Sunderland Capital One Cup

Sunderland can upset the odds in Capital One Cup Final

 January 23, 2014   John Welsh

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The final of this season’s Capital One Cup Final at Wembley will pitch Premier League title challengers Manchester City against relegation threatened Sunderland in a match already being described as an almost certain victory for City. Bookmakers have installed Manuel Pellegrini’s team as overwhelming favourites but cup finals are never decided by the form book […]

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Luis Suarez Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez : Deeply Controversial But Utterly Captivating

 December 14, 2013   Paranjoy Goswami

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In the year 2013 perhaps no other footballer has grabbed as many newspaper headlines as Luis Suarez. From jaw-dropping tricks and incredible hat-tricks to transfer rumours and cannibalistic humours, Luis Suarez nicknamed ‘el pistolero’, has produced it all with Liverpool in the past twelve months. Earlier this year at Stamford Bridge, Suarez shocked fans and […]

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World Cup draws not so kind to Brazil but England should progress

 December 7, 2013   John Welsh

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Those first few glances at the 2014 World Cup draw would seem to suggest that Brazil, Argentina, France and Germany have drawn fairly winnable groups while Italy and England face much greater challenges in their opening matches. A more analytical study indicates that for some teams, all may not be as straightforward as first appears, […]

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Referees under spotlight again in European football leagues

 October 30, 2013   John Welsh

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Events in recent weeks in European football have raised the lingering question regarding the aptitude of referees for officiating in the more high profile matches. In Bundesliga at Hoffenheim, there was the so-called ‘ghost goal’ and in the Premier League more recently, two match results were partially influenced by contentious decisions by the officials. Although, […]

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England vs Poland

Bold England approach ensures play-off lottery avoided

 October 16, 2013   John Welsh

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A 2-0 win against Poland guaranteed an entry for England into the World Cup finals in summer 2014 and it could be argued that the victory was achieved in a match akin to the pace associated with the Premier League. There have been several recent performances by the English team where the lack of creativity […]

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