31st March

I've been away from my laptop for a few days, so apologies for the lateness of this blogpost, but World T20 time!

England Through...

A phenomenal display of batting from the arguably understated Jason Roy saw England power their way into the World T20 final. It would be fair to describe England's performance against New Zealand as an exceptional team performance, both with bat and ball but in a side led by Hales, Root, Buttler etc, Jason Roy is the man who stood up and, ultimately, won the match for England, by bludgening 78 off 44 deliveries to put New Zealand to the sword as England chased a meager 154 to win. By the time Roy was finally dismissed, England were 110-2 off 12.1 overs, needing just 44 runs off 47 deliveries. The damage was done, the match was over, even after Eoin Morgan secured a golden duck seconds later, just to ramp up the tension a little bit. 

But even though Joe Root and Jos Buttler took their time to milk the singles, when England reached the 17th over, needing 23 from 24, Buttler decided that it was game over, as England plundered two fours and two sixes from the over, and then Buttler hit his third six in four balls off the first ball of the 18th to secure a very comfortable seven wicket win, Root finishing 27* off 22 and Buttler 32* off 17. But it was the incredible performance of Roy that had put England in that winning position, and from the moment he hit four boundaries off the opening over, it was ever in doubt. But he just kept on scoring, keeping the rate way above the required 7.70 that England needed. 16-0 off the first became 36-0 off the third, became 67-0 off the powerplay, with Roy helping himself to 49 off 25 in the opening six overs and from there England never looked like throwing it away. Getting ahead of the rate was always key with Santner and Sodhi in particular to come, but although England's three wickets all fell to the spinners, Hales taming holing out Santner before Sodhi bowled Roy and then in the next ball Morgan made a horrible mess of a straight ball and was plumb LBW, they still milked Santner for 22 runs off his first three overs before Buttler hit the first ball of his fourth for the match-winning six and Sodhi went for 20 off his first three before England put him to the sword in that decisive 17th over, and he finished with 2-42. This is easily as well as anyone has played New Zealand's spinners in this tournament, and England thoroughly deserved to win on the strength of their batting alone. 

But it's unfair not to mention the exceptional performance from England's bowlers in the back ten overs to restrict New Zealand to 153-8, which always looked twenty runs light. Granted, the way England batted they probably could have chased an extra twenty runs, but the fact that they didn't have to really took the pressure off, and there's no way of knowing exactly how much effect the added twenty runs would have had on the scoreboard pressure and hence how that pressure would have affected England, especially when Roy got out. The match was won in the last four overs of New Zealand's innings, and the first four overs of England's, as Stokes and Jordan restricted New Zealand to 5-20 off the final four overs of their innings, Stokes' two overs going for just six runs, at the loss of three wickets. Overall, with New Zealand looking very comfortable at the halfway mark, at 89-1, which wasn't a million miles away from where England were at that stage, they completely fell off the rails, going at less than a run a ball in the final ten overs, and losing wickets left right and center. The catalyst for that was the wicket of Kane Williamson in the 11th over, when Moeen came on to bowl and promptly caught the danger man off his own bowling. Three overs later the other major set batsman, Munro, also holed out and New Zealand never got going again after that. 

But the final word on this has to go to Roy. Because 154 may have looked like a below par score, but there was an awareness that New Zealand's spinners had up until now defended three sub par scores, two of them smaller than this against India and Australia, albeit on more spinning pitches. And if Roy hadn't stepped out and put New Zealand to the sword, then the total could have become increasingly menacing. As it was, Roy made a mockery of the total, putting New Zealand out of the match within a handful of overs, and sticking in long enough to make sure that the job was done in the front ten. The fact that England were well ahead of the rate by the halfway mark meant that they could afford to collapse and still limp home, as New Zealand did. But they didn't collapse, they romped home. And England will feel that whoever they end up facing on Sunday, they will be favourites after this display.

...But England Capitulate

But speaking of collapses, England's women completely and utterly lost their heads as they collapsed from 88-1 off 13 to score just 39 runs off the last seven overs and lose by an agonising five runs, chasing the 132 set by Australia to win. With Charlotte Edwards and Tammy Beaumont getting England off to a terrific start, reaching 50 in less than seven overs, and then 70 in just over ten, the openers falling, leaving England 90-2 off 14 overs, proved the catalyst, as England's middle order completely and utterly failed to bring anything to the party. Sciver and Knight at four and five scored one run between them, Sarah Taylor, who had batted well and looked well set prior to the dismissal of Beaumont, completely lost her mind and played a very stupid shot to give away her wicket, and from there the implosion was all but complete, as the lower order of Brunt, Wyatt and Greenway did their best but the rate had shot up to 21 off the last 2 overs, when they had needed just 45 off 7, and that proved to be just too much. If Root and Buttler had shown how a middle order needs to finish a chase, Sciver, Knight and Taylor showed exactly how not to manage a chase, as a combination of pressure, brainless batting and some excellent work from Australia left England devastated. 

And earlier on, Marsh and Gunn, but Sciver in particular had bowled very well to restrict Australia to 132, with Sciver taking two wickets and a run out, and Marsh and Gunn both taking wickets and going at less than a run a ball, going for 2-40 off their combined 8 overs. 

But the star of the show, certainly as far as Australia were concerned, was the awesome Meg Lanning, Australia's captain, talismanic batter and she batted superbly, scoring 55 off 50 before being incredibly run out by a super throw from Shrubsole, a direct hit when only a direct hit would do. And Lanning also put in an excellent captian's display, using her bowlers at the right times in the right ways to allow them to take wickets and, more importantly, restrict the run rate at the crucial period in the match, with Schutt, Perry, Beams and Osborne bowling four exceptional overs in succession when it mattered, to steal the match. Truth is, this is a painful defeat, and one that England never should have allowed to happen. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Speaking of annoying defeats: England Football Team, eh?
• Gary Neville sacked by Valencia. Real shame. 
• Remi Garde sacked by Villa. Really pathetic club. 
• And Jack Butland to miss Euro 2016. Crying shame. 

27th March

March has been a pretty poor showing for this blog, I'm going to try much harder in April.

Roy Gets It Right

Now as a general rule, I don't really follow or like the England football team. I haven't watched any of their matches properly since the World Cup, mostly because I find most international football to be a tedious, pointless, uninteresting and inevitable set of fixtures that at best is a thumb-twiddling break from the real good stuff and at worst, a sea of injuries to our players that has me cursing its very existence. Of course the major tournaments are often interesting and hence I will always sit down for a Euros or a World Cup, but in general, watching England especially is more of a boring and at times painful experience than it is fun. I'm sick of the team selections, I think Roy is a terrible choice who has long outstayed his welcome and in general I have about as much interest in the share prices of BP as I do in the England team unless there's a major tournament literally next week.

But then I saw last night's team selection and something strange happened. I sat down for the game last night and I was, dare I say it, looking forward to it. Yes, Roy had his hands tied by injuries to Sterling, Wilshere, Rooney, Delph and even to a lesser extent Bertrand and Hart, but the team that he sent out, dare I say it, looked good? It was full to the brim with Spurs and Liverpool players, three of the latter and four of the former and, crucially, they were good players. Roy had actually put out eleven players who, mostly, were in really good form for their clubs and were genuinely good players. 

And the three Liverpool players did a really solid job. I thought Henderson put in his best performance for a while in the middle of the park, though that's not saying much, and capped a decent performance with a much improved set piece delivery that resulted in two assists. Clyne at right back had a big wobble when he played Gomez onside for Germany's wrongfully disallowed goal, but more than made up for it with a sterling cross for Jamie Vardy's equaliser, and Adam Lallana looked very, very lively playing off the right and some of his link up play with Kane and Alli was exceptional. 

But it was the four Spurs boys who stole the show. Danny Rose at left back was completely solid, and looked very dangerous coming forward. And whilst his final ball into the box seemed to be the only blip on his game, I personally didn't see a lot wrong with the quality of the ball that was going into the box, he almost always put it into a good area. Eric Dier had a couple of iffy moments defensively, and arguably should have done better for Kroos' goal but other than that he was a revelation in that role, and scoring the winning goal is another feather in his cap. And Harry Kane was fantastic all night, his link up play was so good and he scored a wonderful goal to get England back in the game, a delightful Cruyff turn in the box and then slamming the ball home. 

But the star of the performance was Dele Alli. Alli has been sensational for Spurs this season and there were question marks (from who I'm not quite sure) whether he could replicate his form at international level. And he did, and then some. He ran the show in midfield, rarely misplacing a pass, teaming up well with Lallana and obviously with Kane and his and Lallana's high press was really top notch, putting the German defence under so much pressure. All his performance was missing was a goal, which really should have come when he missed an absolute sitter with about five minutes to go, but he was so good on the night that it really doesn't matter at all. 

This is an England side that looks well-balanced, and Jamie Vardy off the bench on the hour mark turned out to be a game changer, as his magnificent flick inside the six yard box crashed past Neuer to level the game at 2-2 but there were still some typical Royisms in this team. Danny Welbeck put a shift in at left wing and really improved as the game went on, but he looked out of position and as such struggled to track Emre Can. In future, I'd like to see a player who plays there regularly, either Sterling or Milner, starting on the left, or to see Roy adopt a diamond formation and go with Vardy or Sturridge alongside Kane up top, with the same midfield as today. 

And the center of defence remains an issue. Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill have had markedly different seasons and I certainly wouldn't begrudge either of them starting, since our options there are very limited, but both had shaky games. Smalling made one or two errors that he was lucky ended up not amounting to anything, and Cahill made a big one that did, as he lost Gomez before the German powered home a header for Germany's second. 

And goalkeeper remains a potentially problematic area, though this time through injuries rather than any choices of Roy, as Joe Hart wasn't fit to start and Butland rolled his ankle in the build up to the first Germany goal, which he would have saved otherwise. Fraser Forster looked unconvincing and I'm still not sold on him as an international keeper. but we'll see 90 minutes more of him in midweek I expect so more time to judge him will arrive then. 

In terms of the Euros, if Roy doesn't allow the returning likes of the Ox, Wilshere, Rooney etc to waltz back into this team ahead of say Dier or Alli who were incredible, then we should be fine. I think the full backs can be rotated but both were terrific last night, and I think that the formation can fluctuate between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3, which really shouldn't involve playing Welbeck out on the left, although if he keeps his form for Arsenal going I see no reason he shouldn't make the squad as a 4th striking option, depending on when Rooney gets back to fitness. 

Either way, England will fancy themselves to make a good fist of the Euros if Roy doesn't mess up this terrific young team he has set up here. With the likes of Barkley, Drinkwater, Walker and Vardy all offering options, there's no reason to revert to players who haven't played a lot of football or played that well recently. I don't think they'll win it of course, the Germans at their best and probably the French as well are far superior sides, but there's every indication that England can be positive going forward. At least, based on last night. And who knows, I may actually start to care about international football again. 

England Scrape Into Semis

And in the cricket, another English side were triumphant as Eoin Morgan's men qualified for the semi-finals of the World T20 with a hard fought win against a Sri Lanka side who were led by Angelo Mathews, and got painfully close to knocking England out. Put into bat first, England set a respectable 171-4, with Jos Buttler the key to England's innings, scoring 66 off just 37. But with Sri Lanka needing 40 off the last four overs, as Mathews went nuts, plundering the spinners as Moeen and Rashid bowled four overs between them for a combined 63 runs, Mathews scoring 73 off 54. But Mathews' terrific innings was in vain, as a terrific final two overs, first from Jordan conceding only seven off the penultimate over, and then Stokes conceding just four off the final over as Mathews needed fours and sixes, left England victorious by ten runs. 

And once again, there was a lot to praise in this England performance. Starting with the bowlers, and their pace men all bowled really well. Willey and Jordan struck early on to reduce Sri Lanka to 15-4 off the first three overs, Willey finishing with 2-26 off his overs and Jordan, who ripped through the tail towards the end of the innings, picked up 4-28. And the other two fast bowlers also kept it tight, Plunkett taking 1-23 and Ben Stokes, crucially, when it mattered, conceding just 19 runs at less than five an over. 

And with the bat, England were very good again, as they have been for most of the tournament. 190 against the Windies, 230 against South Africa, and then 170 here represents a really strong batting display and their bowlers are finally starting to get some confidence as well. Jason Roy at the top of the order scored a quickfire 42 to get the innings off to a good start, with a solid second wicket partnership with Joe Root after Hales fell without scoring. But really, from there, and when Root fell just after the ten over mark, the back ten were all about Buttler, who smashed eight fours and two sixes in his phenomenal 66. Sri Lanka though kept it tight, Mathews only going for 0-25 off his four, Herath taking 1-27 and Vandersay the pick of the bowlers with 2-26, restricting England to a score that was good, but not match-winning by itself, and they didn't let anyone support Buttler.  

Ultimately, it was England who held their nerve at the death, and they just about deserve to go through, based on their performances. What I like about this England side is that they have a raft of quality batsmen at their disposal. Buttler and Root have both been utterly sensational in this tournament, Roy has done a really good job at the top of the order and if they get firing, Morgan, Stokes and Hales are all extremely dangerous players. With the ball, the introduction of Plunkett has hugely helped this side, as he offers control that nobody else does, his economy easily the lowest for England, although that's due to not playing England's two toughest matches. Willey and Jordan have both really stepped their game up, and have taken wickets and are bowling well. On the right wicket, we have two top spinners and I feel that we're developing a decent side. 

The problem of course is that we have to face a New Zealand side who won all of their group games, have easily the best bowling attack in the tournament and look extremely dangerous. It's odd, New Zealand have never impressed with the bat, and have relied on their bowlers, whereas England have been largely very impressive with the bat and the bowling has been a mixed bag. Overall, yes New Zealand are huge favourites but over 20 overs, anything is possible and England have a solid chance. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Jack Edwards scored twice as Leam snatched a draw.
• India vs Australia, should be tasty. 
• Sarries beat Exeter to move top. 
• Suarez scores on return. 
• And Northern Ireland held Wales. 

See you tomorrow...I promise. 

23rd March

So close, and yet so far for Bangladesh.

India Survive Major Scare

When Mushfiqur Rahim punched the air, the ball running away to the boundary, leaving a shell-shocked India staring down the barrel of a potentially tournament ending defeat, with Hardik Pandya needing to defend one run off three balls to win and two runs off three balls to draw, it looked like Bangladesh had pulled off the shock of the tournament. Fast-forward three deliveries and it was a horror show for the men in green, the most exciting end to a match in the tournament as India and Pandya somehow, inexplicably, got away with it to win by one run. I have absolutely no idea how, but three wickets in three balls, with Rahim and Mahmudullah caught and then Rahman run out (and only just, he looked like he might just make it in) chasing a bye off the final ball. It was a combination of Bangladesh cracking under pressure and some truly sensational intelligent death bowling from Pandya, who looked to have thrown it away for India when his previous two deliveries went for boundaries to set Bangladesh on the way to victory. This was a match won by the very tightest of margins.  

In context, this result means a lot more for India than it does for Bangladesh. Defeat in this match would have left India in real danger of not qualifying, meaning that winning their crunch match against Australia would not have guaranteed them a semi-final spot, depending on if Pakistan could beat both the Aussies and New Zealand, or if Australia had won by enough against Pakistan to put pressure on India's shocking net run rate. Either way, it would have been messy. As it is, India are now in prime position to qualify, and it's the Aussies who have to beat Pakistan on Friday to set up a winner takes all clash with India on Sunday. Cricket is mad. The fact that those three balls, when the match looked over, have completely changed the face of Group 2, is just staggering. 

But make no mistake, if India play like they did against Bangladesh, then you would expect Australia to walk past them. The Aussies are still reeling from their defeat at the hands of New Zealand, but remain a formidable prospect and I would expect them to walk past Pakistan and give India a real game of it. With the bat, India were not great today. Nobody really got going, and Kohli got out just when he was about to go big. Crucially, only Pandya's 15 off 7 was scored at a rapid rate, with Kohli scoring at a run a ball, and nobody else except Jadeja making double digits at a strike rate of 150 or higher. Whenever a batsman got into a good position, he got out and it kept stunting India's momentum, as they should easily have been hitting 170, but instead couldn't even reach 150. The big wickets of Suresh Raina, who top scored with 30 off 23 and Kohli's run a ball 24, turned the game late on in India's innings, stopping them kicking on. 

And Bangladesh managed the rate well, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman and Shakib Al-Hasan scoring quickly to keep India from ever quite getting the game under control. It always looked to be a close chase, and so it proved, right to the death. Credit has to go to Bumrah and Pandya, who both were bowling pretty poorly but managed to keep it tight at the death when it mattered, but as ever it was spin that did the job in the middle overs with Jadeja and man of the match Ashwin taking 2-22 and 2-20 respectively off their four overs. And India march on. Just about. 

England Do The Job

And England's bowlers recovered from a couple of horror shows against the Windies and South Africa to comfortably in the end defend a mediocre total of 142 against Afghanistan, who once again gave it their all, and at one point had England 85-7 before Moeen Ali and David Willey stepped in with a crucial late partnership. But really, England's batsmen had only their themselves to blame as they collapsed from 42-1 to 42-4 in the space of one over, with opener Vince (filling in for the injured Hales) and Joe Root both falling, as well as a golden duck for Eoin Morgan and all three wickets were absolutely appalling. First Vince dabbed a slower ball straight back to the bowler in tame fashion, then Morgan, who has been horribly out of nick all tournament, played a cardinal sin and missed a straight ball, before Joe Root was sent back haring for a single and caught short of his ground. Pathetic showing all-round in all honesty. 

But Moeen's unbeaten 41 set a reasonable total, and certainly one that England would have felt was defendable. And they bowled very well it has to be said. Early wickets from David Willey, who took 2-23 off his four and Chris Jordan, who took 1-27, reduced Afghanistan to 13-3, before the spinners did some damage in the middle order, Ali removing the dangerous Rashid Khan and Adil Rashid once again bowling well, taking 2-18 off his three overs. And although they made a decent fist of it towards the end as Ben Stokes got stuck in for the final six overs, Afghanistan never quite looked close enough to chase it down and despite a valiant 35 off 20 from the excellent Shafiqullah, they just left themselves too much to do, with their top six struggling and ultimately failing, with Nabi's 12 off 10 the only one to make in the top seven into double digits at over a run a ball. 

Ultimately, this was not a good performance from England, at all to be honest. But their bowlers, boosted by Liam Plunkett's economy of three an over off his four early on as he returned for the hapless Reece Topley. showed a lot of character to recover well from their previous hammerings. But nevertheless, they ended up never looking like losing and avoided a massive potential banana skin. Beat Sri Lanka and they're in the semis. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Sterling out for eight weeks. Ouch. 
• Schweinsteiger might miss the Euros. Ouch. 
• F1 drivers are worried. Shocker. 
• And Marler is facing a hearing. Moron. 

22nd March

Apologies for being away again: football made me feel like writing absolutely nothing on Sunday and I didn't really have time yesterday, so let's dig in.

England Romp Home To Grand Slam 

Following an impressive set of performances, England were in the position to secure their first grand slam in over a decade against the French in Paris on Saturday night. And they did just that, with yet another hard fought win that they thoroughly deserved. And that just about sums it up in black and white. England have played five games in this tournament, have deserved to win all of them, and henceforth, crucially, have won all of them. 

That's not to say England have been exceptional, because they haven't. There's been mistakes, troubles, dodgy performances at times in matches and overall this has been a reasonably well-matched Six Nations, with every side apart from Italy arguably as close as they have been in years, with Wales and Ireland declining and picking up injuries, and Scotland and England strengthening. Even the French have played better than they did in the World Cup (albeit that's not saying much). But England wanted to win more, needed to win more, and put more points on the board in all of their matches. They thrashed Italy, but other than that all of their games have been reasonably close, by their standards this ten point win could almost be described as comfortable. 

And it was another well-earned win, as England fought hard throughout and ultimately just had the extra bit of quality and strength when it mattered. Tries from Care, Cole and Watson were enough for England on the night, but every time they tried to get away from the French in the opening three quarters of the match, they found themselves pegged back. Even after Watson went over to make it 25-18, England never looked like they weren't going to let the French back into it, as a poor showing of seven penalties were conceded, allowing the relentless Maxime Machenaud to keep kicking France back into contact, before ultimately, it was not England's indiscipline, but the French's that cost them, and England were able to kick a couple of pens to take the match to 31-21 and from there, see it out. 

England will want to focus on the minor areas for improvement in their performances, as will any Grand Slam winning team. They won't want to rest on their laurels and think that they're the finished article as the truth is that the Southern Hemisphere is way ahead of the game at the moment. England will want to touch up their indiscipline, make sure they finish more chances and try to avoid any cracks under pressure like we nearly saw against the Welsh. But overall, this was a really good win for England, both on Saturday and for the tournament as a whole and they thoroughly deserved it. 

T20 Triumph

And this year's T20 World Cup continues to be one of the most exciting on record, with yet more evidence that the associate nations deserve their place, as Afghanistan gave South Africa a real terrifying run for their money before eventually falling 37 runs short. It was another disappointing display from South Africa's bowling line up for the most part, before a couple of good overs each from Abbott and Morris saved the situation as South Africa's class showed at the end. Setting Afghanistan over 200 to win looked comfortable, but they looked anything but defending it, nerves still showing after England showed them up by chasing 230. You just get the feeling that South Africa need to chase to win a game, as their bowlers don't seem to know how to defend a lead, and against a team of a higher quality than Afghanistan, it will cost them. 

And likewise, Australia, another pre-tournament favourite, struggled slightly, before eventually managing to chase down the 156 that Bangladesh set them to win with three wickets and nine balls to spare, after a decent bowling display but some more nervy batting. Ultimately, the 58 that Usman Khawaja scored at the top of the order was enough for the others to see it home, but there looked for a while in the later middle overs like it was going to be very close. 

At the other end of the scale, the West Indies, led by a sublime bowling performance from Badree and a colossal 84 not out from Andre Fletcher, beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets, with ten balls left over. They showed in this match that they really are more than just Chris Gayle and now are firm favourites to top Group 1, baring any slip ups from here. This means that it's looking increasingly like a straight shot between England and Sri Lanka for second spot in the group, but don't count out South Africa yet, although losing to England puts them at a disadvantage unless they can turn over the West Indies. Either way, there's some interesting match ups to come. 

And as I type in Group 2, New Zealand secured a 22 run win that realistically sends them through Group 2 as winners. They aren't going to slip up against Bangladesh so it's looking like four wins out of four, and the new tournament favourites are creating one hell of a storm, meaning that with two defeats in two, Pakistan are going to struggle to compete from here, making India arguably the favourites to see off Australia and take second, but that will be a huge battle for that second spot. And New Zealand finally got their batsmen firing as well as the exceptional Mitchell Santner, whose 2-29 once again put the pressure on the opposition chasers. It was 80 off 48 from the awesome Martin Guptill that won the match for them today, and they look in ominous form going into the semi-finals, plausibly against England. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• United won the Manchester derby. Helpful I suppose. 
• Nobody won the Tyne-Wear. Helpful for Norwich. 
• And Spurs clattered Bournemouth. Helpful for my fantasy team. 
• Martin Skrtel is an idiot. Helpful for my migrane. 

19th March

Leicester City just get closer and closer...

Seven Games To Go...

Leicester City moved one step closer to the Barclays Premier League title with a nervy 1-0 win over Alan Pardew's struggling Crystal Palace. Palace are still without a league win in 2016. This is Leicester's 4th 1-0 win in their last five games, which shows exactly how adept they are proving at grinding out tough results against teams down the bottom scrapping for their lives. They're doing everything right at this stage of the season and now look increasingly likely to win the league, as they are now eight points clear of Spurs, who play Bournemouth tomorrow. With every Leicester victory, the league looks increasingly like a two horse race, as Arsenal and City scramble to make up lost ground. 

But simply put, Leicester don't look like throwing this away. Apart from some nervy moments towards the end, they looked incredibly solid against Palace, and are succeeding through an old school style of football that worked so well for Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United for so long. Two big strong central defenders, two banks of four, energetic central midfield players, some real, top class quality out on the wings, and a front partnership in which one player dominates the headlines and the goals and the other is an exceptional support player. They don't change their team much, keep consistency at the heart of their team and are lit up by moments of quality from their two or three exceptional forward players. It's been a terrific team effort, with Morgan and Huth at the back rock solid, the perennially underrated Drinkwater and Kante doing a huge job in the center of midfield, and Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy scoring the goals. 

And that was exactly how it proved today, as Morgan and Huth were awesome at the back, Kante and Drinkwater ran and ran and it was Mahrez who scored the game's only goal after a terrific low ball across the box from Vardy. It was a predatory finish from Mahrez, who had previously missed a golden one on one opportunity with Wayne Hennessey. With 16 goals and 11 assists this season, there's no doubting who the player of the season has to be now, even if by some miracle Leicester don't win the league. 

This results piles the pressure onto Spurs and City tomorrow. Spurs will be wary of facing a Bournemouth side in red hot form, playing exceptionally well and full of confidence. Nevertheless, you have to say that the quality probably isn't quite there for Bournemouth, and you would back Spurs to comfortably win that match and move back within five of Leicester. But that said, even at this stage, five points is a huge margin and Leicester are getting closer and closer with every match. You fancy that three or four more wins would do it for them and they're showing no signs of slowing down. They have enough good fixtures left in their run in that hope is rapidly turning into expectation, Seven games left, and 17 points to mathematically win the title, although realistically you would expect Spurs to drop at least three or four points, so let's say four wins from here will give Leicester the title. And with 22 points from a possible 27, they have hit form at just the right time. 

Arsenal Put The Pressure On

And Arsenal piled the pressure on the teams around them by comfortably beating a very poor Everton side, who never really threatened to make a game of it once Danny Welbeck had been slid in by Alexis Sanchez, and rounded Robles to put Arsenal ahead with just over five minutes on the clock. And this victory was compounded by from Arsenal it has to be said, the likes of Ozil and Sanchez hitting somewhere near their best form and young Iwobi capitalising on some poor defending to slot in his first Premier League goal. And it could and should have been more for Arsenal, but for some truly woeful refereeing, as Sanchez was denied a stonewall penalty, and Olivier Giroud had a goal wrongfully chalked off, as he was adjudged to have fouled Phil Jagielka, when the latter tripped over his own feet. But ultimately, the ref's performance meant very little, as Everton's was little better, and they never threatened Arsenal, even after Wenger inexplicably left a crippled David Ospina on the field when he was clearly injured. 

With the Manchester derby tomorrow, and Liverpool facing a tricky trip to Southampton, this was the perfect result for Arsenal to start the weekend with, and really turn the screw on the other teams fighting for those two Champions League spots. And they got even more good fortune as a late, and blatantly wrong, Cesc Fabregas penalty salvaged a point for Chelsea against a West Ham side who failed to move into the top four themselves at the expense of Man City. West Ham will consider themselves desperately unlucky, as twice they moved into the lead in this game and twice they were pegged back late on in each half, a Fabregas free kick stopping them going in at half time 1-0 up. 

And another team who had a good weekend was Norwich City, who secured a massive away win 1-0 at West Brom to move out of the drop zone and push both Sunderland and Newcastle further into the mire ahead of tomorrow's Tyne-Wear derby. It was Robbie Brady who scored the only goal of the match, and it was a vital one as Norwich managed to build on last weekend's impressive goalless draw with City. They would have been slightly disappointed to see Swansea, another side who are really struggling this season, pull off a 1-0 win against the hapless Villa, but not surprised and realistically they just need to focus on staying ahead of Sunderland and Newcastle. 

And elsewhere Stoke continued their good run with a 2-1 win away at Watford, with Joselu and Walters providing the goods for them. That result puts Stoke 7th, back ahead of Southampton and Liverpool who play each other tomorrow and just a point behind Man United, who admittedly have two games in hand on them now. Realistically, European football is probably just out of Stoke's reach, but a top eight or nine finish would be an exceptional result for them this season.

 The Hard and Fast Section

• Virat Kohli showed his class, keep India's WT20 hopes alive. 
• Wales put Italy to the sword. Obviously. 
• Ireland saw off Scotland to push the Scots 4th. 
• And Sam Austin scored again as Leam move 3rd. 

18th March

Where to even start...

Liverpool Cruise Through

For 45 minutes, there was a real danger of panic setting in. Manchester United were 1-0 up, playing well, controlling the game and it looked like we were going to go in at half time with a real battle on our hands. We'd played well too, created chances of our own, but 1-0 was a worrying scoreline. But ultimately, United had already thrown this away in the first leg and all it needed was one Liverpool goal to end the tie. And then a piece of true magic from Phillipe Coutinho did just that. A wonderful, jinking run that poor young Varela had no answer to, before a delightful chipped shot over David De Gea of the highest quality. And that was that. Game over. United had no answer, Louis Van Gaal made some bizarrely poor substitutions and we were easily the better side in the second half. Overall, although United arguably had the better chances in the first half, either side could have won it and I think 1-1 is probably a fair result. So I'd thought I'd do something a little different tonight: player ratings. 

Liverpool (73/110)

Simon Mignolet - 6 - Solid, not tested much but when he was called into action he dealt with everything that came his way, although the early chance for Lingard could have been avoided if he'd dealt with it. Helpless for the goal. 

Nathaniel Clyne - 4 - Arguably his worst game in a Liverpool shirt, beaten time and again by Martial. Booked, conceded the penalty, an all-round torrid game for Clyne. But he's been excellent in recent weeks and should bounce back. 

Dejan Lovren - 7 - Struggled at times in the first half but was excellent in the second, worked well as a partner alongside Sakho and was done no favours by Clyne at right back. 

Mamadou Sakho - 9 - An absolute colossus. Multiple incredible tackles in high pressure situations, over twice as many clearances as anyone else on the pitch and the highest pass rate of anyone. An absolutely terrific performance from Sakho - his best in an LFC shirt until now. 

James Milner - 6 - Put in a shift at left back and ran all day long. Some good crosses, some poor crosses, but a solid performance nevertheless out of position whilst failing to have a strong imposition on the match. 

Jordan Henderson - 6 - Not a bad night for Henderson, but you could definitely tell that he was ill as he was subbed in the second half. Outshone by the man next to him, but always works hard and does a job for the team. 

Emre Can - 8 - Another player who was an absolute monster in the middle of the park. The most tackles of anyone, some excellent passing, Can broke up the play better than anyone and made a mockery of the man opposite him in the middle of the park. 

Adam Lallana - 7 - Some good stuff today from Lallana, but not his best performance. Some lovely jinking runs, intelligent passing and some very good play all around. Continues his really good run of form. 

Roberto Firmino - 7 - Another good display from the Brazilian, as he had an overall positive impact on play before being brought off late on for Christian Benteke. Some clever play and some really positive signs of link up with Coutinho. 

Phillipe Coutinho - 8 - Earns his rating on the quality of his goal alone, which single-handedly won the tie for Liverpool. But a good display all around for Coutinho, who came into his own in the second half as United ran out of steam. 

Daniel Sturridge - 5 - An abject performance from Sturridge, who multiple times got in really really good one on one positions and promptly gave the ball away. A very frustrating night, culminating in a display of really poor attitude when he was subbed on the hour mark and Liverpool looked better when Origi came on. 

Divock Origi (on 68) - 6 - Another positive display from Origi, with some good runs but nothing really to shout about. 

Joe Allen (on 71) - 6  - Again, some good runs and passes but nothing really stands out from his performance off the bench. 

Christian Benteke (on 85) - N/A

United (69/110)

David De Gea - 8 - Once again arguably United's best player on the night, as he made another string of top saves to keep Liverpool from winning the match. Harsh to criticize him for Coutinho's goal. 

Guillermo Varela - 4 - Much like his opposite number Clyne, Varela never looked comfortable at right back and was beaten multiple times by Coutinho and Milner before his fatal error for the goal that cost United the tie. Looked thoroughly out of his depth. Hauled off at half time. 

Chris Smalling - 6 - Poor positioning and failed to cover Varela for Coutinho's goal and made one or two other small errors but other than that another solid performance from United's best starting central defender. 

Daley Blind - 7 - A good performance from Blind, keeping Sturridge very well marshalled for most of the match and some good passes out of the back. Picked up a booking. 

Marcus Rojo - 7 - Some marauding runs down the left caused Clyne problems and did a decent job defensively and yet inexplicably pulled off for Darmian just after the hour mark. Could and maybe should have made it 2-0.

Michael Carrick - 7 - Ran the midfield well for United in the first half, but struggled to have the same impact in the second and struggled to deal with Roberto Firmino at times. Tired as the game went on and brought off with twenty minutes left. 

Marouanne Fellaini - 5 - Could easily have been sent off twice for two horrible elbows, or at least picked up two yellows. Struggled to impose himself on the game and resorted to throwing his weight around. Poor performance, and a thuggish one at that. 

Jesse Lingard - 7 - Lively performance first half from the youngster but like others couldn't impact the game in the second. Should have scored early on. 

Juan Mata - 6 - A really average performance from Mata, with some decidedly poor defensive tracking back giving James Milner plenty of chances to run early on. Didn't really impact the game in an attacking sense. Missed a good chance. 

Antony Martial - 8 - Sensational down the left, carving Nathaniel Clyne apart and thoroughly deserving of his goal. Easily United's best outfield player on the night and showed more of why he's so loved at Old Trafford. 

Marcus Rashford - 6- Another youngster who played okay but struggled to really have an impact on the match and unable to get anything off of the exceptional Sakho in the second half. Faded quickly out of the game. 

Luis Antonio Valencia (on 45) - 6 - Another man who had no impact on the game as it drifted away from United in the second half. Struggled to cope with Coutinho but made no critical errors. 

Matteo Darmian (on 62) - 6 - A bizarre sub choice from LVG who had no chance of turning the game around with United needing three. Did a job but nothing special. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger (on 70) - 5 - Looked his age as he struggled to stop Liverpool taking total control of the game in the final 20 minutes. Deservedly booked for a horrible tackle after being skinned by Lallana. 

Meanwhile in the Europa League, the sensational Aubameyang scored twice as Dortmund beat Spurs 2-1 on the night to secure a thoroughly deserved 5-1 aggregate win. I do not envy the poor sods who have to play them in the last eight! Oh...wait...damn. 

England Pull Off A Miracle

Embarrassing. Humiliated. Torrid. Dreadful. All words used to describe England at the halfway point of their incredible World T20 match with South Africa. And they were all accurate, because England's bowling display was so poor as to beggar belief. Topley, Willey and Jordan were all absolutely awful and it took a really good spell in the middle overs from the spinners to restrict South Africa to a paltry 230. Yes 230 off 20 overs. We were that bad. Hashim Amla, Quentin De Kock and JP Duminy were the chief beneficiaries, all scoring in the 50s, all making their half centuries in less than 30 balls. It was a demolition job, only Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali (1-35 and 2-34 respectively) coming out with any dignity, as both Topley and Jordan went at over 16 runs per over, Topley conceding 33 off his couple and Jordan a staggering 49 off his three. Let's not let what happened next gloss over this. This was one of the worst displays of bowling in England's T20 history, and the fast bowlers should be ashamed of themselves. 

But what happened next was sensational. Because England chased it down. Jason Roy started as he meant to go on, plundering 21 off the opening over and smashing 43 off 16 balls to get England off and running. He was adequately supported by Stokes and Hales, who both made it into the teens and got out as England scored 89/3 off the powerplay six overs to give themselves a real chance. 

And from there it was all about one man. Joe Root, whose exceptional 83 off 44 balls was nothing less than immaculate. Supported by Jos Buttler, he kept England in the match in the middle overs with some fast scoring, before taking it away from South Africa in the back ten, scoring fast and hard to leave England needing a run a ball off the last two overs before he finally departed. And despite losing two wickets in the final over whilst only needing one run, making things unnecessarily nervy, England finished the job. 

This was a match in which no bowler came out unscathed, a display of batting ferocity in which five of England's top six had a strike rate of over 150, with the openers both scoring at over two runs a ball and Root, who dominated the innings, getting somewhere close to that, as South Africa's top six scored as fast and as hard. This was the sort of match that South Africa will not be able to believe that they lost, or England that they won. It was something else. But it was a ferociously brilliant display from England's batting order. They have quality all the way down and on a day like today, when they showed it, it was magnificent to watch. 

Santner And Sodhi Put Aussies In A Spin

And earlier in the day, New Zealand completed their second win in two matches against arguably the two favourites for the tournament, as having butchered India, they took after Australia and after setting a mediocre 142, successfully defended it, as once again their spinners came to the fore. More and more this is looking like a spinner's wicket, which is why England's marshalling of the South African spin bowling was so impressive. But once again it was Mitchell Santner who struck, taking 2-4 in his first two overs to effectively take Australia out of the match. He conceded heavily in his final two, but combined with the superb efforts of Ish Sodhi who took 1-14 off his four and the terrific fast bowling of Mitchell McClenaghan, who took 3-17, Australia simply had no answer to a terrific New Zealand bowling attack. It means that barring a spectacular collapse from the new favourites for the tournament, either India or Australia won't be making the last four, and New Zealand have all but booked their place, and you can't see anyone, except perhaps Chris Gayle, stopping them now. 

 The Hard and Fast Section

• How good a central defender is Toby Alderweireld?
• City drew PSG in the UCL. Bring it on. 
• Barcelona got Athletico, the only side capable of beating them. 
• And Bayern and Real walk to the semis. Typical.

17th March

Barcelona are unstoppable. Bayern are unbelievable.

FCB Storm Through

Where to start? On a night in which three of the best teams in Europe, arguably the three best teams in Europe put on two displays of phenomenal football, let's just take a second to stop and admire the current era of football we're living in. Bayern Munich and Juventus played out what has to be remembered as one of the best Champions League ties of all time, finishing 4-2 to Bayern on the night and 6-4 on aggregate, as Barcelona cruised past Arsenal in the end, 3-1 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate, despite a really decent display from the Gunners in the opening three quarters of the match.

So let's start there, with Arsenal. Because for just over an hour, they put in a really, really good shift. Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck looked very dangerous, they were keeping Barcelona at arms length to an extent, and David Ospina had made a couple of top saves to deny Lionel Messi. The star man for the Gunners however, was Mohamed Elneny, whose thunderous strike ten minutes into the second half meant that at 1-1, Arsenal were just about still in the tie, albeit needing a miracle. And they were playing very well indeed, chances falling for Welbeck and Sanchez to take the lead on the night, and young Iwobi could have had a penalty, although for me it would have been harsh. And it's fair to say that apart from Neymar's opening goal just less than twenty minutes in, after some poor Arsenal defending, Arsenal had done just about everything right.

But this is Barcelona. This is the best team in world football for a reason, and then this happened:
One spectacular volley from Luis Suarez later, Arsenal were done and dusted. And what a spectacular volley it was from Suarez, a finish of the very highest caliber. Suarez is one of the top finishers in world football, if not the very best, and the goal that he scored last night was damn near perfect. It was quality that Arsenal simply don't have. And then Lionel Messi finished it off late on with another delightful little finish to put the gloss on it. Messi now has nine goals against Arsenal, more than any player against a team in Champions League history and this is the fifth season in a row that Arsenal have failed to reach the quarter finals of the UCL. But for Barca, there really is almost no ceiling to this team. To play not even close to their best for the majority of the 180 minutes against Arsenal, but still put 5 goals past them is simply staggering. They are a side that should easily win the Champions League at this rate.

And whilst the best team in Spain put on a show, the best team in Germany and the best team in Italy went head to head, in a game that always looked like being the tie of the round, especially after a thunderous 2-2 draw last time out. But I don't think anyone expected this game to be as incredible as it was. Because what a game it turned out to be. Some really, really poor defending from Bayern, Neuer and Alaba in particular caught out, allowed Paul Pogba to slot into an open goal, giving Juve the lead after five minutes.

Bayern dominated possession, but struggled to created clear cut chances were caught out on the break time and again as Juve played the high press and just short of the half hour mark, Juve scored their second goal, an absolute worldie. Morata picked the ball up in his own third and ran over half the length of the pitch, jinking sensationally past two or three Bayern defenders' limp tackles before sliding a delightful pass into the path of Juan Cuadrado, who did the rest. It really was a run of the very highest quality from Morata, insanely good. And it should have been 3-0 before half time, Neuer with a sensational save to deny Cuadrado his second goal after an excellent run from Pogba.

And things didn't get any better after the break for Bayern, with Pogba pulling the strings, Morata should have put the game to bed with two brilliant chances in the space of a couple of minutes at the start of the second half: one straight at Neuer and the other over the bar.

And Juve were made to pay for their missed chances, as Douglas Costa, easily Bayern's player on the night, popped up with a magical cross, right on a sixpence for Robert Lewandowski to bury the header that got Bayern back in the match with 17 minutes to play. And when Lewandowksi thundered a header against the post from an offside position, it looked like Bayern had missed their opportunity. But in the 91st minute, another wonderful cross, this time by substitute Coman, was headed in by the mercurial Thomas Muller. 2-2 on the night, same as in the first leg, meant that the match went to extra time, with an incredible Bayern comeback not even close to complete.

And it was Bayern's substitutes who won them the match, as Thiago came off the bench to score a stunning third goal, with some truly magical interplay between himself and Muller, before rifling home. And then Coman added the fourth just over a minute later, with a stunning solo goal, cutting in on his left foot and firing home, Robben-esque and, embarrassingly, on loan from Juventus. Oops. Six goals, most of them of the highest quality, this really was a game and a comeback to remember. And Juventus managed to make a spectacular mess of one more late chance to get back into it with four minutes left, as a stunning save from Neuer left Mandzukic a sitter from six yards, and he ballooned over.

This was, by all accounts, a genuinely incredible game of football, played at a blistering tempo by two of the best sides in Europe, and it's just a shame that at the end of it, we couldn't have both of them in the last eight of the competition.

The Hard and Fast Section

• Milner at left back. This should be interesting. 
• Carrick and Fellaini. No Schweinsteiger or Schneiderlin. Hilarious. 
• And some of United's fans remain utterly classless. 
• Drinkwater for England. I like this a lot. 
• Dilshan does the job for Sri Lanka. 
• Kante and Payet for France. I also like this. 

16th March

Chris Gayle is in the house. The World T20 is off to a flier. 

England Blown Away

It's not unfair to England to point out that the difference between them and the very best T20 sides is that they haven't got a Chris Gayle. Granted, nobody in the world right now except the West Indies has a Chris Gayle, but nevertheless, the point still stands. England don't possess that one outstanding individual who at this level can just go with the click of his fingers and take the game away from the opposition. Joe Root and Jos Buttler are both very close, but neither of them are quite there yet. 

Because ultimately, as much as England wanted it to not go that way, their opening match of the tournament ended up being the Chris Gayle show. Ultimately, England could have set almost any total today and Gayle would have chased it down, he was just in one of those moods. The fact that Chris Jordan has decent figures is down to the fact that Gayle chose not to attack him, as the big man chose his moments and went big when he felt he needed to, almost when he wanted to. This was a phenomenal display of batting from arguably the world's best batsman in the short form of the game, and a handy reminder of exactly why the West Indies are still a force to be reckoned with in T20s. 

That's not to say that England got everything right and were beaten by sheer force of quality from Gayle, because they didn't. From a batting perspective, they'll be disappointed that they were held up at points in the back ten, and although they finished strongly, they were never able to get on top of the Windies bowlers, and none of their batsmen were able to kick on. Root and Buttler in the upper middle order both started well but failed to convert their good scores into a colossal innings. But if we're being honest, the fault doesn't lie with the batsmen, 180 looked like a decent total, it wasn't a poor batting display and certainly you feel that if England could have got Gayle early on, they were more than in this game. 

But they didn't. And with every over that Gayle was still stood at the crease, you could see the West Indies chances of winning this game increasing, all the way up to the moment when he scored his hundred, killed the game and then finished England off. The longer the innings went on, the more inevitable the ending was, but a sensational century from Gayle meant that the match was wrapped up with just less than two overs to spare.

But from a bowling perspective, England were very poor. There were far too many wides, some really poor line and length bowling and they made it easy for Gayle. None of the bowlers out there looked like getting him out, and there was a real lack of quality among the England bowlers. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid looked like they were bowling well, but then Gayle put them to the sword. Chris Jordan only went at a run a ball, but bowled some genuine trash in the process. Willey and Topley, England's premier fast bowlers, just couldn't handle Gayle, the quality of the match was just too much for them. And the usually reliable Ben Stokes was the chief culprit, as his rank bowling was plundered for 42 runs off of his three overs. Yes, Gayle was superb and yes England bowled well at points in this match, but they were unable to bowl well consistently and for a man of Gayle's quality, it was served up to him on a plate. 

England still have a lot to learn moving forwards. South Africa are next up and England will feel that they are reasonably well matched with the Saffers. But they need to bowl better than they did today, and when they get an opening with the bat, and with the ball, they simply have to take it. Too many rudimentary mistakes under pressure cost them today. 

As for the West Indies, they'll be looking at this group, probably the easier group and thinking that they can walk it. Granted, they'll need to face some genuinely incredible spin bowling to win the tournament and I don't think that they have the bowling talent to win the whole thing, but their batting is almost limitless, and they should be aiming for at least a spot in the semis, if not the final.

With Pakistan doing what they needed to do, smashing Bangladesh by 55 runs and New Zealand spinning out India yesterday, this World T20 is shaping up to be an absolute cracker. 

Champions League Preview/Review

No goals were scored in either of last night's games as a superb display from Joe Hart secured a 0-0 draw for a poor Manchester City side - a result that takes them through comfortably in Europe, but at the cost of both of their starting central defenders: Vincent Kompany and Nicholas Otamendi. City's season looks set to go from bad to worse as Kompany will face a month out on the sidelines, after a really, really abject performance from City when they had a real opportunity to go out and set a marker down for the rest of Europe's top sides. Instead, they produced only one shot on target and shorn of any semblance of a working defence, they surely now have lost any chance at a good Champions League or Premier League run. Without Kompany and Otamendi, it's possible to ask fresh questions about City's top four ambitions, as they are so heavily reliant on the Belgian in particular in the heart of their defence, and it's looking as if he'll miss at least three or four league games. City have some serious questions to answer in his absence and their performance last night will not have helped. 

And in the other last 16 game, Athletico Madrid were taken to penalties by PSV Eindhoven, as that match also finished 0-0, both on the night and on aggregate, resulting in an 8-7 penalty shootout win for Athletico, the highest scoring in the competitions' history, in which the first 14 pens ended up in the back of the net. Talk about nerves of steel, but PSV will be gutted, because Athletico are a far superior side and should be one of the favourites for the competition with their defensive record, but having taken them to pens, Eindhoven will be kicking themselves that they couldn't get something out of it. 

And tonight, the draw of the round sees last season's beaten finalists Juventus travel to Munich, to face Pep Guardiola's Bayern, who secured two away goals, but threw away a two goal lead in the first leg in Italy. As such, it's all to play for, and although Bayern will obviously be favourites, you'd expect Juve to put up a bloody good fight. Personally, I can see this one ending 2-1 to the home side, but strap in folks, because it's going to be an absolute cracker. 

Oh and then there's the small matter of Barcelona wiping the floor with Arsenal at the Nou Camp. I jest of course, but Arsenal are missing key players through injury, as usual, facing a two goal deficit and travelling to easily the best team in world football. If Messi, Suarez and Neymar decide to turn up, then frankly this could be any score, but I reckon 3-0 Barca. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Another Leam win, 3-0 v Dorchester. Promotion chasing. 
• Gatland "banter"gate. Blimey oh Riley. 
• Marler escapes a citation. Might still get banned. 
• FIFA wants its bribes back. Oh dearie me. 

15th March

Leicester City move closer to the title, Newcastle move closer to the drop. Let's predict the final end of season table.

The End Is Near

Okay peeps, I'm going to do something a little different this week and predict how the Barclays Premier League table will look at the end of May when all is said and done. In reverse order then: 

20th Aston Villa

Obviously. No further analysis is really necessary, other than to note that this Aston Villa team are genuinely one of the worst in Premier League history. It's impossible to see them finishing anywhere other than dead last and equally impossible to see them getting anywhere near 25 or 30 points, let alone the 40 that might be required for them to stay up. This one should surprise nobody. 

19th Norwich

A lack of fire power, a lack of a convincing defence and a real lack of leadership. This Norwich team do not convince me in any area of the pitch. With just two points to speak of from their last ten games (albeit one of those an impressive point last time out against Manchester City), it's difficult to see where this Norwich team are going to get their next win from. They have four absolutely huge games coming up, as they play West Brom, Palace, Sunderland and Newcastle. All of these are very winnable games, but simply put, I think the other two teams in the dogfight are stronger than Norwich, and although I think it will be close, I think ultimately, they're going down. 

18th Newcastle

Very, very tough to call between the two North East clubs, especially since the introduction of Rafa Benitez, but I'm not sure that he'll have enough in the tank to save Newcastle. They look horribly deficient, full of lazy and mediocre players and although they do have some significant firepower, that firepower has failed miserably to turn up on a regular basis. And I'm not sure that Benitez knows quite what he's walked into, and he doesn't have relegation experience. 

17th Sunderland

Naturally, if I think Newcastle and Norwich are going down, then Sunderland are going to finish just above them. I think that they have the goals in Jermain Defoe to keep them in the Premier League, and with Sam Allardyce, they have a manager who is extremely experienced at this sort of scrap. Defensively, all three teams are about as bad as each other, but I think Sunderland are a better all-round side and will have the firepower and the nous to escape the drop. 

16th Crystal Palace

Palace are in freefall, with no team doing worse than them in 2016, not even Norwich. I don't think that any of the teams below them will secure enough points to take advantage, but I can't see Palace picking up too many more points, as they have a tough run in and are sorely lacking in form. Hopefully, Pardew can keep his team in the Premier League, but if they keep playing poorly then they could be pulled into the scrap. 

15th Swansea

Since it looks like they won't go down, Swansea's form has been pretty average. Although they secured back to back wins against Arsenal and Norwich, both of those teams had their problems and I think that Swansea are not really looking up the table much to be quite honest. 

14th Bournemouth

Bournemouth are in a really good run of form, but they have some tough games coming up and I expect that the run in will see them slide slightly back to 14th, which to be quite honest, would represent an exceptional season for the club, who could easily have been looked at as relegation candidates at this stage of the season. 

13th Watford

Another team who will be pleased with a midtable (or slightly below) finish will be Watford, who are another side whose form has slid since the turn of the year, with Premier League survival all but secure. Nevertheless, they have some real quality in their side and I expect them to halt the slide and finish roughly where they are now. 

12th West Brom

Another year and another midtable finish which will please Tony Pulis no end. West Brom have never looked in danger of being relegated but also never looked in danger of breaking the top ten, and as such, I can't see them finishing much higher than 12th.

11th Chelsea

Slightly controversial, but Chelsea have a lot of tough games to come that I can't see them winning. They're very comfortable where they are, but I can't see them making any huge inroads in the final table. To be honest with you, between Everton, Chelsea and Stoke was tough, they're all going to finish around 10th. A shocking season from the Blues.

10th Everton

Not much to say here beyond a disappointing season for Everton but I think that they're slightly worse defensively than Chelsea, who are in better form, so I think that they'll finish 10th. They do have slightly more firepower than Stoke, but expect this to maybe be the other way around. 

9th Stoke

Despite still having a few good teams to play, Stoke will inevitably pick up some more points, and hopefully finish ahead of Everton and Chelsea. Nevertheless, I can't see them finishing in the top eight from here. 

8th Southampton

Reaching the business end and despite a strong season from Southampton, I think that the teams ahead of them are simply stronger. They still have to play three of the top four, plus Liverpool and Everton, so an eighth place finish wouldn't be the end of the world for them, when all is said and done. the competition is just too fierce. 

7th Manchester United

A team crippled by injuries, running on fumes and struggling for rhythm, I can't see Louis Van Gaal's team finishing in the top six. Teams around them have more momentum, better individuals and more to play for. I expect United to fall away in the last few games, especially with some tricky fixtures to come. 

6th Liverpool 

As much as I want us to make a decent fist of a top four charge, I just think that there's too much inconsistency in our team and that the teams above us cannot continue to play as badly as they have in recent weeks (City and Arsenal). They must find their form sooner or later and I think that a poor start to the season and a couple of fixtures where we'll drop silly points in the run in will cost us and we'll fall short. Not a good season, but not as as bad as it threatened to be. 

5th West Ham

For similar reasons, I also don't think West Ham will make the top four. They have every chance, if they can get some big results against the likes of Arsenal who they have still to play, of putting the pressure on, but Arsenal and City have decent run ins and simply cannot keep performing as badly as they have been recently. 

4th Arsenal

I think that they'll be run close, but I think that Arsenal have too much quality and too many reasonable fixtures left to drop out of the top four. That said, I also don't think that they're playing well enough, have enough momentum or that Leicester or Spurs will drop enough points for them to challenge for the title, and this would represent a disappointing season for Arsene's men. 

3rd Manchester City

City and Arsenal are in a really similar boat here, but I think that City have individuals capable of making things happen in a way that Arsenal don't, even if Arsenal have an overall better squad. I think City have left themselves too much to do to make a good fist of the title now, but they should have enough quality and find enough form to secure a top four place. 

2nd Tottenham

I must have been listening to Dan Lipman for too long because I'm a real fan of Pochettino's Spurs. I think that they'll make a bloody good fist of the run in to be honest, I think that they'll win a lot of big games and really push Leicester. But ultimately, I just think that they have too much to do, I think that they've left themselves too few games and crucially, I think that they could end up just running out of gas towards the end. 

1st Leicester City

With all of my heart, as much as any neutral does, I want Leicester City to win the Premier League. They have done all of the hard work, won some sensational games, blown teams out of the water along the way and thoroughly deserved to be where they are. But more importantly, six clean sheets in their last seven home games means that they're doing what they need to do at this stage of the season, in tough games against teams scrapping for points. They're grinding out results time and again against teams that they could easily lose to, and they're showing no signs of buckling. They're very nearly there now. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• What a volley from Okazaki. Priceless. 
• India capitulated against New Zealand. This should be good. 
• Francis banned for 8 weeks. Good. 
• Lennon has left Bolton. Merry-go-round. 

14th March

The Six Nations is officially won. All hail the Scots!

England Victorious

When Toby Faletau crashed over with about two minutes to go at Twickenham, the panic stations were ringing. England have lost big leads to Wales before, but shipping an 18 point lead, requiring your opponent to score three unanswered tries and convert two of them, in the final seven minutes or so of a match would be a humiliating catastrophe unrivaled. And when George North and then Faletau both went over in the space of four minutes, England were rocking. It looked for all the world like Wales were going to pull off the impossible. 

But then they didn't. And England could breathe again. They'd won the match, and with it, probably the Six Nations. In truth, even before France lost to Scotland, England needn't have worried too much about Les Blues. France have not shown their prowess during this tournament, securing tight victories over Italy and then a largely ineffective Ireland, before losing to Wales, and there was nothing to suggest that they'd be able to secure the significant margin of victory required over both Scotland and England to overturn England's superior points difference, even assuming that they could win their remaining matches. And in truth, even if the French had turned over Scotland, you still would have fancied England next week. As it is, Scotland pulled off an exceptional 29-18 win that gives them a really good chance at finishing third next week, should they beat Ireland, and as such, the tournament is England's. 

And England deserved it on the strength of their overall performance against Wales. Eddie Jones' words before the match about penalizing the Welsh scrum proved crucial, as England scored with six penalties, three before half time and three after, as Watson's converted try made it 16-0 at half time and 19-0 shortly after. From there, only an England mistake let Wales back into the game, as nervous moments ensued following George Ford's charged down kick to make it 19-7. But even then, England looked in control and a couple more nailed on kicks from Farrell killed Welsh momentum and meant that England were even winning the second half 9-7, as they plundered the 18 point lead that made it look as though the match was over. 

And in truth, even though Wales fought back, the Welsh were just not the better side on the day, and haven't been the better side all Championship. When it has mattered, England are the side that have been stronger, faster, and played the better rugby. They've deserved to win every match that they've played, including this one, whereas the Welsh against Ireland and today, simply didn't wake up until it was too late. They've been unconvincing and disappointing at points in this tournament and England deserve to win it. 

And they have the tournament now, thanks to Scotland's impressive win. Scotland started very strongly, opening up an 18-5 first half lead after an early French try, followed by a couple of really poor kicks from Trinh-Duc had threatened to derail their return to form, but a converted try by the French right on half time meant that nervy moments were to come for the Scots, as they were pegged back to 21-18, midway through the second half. But an excellent late try from Tim Visser put the game to bed and the French never recovered from that, surrendering their chances the Six Nations with a whimper, rather than a bang. And for Scotland, this represents a return on the investment that looked like it might never come. Scotland have a much stronger side than usual, but defeat to England and Wales, (still the two strongest sides in the tournament) had threatened to curtail any attempts at having a good year. Nevertheless, if they can secure a result against Ireland next weekend and finish third, one point behind Wales (I'd suggest maybe even ahead of them but let's be honest, Wales are going to annihilate Italy) would represent a good tournament for the Scots. 

And speaking of Ireland, they finally won a game in this Six Nations, showing their class as they put nine tries past a pathetic Italy side, in a game that is reminiscent of the Ireland side from the last two years, rather than the Ireland side of the last two months. It's been a really rough tournament for the Irish, but any chance at an upset and a wooden spoon was vanquished, and they'll be backing themselves to finish third behind England and Wales, which wouldn't be a good showing for them, but could at least salvage some dignity from this shocker of a Six Nations. 

As for England, they're the winners and deservedly so. But they won't be resting on their laurels. There's only one thought on everyone's mind now. And it's not the first Six Nations win in five years, it's the Grand Slam. England have arguably the best opportunity that they've had in a long time to win the Grand Slam, as this is a French side that is right there for the taking. England are simply put, far superior to France and they should really go on and secure the perfect remedy to their dismal World Cup campaign. 

Payet Magic, Arsenal Woeful 

What a player Dimitri Payet is turning out to be. His sensational free kick against Manchester United, the highlight of another excellent all-round performance from him in which he could have had a penalty (very, very similar to the Benteke one last week tbf although I think that there was less contact and Payet went down earlier) and created some great chances for West Ham. Overall, West Ham will consider themselves desperately unlucky that United forced a replay as Martial's goal should clearly have been chalked off, as Randolph was impeded, leaving him no chance of saving the shot from Martial. But overall, if West Ham and United play as they have in recent weeks, or indeed as they did in this game, then I thoroughly expect West Ham to win the replay. 

And what a season they're having, the Hammers. Only two points off the top four, with a potential trophy on the way (they're certainly the strongest team left in the FA Cup), they could end up having an unbelievable season. 

And speaking of teams having an unbelievable season...oh wait. No. Arsenal's season is entirely believable, since it's the exact same one that they've been having for the last decade. Scramble to finish in the top four, win no silverware (or occasionally the FA Cup), call it a good year, hit the repeat button. It's getting old and it's getting boring. The lack of mental strength and ambition from a club with arguably the most talent in the Premier League is absolutely frightening. Time and again, Arsenal as a club and their fans seem content with their situation, grumbling about injuries and claiming that they only need one player to mount a major title charge. Well once again, they were awful today, as Danny Welbeck missed an open goal in the dying minutes as they lost 2-1 to Watford and were knocked out of the FA Cup, effectively ending their chances at winning a trophy this season. Those chances will go from incredibly slim to slightly slimmer when they get knocked out of the Champions League by Barca on Wednesday, but really we were all expecting that months ago. 

Of course Arsenal should still secure a top three finish. But to be quite honest, after a decade of watching his team bottle every attempt at a major trophy, with only a couple of FA Cups to show for it, and another defeat against poor opposition, is this really good enough for Arsenal? Since they beat Leicester, they've won one and drawn two of their seven games, and that includes two games against Championship opposition in Hull City. They're in freefall. And of course, because they're Arsenal, they will finish in the top four, but how long will they let Wenger keep finishing below where they should be finishing? The excuses are running out. 

But credit HAS to go to Watford, who secured a cup semi-final place, and are having an excellent season. Premier League survival ensured early, and a cracking cup run? All Watford fans would have bitten your hand off for that at the start of the season, and they have a real shot at silverware. Good luck to them, I'd love to see them win the FA Cup (although frankly anyone but Everton/United would suit me at this point). 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Bangladesh beat Oman. Surprise, surprise. 
• Nadal is going to sue someone who accused him. Good. 
• Harry Kane scored twice. Villa are awful. Easy. 
• United get away with vile chanting. Of course. 
• And Leicester are in action tonight against Newcastle. Tasty.

13th March

In my defence, I was at Leamington yesterday...

Leamington Charge For Glory

Thought I'd open with something a little bit different, as I was co-commentating on yesterday's Leam game and there wasn't as much interesting football on yesterday as usual. So Leamington were in action against top of the table Poole Town, a game which had all the hallmarks of a closely fought contest. Despite Leam's surge up the table, with sixteen points from a possible eighteen making them favourites to secure a play-off spot, Poole would have been favourites for this game, nine points ahead of Leam and sitting pretty in the only automatic promotion spot. 

But then Leam showed up. And how. 

I've seen some excellent performances from Leamington in recent weeks as they've hit form at the right time, loanees Baker-Richardson and Austin adding some extra dimensions to their attack and the return to form of James Mace at the back coming at the right time, but this one has to be their best. They played Poole off the park for 90 minutes, carving out chances for Baker-Richardson, Austin, a delightful flicked header from powerful central midfielder Jack Edwards and a golden opening for top scorer Ben Mackey before half time, as Leamington surged on Poole, their intensity restricting Poole to only one clean chance before the break, as a lovely passage of play released Spetch on the wing, only for Leam keeper Tony Breeden to save. 

And after the half time break, Leam were even stronger, creating better chances. It was winger Lee Moore's scuffed shot that ran into the path of Mackey, who six yards out may have meant to or may have not meant to deflect the ball, but either way it ended up rolling past the despairing Poole keeper and Leam were 1-0 up. 

For a game that ended 1-0, it could have easily been 3-0 or 4-0, as Lee Moore missed one of the easiest chances you'll ever see, although he was desperately unlucky as he had to stretch for it, and Sam Austin was in on goal a couple of times, particularly late on as the Poole keeper, who had come up for a corner, raced back with Austin bearing down on him. And Poole themselves only tested Breeden once in a late siege that you might have been expecting earlier than the last minute of the match. 

In terms of standout performers, Mackey got the goal, but his overall play in the second half in particular was drastically better than recent home fixtures, and Sam Austin was utterly magnificent, he had the ball on a string as he stripped poor right back Lewis Tallack time and time again, as you'd expect from a League One loanee, but veteran full back/central midfielder Richard Taundry, playing at right back in this game, was the man of the match for me, as he went into every tackle, winning the ball time and again and the range of passing he showed was absolutely sublime, with his long raking balls in behind. 

Leam go again on Tuesday and on this performance, with the gap cut to just six points with a game in hand on Poole, there's no telling how high Leam's ceiling is. The title is certainly a possibility. 

City Flounder...  

Any slender hopes that Manchester City might have had of regaining the Premier League title ended with a whimper at lunch time yesterday as their attempts to break down a Norwich side that are sitting in the relegation zone proved fruitless. The result leaves City only two points ahead of West Ham, and four ahead of United, having sacrificed their game in hand on both, and Liverpool, only seven points back, now have a game in hand on City. More importantly, as far as the blue half of Manchester is concerned, a win for Spurs today takes them seven points ahead of City, and Leicester could go twelve clear on Monday night, albeit giving City a game in hand. 

And simply put, it's not acceptable. With a team containing the likes of Sergio Aguero, Wilfried Bony, David Silva and Raheem Sterling, to fail miserably to break down Norwich, who haven't won a game since the 2nd of January and are only one goal off Villa's league high of 55 conceded, is embarrassing to be frank. And other than two decent chances for Sergio Aguero, who probably should have put one away, City never looked like scoring. Jesus Navas is a man with zero end product, Bony adds nothing to this team, and Raheem Sterling is yet to look anywhere near a £49m player, as his City career has consisted of an occasional top class performance, littered with a string of then inconsistent performances. When Silva can't pick the pass and Aguero doesn't make something happen, City look hapless. 

And it was Norwich, who will really be buoyed by this point ahead of a big chance for them to gain ground next weekend as Newcastle play Sunderland and they go to West Brom, who looked the more likely to score, Bamford hitting the bar the closest either side came to scoring. But a point definitely suits Norwich more than it suits City and for the visitors, this was a performance which was nothing short of awful. 

...As Everton March On

Meanwhile, Everton moved into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2012, at the expense of Chelsea in what can only be described as an "ill-tempered" clash, in which everything kicked off in the final 15 minutes. First a sensational goal from Lukaku, one of the best he's ever scored, put Everton ahead, before he added a second to put the game beyond doubt with less than ten minutes to go.

And then it all kicked off, as Diego Costa, thug supreme, showed his nasty side once again, by appearing to bite Gareth Barry. Now if this is what happened, he needs to be hit with a long ban, as Suarez was, because there is simply no place for it in the game. I've always said that Costa is an ugly, horrible individual, a player who is exceptional at what he does, but also a nasty piece of work who I wouldn't want playing for my club. 

And this inciting incident caused the usually calm Barry to lose his cool, as he was also sent off for a second yellow on Fabregas. But despite this, it was Everton who prevailed. This was a must win game for both sides, whose seasons were hinging on this moment, Everton moreso. For Chelsea, winning the FA Cup wouldn't be enough to ressurect their smoldering heap of a year, but for Everton, who were always an outside bet for European football anyway, their first trophy since 1995 would represent a very good season. And they are close to that now.  

And they were joined in the semis by Palace, who beat Reading 2-0 on Friday night with late goals from Cabaye and Campbell. There was more than a little bit of luck involved in their goals, but Palace overall deserved it on the night you have to say. 

And to finish up this weekend's football: Southampton beat Stoke 2-1, with two goals from Pelle, who is very much a hot and cold striker. This was another great result for the Saints which keeps them in with an outside chance of a Europa League spot, should United or West Ham's performances fall off a cliff or 7th place become a spot. And Bournemouth managed to win a thrilling clash with Swansea in which they took the lead three times, only to be pegged back twice. For Bournemouth, this was another terrific result, that takes them above Watford onto 38 points, leaving them almost certainly safe now, 13 points from the drop zone. As for Swansea, they still need one or two good results to guarantee safety, as Newcastle now have two games in hand and are only nine points behind them (yes those games are against City and Leicester but it's this season, anything can happen). 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Rugby talk tomorrow. But get in England. 
• Barcelona scored six in 55 minutes. Without Suarez. Yikes. 
• Afghanistan shocked Zimbabwe to reach the Super 10. 
• Saints beat Sale. Leicester lost to Wasps. Ha. 
• Benitez at Newcastle. I can't even.