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Copa American Preview: Argentina – Uruguay

age Argentina has been urged to replicate its first-half showing against Paraguay when it faces Uruguay on Tuesday.

Sergio Romero says Argentina can take positives from its Copa America opener, despite dropping points from a winning position, as the side prepares for this week’s Group B clash against Uruguay.

Gerardo Martino’s side threw away a two-goal lead in La Serena, as Nelson Valdez and Lucas Barrios scored in the final half hour to salvage a point and frustrate the World Cup finalist.

Argentina had led thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero, with both Martino and captain Messi left frustrated by their second-half collapse.

Uruguay was also unconvincing in its opener – a 1-0 win over Jamaica – but Romero says both sides will take positives from their first Copa outings.

“Uruguay will not give away anything and although they had a tough match against Jamaica, they played their game and their style,” he said. “They also have dangerous strikers such as Cebolla [Cristian Rodriguez] and Edinson Cavani.

“On Tuesday, hopefully we can play our game and if we play like we did in the first half [against Paraguay] I think it will be alright. The first half against Paraguay was not good, it was excellent. Argentina had the ball, kept it on the floor and generally played the game the coach wants.”

Defending champion Uruguay looks on course to move into the knockout stages after Rodriguez’s winner ensured the side of top spot in the group at the end of the first round of matches.

Jamaica had more than enough chances to take something from the game but failed to break down a stubborn defense well marshaled by the likes of Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez.

Uruguay won the most recent instalment of this famous rivalry – a 3-2 success in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup – with Tabarez backing his side to grow into the tournament.

“We will continue to work in these few days,” Tabarez said on Sunday. “We were not at our best but that’s not the case just for us, not many teams arrive in their best form and it is widely expected that teams improve.”

The sides meet after Paraguay takes on Jamaica, with the picture of the group set to look a lot clearer after close of play on Tuesday.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Argentina has 1.69 odd to win the match on NaijaBet while Uruguay has 5.53 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 3.69.

Sweden VS Nigeria Match Preview

desire-oparanozie-asisat-oshoala-ngozi-okobi_1lioo3uuzbulk1m2n95pp98fc6 The young sensation returns to the country where she won top awards at the U20 World Cup in 2014 seeking victory with the senior side

Nigeria Women open their Fifa Women’s World Cup campaign against Sweden at the Winnipeg Stadium on Monday night, with Asisat Oshoala set to return to familiar grounds.

The 21-year-old was named best player at the 2014 Fifa U20 Women’s World Cup in Canada and has not relented since. She was named best player at the African Women Championship late last year and moved to Liverpool in England early in 2015.

Personal accolades have come with delivering top notch performances that have propelled the national teams to glory.

She failed to deliver the U20 World Cup last year, narrowly losing to Germany in the final, but helped Nigeria regain the African title in Namibia as they defeated Cameroon 2-0.

The former Rivers Angels star insists she is under no pressure to set the stage alight not minding the opponent.

“For us, we do not know the word pressure. We do our best and just pray for mother luck. We have all it takes to go all the way and take the Cup back to Nigeria,” Oshoala told Goal.

“I was expecting any [oppostition] because it’s called draws – anything can happen. The teams [USA, Sweden and Australia] are no threat to us all.

“We have more than enough good players who will make Nigeria progress from the group stage. I believe we have the capacity to advance and nothing to fear.

“We can’t go to the World Cup to merely add to the numbers, but we’re going there to participate and to prove a point.

“I can’t say right away how far we’ll go at the World Cup, but I’m positive we won’t disappoint Nigerians when hostilities start in Canada,” she said.

Pia Sundhage’s side holds the edge over the Africans with Nigeria losing four of their last five successive World Cup games. They last won 1-0 against 2015 hosts Canada in 2011. While Sweden only lost one and won four of the last five.

The African champions boast of a well-built, formidable attack and physical defensive unit with Desire Oparanozie expected to lead the frontline with Oshoala, Francisca Ordega and Ngozi Okobi just behind in attacking midfield positions as part of coach Edwin Okon’s settled line-up.

The Super Falcons bring an even stronger team to this year’s World Cup. Oshoala, the BBC women footballer of the year, has established herself as a star for Liverpool in England, while 21-year-old Oparanozie is coming off an 11-goal season for Guingamp in France.

Washington Spirit attacker Ordega (21) and Oklahoma State University striker Courtney Dike give the team enviable depth going forward.

The Falcons’ defence will undoubtedly have more to do in Canada than they did in Namibia and coach Okon can depend on veteran Onome Ebi and Osinachi Ohale to marshal the defence.

Sweden on their own part staged a return to the competition with a number of stars performing at their peak.

Lotta Schelin’s precision leading the attack makes her a prototypical number nine. Kosovare Asallani provides a creative element in midfield, while Caroline Seger provides both resilience and goals.

Nilla Fischer is considered by many to be the world’s best in central defence.

Nevertheless, the African powerhouse will seek to upset all odds to record an epic opening at the Fifa Women’s World Cup by conquering the European giants to win their first match in Canada.

Korea Republic referee RI Hyang Ok will be assisted by Hong Kum Nyo, Kim Kyoung Min, Abirami Apbai Naidu to officiate the match.

The encounter between Nigeria and Sweden comes up on Monday, June 8 at 9pm Nigerian time.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post, Sweden has 1. 48 to win the match on NaijaBet, while Nigeria has 6.60 to win the match also, to draw is 4.60.

Amir Khan vs. Chris Algieri Preview & Prediction

admin
27 May 2015
Boxing
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0255775001432694255_filepicker The Premier Boxing Champions returns to Spike on Friday night when Amir Khan fights Chris Algieri. Khan is coming off his biggest win in his career, whereas Algieri is coming off his first loss to Manny Pacquiao. Khan wants to face Floyd Mayweather late in 2015, but Khan has had some losses in his career, which sets him back for a big time fight. Will he win this fight and get that big money match in 2015? Here is my preview and prediction for this fight.

Storylines: Amir Khan is known to win a silver medal when he was 17 years old. Since then, he has lost two fights by knockouts to Breidis Prescott in 2008 and lost his WBA and IBF light welterweight titles to Lamont Peterson. However, the WBA returned Khan’s belt because Peterson failed a performance-enhancing drug test. Then in July of 2012, Danny Garcia defeated him. Khan has been on this great fight streak by defeating Luis Collazo and in his last fight, he defeated Devon Alexander. Meanwhile, Chris Algieri is famous for fighting Manny Pacquiao. Even before his fight with Pacquiao, Algieri defeated Emmanuel Taylorand he had a very good boxing match with Ruslan Provodnikov. Algieri showed heart and determination when he was knocked down six times in the fight against Pacquiao.

Strengths: Khan has great speed when it comes to his foot and hands. His speed is his bread and butter because he can use his punches. Khan does not have any power punching in his arsenal, but he can be quick. Meanwhile, Algieri is considered a smart boxer. His jabs are quick and he can control the fight. Algieri has the experience because of his time as a kickboxer. Algieri can be tough when it comes to taking big power shots.

Weaknesses: Khan’s two defeats came from knockouts. The weakness that I see with Khan is that he has a weak chin. Also, if Algieri makes this fight competitive, that will be a weakness to Khan because of the fact that Khan will relay too much on his speed and his defense. When it comes to Algieri, what I saw in his fight with Pacquiao was that speed really frustrated him in that fight. Since he’s going up against Khan, Khan will use his speed to frustrate Algieri. Algieri doesn’t have any knockout power, which will be a plus for Khan.

Prediction: If Algieri had the power punches in his arsenal. This fight can be considered a 50/50 split for the boxing pundits. Based on his experience as a kickboxer, Algieri has a very smart sense as a pro boxer. I believe that Algieri will go the distance and frustrate Khan for a few rounds, but I have Khan winning by a decision. Who should Khan face after this fight? I think that it’s going to be a long shot to get Khan in the same ring with “Money” Mayweather. Mayweather will refuse to fight any boxer that doesn’t have market value. The fight that Khan should pay attention to is Kell Brook and Frankie Gavin. If Khan can win the winner of Brook vs. Gavin, then Mayweather will see this as an opportunity to make money on a mega fight with Khan. I’ll definitely pay attention to what Mayweather will do in the coming weeks and months.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Amir Khan has 1.06 odd to win the fight on NaijaBet while Chris Algieri has 10.00 odd to win the fight also.

Europa League final preview; Sevilla vs. Dnipro

sevila-d-600x350 Sevilla aim to defend the Europa League title they won last year when they play Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Wednesday’s final at the Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw.

The Spanish club are overwhelming favorites coming into this match having made light work of the opposition for most of the competition with the toughest test coming against Zenit St. Petersburg in the quarter-finals which they eventually won 4-3 on aggregate.

With the chance to win the Europa League for a record fourth time, there is extra incentive for Unai Emery’s men who have been urged by their coach to embrace the chance at creating history come Wednesday.

Speaking to UEFA.com, Emery said: “We can’t deny that we have the chance to create history. Of course, we are grateful to have that chance, to be able to pursue this.

“We are aiming to achieve something with this team, with Sevilla. It shouldn’t feel like pressure or stop us from executing our game plan against Dnipro. It will serve more as a motivation, like a dream we can achieve.”

Dnipro on the other hand are coming into this match on the back of a hard fought 3-2 victory over Shakter Donetsk in a Ukrainian first division fixture.

The Warriors of light have been the revelation of this year’s competition after knocking out some of the more accomplished sides like Ajax and Napoli to reach their first ever European final.

Coach Myron Markevych’s has relied on his side’s solid defensive organization in past matches and he will likely adopt the same approach for this match.

An extra incentive for both sides is that the winners of the Europa League now qualify automatically for the group stages of the Champions League as specified by UEFA’s new rule.

Team News

Dnipro have to make do without Roman Zozulya (knee) and Serhiy Kravchenko (knock) while Yevhen Shakhov’s availability is doubtful.

Sevilla are not without their own injury problems with concerns over Dani Parejo (knee) and goalkeeper Beto (shoulder).

Prediction

Sevilla are better placed to win because of their vast experience in this competition but Dnipro’s exploits this season indicate that they can be very dangerous if underestimated.

Nonetheless, I still think the cup holders have enough in them to see off Dnipro comfortably.

Sevilla 2-0 Dnipro

NAIJABET ODDS

Holders Sevilla, who have just finished fifth in Spain’s Primera Division and are therefore in need of the Champions League place which Wednesday’s winners will claim have a 1.64 odd to win the match on NaijaBet while dnipro will want to mount a challenge to the title holders, they have the 5.81 odd to win the match. Odd to draw the match is 3.81.

FA Cup Final Preview – Arsenal vs Aston Villa

admin
26 May 2015
Arsenal, FA CUP
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So, the English Premier League is done and dusted. Chelsea are deserved champions, Hull, Burnley and QPR make the dreaded drop to The Championship, and a summer of speculation, managerial sackings and big money transfers is set to begin before it all kicks off again in just 75 days.

But first there is the small matter of the 134th edition of the FA Cup Final to be played, as defending FA Cup holders Arsenal face surprise finalists Aston Villa in the world’s oldest club competition. The Gunners won the 2013/4 Final 3-2 against another surprise finalist in Hull City, granting Arsene Wenger his first piece of silverware in nine long seasons and they will enter the 2015 final as they did in 2014, as heavy favourites.

A resurgent Aston Villa side successfully avoided the drop after replacing Paul Lambert with Tim Sherwood in February, and the former Spurs man has instilled a belief in the Villians that was lacking pre Christmas. Sherwood’s men came from a goal down in the Semi Final against Liverpool and have also defeated Premier League Midlands rivals WBA and Leicester on the way to the final.

Game Preview

Arsenal ended their Premier League season with a flourish, comprehensively defeating WBA 4-1 after a Theo Walcott hattrick inside 37 minutes put paid to any murmerings of another insipid home performance after the Gunners had failed to score in their previous three games at the Emirates.

Interestingly, Walcott was deployed up front, with Wenger taking the opportunity to rest regular striker Olivier Giroud with Wembley in mind, and the number 14 looked lively throughout, suggesting Wenger will find it hard to not find a place for him in the starting XI on Saturday.

Defender Laurent Koscielny and midfielder Aaron Ramesy were also given a breather by Wenger, although the midfield trio of Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil all played the full 90 minutes.

Sanchez has been a revelation this season, consistently providing the most attacking threat for the Gunners, ending the season with 16 PL goals, whilst the unsung Cazorla has pulled the strings from behind the front men, contributing the second most assists in the PL (11).

How Wenger plans to accomodate this trio, the returned to fitness Jack Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott and Giroud will be the most interesting part of Arsenal’s line-up.

In contrast, Villa ended the season meekly, with a 1-0 home defeat to already relegated Burnley, where surely Wembley was playing on their minds.

Sherwood was expected to make changes to the line-up, having already survived relegation the previous week, despite a 6-1 mauling at Southampton, but again, star men Christian Benteke, Jack Grealish and Fabian Delph all played the full 90 minutes.

Goalkeeper Shay Given was rested, but should return between the posts having played every minute of the FA Cup campaign so far.

Villa should revert to their normal 4-5-1 formation, with Benteke as the attacking spearhead come Saturday, although it will be interesting to see if former Man City man Scott Sinclair can find a way into the side after returning from injury with a 20 minute cameo against The Clarets.

Keys to the Game

Where to start? This is surely Arsenal’s to lose, and if they touch anywhere near 85-90% of their potential then they should run away with the game.

The sides met twice during the Premier league season, resulting in 3-0 and 5-0 wins for The Gunners, although both matches were admittedly played before Tim Sherwood took up his managerial duties.

Sherwood will have a lot on his plate trying to contain the attacking threat that Arsenal possess, and will be looking to experienced defender Ron Vlaar to lead the relatively inexperienced backline as he did against Liverpool in the semi-final.

As mentioned, selection of the attacking players will be Wenger’s biggest headache, and there will be a couple of dissatisfied players come the 5:30pm kick-off, but whatever side he puts on the field should have enough to dismiss Villa and end the clubs chances of their first FA Cup final victory since 1957.

Of course Villa are not without a hope, having started underdogs against Liverpool in the semi, but it would take beast of a striker Benteke to have a field day, and stellar performances from midfielders Tom Cleverley, Grealish and Charles N’Zogbia.

NAIJABET ODDS

As at the time of this post, Arsenal are at 1.53 to retain the cup after dismissing Reading in professional fashion at The Wembly stadium,while Aston villa has a chance of winning after beating Liverpool out of the FA cup semi final, Tim Sherwood team has a chance of winning arsenal with an odd of 6.58 while odd for draw is 4.21.

Man Utd v Crystal Palace

admin
8 Nov 2014
Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Match Preview
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Man Utd v Crystal Palace

Manchester United need to start turning good performances into points

Manchester United go into the game with Crystal Palace on the back of a spirited performance against Manchester City but yet again we are talking about the problems in defence. Manchester United will be without Chris Smalling who is suspended following his idiotic sending off at the Ethiad and also Marcos Rojo who dislocated his shoulder in the City game and its unclear how long the Argentine defender will be out for with conflicting reports saying only 3 games while others are saying three months. Johnny Evans has not ben called up by Northern Ireland so one would think he is also unavailable to Louis van Gaal. Phil Jones is definitely ruled out of the game with the continuing shin problem he picked up. There are also doubts over the fitness of Rafael and striker Radamel Falcao who has missed the last two games with a thigh injury.

Michael Carrick looks set to fill at centre back alongside Paddy McNair although Tyler Blackett is available again. Rumours have been circulating in the media that Louis van Gaal has lost patience with Robin van Persie and is set to start 18 year old striker James Wilson. The media reports have stated that Falcao is out of the Palace game although that has not been confirmed or denied by the club. Paddy McNair and Antonio Valencia look set to start at centre back and right back respectively.

Crystal Palace haven’t been the same until they were last season following the departure of Tony Pullis as manager and the return of Neil Warnock as manager. Of course despite their struggles so far this season Palace are a dangerous side especially in wide areas where they possess the pace of Jason Puncheon and Yanick Bolasie. Palace will be unavailable to call on the services of Wilfred Zaha who is on loan from United and therefore ineligible to play against his parent club. Fraizer Campbell has also proved to be a useful addition to the Palace frontline adding more pace in the central attacking area and importantly goals. The Palace captain Milae Jedinak will be absent for Palace after he was sent off in their game against Sunderland. United beat this Palace side twice last season and will be expecting to do the same this time round.

United are currently on a run of no win in 3 games and will want to get back to winning ways. There has been no doubt about the spirit and fight shown by the United players in recent games but the performances need to be turned into points on the board. At the present time the gab between United and the top 4 four isn’t much and is easily cement able with a few wins but now its time to kick on with these good performances actually getting points and moving United up the table back to where they belong.

Predicted United Line up: 4-3-3

Score Prediction: Man United 3-0 Crystal Palace

I fancy James Wilson to score in this game he has looked very good when he has come on off the bench in previous games and really does deserve a start ahead of the frankly abysmal van Persie. For some reason Angel Di Maria has been getting some criticism for his recent performances but he shine against Palace and will be too much for them to handle.

NaijaBet Odds

At the time of this post, NaijaBet odd or Man United to win is 1.25, Crystal Palace to win is 9.50 to end in draw is 5.18

Manchester United vs Queens Park Rangers

Manchester United v Queens Park Rangers - Premier League An electrifying and a vastly revamped Manchester United squad is set to unfurl at Old Trafford on Sunday, when the Hoops visit Manchester following a fortnight long hiatus from the Premier League. Following what has been seen upon as the greatest ever transfer saga for the Red Devils, all eyes set upon Louis Van Gaal, who’s been bestowed with the responsibility of rebuilding the biggest club in the world.

Match facts

Manchester United

Having failed to secure a win in his first 4 competitive matches as the Man United boss, Louis Van Gaal’s reputation remains extensively doubted and in incertitude, at the Stretford end. Having brought in the likes of Radamel Falcao and Daley Blind on the deadline day of the summer transfer window, Manchester United are expected to have an improved game-play on Sunday.

Furthermore, Manchester United summer signings Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera are both fit for the match on Sunday. Marcos Rojo has also finished off all the legal works and successfully obtained a work permit, therefore, giving Louis Van Gaal an opportunity to play all six of his summer signings on Sunday, at Old Trafford.

Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers stay a point and two positions above the 20 times champions after securing their first win of the campaign against Sunderland, with Charlie Austin scoring the only goal of the game just before the end of the first half.

Following 4 straight defeats in all competition, the Super Hoops fans finally had something to cheer about when Redknapp’s side secured their first 3 points in the Premier League season 2014/15.

Prediction

For the home side, the injury list has shortened a bit but the 63-year old Dutch manager will still be without the likes of Chris Smalling(Groin/Pelvis injury), Jesse Lingard (Knee injury), Rafael( Groin/Pelvis injury) and Micheal Carrick(Ankle Ligament injury). On the other hand, QPR have an almost fit squad with only Alejandro Faurlin missing out in the team ascribed to a Knee Ligament injury.

NaijaBet Odds

At the time of this post, NaijaBet odd or Man United to win is 1.23, QPR to win is 5.30 to end in draw is 10.31

Chelsea vs Swansea

swansea-chelsea_2460402b1

Premier League giants Chelsea will play host to heavy underdogs Swansea in the 2014-15 English Premier League on Saturday September 13th. Jose Mourinho’s Blues have looked fantastic so far this season, unbeaten in their first three. Swansea put in a solid performance against Machester United in their opening season game, and are also unbeaten thus far.

Match facts

Chelsea

The Blues have looked rampant so far this season, and their 6-3 drumming of Everton at Goodison Park certainly grabbed everyone’s attention. Playing at Stamford Bridge is always a daunting task, but for Swansea it will seem like a giant mountain. The world class talent that play for the Blues are capable of some very crisp and precise attacking play. I think the biggest tip for Chelsea ahead of their match with Swansea would be don’t get complacent.

Swansea

The underdog team that is Swansea is looking fantastic so far. After beating 20-time league winner Man Utd at Old Trafford, the sky is truly the limit for the Welsh side. They will truly be stretched to deal with the rampant Blues in London, but if anyone can do it this season, it is Swansea. They just need to absolutely throw everything in to their attacks, but bare in mind that all it takes is one swift counter attack from Chelsea.

Prediction

The stats would suggest that a draw is more likely than any other result, but I have a Chelsea win in mind. It’s hard playing at Stamford Bridge, even harder when you don’t have a team of superstars to play there. Swansea have had a great season thus far, but I think that Chelsea will be their first stumbling block. I expect that Swansea will put in a gutsy performance, but will come out as the losers after 90 minutes. I’m calling it 3-1 for Chelsea.

NaijaBet Odds

At the time of this post, NaijaBet odd or Chelsea to win is 1.25, Swansea to win is 8.98 to end in draw is 5.21

Arsenal vs Manchester City

Arsenal

After an early, largely unwanted, break for international matches, the Premier League returns with a bang on Saturday with a heavyweight contest between champions Manchester City and title hopefuls Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The new season may be just three matches old, but neither team will want to countenance a defeat after already dropping unwanted points.

The two sides met just a month ago when Arsenal won 3-0 at Wembley in the Community Shield with a triumph that inspired much confidence for the season ahead for Arsene Wenger’s men. But things have not gone smoothly since.

Match facts

Arsenal

Arsenal’s early season suffered a real blow when key striker Olivier Giroud was ruled out for the rest of 2014 with an ankle injury. His presence was clearly missed at the King Power Stadium, increasing the pressure on Wenger to add to his striking options before the close of the transfer window. In the dying hours he responded with the £16 million signing of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United. His debut is now set to come against the local rivals of his boyhood club. With Yaya Sanogo still looking extremely raw and the side struggling with Alexis Sanchez as an unorthodox leader of the line, Welbeck currently looks the best bet.

Manchester City

In contrast to Arsenal, Manchester City trimmed their attacking contingent on deadline day when allowing Alvaro Negredo to go on loan to Valencia in a deal that is likely to be made permanent. And the forward options for Manuel Pellgrini could be further diminished at the Emirates with Stevan Jovetic being forced to miss Montenegro’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Moldova after suffering a hamstring injury in training. After being plagued by injuries in his first season at the Etihad, Jovetic had made a strong start to the campaign, particularly when scoring twice in a 3-1 over Liverpool. If Jovetic is ruled out on Saturday, Pellegrini will be left with Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero as his only fit forwards.

Predictions

Neither side has hit top gear this season, but must perform in what is already an important match. If City are at their best, and Yaya Toure is tuned in, then they can overpower Arsenal in the center of midfield. Arsenal will also face a challenge to keep tabs on David Silva, who can drift between the lines and really make his side tick. But on home soil and boosted by a debut for Welbeck, Arsenal could battle to secure a point as they did in the same fixture last season.

Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City

NaijaBet Odds

At the time of this post, NaijaBet odd or Arsenal to win is 2.76, Manchester City to win is 2.33 to end in draw is 3.25

Sunderland vs Manchester United

Match facts

No new injuries could mean an unchanged lineup for Sunderland as they welcome Manchester United to the Stadium of Light.
Jordi Gómez could be hoping for a starting berth after coming off the bench last time out.
Robin van Persie is expected to play a part for Manchester United here as they have no time to waste in waiting for him to regain match fitness and sharpness.
Marouane Fellaini is the latest casualty to be added to United’s lengthy injury list, ruled out for an undetermined amount of time while the club await results of a scan on his foot.

Predictions

Whether Van Gaal can mastermind a win for his out-of-sorts Manchester United side remains to be seen, and Gus Poyet could well see an opportunity to heap further misery on United. This one could end in another stalemate as Van Gaal continues to mould his squad and waits for his many injured players to return.

I predict that at the end of the match, the score line could be 2:2 draw.

NaijaBet Odds

At the time of this post, NaijaBet is tipping Man United to win at almost 200% and Sunderland to win at over 400%. Check the odd below go to their website:

4.61 3.40 1.70