I didn’t do too badly with my predictions really. OK, I was wildly out in the big Chelsea and Manchester United game but five correct results out of ten is pretty amazing for me!
Let’s look at the heroes and villains from this weekend’s Premier League games;
Hot team
Not much doubt about this award this week. Manchester City are a club that now have the potential to challenge the very best in Europe. They need to build a team that can do likewise. Judging by the way that they dismantled a reasonable Portsmouth side yesterday, Mark Hughes might not be too far away from building that side.
When they were going forward the sight of Jo, Robinho, Wright-Phillips, Elano and others was pretty spectacular. Whether they…
Christian Eriksen is set to return from a long-term ankle injury next month, according to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Eriksen sustained the injury after being on the wrong end of a hefty Andy Carroll tackle during United s 3-1 EFL Cup win over Reading on January 28.
The Denmark international had been expected to miss the bulk of the majority of the season, with initial hopes for an April or May return.
Ten Hag offered a positive update on the former Tottenham and Inter playmaker, who had been a central figure in their revival in the first half of the season.
Yes, some point in April, he will be back, Ten Hag said. He is doing really well, really good in his rehab.
The progress is very good and we have to see how that develops in the …
Crewe Alexandra will not hold an internal investigation after reiterating no-one at the club was aware of former coach Barry Bennell s sexual abuse crimes against children.
Bennell was convicted of 43 offences against 11 boys aged eight to 15 between 1979 and 1990 by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court last month, with the 64-year-old described as the devil incarnate and sheer evil by judge Clement Goldstone.
But the League Two side say a police probe has cleared club officials of any cover-up.
A Crewe statement read: In November 2016, the club stated that it would undertake an independent review into allegations involving Barry Bennell whilst he was employed by the club.
This review was to investigate the allegations which had been made involving Mr Ben…
Former Chapecoense goalkeeper Jackson Follmann has rejoined the Brazilian club in an ambassadorial role.
The 25-year-old was one of three players to survive the November 2016 plane crash as the team travelled to Medellin to play in the Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional.
While team-mates Neto and Alan Ruschel recovered to return to action, Follmann was forced to retire after losing part of his right leg in the accident that claimed a total of 71 lives.
However, he is now back on the books at Chape, signing a deal to work in their public relations department.
Follmann attended the Laureus Awards last month, picking up the honour of Best Sporting Moment after Chapecoense qualified for the 2018 Copa Libertadores.
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Germany coach Joachim Loew says he will continue his project of building a winning team despite a disappointing finish to Euro 2012.
Pre-tournament favourites Germany were surprise losers in the semi-finals of the European Championships, going down 2-1 to Italy in the semi-finals.
After also bowing out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at the same stage, Loew is determined to banish those memories with success on the biggest stage.
We wanted to go to the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa and begin forming a team that could then win this title (Euro 2012), so the loss in the semi-final against Italy was particularly painful, he said ahead of Germany s international friendly against Argentina on Wednesday.
We now have the task of working on the errors we made a…
Melbourne Heart has signed Socceroo and former Hull City midfielder Richard Garcia.
Garcia was not offered a new contract with the Championship club in May and joins new signings Josip Tadic, Patrick Gerhardt, Dylan Macallister, Golgol Mebrahtu, Andrew Redmayne, Steven Gray and David Vrankovic for the new A-League season.
The Perth-born utility spent more than a decade in England, making over 250 first team appearances for West Ham, Leyton Orient, Colchester United and Hull, while he has earned 14 caps for the Socceroos, including as a squad member for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
And Heart head coach John Aloisi believes the 30-year-old s experience at both club and international level will be a priceless asset for the Melbourne outfit.
Richard …
Flamengo produced a second-half turnaround to reach the Club World Cup final with a 3-1 win over Al Hilal, keeping hopes of a meeting with Liverpool alive.
The Copa Libertadores champions went into Tuesday s clash in Doha as heavy favourites but were well below par in the first half, Salem Al Dawsari putting the Saudi Arabian side on possible course for a shock victory.
However, the AFC Champions League winners faded after the interval as an instrumental performance from Bruno Henrique inspired a Flamengo comeback.
He teed up Giorgian de Arrascaeta for the equaliser soon after the restart and put Flamengo in front with a thumping header 12 minutes from time, before his cross made sure of success when Ali Hadi Albulayhi put through his own net.
Al Hila…
Cristiano Ronaldo says there was no excuse for Juventus 3-0 home defeat to Fiorentina but is optimistic the Serie A champions will come back stronger and more united than ever in 2021.
The Turin giants suffered their heaviest loss since moving to the Allianz Stadium nine years ago as the lowly Viola pulled off a shock victory on Tuesday.
Juve were already a goal down following an opener from Dusan Vlahovic when Juan Cuadrado was sent off after only 18 minutes for a challenge on Gaetano Castrovilli.
Alex Sandro s own goal and Martin Caceres simple finish sealed it for Fiorentina, leaving Andrea Pirlo s side seven points behind leaders Milan in fourth place at the end of the year.
Prolific forward Ronaldo knows their display was unacceptable and calle…
The Metro understands that Manchester United are eyeing a move for Swansea City defender Alfie Mawson.
A scout from the Red Devils was sent to watch the twenty-four year old in the Swans’ 1-1 draw weekend with West Bromwich Albion last weekend and gave a glowing review.
Manager Jose Mourinho is ready to strengthen his defensive options this summer with a number of his current incumbent failing to impress on a regular basis.
Mawson moved to the Liberty Stadium from Championship side Barnsley in the summer of 2016 and he has since racked up sixty-five appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring seven goals.
Internationally, he has been capped six times for England’s U21s, scoring once while he received his first senior call-up last month …
Pep Guardiola hopes Arsene Wenger remains involved in football after calling time on his 22-year spell as Arsenal manager.
Wenger confirmed he will stand down at the end of this season in a statement on Friday.
Tributes have poured in concerning the 68-year-old Frenchman s influence upon English football and freshly crowned Premier League champions Guardiola added his voice to those plaudits.
All my respect for what he has done, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss told a news conference ahead of City s game against Swansea City on Sunday.
The Premier League is the Premier League thanks to what he has done after he arrived – his vision, his respect for football.
I wish him all the best. In the future hopefully he can be involved in foo…