29th February

Apologies for not posting yesterday, another long day of sports reporting at the football and then at the Ricoh. I'm not going to post about the cup final because 1) I didn't see it, because I was at the Ricoh and 2) it broke me so much I really would talk about literally anything else. Savvy? So let's talk Premier League and Varsity.

Warwick Finish With A Bang

So Varsity 2016 came to a close at the Ricoh Arena, in what ended up being a colossal tussle between Warwick and Cov's rugby teams for supremacy. By that point in the day, Warwick had already sewn up Varsity once again, by 40 points to 30, following superb displays on Saturday by the hockey, fencing, athletics and golf teams, as well as women's basketball and rugby, not to mention the amazing ultimate frisbee teams, and on Sunday, special mention to women's futsal whose 14-0 win over Cov stands as one of the most humiliating in modern memory, not to mention some smashing performances in the water polo and badminton. 

The football was by all accounts an ill-tempered affair, with lots of yellow cards, three penalties and a ton of passion from both sides. The Cov team and supporters were proper wind up merchants, no doubt looking to get some revenge for their horrendous mid-week thrashing at the hands of Dre, and things threatened to boil over after the final whistle, but ultimately, a bit of rivalry is exactly what Varsity is about and you could see what it meant to everyone on the pitch, even safe in the knowledge that Varsity was already over, as women's futsal and water polo results trickled in before kick-off to secure a Warwick victory. Cov's victory on the day, 3-0, two of them pens, ended up meaning little, but the Warwick lads were clearly frustrated, as it meant a lot to them to win. If nothing else, it's cracking to see Sports Officer Alex Roberts throwing himself into tackles. 

But the rugby was where it was really at, as supporters in blue and red packed themselves into the Ricoh Arena to witness the culmination of Varsity 2016, and with each of Warwick's previous three live broadcasts resulting in defeat, there was a real sense of nerves in the WTV/RaW box that we might not see our boys pull off a result. 

The rugby was every bit as hard-fought, nerve-wracking and intense as the rest of Varsity, with Coventry performing much stronger than anyone could have expected, giving their all, but ultimately, falling short, as a Warwick try off the last play of the match (much to the chagrin of the cheering Cov supporters who'd made the mistake of thinking that the game had already finished) secured a 22-20 win for the boys in red. It was a tense, tense match, as Warwick scored the opening try to move 5-3 in front after an early Cov penalty, from a position where they really should have scored a converted try in front of the posts, but not for the first time that evening, a Cov player saw the glory for himself and ran for the line, rather than playing a simple pass that would have guaranteed a try. 

But Cov fought back to move 10-5 ahead before half time with a converted try and from there, Warwick needed to up their game, as very few could argue that Cov didn't deserve to be winning at the break. But Warwick came out in the second half rejuvenated and were able to go over to level the scores at 10-10 with their second try. There were several kicks missed on both sides, as the quality of rugby was very, very scrappy, before Cov moved back in front with another try to make it 15-10, before Warwick's strength in the forwards came into play, and they were able to bundle over the line, before finally converting a kick to make it 17-15. 

Again, Cov came back, but again a missed conversion failed them, and with the score at 20-17, and Warwick pressing in the dying seconds, they kicked for the corner rather than go for the three points to level the match. And when the referee blew his whistle, the Coventry fans, thinking that the match was over, celebrated like mad, even as one of their own was escorted out by security. 

But the referee had given a scrum to Warwick, from which the boys, down to 14 men, charged over the line with the very last play, and even though they missed the conversion, it was 22-20 to Warwick, and Coventry were beaten. Up in the exec box, we were losing it, Stuart Croft was losing it, everyone was losing it. 

After a Varsity that hadn't exactly gone to plan for Team Warwick, it was sensational to end on a high, especially having secured yet another victory over our arch nemeses. 26 years and counting, it's a beautiful feeling. 

Arsenal Bottle It Again

And another team knowing beautiful feelings right now will be Leicester City, as they took another step towards the Premier League title with a late goal from Leo Ulloa that saw them beat Norwich 1-0 on Saturday, before Arsenal bottled it against Manchester United. There are no excuses for Arsenal, who had almost a fully fit team to choose from, and who left Mertesacker and Giroud on the bench, whilst United were missing Smalling, Rooney and Martial, started with Rashford up front and a makeshift back four. Arsenal's team should have been far superior to United's, yet they suddenly found themselves on the back foot as Rashford put them to the sword, with two goals that from a defensive perspective, probably would have been prevented had Mertesacker been on the pitch. Gabriel's poor clearance cost them the first and a lack of marking enabled the second, before a deflected strike from Ander Herrera added a third. 

Arsenal did twice fight back, first through Welbeck who justified his inclusion, and then through Ozil who had another all around impressive game, but the truth is that Arsenal just once again bottled it in a big game when the pressure was on and the title race was there for the taking. Straight after putting Leicester under pressure at the top, they realised that the title was a possibility, it got in their heads and they flopped. Mentally, this Arsenal team have no strength and no spine.

And yes, this is nothing new and nothing groundbreaking, and everyone else will be saying it this week, but that is because it's true and obvious for all to see. It's no less true than it was last year, or the year before that and once again Arsenal have proved that they do not know how to win a major trophy. And no the FA Cup doesn't count. 

Spurs, on the other hand, showed the kind of mental strength that a side in their position should be showing, strengthening their own title credentials but also hoping to stay ahead of Arsenal, as well as both United and City, who of course weren't in action this weekend due to the game I shall not mention. Leicester's weekend looked like it might be going very well indeed as Swansea took the lead against North London's other big club through Paloschi, whom I confess to have never heard of before he did score, before goals inside the last quarter of the game from Chadli and Rose turned it on its head and gave Spurs the victory needed to keep their momentum flowing. It's increasingly looking like Spurs or Leicester for the title now, and either way, what a season this has proved. 

I'll be honest, not a lot else of interest happening on Saturday in the Premier League. West Brom made sure that Palace continued their standard Pardew slide, Stoke beat Aston Villa, as teams are wont to do, Bournemouth secured a solid point away from home that inches them further clear of trouble as Norwich and Sunderland lost (the latter a disappointing but predictable result away at West Ham), and Chelsea continued their resurgent form with a surprising victory away at an in-form Southampton, but nothing that will massively affect either end of the table, with the top 4 almost secure and no major plays made by any of the bottom four or five teams. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Leamington secured a decent 1-1 draw. 
• Messi scored again. Barca won again. Hit repeat. 
• Kante out for two games. Could be huge. 
• And Everton were bought by Farhad Moshiri. Interesting. 
• Wasps pummeled Quinns. It was an amazing match. 

27th February

So much sport. Okay here's how we're doing this. Tonight: rugby. Tomorrow: football. Sound good?

England Move Into Pole Position

For England, this was the first big test of their Six Nations. And they passed. Comfortably in the end, although Ireland threatened to make it messy for a while, with multiple tries disallowed, at least one totally rightly and at least one that could have gone either way. Nevertheless, it was England who won 21-10, and deservedly so. They absolutely battered an Ireland side who had no answer in the first period and England really should have been leading by more than just the slender, three point lead that they had at half time. And as Ireland started the second half stronger, crashing over the line through Conor Murray to establish a 10-6 lead that didn't last long. By the hour mark, England had the game firmly back under their control as they finally scored the two tries that their play had deserved, Brown and Watson the men going over and Farrell adding a conversion to the mix. And at 21-10, with the game all but over, Ireland finally game to life, forcing England to weather a storm similar to the one that Ireland had to deal with in the first half. There was no doubt that Henshaw's try should have been disallowed when he dropped the ball and was in touch, but the late try for Van der Flier could easily have been given, although there was no conclusive evidence that he had been able to ground the ball. 

Overall though, whilst the margin of victory could have been both larger and smaller, England will be very, very happy with this result, which makes them the only team with three wins out of three and still capable of pulling off the Grand Slam. They've got a tricky couple of fixtures left, the Welsh and the French but with Wales coming to Twickenham and France nowhere near top form (and there's no guarantee that they'll even beat Scotland at Murrayfield next time out), there's a really solid possibility that England will win the Six Nations and could even have it wrapped up before the final round of fixtures takes place. 

But that said, we're getting ahead of ourselves, as the Welsh, (who won their last match at Twickenham don't forget) will also be fancying themselves as continued favourites to win the tournament, even though they can't win the Grand Slam after drawing with Ireland. But two wins in their last two games, against England and then a home banker against Italy, would see the men from Cardiff lift the trophy again this year, after they saw off France 19-10 last night. Much like England's win against Ireland, it was a hard fought affair, decided by a slightly fortuitous try from George North, but it was Dan Biggar's flawless kicking that helped Wales establish a 16-3 lead early in the second half. Like England, they dominated the opening period and also like England, they failed to take advantage. But ultimately, this was a reasonably comprehensive victory for the Welsh in the end to put them within touching distance of another Six Nations Championship. Basically, next week's match between England and Wales, as it so often does, will decide the Championship. 

And meanwhile, in the dead rubber match of the year, Scotland finally overturned their terrible run of Six Nations form to see off Italy 36-20. Scotland got off to a terrific start, but every time they attempted to pull away from Italy, the home side dragged themselves back into it. 17-3 became 17-10, 23-10 became 23-20, before a couple of huge kicks from Laidlaw put Scotland out of reach and then Tommy Seymour's late try put a gloss on things. Really, this is a game that Scotland needed to win, and will have been glad that they did so, but is it going to be enough to build some momentum ahead of two huge games with France and Ireland?

The Hard and Fast Section

• Varsity update: we're crushing the poly.
• Leamington update: 1-1 draw with King's Lynn. 
• Real Madrid lost and could be 12 behind Barca. Embarrassment. 
• Leicester City won me a fiver off a drunk friend. 
• The Cup Final is tomorrow. I can't watch it. 

26th February

So Varsity kicked off properly last night and there is plenty of Europa League action to chew on. Let's dig in.

English Triumph 

It was anticipated that all three English clubs would make it through to the last 16 of the Europa League last night, with Liverpool, Spurs and United all at home to Augsburg, Fiorentina and Midtjylland respectively. And so it proved to the case as in the end, all three teams won comfortably, despite some sticky moments, not least for Manchester United another injury problem as Antony Martial was injured in the warm up, meaning that young striker Rashford had to start. As far as I'm concerned for United, this is a problem that we foresaw as early as August when Rooney and Martial were the only strikers in their squad so I don't know why they didn't reinforce that area of the pitch in January. 

Anyway, staying with United, for the majority of their game with Midtjylland, things did not go United's way. And when a wonderful solo goal from Sisto put the visitors in front just before the half hour mark, United were in trouble. They went in at half time level through an unfortunate own goal from Bodurov but when Juan Mata missed a penalty, with United still needing a goal just to take the game to extra time, they must have thought that it wasn't going to be their night. But up stepped Rashford, with two clinical finishes that put United first ahead on the night, and then ahead on aggregate with 15 minutes to go. And from there, there was only one side winning as late goals from Herrera and Memphis Depay put the gloss on what was for 75 minutes a very tough game for United.

Another game where the scoreline didn't really reflect the balance of play was at Anfield, where Liverpool could really have put four or five past Augsburg after James Milner's early penalty gave them the lead, but failed to take advantage of their chances and had to settle for a 1-0 win on the night, sending us through 1-0 on aggregate, a result that I am very happy with. I missed the game because Varsity but from what I heard we were comfortably the better side, carved out all the chances and despite one or two hairy moments defensively (Mignolet never ever makes me comfortable), we thoroughly deserved to win, and win we did. 

But it was Spurs who impressed me the most, with a comfortable, emphatic win against Fiorentina, to secure England's coefficient status ahead of Italy next year for certain. As expected from Spurs, one or two key individuals were missing, not least Harry Kane with a broken nose and they rotated their full backs, as well as Dembele's lack of fitness, but they still got the job done with Nacer Chadli, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela all taking it in turns to play up front and Ryan Mason in midfield. And it was Mason who gave them the lead halfway through the first half, with a delightful side foot finish, before goals in the second half from Lamela and an own goal from Rodriguez completed a 4-1 aggregate win for Spurs that they believe will have firmly established their credentials as Europa League contenders. 

However, those credentials are about to be put to the biggest test possible. Because if last night was an excellent one for English teams in Europe, this morning well and truly deflated that bubble, as Spurs found themselves drawn with Borussia Dortmund, easily the most dangerous team left in the competition. And in two weeks time, when Spurs go to the current second best team in Germany, we'll see how they stack up. It will be very interesting to see how strong their team is for that match. But as they showed last night, even a weakened team is capable of performing spectacularly in Europe. 

Oh and there's the small matter of Liverpool v Man United to come in the next round. Personally, I'm very happy and excited by this draw for a number of reasons. For starters, no away trip hundreds or thousands of miles to Spain or Germany or even further to face a difficult team on away soil. Even the relatively short trip to Augsburg didn't favour us at all. Secondly, in terms of motivation, nothing will get the players up for the Europa League, which frankly they'll need to be up for after this Sunday, quite like a trip to our arch-nemeses. And if I'm being honest, I fancy us over two legs against United, should we be able to send out Sturridge and Coutinho. This United side do not scare me in the way that the likes of Dortmund, Sevilla or Leverkeusen do. They're vulnerable. And I can really see the lads doing a number on them. But either way, it's a game to get the neutrals and even our own fans, excited about the Europa League. 

Warwick Hit A Wall

And meanwhile, I was at Planet Ice, as the annual Warwick vs Coventry Varsity tournament kicked off properly. Cov had already won some of the preliminary encounters, but with Warwick still favourites in a lot of sports today and tomorrow, the Ice Hockey was the first big event, the first real chance for Cov to make a signal of intent that this was finally going to be their year and that after 25 years of humiliation, they would knock us off our perch. 

And well, they certainly made a statement. 

First off, I have to say that I've never been to anything quite like it before. Stood in the punditry box with a great bunch of people, watching a sport that I knew nothing about, played at a ferocious pace, with brutal tackles that looked like horrible fouls being waved away every couple of seconds, players getting into fisticuffs and slammed into walls, all with two halves of the stadium screaming at each other and getting behind their side. This was sport at its electrifying best. The Warwick crowd were absolutely amazing, and despite being outnumbered and out-equipped, as this was Coventry turf, the longer the game went on, the more that we were winning the battle off the pitch. 

Unfortunately, on the ice, everything was going horribly wrong. Coventry were able to call on three professional players, including one international and their quality showed in the opening period, as Warwick had no answer to their ferocity and tenacity. It was 7-1 before we knew it, and in scenes reminiscent of Harry Potter, the Coventry fans were gleefully singing our goaltender's name. Warwick went into the 2nd period looking shellshocked, and Coventry applied the pressure, going for the throat and at 12-1, the game was over. 

But then the fans found their voice, urging their team on and one or two moments of real quality from superstar Jack Meadows had the Warwick boys ending the 2nd period only 12-4 down. The sense of defeat that had lingered at 12-1 was gone, and although there wasn't a sense of optimism as such, the crowd and the players started to feel the pressure disappear, and they started to enjoy themselves. 

The final period was where the game and the atmosphere hit their heights, as five goals in quick succession saw Warwick turn 14-4 into 14-9 and Harrison came into his own with a string of increasingly brilliant saves that meant that it was Warwick's turn to chant his name. The final ten minutes were brutal on the pitch, as violence was breaking out increasingly, and the jovial, playful hostility between the fans reached its peak, as "F*ck off Warwick" was responded to with "Shoes off if you hate Coventry", as Warwick's Dodgeball team let the response, shoes waved in the air. In the box, above the fans but close enough to feel part of it, we were lapping it up. 

Tonight, no less than seven matches on Warwick's home turf, including live broadcasts of the Netball, and I'll be on lead comms for the Basketball. Game on Cov. Game on. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Valencia won 10-0 on aggregate. Brutal.
• FIFA are currently voting for a new President. Reforms passed. 
• Laura Robson has suffered another injury setback. Gutting.
• Six Nations is back tonight. Booyah.

25th February

Ahead of tonight's huge Varsity kick-off, which I will address in tomorrow's post, here's the latest football news and previews.

City Turn Up The Heat

Make no mistake, this was a huge result for Manchester City, especially in the context of their season. With three huge defeats in three huge games, their title challenge hanging on by a thread and their dismal demise in the FA Cup at the hands of Chelsea, this game, and Sunday's game against us are all that is left of their season, which once again is falling apart at the seams in February. Two defeats this week had the potential to destroy the remnants of City's crumbling campaign before the second month of 2016 is out. 

Of course, defeat on Sunday would still be devastating for City, and leave almost all of their hopes on the Champions League, but nevertheless, this result, a 3-1 win away at Kiev was absolutely massive. Yes, Manchester City will probably not win the Champions League and yes, this game is one that they really should have expected to win anyway, but that is in truth, neither here nor there. City needed to show tangible progress in this competition, where they have slipped up time and again, especially in potentially tricky fixtures away from home. But it was City who prevailed today, with an early goal from Aguero and then a slick move finished by Silva making sure that the game was effectively over by half time. And from there, with City's big guns purring, it looked like a formality that they would kill the tie before full time. But Kiev tested them, and Buyalsky's goal just before the hour mark could have had the same effect that Dybala's goal had the previous night for Juve. Indeed, Kiev certainly didn't lie down after pulling one back, and the nerves would have been jangling in the City defence. Nevertheless, 2-1 away from home would have been a terrific result for City. 

But it didn't end 2-1, as Yaya Toure stepped up with a trademark Toure curling shot to put the game to bed very late on, making it 3-1 and effectively sealing Kiev's fate. You cannot possibly see this Kiev side scoring a minimum of three goals at the Etihad and City have secured safe passage to the last eight. And from there, if they get a kind draw (and there will be some beatable sides left in this competition, right now I'd wager that on their day, this City side can take anyone except Barca and Bayern) then the semi-finals certainly aren't out of reach. 

Whilst a good Champions League run would hardly make up for what has been so far a very disappointing league campaign, and it's arguable that the only way to restore any muster to City's Premier League ambitions would be a swift exit from the Champions League, this result will certainly give them a lot of heart as they go into the cup final against Liverpool on Sunday fresh off the back of a positive result. I'll be interested to see how seriously they take that game. 

Europa League Crunch

And speaking of Liverpool, we're in action tonight, with an almost full strength side taking on Augsburg needing a win at Anfield tonight (or a 0-0 draw and penalties but eff that). The likes of Sturridge, Firmino and Coutinho should have more than enough firepower to see of the Germans on our own turf tonight, but there's no guarantees and with our league campaign disappointingly null and void at this point, a good cup run is essential, which is why Klopp appears to be going at it hammer and tongs. Simply put, a strong performance is a necessity tonight. 

Do I think we'll win? It's a difficult question. I certainly think that we have sufficient strength to win on the night, especially at Anfield, and certainly we should be winning, but whether we will or not is an entirely different question. I have faith in this side, but I also could see us struggling tonight and a victory on the night is what is needed. 

Either way, I'm hopeful that tonight we will see Klopp lead his side to a comfortable victory, and we can make progress in another cup competition ahead of Sunday's huge game. Much like City, we have a season defining few days ahead of us.

Elsewhere in the Europa League, Spurs host a Fiorentina side who need to score at White Hart Lane if they want to make any further progress in the competition. Unlike Liverpool and United, Spurs haven't got much pinned on the Europa League, as they are looking increasingly likely by the week to be guaranteed Champions League football next season, and can even make a solid league title challenge if they are able to keep their side fit. As such, they will more than likely rest players tonight, but I can still see them having enough to secure either a narrow win on the night, or a goalless draw that would see them through to the last 16, following an excellent result in Italy.

And as for Manchester United. Well they're missing another key player as Chris Smalling is injured but to be quite frank, it would be as embarrassing, if not more for them not to qualify tonight as it would be for us, or as it was when they lost to Wolfsburg. And much like Liverpool, their season hopes seem to hinge on the Europa League, since their faltering league campaign is looking very likely not to produce a top 4 finish. Expect United to send out a strong side tonight and, with the home advantage, they should win by a couple of clear goals and knock out Midtjylland, even without Smalling, De Gea and Rooney. 

So in summation, all three English clubs should win tonight, both on the night and hence their respective ties. And Spurs are the only ones who shouldn't be embarrassed if they fail to make it through to the next round, depending on how weak the side that they send out tonight is. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Varsity. 7:15. Be there. 
• There's plenty of other big sides in action tonight. 
• Itoje has been handed his first England start. 
• Warwick's footballers prepped for Varsity by beating Cov 6-1. 
• Right, I have some punditry to get to. 

24th February

Apologies for missing last night, another long day, didn't get in until nearly 12 and figured that this was better off posting today rather than then. Arsenal are out of the Champions League.

Messi Magic

It was a game that for 70 minutes was going so well, about as well as Arsenal could possibly have expected. But at 0-0, with less than a quarter of the game to go, Arsenal fell into the trap that they always fall into against big sides. They went for broke, and Barcelona punished them with an absolutely devastating counter attack, as their big three attacked with pace and power, a delightful pass from Suarez releasing Neymar, and as Barcelona charged in on a vulnerable and short of numbers Arsenal defence, Neymar played the ball into the feet of Argentinian magician Lionel Messi, who did the rest.

And then from there it was only one disastrous moment away from game and tie over, and that disaster occurred when Mathieu Flamini came off the bench and in less than a minute, had hacked Messi to the floor in what has to be one of the stupidest tackles I think I've ever seen, and from there the game was over, as Messi coolly finished the spot kick. 

It was one of those games, where on paper, it looks as if Messi was the star of the show, with two late goals to kill the tie. And in some sense, that is true, Messi is the sort of player who doesn't miss the opportunities that were handed to him by Arsenal in this game. But in truth, for 70 minutes, as good as Messi, Neymar and Suarez were, Arsenal were well and truly in the game and although Cech had to be at his best to keep Neymar at bay and Suarez missed some glorious openings in this game, Arsenal could easily have taken the lead themselves; Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud both with chances that against teams of Barcelona's caliber, you simply cannot miss.

And that is the painful truth, that Barcelona are simply in a different class to Arsenal. They played them off the park, created the majority of the chances, scored twice, won 2-0 and deservedly so, with both Neymar and Suarez wondering how it wasn't more. And yet we're sat here saying that they weren't, and in truth they weren't, anywhere near their best for the majority of the night and this was nearly a perfect execution of Arsenal's game plan. Which just goes to show the difference between good teams and the very top teams. And Arsenal are a very, very good side. But they aren't a top team. Although to be fair to the Gunners, if Barca are the standard that we're judging by, then nobody is a top team. This was a night when Barcelona were not quite at the races. But here we are. And once again, it looks as if they have swept aside one of the best challenges England has to offer. They are simply unparalleled. They have humbled every major contender in Europe over the last twelve months: Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich have all fallen before them.

But that's not to say Arsenal are blameless. Bringing on Flamini was a catastrophic error as he clearly doesn't have the pace to deal with a game of this magnitude, Welbeck should have come on at least ten minutes earlier than his introduction and Coquelin especially was horribly exposed for the first goal. They had this game and this team right where they wanted it. And that's why Barcelona won. Because in a game of this magnitude, of the two teams on display, they are both the less likely to make big mistakes, and the more likely to punish you if you do.

And for Arsenal now, they need to lick their wounds and focus on the league title. Because they are never in a million years winning by two or more goals at the Camp Nou.*

*Unless by some miracle, at least two of MSN are injured and even then it doesn't look good.

Bayern Pegged Back

Pep Guardiola pointed out going into this game that he had approximately zero fit central defenders, so he went into this game against Juventus with a left back and a central midfielder at the heart of his defence, not exactly central defenders. Defenders potentially but defenders whose primary purpose in this Bayern side is arguably not to defend. 

So you couldn't blame Bayern for taking an "attack is the best form of defence" approach and for over an hour it worked a dream, with the first half a very one sided affair, which Bayern eventually capped with a goal from Thomas Muller, who finished clinically from the penalty spot after Juve failed to clear a cross from Costa. 

And at the start of the second half, things got worse before they got better for the Old Lady, as a trademark Arjen Robben cut in a finish on his wonderful left foot put Bayern 2-0 up and for all the world it looked as if the game, and the tie, was as out of reach for Juventus as it ended up being for Arsenal. But then Bayern's weakness was exposed, as young central midfielder Kimmich, playing at the heart of Bayern's back four in the absence of any defenders, gave the ball away cheaply whilst trying to clear, allowing Mario Mandzukic to expose the Bayern defence and Dybala made a great run in behind to make it 2-1. 

From there, it was Juventus who had the momentum, Cuadrado amongst others denied by Neuer and they made the most of it as one substitute Alvaro Morata, headed the ball across the six yard box into the path of another sub, Sturaro, who bundled the ball in to give Juve a real opportunity. 

But that said, 2-2 on the night, two away goals to take back to the Allianz, Bayern won't be overly unhappy, although they will certainly be frustrated that they've let Juve back into the tie. But this is arguably two of the best three sides in Europe, the Italian and German Champions who will both fancy themselves to win both their own domestic titles and this competition. We've seen Juve are fighters and they will not go away.

Expect one hell of a game in the return leg. 

The Hard and Fast Section

•  Leamington made it three wins in a row. Boom. 
• F1 testing continues. Lots of new rules.
• Heather Watson lost. Frustrating. 
• And City are in action tonight. Annoyed I'll miss it. 

22nd February

So United did as expected and there's some other interesting football news kicking about. Let's dig in.

United In Cruise Control

As much as I wanted to see United slip up against lowly Shrewsbury, the simple truth is that that was never going to happen, especially as Louis Van Gaal went to great lengths to ensure that it didn't by sending out close to his strongest eleven to tackle the side 21st in League One. It's a mark of how badly United's season is going that LVG felt the need to go for broke against a side that the reserves probably would have pummeled anyway, but nonetheless it turned out that my prediction of a 3-0 United win was on the nose.

Chris Smalling put United in front, with a goal that pretty much summed up United's dominance in the opening half hour, as having a center back casually waiting in the penalty area from open play to scuff home a shot is symptomatic of total and utter control. And once that goal went in, the game was never in any doubt, with Juan Mata putting the game out of reach just on half time with a lovely free kick from just outside the area that probably should have been disallowed. 

In truth though, whether or not it should have stood is totally inconsequential to the final result, as United were never going to lose their stranglehold on a game against lower league opposition who simply put didn't have the quality to ever trouble them. Apart from a couple of chances late on for the home side, it was the visitors who never showed any signs of letting their lead slip, and put the icing on the cake just after the hour mark, when Jesse Lingard turned home Ander Herrera's ball into the penalty area to make it 3-0. This is the sort of result to boost United's confidence against their return leg against Midtjylland, albeit against a team that anything less than the result that they achieved could easily have turned into a travesty. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this has relieved any of the pressure on LVG because frankly it's not going to instill any confidence in anyone, but this was a comprehensive display and if nothing else it prevents the pressure from being further applied until at the least Thursday, when United will have to navigate a game infinitely more difficult, as they try to reach the last 16 of the Europa League, their self-confessed only hope of Champions League football next season. 

And staying with Manchester United for the time being, Lazio's president announced that he was selling Felipe Anderson for £47m (60m Euros) to the Manchester club, allegedly to a room full of journalists. The veracity of this is currently unclear but if true (and it looks likely as it's being widely corroborated) then this is a very good deal for the Italian club. Don't get me wrong, Anderson looks like another classy attacking midfielder, but at nearly £50m, he's also ludicrously expensive for a man who has only 16 goals in Serie A, admittedly only at the age of 22. This is another clear example of Manchester United's reputation as a big club, able to throw money at any situation to get what they want, biting back at them, as they don't have the power to negotiate with Lazio. The ball is entirely in Lazio's court and they'll squeeze their talent for every last penny and then some. I'm not saying that this would necessarily be a bad move for United, should it come to pass because Anderson is undoubtedly talented, but I question whether for nearly £50m, they should be buying established talent, or three or four players with Anderson's potential. The answer to that of course, is that without Champions League football, they simply can't pull the finished article. Neymar/Bale/Ronaldo/everyone transfer rumours are all well and good, but simply put, who would want to leave Barcelona or even Real Madrid right now? Granted, Madrid are a million miles away from Barca, but United are a million miles away from Madrid and moving from the Spanish capital to the red half of Manchester now would be a coward's way out.

Meanwhile, to put that move into context, Bolton Wanderers Football Club, that's the whole club, cost just £7.5m as they were taken over by the Sports Shield Consortium. This is terrific news for Bolton fans, who must have been wondering if they would ever see their club again after this season, as it looked as if Bolton might collapse completely into the wilderness at several points. There's obviously a long way for the club to go to pay off their debts, secure financial stability and, almost as importantly, launch a sustained football league campaign, but this is a big start for them. Their next objective must surely be Championship survival, which at 6 points behind Rotherham looks a long shot at this stage, but far from impossible and we've seen stranger things happen. Who knows, behind the scenes stability may spur on the players into an incredible run. Now they have something worth fighting for. Most importantly for all Bolton fans, their club has a future. It's alive. And it's not going anywhere any time soon. And in a current climate where a lot of clubs are struggling to stay in existence, this is a win for football, and a win for Bolton Wanderers. 

And finally, in football news, Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has taken a massive potshot at Real Madrid by saying that the club's biggest rivals aren't the men from Madrid, but the Premier League, following the unprecedented amount of television money going into the English top flight next season. Barcelona may have the best team in the world by a country mile on the pitch, but off the pitch they need to take steps to secure that financially they can compete. Obviously there is more to football than money, and Barca don't need to worry about losing their top talents, but in a world where making quick money may be more valuable to certain young players with the wrong mindset, Barca could find themselves losing out on some top young talent coming through, should the likes of City throw money at the situation. And another thing to factor into that equation is the number of top class managers ending up in the EPL, with Guardiola, Wenger, Klopp, and probably Mourinho and Simone there next season. 

That said, wait until Barca win everything again this year. Then come back and talk about rivals. Because right now, they are simply peerless.

The Hard and Fast Section

• Sorry for being late again tonight. Life. 
• Smithy is running for FIFA President. Genius. 
• Vettel fastest on first day of F1 testing. Interesting. 
• Pulis in talks at the end of the season. Hmmmm.

21st February

Some major FA Cup action and England humiliated in the cricket.

Arsenal Stutter, Chelsea Rampant

It's fair to say that this weekend's FA Cup results and games have more than lived up to expectation. Even yesterday's early kick off between Arsenal and Hull, which ended goalless, was a very good game of football, and in itself was a huge story. Overall, Arsenal probably should have won the game, as you would expect for a side of their calibre, as they piled the pressure on and created lots of chances. But Hull were a side who refused to give in, refused to let Arsenal rip into them and Arsenal were just unable to break them down. This is in truth a disastrous result for Arsenal, as they now face a replay, which is yet another fixture in their long list of fixtures, on top of two games against Barcelona and their league campaign. And a lot of credit has to go to Hull, who defended terrifically all game and thoroughly deserved a replay. Ultimately, it's going to be fascinating to see how that replay goes, with Arsenal still clear favourites to move into the quarter finals, where they would face a Watford side who ended up beating Leeds 1-0 in probably the least interesting tie of the round, where at the very least we got to see it decided by a comical own goal from Leeds defender Wooton. 

Meanwhile yesterday, Everton eventually saw off Bournemouth in what looks on paper like a relatively straightforward performance and result, with Everton 2-0 winners with goals from Barkley and Lukaku, but in truth it was anything but, as Joel Robles made a stunning save from the penalty spot before Barkley's shot took an unfortunate deflection that looped over Bournemouth keeper Federici. Bournemouth created a string of good chances after that, but simply put, it was Everton who had the greater cutting edge and Lukaku showed predatory instinct to net his 20th goal of the season after some sloppy defending off a corner and put the tie to bed. 

And Reading produced the shock of the round so far by putting out West Brom, who took the lead through Darren Fletcher before goals from Paul McShane, Michael Hector and Lucas Piazon knocked West Brom out of the cup. Two brilliant headers turned this tie on its head before Piazon, on loan from Chelsea, struck late on to put a gloss on it. This game always had cup shock written all over it, but I'm still surprised to see a Tony Pulis side go down so easily, and this is another in a string of largely disappointing results for the Albion. And this was a game marred by an awful incident, as someone threw a coin at West Brom's Chris Brunt, allegedly someone from his own supporters. Absolute disgrace. 

Today's games were even more interesting, producing thirteen goals, several red cards and another missed penalty. We'll start with the West Ham game, which came first and produced a masterful performance from Dimitri Payet. There were three marvelous goals in the first half, Ben Marshall's low drive getting Blackburn off to the perfect start before Victor Moses was given all the time in the world to pull the trigger twenty five yards from goal and the keeper really should have kept out. But he was powerless to deny Payet, as the magician pulled a stunning free kick out of the bag to give West Ham the lead before half time. And from there it was a riot, Emineke taking advantage of a shocking tactical decision from Taylor, who earned himself a second yellow card to score two simple goals to put the tie to bed, either side of a slightly harsh red card for Kouyate, who was judged to be last man as he commited a foul on the edge of the box. But it was the magnificent Payet who had the last word, with a lovely run and a sumptuous finish to make it 5-1 and confirm a brilliant win for West Ham. Their reward is a trip to Old Trafford, assuming United knock out Shrewsbury.

Another brilliant result was for Crystal Palace, who knocked out Spurs, who will be at the least glad that they're now only fighting on two fronts, and don't have a replay to add to their increasingly busy fixture list. It was a stunning game of football for one with only one goal in it and both teams could easily have scored three or four, Dele Alli desperately unlucky as he missed two golden openings in the first half, including one that hit both posts. And for Spurs in particular, it was just one of those days, where blocks, goal line clearances and top saves from Hennessey kept them at bay all day, Harry Kane's delightful free kick the best stop that they forced the Palace keeper into. And Palace themselves had chances: Vorm with a great save after the ball looped over his head and Connor Wickham's selfish behaviour costing his side two clear goals late on. But the winning goal was scored by Martin Kelly, the ex-Liverpool right back, who was freed down the right and powerfully fired home past Vorm. It's fair to say that no keeper likes being beaten at his near post, and that Hugo Lloris probably would have saved it. Either way, this is a disappointing result for Spurs who would have wanted to keep going, as the FA Cup was probably still their best opportunity at silverware. As for Palace, a draw away at Reading represents a real opportunity to make the semi-finals and go on to win the trophy. 

And Manchester City made a major blunder by sending out a side including five debutants, their reserve goalkeeper, and a makeshift back four, and they were summarily swept aside by a Chelsea side that actually decided to take the FA Cup seriously. This is a damning result for Manuel Pellegrini on a number of levels. Not only is it a humiliating result, psychologically damaging for his young players, and they're now out of the FA Cup, but it makes his team selection foolish, as he essentially threw the game and the competition. And it was Chelsea who respected the competition and the result reflected that. That said, it was appalling performances from Demichellis and Caballero that cost City, as Demichellis lost his man completely, allowing Costa to head Chelsea in front before a wonderful move from City was turned home by Faupala.

But in the second half it was all Chelsea, a brilliantly worked goal seeing Hazard free Willian for him to fire home before a poor clearance from Fernando was hammered home by Gary Cahill, despite being straight at Caballero, whose performance for Chelsea's fourth goal, a nonetheless exceptional free kick from Eden Hazard, was unacceptable, as he meekly stepped the wrong way. He did however, put in a top save to deny Oscar from the spot after Traore went down under almost no pressure from Demichellis. But it was Traore who had the last laugh, as his flicked header looped over Caballero and put City out of their misery. Chelsea go on to face Everton. 

England Crushed

And in the cricket, England's woeful limited overs form came to a head, as they lost 7 wickets for just 14 runs and then saw South Africa chase their respectable total of 171 in less than 15 overs with 9 wickets to spare. This was an absolute embarrassment for England, as first their batting performance, and then their bowling fell off a cliff, with Jos Buttler's 54 the highlight of their batting. But when Buttler and Morgan, who were nicely set to launch England towards 200 fell, the rest of the dominoes fell with them, a total and utter calamity once again from the lower middle order. And then the bowlers were put to the sword as AB De Villiers and Hashim Amla, South Africa's two best players and two foremost batsmen, absolutely ravaged them, hitting 100 within 7 overs as De Villiers brutally hacked England apart, scoring 71 runs off 29 balls before he eventually holed out to Root off the bowling of Rashid. But by then the damage was done and Amla's similarly exceptional 69* off 38 balls saw South Africa home by 9 wickets with 32 balls to spare. This was a ravaging, a batting performance of the very highest order from the South African openers that England's bowlers simply had no answer to. Topley and Jordan in particular were brutalised, but none of the bowlers were able to cope with the spell of bombastic cricket that South Africa produced. Simply put, England were humbled. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Real Madrid drew, Ronaldo missed a penalty. Oh dear. 
• Barca are now 9 points clear. Wow. 
• Saints lost away yet again. Jesus Christ.
• At least England's women won. Sarah Taylor again the star. 
• And Leamington won 3-1 away. Boom. 

20th February

Let's preview some FA Cup action shall we?

The Last 16 of the FA Cup

Arsenal v Hull (12:45pm)

This one has just reached half time and is goalless, but overall, Arsenal are absolute favourites for this game, despite making nine changes from last Sunday's win against Leicester, ahead of their Champions League game against Barcelona. It's very much a strong Arsenal side, with Mertesacker, Koscielny, Flamini, Welbeck and Walcott all starting, and really, they should blow away Hull in the second half. That said, it's a case of so far, so good for Hull and they'll be very happy to have got through to half time at 0-0, especially considering Arsenal's dominance. They'll be thinking if they can just nick a goal, then they've got every chance of holding on and creating a massive shock. No prediction for this game, as it's a bit late for that, but Arsenal should win. 

Reading v West Brom (3pm)

West Brom have gone to a replay in both the 3rd and 4th rounds of this competition against lower league opposition and my money would be on a similar result here, despite the fact that Reading are really struggling to make any sort of headway in the Championship. The Baggies are one of the Premier League's less predictable sides, but they have a solid defence at times and an ability to nick a goal. You'd have to put them down as favourites for this game, but I've got a good feeling that Reading, at home, can replicate their predecessors in this competition and take West Brom to a replay.

Prediction: 1-1

Watford v Leeds (3pm) 

Leeds are in freefall, a mess of a football club, making headlines for their off the pitch madness and their inability to string together decent performances on it. With no disrespect to Watford, I wouldn't back Leeds away from home at any Premier League side right now. And it is Watford that they are going to, and Watford have shown themselves to be a top Premier League outfit. Their form in recent weeks has been slightly patchy, but they've had a tough run of games, losing twice to Tottenham, as well as Man City and a resurgent Southampton. And their home form isn't too bad either. So I'd expect a comfortable home win. 

Prediction: 2-0 Watford

Bournemouth v Everton (5:15pm)

Everton looked to be picking up some real form before they were downed by West Brom last time out, and they remain an incredibly inconsistent outfit, impossible to call at the best of times. That said, on paper, they should have enough firepower to see off Bournemouth, who despite doing enough to keep themselves in the league, can't really aim for anything more than that, and simply put are an inferior side. That said, this is an opportunity for both sides to go all out for a cup run to bolster their seasons, so we could see two very strong line ups and a very good game of football. Just remember the 3-3. 

Prediction: 3-1 Everton

Blackburn v West Ham (2pm Sunday)

This one is one that you'd think has to go to the Premier League side. As boring as it is to say that West Ham will win this game, I can't really see any other outcome. Granted West Ham are in mixed form, with their only win in the last five league games against Villa, but they should have more than enough about them to beat a Blackburn side that are comfortably in the bottom half of the Championship. The problem for sides like Blackburn at this stage is that West Ham are one win away from the quarters and for a Premier League side that isn't going to break the top four, this is a real opportunity for them to get some silverware, and I expect them to go all out for it. 

Prediction: 2-1 West Ham

Spurs v Palace (3pm Sunday) 

This is a potentially tasty one. Spurs are now fighting on three fronts, which means that they will almost certainly send out a mix of their strongest starting eleven and some reserve or youth players, so that they send out a strong enough team to win the game, but can also rest key individuals. With the league and Europa both real possibilities for Spurs, they will have to juggle this carefully. And this could well play into Palace's hands, as they will almost certainly send out a strong team as their season has descended into mid-table mediocrity and a cup run would certainly boost their season. That said, Spurs should have enough to win this one, but it will be close. 

Prediction; 2-1 Spurs

Chelsea v City (4pm Sunday)

This could well end up being the tie of the round. City are a wounded animal, with back to back defeats in big league games against big opposition. And this is another big game, albeit in a different competition against opposition who aren't on the same level as Spurs and Leicester right now. City should be favourites for this one, as they have a stronger team, but Chelsea will probably go for this, in a way that City won't, as City have Champions League in midweek and Chelsea aren't fighting for anything in the league. I think a draw is probably on. 

Prediction: 1-1

Shrewsbury v Man United (7:45 Monday)

Let's be real. As funny as it would be to see a below par, substandard United side slip up once again against appalling opposition, it just isn't going to happen. United are too strong for Shrewsbury and this should be a really easy away win. 

Prediction: 3-0 United

The Hard and Fast Section

• Leamington are away at Slough today. COYB.
• Brendon McCullum ends with a flourish. Legend. 
• "You cannot buy a World Cup". Okay Sepp.
• Jordan Speith missed the cut. Oops. 

19th February

England and South Africa went head to head yet again, this time, in the shortest format of the game...

Thriller In Newlands

England were desperately unlucky to lose to a South Africa side who snatched victory on the final ball. That's one half of the narrative. England set a poor total and were suitably chased down? Other half of the narrative. A lot of credit has to go to the bowlers of both sides right from the outset: in a low scoring game of cricket, it means that every run is crucial and the bowlers deserve a lot of credit for making that the case. South Africa's bowlers will have been very happy to see England posting a total of 135 to chase and England's bowlers made a valiant attempt at defending that total.

Simply put: 134-8 was never going to be good enough. They almost got away with it, thanks to some supreme bowling from Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes, but almost didn't quite cut the mustard, as South Africa plundered 15 off of Reece Topley's final over to win the game. 

I want to start with a preface. I know that ODI cricket and T20 cricket are similar forms of the game and that fact is emphasised by the fact that England sent out an identical side to the one from some of the ODIs. As such some of the criticisms that this England side is in for (and to balance that some of the praise) will be spilled out across the ODI and T20 series, whereas it's also important to note that they are nonetheless different disciplines. 

Topley for example, had a very bad day at the office, going for 0-27 off of his three overs, and a missed run out on the last ball which ultimately cost England the match at the death. His death bowling wasn't good enough today, but he's had a terrific ODI series overall so I'm loathe to judge him too harshly, especially as he was bowling under extreme pressure and you could clearly see how much it meant to him when he dropped the ball at the death. Also, this is only his third T20 and he's done reasonably well in the others.

Chris Jordan on the other hand, put in a sensational bowling performance, taking the key wicket of AB De Villiers early on before taking two more in the penultimate over to leave England sniffing victory, finishing with figures of 3-23, meaning that he went at less than a run a ball and taking his best T20 figures. Jordan's composure at the death was exceptional and his bowling on point and he will be disappointed that it was all for naught. Another top bowler on the day was Ben Stokes, whose four overs went for just 19 runs, adding in the other crucial wicket of Hashim Amla. And the spinners also put in reasonable performances, Rashid and Moeen taking combined figures of 3-46 off their combined seven overs. Ultimately it was a disappointing five overs combined from David Willey, who also dropped a catch, and Topley that cost England. 

But not as much as their batting, which was nothing short of shocking. Jos Buttler's quick fire (and not even that quickfire by his standards) 32* aside, nobody in an England shirt offered much in the way of resistance, after Alex Hales fell for 27 off 21 balls, having taken England to 50-1 off the powerplay overs. For the likes of Stokes, Morgan, Moeen and Roy, this is simply a continuation of the poor form that they showed in the ODIs, albeit under different circumstances and won't be filling England with hope for the rest of the series. 

As for South Africa, they weren't overly impressive with the bat either, Faf Du Plessis top scoring with 25 and Morris' quick fire 17 off 7 enough to see them over the line. But it was a top bowling display from Imran Tahir, who ripped into England's top order, removing Hales, Morgan, Stokes and Moeen for just 21 runs off of his overs. David Wiese also bowled very well, matching Stokes' 1-19. 

Right now, neither of these teams are showering themselves with glory with the bat. But it made for a stunning game of cricket, and there's plenty more to look forward to with the World Cup less than a month away. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Messi scored from miles behind the goal. No. Really. 
• England's women also lost to their South African equivalent. 
• Quins and Leicester are involved in a thumping good match. 
• Jose Baxter. Oh man, what a fool.
• Bristol Rovers sold to a Jordanian family. What?

18th February

Europa League! Not everyone's favourite tournament but let's dig in.

Liverpool poor, United poorer

Even before our game kicked off, a beautiful thing had happened. Manchester United lost 2-1 away at Midtjylland (yes I'm using copy and paste but try spelling that every few words). It's impossible not to hear that news and get a wonderful warm feeling of joy in my heart at that, as Memphis Depay's goal was overturned by two from the home side. Yes, they were missing key players, including keeper De Gea and Wayne Rooney (so basically two of only three or four players that they have that are really top class, if you can still put Rooney in that category) but this was still an embarrassing display from United, capped off by a goal from Paul Onuachu 13 minutes from time that consigned them to defeat. 

Overall, United had more possession and more shots, but really failed to create much in the way of clean cut chances, with only Lingard's volley against the bar to shout about in the game after taking the lead, only to be pegged back before half time through Sisto. Midtjylland created all the chances in truth and Romero, in for the injured De Gea, made three top saves to keep United in the game. When you factor in the fact that Midtjylland haven't played for 71 days since they're on winter break, United will be really disappointed. 

That said, 2-1 away from home is far from a disaster, they have an away goal to play with and should win (if not easily) at Old Trafford to progress.

We, meanwhile, were not significantly better than United, although we were rock solid defensively and played a relatively smart game that was sadly lacking in cutting edge. Personally, I thought we played reasonably well, but the lack of end product was disappointing, especially with Coutinho looking sharp. But in truth, a lot of credit has to go to the Augsburg backline who marshalled a returning Daniel Sturridge well and when Sturridge was replaced with Origi with a quarter of the game to go, we lost something up top. 

That said, there were plenty of positives from the game, not least an excellent defensive performance from the pairing of Sakho and Toure. It's always good to see our returning players get plenty of game time and come through unscathed and Coutinho continues to look sharp. Milner had a decent game and he's starting to really form an understanding with Firmino, although the latter was largely disappointing. 

Speaking of disappointing, Jordan Henderson continued his poor run of form in the middle of midfield, with no real incision or bombasticity from the captain, and a lack of creativity from the centre of midfield. And Alberto Moreno put in another poor performance, with some really shocking decision making from him. On the other flank, Clyne had some good moments but nothing spectacular. 

Overall though, despite a lack of incision in the final third, this was a really solid away performance. There were only one or two moments where we looked slightly nervy at the back, Sakho put in a monstrous performance, Coutinho and Sturridge are regaining fitness and look very sharp and there's more chemistry in our midfield. This was a really tough away game and no draw away from home in Europe is ever a bad result, although this could certainly be classified as a disappointing one. 

And meanwhile, Spurs put in a solid away performance to also draw away from home in Europe, although their 1-1 draw against Fiorentina has the added bonus of an away goal to take back to London, with Nacer Chadli scoring from the spot in the first half. Spurs, unlike United and Liverpool, made plenty of changes as they have a big FA Cup game at the weekend and are still fighting on three fronts. And a good performance and a good result for them, although they'll be slightly disappointed to have conceded in the manner that they did and not held on for a crucial away win. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Anya Shrubsole starred as England beat SA by 15 runs. 
• And Sarah Taylor also put in a stunning performance. 
• Our thoughts are with Matt Dawson. Must be really tough. 
• Will Stevens got dropped by Manor. Ouch. 
• Gary Neville's Valencia won 6-0. Yes. Really. 

17th February

Champions League is back, so let's dig in.

Cavani Steals The Show

Yesterday, I claimed that the best that Chelsea could realistically ask for was a 2-1 defeat, a solitary goal down and an away goal to take to the Bridge. This may not have proved to be quite accurate on the night, as Chelsea gave the home side a real run for their money, but ultimately, it was what Chelsea got. A 2-1 defeat in Paris that is arguably the best possible result for the neutral. It means that Chelsea can't afford to sit back in London in the return leg, but at the same time, PSG can never be comfortable at 0-0, knowing that 1-0 to Chelsea is enough to send them through. It should create an atmosphere where both teams will feel the need to score and we could have a cracking game on our hands. 

On the night, it was substitute Edinson Cavani who ended up proving the difference between the sides with arguably the match's best moment of quality, as he broke Chelsea's offside trap inch perfectly to latch onto a delightful pass from a rejuvenated Angel Di Maria (being free of LVG seems to agree with him) to fire home from a narrow angle under an onrushing Thibaut Courtois. If Courtois' goalkeeping was questionable for PSG's second then it couldn't be challenged at any other point in the night, as Courtois was unfortunate with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal, which took a wicked deflection off of John Obi-Mikel to divert the ball past Courtois, who was already diving the other way. And he made a string of great saves to keep PSG at bay, as the home side dominated for swathes of the match and certainly based on every statistical measure PSG deserved to win the game. 

That said, it was PSG's keeper who made the best save of the match, if not the most saves, as he managed to get fingertips to Diego Costa's header back across him to tip it onto the crossbar and deny Chelsea what looked to be a certain goal. It really was a top class save from Kevin Trapp. 

Overall, despite that save, PSG will be very frustrated that the game ended 2-1, both because of their own inability to take the numerous chances that they carved up to put Chelsea to the sword, but also because of the nature of Mikel's equaliser. The defending off of Chelsea's corner was inexcusable, as allowing any opposition player time and space to get the ball down and shoot inside your six yard box directly off a corner is an act that thoroughly deserves to see that opponent wheeling around in celebration. 

Anyway, this was a good game of football, between two sides that clearly weren't equals on the pitch, and Chelsea will be glad to have an away goal in the bag to bring back to London with them. 

Sorry for a slightly shorter edition tonight, busy day, normal service resumed tomorrow as LFC are in action!

The Hard and Fast Section

• Madrid, Wolfsburg and Benfica also won in Europe. Predictable. 
• Messi now has over 300 La Liga goals. Unreal. 
• Barca are 6 points clear. Unstoppable. 
• Rooney out for six weeks. Ouch.
• England's T20 warm up went well. Good. 

16th February

There's not been a lot of sport on since my last post, so let's look back to Sunday's cricket and forward to tonight's Champions League football.

England Falter 

England had this ODI series in the palm of their hands and they ceremoniously blew it. The first and in my opinion most important thing to note is that this isn't a reflection of the talent in the side, so much as their maturity. South Africa are a good side, but the truth is that they just have one or two talented and experienced individuals that were able to come to the fore in the big moments in a way that England's youngsters were not. And there are plenty of positives for England to take from this series, as well as plenty of areas for improvement. 

Starting with the positives, there have been some really encouraging displays in the batting order. Joe Root as ever was the standout at times, and he consistently delivers the goods for England at every level of cricket. As disappointing as it is that he only made 27 runs in this match, his overall series and his overall career make it impossible to criticize him as a batsman. Likewise, Alex Hales has had a terrific series, scoring at least a half century in every ODI. Admittedly, his conversion rate to big scores could really have been better, but in this match especially he anchored the innings and did a wonderful job when the wickets tumbled around him. Jos Buttler is another man who showed some real skill in this series, and he was at the heart of England's first two victories, which is why it has been disappointing to see him fall away as the pressure mounted on him and his side. Buttler has done well when the team have done well, he hasn't been able to take the game on his shoulders single-handedly, which shows how he struggles under pressure. 

And in terms of batting, there have been several major disappointments. Eoin Morgan for me is the standout failure of the series. As a captain and one of the most experienced members of this side, he has to lead from the front, but he failed time and again in this series. At no point did he manage to support England's middle order, and 64 runs at an average of less than 13 and a high score of 29 is pitiful. I've been similarly disappointed in young Roy at the top of the order, who has completely fallen apart in the back end of this series, and offered almost no support to Hales in the three ODIs that England lost. Ben Stokes has had patchy form with the bat, but his bowling in general has been good enough to save him from criticism and I'm tempted to say the same thing about Moeen, but the truth is, when the pressure has been on, only Hales and Root have been able to step up. England's middle and lower middle order have been embarrassing for a bunch of players this talented. 

With the ball, I'm a huge fan of Reece Topley and he's easily been England's best bowler this series with ten wickets to his name, three more on Sunday as he alone looked to drag England back into the series. The spinners have done an adequate job as well, Rashid and Moeen have the lowest economy rates of England's bowlers and have taken wickets, and Broad and Woakes weren't really around long enough to have a huge impact. The real bowling disappointments for me were David Willey and Chris Jordan, who took one wicket a piece in their three ODIs and conceded a lot of runs. Jordan in particular was incredibly leaky, going at over eight an over at this level is unacceptable. But in truth, in the 4th and 5th ODIs, when the pressure was on, it was England's talented middle order that really let their side down, and no bowling unit is going to do a great job defending less than 270 twice. 

For South Africa, it was their usual suspects who excelled. Quentin De Kock, Hashim Amla and AB De Villiers were all exceptional all series and dragged their side into matches that they otherwise might have lost with Topley applying the squeeze. De Kock in particular was sensational, his two hundreds making him the batsman in either team with the highest average and he was instrumental in securing victory in the 3rd Test. But it was their bowlers who did the real damage, with Rabada, Abbott and Tahir the main contenders. Rabada especially is turning into a sensational young bowler with a lot of pace and a lot of talent and certainly one to keep an eye on as he looks to replace the aging Dale Steyn as South Africa's premier bowler in the long run, maybe over the next five years or even ten. 

Overall, both sides will see a lot of potential coming out of this series, but some definite room for improvement as well. 

The Champions League Is Back

I'd be lying if I pretended that I didn't still get a chill running down my spine at the sound of that music. Tonight sees Zenit St Petersburg go to Benfica in a clash that looks to be relatively closely matched between two sides who are underperforming in their domestic leagues but still there or there abouts, and who were reasonably impressive at the group stage.

But of course, it also includes the huge tie between Chelsea and PSG. The first leg is in Paris and to be frank, if Chelsea can get even take a one goal deficit with an away goal to the Bridge then they'll be thanking their lucky stars. This is a very odd game to try and call. On paper, it should be a walkover, PSG are so far ahead in Ligue 1 that they're turning it into an embarrassing joke, making a mockery of the whole division. Whereas Chelsea are making themselves a joke with a frankly humiliating performance in the Premier League this season. But league positions aside, it's impossible to put these two teams on an even keel. The Premier League is a much tougher league that Ligue 1 and under Hiddink, Chelsea are a different prospect and still capable of putting in a sterling performance on their day against almost anyone. They still have the same players that romped home to the league title last year, and that went out to this PSG side only on away goals.

Trying to predict this game then is very, very difficult. I personally don't rate PSG that highly, I think that the French Ligue is a substandard league and that winning so easily against poor sides doesn't give them a good preparation for this sort of game, although it will help their confidence and fitness levels. Certainly, Chelsea have the players and the tactics to make this a very different prospect to anything that they've faced in Ligue 1.

However, although I don't think PSG are quite in the top four or five teams in Europe just yet, I do think that they should have enough to see off this Chelsea side, especially in Paris. As much as Chelsea have improved under Hiddink, they've not made a surge up the league table, far from it and their performances haven't been dazzling either, except against rank average sides. This one for me should end something along the lines of 3-1 PSG, who I think will win this tie reasonably easily although Chelsea will make a game of it and then the French side will snatch a draw at the Bridge to cruise through.

There's not a lot happening with regard to Wednesday's games either. Gent vs Wolfsburg should be a decent game but nothing to get excited about and I don't really know enough about either side to predict which way it will go, although you have to suspect that Wolfsburg have the superior firepower and Real Madrid should in theory sweep aside Roma, although it's Real Madrid and they are prone to bouts of implosion in big games recently, especially without Gareth Bale.

All in all, an intriguing round of fixtures, but nothing massively exciting.

The Hard and Fast Section

• Cipriani is back at Wasps. Yesterday's news. 
• Neymar's assets frozen. Oops. 
• "Father thinks pitches cause cancer". Less ridiculous than it sounds. 
• Beth Tweddle is out of hospital. Get well soon. 
• Leamington FC snatched a 2-1 win away at Hungerford. 

15th February

Super Sunday well and truly lived up to its name as both title games went right to the wire, England turned on the style against Italy and we put six past the worst team in Premier League history. Let's get stuck in.

Villa Are Awful

Going into this game, everyone seemed to be under the impression that we'd struggle against Villa (I personally thought they'd at least give us a game) but once the team sheet was announced I was confident. And then what follows is surely deserving of the phrase: Valentine's Day Massacre. And of course, there are two sides to every story, so let's get this out of the way now. Villa were about as bad as I've ever seen a Premier League side. They were utterly shambolic. But as bad as they were, there were some definite moments for Liverpool fans to take a lot of heart from. 

Look at the first goal in particular. Yes, the marking from Villa was absolutely non-existent. But it was still a wonderful ball into a very good area from Coutinho, right on Sturridge's head and the clinical nature of Sturridge's finish is always a good sign, albeit an expected one. In fact, all of the goals have good aspects to them. The second was awful from a defensive perspective, but once again, it was a case of Milner this time putting a wicked ball into the right area and when defenders don't deal with it, the end result is a goal. The fact that it absolutely should have been dealt with doesn't change the fact that when it wasn't the ball was so on the money it ended up in the net. The third is probably the best finish of the lot, a lovely driven effort from Emre Can who showed good tenacity to win the ball back in Villa's third. But from a Villa perspective, it's a ball that should never have been given away and a goal that should never have been scored. The fourth is another sublime pass from Coutinho and the performance of the little Brazilian is easily the biggest positive from this game from a Liverpool perspective, with only the fact that Sturridge, Couts and Origi got significant game time matching up. And although Origi's finish for that fourth wasn't the best, it was good enough and it was an excellent run from him.

This is where it gets awkward. At 2-0, Villa hit the self-destruct button. At 4-0, they quite literally imploded. The fifth goal was laughably bad defending, with Villa seemingly determined that Nathaniel Clyne would, in fact had to, put the ball past them and into their net. It was as if no other conclusion was acceptable. And if the fifth was humiliating, the sixth was just staggering. Kolo Toure, on the penalty spot with no defenders within yards and yards of him, with the easiest header I've ever seen straight down the middle of the goal. In terms of positives, all you can say about these fifth and sixth goals is that they were put into the net, and that it's nice to see two of our defenders end up on the scoresheet.

Honestly, I think almost any team in the league could have put six past Villa on a day like yesterday, but ultimately, we're the ones who did and in doing so, we saw plenty of key players hopefully return to form and this will give the lads a real confidence booster going into the cup final. And, to be honest, if nothing else, it was just nice to be able to enjoy watching Liverpool play football for once. 

North London Squeeze

Meanwhile, at the top of the table, Arsenal and Tottenham really applied the pressure to Leicester, as Manchester City lost ground on the two North London clubs. Spurs in particular will be very happy with the way that they played and probably deserved to win against City, although they were aided by a rather fortuitous penalty that was never a handball by Raheem Sterling in a million years. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful goal, finished by Eriksen but created by Lamela, that ultimately handed Spurs victory as the game reached its dying embers, and it genuinely was a fantastic result for them. Tottenham controlled the tempo of the game for almost all of it, Dembele in particular imperious as he pulled the strings in midfield, but until Lamela's introduction, they lacked a cutting edge in the final third. City on the other hand were consistently lethargic, and even the likes of Aguero never really looked sharp, until a wonderfully worked move, thundered home by Iheanacho seemed to spur them into life. But eventually, it was Spurs who gained the initiative, to move within two points of the top of the table. 

And that was only possible because in the game of the day, hell the game of the weekend, Arsenal were able to see off Leicester to go within two points of the Foxes themselves. The first half was a scintillating, high tempo game of football. There weren't loads of chances, but there was no shortage of quality, with both teams going at it hammer and tongs. It was a real shame that such a good first half ended in a moment of pure controversy, as Jamie Vardy threw himself into the outstretched leg of Nacho Monreal and the referee pointed to the spot. For me, Vardy was looking for it, it was a dive and it certainly wasn't a penalty. Should Monreal's leg have been there? Probably not but that alone isn't enough as there was no contact by Monreal on Vardy; Vardy himself bundled himself into Monreal and over. In any case, the penalty was given and Vardy dispatched it. 

Then, madness. The second half saw Danny Simpson do something apocalyptically stupid. I didn't see his first booking, but I hear that it probably wasn't a booking, but nevertheless, his second definitely was, dragging back Giroud in a dangerous area of the pitch for me is a blatant yellow. And it was an incredibly stupid thing to do when on a yellow card and for that alone I don't think he can argue that he needed to walk. After that, it was one way traffic and Arsenal gave themselves plenty of time to score the winner as Giroud played a beautifully cushioned header into Walcott's path to level the game with twenty minutes to play.

And win it they did. And how. High drama as another cheap free kick in a dangerous area was conceded by Leicester, Mesut Ozil played in an absolute peach of a ball and Danny Welbeck, off the bench for his first appearance since April, buried the header. Pandemonium at the Emirates and a result that changes just about everything. Looking back, this may well be the moment where Leicester lost the title, if not the one where Arsenal won it. As much as I've been backing Leicester and Man City in recent weeks, this certainly feels like the kind of result that could really turn a corner for Arsenal's mental fragility, and certainly it has blown the race wide open. Leicester still have the easiest run in, and a two-point lead, but suddenly, the momentum is in North London. Trying to predict who wins it from here is nigh on impossible. 

England Storm Into Life

I said beforehand that I wanted to see England make a statement in this game, use Italy as the whipping boys to firmly establish a points difference lead at the top of the Six Nations and make a real statement about their intentions to win this tournament. And they certainly did that. Granted, the majority of their points came in the last half an hour, but that's how rugby works sometimes. When your opponents tire, you take advantage and England certainly rubbed salt into the wounds with five tries, Jonathan Joseph at the heart of the carnage with a second half hat-trick. With the scores at 11-9 and Italy with a penalty, it looked as if the game might have ended up being very sticky for England, but a combination of poor play from the Italians and marvelous play from England, Danny Care in particular, allowed Joseph to run riot, crossing the line twice in five minutes before the hour mark, and then England to go over twice more in five minutes just after the 70 minute mark, Joseph grabbing his hat-trick before Farrell got in on the act. Italy were steamrollered in the second half, and England ran away 40-9 winners. 

This was exactly what England needed, giving them a hearty points difference which could prove very crucial in what is looking to be an increasingly tight Six Nations. With the French off to a strong start and Wales right in the mixer after two fixtures, points difference could play a huge part. England will be looking at next week's game against Ireland at Twickenham as a must win now, and a real opportunity to stamp their authority on this tournament, as France go to Cardiff. Disappointingly, those fixtures are nearly two weeks away, but it should still make for a humdinger of a weekend. England know that beating Ireland is crucial, leaving them Wales and France in their final two games. Neither of those teams have been convincing yet, but Wales should definitely beat France in Cardiff, which would mean that England could only need a draw to stay top of the league going into their match with Wales at Twickenham. 

Ultimately, after two rounds of games, it's far too early to call a winner, and both France and Wales are still very much there, with Wales still probably just about the favourites. But England know that the men in red have to come to Twickenham, Ireland are out of sorts, France don't look amazing yet and the ball is very much in their court. And this at least, for the first time in any of the matches in this tournament so far, was a convincing, emphatic win. And in a tournament of what looks to be very fine margins indeed, that's a very strong statement to make. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• That Barcelona penalty. Wow. Just...wow.
• Barcelona in general last night. Unstoppable. 
• Leeds United are putting on a really poor show.
• I like Reece Topley. A lot.
• England's batting? Shocking. They have a lot to learn.
• Matip confirmed. Get in Jurgen.  

14th February

So much going on in the football and rugby worlds. Let's dive right in.

Louis Van Gone? 

Okay so that headline is cheap. But nevertheless, I'd argue that Louis Van Gaal has never been under more pressure, after he admitted that Sunderland wanted it more against Manchester United and that his side were probably not going to make the top four from here. Two reasonably obvious points at this stage, since Sunderland played United off the park in the second half and thoroughly deserved to win the match, but also because United will be a minimum of six points behind the team above them, depending on what happens between Spurs and Manchester City later. 

Sunderland were all over United in the second half, with United's best spell coming in the back end of the first half, during which they equalised through the excellent Martial, whose lovely finish shows how he has an eye for a goal. But United were overrun in the second half and in truth, it was only David De Gea preventing this from being a comfortable win, as Sunderland could easily have scored three or four. De Gea is credited with the match-winning own goal, but make no mistake, he put in another top drawer performance. Take Martial and De Gea out of this United side and they are painfully average (it's funny, we're a top keeper away from being an actually good side and United are a top keeper away from not being). 

United dominated possession, but Sunderland had 21 shots in the game. 21! Against Man United! That's almost unheard of. Anyway, this defeat means that United have one win in their last seven away from Old Trafford and it sounds as if Van Gaal has almost thrown in the towel. As for Sunderland, what a result this is. They have thrown themselves right back into the survival race, as things tightened up in front of them.

Who's Going Down?

A lot of movement down at the bottom of the Premier League yesterday, as Sunderland's win took them to 23 points, level with Norwich and one behind Newcastle, with both of them playing later in the day. And neither of them will be particularly happy with the way it played out, as Norwich managed to throw away a 2-0 lead at home to West Ham and Newcastle were butchered at the Bridge. Two goals in three minutes from Dimitri Payet and Mark Noble meant that Norwich are now six games without a win, but at least their point takes them above Newcastle on goal difference, as the Magpies shipped five at Chelsea, who were resurgent on the day. The result takes Chelsea up to 12th, but consigns Newcastle to real, real trouble. I have to say, it's looking tight to see which two of Newcastle, Sunderland and Norwich are going down. 

But things didn't get any better for the clubs directly above them either. Bournemouth were turned over 3-1 at home by Stoke, who refound their form, inspired by their new signing Imbula's terrific volley, with Joselu and Afellay also finding the net. And meanwhile, the only other side that are still realistically in the relegation tussle are Swansea, after they were downed by Shane Long's goal midway through the second half. That result, by the way, puts Southampton only one point behind Manchester United and ahead of West Ham on goal difference. It's also fair to say that West Brom, who had had a poor run of form threatening to drag them back into the dogfight, are probably clear now, moving to 32 points, eight clear of the drop zone, with a surprising 1-0 win away at an Everton side who clearly cannot sustain anything resembling a good run of form.

And finally, the other mid-table clash of the day saw Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace continue their slide down the table into 13th, ahead of West Brom only on goal difference as they lost 2-1 at home to a Watford side who move up to 8th for the time being, with two Troy Deeney goals the difference, although one could argue that the real story of this match is that Adebayor managed to get on the scoresheet. Wild. 

France Blow It Wide Open But Scotland Fall Short

Well, well, well. It turned out to be a very, very good day at the office for the Welsh in the end, as they were able to see off Scotland with a late spell, where two tries from George North and Jamie Roberts put the game to bed, only for Scotland to roar back late on. With the game finely poised at 16-13 Scotland on the hour mark, Wales finally cut lose and at 27-16, after those two converted tries, the Scottish looked done. But it's a credit to how well Scotland have played so far in this tournament that they came back and although their very late try served no purpose other than to make the scoreboard look more realistic, they'll still be heartened by the fight that they showed. Nevertheless, fight can only get you so far, and two games in with no wins is disappointing. But that said, they've arguably played their two toughest opponents, so there's plenty of space yet for three wins.

As for Wales, in the final 20 minutes, when the going got tough, they showed their class, and they'll be very happy to have secured the win from this game, as well as scoring three tries along the way. Defensively they'll be nervous but their superior firepower showed in the end. And from a Welsh perspective, with six points out of a possible eight, they're off to a solid, if unspectacular start, and they'll be looking at their game against France next time out as one to firmly establish themselves as favourites for the tournament. 

The French, meanwhile, caused somewhat of an upset, as they scored the only try to beat Ireland in Paris 10-9. I must confess, I didn't see France doing anything really in this tournament, and had that down as an Ireland win, albeit not necessarily a comfortable one, but Medard's late try put the Irish to the sword and now Ireland are two games in without a win, six points behind France and it looks very unlikely that they'll be able to challenge from here. From an Ireland perspective, once again the key word is injuries, Sean O'Brien, Dave Kearney and Sexton all off injured and you have to say that those injuries certainly seemed to change the tide of a game that Ireland should have thought that they would go on to win at 9-3 up at half time. 

But as far as France are concerned, convincing or not, they have two wins out of two, which means that the Grand Slam is on. Arguably their two toughest opponents are still to come and as previously mentioned, the Wales v France game next weekend looks increasingly pivotal, but if you'd offered France back to back wins in Paris, they'd have bitten your hand off. 

Where does this leave England? Pleased no doubt. Wales showed signs of vulnerability and Ireland are already arguably off the table now. They should go back to the top of the table with a win against Italy today and then Ireland at Twickenham next week is suddenly looking like a very winnable game. This Six Nations is shaping up very nicely indeed. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Another England batting collapse. Good, good.
• At least England's women are returning the favour. 
• Leamington FC lost 1-0 yesterday to Hitchin. Poor. 
• Super Sunday is close. Excited. 
• Nadal lost again. Shocking form. Is he done?

13th February

So getting this one out nice and early today, it's time for a Premier League preview. And there's only one place to start...

Super Sunday

Arsenal v Leicester (12pm)

This is the biggest game of a weekend which is full of big games. Arsenal's form has been patchy in 2016, with just one win in their last five games, whilst Leicester have undergone something of a resurgence since failing to score in three games over the Christmas period and are now unbeaten in seven, winning four of their last five, including victories against City, Spurs and Liverpool. This is a Leicester side that look unbeatable, that have the tactical nous, the energy, the intensity and the quality to overturn any team in the league, and it's doubtful that Arsenal will sit back and try to counter, which could mean that they fall into the Leicester trap. Nevertheless, Arsenal should have key individuals back in key areas of the pitch. The return of Coquelin alongside the fact that Ozil and Sanchez should both start, having played key roles in the 5-2 demolition of Leicester earlier this season, could be huge for them. More importantly, Arsenal's defence is much quicker than the likes of Manchester City's, especially without Mertesacker in it and if there's any defence that you would back to keep Mahrez and Vardy quiet, it's this back four, with Coquelin covering and Cech behind it. So I'm going to say the same thing I said last weekend with City v Leicester. I'm predicting a 3-1 Arsenal win, but it could easily be 3-0 Leicester. 

Prediction: Arsenal 3-1

Aston Villa v Liverpool (2:05pm)

Going chronologically through Sunday's fixtures, next up is us, away at Villa Park. On paper, this should be an easy win for us, especially if we can get Sturridge, Coutinho and/or Origi back on the pitch for a significant period of time alongside Firmino. Sturridge and Coutinho showed their class earlier this season as we scored thrice against Villa to beat them, Sturridge with a brace that day. But, as always, the questions will be there defensively. Any team in the league can score against us this season, it's that simple. Sunderland scored twice last weekend, Norwich recently put four past us, this is a team that simply put, is fragile. Mignolet is in the worst run of form in his career, we don't have a settled central defensive partnership and if Villa go for this, then they could make it very uncomfortable for us, although I do think the fact that our defence is terrible is counteracted by Villa's all round terribleness. 

Prediction: Liverpool 2-1

Manchester City v Tottenham (4:15pm)

The other big clash at the top of the league sees the league's other two title contenders going head to head with, once again, different runs of form going into this game. Spurs have won four on the bounce since defeat at Leicester seemed to have deflated their title challenge, whilst City have only two wins in their last five games and three in their last seven. This is a very interesting game, with City missing their two attacking midfield linchpins in Silva and De Bruyne, but in Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero, they still have considerable fire power. Spurs are still short Jan Vertonghen at the heart of their defence which could make things very interesting. There are a lot of factors at play in this game, but I think City should return to form and crush Spurs under their thumb, with Aguero doing the damage. 

Prediction: City 4-1 

Not Quite So Super Saturday

And in the rest of the matches of the weekend, here's what's happening later today: 

Sunderland v Man United (12:45pm)

Two teams very much distracted by goings on off the pitch, with the Adam Johnson debacle doing Sunderland's PR team no good at all and LVG once again having to come out and deny that Jose Mourinho is going to get his job in the summer. Don't worry Louis, I'm sure when the time comes the club will show you the respect your long career deserves by letting you pretend that you resigned. And despite Sunderland's great result last weekend and considerable firepower in 2016, with Jermain Defoe coming to the party somewhat since the turn of the year, you have to say that this should be an easy win for United, as they have far superior players to Sunderland.

Prediction: United 3-0

Bournemouth v Stoke (3pm) 

An interesting one. Stoke are in a horrendous run of form, with no wins in four games and three consecutive 3-0 defeats under their belt, whilst Bournemouth have picked up seven valuable points against Norwich, Sunderland and Palace in recent weeks, before losing last time out to Arsenal. That said, both of these sides have been getting results that you'd reasonably expect based on their opponents. Even so, I'm going to say that this one ends in a draw.

Prediction: 1-1

Crystal Palace v Watford (3pm)

Two teams in bad form, Watford one win in seven, Palace no wins in eight, both teams went at least four games in a row losing recently, before stopping the rot eventually. These are two teams that have struggled recently, especially in the goal-scoring department and this one does not look like it's going to be a classic. I might give Palace the edge as they're the home side, but I think it's more likely that this one is goalless. 

Prediction: 0-0

Everton v West Brom (3pm) 

Everton have started to hit good form again, with back to back 3-0 wins and West Brom are on the slide, with no win in five games against mostly mediocre opposition. It's fair to say that I'm calling this one as a home banker. 

Prediction: Everton 3-0

Norwich v West Ham (3pm) 

Lawro is off his rocker if he thinks this one is ending 2-0 to Norwich. I'll grant him that West Ham will be fatigued after a 120 minute match in midweek, but Norwich have now lost five league games in a row, shipped over three goals a game on average in the process, and scoring just five along the way (four of them against us). Simply put, West Ham are far too strong, and although they aren't in the best form themselves, they should have enough to beat Norwich. 

Prediction: West Ham 2-0 

Swansea v Southampton (3pm) 

Two teams that are starting to hit good form, Swansea unbeaten in four, Southampton unbeaten in five and winning four of those. The ten points separating in the table probably accurately demonstrate the difference in quality between these two teams right now, and you would back Southampton to be the better team and probably the more likely to win, so I'm going to do just that. 

Prediction: Southampton 2-1

Chelsea v Newcastle (5:30pm)

Yes, Newcastle seem to love playing against Chelsea. And yes they've picked up some big results in games that they wouldn't have been expecting to. But it's at Stamford Bridge, and their away form has been pitiful since they won at White Hart Lane in December. And simply put, Chelsea are a better side. This should be a home win. 

Prediction: Chelsea 2-0

The Hard and Fast Section

• Adam Voges averages over 100 in test cricket. Insane.
• "Tragedy" if Ferrari don't win a title in two years.
• Asad Rauf banned from cricket for five years. Sad.
• Guscott expects "some great rugby" from England. Same. 
• Leamington FC play Hitchin Town today. #COYB