Adama Traore double sinks Manchester City and presents Liverpool with brilliant opportunity October 6, 2019 “It’s a bit like a recipe,” Pep Guardiola theorises in Pep Confidential. “League titles are won in the final eight games, but they are lost in the first eight games”. When he invited friend and journalist Marti Perarnau to document his 2013-14 season with Bayern Munich, Guardiola wouldn’t have been thinking about the ramifications of [...]
Ollie Phillips: Argentina are a potential banana skin, but exactly the kind of test England need October 3, 2019 England are in good form and their World Cup has been wholly positive so far, but Saturday’s game against Argentina definitely represents a banana skin. Eddie Jones’s side have enjoyed plain sailing in Pool C, comfortably beating Tonga and the USA, and on paper the No10-ranked team should be no different. However, they haven’t been [...]
The Hundred launch: Enthusiasm and confusion defines response to the ECB’s great hope October 3, 2019 The England and Wales Cricket Board’s great hope made its much-anticipated launch in a chilly warehouse on Brick Lane this morning. After a great deal of fanfare and a glitzy, clumsy marketing campaign The Hundred, a 100-ball competition with eight new franchises which begins next summer, took its first steps, full of optimism yet tinged [...]
Rugby World Cup betting tips: Back England to overcome first half Argy-bargy October 3, 2019 ENGLAND VS ARGENTINA SUPER Mario used to smash his head against brick walls to make it through to the next level and that’s exactly what his namesake, Argentina Head Coach ‘Super’ Mario Ledesma, will be expecting of his forwards when they take on England this Saturday. The Pumas are known for taking teams on up [...]
Horse racing betting tips: Japan could be the one to foil Enable’s hat-trick bid October 3, 2019 NO HORSE has won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe more than twice. In fact, of all the dual winners of Europe’s richest horse race, only Treve even managed a hat-trick attempt. That’s the size of the task that faces Enable and Frankie Dettori at Longchamp on Sunday afternoon (3.05pm) and despite that she is [...]
Horse racing betting tips: Hermosa ready to give O’Brien yet another Sun Chariot success October 3, 2019 PUNTERS were left with burnt fingers when Laurens finished a well-beaten fourth behind Iridessa in the Matron Stakes in Ireland a fortnight ago. She was sent off the well-backed even money favourite that day and will be fancied to bounce back in tomorrow’s Group One Sun Chariot Stakes, a race she won 12 months ago. [...]
Lille 1-2 Chelsea: Willian’s bolt from the blue secures vital away win for Lampard’s side October 2, 2019 After their disappointing opening round defeat at home by Valencia it was all about winning tonight, and win Chelsea did. Frank Lampard’s Blues are clearly a work in progress, especially when faced with challenging, unfamiliar sides in the Champions League. Read more: Spurs punished by seven-goal Bayern But while there were chinks in the armour, [...]
Chris Tremlett: Exciting times ahead as England opt to blood youngsters on New Zealand tour October 2, 2019 The end of the domestic cricket season has come and as the nights draw in I must congratulate Essex on a well deserved win in the County Championship. Somerset started the campaign like a train, but Essex were simply more consistent, losing just one game all season to their competitors’ three. Rain proved to be [...]
England v Argentina preview: Forward-thinking but one-dimensional Pumas pose set piece threat October 2, 2019 The stage is set and England know exactly what to expect from Argentina in Tokyo on Saturday. The significance for the Pumas is clear. They need to do what they haven’t done in the last nine meetings and 10 years: beat England. Do that and their narrow opening 23-21 World Cup defeat by France might [...]
NFL London Games: UK director Alistair Kirkwood on cross-Atlantic growth, the Tottenham Stadium and a future franchise October 2, 2019 When it was announced that the NFL would host a game in London for the first time, the decision was met with intrigue and scepticism. Was the risk worth the potential rewards? Were the English public really interested enough in American football? Would jet-lagged players struggle to perform at Wembley? Twelve years on from that [...]