Archive for April 2009
Advantage United at Old Trafford
If United wins the tie against the Gunners then they will be in the final for the second consecutive year.
In the semis last season against Barcelona, United played a goalless draw at Nou Camp but then beat Barca 1 nil at Old Trafford.
A goalless draw will see United reach the final again but if Arsenal wins 1-nil then the match will be decided by a penalty shoot out and any other result the match will be decided after 90 minutes.
In the quarters, the Gunners managed a one all draw against Villareal but then were convincing winners at the Emirates to reach the semis.
Its much tougher this time because they are playing in a match where they have to win to reach the final. A draw will be good enough for Man U.
After that second leg match the two teams meet again ten days later in league.
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Chelsea holds Barca goalless
This is the first time this season that Barcelona has failed to score in a Champions League match.
The last match the Catalan giants failed to score in a UCL match was last season's semi-final second leg at Old Trafford and the last time they were held goalless in the competition was in the first leg of that semi-final.
On the other hand Chelsea's last goalless draw in the competition was in the group stages this season against CFR Cluj.
From that match Chelsea managed to score in every match until today.
So its now down to the second leg and Barcelona will be hoping that they will not see a repeat of last year when they were held goalless at home and then lost the second leg.
Pompey frustrates Newcastle
That single point meant that the Magpies moved to third from bottom on goal difference above near neighbours Middlesborough.
The last two home matches for Newcastle are against Middlesbrough and Fulham and the Boro match could be the deciding one because both teams desperately need points.
The last two away matches for the Magpies are against Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Still talking about relegation, West Bromwich Albion got a rare win against Sunderland to be three points behind Middlesbrough.
At the top, Manchester United's comeback win against Tottenham made sure they maintained their three point gap at the top of the ladder with one game in hand.
All the top four teams won.
Everton's loss to Manchester City at home means it now trails Aston Villa by two points.
Villa could only manage a draw at the Reebok Stadium but that draw will given them some breathing space in their effort to secure fifth place.
Following Newcastle's draw against Pompey, Newcastle has the highest number of draws at the moment and below we take a look at the draws ladder:
| Team | Played | Goals For | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 34 | 14 | 13 |
| Arsenal | 34 | 14 | 11 |
| Everton | 34 | 11 | 11 |
| Fulham | 34 | 4 | 11 |
| Liverpool | 34 | 10 | 11 |
| Portsmouth | 34 | 10 | 11 |
| Aston Villa | 34 | 9 | 10 |
| Blackburn | 34 | 9 | 10 |
| Hull City | 34 | 13 | 10 |
| Middlesbrough | 34 | 6 | 10 |
| Stoke City | 34 | 8 | 9 |
| West Ham | 34 | 6 | 9 |
| Chelsea | 34 | 5 | 8 |
| Sunderland | 34 | 5 | 8 |
| Tottenham | 34 | 7 | 8 |
| Wigan | 33 | 4 | 8 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 34 | 8 | 7 |
| Bolton | 34 | 4 | 5 |
| Manchester City | 34 | 8 | 5 |
| Manchester United | 33 | 3 | 5 |
Three teams have so far just five draws and these are Manchester United, Manchester City and Bolton.
Bayern parts company with Klinsmann
Klinsmann joined the Bundesliga team at the start of the season and below we will show the Bayern's stats under his reign in the UEFA Champions League which is quite impressive.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Matches | 10 |
| Won | 6 |
| Drawn | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Away wins | 3 |
| Home wins | 3 |
| Goals scored | 25 |
| Goals conceded | 10 |
| Home goals scored | 15 |
| Away goals scored | 10 |
So Bayern lost just one match in the Champions League and that was the 4-nil loss away to Barcelona.
Gunners dent Liverpool title hopes
The draw sees Liverpool go top of the ladder courtesy of a superior goal difference over Manchester United who now have two games in hand.
The 4-all draw was the second 4-all draw this season and the seventh league draw at Anfield where Liverpool are still to lose.
Also it was the second 4-all draw for Liverpool who drew 4-all last week against Chelsea in the Champions League.
In the matches played on Saturday, no team managed to score more than one goal with the match having the most goals being the one-all draw between Aston Villa and West Ham.
Manchester City's 4-2 win over West Bromwich Albion was the first time a team had scored more than one goal in round 33 of the English Premier League but then there were goals galore at Anfield.
There are still two more matches to be played in this round with Chelsea playing Everton and Manchester United hosting Portsmouth.
A draw or a win for Man U will the see them go top of the ladder.
2009/10 A-League fixtures released
The 2009/10 season will feature 10 teams and therefore the number of matches has increased 135 in the regular season.
The top six teams will participate in the finals. There will be just one extra match in the finals with the teams finishing in the third to sixth places playing knockout one-off matches with no reverse fixtures.
Only the top two teams will play each other home and away with the winner heading straight to the Grand Final.
The season will kick-off on the 6th of August 2009 and the last regular season match will be played on the 14th of February 2010.
The grand final will be held on the 20th of March 2010.
The fixtures will soon be available on TipsChallenge
Wolves gets promotion
Wolves still have two matches to play but second placed local rivals Birmingham City are six points behind with an inferior of goal difference and therefore chances are high that Wolves will be champions as well.
Wolves last got promotion into the premiership in the 2002/3 season after winning the play-off final at Cardiff against Sheffield United and they finished bottom at the end of the 2003/4 season.
They must be hoping for a better finish in the 2009/10 premiership season.
English rivals meet in UCL semis
Arsenal beat Villareal 3-nil at home to advance with an aggregate score of 4-1.
So there is going to be an English team in the Champions League final this season for the fifth season in a row.
If Chelsea beat Barcelona then there will be an all English final for the second consecutive year.
Interestingly if both teams win their FA Cup ties then they will meet four times between now and the end of the season because the two teams are still a league match in May at Old Trafford.
Chelsea to meet Barcelona in semis
Barcelona on the other hand beat Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate after the Bundesliga side managed a one-all draw at home.
Barcelona has scored the highest number of goals in the competition so far with 29 goals whereas Chelsea has scored 19.
It is interesting to see that Barca's goals are evenly split between first and second half with the La Liga giants having scored 15 goals in the first half and 14 goals in the second half.
The Stamford Bridge outfit on the other hand has scored 13 goals in the second half compared to just six in the first half.
Interestingly the two teams have conceded the same number of goals so far. Both teams have conceded 12 goals.
Barcelona has conceded four goals in the first half whilst Chelsea has conceded five.
Like in the quarter-finals Chelsea will host the second leg.
Villa, Everton share spoils
Villa and Everton have to fight out for a Europa Cup place with the nearest challenger West Ham eight points adrift of Everton on 44 points.
This was the first time this year that a match has finished finished 3-all. Last season two matches finished with that scoreline.
All the top four teams won their matches with both Arsenal and Liverpool scoring four goals winning 4-1 and 4-nil respectively.
Manchester United and Chelsea could only afford one goal margin wins.
Nothing changed in the relegation zone West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle were able to pick up vital away points in their drawn matches.
Middlesbrough managed to get three precious points in their match against Hull.
This week we take a look at the scorelines involved in drawn matches.
| score | count( score ) |
|---|---|
| 0 - 0 | 34 |
| 1 - 1 | 30 |
| 2 - 2 | 18 |
| 3 - 3 | 1 |
| 4 - 4 | 1 |
So the goalless draw is still the most popular drawn scoreline.
Barcelona wallop Bayern
There were no more goals in the second half but Barcelona may have done enough in the first forty five minutes to reach the semis where they will meet the winners between Liverpool and Chelsea.
Barcelona and Bayern went into this match being the top goal scorers so far in the competition but it was only Barca who managed to increase their tally.
In the all English quarter final match between Liverpool and Chelsea, the London club scored two second half goals for no reply after the score was tied one-all at half time.
Chelsea therefore carry a two goal advantage back to Bridge and must now be favourites to progress to the semis.
The matches on day one were all drawn. Holders Manchester United were held to an two-all draw by Porto whilst Villareal were held to a one-all draw by Arsenal.
The away goals could prove very handy for Arsenal and Porto when they host the return legs next week.
Shearer starts with defeat
One home match is gone and there are three more to go but the next match will see Shearer take his charges to Stoke which could be the only somehow easy away fixture of the four left.
At the top both Manchester United and Liverpool needed late goals to secure all three points.
It wasn't that easy for United for they had to come to from behind to score two goals in the last ten minutes of the round.
Aston Villa's loss means the winless run continues and its so surprising that a few weeks ago this was a team that looked like finishing second or third on the ladder.
Everton cemented its position in sixth place and will meet Villa in the next match in a straight fight for fifth place.
No change in the bottom as all three teams in the relegation zone lost their matches. West Brom now look very likely to be playing championship football next season.
This week we will look at the scorelines in the second half so far this season:
| Scoreline | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 0 - 0 | 72 |
| 0 - 1 | 41 |
| 0 - 2 | 17 |
| 0 - 3 | 8 |
| 0 - 4 | 1 |
| 1 - 0 | 67 |
| 1 - 1 | 27 |
| 1 - 2 | 13 |
| 1 - 3 | 3 |
| 2 - 0 | 30 |
| 2 - 1 | 15 |
| 2 - 2 | 3 |
| 2 - 3 | 1 |
| 3 - 0 | 6 |
| 3 - 2 | 1 |
| 3 - 3 | 1 |
| 4 - 0 | 2 |
| 4 - 2 | 1 |
Once again the goalless draw is the most popular in the second half of the premiership matches so far.
In second place is 1-nil followed by the reverse of that 0-1.
Confederations Cup tipping
The competition fixtures have already been set up and current users will only need to select and join the competition.
The 2009 Confederations Cup kicks off on 14th of June 2009 when hosts South Africa play Asian champions Iraq at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg.
The eight competing teams are grouped in two groups A and B and for the group stages four stadiums will be used.
Newcastle turn to Shearer
After the loss to Arsenal in their last match before the international break, Newcastle slipped into the relegation zone.
The Magpies have 29 points and lead bottom team West Browmich Albion by five points and trail Blackburn who are in 17th place by just two points.
So Shearer will have 24 points to play for and try and save his former team from the drop.
The last four home matches for Newcastle are against Chelsea, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Fulham and the last four away matches are against Stoke City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
