Category: Football

WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON — That’s 11 goals in two matches either side of Christmas. That’s 45 points from 19 games, Tottenham‘s best start to a season since the Glory Glory year of 1961. That’s a point more than Manchester City. They will never win the league, though. To suggest so is to invite death by rotten fruit and titters. Never mind are they challengers.…

A Mohamed Salah penalty put Liverpool 2-0 up against Newcastle on Boxing Day. With Manchester City losing to Leicester it looked like a crucial goal as the Reds tried to build their lead at the top of the Premier League table. While Liverpool fans were delighted, it's fair to say their counterparts in the away end, as well as a fair few pundits and…

Marco Silva insists that all of his Everton players must take responsibility for their recent poor form and will not single out Jordan Pickford. Pickford, 24, established himself as one of the most sought-after young goalkeepers in the world after starring for England in the World Cup, but in recent weeks has been culpable of some howlers that have cost his side. Early in…

Dele Alli has been back to something like his best in recent weeks, scoring three goals in a period in which Tottenham have won six of their past seven games. An injury picked up in Spurs' win over Everton on Sunday, however, means he is a doubt for a busy festive period which includes matches against Bournemouth, Wolves and Cardiff in the space of…

“We’re going to kill the players,” said an exasperated Pep Guardiola in January 2018. “I know here in England the show must go on, but that’s not normal, guys.” Manchester City’s coach was bemused by the sheer intensity of the Premier League’s Christmas schedule. And he was not the first to voice such an opinion. Throughout Europe, it is customary to have a break…

After the indulgence of Christmas, there is a feast of sporting action on Boxing Day: and the horse racing at Kempton looks set to be a cracker. As well as the famous King George VI Chase, there are five other races getting underway at 12.50pm. Live coverage begins on ITV at 1pm. i racing editor Jon Freeman fancies Waiting Patiently for the big race and…

It’s been said before and it’s being said again now. Waiting Patiently could not be more appropriately named. He was trained by Malcolm Jefferson, the quiet, genial Cumbrian who learned old school techniques and good habits from Gordon Richards before setting up on his own across the Pennines in Yorkshire, from where he sent out hundreds of winners over almost four decades, mainly over…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been dealt a squad selection headache just days after assuming his position as caretaker manager. First-choice striker Romelu Lukaku has been given a leave of absence on compassionate grounds which will see him miss Solskjaer's first few games in charge, according to reports. It's not just the Norwegian who will be missing the forward; Lukaku is owned by 4.5 per…

Football It would be easier to say when football isn’t on television over the festive period. Between now and New Year’s Day, there are 16 Premier League matches live on television. And if that is not enough, there are five Championship games. There’s a Sky Sports triple-header on Boxing Day. And if you are still hungry for more, Southampton v West Ham will be…

Boxing Day is a time for leftover turkey, sales at the shops and wild football matches. The wacky round of post-Christmas fixtures in 1963 has gone down in legend, with the division’s 20 teams sharing an astonishing 66 goals – a ludicrous tally which led to much questioning about just how many pigs in blankets the league’s defenders had demolished the day before. “There…

The festive period usually marks the halfway point of the season, which makes it an ideal time to take stock. These three teams were all sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League after the traditional round of Boxing Day fixtures, before things went badly wrong in the second half of the campaign… Newcastle 1995/96 Kevin Keegan was an even more popular figure…

The growing rivalry between Exeter Chiefs and Saracens at the pinnacle of the English club game ratcheted up a significant notch with Exeter's 31-13 win at Sandy Park that shattered Sarries' eight-month unbeaten run on Saturday. “Uncharateristically, Saracens cracked a few times,” said Rob Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, who had drummed into his men the need for a positive performance in the…

Bumper crowds do not always coincide with brilliant rugby matches. The Coventry multitude of 31,626 were consigned to a bitty mess of breakdown and scrum penalties, not that Bath will care too much as their fly-half Freddie Burns steered them through the holiday traffic with a man-of-the-match performance of personal redemption. Burns suffered a much-publicised and ridiculed blip against Toulouse at The Rec earlier…

‘Twas the game before Christmas, and the goals were non-stop, with Spurs beating Everton, to close in on the top. Everyone involved with Tottenham Hotspur was left with a warm feeling going into Christmas as they closed within two points of Manchester City, and six off Liverpool in a what was is their hardest fixture of the festive period comfortably out of the way.…

Fulham will return to Craven Cottage in search of a win after a run of five games without, Claudio Ranieri‘s only three points coming from his first match in charge, against Southampton. The Boxing Day visitors, Wolves, will hope to similarly return to winning ways, after their three on the bounce streak was broken by a 2-0 loss to Liverpool at home. Previous wins…