Sporting Alert

College Football, NCAAB, NBA, NFL

barclays premier league

Chelsea Forward Pato Not Fit For Manchester United Visit

by Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – Alexandre Pato will not make his Chelsea debut against Manchester United in Sunday’s English Premier League Week 25 round of fixtures because he’s unfit.

Pato joined the defending champions on loan from Corinthians during the January transfer window to help in the goalscoring department, but the Brazil forward is not yet match fit, according to manager Guus Hiddink.

In fact, Hiddink has revealed that Pato came to the club in preseason shape and will need a few weeks to prepare for the intensity of the English football.

“Pato is in his pre-season,” the Chelsea boss said. “We have made a training plan which he is doing now, training at least once but most days twice, which means he is getting his fitness back but not at full fitness yet.

“He will not be in for the upcoming few games because we want to have him fit and we don’t want to run the risk of injury in this tough league.

“Of course we know he is skilful, technically he is very good and he is ambitious. This is normal for me but he needs more physical fitness.

“He played his last game in November then had a holiday because it is a different season.

“So this is kind of a pre-season for him. We like to pressure him but we must be careful not to go over the top.”

Chelsea head into Sunday’s Barclays Premier League matchup with Manchester United looking to stay undefeated under interim manager Hiddink, but they will also know that they must start winning games if they are to win a Champions League or a Europa League spot for next season.

Manchester United fans, on the other hand, will be hoping for a similar performance like the ones against Derby in the FA Cup and in the last league outing against Stoke City.

Under pressure manager Louis van Gaal seem to have found a good system that has become fruitful, and the supporters will now hope the Red Devils can go on a run as they continue to dream about winning the league title.

Chelsea enter Sunday’s game unbeaten in their last six Barclays Premier League meetings with Manchester United — winning three and drawing the next three.

Manchester United have also had a poor run at Stamford Bridge in the Barclays Premier League — losing eight of the last 13 games, while winning just once and drawing the rest.

Chelsea (squad): Courtois, Begovic, Ivanovic, Fabregas, Zouma, Rahman, Oscar, Hazard, Mikel, Traore, Kenedy, Pedro, Costa, Matic, Willian, Cahill, Terry, Blackman, Azpilicueta, Amelia, Loftus-Cheek.

Manchester United (squad): De Gea, Romero, Varela, Borthwick-Jackson, Smalling, Blind, McNair, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini, Depay, Lingard, Mata, Januzaj, Pereira, Martial, Rooney, Keane.

Premier League Fixtures For Week 13: Nov 21-23

by Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – English Premier League fixtures, live TV channels and broadcasting streaming networks for the list of matches taking place in Week 13.

The action gets underway with an early kick-off, which will see Watford playing hosts to Manchester United at Vicarage Road.

The Red Devils, who are fourth in the Premier League standings, will be without six players, including captain and leading striker Wayne Rooney for this clash.

Manager Louis van Gaal confirmed that Rooney, Anthony Martial, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini are all injured or ill, while Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw continues to recover from surgeries.

“I think that everybody knows Michael Carrick and Anthony Martial are injured, but also injured is Fellaini,” van Gaal said at his press conference.

“That’s a surprise because I thought he was recovered after the international break, but still he is injured. And that’s a big blow because Rooney is ill, so we have a big problem, I think.”

After 12 games so far this season, Manchester United sit behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Leicester City in the EPL standings with 24 points, while Watford sit at 11th place on 16 points.

The big clash of the weekend, though, will come from the Etihad Stadium where leaders Manchester City will take on Liverpool.

The Citizens could have striker Sergio Aguero back from injury, but playmaker David Silva remains on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

“Sergio [Aguero] is fit – he’s ready to come back,” City boss Manuel Pellegrini told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“David [Silva] continues with some small sprain in his ankle so it’s a risk for him to play. Unfortunately also, Samir Nasri is injured.

“Wilfried Bony and Vincent Kompany are also injured.

“One of the merits of this team is not just to depend on one player but of course our team is better with Sergio.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool could also have striker Daniel Sturridge back against Manchester City after he returned to full training this week.

The England international had been out with a knee injury that forced him to miss the Reds’ last seven games, but could feature against his former club.

Second-place Arsenal, in the meantime, will look the keep the pressure on Manchester City with a win at West Bromwich Albion.

Elsewhere, Chelsea host Norwich, Everton and Aston Villa will do battle, Newcastle will look to stop Leicester City good form, while Southampton host Stoke City at St. James’ Park.

English Premier League Fixtures
Week 13 Game Times (ET)
For Full TV Channel Listings

Saturday 21 November 2015

6:45 AM Watford v Manchester United at Vicarage Road – NBC Sports Network
10:00 AM Chelsea v Norwich at Stamford Bridge – NBC Sports Network
10:00 AM Everton v Aston Villa at Goodison Park – NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00 AM Newcastle v Leicester at St. James’ Park – NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00 AM Southampton v Stoke at St. Mary’s Stadium – NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00 AM Swansea v Bournemouth at Liberty Stadium – NBC Sports Live Extra
10:00 AM West Brom v Arsenal at The Hawthorns – USA
12:30 PM Manchester City v Liverpool at Etihad Stadium – NBC

Sunday 22 November 2015
9:00 AM Tottenham v West Ham at White Hart Lane – NBC Sports Network

Monday 23 November 2015
3:00 PM Crystal Palace v Sunderland at Selhurst Park – NBC Sports Network

Live Scores: West Ham 2 v Chelsea 1; Reds For Matic, Jose

by Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – John Terry starts again for Chelsea in Saturday’s English Barclays Premier League clash at West Ham United. Here are the full starting lineups for the game.

Follow Live Scores and Updates

UPDATE: A poor clearance by Diego Costa fell straight to Mauro Zarate, who fired home brilliantly from inside the box to give West Ham United a 1-0 lead.

UPDATE 2: Jose Mourinho and Nemanja Matic have both seen reds for Chelsea. The defending champions have lots of work to do right now.

UPDATE 3: Gary Cahill has scored for 10-man Chelsea to draw level at 1-1 with West Ham United. Game on again.

UPDATE 4: Andy Carroll has jumped off the bench to give West Ham United a 2-1 lead over Chelsea with a great header in the 78th minute.

——–

Manager Jose Mourinho has decided to go with an unchanged team from the midweek outing, while Slaven Bilic makes one adjustment to his Hammers starting team.

Terry, who has been in-and-out of the Chelsea this season, will start at centre-back where he will be partnered by Gary Cahill, with Kurt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta also starting in the back four.

Oscar starts on the bench today, while Eden Hazard, who started on the bench against Aston Villa last week returns to the lineup in the EPL – this after starting in the Champions League at Dynamo Kyiv in midweek.

Nemanja Matic, Ramires, Willian and Cesc Fabregas also start in midfield, with striker Diego Costa leading the frontline.

Falcao, Bertrand Traore, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, John Obi Mikel and Marco Amelia are all on the bench.

Meanwhile, West Ham United, who are six points clear of Chelsea and are hoping to finish ahead of their London rivals this season, will look to summer signing Dimitri Payet to drive the team forward again from midfield.

Payet has been one of the EPL signings so far this season and his link-up play with the attackers, including striker Diafra Sakho, has been outstanding.

In the one change made by the manager for this game, Mauro Zarate comes in for Victor Moses, who is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Zarate will join Payet and Sakho in the attacking third, with Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate and Manuel Lanzini in midfield.

There are also lots of attacking options for the West Ham boss with Andy Carroll, Enner Valencia and Nikica Jelavic among the substitutes today.

James Collins and James Tomkins continue at centre-back and Carl Jenkinson and Aaron Cresswell play alongside them in the backline.

Chelsea Team: Begovic; Zouma, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa. Subs: Amelia, Baba, Mikel, Loftus-Cheek, Oscar, Traore, Falcao.

West Ham Team: Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Collins, Cresswell; Noble (c), Kouyate; Zarate, Lanzini, Payet; Sakho. Subs: Randolph, Carroll, Valencia, Obiang, Ogbonna, Jelavic, Antonio.

Barclays Premier League Week 7 Schedule, Times, Channels

by 1 Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – The English Barclays Premier League schedule and game kick-off times for Week 7.

Live Online Streaming Coverage of Games Will Be on the NBC Sports Network

The action gets underway with the early kick-off between leaders Manchester City and Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Manchester City will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s shocking 2-1 defeat to West Ham United, while Tottenham are looking to build on their two-game EPL win streak, following last week’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

High-flying Leicester City will try to keep its undefeated start to the season when they play hosts to Arsenal at King Power Stadium.

The Foxes have won three and drawn three of their opening six games to start the new Premier League season and they will be dangerous opponents, even for the Gunners.

Arsenal, in the meantime, will try to bounce back from the disappointing 2-0 defeat suffered at Chelsea last weekend. A win for Arsene Wenger’s side would see them moving to 13 points in the league standings, while Leicester City will jump to 15 points if they managed to secure all three points.

Second-place Manchester United, who are two points behind Manchester City in the table standings, will face relegation-threatened Sunderland at Old Trafford – looking to move to the top of the table with a win.

The Red Devils come into this game on a two-game Premier League winning streak and are coming off a 3-2 victory over Southampton last weekend.

Sunderland, in the meantime, have failed to win so far this season from their six games – drawing two and losing four. The Black Cats are on a two-game EPL losing streak and were beaten 2-0 at newly promoted Bournemouth last weekend.

Elsewhere this weekend, defending champions Chelsea will travel to face the struggling Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.

Jose Mourinho’s side has not gotten off to the best of start in its title defence, but were very solid against Arsenal last weekend and will start as favourites to pile on more pressure on Steve McClaren, whose team is on a three-game losing streak in the Premier League and has dropped four of the last five league contests.

Complete English Premier League Schedule Week 6

Saturday, September 26
Game Times (CT)

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City (6:45 AM)
Leicester City v Arsenal (9:00 AM)
Liverpool v Aston Villa (9:00 AM)
Manchester United v Sunderland (9:00 AM)
Southampton v Swansea City (9:00 AM)
Stoke City v AFC Bournemouth (9:00 AM)
West Ham United v Norwich City (9:00 AM)
Newcastle United v Chelsea (11:30 AM)

Sunday, September 27

Watford v Crystal Palace (10:00 AM)

Monday, September 28

West Bromwich Albion v Everton (2:00 PM)

Barclays Premier League Scores On Aug. 29

by Leave a Comment

LONDON, Sporting Alert – Barclays Premier League scores and recaps from the games that took place on Saturday, August, 29.

While Manchester City dominated Watford in a 2-0 win and Arsenal carved out a narrow 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, their fellow title rivals Chelsea and Liverpool were handed defeats on the day.

Manchester City continued their promising start to this Barclays Premier League season with a 2-0 win over newcomers Watford, with Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho getting the goals for the leaders.

After a goalless first half of football, Manuel Pellegrini men took the lead two minutes into the second half through summer transfer Sterling, before midfielder Fernandinho added a second in the 56th minute.

Although it was a solid display by the home side, they were never really troubled, as Watford didn’t look like scoring at any point during the contest and spent most of the time defending after constantly giving the ball away in their own half.

Arsenal weren’t as impressive as Manchester City, but the Gunners only care about the points right now.

Arsene Wenger side’s struggles in front of the goal continues, as it took an own goal from Fabrizio Coloccini early in the second half for the Gunners to collect the three points over the 10-man Newcastle United side.

The home side was forced to play most of the contest with one man short since Aleksandar Mitrovic collected a red card in the 16th minute for a foul on Francis Coquelin.

It was a sorry day though for the defending Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea and Liverpool who both suffered defeats at home.

Goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble (before he was sent off) and Diafra Sakho, guided West Ham United to a commanding 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield, as Philippe Coutinho was also sent off in the second half for two bookable offenses.

West Ham got off to a flying start, after Lanzini opened the score inside the opening five minutes and defender Aaron Cresswell, who played a part in the opener, said the early goal helped to setup the victory.

“We knew we had to be here and be straight out the blocks from minute one and we’ve done that,” Cresswell said.

Fellow defender Winston Reid added: “I think that means a lot for the fans, we haven’t won here in a long time. Our last two games have been poor so come here and win 3-0 is great.

“We did the simple stuff right – we took chances when we had them and limited Liverpool to a couple of chances. The referee felt there was red card for Mark Noble. He was brilliant today apart from that card – I think the referee saw it as different from the players.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s poor start to the new campaign continued on Saturday as the Blues, playing without its captain and leading defender, John Terry, suffered a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Again Jose Mourinho’s side struggled to create chances, with the likes of Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas failed to spark again, which again was a worrying sign for the manager.

Defensively, Kurt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta were also below par.

Bakary Sako gave Crystal Palace the lead in the 64th minute, but substitute Radamel Falcao pulled the home side level in the 78th.

However, instead of kicking on and grabbing a winner, Chelsea found themselves taking the ball out of the back of their net again, as Joel Ward scored the winner two-minutes later.

The defeats leaves Chelsea eight-points behind leaders Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League standings.

Elsewhere on Saturday, West Bromwich edged nine-man Stoke City 1-0, while Sunderland and Aston Villa ended 2-2 and Bournemouth and Leicester City finished 1-1.

Tottenham and Everton played out a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane, with Chelsea target John Stones playing the full 90 minutes again and goalkeeper Tim Howard starting for Roberto Martinez side.

English Premier League Results

Saturday, August 29

AFC Bournemouth 1 Leicester City 1
Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 2
Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 2
Liverpool 0 West Ham United 3
Manchester City 2 Watford 0
Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 1
Stoke City 0 West Bromwich Albion 1
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 0

Man United target Iniesta to sign new deal with Barcelona – Reports

by Leave a Comment

MANCHESTER (Sporting Alert) — Midfield maestro Andrés Iniesta has been linked with a shocking move to Manchester United, but Barcelona dismissed the claims and said the Spanish international will sign a new deal soon.

It had been suggested that Iniesta is becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of playing time under new manager Gerardo Martino and would consider a move away from the Camp Nou.

However, Barca’s director of football, Andoni Zubizarreta, denied the reports and claimed that the World Cup winner could sign a new contract before Christmas.

“We’re close to agreeing a new contract with Iniesta,” Zubizarreta was quoted as saying in an interview with ‘Catalunya Radio’

“I think it could happen before Christmas.”

Manchester United manager David Moyes is said to be looking to add a few quality players to his squad in the January transfer window after missing out on all his targets in the summer.