EURO 2012

Swansea v Aston Villa – Saturday 24 October Arguably the most important fixture of the weekend, with both managers under considerable pressure. Garry Monk and Swansea have been on a winless run of six games, since beating Man Utd on August 30th, whilst Tim Sherwood’s Villa side are on just four points from nine games. Sherwood is undoubtedly in the more perilous position of the two, especially with Spurs and Man City next up after Swansea. In an act of desperation the Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust issued a statement to […]

PSG v Real Madrid – Wednesday October 21 Angel Di Maria will be looking to haunt his old club on his first return since leaving for Old Trafford, and whilst far from vulnerable, Madrid will put out a weaker side than usual with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema expected to sit this one out through injury. PSG meanwhile will welcome back Marco Verratti with open arms, meaning Laurent Blanc has no other major injury concerns other than David Luiz. Another daunting prospect for Rafa Benitez is the form of, who […]

  Tottenham v Liverpool – 17 October The hype for this game was turned up a notch when Liverpool announced Jurgen Klopp as their new manager. The charismatic German has long fascinated the press and his exploits at Bayer Leverkusen suggest that he is a good fit for this current Liverpool side. With so much focus on the Merseyside team, the pressure is somewhat off for Tottenham. They are marginal favourites for this match with the Spiffindex at 2.54, but Klopp has barely had time to meet his new charges […]

Belgium v Israel – 13 October Israel slipped to fourth behind Bosnia and Herzegovina after losing at home to Cyprus at the weekend and must now win and hope the Bosnians drop points in Cyprus in order to claim a play-off place. However Belgium have a five year unbeaten record in qualifiers and the young, dynamic side will be aiming to continue to perform going into the Euros after disappointing in Brazil last year. It doesn’t help Israel’s chances that the country is in dire form at the moment – […]

 Czech Republic v Turkey – 10 October The Czech Republic come into their penultimate Group A game secure in the knowledge that they will be playing in the finals. Group A’s surprise package Iceland means that Turkey and the Netherlands have been pushed back to content for a play-off spot, meaning that two of the continents stronger teams may not even make it to France. Turkey can confirm a play-off place with a game to spare if they can extend their two-point lead over the Netherlands. They have the superior […]

Scotland v Poland – 8 October This is a crunch match for Scotland in a group where qualification seemed a distinct possibility for so long only for an unexpected defeat away to Georgia swept the rug from under their feet. However if Scotland can defeat Poland at Hampden and Republic of Ireland fail to beat Germany in Dublin, then there is a very real chance that the Scots would sneak into the third qualifying place in the last round of games thanks to what would be their superior head to […]

Sunderland v West Ham – Saturday October 3rd A defeat here and Sunderland go into panic mode. Dick Advocaat’s side have conceded sixteen, they’re rock bottom, and have just two points. In contrast, West Ham are third, and have looked consistently impressive, especially performances from keeper Adrian. Jermain Defoe goes up against the club which launched his career on Saturday, and has called for his teammates to start getting points on the board now, calling it “a massive game and it is a game we need to win”. Sunderland have […]

Man Utd v Wolfsburg – Wednesday 30th September Man Utd are flourishing right now; top of the Premier League, Wayne Rooney looks to be getting back to his best, the England man is forming a promising relationship with Martial, and Depay has hit 4 goals since his arrival too. The goal in the 3-0 victory over Sunderland will do wonders for Rooney’s own confidence; the striker had previously gone 999 minutes goalless in the Premiership. Juan Mata has warned his teammates that they’ll need to be at their best to […]