Chelsea face trickly Villa, Man United hoping to cruise at Reebok

Even after a huge win over Portsmouth in the midweek, Chelsea would be wondering why only “three” points??? Now with that result the premier league action has got as hot as possible… After 31 matches Manchester United lead the table with 69 points, followed by Chelsea who is a point behind and followed by third placed Arsenal who are also a point behind

This weekend there is plenty of action… After a long time, the new leaders Manchester United will be visiting Reebok Stadium to face Bolton Wanderers and are most likely to cruise over them to stay at the top. On the other hand, Bolton‘s aim will be to climb certain positions to end at a respectable stage. News for the locker room is that Wayne Rooney was reported with a knee injury but is known to be fine and looking the fixtures ahead, Sir Alex will not be taking chances. Other than that the red devils will be traveling with their usual squad with some grim chances of including Owen Hargreaves. Bolton will be without Sean Davis due to ankle injury but their star performer Kevin Davis is ready to lead the kill.

Chelsea will be hosting seventh placed Aston Villa in a tricky fixture as Villa has earlier stalled Manchester United, Liverpool and are no outsiders to the title race. Once at fourth place will will be happy to finish in that place for a prized entry into Europe.

Matches timings for the next three days are:

Saturday:

Birmingham City Vs Arsenal 1500 Hours GMT

Chelsea Vs Aston Villa 1500 Hours GMT

Hull City Vs Fulham 1500 Hours GMT

Tottenham Hotspur Vs Portsmouth 1500 Hours GMT

West Ham United Vs Stoke City 1500 Hours GMT

Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Everton 1500 Hours GMT

Bolton Wanderers Vs Manchester United 1730 Hours GMT

Sunday:

Burnley Vs Blackburn Rovers 1200 Hours GMT

Liverpool Vs Sunderland 1600 Hours GMT

Monday:

Manchester City VS Wigan Athletic 2000 Hours GMT

Ferdinand and Vidic return as United host Hammers.

After their shock defeat at Goodison Park, Manchester United will be back to Old Trafford and will be hosting West Ham United for a crucial match and a chance to narrow the lead to one point for the current leaders Chelsea. For the fact of the matter, this match was postponed due to snowfall and the league cup and finally a date was decided for the same on 23rd February.

 

Good news for the red devils is that Rio Ferdinand will be available after successfully completing his four match ban which happened due to violent conduct against Hull City. The other defender Namanja Vidic is also expected to start as he is fast recovering from the calf injury. The Serbian was on the bench for the match against Everton. It was visible that Unitedmissed Ryan Giggs on the wing. He is still out due to the arm injury. The Hammers remain just four points off the relegation zone, but their back to back wins over Birmingham City and Hull City have boosted confidence in Gianfranco Zola‘s squad. Nevertheless, they have struggled on their away fixtures this season, winning just one of 13 away games which is a huge cause of concern for the Hammers and the old Trafford tradition go against their wish to turn the tables.

 

With title for one and relegation scare for another at stake this will be an exciting contest to see who win. The odds favourManchester United, last time when they met at Opton Park the visitors thrashed them with four goals. Alan Wiley will be the referee for the night. He has handed 4 red cards 28 games overall and none for United.

The match will be starting at 2000 Hours GMT (i.e. 0130 Hours IST). Don’t miss the all important match.

Manchester United visit Goodison park for a table top chance.

After some exciting action in the champions league, the focus now shifts back to the premier league this weekend were the race the top position is getting hotter and hotter as the league is going in the last quarter. All the league teams will be in action over the next two days with the top teams meeting the lower places ones but as seen before the giant killing action may impact them.
In an early kick off, Manchester United will be up against Everton who are in excellent form as they defeated leaders Chelsea a week ago thus narrowing the gap at the top and also Sporting Lisbon in the Europa Cup. Sir Alex Ferguson will be travelling to Goodison Park without Nani and Rio Ferdinand who are suspended. What would be concerning the red devils will be their former place Louis Saha who is in excellent for hit 15 goals so for which included his double over Chelsea days ago. For those who have forgotten, Wayne Rooney will bre going to he club where he made headlines in 2003.

After committing many blunders against Porto in the champions league, Arsenal will be out their to prove with a win against mid tablers Sunderland who have not won a single match in their last six outings. More good news for the Gunners is that Nicklas Bendtner is back form his injury for the match which is expected to stop their scoring drought.
Sunday will be crucial for both Liverpool and Manchester City when they meet at the City of Manchester Stadium. The reds will be hoping to take back and retain the fourth place. After their 1-0 win over Unirea Urziceni in the Europa Cup two days ago they would like to continue their winning momentum.
The match timings are:
Saturday:
Everton Vs Manchester United
Arsenal Vs Sunderland
West Ham United Vs Hull City
Wolves Vs Chelsea
Portsmouth Vs Stoke City

Sunday:
Blackburn Rovers Vs Bolton Wanderers
Aston Villa Vs Burnley
Fulham Vs Birmingham City
Manchester City Vs Liverpool
Wigan Vs Tottenham Hotspurs

Important announcement: League Cup Match Postponed.

The Carling Cup/League Cup semi final between Manchester United and Manchester City, originally scheduled on 6th January, has been postponed due to heavy snowfall in the Eastlands.
The match will now be played on 19th January ’10 and the return leg at Old Trafford will be played on 27th January ’10. As a result of it, the premier league match of thered devils against Hull City originally scheduled on 26th January ’10 has been further postponed which wil be communicated on a further date.
Thank You.

EPL Reporter

Manchester United host Blackburn Rovers this saturday

Back to the premiership after an exciting round of league cup, there is plenty of action to be seen this weekend as 16 teams will be playing this Saturday in what could be an important day in the premiership especially when a fourth of the league is over. As the fight is on for getting the top spot it will be a tricky battle for both leaders Chelseaand rivals Manchester United who face Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Roversrespectively. Currently Chelsea is leading at 24 points from 10 games at the top of the premier league while Man United is second just two points behind. Interesting to see, third placed Arsenal is at 19 points but with a game in hand and if they manage to win they may become joint second on points basis.

The latest from Old Trafford is that Korean mid fielder Ji Sung Park is still out of the squad following his knee injury and Scotland’s Darren Fletcher will also has to sit at side line following his foot injury . He has not played since his country’s world cup qualifiers. Michael Owen will be fired up after his midweek goal in the league cup against Barnsley. Expectations will be on Wayne Rooney who is missing from the scoring list to get his magic touch back.

As Blackburn Rovers have got big thrashing from the top premiership side over the previous two weeks from Arsenaland Chelsea, they will be fired up to achieve the task of giant killers this Saturday against the red devils. Manchester United has to make sure that they counter David Dunn well who is the only silver lining scoring goal for his side even in when they were defeated.

The other big match on Saturday will be the London derby featuring Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs at Emirates stadium. The result favouring any team will change the positions currently held by the teams. So this is a weekend which will be closely watched and will set the course for the next few weeks…

Manchester United should win this fixture with a 3-0 scoreline. Rooney, Owen, Berbatov expected to score.

The match at old Trafford will start at 1730 Hours GMT (2300 Hours IST) while the match at Emirates Stadium will start early at 1245 Hours GMT (1815 Hours IST).

Other matches over the weekend includes…

Saturday

Burnley Vs Hull City 1500 Hours GMT

Everton Vs Aston Villa 1500 Hours GMT

Fulham Vs Liverpool 1500 Hours GMT

Portsmouth Vs Wigan Athletic 1500 Hours GMT

Stoke City Vs Wolves 1500 Hours GMT

Sunderland Vs West Ham United 1500 Hours GMT

Sunday

Birmingham City Vs Manchester City

Monday

West Ham United Vs Aston Villa

Know Manchester United’s upcoming players.

As the youth of any organisation, group, family or country are the future, they must be taken full care off and given the right type of training for everyone’s benifit. Manchester United Football Club Reserves are the reserve team of Manchester United F.C where young and in many times children of 10-12 years are selected from various schools, smaller clubs, are selected and groomed for years and then some of them are promoted to the main team which plays in the premierleague. They play in the North section of the Premier Reserve League. They have been champions three times since the league’s inauguration in 1999; in 2002, 2005 & 2006. They also participate in the Manchester Senior Cup, although in recent years the teams entered in this competition have featured an increasing number of youth players. This tournment consists of several youth side which works a a full fledged league as that of premier league. Sir Alex Fergusonkeeps a close eye on the youth academy as he is responsible in bringing up some of the best players to the club through this route. David Beckham, Gary Naville are some of the famous examples, or in other words the famous products of the academy. The present day United’s youth squad consists of 18 players which are given training by the best with interactive session with the current players,who tell their experiences to the juniors which is always handy in crunch situations… According to Sir Alex “When I first came to the club one of my main aims was to reinvigorate our youth system to the level that we’ve now reached and one that we’re very happy with. I re-jigged the whole system of youth development from the scouting to the trialling. Seeing that group of players – the two Nevilles, Butt, Scholes, Beckham and Giggs – come through was fantastic and people will remember these players forever”. So one can see it is a good investment for commercially as well as for the better of this beautiful game.

The 1909 Jersey history

United wearing the V style jersey hoping the latest home kit will see its fair share of success, and will earn a place in the Old Trafford museum alongside classic kits like this one.It may look like a rugby shirt compared with today’s sleek, modern designs, but this classy affair has a proud place in the club’s history. The kit is based upon a 100-year-old design supplied by one of the club’s own players, Billy Meredith, before the 1909 FA Cup Final. Meredith, nicknamed the “Welsh Wizard”, is regarded as football’s first superstar and guided United to victory in the Cup and the league title the next year.It was in this kit that Ernest Mangnall’s men won United’s first FA Cup in 1909. With opponents Bristol City also sporting red as their first-choice kit, both sides were forced to wear neutral colours. United opted to ditch the usual scarlet number sported back then, but kept a dash of red with the V. It was V for victory, right enough; inside-forward Sandy Turnbull netting the game’s only goal. The team were presented with their shirts by keen fan George Robey, the music-hall comic at the behest of manager Mangnall, a man ahead of his time when it came to working the media. The V design returned between 1922 and 1927. With its current shirt sponsors as nike, the jersey has got a world wide reach with a global brand. The red devils trademark has reached its fans for a further about the design. Names like Wayne Rooley, Dimitar Berbatov, Rio Ferdinand are now household name and they are on the back of most of the jerseies wore across the world wiht major amount of fans in South Asia other that its home country. Its a matter of proud feeling that the this team had got many trophies after the first triumph to become one of the best in the world today and managed to hold this position for a long time.