France hitting their peak at perfect time to land Six Nations January 31, 2013 WILLIAM CHRIMES AND BEN CLEMINSON PREVIEW THE SIX NATIONS AND PREMIER LEAGUE THIS YEAR’S Six Nations promises to be another thrilling northern hemisphere battle with England and France jostling for favouritism. Wales are the defending Grand Slam champions, yet have had a disastrous run of it with an almost record-breaking losing run of seven games. [...]
The Road to Cheltenham January 31, 2013 WWW.STARSPORTSBET.CO.UK 08000 521 321 THE Ryanair Chase is always one of the most competitive races of the entire Cheltenham Festival and this year’s renewal looks no different. The main problem is trying to work out who runs. Flemenstar would go off favourite if lining up, but a win in next weekend’s Irish Hennessy will surely [...]
Ravens’ resurgence can deliver Super Bowl January 31, 2013 NEW ORLEANS hosts the 47th edition of America’s greatest sporting showpiece when the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers meet in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. For the first time in NFL Super Bowl history the opposing head coaches are brothers as the Ravens’ John and the 49ers’ Jim Harbaugh go into battle. The only other occasion [...]
Captain Conan too short in Sandown feature January 31, 2013 THE SNOW might have gone but now racing has to deal with the aftermath and, with more rain forecast over the next couple of days, there is likely to be fresh disruption to the cards at Sandown and Ffos Las, where the highlights are the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase and the Welsh Champion Hurdle respectively. [...]
Blue Square Bet Winter Carnival January 31, 2013 We had some more thrilling finishes in last week’s Blue Square Bet Sprint Series races at Lingfield and it’s great to see full fields and split divisions once more. The first division (2.20pm) sees last week’s first and second return. Violet Jordan’s charge Frognal won by two lengths last Saturday in round four’s second division, [...]
Baffled Benitez blasts his Blues after late collapse January 30, 2013 READING 2 vs CHELSEA 2 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez criticised his team’s late collapse after the Blues threw away the chance to close on the Premier League’s top two by allowing Reading’s Adam Le Fondre to score twice in the last five minutes. Benitez did not hide his frustration at succumbing to a fourth draw [...]
Wenger in no mood to buy despite Reds exposing frailties January 30, 2013 ARSENAL 2 vs LIVERPOOL 2 ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger insists his squad can compete for football’s top prizes even if, as expected. he fails to add any talent before the transfer window closes tonight. Second-half strikes from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott earned the Gunners a draw against Liverpool last night, after Luis Suarez and [...]
Only 11th hour spree can save goal-shy QPR January 30, 2013 QUEENS Park Rangers might have pulled off an unlikely draw against champions Manchester City on Tuesday, but all is far from well at Loftus Road. I’ve never seen manager Harry Redknapp look more annoyed with a group of players, while chairman Tony Fernandes has even talked about walking away. Draws, even against big teams, are [...]
I’m fall guy – Merckx era wasn’t clean either, insists Armstrong January 30, 2013 DISGRACED former cyclist Lance Armstrong has reiterated his belief that he has been made a scapegoat and insisted that doping, or some form of cheating, has existed throughout the sport’s history. In his first interview since confessing this month to doping his way to seven Tour de France titles, Armstrong also said a truth and [...]
Spurs pass up chance to steal march on rivals January 30, 2013 NORWICH CITY 1 vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 TOTTENHAM manager Andre Villas-Boas admitted his side had missed a golden chance to tighten their grip on a top-four place after failing to win for a fourth consecutive match. Norwich had taken just one point from their previous six Premier League fixtures but took a surprise lead in [...]