Football

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

‘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 […]

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 […]

Football’s Christmas period is, like the World Cup and European Championship, a law unto itself. The concentration of a huge number of games into a short space of time means bizarre things will happen on the pitch, like Cuco Martina scoring one of the goals of the season or Stoke – Stoke! – being involved […]

Welcome to the BetBright STATZONE, where we give you the stats and you make the decisions! It’s ‘Week 20’ in the Premier League as we head into another full round of fixtures this 26th (Boxing Day) and 27th of December. We get going at 12:30pm with newly-promoted pair of Fulham hosting Wolves – and with […]

Two goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proved key for Unai Emery’s side, as the Gunners got back to winning ways in the Premier League immediately following their shock defeat at the hands of struggling Southampton. Sead Kolasinac was also a tireless presence down the left-hand side. Mesut Ozil returned for the home side to take the […]

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first game in charge of Manchester United could not have gone much better. Goals, confidence and positivity – three things that had blatantly run out in the dying months of the Jose Mourinho era. Paul Pogba returned to the centre of midfield for the Red Devils, after his well-publicised tough relationship with […]

In the first 55 minutes at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea enjoyed 75% possession and completed almost four times as many passes as Leicester City. Claude Puel’s side were penned in their own penalty area, Jamie Vardy starved of possession in his own postcode as Leicester midfielders dropped deeper. Chelsea supporters waited for the opening goal like […]

Cardiff City fans may give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a mixed reception on his return to south Wales this weekend, as the former Bluebirds boss heads back to the scene of his first managerial job in the Premier League. After Jose Mourinho’s sacking earlier in the week, the Norwegian coach was appointed on an interim basis […]