Tips Challenge

Archive for April 2011

EPL round 35 preview: Chelsea vs Spurs

Saturday, 30th April 2011 7:20pm
Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspurs lock horns at Stamford Bridge with both clubs needing a win.

Chelsea needs a win in order to stay in the title race while Spurs needs a win as it tries to secure fourth place and also ward off Liverpool who are hot in pursuit in sixth place.

Chelsea are in second place and six points behind league leaders Manchester United.

Spurs are four points behind Manchester City in fourth place.

A draw will not be good for either teams.

Here is some of the stats for the two teams so far this season:

	Chelsea	Spurs
Rank	2	5
Played	34	33
Points	67	55
Drawn	7	13
Won	20	14
Lost	7	6
Goal difference	37	8
Clean sheets	15	7
Failed to score	8	7
Goals scored	64	49
Goals conceded	27	41
Ave. goals scored	1.9	1.5
Ave. goals conceded	0.8	1.2
Biggest win	Chelsea 6 - 0 W Brom Wigan 0 - 6 Chelsea	Tottenham 3 - 1 Wolves Tottenham 4 - 2 Blackburn Tottenham 2 - 0 Newcastle
Biggest loss	Chelsea 0 - 3 Sunderland	Man United 2 - 0 Tottenham Bolton 4 - 2 Tottenham Blackpool 3 - 1 Tottenham
Scored 3 or more	11	6
Conceded 3 or more	3	4
Scored 5 or more	2	0
Conceded 5 or more	0	0
Home matches
Played	17	17
Points	41	32
Drawn	2	8
Won	13	8
Lost	2	1
Goal difference	25	10
Goals scored	35	27
Goals conceded	10	17
Ave. goals scored	2.1	1.6
Ave. goals conceded	0.6	1.0
Away matches
Played	17	16
Points	26	23
Drawn	5	5
Won	7	6
Lost	5	5
Goal difference	12	-2
Goals scored	29	22
Goals conceded	17	24
Ave. goals scored	1.7	1.4
Ave. goals conceded	1.0	1.5

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2007/8	22	Chelsea	2	Tottenham	0
2007/8	30	Tottenham	4	Chelsea	4
2008/9	3	Chelsea	1	Tottenham	1
2008/9	30	Tottenham	1	Chelsea	0
2009/10	6	Chelsea	3	Tottenham	0
2009/10	35	Tottenham	2	Chelsea	1
2010/11	17	Tottenham	1	Chelsea	1

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

Man City edges closer to Champions League

Tuesday, 26th April 2011 9:04am
Manchester City's 1-nil over struggling Blackburn Rovers saw them move closer to Champions League football next season.

Man City can also possibly finish as high as third if they win all their remaining fixtures and third placed Arsenal slip up.

The hosts remained fifth from the bottom with four matches left to play.

Their four matches include two against relegation threatened West Ham and Wolves plus matches against Bolton and Manchester United.

City needed a second half goal to make sure they moved four points clear of Tottenham Hotspurs in fifth and five behind Arsenal.

Key for City will be their match against Spurs but by then the match could be irrelevant depending on how Spurs play against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Going into the last four rounds, I will take a look at the form table for the last six matches in the English Premiership:

Team	P	W	D	L	For	A	GD	Pts	Streak
Chelsea	6	5	1	0	13	3	10	16	WDWWWW
Liverpool	6	4	1	1	15	4	11	13	WWLWDW
Man United	6	4	1	1	9	5	4	13	LWWWDW
Everton	6	3	2	1	10	5	5	11	DWDWWL
W Brom	6	3	2	1	13	11	2	11	WDWWLD
Bolton	6	3	1	2	10	7	3	10	DWLLWW
Man City	6	3	1	2	8	6	2	10	DWLWLW
Tottenham	6	1	5	0	11	10	1	8	DDDWDD
Fulham	6	2	2	2	9	8	1	8	DWLWLD
Aston Villa	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	8	LLDWWD
Wolves	6	2	2	2	10	11	-1	8	WDWLLD
Arsenal	6	1	4	1	10	9	1	7	DDWDDL
Wigan	6	2	1	3	7	8	-1	7	LWDLWL
Bham City	6	2	1	3	7	12	-5	7	LWDWLL
Stoke	6	1	3	2	9	9	0	6	DLWDLD
Newcastle	6	1	2	3	6	9	-3	5	LLWLDD
West Ham	6	1	1	4	6	12	-6	4	WDLLLL
Sunderland	6	1	1	4	6	14	-8	4	DLLLLW
Blackburn	6	0	3	3	5	9	-4	3	LDDDLL
Blackpool	6	0	2	4	6	15	-9	2	LDLLLD

So Blackpool and Blackburn have the worst form at the moment and leaders Manchester United will face these two teams in their last remaining four matches.

Chelsea and Liverpool are in top form in the last six matches and for Liverpool its a form that could give them Europa League football next season.

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

EPL round 34 preview: Sunderland vs Wigan

Saturday, 23rd April 2011 10:58am
Sunderland face Wigan in the English Premiership in round 34 knowing that another defeat will bring them even closer to the relegation zone.

Wigan sit just outside the relegation zone after beating Blackpool in the last round and a win at the Stadium of Light will see them one point behind their hosts.

The Black Cats who boast one their biggest wins of the season being a 3-nil over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, are on a poor run form that has seen them collect just one point in the last six matches.

For most of the first half of the season the Black Cats sat just outside the top six places but since the turn of the year its been a free fall.

A win for Sunderland will see them reach 41 points and possibly the top half of the table depending on other results.

A draw will leave both teams in the relagation mix.

Here is some of the stats for the two seasons so far this season:

	Sunderland	Wigan
Rank	15	17
Played	33	33
Points	38	34
Drawn	11	13
Won	9	7
Lost	13	13
Goal difference	-12	-21
Clean sheets	12	6
Failed to score	11	13
Goals scored	35	32
Goals conceded	47	53
Ave. goals scored	1.1	1.0
Ave. goals conceded	1.4	1.6
Biggest win	Chelsea 0 - 3 Sunderland Sunderland 3 - 0 Blackburn	Wigan 2 - 0 Wolves Blackpool 1 - 3 Wigan
Biggest loss	Man City 5 - 0 Sunderland	Wigan 0 - 6 Chelsea
Scored 3 or more	2	2
Conceded 3 or more	6	6
Scored 5 or more	0	0
Conceded 5 or more	2	1
Home matches
Played	16	17
Points	23	19
Drawn	5	7
Won	6	4
Lost	5	6
Goal difference	1	-13
Goals scored	20	18
Goals conceded	19	31
Ave. goals scored	1.3	1.1
Ave. goals conceded	1.2	1.8
Away matches
Played	17	16
Points	15	15
Drawn	6	6
Won	3	3
Lost	8	7
Goal difference	-13	-8
Goals scored	15	14
Goals conceded	28	22
Ave. goals scored	0.9	0.9
Ave. goals conceded	1.6	1.4

Previous Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2007/8	3	Wigan	3	Sunderland	0
2007/8	26	Sunderland	2	Wigan	0
2008/9	4	Wigan	1	Sunderland	1
2008/9	29	Sunderland	1	Wigan	2
2009/10	14	Wigan	1	Sunderland	0
2009/10	25	Sunderland	1	Wigan	1
2010/11	4	Wigan	1	Sunderland	1

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

Third vs second : Valencia vs Real Madrid

Friday, 22nd April 2011 10:29pm
Valencia and Real Madrid may be separated by one position on the table but they are fourteen points apart as the two teams meet in the first fixture of La Liga's round 33.

However, the result of this fixture could have a huge bearing on the title destination especially if Real Madrid were to drop points.

Real trail Barcelona by eight points with six league matches left.

A win for Real will guarantee them a worst finish of second place and that could see the gap between Valencia and fourth placed Villarreal reduced to just three points should Villarreal win its match against Sevilla.

Valencia has only lost three times at home for its haul of 31 points amassed at the Mestalla.

Real has drawn four and won ten matches on the road.

Here is some of the stats for the two teams so far this season:

	Real Madrid	Valencia
Position	2	3
Played	32	32
Points	77	63
Drawn	5	6
Won	24	19
Lost	3	7
Goal difference	50	19
Clean sheets	15	9
Failed to score	6	6
Goals scored	73	54
Goals conceded	23	35
Ave. goals scored	2.3	1.7
Ave. goals conceded	0.7	1.1
Biggest win	Real Madrid 7 - 0 Málaga	Valencia 5 - 0 Villarreal
Biggest loss	Barcelona 5 - 0 Real Madrid	Zaragoza 4 - 0 Valencia
Scored 3 or more	13	6
Conceded 3 or more	1	3
Scored 5 or more	4	1
Conceded 5 or more	1	0
Home matches
Played	16	16
Points	43	31
Drawn	1	4
Won	14	9
Lost	1	3
Goal difference	39	13
Goals scored	47	28
Goals conceded	8	15
Ave. goals scored	2.9	1.8
Ave. goals conceded	0.5	0.9
Away matches
Played	16	16
Points	34	32
Drawn	4	2
Won	10	10
Lost	2	4
Goal difference	11	6
Goals scored	26	26
Goals conceded	15	20
Ave. goals scored	1.6	1.6
Ave. goals conceded	0.9	1.3

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2009/10	14	Valencia	2	Real Madrid	3
2009/10	33	Real Madrid	2	Valencia	0
2010/11	14	Real Madrid	2	Valencia	0

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Category: La Liga | Comments : 0

Third vs fourth : Inter vs Lazio

Friday, 22nd April 2011 9:40pm
In Serie A's round 34, third placed and defending champions Inter Milan will face fourth placed Lazio.

Inter are currently three points ahead of Lazio and a win will open a six points buffer and depending on the Napoli result they could end up in second place.

If Lazio win the match then they will know that at the end of the season if the two teams are tied on points then they will go above Inter because of a better head to head record.

Lazio beat Inter 3-1 in their first meeting in Rome earlier in the season.

After this match there will be only four matches to go and a loss here could be critical especially with Udinese just one point behind Lazio.

Udinese are also in the run for a Champions league place next season.

Here is some of the stats for two teams so far this season:

	Inter Milan	Lazio
Position	3	4
Played	33	33
Points	63	60
Drawn	6	6
Won	19	18
Lost	8	9
Goal difference	21	15
Clean sheets	10	14
Failed to score	7	7
Goals scored	58	45
Goals conceded	37	30
Ave. goals scored	1.8	1.4
Ave. goals conceded	1.1	0.9
Biggest win	Inter Milan 4 - 0 Bari	Catania 1 - 4 Lazio
Biggest loss	AC Milan 3 - 0 Inter Milan	Sampdoria 2 - 0 Lazio Lazio 0 - 2 Roma Bologna 3 - 1 Lazio Roma 2 - 0 Lazio
Scored 3 or more	9	5
Conceded 3 or more	4	2
Scored 5 or more	3	0
Conceded 5 or more	0	0
Home matches
Played	16	17
Points	39	39
Drawn	3	3
Won	12	12
Lost	1	2
Goal difference	23	15
Goals scored	40	27
Goals conceded	17	12
Ave. goals scored	2.5	1.6
Ave. goals conceded	1.1	0.7
Away matches
Played	17	16
Points	24	21
Drawn	3	3
Won	7	6
Lost	7	7
Goal difference	-2	0
Goals scored	18	18
Goals conceded	20	18
Ave. goals scored	1.1	1.1
Ave. goals conceded	1.2	1.1

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2010/11	15	Lazio	3	Inter Milan	1

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Category: Serie A | Comments : 0

Arsenal slips to third after Spurs draw

Thursday, 21st April 2011 7:07am
Arsenal slipped down into third place on the table on goal difference after a 3-all draw against their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs.

A win for the Gunners would seen them four points behind leaders Manchester United.

Arsenal were leading 3-2 at half time but a second half penalty for Spurs ensured that the spoils were shared.

This draw means that Spurs have taken four points from this fixture this season.

The draw means that Spurs remain two points behind Manchester City in the final Champions League place and they two teams will meet next month.

In the other match Chelsea beat Birmingham 3-1 to take over second place.

Birmingham slip one place down to 15th on goal difference.

The table below shows the draws trend so far this season in the English Premiership:

Trend	Frequency	Percentage
Draw at half time, draw at full time	61	62.9
Home team leading at half time, draw at full time	15	15.5
Away team leading at half time, draw at full time	21	21.6
Drawn matches	97	29.7

Spurs have now drawn 12 matches this season and this was the first draw when Spurs have managed to draw when trailing at half time.

The most number of drawn matches(9) for Spurs have been when the match is drawn at half time as shown in the table below:

Trend	Frequency	Percentage
Tottenham drawing at half time, Tottenham drawing at full time	9	75.0
Tottenham team leading at half time, Tottenham drawing at full time	2	16.7
Tottenham trailing at half time, Tottenham drawing at full time	1	8.3
Drawn matches	12	37.5

Arsenal has drawn ten matches and in four of those draws they have been leading at half time only to draw the match come full time as shown in the table below:

Trend	Frequency	Percentage
Arsenal drawing at half time, Arsenal drawing at full time	5	50.0
Arsenal team leading at half time, Arsenal drawing at full time	4	40.0
Arsenal trailing at half time, Arsenal drawing at full time	1	10.0
Drawn matches	10	30.3

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

North London derby: Spurs vs Arsenal

Wednesday, 20th April 2011 9:02pm
Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal are meeting in a North London derby that could make or break their seasons.

This is the match that was postponed for the Gunners to play in the Carling Cup final which they lost to Birmingham.

If the Gunners win this match then they will reduce the gap between themselves and leaders Manchester United to four points with just five matches left.

One of the five remaining matches for Arsenal is against Manchester United.

A loss for Arsenal and they could end in third place if Chelsea beat Birmingham in a fixture being played at the same time.

A draw will also see Arsenal slip to third should Chelsea win.

For Spurs trying to get Champions League football next season, a win will see them equal on points with fourth placed Manchester City. Poor goal difference will keep them in fifth place.

A loss for Spurs and the poor goal difference could mean that Champions League will not be at White Hart Lane next season.

Interestingly the game in hand for Spurs is against Manchester City which is scheduled to be played next month.

So this derby in no ordinary derby this time and in the first fixture Spurs made a stunning comeback to beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates.

So here are some of the stats for the two teams so far this season in the league:

	Arsenal	Spurs
Rank	2	5
Played	32	31
Points	63	53
Drawn	9	11
Won	18	14
Lost	5	6
Goal difference	32	8
Clean sheets	12	7
Failed to score	6	7
Goals scored	63	44
Goals conceded	31	36
Ave. goals scored	2.0	1.4
Ave. goals conceded	1.0	1.2
Biggest win	Arsenal 6 - 0 Blackpool	Tottenham 3 - 1 Wolves Tottenham 4 - 2 Blackburn Tottenham 2 - 0 Newcastle
Biggest loss	Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal	Man United 2 - 0 Tottenham Bolton 4 - 2 Tottenham Blackpool 3 - 1 Tottenham
Scored 3 or more	10	5
Conceded 3 or more	3	3
Scored 5 or more	1	0
Conceded 5 or more	0	0
Home matches
Played	17	15
Points	34	30
Drawn	4	6
Won	10	8
Lost	3	1
Goal difference	18	10
Goals scored	31	22
Goals conceded	13	12
Ave. goals scored	1.8	1.5
Ave. goals conceded	0.8	0.8
Away matches
Played	15	16
Points	29	23
Drawn	5	5
Won	8	6
Lost	2	5
Goal difference	14	-2
Goals scored	32	22
Goals conceded	18	24
Ave. goals scored	2.1	1.4
Ave. goals conceded	1.2	1.5

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2007/8	6	Tottenham	1	Arsenal	3
2007/8	18	Arsenal	2	Tottenham	1
2008/9	10	Arsenal	4	Tottenham	4
2008/9	25	Tottenham	0	Arsenal	0
2009/10	11	Arsenal	3	Tottenham	0
2009/10	34	Tottenham	2	Arsenal	1
2010/11	14	Arsenal	2	Tottenham	3

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

Villarreal holds tight to fourth place

Tuesday, 19th April 2011 9:40pm
Villarreal won the last fixture of round 32 in La Liga against Real Zaragoza 1-nil to cement their hold on fourth place.

In the Spanish Primera division, fourth place is the last Champions League place.

Villarreal were coming back from the two consecutive defeats from teams above them on the table.

The win means the Yellow submarines are now nine points ahead of Athletic Bilbao with just six matches to go.

In the second versus first battle at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid and Barcelona shared the spoils. The draw means that Barca maintain their eight point lead over their rivals.

Here are goal margins from La Liga this season:

Goal Margin	Frequency
0	68
1	122
2	67
3	44
4	11
5	6
7	1
8	1

So the most popular winning goal margin is 1.

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Category: La Liga | Comments : 0

Draw dampens Arsenal's title challenge

Tuesday, 19th April 2011 9:35pm
Arsenal's latest draw against Liverpool means that they now trail leaders Manchester United by six points instead of four had they won.

Also they are now just two points ahead of Chelsea who are currently in third place.

The Gunners next fixture is against and they now need to win that match in order to remain in the title challenge.

A draw for Liverpool has kept them in sixth place and two points ahead of Everton.

On the other end of the table, Blackpool entered the relegation zone for the first time after losing to fellow strugglers Wigan. Infact the win meant that Wigan got out and Blackpool went in.

Wolves remain anchored to the bottom after their match against FA Cup finalists was postponed.

West Ham stay in the relegation zone after losing to Aston Villa 2-1.

With the Gunners drawing their last three home fixtures, below is a table showing the draws from all the teams:

Team	Played	Goals For	Points
Birmingham City	32	14	14
Everton	33	19	14
Fulham	32	12	14
Wigan	33	14	13
Sunderland	33	10	11
Tottenham	31	9	11
West Ham	33	14	11
Aston Villa	33	13	10
Bolton	32	12	10
Arsenal	32	11	9
Manchester United	32	12	9
Newcastle	32	11	9
West Bromwich Albion	33	15	9
Blackburn	33	6	8
Manchester City	32	5	8
Chelsea	32	7	7
Liverpool	33	8	7
Blackpool	33	9	6
Stoke City	32	6	5
Wolverhampton Wanderers	32	7	5

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

Gunners to check Liverpool's run

Sunday, 17th April 2011 10:41pm
Arsenal will provide a tough test for Liverpool at the Emirates as they chase for the title and Liverpool chase for a place in Europe next season.

Gunners are currently in second place and they face Liverpool and then followed by the postponed match against Tottenham Hotspurs in midweek.

A win in both matches will see the Gunners reduce the gap at the top to just one point.

On the other hand Liverpool are chasing a Europa place and win will restore the four point gap between them and Everton.

A loss will their Merseyside rivals will have a chance to overtake them in sixth place.

Liverpool go into this match after beating FA Cup finalists Manchester City 3-nil in their last match.

Here is some of the stats for the two teams so far this season:

	Liverpool	Arsenal
Position	6	2
Played	32	31
Points	48	62
Drawn	6	8
Won	14	18
Lost	12	5
Goal difference	7	32
Clean sheets	12	12
Failed to score	5	6
Goals scored	45	62
Goals conceded	38	30
Ave. goals scored	1.4	2.0
Ave. goals conceded	1.2	1.0
Biggest win	Liverpool 3 - 0 West Ham Liverpool 3 - 0 Aston Villa Wolves 0 - 3 Liverpool Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City	Arsenal 6 - 0 Blackpool
Biggest loss	Man City 3 - 0 Liverpool	Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal
Scored 3 or more	5	10
Conceded 3 or more	5	3
Scored 5 or more	0	1
Conceded 5 or more	0	0
Home matches
Played	16	16
Points	34	33
Drawn	4	3
Won	10	10
Lost	2	3
Goal difference	17	18
Goals scored	29	30
Goals conceded	12	12
Ave. goals scored	1.8	1.9
Ave. goals conceded	0.8	0.8
Away matches
Played	16	15
Points	14	29
Drawn	2	5
Won	4	8
Lost	10	2
Goal difference	-10	14
Goals scored	16	32
Goals conceded	26	18
Ave. goals scored	1.0	2.1
Ave. goals conceded	1.6	1.2

Previous Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2007/8	11	Liverpool	1	Arsenal	1
2007/8	33	Arsenal	1	Liverpool	1
2007/8	10	Liverpool	4	Arsenal	2
2008/9	18	Arsenal	1	Liverpool	1
2008/9	33	Liverpool	4	Arsenal	4
2009/10	16	Liverpool	1	Arsenal	2
2009/10	26	Arsenal	1	Liverpool	0
2010/11	1	Liverpool	1	Arsenal	1

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

Bayern face Leverkusen test

Saturday, 16th April 2011 12:09pm
Bayern Munich will face a tough challenge for the Champions League place as they battle Bayer Leverkusen in this weekend's match.

The Bundesliga defending champions are currently in fourth place and they face a high flying Leverkusen side sitting in second place.

Interestingly the Leverkusen coach will be moving to Bayern at the end of the season after Bayern sacked their coach.

Here are some of the stats for the two teams:

	Bayern Munich	Leverkusen
Position	4	2
Played	29	29
Points	52	61
Drawn	7	7
Won	15	18
Lost	7	4
Goal difference	26	24
Clean sheets	9	10
Failed to score	6	3
Goals scored	61	59
Goals conceded	35	35
Ave. goals scored	2.1	2.0
Ave. goals conceded	1.2	1.2
Biggest win	Bayern Munich 6 - 0 Hamburg	Stuttgart 1 - 4 Leverkusen Frankfurt 0 - 3 Leverkusen Leverkusen 3 - 0 Wolfsburg
Biggest loss	Kaiser 2 - 0 Bayern Munich Dortmund 2 - 0 Bayern Munich Schalke 04 2 - 0 Bayern Munich Bayern Munich 1 - 3 Dortmund Hannover 96 3 - 1 Bayern Munich	Leverkusen 3 - 6 B M'gladbach
Scored 3 or more	12	10
Conceded 3 or more	5	2
Scored 5 or more	3	0
Conceded 5 or more	0	1
Home matches
Played	14	15
Points	32	28
Drawn	2	4
Won	10	8
Lost	2	3
Goal difference	27	8
Goals scored	37	30
Goals conceded	10	22
Ave. goals scored	2.6	2.0
Ave. goals conceded	0.7	1.5
Away matches
Played	15	14
Points	20	33
Drawn	5	3
Won	5	10
Lost	5	1
Goal difference	-1	16
Goals scored	24	29
Goals conceded	25	13
Ave. goals scored	1.6	2.1
Ave. goals conceded	1.7	0.9

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2010/11	13	Bayer Leverkusen	1	Bayern Munich	1

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Category: Bundesliga | Comments : 0

El Clasico part two at the Bernabeu

Saturday, 16th April 2011 12:06pm
The Spanish Primera giants Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet at the Bernabeu for the second part of the El Clasico.

Barcelona won the first match 5-nil at the Nou Camp and now Real will host the match as they bid to overcome the champions.

Here are some of the stats for the two leading teams in La Liga:

	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Rank	2	<1/td>
Played	31	31
Points	76	84
Drawn	4	3
Won	24	27
Lost	3	1
Goal difference	50	69
Clean sheets	15	16
Failed to score	6	1
Goals scored	72	85
Goals conceded	22	16
Ave. goals scored	2.3	2.7
Ave. goals conceded	0.7	0.5
Biggest win	Real Madrid 7 - 0 Málaga	Almeria 0 - 8 Barcelona
Biggest loss	Barcelona 5 - 0 Real Madrid	Barcelona 0 - 2 Hercules
Scored 3 or more	13	17
Conceded 3 or more	1	0
Scored 5 or more	4	5
Conceded 5 or more	1	0
Home matches
Played	15	16
Points	42	43
Drawn	0	1
Won	14	14
Lost	1	1
Goal difference	39	32
Goals scored	46	42
Goals conceded	7	10
Ave. goals scored	3.1	2.6
Ave. goals conceded	0.5	0.6
Away matches
Played	16	15
Points	34	41
Drawn	4	2
Won	10	13
Lost	2	0
Goal difference	11	37
Goals scored	26	43
Goals conceded	15	6
Ave. goals scored	1.6	2.9
Ave. goals conceded	0.9	0.4

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2009/10	12	Barcelona	1	Real Madrid	0
2009/10	31	Real Madrid	0	Barcelona	2
2010/11	13	Barcelona	5	Real Madrid	0

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Category: La Liga | Comments : 0

Real sets Barca semi

Thursday, 14th April 2011 9:36pm
Real Madrid will meet Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals after beating Tottenham Hotspurs 1-nil in the second leg.

Real won the first leg 4-nil and so Spurs failed to find the net in the quarters.

In quarter-final matches that saw high aggregate wins apart from the Chelsea/Manchester United tie, Barcelona beat Shakhtar Donetsk 6-1 on aggregate.

Once again there will be a Bundesliga team in the semis with Schalke reaching the stage for the first time.

Schalke accounted for the defending champions Inter Milan 7-3 on aggregate.

Schalke will face Manchester United with United hosting the crucial second leg.

Eight matches at the quarter-final stage produced a total 26 goals with the round of 16 with double the number of matches only producing 38 goals.

The table below shows the goal winning margin so farin the Champions League:

Goal Margin	Frequency
0	22
1	40
2	28
3	18
4	9
5	1
6	1
7	1

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Category: Champions League | Comments : 0

Sixth vs fourth: Liverpool vs Man City

Monday, 11th April 2011 8:06am
In the last fixture of round 32 in the English Premier League, sixth placed Liverpool will face fourth placed Manchester City with the latter eyeing a Champions League place.

A win for the visitors will see them climb up to third on the table and a loss will leave them in fourth and three points ahead of fifth placed Tottenham Hotspurs.

A win for Liverpool will help create a four points buffer between themselves and Merseyside rivals Everton whilst a loss will leave them just two points ahead of eight placed Bolton.

In their match at Eastlands earlier in the season, Liverpool lost 3-nil.

Here is some of the stats for the two teams so far this season:

	Liverpool	Man City
Rank	6	4
Played	31	31
Points	45	56
Drawn	6	8
Won	13	16
Lost	12	7
Goal difference	4	23
Clean sheets	11	14
Failed to score	5	8
Goals scored	42	50
Goals conceded	38	27
Ave. goals scored	1.4	1.6
Ave. goals conceded	1.2	0.9
Biggest win	Liverpool 3 - 0 West Ham Liverpool 3 - 0 Aston Villa Wolves 0 - 3 Liverpool	Man City 5 - 0 Sunderland
Biggest loss	Man City 3 - 0 Liverpool	Man City 0 - 3 Arsenal
Scored 3 or more	4	9
Conceded 3 or more	5	2
Scored 5 or more	0	1
Conceded 5 or more	0	0
Home matches
Played	15	16
Points	31	34
Drawn	4	4
Won	9	10
Lost	2	2
Goal difference	14	17
Goals scored	26	28
Goals conceded	12	11
Ave. goals scored	1.7	1.8
Ave. goals conceded	0.8	0.7
Away matches
Played	16	15
Points	14	22
Drawn	2	4
Won	4	6
Lost	10	5
Goal difference	-10	6
Goals scored	16	22
Goals conceded	26	16
Ave. goals scored	1.0	1.5
Ave. goals conceded	1.6	1.1

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2007/8	20	Manchester City	0	Liverpool	0
2007/8	37	Liverpool	1	Manchester City	0
2008/9	7	Manchester City	2	Liverpool	3
2008/9	26	Liverpool	1	Manchester City	1
2009/10	13	Liverpool	2	Manchester City	2
2009/10	27	Manchester City	0	Liverpool	0
2010/11	2	Manchester City	3	Liverpool	0

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0

Bayern sack Van Gaal

Monday, 11th April 2011 7:56am
Bayern Munich has sacked its coach Louis van Gaal with five more matches to go.

Van Gaal was meant to leave the German champions at the end of the season but after the draw at weekend against FC Nuremberg the coach will no longer be in control in the last five matches.

Bayern are currently in fourth place and the team needs to finish in third place or better to be able to enter the Champions League competition.

Bayern's best hope is to finish third as they trail Hannover in third place by just one point but they are nine points behind second placed Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Bayer Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes will replace Van Gaal next season but for now assistant Andries Jonker will take charge.

Here is some of the stats for Van Gaal's so far this season:

Van Gaal's Bayern
Position	4
Played	29
Points	52
Won	15
Drawn	7
Lost	7
Goal difference	26
Clean sheets	9
Failed to score	6
Goals scored	61
Goals conceded	35
Ave. goals scored	2.1
Ave. goals conceded	1.2
Biggest win	Bayern Munich 6 - 0 Hamburg
Biggest loss	Kaiser 2 - 0 Bayern Munich Dortmund 2 - 0 Bayern Munich Schalke 04 2 - 0 Bayern Munich Bayern Munich 1 - 3 Dortmund Hannover 96 3 - 1 Bayern Munich
Scored 3 or more	12
Conceded 3 or more	5
Scored 5 or more	3
Conceded 5 or more	0
Home matches
Played	14
Points	32
Won	10
Drawn	2
Lost	2
Goal difference	27
Goals scored	37
Goals conceded	10
Ave. goals scored	2.6
Ave. goals conceded	0.7
Away matches
Played	15
Points	20
Won	5
Drawn	5
Lost	5
Goal difference	-1
Goals scored	24
Goals conceded	25
Ave. goals scored	1.6
Ave. goals conceded	1.7

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Category: Bundesliga | Comments : 0

Almeria sacks Jose Luis Oltra

Saturday, 9th April 2011 8:27pm
Bottom team Almeria sacked its coach Jose Luis Oltra ahead of its round 31 fixture against Barcelonia.

Interestingly Otra had replaced Juan Manuel Lillo, who lost his job immediately after a humiliating 8-0 home defeat at the hands of Barcelona.

The Barcelona/Almeria match will pit first versus last in a match that could see a lot of goals once again.

Here is stats that compares the top team in La Liga at the moment against the bottom team.

	Barcelona	Almeria
Rank	1	20
Played	30	30
Points	81	26
Drawn	3	11
Won	26	5
Lost	1	14
Goal difference	67	-20
Clean sheets	16	2
Failed to score	1	10
Goals scored	82	31
Goals conceded	15	51
Ave. goals scored	2.7	1.0
Ave. goals conceded	0.5	1.7
Biggest win	Almeria 0 - 8 Barcelona	Deportivo La Coruña 0 - 2 Almeria Sevilla 1 - 3 Almeria
Biggest loss	Barcelona 0 - 2 Hercules	Almeria 0 - 8 Barcelona
Scored 3 or more	16	3
Conceded 3 or more	0	5
Scored 5 or more	5	0
Conceded 5 or more	0	1
Home matches
Played	15	15
Points	40	15
Drawn	1	9
Won	13	2
Lost	1	4
Goal difference	30	-10
Goals scored	39	20
Goals conceded	9	30
Ave. goals scored	2.6	1.3
Ave. goals conceded	0.6	2.0
Away matches
Played	15	15
Points	41	11
Drawn	2	2
Won	13	3
Lost	0	10
Goal difference	37	-10
Goals scored	43	11
Goals conceded	6	21
Ave. goals scored	2.9	0.7
Ave. goals conceded	0.4	1.4

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Category: La Liga | Comments : 0

Fifth vs Second: Bilbao vs Real Madrid

Saturday, 9th April 2011 8:19pm
In La Liga's round 31, fifth placed Athletic Bilbao will meet second placed Real Madrid in a match Real will be trying to avoid a second successive defeat.

Real lost its last fixture against Sporting Gijon and they are playing a Bilbao that has its sight set upon Europe.

In their first match at the Bernabeau, Real won 5-1. Last season Real won by the same scoreline but still lost to Bilbao 1-nil in Bilbao.

Here is some of the stats for the two teams so far:

	Real Madrid	Athletic Bilbao
Position	2	5
Played	30	30
Points	73	45
Drawn	4	3
Won	23	14
Lost	3	13
Goal difference	47	5
Clean sheets	14	9
Failed to score	6	3
Goals scored	69	47
Goals conceded	22	42
Ave. goals scored	2.3	1.6
Ave. goals conceded	0.7	1.4
Biggest win	Real Madrid 7 - 0 Málaga	Athletic Bilbao 3 - 0 Mallorca Athletic Bilbao 3 - 0 Getafe Athletic Bilbao 3 - 0 Hercules Athletic Bilbao 3 - 0 Sporting Gijon
Biggest loss	Barcelona 5 - 0 Real Madrid	Real Madrid 5 - 1 Athletic Bilbao
Scored 3 or more	12	6
Conceded 3 or more	1	4
Scored 5 or more	4	0
Conceded 5 or more	1	1
Home matches
Played	15	15
Points	42	30
Drawn	0	0
Won	14	10
Lost	1	5
Goal difference	39	13
Goals scored	46	26
Goals conceded	7	13
Ave. goals scored	3.1	1.7
Ave. goals conceded	0.5	0.9
Away matches
Played	15	15
Points	31	15
Drawn	4	3
Won	9	4
Lost	2	8
Goal difference	8	-8
Goals scored	23	21
Goals conceded	15	29
Ave. goals scored	1.5	1.4
Ave. goals conceded	1.0	1.9

Recent Matches

Season	Round	Team	Goals	Team	Goals
2009/10	18	Athletic Bilbao	1	Real Madrid	0
2009/10	37	Real Madrid	5	Athletic Bilbao	1
2010/11	12	Real Madrid	5	Athletic Bilbao	1

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Category: La Liga | Comments : 0

Real overruns Spurs in first leg

Wednesday, 6th April 2011 8:41am
Real Madrid beat ten-men Tottenham Hotspurs 4-nil to have one leg in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Spurs were 1-nil down when they were reduced to ten men in the first half but the three second half goals could make a comeback impossible at White Hart Lane.

In their last outing in the competition Real thrashed Lyon 3-nil but they have gone one goal better against Spurs.

In the other quarter-final first leg, defending champions Inter Milan were thrashed 5-2 by Schalke at the San Siro.

The match went to half-time with the match tied at 2-all but three unanswered second half goals means that Inter could be going out of the competition they won last season.

This was the seventh time this season that a home team had lost by a three goal margin.

Here are all the Champions League scorelines so far:

Scoreline	Frequency
0 - 0	7
0 - 1	8
0 - 2	6
0 - 3	5
0 - 4	3
0 - 7	1
1 - 0	9
1 - 1	10
1 - 2	3
1 - 3	3
1 - 4	1
2 - 0	13
2 - 1	8
2 - 2	4
2 - 3	3
2 - 5	1
3 - 0	9
3 - 1	6
3 - 2	2
3 - 3	1
4 - 0	3
4 - 1	2
4 - 3	2
5 - 1	2
6 - 0	1
6 - 1	1

2-nil is still the most popular scoreline so far.

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Bilbao up to fifth after Almeria win

Wednesday, 6th April 2011 8:36am
Athletic Bilbao has moved to fifth place after beating bottom placed Almeria in the last match of La Liga's round 30.

Bilbao are tied on points with Sevilla on 45 points with Espanyol two points in seventh.

The biggest result though in round 30 was Real Madrid's loss to Sporting Gijon.

This was Real's first league loss of the season at home and they were the only still unbeaten at home.

The result meant an end to Jose Mourinho's unbeaten home record that goes back to 2002 when he was still at Porto.

Here is the table showing the home results only:

Team	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	For	Against	GD	Pts
Real Madrid	15	14	0	1	46	7	39	42
Barcelona	15	13	1	1	39	9	30	40
Villarreal	16	11	3	2	29	10	19	36
Athletic Bilbao	15	10	0	5	26	13	13	30
Espanyol	15	10	0	5	25	14	11	30
Sevilla	16	8	4	4	27	18	9	28
Valencia	15	8	4	3	23	15	8	28
Osasuna	15	7	6	2	22	10	12	27
Levante	15	8	2	5	21	16	5	26
Mallorca	15	8	2	5	18	13	5	26
Atletico	15	7	3	5	26	15	11	24
Deportivo La Coruña	15	6	6	3	18	15	3	24
Sporting Gijon	15	6	5	4	17	13	4	23
R Santander	14	6	5	3	18	15	3	23
Sociedad	15	7	2	6	19	17	2	23
Getafe	16	6	3	7	28	26	2	21
Zaragoza	15	6	3	6	21	23	-2	21
Hercules	14	6	2	6	22	22	0	20
Almeria	15	2	9	4	20	30	-10	15
Málaga	14	4	2	8	20	25	-5	14

Despite the loss Real still has the best home form while Malaga has the worst home record.

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Category: La Liga | Comments : 0

Man City record biggest win

Tuesday, 5th April 2011 4:10pm
Manchester City recorded its biggest win of the season after beating Sunderland 5-nil.

That win took the Eastlands outfit into third place, leapfrogging Chelsea in the process.

With the battle for the 2011/12 Champions League places like to go all the way to the last match, Man City are now six points ahead of sixth placed Tottenham Hotspurs but Spurs have a game in hand.

In the first match of the round, Manchester United came from 2-nil down at half time to win 4-2 and open a seven point lead at the top of the table.

This was only the fourth time this season that an away team losing at half time have come back in the second half to win the match.

Here is a table showing the winning trends for the rest of the matches in the English Premier League:

Trend	Frequency	Percentage(%)
Home team leading at half time, home team winning at full time	90	41.9
Away team leading at half time, away team winning at full time	43	20.0
Home team trailing at half time, home team winning at full time	8	3.7
Away team trailing at half time, away team winning at full time	4	1.9
Draw at half time, home team winning at full time	45	20.9
Draw at half time, away team winning at full time	25	11.6
Matches ending in result	215	69.8

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Category: English Premiership | Comments : 0