Van Persie and Benayoun scoring for the Gunners.

Liverpool held for a goalless draw vs Wigan

The Big game of the midweek, Tottenham vs Chelsea ends in s exciting 1 - 1 Draw, with Adebayor giving Spurs the lead after only 8 minutes, only for the in form Sturridge to equalize at 23 minutes.


Italy:

The Juventus and Udinese game ends in a goalless draw

AC Milan score two vs Cagliari

Rooney - Chicharito Partnership, The Magic for United

The United team this season has seemed to lack a play maker and many have speculated the addition of a big name to fill in a vital gap in the Red Devils' ranks.
Look back into the season thus far and there are a few important cues that come out coherently. Sir Alex has constantly claimed that he does not need to make any major additions to team. But most pundits (many self proclaimed) call this decision into question time and again. A deeper look into the team and its games over this season would show why Sir Alex cannot be wrong when it comes to the trade of football!

Consider this:
The Magic called Wazza and Chicha! - Sir Alex has played Ronney in many positions this season. That exercise has gone further than understanding whether Wazza can create a better play from the different positions tried. It has proved to be a yardstick to measure his effectiveness and bring out his best! Chicharito is known to terrorize defenses, a primary reason why he could cement his place on and dislodge Berba from the first team berth. The games this season have proven that Wazza can be the chief creator, but then without a dangerous striker, his efforts would all go in vain. The dangerous partnership that Wazza and Chicha have developed thrives on this very tenet. Rooney need not operate as a striker upfront. His role in the hole behind Hernandez becomes a lethal weapon that most opponents would find difficult to shield. A Messi or a Rooney or an RVP can be marked alone throughout the game, but a killer pair would become difficult to stop for even the best of the teams in the trade.
Wazza's creating and Chicha's ghosting are more than enough!



Nani's Brilliance! - One might think, what if Chicha is blocked just as other lethal strikers are in the modern game? That may be a valid question. But there is more to United than the lethal pair upfront. A creative Nani is another weapon in Sir Alex's armory and when unleashed to full potential can change the course of a game single handed. But that is not to say that Nani should alone shoulder the burden in a more telling game. If and when the Magical partnership doesn't click, a change in tactic to employ Wazza as front man and Nani as a creator would keep any opponent gasping! (Whom all will the ooponents mark - Chicha, Rooney or Nani??)



Valencia's super crosses and Jones' marauding runs cannot be undermined too. On the whole, there are plenty of channels and tactical measures under United's belt.

In Sir Alex's favourite formation of 4-4-2 United do not need to add any new creator. Relying on Rooney to sit in the hole, Hernandez to terrorize defenses, Nani to revel in creativity and the collective brilliance of the likes of Valenica, Jones, De Gea and in fact the Whole Team can help United reach the pinnacle and put behind it the Ghost of Champions League elimination!





Tags: Manchester United, Barclays Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Bayern Munich, Bavarians, Red Devils, Blues, Reds, Gunners, Rossoneri, Milan, Barca, Madridistas, Galacticos, Spurs, Champions League Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Nani, Antonio Valencia, Phill Jones, David De Gea, Sir Alex Ferguson, SAF

Top billings - Dec 20 - 22, 2011

Top billings - 20 Dec - 22 Dec, 2011

Midweek Action for a change!

The top billing of the week - Tottenham vs Chelsea
Fixture: 8.00pm GMT, Thursday
Other good Fixtures: Fulham vs United and Aston Villa vs Arsenal

The top Billing of the La Liga - No Midweek Action
The Copa del Rey occupies the midweek slots
Fixture: N/A
Other good Fixtures: N/A

The top Billing of the Seria A - Udinese vs Juventus
Fixture: 5.00pm GMT, Wednesday
Other good Fixture: Cagliari vs AC Milan

The top billing of the Bundesliga - No Midweek Action
The DFB-Pokal occupies the midweek slots
Fixture: N/A
Other good Fixtures: N/A

Midweek Action!!!





Tags: Manchester United, Barclays Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Bayern Munich, Bavarians, Red Devils, Blues, Reds, Gunners, Rossoneri, Milan, Barca, Madridistas, Galacticos, Spurs

Review for game week 17 Dec - 18 Dec, 2011

Review for game week 17 Dec - 18 Dec, 2011

City manage to bounce back from the previous week defeat to Chelsea with a narrow 1 - 0 win at their home.
United and Liverpool record wins vs QPR and Villa respectively and Chelsea draw to Wigan.

In Spain, Madrid and Valencia both secure comfortable wins in their vital clashes and Barcelona cruise to a easy victory too at the weekend.

In Italy, Roma triumph over Napoli and the match between Lazio and Udinese ends in a 2-2 stalemate.

In Germany, Shalke stun Bremen 5-0 and Wolfsburg scrape a 1-0 victory over Stuttgart.

More action awaited during the Midweek Fixtures!

Top Billings

Top billings - Dec 17-19

The top billing of the week - Arsenal v/s Manchester City

Arsenal will be out to show their revived metle whereas City would want to bury the last weeks disappointment. A loss for City and a win for United this weekend will change the contours of the Premier League Table!!
Fixture: 4.10pm GMT, Sunday
Other good Fixtures: QPR v/s United nd Aston Villa v/s Liverpool

The top Billing of the La Liga - Sevilla v/s Real Madrid
Madrid will face a big challenge to regain the summit in the La Liga.
Fixture: 9pm GMT, Saturday
Other good Fixtures: Valencia v/s Malga

The top Billing of the Seria A - Napoli v/s Roma
Napoli, the Champions League playing team, will be a big challenge for Roma, who would try to reach level with Napoli in Serie A with a win and three points.
Fixture: 7.45pm GMT, Sunday
Other good Fixture: Lazio v/s Udinese

The top billing of the Bundesliga - Shalke v/s Bremen
Big contenders in Germany Schalke face a stern test v/s Bremen.
Fixture: 5.30pm GMT, Saturday
Other good Fixture: Wolfsburg v/s Stuttgart

This sure would be another interesting weekend ahead!!!

Champions League Draw - Last 16

Is it Italy v/s England.....or Serie A v/s Premier League...or what!!!



Image courtesy UEFA.com (©AFP)

The eagerly awaited draw has as usual sprung up quite a few interesting ties but the big interesting factor of this year's draw is the England v/s Italy contest!

AC Milan have been drawn with Arsenal

and Napoli have been drawn with Chelsea

another interesting draw is Basel v/s Bayern, the two most recent teams to have achieved the huge covet and a rare achievement of progressing at the expense of Manchester United in the Champions League!!



ok we should stop guessing the probable quarter finalists in our minds now!!

Top Billings

The top top Billing of the week - the El Clásico!
Some call it Real v/s Barca others prefer Ronnie v/s Messiah, call it as you wish, the lovers of the game will simply admire the fierce contest, often touted as the crossroad and the stumbling block to the La Liga conquest!
The fixture slot being 9pm GMT on Saturday, most Asian lovers of the game would not mind sacrificing their sleep.
Fixture: 9pm GMT, Saturday
Other good Fixture: Espanyol v/s Atletico Madrid

The top Billing of the Premier League - Chelsea v/s City
Slated to be the last game for the matchday, the nervy encounter between the strugglers and the wannabes is also a late fixture but the only glitch - this one is on Monday.
Fixture: 8pm GMT, Monday
Other good Fixtures: Arsenal v/s Everton - stand out factor - RVP!
and Liverpool v/s QPR - stand out factor - resilient Pool v/s the stern Newbees (QPR gave City a torrid time earlier!)

The top Billing of the Seria A - Roma v/s Juventus
The rejuvenated Juventus v/s the self styled miracle awaiting ones (De Rossi of Roma stated in midweek that only some miracle could bring them the Seria A title now) is also a late show, and again, on Monday.
Fixture: 7.45pm GMT, Monday
Other good Fixture: Inter v/s Fiorentina

The top billing of the Bundesliga - no real big one!
The Bavarians will hope to continue their run at the top in Germany with a win over Stuttgart in what can be called one of the better fixtures of the week.
Other good Fixture: Oh Please!!

The Barca fans would want a repeat of the most recent Clasico (last seasons 3-2 for Barca) whereas the Real faithfuls will wish their team continues its superior form in the La Liga!
Villa Boas on the other side of the continent would want his Chelsea to continue its resurgence and dismantle City to halt their unbeaten run!
Definitely a very interesting weekend ahead!!!