Premier League relegation remaining matches 2009

What a memorable match last night. Newcastle triumphing 3-1 The drama of Newcastle's own goal almost summarising the Magpies' terrible season, Alan Shearer's aggressive double substitution and Obafemi Martens slippery action before watching his shot get the Geordies to 2-1. Nerve racking for the fans and players involved but amazing for any neutral football lover.

Anyway, take a look at this lot to see how tight it is. Newcastle moved out of the relegation zone last night pushing Phil Brown's demotivated Hull City into the 3rd from bottom drop position. Despite the gritty fight displayed by the Baggies, I can't see them getting any points at Anfield this weekend. Boro will go down purely due to their lack of scoring ability; Alves will not participate in either of their 2 last games this season which worsens the picture for Gareth Southgate. Hull City's only chance is that Man Utd win the league early and field a weak squad on the last day of season at the KC stadium. Alan Shearer's Newcastle United are galvanised now - I can see them getting 1-4 points from their games against Fulham and Villa. It will go right to the wire this one, incredible stuff.

Relegation battle games 2009

West Brom
Home against Liverpool 1pm Sunday 17th May
Away at Blackburn Rovers 4pm Sunday 24th May

Middlesbrough
Home against Aston Villa 3pm Saturday 16th May
Away at West Ham 4pm Sunday 24th May

Hull City
Away at Bolton 3pm Saturday 16th May
Home against Man Utd 4pm Sunday 24th May

Newcastle United
Home against Fulham 3pm Saturday 16th May
Away at Aston Villa 4pm Sunday 24th May

Spurs linked with Cisse and Tevez

As a loyal Spurs fan, I would love Tevez but I don't think that we'll have nor the bidding power or attraction to get him. Man City will bid stupid amounts of cash and it doesn't sound like Man U will look to spend similar money to their other signing Dmitri Stroppatov.

I've always thought Cisse is a great Premier League striker and would think that Harry Redknapp might fancy a bit of a bargain signing with him.

Newcastle 3 Middlesbrough 1 Premier League 11th May 2009

Alan Shearer's Newcastle United won arguably one of the biggest games in thier history, beating fellow North East strugglers Middlesborough 3-1.

Scorers: Newcastle: Taylor, S 9, Martins 71, Lovenkrands 86
Middlesbrough: Beye (og) 3

FULL MATCH REPORT TO FOLLOW

Newcastle v Middlesborough Premier League 11th May 2009 8pm

Newcastle v Middlesbrough - the ultimate Premiership relegation scrap

With Premier League teams that possess the talent of a top ten team but the form of a team looking Championship bound, you really could not predict what this Monday night relegation battle will bring. This is the 114th league meeting between the 2 teams from the North East and could be considered as one of the most important in both of their club histories.

Neither team should be where they are considering the club resources that they have. Especially Newcastle who have one of the best season ticket fan bases in the country as well as money in the bank to get the right players. Mike Ashley has done made some terrible management and PR mistakes, in my opinion the worst one was sacking Sam Allardyce. Big Sam was on a 3 year deal and the Geordies kept him for only 9 months. I think its quite simple: if you give Sam Allardyce 5 seasons he will get you consistently in the top 8 of the Premier League, pushing on for European football action. He’s arguably the best English manager around and I can remember as a Spurs fan feeling apprehensive about meeting the Newcastle because they were the new Bolton (!).

For Boro, Emanuel Pogatetz (knee) and Chris Riggott (ankle) will miss the game. With the level of importance that this match holds, the visitors won't be reading too much into the fact that Middlesbrough haven't lost at St James' Park since 2004.

For the Magpies, defender Steven Taylor could make the match after recovering from an ankle injury and training with the Newcastle United squad. Then of course there's no Joey Barton who was suspended for a straight red card in the latter stages of their defeat by Liverpool at Anfield. Although Shearer has insisted that he is looking forward after that incident he will surely be seething inside that Barton has made his job even harder by sidelining himself unnecessarily.

Caretaker boss Alan Shearer was quoted on the BBC football website as saying: "I am as surprised as anyone at the situation we are in. But we are in it, so we have got to face it head on and we have got to get out of it, and that's what we are trying to do. I believe we have still got enough time. I still believe we have got enough in the dressing room to get us out of this and I have got confidence in my squad."

You have to feel for any club in this position but there are other teams I believe that Boro and Newcastle are better than in the Premier League but they’ve both failed to deliver that form – it could be too little too late for them.

I reckon a draw, under 2.5 goals so football betting will be tough.

Manchester United v Manchester City 1pm 10th May 2009

Manchester United vs Manchester City 13.30pm Premier League match 10th May
Anyone who watched the Red Devils demolish Arsenal on Tuesday night would be unlikely to bet against them doing the same against their local rivals. As well as all the emotions associated with the derby, this fixture is viewed as a bit of a grudge match by the United team due to losing to Manchester City both home and away last season. After beating City at Eastlands earlier this season, United undoubtedly want to do the same this year.

The spectacular Champions’ League result aside, Manchester United are in excellent form. Since losing two games in a row in March, they've won eight and drawn one in all competitions. In their last 5 games, all of which resulted in victory, Manchester United have have netted 13 goals.

Manchester City fans will point to the fact that they are also in form at the moment, having won three on the bounce. Victories over West Ham, Everton and Blackburn have left City in contention for possible entry into the Europa League. These fans will also be hoping that Robinho will demonstrate at Old Trafford the excellent form he is capable of. However as Tuesday showed, an in-form Manchester United has the ability to wipe the floor with even the best of teams. Mark Hughes’ best hope therefore is that with three big games in less than a week and with the Champions League final beckoning, Ferguson may want to rest some of his bigger names to minimise chances of injury. It is also worth noting, that although this would be anathema to the United fans, the Red Devils could look to play for a draw as they only need seven points from twelve to retain the Premiership title.

In terms of squad, Gary Neville has recovered from the foot injury that has kept him out for a month. Wes Brown (foot) is however out for the season, while Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov and Paul Scholes are available and hoping to start. For City, midfielder Shaun-Wright Phillips could miss out (ankle) although Pablo Zabaleta looks to have recoved from his hamstring injury.

It is difficult to see Man United not winning this with a thumping of City. Whilst considering the pace and skill of United’s squad, Mark Hughes’ words are correct but seem particularly understated "You have to work very hard if you want to beat United and your goalkeeper usually has to play very well.” This is however the Premiership and anything could happen!

Arsenal v Chelsea Premier League fixture 4pm 10th May 2009

Arsenal v Chelsea Premiership 4pm match

Although this match is a clash of 2 of the strongest teams in Europe, managed by 2 of the most respected managers in the modern game, there is a strong sense of anti-climax and disappointment surrounding the fixture. As all fans of football will be aware, both sides exited the Champions League earlier this week. Arsenal’s defence simply wasn’t good enough from the outset and they conceded 3 goals to Manchester United, Chelsea’s road to ruin was a lot more contentious involving questionable refereeing decision. However the end result for both teams was the same: disappointment, recriminations and no final in Rome. Prior to this week’s events both teams had also acknowledged they were also effectively out of the Premiership title race.

Both Hiddink and Wenger have however been quick to state that their teams have the strength of character to bounce back from the week’s disappointment and they will be keen to get a result as evidence of this. Arsenal also has the added incentive of potentially catching Chelsea in third place; currently 6 points separate the teams. Wenger has the home advantage over his Dutch rival, which Chelsea has never managed to overturn at the Emirates. The Gooners also have superior Premiership form within the elite 4 clique; they are to date unbeaten by the other 3 teams, including a victory at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, and could along with Liverpool do the double over the Blues. In contrast the only point Chelsea has won against top four opposition is courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on 21 September. Hiddink’s team will however take comfort from the fact that during their most recent encounter, Chelsea were victorious and knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup.

Unfortunately for the Gooners, Andrey Arshavin has not been able to train due to a virus and is therefore unavailable. Clichy (back), Eduardo (groin) and former Chelsea defender Gallas (knee) are also out for the rest of the season. Wenger will however almost certainly be demonstrating his confidence in Gibb, whose mid-week slip led to conceding the first goal against the Red Devils and effectively ended the contest, "The best thing to do in that situation sometimes is to give them straight away the chance again to play."

Chelsea are likely to be without Drogba after he picked up an ankle injury in the Champions League defeat and Joe Cole and Paulo Ferreira are out with knee ligament injuries.

Predicting the result for this afternoon’s clash is a difficult one; in the words of Wenger "[It] will be down to the team who deals best with the disappointment, who wants it more and who has more strength of character.” Let’s go with 2:2 for now then!!

West Ham 0 Liverpool 3 Premier League result

West Ham 0 Liverpool 3

Liverpool kept their heads down in the Premier League today to continue the pressure on Manchester United as best as they can.

Captain Steven Gerrard was put in by a great through ball from striker sensation Torres, Gerrard’s diagonal run was intelligent but West Ham’s attempt at an offside trap wasn’t. Gerrard didn’t make any mistake, scoring within only 2 minutes. 36 minutes later Liverpool had a penalty, Gerrard’s spot kick was saved by Robert Green but it rebounded back to Gerard to net his second.

It was one way traffic at Upton Park with the visitors looking to dominate the possession. In the second half, Torres missed narrowly with freak header (looked like it just accidentally bounced off if his head!) just going wide and Dirk Kuyt was foiled by Green in a one on one scenario. Zola’s boys have had a good transitional season but Liverpool bossed the midfield.
Babel was picked out towards the end by Kuyt, only for his header to be saved by Green but then the ricochet was picked up for Babel to make certain of 3 points for the Reds.
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the Premier League – Benitez should be proud of their efforts this season but they will probably come up short against the mighty Man Utd.
Attendance: 34,951

Barclays Premier League Football fixtures 9 May 2009

Premiership Fixtures 9th May 2009

This week's Premiership fixtures for today's action as below:

Blackburn v Portsmouth 3pm kick off

Bolton v Sunderland 3pm kick off

Everton v Tottenham 3pm kick off

Fulham v Aston Villa, 3pm kick off

Hull v Stoke, 3pm kick off

West Brom v Wigan 3pm kick off

West Ham v Liverpool 5.30pm kick off

Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona Champions League Semi Final (aggregate score 1-1)

Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona (agg 1-1) Barcelona win on away goals rule

Last night Chelsea had one of the most dramatic Champions League semi-final exits ever witnessed. With both teams starting brightly it was the home team that scored first in explosive fashion with Michael Essien hitting a left foot volley so sweetly which clocked in speed wise at 64mph. What a start for Hiddink’s men.

Barcelona played super one touch passing movements, maintaining possession in classic continental style. However it was Chelsea that looked more threatening every time they counter attacked Barca.

Then came a big penalty shout from Chelsea, with Drogba going down in the penalty area with a spot of shirt tugging and physical gamesmanship from defender Abidal but referee Ovrebo was not interested. Looked like a blatant pen on the replay to me.

In the second half, the Ivory Coast international striker was put in another great scoring position by Anelka but Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes stood up to Drogba and saved with an out stretched leg.

Abidal was dismissed with a straight red card in the 65th minute when Anelka made a run in on the Barca goal. Seemed harsh and Abidal’s team mates certainly thought so.

With Chelsea being mindful of their slender lead, they pushed for a second but it didn’t come. The nauseating prospect of a late knockout blow from the visitors loomed. It came tragically for them in the 92nd minute when Iniesta gained possession from Essien’s clearance and cracked a 20 yard shot past Cech to cement the favourites into the Champions League final against Manchester United.

In the dying moments, more scandal. German midfield general Micahel Ballack hit a superb volley goal wards which definitely struck Samuel Eto on the arm. Eto had both arms up which for me in that situation is a penalty; that said it is cruel on the man in the defensive position. Ballack reacted in an unsporting manner towards the ref, appealing aggressively by shouting and running after Ovrebo like a man possessed.

The final whistle blew. Drogba who loves to be the centre of attention violently appealed to the referee next. With adequate security he was ushered away from the referee but then went up to the Sky Sports camera and said “This is a disgrace, a disgrace...this is a f**king disgrace.” There will surely be UEFA punishment for this disgraceful behaviour. Yes, Chelsea were robbed last night but yet again it demonstrated at the highest level to families and kids tuning in to Sky Sports TV that within football there is no genuine respect for officials. A shame that Chelsea went out in this way but it has paved the way for a classic Blockbuster – Barcelona versus Manchester United in the Chamipions League final could well be a classic encounter.

Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3 Champions League Semi Final Result (agg 1-4)

Champs League 2009 Semi Result Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3 (aggregate 1-4)

Any team in the world looking to beat Man Utd at the moment, good luck. Yet again, Fergie's latest crop proved that they want to keep dominating and beating the best in Europe. Having Park upfront certainly raised eyebrows, including the benched ex-Spurs striker Dimitri Berbatov. In typical Man Utd fashion, they proved anyone even thinking of criticising Sir Alex's decisions with a very early goal from South Korean international Ji-Sung Park, shortly followed by another Ronaldo special leaving the Emirates party a tad flat to say the least. United held Arsenal in midfield and stayed firm in defence. Ronaldo kept the pressure on and tested Almunia several times. In the second half the Portuguese star made it three to rub salt in the wounds for Wenger.

Manchester United's determination was evident for all to see and I think they would beat either Barcelona or Chelsea in the final. However they may have to do so without Darren Fletcher who was straight red carded for a challenge where he actually touched the ball before the Arsenal player. Fletcher, who believes he is showing the form of his life this season will be beside himself with dissapointment tonight and would imaginably be pushing for an appeal on this refereeing decision.

I would bet on Man Utd to win this competition on the basis of that performance alone.