Barclay's Premier League Matchday 38 Fixtures and Preview

With 37 matchdays in the book, the Premier League Championship boils down to the very last matchday.  It is Manchester City's to lose.  With an eight goal lead over its rival Manchester United, all City needs to do is win.  United is not likely to make up the eight goal deficit.  All eyes will be focused on Manchester City to see if 18th place Queens Park Rangers can be the spoiler.   Meanwhile Manchester United plays at the Stadium of the Light in Sunderland.  Sir Alex Ferguson will push his squad to win, hoping for a draw or defeat of the City rival.

Chelsea, which has defeated Liverpool in the FA final, just to be rolled over in the Matchday 37 Premier League match 4-1 can only get a Champions League berth next year by defeating FC Bayern on May 19th in the Champions League final in Munich.  With nothing left to lose in the Premier league, expect some experiments in the Chelsea line up. 

Arsenal is at West Brom this weekend hoping to maintain its third place, while Tottenham just trailing with one point hosts Fulham at White Hart Lane.  Newcastle is at Goodison Park.  Only one point separates Newcastle and Tottenham. 

Soccer is a game of surprises.  Nothing can be taken for granted, even for Barclays final matchday.  City and United fans will sit on the edges of their seats and do some nail biting for 90 minutes of the final matchday.  This is how a season should end. 



MATCHDAY 38

13TH MAY


CHELSEA vs BLACKBURN                                Stamford Bridge, London
EVERTON vs NEWCASTLE                                Goodison Park, Liverpool
MANCHESTER CITY vs Q.P.R.                           Etihad Stadium, Manchester
NORWICH CITY vs ASTON VILLA                   Carrow Road, Norwich
STOKE CITY vs BOLTON                                   Britannia Stadium, Stoke on Trent
SUNDERLAND vs MANCHESTER UNITED    Stadium of the Light, Sunderland
SWANSEA CITYvs LIVERPOOL                        Liberty Stadium, Swansea
TOTTENHAM vs FULHAM                                White Hart Lane, London
W.B.A. vs ARSENAL                                           The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
WIGAN Wigan vs WOLVES                                DW Stadium, Wigan

                                                       GP     W     D     L    GF   GA   GD  Pts  
 1     MANCHESTER CITY           37     27      5     5      90     27    63    86
2     MANCHESTER UNITED      37     27      5      5     88     33     55    86
3     ARSENAL F.C.                       37      20      7     10    71     47     24    67
4     TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS   37      19      9      9     64     41     23    66
5     NEWCASTLE UNITED         37      19      8     10    55     48       7    65
6     CHELSEA F.C.                        37     17     10     10    63     45     18    61
7     EVERTON F.C.                        37     14     11     12    47     39      8     53
8     FULHAM F.C.                          37     14     10     13   48     49     -1     52
9     LIVERPOOL F.C.                     37     14     10     13   47     39      8     52
10     W.B.A.                                     37    13       7     17    42     49    -7     46
11     SUNDERLAND F.C.               37     11    12     14    45     45     0     45
12     STOKE CITY                          37     11     12     14    34     50  -16    44
13    SWANSEA CITY                     37     11     11     15    43     51   -8     44
14     NORWICH CITY                    37     11     11     15     50    66  -16    44
 16     WIGAN ATHLETIC                37    10    10     17      39    60  -13    40
15     ASTON VILLA                       37      7      17     13     37    51  -14    38
17     BOLTON WANDERERS         37    11      4      22      45    75  -30    37
18     Q.P.R.                                        37     9       8      20      40    63  -13    35
19     BLACKBURN ROVERS         37      8      7      22      43    76 -27     31
20     WOLVERHAMPTON              37      5    10      22      38    79  -31    25

Manchester United vs Everton 4-4

Despite a 4-2 lead with just 22 minutes remaining, Everton fought back with goals in the 82nd and 84th minute to take a point at Old Trafford.  The draw gives Manchester City hope to capture the Premier League championship. Manchester United still has a six point advantage at this stage, a lead that can be narrowed to three with a win by City against the Wolves later on today.   The if City can defeat United on April 30th, the two teams would be equal in points, with City having the goal difference advantage.  City has a four goal lead on United.

Nicica Jelavice opened the scoring in the 333rd minutes with a header into the United net.  Wayne Rooney got the equalizer in the 41st minute with a headed goal inside the six yard box. Danny Welbeck found the top right corner of the net, with a shout from just outside the penalty box to give United the 2-1 lead in the 57th minute.

Luis Nani upped the Manchester lead to 3-1 in the 61st minute when he found the bottom left of the net from close range. In the 67th minute Marouane Fellaini narrowed the United lead to 3-2, when he found the back of the net with a brilliant goal from deep inside the penalty box to the bottom right corner of the goal.

In the 69th minute Wayne Rooney seemed to seal the fate for Everton with his second goal of the afternoon, when he found the bottom left of the net from deep inside the penalty area.  Nikica Jelavic put new life into the Everton side, when he scored his second goal of the night in the 83rd minute. It was another goal deep inside the box, surprising the United defence.

Steven Pienaar made the Everton comeback complete with his goal in the 85th minute.  After Pienaar's goal there were many more nailbiting situations inside the Everton box.  As regulation time came to an end. another five minutes of extra time were indicated.  Just before the final whistle, United was awarded on last corner.  Everton's comeback was complete when the ball was kicked out of the danger zone into the midfield. 

The quest for the Premier League championship could very well be contested on the very last matchday of the season. 

Barclays Matchay 34 Round Up - Manchester United Remains on Top

 Despite a decisive win by City over Norwich, 6-1, Manchester United, not to be outdone, defeated Aston Villa 4-0.  Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with a controversial penalty kick, and it was all downhill for Aston Villa after that.  The win gives United a 5 point lead over City.

Sunderland and Wolves fought to a scoreless draw, while Swansea outscored Blackburn 3-0.  West Brom trumped the Rangers 1-0.

United seems to be on the way to another Premier League championship, while City will again be appearing in the Champions League next season.  Spot seven for a Euro League spot will be conteste by several clubs, while the remaining spots are all but wrapped up.

Arsenal will be hosting Wigan in the Emirates tomorrow, while the remaining four matchday games will be played on the 1st and 2nd May. 


14TH APRIL

NORWICH CITY . - MANCHESTER CITY     Carrow Road, Norwich                     1-6
SUNDERLAND - WOLVES                              Stadium of the Light, Sunderland     0-0
SWANSEA CITY -BLACKBURN                     Liberty Stadium, Swansea                3-0
W.B.A. -Q.P.R.                                                    The Hawthorns, West Bromwich      1-0

15TH APRIL
    
MANCHESTER UTD -ASTON VILLA            Old Trafford, Manchester                 4-0

16TH APRIL
ARSENAL - WIGAN                                          Emirates Stadium, London               1-2

1ST MAY

LIVERPOOL - FULHAM                                  Anfield Stadium, Liverpool
STOKE CITY - EVERTON                               Britannia Stadium, Stoke on Trent

2ND MAY

CHELSEA - NEWCASTLE                              Stamford Bridge, London
BOLTON - TOTTENHAM                                Reebok Stadium, Bolton




POS LP         CLUB                                             P     W   D   L    GF GA  GD  PTS
                                            
1 MANCHESTER UNITED                                 34   26   4   4     82   28     51   82
2 MANCHESTER CITY                                       34   24   5  5      85   27     58   77
3 ARSENAL F.C.                                                   34  20   4  10    68   44      24   64
4TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS                                33  17    8   8    57   38      21   59
5 NEWCASTLE                                                     33  17    8   8    50   42        8   59
6 CHELSEA F.C.                                                    33  16   8   9     56   38      19    57
7 EVERTON F.C.                                                   33  13   8  12     38 34         4    47
8 LIVERPOOL F.C.                                                33  12  10  11    30  36        4    46
9 SUNDERLAND F.C.                                           34  11   10   13  42  41        3    43
10 FULHAM F.C.                                                   33   11  10  12    43  43        0    43
11 NORWICH CITY                                               34   11  10  13   44  56     -11    43
12 SWANSEA CITY                                               34   11   9   14   38  44       -6    42
13 W.B.A.                                                                 34   12   6  16    40  47       -7   42
14 STOKE CITY                                                      33   11   9  13    32  45     -13   39
15 ASTON VILLA                                                   33     7  14  12   35  48     -13   35
16 WIGAN ATHLETIC                                            34     8  10  16   33  58     -25   34
17 Q.P.R.                                                                   34     8   7  19     38  57    -19   31
18 BOLTON WANDERERS                                    32      9   2   21   36  65     -29   29
19 BLACKBURN ROVERS                                    34      7   7  21    45  73    -28   28
20 WOLVERHAMPTON                                         34      5    8  21   34  73    -39   23

Barclays Premier League Matchday 34 Fixtures and Preview

With matchday 33 completed yesterday, and Manchester United's loss to Wigan, the race to the top has closed to within five points.  Arsenal has taken a five point lead over Tottenham to solidify third place.  With that background, all but four matches will take place this weekend, with Manchester City travelling to Carrow Road on Saturday and Manchester United will host Aston Villa in Old Trafford.  All things being equal both Manchester teams should be able to edge out a win, with City having to solve the more difficult task at Norwich.

Wolves for all intends and purposes will most certainly be relegated, while Sunderland will want to move up on the table.  Blackburn will need a win against Swansea in order to escape relegation, definitely a difficult problem.  The final match on Saturday will be West Brom against Queens Park Rangers at The Hawthornes.  Manchester United plays the only game on Sunday.

Arsenal meets Wigan at the Emirates on Monday.  Wigan will feel emboldened after its win against Manchester United.  Arsenal will want to further solidify its third place standing.

Four games will not be played until the 1st and 2nd of May when Liverpool meets Fulham and Stoke City hosts Everton at Britannia Stadium.  Chelsea hosts Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, while Bolton hosts Tottenham.

The delayed games will suit Chelsea who take on FC Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals next week.

The Premier League is far from being decided and this weekend's games will move the league closer to decision points.

 14TH APRIL

NORWICH CITY . - MANCHESTER CITY     Carrow Road, Norwich                     1-6
SUNDERLAND - WOLVES                              Stadium of the Light, Sunderland     0-0
SWANSEA CITY -BLACKBURN                     Liberty Stadium, Swansea                3-0
W.B.A. -Q.P.R.                                                    The Hawthorns, West Bromwich      1-0

15TH APRIL
    
MANCHESTER UTD -ASTON VILLA            Old Trafford, Manchester                 4-0

16TH APRIL
ARSENAL - WIGAN                                          Emirates Stadium, London

1ST MAY

LIVERPOOL - FULHAM                                  Anfield Stadium, Liverpool
STOKE CITY - EVERTON                               Britannia Stadium, Stoke on Trent

2ND MAY

CHELSEA - NEWCASTLE                              Stamford Bridge, London
BOLTON - TOTTENHAM                                Reebok Stadium, Bolton




POS LP         CLUB                                             P     W   D   L    GF GA  GD  PTS
                                            
1 MANCHESTER UNITED                                 34   26   4   4     82   28     51   82
2 MANCHESTER CITY                                       34   24   5  5      85   27     58   77
3 ARSENAL F.C.                                                   33  20   4   9     67   42      25   64
4TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS                                33  17    8   8    57   38      21   59
5 NEWCASTLE                                                     33  17    8   8    50   42        8   59
6 CHELSEA F.C.                                                    33  16   8   9     56   38      19    57
7 EVERTON F.C.                                                   33  13   8  12     38 34         4    47
8 LIVERPOOL F.C.                                                33  12  10  11    30  36        4    46
9 SUNDERLAND F.C.                                           34  11   10   13  42  41        3    43
10 FULHAM F.C.                                                   33   11  10  12    43  43        0    43
11 NORWICH CITY                                               34   11  10  13   44  56     -11    43
12 SWANSEA CITY                                               34   11   9   14   38  44       -6    42
13 W.B.A.                                                                 34   12   6  16    40  47       -7   42
14 STOKE CITY                                                      33   11   9  13    32  45     -13   39
15 ASTON VILLA                                                   33     7  14  12   35  48     -13   35
16 Q.P.R.                                                                   34     8   7  19     38  57    -19   31
17 WIGAN ATHLETIC                                            33     7  10  16   31  57     -26   31
18 BOLTON WANDERERS                                    32      9   2   21   36  65     -29   29
19 BLACKBURN ROVERS                                    34      7   7  21    45  73    -28   28
20 WOLVERHAMPTON                                         34      5    8  21   34  73    -39   23

Barclays Premier League Matchday 32 Round Up

With all the games in the books, Manchester United continues to top the English Premier League.   Their victory at Old Trafford over QPR, solidified their lead over Manchester City with eight points. Tottenham for the time being remains in third place, pending the outcome of the Manchester City/Arsenal game.  Tottenham’s draw against Sunderland will move Arsenal ahead of Tottenham, should they win.  Chelsea remains in fifth place after their win over Wigan at Stamford Bridge.  Arsenal moved back into third place after defeating Arsenal 1-0.

While the race to the top continues to be a two horse race, with the advantage to Manchester United, there are still several clubs battling to escape relegation.  The Wolves, who lost to Stoke City, will have a difficult time and are almost guaranteed relegation with six points behind Wigan.  Both Wigan, Q.P.R and Blackburn lost their respective matches this weekend and require a few wins to move out of the relegation zone.  Bolton is in the same boat, with just 29 points.

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Matchday 31 Fixtures/Results

6TH APRIL

SWANSEA CITY - NEWCASTLE 32 Liberty Stadium, Swansea               0-2

7TH APRIL


SUNDERLAND - TOTTENHAM 32 Stadium of the Light, Sunderland      0-0
BOLTON - FULHAM 32 Reebok Stadium, Bolton                                        0-3
CHELSEA - WIGAN 32 Stamford Bridge, London                                       2-1
LIVERPOOL - ASTON VILLA 32 Anfield Stadium, Liverpool                    1-1
NORWICH CITY - EVERTON 32 Carrow Road, Norwich                          2-2
W.B.A. - BLACKBURN 32 The Hawthorns, West Bromwich                       3-0
STOKE CITY - WOLVES 32 Britannia Stadium, Stoke on Trent                 2-1

8TH APRIL

MANCHESTER UTD - Q.P.R. 32 Old Trafford, Manchester                       2-0
ARSENAL - MANCHESTER CITY 32 Emirates Stadium, London             1-0

Premier League Table

POS LP         CLUB                                             P   W   D   L    GF GA  GD  PTS
                                            
1 MANCHESTER UNITED                                 32  25   4   3     78   27     48    79
2 MANCHESTER CITY                                       32  22   5  5     75   26     49    71
3 ARSENAL F.C.                                                 32  19   4   9      64 42       22   61
4TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS                                32  17    8   7    56 36        20   59
5 CHELSEA F.C.                                                  32  16   7   9      55 37      19    56
6NEWCASTLE UNITED                                      32  16   8   8      48 42        6    56
7 EVERTON F.C.                                                   32  12   8  12     34 34        0    44
8 LIVERPOOL F.C.                                                32  11  10  11   37  34        3    43
9 SUNDERLAND F.C.                                           32  11   9   12    42  37       5    42
10 FULHAM F.C.                                                    32   11   9  12    42  42       0    42
11 NORWICH CITY                                               32   10  10  12   42  49      -7    40
12 SWANSEA CITY                                               32   10   9   13   35  41      -6    39
13 W.B.A.                                                                 32   11   6  15    39  43      -4   39
14 STOKE CITY                                                      32   11   8  13    31  44    -13   38
15 ASTON VILLA                                                   31     7  13  11   34  43      -9   34
16 BOLTON WANDERERS                                    31     9   2  20    36  63    -27   29
17 Q.P.R.                                                                   32     7   7  18    35  56     -21   28
18 BLACKBURN ROVERS                                    32      7   7  19    43  67    -24   28
19 WIGAN ATHLETIC                                           32      6  10  16   30  57   -27   28
20 WOLVERHAMPTON                                         32      5    7   20   34 70    -36   22

Manchester United Offering up to 60 Million Euro for Goeze and Hummel

Go figure, here we go again.  According to a report Sir Alex Ferguson is offering as much as 60 Million Euros ($ 78 Million) for the purchase of Borussia Dortmund stars Mario Goetze and defender Mats Hummels.  Arsenal had previously offered 35 Million Euros ($ 45 Million) and the offer was rejected by Dortmund.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Manchester United scouts have been present in five Dortmund matches and also during Germany's international against the Netherlands.  While their focus was on Mario Goetze they also noticed Mats Hummels.   Manchester United and Arsenal did not make it past the group stage of the Champions League.  Arsenal presently leads the Premier League. 

Goetze is under contract with Dortmund until 2014 and has been categorized as "not for sale" by Dortmund.   Goetze, who was born in Memmingen, Southern Germany, came through the youth program of BVB Borussia Dortmund and has been with the club since 2001.

Mats Hummels  is a product of the Bayern Munich youth program and has been with Dortmund since 2008, initially on loan from Bayern. 

Dortmund recently rejected an Arsenal offer, stating that they had no pain tolerance boundary and that Goetze would not be sold („Wir haben keine Schmerzgrenze und werden Götze nicht abgeben!“)

Dortmund finds the offers amusing.  Whether or not Dortmund can be convinced with the high offer for the two Dortmund stars remains to be seen.  

UEFA Europa League Group of 32 Knockout Phase Draw

 The Europa League Group of 16 Knockout phase will commence with an away and home game to be played on the 16th and 23rd of February.  In the final draw, group stage winners and four third placed teams from the Champions League Group Stage were seeded. 

Matches of interest are Germany's Schalke 04 will take on the Czech Repuplic's Victoria Plzen and Hanover 96 meets FC Brugge. 

 Manchester United meets the Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam, while Manchester City is matched with FC Porto.  Stoke City takes on FC Valencia. 

All matchups for the Group of 16:

Viktoria Plzen : FC Schalke 04

Hannover 96 :  FC Brügge

Ajax Amsterdam : Manchester United

FC Porto : Manchester City

Stoke City : FC Valencia

Lazio Rom : Atletico Madrid

Lokomotive Moskau : Athletic Bilbao

AZ Alkmaar : RSC Anderlecht

RB Salzburg : Metalist Kharkiv

Steaua Bukarest : Twente Enschede

Trabzonspor : PSV Eindhoven

Udinese Calcio : PAOK Saloniki

Rubin Kazan : Olympiakos Piräus

Wisla Krakow : Standard Lüttich

Sporting Braga : Besiktas Istanbul

Legia Warschau : Sporting Lissabon