This weekend the big game is Chelsea v Manchester City as first plays second in something of a Premiership show down as third and fourth place Southampton and Manchester United seem too far behind to join the championship race.
Hull 1 v Newcastle 1
Crystal Palace 2 v Everton 1
Liverpool 2 v West Ham 0
Man Utd 2 v Leicester 0
Stoke 2 v QPR 0
Sunderland 1 v Burnley 1
West Brom 1 v Tottenham 2
Chelsea 0 v Man City 0
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Southampton 3 v Swansea 1
Arsenal 2 v Aston Villa 0
Soccer – Under-fire Martinez happy with his squad
Everton boss Roberto Martinez says he has no intention of signing a replacement for Samuel Eto’o before the transfer window closes on Monday. Eto’o was allowed to join Sampdoria earlier this week and Martinez insists he is content with his squad even though they are currently in the bottom half of the Premier League table after finishing fifth last season. Martinez has been criticised by many Everton fans this term but the former Swansea City and Wigan Athletic manager said: “We are not looking at this window to find solutions. The work is to get players back in their confident mood. “Arouna Kone is ready to offer a lot and we have plenty of options in the number 10 role, so I don’t feel we necessarily need to replace Eto’o.” Everton, 4/5 with bet365 to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table this season, are available at 12/1 to beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park this weekend.
Presidential D-day, Socceroos & Spurs into finals, Crazy night in Madrid
* Hosts Australia ended the UAE’s fairytale run by dominoqq winning 2-0 in their Asian Cup semifinal in Newcastle, NSW. Trent Sainsbsury and Jason Davidson sent the Socceroos into a mouth-watering final against South Korea on Saturday in Sydney.
* Today is deadline day in the FIFA Presidential application process. Candidates must have the support of five national associations and have been active in the game for the past two years. The applicants so far are:
Sepp Blatter
Jerome Champagne
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein
David Ginola
Michael Van Praag
Luis Figo
Domenico Scala of FIFA’s Electoral Committee will oversee the applications. The presidential vote is on the 29th of May this year.
* Barcelona reached the semi-final of the Copa del Rey defeating Atletico Madrid 3-2 away last night, winning 4-2 on aggregate. The most astonishing moment of a dramatic night was when Atletico’s Turkish midfielder Arda Turan threw his boot at the linesman and was shown only a yellow card, one of a dozen (and two reds) handed out at the Manzares.
* Tottenham will play Chelsea in England’s League Cup Final on the 1st of March after overcoming Sheffield United 3-2 on aggregate last night. Chelsea beat Liverpool 1-0 the night before.
This all-London cup final should be a fiery affair. The two are old, if not bitter foes of course. Here’s Spurs taking on the Blues 85 years ago.
* FIFA have all but confirmed the Qatar World Cup will not take place in the summer. General Secretary Jerome Valcke told French radio the choice was now between the start and end of 2022
