Rocky to deliver knockout blow in Argento with ground to suit January 23, 2014 BILL ESDAILE AND BEN CLEMINSON WITH THE WEEKEND’S BEST RACING AND FOOTBALL BETS TRIALS Day at Cheltenham gives jockeys the last chance to ride around Prestbury Park before they line-up for the Festival opener, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, in six and a half weeks. There is no doubt that the highlight of the card is [...]
Gunners to keep the door firmly shut on visiting Sky Blues January 23, 2014 THE FA Cup returns tonight with Arsenal kicking off a packed weekend programme as they host Coventry. Considering the Gunners are top of the Premier League, and the only defeat they’ve suffered at the Emirates in their last 10 outings was against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup, it’s no surprise Arsene Wenger’s men are [...]
Capital One Cup: Moyes hopes Mata move ends misery January 22, 2014 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 vs SUNDERLAND 1 (3-3 on aggregate, After extra time) Sunderland win 2-1 on penalties MANCHESTER United closed in on the club-record £37m signing of midfielder Juan Mata last night, as fortunes on the pitch continuted to falter with defeat in the Capital One Cup semi-final on penalties. Mata is expected in Manchester [...]
United drop out of top three in football rich list January 22, 2014 MANCHESTER United have lost their status as one of the world’s three richest clubs, according to research published today. Despite growing revenue by 13 per cent to £363m in 2012-13, the English champions fell behind Bayern Munich due to the German club’s treble-winning success. Real Madrid remain top of Deloitte’s Football Money League for a [...]
Murray out of Australian Open but close to recapturing top form January 22, 2014 WORLD No4 Andy Murray expects to be challenging for the rest of this year’s grand slam titles, despite bowing out of the Australian Open to Roger Federer in yesterday’s quarter-final. Federer raced into a two-set lead but failed to serve for the match at 5-4 in the third and threw away two match points in [...]
West Brom face sponsor exodus January 22, 2014 WEST Brom could lose up to four additional sponsorship deals once the Football Association commission publishes its verdict on striker Nicolas Anelka’s “quenelle” gesture. The Frenchman yesterday urged the FA to drop the charges against him for the gesture made at West Ham last month, which led to principal sponsor Zoopla ending its £3m a [...]
Care comeback boosts England January 22, 2014 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster has confirmed scrum-half Danny Care will be fit to resume training today, providing a small tonic to his injury headache ahead of next weekend’s opening Six Nations match in France. Care injured his ankle in Harlequins’ defeat to Clermont Auvergne earlier this month and miss the weekend win over Scarlets. [...]
Playing the numbers game January 22, 2014 REAL Madrid top for a ninth consecutive year, Barcelona their chief rival: it may not look like much has changed in world football’s latest rich list, yet those facts belie a year of flux and fascinating trends. For two Middle East-funded upstarts, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, 2012-13 was a season of major gains in [...]
O’Sullivan slapped with fine January 22, 2014 SNOOKER: World champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was fined £6,000 by the game’s governing body yesterday following a string of Twitter comments. He was ordered to pay an additional £1,000 toward the cost of the hearing and warned about his future conduct after being “abusive, insulting and disrespectful” to a referee during German Masters qualifying last month.
City sign deal for A-League club January 22, 2014 FOOTBALL: A consortium led by Manchester City have acquired an 80 per cent stake in Australian club Melbourne Heart. Rugby League team Melbourne Storm hold the remaining 20 per cent stake. City have vowed to boost the A-League side’s scouting and coaching resources through it’s Manchester-based City Football Academy.