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RFU Backs Jones

Rugby Union has declared that Eddie Jones would remain as head coach for England even after the team’s dismal performance this year in the Six Nations tournament that resulted in a fifth place finish for the team. His contract is being extended and there is no regret even after the chastening end of the team in fifth position this year. The new deal that Jones has signed will see him retain his position will January 2021.

The RFU boss stated that he still supports Jones considering the turnaround he brought about in the past years in England’s performance. Hence, even though this year’s campaign has started on a disappointing note that is no reason to consider someone else for the position. Continue reading →

JUVENTUS TO KILL OFF MONACO IN RETURN LEG

Serie A champs Juventus are expected to kill off the competition against Monaco when both sides meet in the return leg of the Champions League on Tuesday.


The Italian side have a two goal advantage that they would exploit to the fullest when they host the French side. Juve started well, with Gonzalo Higuain grabbing a brace in the first leg at Stade Louis II last week.

The coach of the home side Massimiliano Allegri is taking no chances as he rested key players over the weekend when they face Torino in the local league. They struggled to get a 1-1 draw despite their numerical advantage for over 30 minutes.

Higuain had to dig deep to secure a point for the team but the Bianconeri failed to extend their league record to 34 successive victories. The team would rely on the Argentina international again as they face an attacking youthful French side.

Monaco are still dreaming of an epic final with any of the Madrid teams despite the 2-0 limit. They defeated Nancy 3-0 over the weekend to keep their Ligue 1 hopes firm and warn Juve that they could usurp them at home. That would make Monaco the first team to overturn a 2-0 home defeat in the history of the tournament knockout rounds. Continue reading →

Micah Richards Seems To Be Juventus’ Target

Micah Richards is undoubtedly one among the brightest of defenders in the contemporary soccer zone and no wonder he would be eyed by leading clubs.  Speculations are strong the England international is under the target of famous football club Juventus of late.

According to sources, Juventus have been trying hard to achieve an able replacement for Stephan Lichtsteine which they seem to have found in Micah.

Lichtsteine is the present right-back for Juventus who is free to make himself available to other clubs during the 2015 January transfer window. News has it that both Chelsea and Arsenal are vying for the Swiss right-back in their teams from the next season.

Micah is presently on loan with Fiorentina & might have grasped attention of the Serie A champs

Juventus. However, the experts feel that his signing up with Juventus is kind of dicey as Massimiliano Allegri might have qualms in accepting a player in his A-one team – who has been an Etihad reject.

Micah was some kind of bit-part player with Manchester City. However, the presence of Sagna (Bacary) was quite a big deal for the player. His position was further challenged by Pablo Zabaleta. It is said that both Sagna & Pablo’s presence in Man City kind of terminated Micah’s career in the club- the very club which this Birmingham-born defender has been representing since he was 13.

Since his move to the Florence team on season-long loan, Micah has been able to make just one single Serie-a start but is hopeful to channelize Stadio Franchi quarter to work as potential shop window. It’s no wonder that if Juventus is right in approaching him for their A-one club the coming season, there is no reason for this Birmingham-born defender to deny the agreement.

Manchester United’s Shocking Result

The Premier League has kicked off with a shocking result that is still making headlines in newspapers and websites all around the world as Manchester United, the team that went through a superb pre-season with victories against: Real Madrid, Liverpool, Valencia, Inter Milan and As.Roma.

Manchester United now leaded by Louis van Gaal enjoyed an undefeated pre-season with triumphs against the well-known clubs mentioned above faced a 2-1 defeat against Swansea City. That was the only real surprising outcome out of all the opening matches of the season in the Premier League.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory against Burnley and this is what is expected from the team that is predicted to win the Premier League in this season.

According to bookmarkers and soccer betting websites such as: bet365, Chelsea are the heavy favorites of winning the league title this time around and this seems to be more logical outcome if you take into consideration the big name players that Jose Mourinho has at his disposal and their newest arrival Diego Costa who has made an immediate impact in Stamford Bridge as he scored a goal in Chelsea’s opening match of the season.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal is another club that are heavy favorites on making a genuine charge for the league title as the club signed reinforcements in the form of Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy.

Liverpool came in 2nd place in the previous season of the Premier League but this time around they aren’t expected or being backed to have such an impressive campaign after selling Luis Suarez to Barcelona. The odds of Liverpool winning the league in this season has significantly dropped for bookmarkers and punters ever since the Uruguayan attacker left Anfield.

The current champions of the Premier League, Manchester City along with Chelsea are the two favorites of securing the top spots of the English league and have the best odds according to soccer betting websites of lifting the prestigious silverware.

INTER MISS OUT

Inter Milan missed out from the chance of participating in the Champions League of next year as they finished the Italian league Serie A campaign on the 5th spot and it just wasn’t enough for the team of Walter Mazzarri to play in Europe’s top tier league.

The Italian coach still considers the past season to be a ‘’successful’’ one and that he wants to continue being in charge of Inter Milan for the next few years.

‘’I think it was a successful year, in which we did so many good things.

“I’m sure I’ll be coach next year. I have a contract. I’m very pleased with the call I got from the president Erick Thohir once we were certain to be in Europe. At a general level there were too many draws, we missed out on some victories when we threw away a lead. But I take responsibility. Even when we win, I’m not satisfied. We are already working with players for next season.” Mazzarri revealed.

Inter Milan has recently been looking in the Premier League for some of their recent summer targets as they already signed Nemanja Vidic from Manchester United and they are continuously being linked with Patrice Evra as well.

The director of Inter Milan, Piero Ausilio confirmed that they are interested in Fernando Torres of Chelsea and will attempt on luring him into the Serie A during this summer.

“Yes, he is a player we’re following. Torres’s career speaks for itself – the titles he has won and the teams in which he has played. It’s all about whether he has the right motivation and the desire to be part of a new ambitious project.” Ausilio stated as he responded to questions regarding some of their summer targets.

Alba Looking To Help Barca

To keep things going and tight, Jordi Alba seems to be trying to help out Barca contain City this Wednesday at Nou Camp. Barcelona is heading into the UEFA Champions League’s 2nd leg with a commanding lead of 2-0. After the glorious win at the Etihad Stadium, they have gone ahead in a great spot to finally make their way into the quarter finals. Having said that, they also feel the pressure and the need to perform equally well professionally, this time on their home soil.

Manchester City is expected to put on their very best to get ahead of the rest and put their best foot forward in Catalunya, as they look for a way back in the tournament. However Alba seems very confident, that Barcelona will do whatever it takes to put up a tough fight and prevent any kind of challenge from approaching them.

The Spanish International player told a reputed sports channel that score they made in Manchester sure is great, but the game is still undecided. City as a club is a big one and when in attack is really difficult to tackle. However they are absolutely ready for any battle they put up whatsoever. A game with too many goals is definitely a no-no for them and the situation needs to be controlled by them. The first game they played was a great test for them but now is the time to focus back on La Liga.

While playing on home ground, a lot is expected from them; hence an equal effort needs to be put in to match the expectations. The sole objective at the moment is to win and win big.

City seems ready for the challenge with ex Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero, ready to make things right, but Barca seems quite up for it.

LUIZ TO BARCA?

David Luiz might be seen playing for Barcelona in the second half of the ongoing season. The Spanish giants are eager to land him at Camp Nou and according to the reporters, Chelsea is willing to offload him too, but, they would let him go only at a transfer fee in excess of 35 million Euros.

The Brazilian player has not featured regularly for the Blues this season and that’s because of the presence of a lot of good defenders at Stamford Bridge. Even in the few matches that he has played, he has been used as a defensive midfielder and not as a defender.

Yes, Luiz is capable of playing in the midfield too, but, he is a specialist defender and people would see the best out of him only if he gets the opportunity to play back. If he goes to Barcelona, he would get that opportunity as there is a lack of defenders there.

There is a good possibility that Barcelona reaches an agreement with Chelsea in terms of transfer fee because they are desperate for a centre back. They don’t have quality players for that position and because of that; their defence has looked slightly weaker this season.

Luiz himself would also be happy making a move to Barcelona. Firstly because it’s a top club and then because he would get to play regularly there.

Luiz has been a Chelsea player since the last 3 years. He had made his way to Stamford Bridge at the start of 2011 after leaving the Belgian club Benfica. The Blues had bought him after spending 25 million Euros.

The defender who is 26 years of age at the moment has so far made 72 league appearances for Chelsea and has scored 6 goals.

Juventus Vs Copenhagen

Juventus host Copenhagen at the Juventus Stadium in Turin hoping to collect a victory as they have failed on doing so since the beginning of the group stages as they are at the bottom of Group B having lost 1 match and drawn the remaining 3 matches.

The Italian side are rampaging Serie A with no losses suffered so far and are in pole position of the league thanks to a 2-0 victory that gives Juventus 34 points just 1 more than their nearest rivals As.Roma.

The side of Antonio Conte are hoping they can replicate their Italian league success and spread it to the Champions League as anything other than a victory might see them being eliminated from the tournament despite being at these early stages.

Possible Starting XI

Juventus

Buffon; Caceres, Vidal, Chiellini; De Ceglie, Pogba, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah; Tevez, Llorente

Copenhagen

Wiland, Jacobsen, Bengtsson, Mellberg, Sigurdsson, De Souza, Delaney, Gislason, Vetokele, Braathen

The last time they met Quagliarella rescued 1 point for Juventus as he tied the match and cancelled Jorgensen’s 1st half goal. Both sides are in need of victories so expect them go to all out in the attack in search of the vital goal that can keep their qualification hopes alive.

Fernando Llorente is on fine form as he has been the main goal-scoring player of Juventus so there is little doubt that he will be selected upfront alongside Carlos Tevez. Meanwhile for Copenhagen Igor Vetakele and the 31 years old Daniel Braathen are expected to be chosen as their preferred options on the attacking department.

Match Prediction

The quality of players that Antonio Conte has at his disposal are undeniable and the fine form they are going through in Serie A makes them hands down the favorites on not only winning this match but also progress into the next rounds of the Champions League.

Copenhagen’s goalkeeper Johan Wiland almost single handedly denied the victory for the Italian side in their 1st leg and now with nothing to lose, Juventus will be firing from all cycilenders in search for the crucial win. They should be able to push ahead and come out as the winning side.

Juventus 2 Copenhagen 0