Nigeriabet | 2015 May

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.