Chelsea’s Oscar forced to deny suggestions of training ground bust-up with Diego Costa January 7, 2016 Chelsea midfielder Oscar last night moved to douse suggestions that he and combative striker Diego Costa had been involved in a training ground bust-up ahead of the club’s FA Cup third round tie against Scunthorpe on Sunday. The duo were said to have squared up to each other at Chelsea’s Cobham training base yesterday before [...]
Banned Uefa chief Platini pulls out of Fifa presidential race January 7, 2016 Suspended Uefa boss Michel Platini last night formally withdrew his candidacy to replace departing Fifa chief Sepp Blatter in next month’s presidential election at the crisis-hit world governing body. Platini, along with Blatter, was banned from all football-related activity for eight years by Fifa’s ethics committee in December over a £1.3m payment he had received from [...]
Life bans for trio in doping bribe scandal January 7, 2016 The scale of corruption in world athletics has been illustrated further after governing body the IAAF banned three top officials for life for blackmailing a Russian athlete as part of a doping conspiracy. Papa Massata Diack, son of the IAAF’s then-president Lamine Diack and a marketing consultant to the crisis-hit organisation, and senior Russian athletics [...]
Kempton racing betting preview: Bash the bookies with Bivouac in the Lanzarote Hurdle January 7, 2016 After a superb couple of days’ racing over the festive period at Kempton, jumpers return to the rain-soaked Sunbury track on Saturday. Pride of place in the seven-race card is the Lanzarote Hurdle (2.35pm). The race looks typically competitive with 11 runners set to go to post and bookmakers scratching their heads with 9/2 co-favourites [...]
Racing betting preview: Portrait King can clean up in muddy Welsh Grand National January 7, 2016 It is going to be touch and go whether Saturday's Welsh Grand National (1.45pm) card at Chepstow goes ahead. Last month’s meeting had to be abandoned due to a waterlogged track and Mother Nature is doing her best to spoil the party again. If it does get the green light, though, there are going to be two [...]
FA Cup betting preview: Injury-hit Liverpool to slip up against Exeter January 7, 2016 The last time Liverpool visited Exeter City in the FA Cup was 1950, when Scotland international Willie Fagan sealed a convincing 3-1 win. A lot has changed in the last 66 years but Liverpool’s superiority has not. The two have never been in the same league and Exeter have never played in the top flight. The [...]
FA Cup betting preview: In-form Tottenham to outfox fading Leicester January 7, 2016 Premier League high-flyers Tottenham and Leicester go head to head in the FA Cup on Sunday in one of the ties of the third round. It’s a different atmosphere from their cup meeting last year, which ended in a shock victory for then-top flight strugglers Leicester. A Foxes win would certainly be no surprise this time [...]
Everton 2, Manchester City 1: Pellegrini lampoons officials as Lukaku proves worth to Everton January 6, 2016 Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini blamed the “unbelievable” decisions of the match officials for his side’s Capital One Cup semi-final first leg demise at the hands of Everton last night. Romelu Lukaku proved the matchwinner with his 12th goal in as many matches, seconds after substitute Jesus Navas had cancelled out Ramiro Funes Mori’s opener [...]
Proteas snatch momentum but positives for England January 6, 2016 It was a gruelling Test match but the aching bodies will hurt less in the South Africa camp after the Proteas wrestled the initiative from England in the final few days in Cape Town. The hosts will go into third Test in Johannesburg, which starts on 14 January, with a little bit more momentum than [...]
South Africa’s Hashim Amla vows to lead batting charge after quitting captaincy January 6, 2016 South Africa batsman Hashim Amla has vowed to hit top form and prove a thorn in England’s side after his shock decision to relinquish the captaincy following his side’s draw in the second Test in Cape Town yesterday. England suffered a top-order collapse and slipped to 116-6 before Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali halted the [...]