West Ham United host Wolverhampton Wanderers this afternoon with both sides in the hunt for European football come the end of the season.
The Hammers are in sixth but can be leapfrogged by Wolves who are just two points behind in eighth.
It’s a game of major importance for both sides, with the hosts particularly shaky of late. But who will David Moyes entrust from the off?
Here is how Football FanCast thinks West Ham will line up.
In goal there are no changes as number one stopper Fabianski keeps his place but there is a change at the back.
At right-back in comes 22-year-old Ben Johnson for his first Premier League start since New Year’s Day.
The Englishman played the second half in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle United after Ryan Fredericks had picked up a yellow card and had a genuine possibility of being sent off. However, the youngster’s appearance against the Magpies was his first in the league since the trip to Crystal Palace on 1 January.
With first-choice right-back Vladimir Coufal set to be on the sidelines after groin surgery, Johnson, who was labelled as “fabulous” by his manager in October, will be keen to return to the side on a regular basis, having started eight consecutive league games between October and December.
The defensive midfield duo of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek is a given whilst Pablo Fornals and the red-hot Jarrod Bowen start on the flanks, either side of Manuel Lanzini, who replaces Said Benrahma.
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This week, Moyes confirmed that Lanzini was back in training this week and is in contention to start, having missed the Newcastle match.
Up front is, of course, Michail Antonio, who is the Hammers’ only senior striker. The Jamaica international will be looking to break his recent duck, having not scored since the trip to Palace almost two months ago.
In other news: £1m per appearance: £42k-per-week West Ham dud has been rinsing Moyes for 110 weeks
Steve Bruce will be breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight after his Sunderland side came from two goals down to snatch a point against West Brom at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats looked shell shocked after James Morrison and Shane Long scored within a minute of each other to give the Baggies a two nil lead with only five minutes on the clock. Chants from supporters requesting Bruce’s dismissal quickly evaporated after Nicklas Bendtner and Ahmed Elmohamady struck to bring the home side level and give both sides a valuable point in an entertaining affair on Wearside. It will have been a satisfying end to a torrid week for the red and whites after defeat to Norwich on Monday and Titus Brambles arrest and subsequent suspension. Both clubs have started the season in dreadful form and it was clear from the off that they were determined to give their fans something to shout about. The travelling Albion supporters were certainly singing after four minutes when Morrison put them into the lead. Some woeful marking from Wes Brown allowed the Scotland midfielder to nip in and nod Chris Brunts free kick past Simon Mignolet.
With the hosts still reeling from the opener Long gave them a huge mountain to climb just a minute later outpacing the lumbering Michael Turner before cooly slotting the ball home. Baggies boss Roy Hodgson would have been delighted by his sides rapid start considering they’ve only managed to score three goals in their six games so far this season. That joy quickly ebbed away and he will have been unhappy that his players failed to build on their early dominance allowing Sunderland to slowly but surely get back into the game. The home side responded well to the two goal sucker punch and the roof was lifted when Nicklas Bendtner struck his first goal in a red and white shirt. The on loan Arsenal hit man was a tad fortunate to see his strike deflect off Gareth McAuley after being teed up by Sebastian Larsson’s back heel. The big Dane then turned provider crossing for Elmohamody to head home his first goal since joining the club at the start of last season.
The action didn’t stop there with Sunderland having keeper Mignolet to thank as he twice denied Morrison with opposite number Ben Foster also having to be alert to keep out Larsson’s effort. The Swedish midfielder also had a good disallowed for offside as the first half ended at a frenetic pace. It was a shame the same intensity wasn’t displayed during the second period with both teams seemingly happy to settle for a point with the only notable chance going to the hosts as Brown’s flicked header bounced narrowly wide.
Get over to Goaldash and check your numbers to see what you might have won!
Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa has spoken of the trails of recovering from a broken leg, and is now looking forward to getting back to playing football for the Premier League club.
The Frenchman suffered a horrific leg break in a challenge with Manchester City’s Nigel De Jong last October, but made a return in the Carling Cup against Nottingham Forest in midweek.
After intense rehabilitation, the winger is now ready to return to the Tyneside club’s first team.
“My leg was shattered in two places. One bit pointing this way, the other pointing the wrong direction, but now it has finally healed, and it is straight again! It took a year, there were setbacks along the way but now it is right. It is a massive relief,” he told Mirror Football.
“It was 11 months. I was sad and a very frustrated at times but I had to keep calm. I wanted the whole process to hurry up. I wanted it to be ready immediately.
“I have not been depressed, but I have certainly been sad. It has been hard watching the team play and not being involved. It is difficult to come back from a big injury like the one I suffered, but now it is finished and I will put it behind me,” he admitted.
Ben Arfa is looking to use the injury as a reason to appreciate his career, and feels he is stronger because of it.
“So many things went through my mind. It was not just worrying about football. It was life in general. It is difficult to explain, but it has made me a bit more patient, I appreciate my career now.
“I think it can make me a stronger person, coming through that sort of trauma. My heart is stronger. I have to make sure that, in the long run, it becomes an experience that I learn from – a good experience, in a way. Now it is finished, though.
“I am very happy to be playing again. It has been a difficult year, a long, hard time for me physically and mentally. I am delighted now to have got back on the pitch,” he concluded.
Newcastle host Blackburn at St James’ Park on Saturday, with Ben Arfa likely to be used as a substitute.
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I wrote a piece about people leaving our home games early earlier this week, and it looks like I’m not the only one to notice the lack of support shown in the stadium. This week REDaction held a meeting with AFC representatives before the Carling Cup tie versus Manchester City at Emirates.
The questions about safe standing, ticketing, and unreserved seating posed to the club were unfortunately on the whole dodged by the club. More interestingly I thought was the one of the questions posed about player interaction with the fans.
It was put to the club about the an improvement in post-match appreciation by the players would be appreciated, which was met with a reply saying that the fans must also meet them halfway, which includes staying for the full 90 minutes at home games. Obviously I’m not the only one to notice that other fans are leaving early, the players are clearly noticing too.
How frustrating must it be for a player to be entering the final stages of a match and to look up at the stands for encouragement, only to see thousands of people leaving the stadium rather than cheering the team on? As I stated in my previous piece, we can be the difference between us drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham and beating them 2-1.
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It seems though that most of the dodged questions were around the issue of ticketing, such as the location of the away fans and the potential for unreserved seating for Carling Cup games. I feel that if we could get blocks 5-12 put as unreserved seating for Carling Cup ties this would improve the atmosphere no end.
Those who travel regularly to away games will know we have some of the best away support, all standing, all singing and giving their all for the lads. Take a look on youtube and search for Arsenal fans at whatever our last away game was, and you might just be surprised to see just how passionate our fans are.
Unfortunately most people who go to away games are then separated at home games, which contributes to the dire atmosphere we currently have to endure. If we could get 2,000 people who want to stand, sing and stay for the full 90 minutes it might, just might make a real difference to a result.
Away fans positioning was another point raised, which whilst I agree with the sentiment, this should have never been an issue in the first place had the club stuck them in the upper tier from when we moved. How much of a lift must it be to away teams knowing that they will be backed by 3,000 (or however many fans they bring) in the lower tier behind the goal? We should do what Newcastle do and stick them up in the upper tier, as far away as possible from the pitch, and charge them the highest prices to boot. The less away fans in our stadium the better if you ask me.
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The dire atmosphere at our new home needs drastic improvement, and isn’t being helped by people wasting a ticket by only attending 75% of the match. Perhaps if you can’t commit to attending the game to the end you shouldn’t be there at all.
Article courtesy of Stuart Watson from Arsenal Insider
Paul Ince has urged Manchester United to move into the transfer market in January, as injuries take hold at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson has lost Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic for the season in the past week, on top of other long term injuries like Anderson, Rafael and Javier Hernandez.
Elsewhere in the news Luis Suarez’s D-day is fast approaching; Sunderland unable to recall Gyan, while Ashley Cole did not start the fracas at Stamford Bridge.
News
Ashley Cole did not start fracas
Suarez D-day fast approaching
Gyan move ruled out for Sunderland
McCarthy insists Wolves star is not for sale
Manchester United urged to buy in January
Liverpool and Chelsea hopes dashed as Barca rule out sale
Spurs rule out Tevez move as Berlusconi calls on Carlos to choose prestige
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Transfer Talk
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Chelsea keeping tabs on £30m Real ace Higuain as AVB faces striker shortage – Daily Mail
Wolfsburg plot January swoop for Arsenal midfielder – Mirror
Barca strike back over Oriol claim – Sun
Corluka agent admits Spurs defender could make Roma move – TalkSport
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Inter on the Paul as Italian giants court Manchester United youngster Pogba – Daily Mail
Manchester City have retaken the initiative in the Premier League title race, after beating rivals Manchester United 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Monday night.
A Vincent Kompany header on the stroke of half-time sealed victory for the hosts, and drew City equal on points with the current champions.
However City go back top due to their superior goal difference, and now have their title hopes in their own hands.
Another talking point of the game was a touchline clash between Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini, with the United manager accusing his opponent of badgering the match officials.
“He (Mancini) was badgering the referee the whole game, the fourth official and the linesman, and the minute I go out there…” he told Sky Sports.
“He was complaining about referees all week, he can’t be complaining tonight, that’s for sure.”
Despite City now being in pole position to steal United’s crown, Mancini has maintained that the battle is not yet over.
“We are happy, but I think that next Sunday we will have another difficult game,” he stated.
“I think we deserved to win this game. We scored. We played well and had the chance to score the second goal.
“I don’t think that they had the chance to score.
“It was a difficult game, because United are a top team. We know this,” he concluded.
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City face a tricky away day at Newcastle next before hosting QPR on the last day, whilst United play Swansea at Old Trafford and then Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has dedicated his side’s 2-1 win over Everton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night to under-fire skipper John Terry.
The England international defender was left out of the squad to travel to Merseyside, as allegations of racism in The Blues 1-0 defeat to QPR at the weekend are currently being investigated by the FA.
After the hard-fought victory, the Portuguese coach admitted the players had their captain in mind.
“The spirit of the players took us through. I think all of the players would like to dedicate the win to John Terry,” Villas Boas told Sky Sports.
Salomon Kalou had given the visitors the lead before Louis Saha forced the game into extra-time, where Daniel Sturridge converted the winner for the London outfit.
With Toffees midfielder Royston Drenthe and Chelsea’s goalkeeper Ross Turnbull both dismissed, the away team’s trainer was delighted to progress through to the next stage.
“We deserved it for what we put on as an effort and for the football we played.
“To be fair, I think we had the worst of the draws. It was a difficult game to play, Everton would like to challenge for silverware and the commitment they had to this competition made them a strong team.
“When you triumph in a game like this, you cannot toast the individuals you have to toast the collective spirit of a squad that once again goes down to 10 men.
“We wanted to avoid it but it happened and we saw the game through,” he concluded.
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Chelsea have no respite as the fixtures come thick and fast in November, with Arsenal their next opponents at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Another year has passed, and as always football gave us a bit of everything. Sexism, racism, brilliant games, terrible games, and of course The Big Sam on Twitter. It really did have it all.
It was the year of the World Cup fiasco and as always it was the year of Sepp Blatter. The guy who seems to employ the same PR company as Liverpool football club was at it again, batting away accusations of corruption due to the overreaction to the entirely sensible decision to award the World Cup to a country situated in the desert where it’s too hot to go outside much of the year. But don’t worry, FIFA have thought of that. The games will be run over four quarters, in air-conditioned stadiums. In January. The world also reeled from allegations of corruption that went right to the top of FIFA. Other shocking news to emerge was that cats like milk and that night follows day.
Dollops of sexism were the order of the day over at Sky Sports as Richard Keys and Andy Gray fell on their swords, and who can say they have been missed? A female lineswoman was all it took (plus Jamie Redknapp’s sex life) to bring out their true feelings, and off to Talksport they went. Gary Neville made matters worse by annoying Manchester City and Liverpool fans alike by being quite good at punditry and talking in a fair and balanced way. Strange days.
Elsewhere, “my word” said Ray Wilkins. A lot. Sky’s newest co-commentator seemed at peace with the world, seeing joy from a pinged cross into row F, or a slice past the far post, the antithesis of the miserable, joyless Alan Green. Most of the time he wasn’t saying my word he seemed to rely on two other words, namely “young man”. Mine were slightly different. Shut. And up.
There were great games aplenty too of course.
The current season started in an orgy of goals, as on the same day Manchester City won 5-1 at Spurs before neighbours United beat Arsenal 8-2. And then of course City went to Old Trafford and left with a staggering 6-1 victory.
The previous season, we were treated to Newcastle United 4 Arsenal 4 in February – a four-goal comeback from Newcastle, four down in 26 minutes, capped by Cheick Tioté’s equaliser on 87 minutes with Arsenal down to 10 men. Another great game was Tottenham 3 Arsenal 3 in April, with a 5-goal flurry in the 1st half.
Manchester United claimed their 19th league title, sending Liverpool fans into despair. The Champions League was one step too far though as Barcelona showed their class in defeating United comfortably in the final. It was their year once more, as the debate raged as to whether they are the greatest club side of all. Little doubt that Lionel Messi is the greatest player in the world at the moment, though Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring record continued to reach the stratosphere.
Back in England though, and Manchester City ended a generation of hurt as the blue moon rose with their first trophy in 35 years, a 1-0 victory over Stoke bringing home the FA Cup. Arsenal couldn’t end their barren run, managing to lose the Carling Cup Final to Birmingham, who proceeded to celebrate by getting relegated.
Chelsea had new blood in charge yet again, and it’s been a difficult few months for Andre Villas-Boas. Already out of the title race by Christmas, expect them to react by spending big in the January transfer window. The question is, will Roman Abramovich’s twitchy finger press down on the red button, or will Villas-Boas get longer to force through a revolution? Only time will tell.
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Mario Balotelli spent 2011 on a one-man mission to keep the front and back pages of the newspapers full. When he wasn’t visiting womens’ prisons, he was crashing his car, throwing darts out of windows, burning his house down with fireworks, dumping glamour models, driving round Manchester high-fiving City fans post Derby-wins (in a blue Santa suit), giving money to homeless people, paying for homeless people to stay in the Hilton, handing in bullies to school headmasters and amassing a fine collection of parking tickets (some of these stories may be made up). He wasn’t too bad on the pitch either. Ashley Cole tried to compete, but settled for shooting a student.
A good year too for Harry Redknapp, which will be followed by an uncertain 2012. A storming run in their debut Champions League season has been followed by an excellent first half of the 2011/12 season. Currently the top dogs in London, the nailed-on choice for next England manager seems to be having doubts about the job, but let’s not mention that court case on 23rd January for tax evasion eh?
It wasn’t good for everyone though, with another year for flops. Everywhere you looked, footballers were flopping. The main flopper was undoubtedly Fernando Torres, who even Tim Howard is now catching in the goal-scoring charts. His £50m move to Chelsea has been a disaster for all involved, but the man brought in to replace him at Liverpool for a cool £35m, Andy Carroll, has fared little better. As I watched him labour round the pitch at the Etihad stadium this week, I almost felt sorry for him.
But sadly it was also the year of racism scandals. The biggest domestically came at the end of the year as Luis Suarez was banned for eight games for racist comments made towards Patrice Evra. The row rumbles on as Liverpool refuse to accept their lot, but with John Terry due in court next month, the topic is going to remain in the news, especially after a crowd incident in Liverpool’s FA Cup match v Oldham Athletic. If only everyone had taken Sepp Blatter’s advice and shaken hands at the end of the match – problem solved!
The end of the year also plunged the world of football into deep shock, as Gary Speed took his own life. It was a story that people struggled to comprehend, a man who seemingly had it all, but it turned out didn’t. A reminder, along with the tragic death of Gary Ablett in the New Year, that it is only a game. It will never be more important than life or death. Never had a disputed penalty or a last minute equalizer seemed less important.
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But the year ended with great promise for the months ahead. Two new teams competing for a Premiership title whilst at the other end the promoted teams hold their own. The race for 4th place and Champions League football will be intense. The Championship as ever is hard to call and full of drama and dollops of great football, as are the lower leagues. Fabio Capello will bow out at the European Championships, and the media will once more build up our chances, before the team crash out at the first knockout stage. There are, as always, some exciting times ahead.
Tottenham have put their poor March Premier League form behind them, and recorded a 3-1 win over Swansea at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
The north London side were under pressure to get a result after results of late, but went into the lead early on through a Rafael van der Vaart strike.
Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled things up after the break, before a brace from Emmanuel Adebayor ensured the three points went the way of the home side.
Harry Redknapp praised his team after the victory, especially Gareth Bale, and was pleased with his team’s performance.
“He’s (Bale) just an amazing talent. He’s an amazing player,” the head coach told Sky Sports.
“He’s got the ability to run all day, to beat people, to dribble, to shoot, to head it – he can do everything. He’s a unique player really, he’s a special talent.
“But everybody was on their game today. I thought we defended well. We got good blocks in, the two centre halves. I thought the midfield people all closed down and pressed well.
“Obviously Manny (Adebayor) getting two goals as well was great for him.
“I thought we were fantastic. (In the) first half we did everything that we asked of them; we pressed them, closed them, had all the chances.
“They started well for the first maybe eight, nine, 10 minutes then we really got after them all over the park and broke their game up.
“They’re a good side, they play fantastic football, but I don’t think we ever let them play in that first half. They came back into it and got the goal but then we came back strong again,” he concluded.
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The win takes Spurs equal on points with Arsenal, after the Gunners were beaten 2-1 by QPR on Saturday.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has admitted that settling in London after his move from Liverpool has been difficult, but the opportunity to play at Stamford Bridge was too good to turn down.
The Spain international forward is only starting to find form after a £50 million move to Andre Villas Boas’ men back in January, with long spells of poor form blighting his time at his new club.
However, moving to a city as big as London has been an obstacle El Nino is still to get over.
“They have no similarity, neither in their past nor in their present. My adaptation process for each has been completely distinct,” he told Esquire Espana.
“Chelsea is in London, a huge city. I come from Madrid, also a great European capital, but this is much more of everything, for good and for bad.
“It’s been difficult for me to adapt here compared to when I arrived in Liverpool, a more comfortable place, smaller, where I was surrounded by Spanish team-mates.
“In the end, the important thing is to try and organise yourself as quickly as possible. That’s what I’m doing,” he stated.
Despite being adored by the Anfield faithful during his time on Merseyside, Torres admits that the chance to join Chelsea was the right move for him, regardless of the large transfer fee.
“That’s just a number. The only thing I know is that opportunities such as the one Chelsea offered me cannot be turned down. The important thing is the confidence they have in me.
“Liverpool was going down a strange path. Personally, I believe the departure of Xabi Alonso to Madrid was a clear message that something was changing.
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“I have the ambition to improve and Chelsea could offer me what every footballer desires: titles,” he concluded.