English Premiere League Arsenal vs. Sunderland AFC Match Preview

English Premiere League
Arsenal vs. Sunderland AFC
Match Begins 10:00PM GMT+8
Saturday, august 18

Arsenal have been busy in the transfer market this off season Oliver Giroud joins the Gunners along with Lucas Podolski and the addition of Santi Cazorla has really strengthened the teams chances of competing for the Premier League title this year. Of course the big question still hanging over the club is whether club captain and star player Robin Van Persie will still be playing for Arsenal come next Saturday. Arsene Wenger has dipped into the transfer market and to me at least appears to have bought well. Both forward additions Giroud and Podolski will bring alot of attacking talent to the team and will at least replace some of the goals Van Persie brings if the dutchman does leave. Alot of Arsenal's youngsters were involved this year in both the Olympics and the European Championships and there may be some fatigue to play a part in the teams preparation for the Premier League kick off. Mikael Arteta, Oxlade Chamberlain, Ramsey, Song and Walcott though will be a formidable midfield for any team to face and Jack Wilshire will also be coming into the side at some point in the coming weeks.

BLUNTLY TOLD: Buffon says England's failures due to clubs' liking for foreigners

BLUNTLY TOLD: Buffon says England's failures due to clubs' liking for foreigners

 ITALY captain Gianluigi Buffon has stuck the knife into English football by claiming the Premier League harms the national side.

Ahead of the Euro 2012 final against Spain (late yesterday), the World Cup-winning goalkeeper believes that the number of foreigners in the Premier League is stifling young English talent.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in particular have been accused of favouring foreign stars over English youngsters and Buffon, 34, says the Premier League's standing as the best in the world is a major factor in the country's 46-year trophy drought.
"Having a competitive league doesn't necessarily mean having competitive players," he said.
"For a number of years now, the English league has had the best football and is the best league in terms of quality.



"The money that's in the game means they can go and buy anyone from all over Europe or the world.
"This can happen in Spain and Italy as well as England but the league in England is no longer very faithful to what the national side need.
"With this footballing globalisation, it's very difficult. You struggle to have players from your own country playing in the top league."



Yet Buffon admits England have been unlucky, particularly with shootouts. He added: "The England national side have their own strengths and they're a lot more physical than other sides," said Buffon.
"But England aren't very lucky. They've lost on penalties in the last five or six times, so the margins between winning and losing are very thin indeed.:" Mail on Sunda

UEFA Final Match Spain vs. Italy

Spain and Italy will contest the 2012 edition of the European Championships Final after they won their respective semifinals against Portugal and Germany.

While Spain needed a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw to progress to the final in Kyiv on Sunday, Italy made for impressive viewing as they dismantled Germany, taking a 2-0 lead before a late penalty halved the deficit.

The last two winners of the FIFA World Cup should put on an entertaining spectacle, as Spain bid to become the first team to retain the Euros and also win three major tournaments on the spin.

Here are five key battles which could shape the result of the match, and ultimately decide the winner.

Having already crossed paths in the group stage, Vicente del Bosque of Spain and Cesari Prandelli of Italy will be plotting their tactical routes to glory between now and Sunday.

The group stage match finished 1-1, offering little insight as to who might be the stronger outfit now.

Del Bosque has switched between playing a central striker and playing a false nine and must decide on who to start in that position for the final, with the only other possible change being to replace David Silva with either Pedro Rodriguez or Jesus Navas.

Italy have more decisions to make, with the right-back issue to be decided upon and, by association, whether to partner Chiellini with Barzagli, or leave Bonucci in there with the latter.

Timing and tactical changes with substitutions will also play a big part no doubt, with a possibly cagey affair in the final meaning that one mistake or piece of inspiration could be the difference between failure and glory.

It should be a thoroughly intriguing final which awaits us.

ITALY AND GERMANY KICK OFF IN SECOND EURO SEMIFINAL

Germany enters the match as the only team in the tournament to have maintained a perfect record throughout the group and knockout stages. The team has not trailed for a single minute of the tournament and entered the competition as the favourite according to many analysts.

 Italy, meanwhile, is riding an emotional high after knocking out England in its thrilling quarter-final match-up.

The Italians looked to be the better side through much of the 120 scoreless minutes before capitalizing on a pair of England misses to take the penalty shootout.
A lot of the intrigue surrounding the Italian team at the tournament has been over whether the team will start striker Mario Balotelli from match to match.
 
The two teams last met in the 2006 World Cup semifinals with Italy prevailing 2-0 thanks to two goals scored in extra-time after the teams played nearly 120 minutes of scoreless football.

Germany has finished no worse than third in its previous three international tournaments. However, the Germans have never beaten Italy in a major tournament in seven attempts to do so.

Italy, meanwhile, has had its all three of its knockout-round matches decided by penalty kicks (going 2-1 in those matches) since it last defeated the Germans.

Injured Rosicky doubtful for Portugal clash

Tomas Rosicky is in doubt for the Czech Republic’s Euro 2012 quarter-final match against Portugal.

The Czech captain missed the last group game against Poland with an inflamed Achilles tendon, and it looks as though he will be on the sidelines again for Thursday’s encounter.

“Will he be able to play from the start? I don’t think so,” team manager Vladmir Smicer told the CTK agency.

“He hasn’t trained for eight days, he’s only been able to do some work on the bike.

“In order for him to play in such a tough match, he should at the very least have had three full training sessions in order to be 100 percent ready.”

The Arsenal playmaker has suffered with injuries throughout his career and was initially doubtful to play in the tournament at all after picking up a calf problem in the Gunners’ final Premier League game of the season.

But he is determined to recover in time for the clash with Portugal, and has been back in Prague seeing a specialist to try to overcome the problem.

He has now returned to Poland to join up with the rest of the squad and will be given the chance to prove his fitness in training.

“The decision as to whether he plays in the quarter-final will be taken after the official training session on Wednesday evening,” said Czech spokesman Jaroslav Kolar.

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UKRAINE AIMS TO IMPRESS HOME CROWD VERSUS FRANCE

UKRAINE	Tournament Statistics (as of June 15, 2012)		FRANCE
2	Goals Scored		1
5	Attempts On Target		15
8	Attempts Off Target		4
3	Corners		11
12	Fouls Committed		9
0	Yellow Cards		0
0	Red Cards		0
PREDICTED STARTING LINEUPS
Ukraine (3-5-2)		Pyatov; Selin, Khacheridi, Mykhalyk; Tymoschuk, Gusev, Yarmolenko, Nazarenko, Konoplyanka; Shevchenko, Voronin
France (4-2-3-1)		Lloris; Evra, Méxes, Rami, Debuchy; Diarra, M’Vila; Ribéry, Nasri, Valbuena; Benzema

Date: June 16, 2012

Time: 12:00 AM (GMT +8:00)

DONETSK: Group D is expected to undergo a tremendous turn of events as France returns to Donbass to face host Ukraine on home advantage. France is stuck in a 1-1 draw versus England, a record that calls for better winning resolve from Les Bleus. Ukraine, on the other hand, currently tops Group D after they trounced Sweden before an energetic home crowd at 2-1.

Ukraine must repeat their feat against Sweden in order to get past through France – an international favorite to win Group D. If not, their chances of winning the group stage can be ruined, especially when they face England in their final group match.

Previous Matches

France and Ukraine met for 6 times. Ukraine never won against Les Bleus, with a lackluster record of 3 losses and 3 draws.

The teams recently met at a friendly in Donetsk last 2011. France shattered Ukraine at 4-1, with 2 goals coming from midfielder Marvin Martin.

Throughout those 6 meetings, France evidently grew stronger, particularly in terms of offense. In contrast, Ukraine has yet to be consistent in their winning form, particularly in improving their shaky defense.

Pre-Match Developments

Significant changes are not likely for both teams. No players from both sides are injured. France’s starting lineup might change a little if Laurent Blanc decides to put midfielder Yann M’Vila in place of Yohan Cabaye.

Oleh Blokhin will likely retain Ukraine’s current starting squad, given their impressive performance last Tuesday.

Ukraine-France Predictions

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A crucial factor in this match is the frail defense of both teams. The absence of injured defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy in Ukraine’s lineup can further cripple their efforts to defend the goal. France’s defense must learn not to rely too much on their team’s attacking power. Otherwise, they might be damaged by Ukraine’s desire to score before their home crowd. Ukraine’s legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko is one player Les Bleus have to watch out.

A repeat of France’s 2011 friendly victory against Ukraine is highly possible in this game. Their offensive stride powered by Karim Benzema, Franck Ribéry, Mathieu Valbuena and Samir Nasri (who scored France’s goal during its match versus England) can make Ukraine’s weak defense useless. The international pedigree of French players reflects more experience. That gives Les Bleus an obvious victory in their second Group D fixture, despite playing against Ukraine in their home field.

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Spain Looks Forward to Advance versus Republic of Ireland

SPAIN	Tournament Statistics (as of June 14, 2012)		REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
1	Goals Scored		1
9	Attempts On Target		5
9	Attempts Off Target		8
7	Corners		1
12	Fouls Committed		12
3	Yellow Cards		1
0	Red Cards		0
PREDICTED STARTING LINEUPS
Spain (4-2-3-1)		Casillas; Arbeloa, Ramos, Pique, Alba; Alonso, Busquets; Xavi, Iniesta, Silva; Torres
Ireland (4-4-2)		Given; Ward, Dunne, St Ledger, O’Shea; McGeady, Whelan, Andrews, Duff; Walters, Keane

Spain (N) vs. Ireland Match Preview 

Date: June 15, 2012

Time: 2:45 AM (GMT +8:00)

GDANSK: The prospects of Group C teams have become more unpredictable after Republic of Ireland suffered a disappointing loss versus Croatia at 3-1. Spain and Italy stalled one another in a draw at 1-1, citing signals of stronger winning determination from both teams.

Spain’s duty as defending champion is to strengthen their defense in order to thwart any scoring attempt of Republic of Ireland – a feat which can determine La Roja’s defense of their championship title. Republic of Ireland, on the other hand, has to recoup from their fatal mistakes against Croatia which caused the Croat’s currently wide gap from the rest of Group C.

Previous Matches

The most recent match between Spain and Republic of Ireland was during the 2002 World Cup. The match was a closely-fought one at 1-1, only to be won by Spain via a penalty shootout.

Spain won all of their last 15 competitive games, including their 2010 World Cup championship title. They are also the champions of EURO 2008.

Republic of Ireland was unbeaten in 14 matches (both competitive and friendly). Their 3-1 loss to Croatia was their heaviest major tournament loss.

Pre-Match Developments

It is unsure whether Vicente Del Bosque will pit in Fernando Torres in Spain’s starting lineup after the striker failed to show competence during their match against Italy. Their six-man midfield against the Azzurri might be altered, although changes have yet to be announced.

Giovanni Trapattoni, on the other hand, is persistent with his current starting lineup. Despite his team’s poor performance versus Croatia, no changes have been announced on Republic of Ireland’s starters.

Spain-Republic of Ireland Predictions

Sports Statistics Information Centre

(as of June 14, 2012)

v  Disclaimer: All information above is provided free for members as a 12BET service. The prediction statistics are purely a view point and there is no guarantee on the returns. Hence all members or visitors are requested to apply their prudence before acting on any of the recommendations. Neither 12BET nor any of its promoters, members, or employees holds any responsibility of any losses incurred (if any) by acting on the recommendations.

Republic of Ireland is placed at a difficult time after their focus on strengthening their defensive and counterattacking techniques have been shattered by a solid Croatia. The Irish squad lacked strikers in their roster, thus they are faced with the challenge of how to shoot the ball inside the net.

Spain, on the other hand, has to return to playing formidable possession football, which helped them gain their 2008 EURO and 2010 World Cup championship titles. Their recent match against Italy was far from resembling their usual possessiveness of the ball, which became apparent when the Azzurri treaded comfortably on La Roja’s midfield.

Overall, Spain can expect a convenient win against the Republic of Ireland, especially if they choose to become more firm in their possessive playing approach. Spain can be countered with frustrations if Republic of Ireland strengthens their defensive play for this match. 

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