Man Utd 1-2 Crystal Palace -30 Nov, 2011

Preview:United's fierce derby neighbours, Manchester City, are already in the last four of the competition, while old bitter enemies Liverpool have also progressed along with in-form Championship side Cardiff. Sir Alex Ferguson is therefore likely to be keen to set up a semi-final against one of United's bitter rivals so that in the semi finals he can test his youth players against them. Palace, though will be plotting what would be a major upset and boss Dougie Freedman would like to get one over on Ferguson after admitting he did not much care for his fellow Scot during his time as Aberdeen manager. United are unbeaten in their last 13 meetings against Crystal Palace and they last beat United in 1991.

Paul Pogba is set to make his full debut for United, while fellow youngsters Ezekiel Fryers, Ravel Morrison, Michael Keane and Ben Amos have been involved in the run to the last eight and will most certainly be featured again against Palace.

Carling Cup isn’t as important as other competitions that United is currently competing but in the last few years it has become extremely crucial for them to give their young players a chance to prove themselves and transition into the first team and that tradition will continue even today. Expect United to win this 1-0 or 2-0 comfortably.

Manchester United vs Crystal Palace Match Detail:

Carling Cup quarter final 2011-12
Date: Wednesday, 30 November, 2011
Kick off time: 19:45 GMT
Venue: Old Trafford - England


Result: Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace
65' 1 - 0  Ambrose
68' 1 - 1  Macheda (pen)
98' 1 - 2   Murrey (ET)

All You Need to Know Euro 2012 Draw.

... more about Euro 2012 ...

Where Is It Taking Place?

UEFA are hosting the draw at the Ukraine Palace of Arts in Kiev.

According to Wikipedia, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Luciano Pavarotti are the among the notable performers to have graced the venue in the past.

Who Will Be There?

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino will be conducting the draw, with the help of TV presenters lga Freimut and Piotr Sobczynski.

UEFA tell us entertainment will be provided by "the P. Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble, Ukrainian singerJamala and a surprise international artist."

We should also expect the national managers of each of the 16 qualified teams, along with a host of legendary names from the tournament's previous editions. The Euro 2012 motto is "creating history together", and the organisers have hence invite a collection of former stars.

How will the draw work?

There are four groups of four to be drawn, with each to comprise of one team from each of the four seeding pots.

Groups A, B, C and D will all consist of  1 x Pot A team, 1 x Pot B team, 1 x Pot C team and 1 x Pot D team.

Pot 1 teams will be drawn first, followed by Pot 4, then Pot 3, and finally Pot 2 to make up the groups. This means those in Pot 2 are in for the most agonising wait (not good news for England fans).

We already know Poland are the Pot 1 team in Group A, and Ukraine the Pot 1 team in Group D. The hosts have been guaranteed top seeding and a place in the group played out in their home city.

What Are the Seedings?

Aside from the hosts, who automatically go as Pot 1 seeds, the remaining 14 teams have been ranked using the UEFA National Team Coefficient. Here are the pots.

Pot 1 - Poland (Group A), Ukraine (Group D), Spain, Netherlands

Pot 2 - Germany, Italy, England, Russia

Pot 3 - Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden

Pot 4 - Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

Group of Death?

As with all draws these days, we must address the possibility of a 'Group of Death'.

It's highly unlikely, but we could potentially see a group containing the behemoths of Spain, Germany, Portugal and France.

Those are arguably the strongest teams in their respective pots, so teams will be desperately hoping to avoid them.

Group of Eternal Life?

According to the UEFA coefficient, here the weakest teams in their respective pots.

Pot 1 - Poland

Pot 2 - Russia

Pot 3 - Sweden

Pot 4 - Republic of Ireland

This would suggest the best draw for any team is to find yourself accompanied by three of these in a group. As a caveat, I'd make the case for Poland getting to play in front of partisan crowd, Russia having lost just once in 10 qualifiers, and Republic of Ireland riding on a wave of national hysteria.

Sweden were so bad against England at Wembley I can't find anything good to say about them.

A Random Prediction

There's really no point of this final slide, other than to entertain myself with a wild guess at the draw. Oh, and to illustrate once again the fact that each group will consist of seeds from pots 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Group A - POLAND,GERMANY, PORTUGAL, DENMARK

Group B - SPAIN, RUSSIA, CROATIA, SWEDEN

Group C - NETHERLANDS, ENGLAND, FRANCE, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Group D - UKRAINE, ITALY, GREECE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Source: Bleacher Report

Two top players injured!

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo sustains ankle injury

The Portuguese superstar was the recipient of a strong challenge from Atletico Madrid's Luis Perea at the weekend, and has since been diagnosed with a sprain

Real Madrid have revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo picked up an ankle injury in Saturday's 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

The 26-year-old was on the receiving end of a lunge from Luis Perea during the match, but despite completing the 90 minutes, the club's medical team confirmed he suffered a Grade I sprain and contusion on his left ankle.

Madrid's official website revealed that Ronaldo did not participate in training on Tuesday, but instead worked with physios in order to try and shake off the knock.

However, there was better news for Kaka and Alvaro Arbeloa, who were both present in training after fully recovering from their muscular setbacks which forced them to miss the Madrid derby.

Source: goal.com

Abbiati facing spell on the sidelines

AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati will be out of action for two weeks with a right shoulder injury.

The 34-year-old sustained the injury in last week's Champions League game against Barcelona and sat out last Sunday's 4-0 win over Chievo.

Tests done on the player ruled out the need for surgery but Abbiati will take around 15 days to recover.

Marco Amelia will again replace Abbiati in goal when the Rossoneri face Genoa in Liguria on Friday.

Abbiati had played in all of Milan's league games prior to last weekend's clash against Chievo.

Source: ESPNStar.com

EURO finals draw seedings unveiled

Big day next Friday ... very excited to know which pool my two favorite countries (Spain and Netherlands) will be!!!

Spain, the Netherlands and co-hosts Poland and Ukraine are top seeds for the finals draw at 18.00CET on Friday in Kyiv and UEFA.com will have full coverage in our DrawCentre.

UEFA has announced the seedings for the UEFA EURO 2012 finals draw at the Palace of Arts in Kyiv, Ukraine at 18.00CET (19.00 local time) on Friday 2 December. UEFA.com will have full coverage direct from the Ukrainian capital from Thursday morning in our DrawCentre with video, stats and live updates.

The 16 teams will been drawn into four groups of four teams each (Groups A to D).  Four seeding pots will be created, with the host associations Poland and Ukraine being top seeds. Poland will be automatically placed in Group A as A1, Ukraine in Group D as D1.

The reigning champions Spain will be placed in Pot 1, together with the Netherlands, the team with the highest national team coefficient, as established at the conclusion of the play-off matches.

The other 12 qualifiers have been allocated to the remaining three pots according to their respective coefficients.

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland

Full coefficient list

The draw will start with Pot 1 in order to fill position one in Groups B and C. The draw will continue with Pot 4, from which a team will be allocated to each group consecutively, from Group A to Group D. This procedure will then be repeated for Pot 3 and finally for Pot 2.

The position of each team within its group (2, 3 or 4) will also be determined during the draw.

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino will conduct the draw, and the ceremony will be hosted by Olga Freimut and Piotr Sobczynski – two renowned TV presenters in the UEFA EURO 2012 host countries. The show will include three entertainment acts: the P. Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble, Ukrainian singer Jamala and a surprise international artist.

Furthermore, and supporting the motto 'Creating History Together', UEFA has invited legendary players from all previous editions of the tournament to participate in the show. In addition, the official match ball of UEFA EURO 2012 will be unveiled during the ceremony.

The draw will be shown live by more than 70 broadcast partners, covering more than 150 territories around the world.

Source: UEFA.com

Ajax supervisory board members Johan Cruyff, Edgar Davids & three more asked to step down

The Amsterdam side's members council has asked all five commissioners to resign as they no longer have their support

The Ajax members council has asked supervisory board members Johan Cruyff, Edgar Davids, Steven ten Have, Paul Romer and Marjan Olfers to resign in the wake of a four-hour meeting on Monday evening.

The club's governing body had called a meeting to discuss the ongoing power struggle between Cruyff and the other four commissioners and they have now decided that none of the five has a future at the club in an official position.

"The majority of the members council has expressed its disappointment with the methods used by the supervisory board. We have therefore asked them to step down from their positions," members council chairman Rob Been Jr. said in a press conference.

"We expect a response to our request on Tuesday. Additionally, we ask the commissioners to never return to Ajax in a similar position. This also goes for Johan Cruyff." 

If the members of the supervisory board refuse to step down following the members council's request, the future of the five commissioners will be discussed during the next shareholders meeting on December 12.

With 73 per cent of the shares in the hands of the club's members, an exit for Cruyff, Davids and the others seems inevitable.

Sourcer: goal.com

Didier Drogba will 'go where he is offered the most money' says agent

Didier Drogba has turned down a new contract offer and a loan move to Milan. 

Didier Drogba's agent has revealed the striker has snubbed Chelsea's offer of a one-year contract extension and vowed to "go where he is offered the most money" after turning down a loan move to Milan.

The 33-year-old Ivory Coast striker looks set to walk away from Stamford Bridge for nothing when his contract expires next summer. And his agent, Thierno Seydi, is weighing up lucrative options including possible moves to America, Russia or Asia.

"Didier has had the offer of a one-year extension from Chelsea. That does not suit us," Seydi is quoted as saying by the Sun. "We know what we want, where we want to go and what offers we have.

"Milan came in for Didier on loan with an option to buy but I said 'No' straight away. Their offer did not interest us.

"At Didier's age, he has nothing left to prove as a player. He will go where he is offered the most money. It could be the United States, Russia, Qatar or somewhere else in Asia. Once you are well into your 30s you have to go to a club where you can be certain you'll be able to pay your bills.

"LA Galaxy are a possibility among many others. He has been linked with Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, as they pay well. But neither Didier nor I have had an offer from them."

Source: the guardian

Man City 1 - 0 Arsenal -29 Nov, 2011

The very anticipated collision course between Arsenal and Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup is finally upon us. Arsenal supporters have been relishing for this match to come ever since the departures of both Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Many Arsenal supporters still haven't forgiven the two, as they believed the two both quit on the club and the supporters when they selected to move to City during the summer transfer window. Arsenal are coming into this match with a disappointing draw against Fulham this weekend. Manchester City has been an unstoppable force in England this season. Roberto Mancini's side has been unbeaten in the Premier League this season through 13 games. 


However, their luck in European competition hasn't been the same as they are on the brink of elimination in Champions League and only a miracle will take them through to the next round. Also after Liverpool hammering where City barely escaped with a draw this is the perfect opportunity for Arsenal to beat Manchester City.


Both sides won't field their best lineups, with Arsenal going for youth players and City will give their fringe players some match time. Predicting a result is almost impossible though City must be favorites still to win 2-1. 


Manchester City vs Arsenal Match Detail:
Carling cup 2011-12 Quarter Final Match
Date: Tuesday, 29 November, 2011
Venue: Emirates stadium -England
Kick off time: 20:00 GMT


Result:
Manchester City 1- 0 Arsenal 
84' 1 - 0 [ Aguero]

Tables from last weekend.

La Liga

Premier League

Serie A

Bundesliga

Eredivisie

Man City 1-1 Liverpool Highlights -27 Nov, 2011

Preview: The pick of this weeks Barclays Premier League match is without doubt Manchester City travelling to Anfield to battle against the mighty Liverpool. Liverpool will be confident going into the game after their win last week against Chelsea while Manchester City will still be in shock after the disappointing loss to Napoli in the Champions League. Regardless of City misfortunes in the UEFA Champions League they have conquered all in the Premier League so far and remain unbeaten in the league. However Liverpool who themselves have been unbeaten in the last 9 games that they have played will prove the toughest challenge yet for the all conquering Manchester City side funded with unlimited cash. 

Liverpool has had a few disappointing draws recently but they have a well rounded squad and City definitely will have a tough match. 

Last time these two sides met at Anfield Liverpool had crushed Manchester City 3-0 and though alot has changed since then with City squad now the best in England probably Liverpool still are slight favorites in this one to end the unbeaten start of Manchester City to the season. We expect a 2-1 win for Liverpool in this one

Manchester city vs Liverpool Match Detail:

English Premier League
Date: Sunday, 27 November, 2011

Kick Off Time: 16:00 PM GMT

Venue:  Anfield

Result: Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool

31' 1 - 0  [kompany]

33' 1 - 1  [Lescott]