Sunderland vs Arsenal EPL 2008-09 Preview and Live Score

Sunderland is going to entertain Arsenal at the Stadium of Light. The match is going to take place on 4 October 2008.The kick of time is 15:00 BST (British Standard Time) and you can expect an entertaining match as Arsenal players are hungry for more success after their midweek demolishion of FC Porto 4-0. Of course, this comes back after last weekend’s surprise defeat at the hands of Hull City at the Emirates. So, if you look at the current performance of Arsenal then you have to admit that there is a mixed performance from the club in the last one week. At first, they shocked everyone with their disastrous defeat at home against Hull City and then they outsmarted Porto and pleased the fans.

Arsenal is now at the fourth position in the league in English premier league. In fact, Arsenal has got 12 points from 6 matches. The London based club has lost two matches and won four matches. The have impressive goal difference of 8. Only Chelsea has one goal better than that. So, it is clear that Arsenal strikers are at good form and they have been scoring decent number of goals.

On the other hand, Sunderland is lying in the 13^th position in the league table. From 6 matches they have just scored 7 points and they have goal difference of -2. So, this is an important game for both of the teams. If Arsenal can win the match then they can go at the top of the table. Of course, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa all of them are ahead of Arsenal and can go at the top of the table too. On the other hand, Sunderland can jump a lot too as they have only 2 points different with the no. 8^th ranked Manchester City at this moment. So, there is a lot to play for both of the teams.

Arsene Wenger has got angry and sad at the last week’s defeat to Hull City. Now, he wants his players to play their best and continue the momentum gained by the impressive win against Porto in Champions League. He expects that he will be able to inspire his players to play their best and totally destroy Sunderland. Well, I think that Arsenal again needs a lot of mental strength in order to overcome Sunderland. Yes, Sunderland is not a very strong team but you have to take some lesson from the defeat to Hull City.

Many fans think that Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor are the key to success for Arsenal this season.  In fact, it is needed that Robin van Persie can stay injury free. Last season, the injury of Eduardo in February caused Arsenal too much loss and many fans feel that because of this injury Arsenal could not win the premier league title, despite being the leader for most of the season. Robin van Persie was injured for a substantial time in last season. This season, he looks to be fit until now. It is true that Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor are a deadly combination. Robin van Persie is an important player for Netherlands national team. Adebayor is also one of the rising stars of African football and he plays for Togo national team. Adebayor feels that the presence of Robin van Persie in the field is important and he is a great striking partner to play with. Yes, I think that Adebayor is right and in this match, Robin van Persie and Adebayor combination should get some goals. In the last match against Porto in UEFA Champions League, both of them scored two goals each.

What is very impressive is to see that Arsenal has got a good midfield. They have got two excellent players in the midfield who are influencing a lot. On the one hand, there is Cesc Fabregas. Cesc Fabregas is a world class player and he can be very impressive and influential in midfield. He is a good playmaker and he is like a leader at the age of 21 to all the other young players of the club. On the other hand, you have to think of Theo Walcott. Walcott is now a big sensation for the London club. Walcott has also England fans with his impressive performance for England national team. It seems that Walcott is going to cost David Beckham’s position in England national team’s midfield. He has also become an important player in the Arsenal line up. So, in the match against Sunderland, I think that both Cesc Fabregas s and Walcott will be in top form.

What is disturbing at this moment to me is that there is a lot of talk going on about Walcott coming to play for England U-21 national team. This is not a good sign because Walcott has already been playing for the national team and going back to the U-21 team is not a good sign. It will make him more tired. Well, I think that Walcott should at this moment take a strong decision and he should inform the FA that he wants to play only for national team and for his club. He is only 19 and he has a many years to go.

One player I would like to discuss about is Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. He is now the first goalkeeper for the club. He joined Arsenal in 2004 and last season, he impressed Arsene Wenger. Manuel Almunia has been outstanding in this season. What I am worrying is that Arsene Wenger should think of a second goalkeeper who has the same caliber like Almunia.

Sunderland players are now expecting too much from the match. In fact, Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has already warned his teammates that Arsenal can take the match seriously and he has asked his Sunderland teammates to be ready for a possible Arsenal backlash. It shows that Sunderland players are mentally prepared for this clash. Well, I think that Sunderland players should try to get some encouragement from Hull City players. The good thing that Hull City players did was that they never felt threatened or outclassed by the Gunners. This positive attitude helped them. In that match, Hull City could keep the score goalless and in the second half suffered the first goal, but they kept their nerve intact and came back with two goals and won the match. So, this is the strategy that Sunderland players should follow.

The good thing about Arsenal players at this moment is that they are not suffering from the tragic defeat to Hull City. I think that they are a lot more confident after defeating Porto in UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. So, I am expecting that Arsenal will easily win the match. Of course, you can never predict what will happen in English premier league.

You can follow the live score of the match in some websites. I am giving an a list of websites’ name here that you can follow the match live:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

 

So, who do you think will win in the match? I think that Arsene Wenger will have the last smile.

 

Related Articles

Times Online

Telegraph

The Press Association

Sky Sports

 

 

 

 

Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester United EPL 08-09: Preview, Live Score

Manchester United travels to Ewood Park on Saturday to face Blackburn Rovers in a tricky premier league encounter. On the back of a 3-0 Champions League triumph over Aalborg BK away at the Energi Nord Arena in Denmark, the Red Devils is expected to come out full of confidence against Blackburn Rovers away at Ewood Park. Home side Blackburn Rovers will also try to build on their recent performance that saw the Rovers seeing off Everton 1-0 in the league cup and pulled off a 2-1 victory away at Newcastle United. So, both the sides are playing some of their good football at this moment.

Match: Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester United, English Premier League 2008-2009

Date: 4 October 2008, Saturday

Venue: Ewood Park

Kick off: 17:30 BST (British Standard Time)

Manchester United started their title defense campaign poorly. However, the defending champions are gradually coming back to their prime form. From the drawn match at Chelsea, Manchester United has been getting better with time progresses. However, it is noteworthy that the Red Devils are still at the 11^th position with eight points from five matches. So, Alex Ferguson boys can not afford to lose any more points at this stage of the competition as the difference with leader Chelsea has already gone up to six points with United having a match at hand.

For Blackburn Rovers, it is going to be a hard game, considering Manchester United’s recent good form. However, Blackburn also has some good reasons to go all out against Manchester United. They can take inspiration from the fact that they could settle for a point against United in last season’s corresponding fixture thanks to a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park. So, the Rovers will look to build on last season’s home success. Moreover, Paul Ince’s side has been in good run since their 4-0 humiliation to Arsenal at home. Since that defeat, Blackburn Rovers won over Fulham 1-0 at home, knocked out Everton 1-0 in the league cup and recently, they pulled off an excellent 2-1 away victory over Newcastle United. So, Blackburn Rovers seems to have enough reasons to be confident before going into the match.

Manchester United also has something to cherish on ahead of the visit to Ewood Park. In their last five matches in all competitions, Manchester United won three and drew the others without suffering any defeat. In their last three outings, Manchester United scored eight goals, while conceded only one. In the league cup, United defeated Middlesbrough 3-1 at home, then picked up an easy 2-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers and after that came the emphatic 3-0 victory over Danish champions Aalborg BK in the midweek.

Manchester United has some other things to count on. First of all, their record summer signing Dimitar Berbatov found his scoring form for his new club, scoring two goals in Manchester United’s 3-0 Champions League victory in Denmark. Wayne Rooney has also found his scoring form back and played very well in the last couple of games. Last but not the least, their ace attacking player Cristiano Ronaldo is also back with his prime form. So, manager Sir Alex Ferguson seems to have no worry ahead of the trip to Ewood Park. However, the truth is that bad news is also there around the corner. Manchester United will reportedly be without their experienced midfielder Paul Scholes for up to ten weeks, as the player suffered knee ligament damage during United’s 3-0 Champions league win over Aalborg BK in Denmark.

Blackburn Rovers is also missing their no. 1 goalkeeper Paul Robinson who suffered an injury during their Carling Cup victory over Everton and was limped off during the match. Reserve goal keeper Jason Brown help Bolton keep it clean sheet and ensure a victory. The Wales goalkeeper got his much-awaited first premier league start against Newcastle United, ending his two year’s wait for a place in the starting line up for a premier league encounter. He did not take too much time to impress his boss Paul Ince, saving an important spot kick taken by Michael Owen that eventually helped Blackburn picking up a 2-1 away victory. Jason Brown is now gearing up to face Manchester United.

Ahead of the match against Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers boss asked his players to come out with killer instinct. Though Blackburn won three points against Newcastle, the manager is not quite happy as his players, he thinks, should have pulled off a convincing win over Newcastle United.

Online Live Score and Updates
Here, I am giving some names of the online live score websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the match:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

As I mentioned earlier, it would be a tricky match for Manchester United with Blackburn Rovers looking to settle for at least a draw and enjoying their recent good form. If both sides can continue their recent form and go into the match full of confident, then it is going to be an excellent match at Ewood Park.

CFR Cluj Held Chelsea 0-0, while Didier Drogba Sustained a Serious Injury

Romanian Champions CFR Cluj continues their dream run in their debut Champions League season. The Romanian giants may not be in good shape in domestic league, but they are showing their talent and skill in Europe. After creating one of the biggest ever upsets in Europe thanks to their 2-1 away victory over Italian club AS Roma in the first match, CFR Cluj held high-flying Chelsea to a goalless draw last night at home and currently secures the second place in the league table with 4 points. Chelsea also has 4 points to their credit, but leads the table only on goal difference.

Chelsea came into the match full of confidence as all of their players were in good shape. In fact, the Blues has been in excellent goal scoring form under their new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Chelsea scored 2 and 2/1 goals on an average in their first eight games this season. So, it was not easy task for a newcomer to win a point against Chelsea. However, manager Scolari said that it was impossible to do more to clinch a victory, but he admitted that the players were tired and they should be blamed for that.

However, the most sustainable wound Chelsea suffered in the match against CFR Cluj was not losing two points. Rather, the Blues lost their important striker Didier Drogba as he was stretchered off the field following a collision with an opposition defender in the second half. With Drogba entering into the treatment room, Chelsea’s injury list is only getting larger.

Related article:

Bloomberg

Liverpool Pulled off 3-1 Home Victory over PSV Eindhoven in Champions League 08-09

Liverpool continued their winning run in Champions League as the All Reds defeated PSV Eindhoven 3-1 at home. However, still they are not leading the point table of Group D as Atletico Madrid with equal six points are leading the tabel on goal difference. PSV Eindhoven, on the other hand, has lost both the matches they played so far in Champions League this season.

Captain Steven Gerrard got his 100^th goal for the Merseyside club. Moreover, summer signing Robbie Keane scored the first goal for Liverpool. However, Liverpool was put ahead in the match by a Dirk Kuyt goal. In the other match of Group D Atletico Madrid defeated Marseille 2-1 at home.

Related article:

Reuters

Shakhtar Donetsk 1- 2 Barcelona: Lionel Messi Saves the Catalans

Barcelona was down 1-0 with three minutes off the time and it looked that Barcelona was going to slip at Ukraine once again. However, the Catalans ended up winning three points from the match thanks to two late goals from Argentina star Lionel Messi who came on as a substitute.

Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, who defeated FC Basel 2-1 away in the opening match of the Champions league, went ahead in the match as Brazilian Ilsinho scored in the first half. Howver, Messi turned into rescuer and scored the equalizer in the 87^th minute of the match, and then scored the winner in the fourth minute of the stoppage time.

With this victory Barcelona leads the Group C point table with 6 points from 2 outings, while Shakhtar Donetsk, who earned three points away at Basel in the first match, is now left in the third place with the same three points from 2 matches. There is no doubt, Barcelona is now in a good position in the group after winning an important away match.

Related article:

xinhuanet

Sourav, Rahul, Laxman, Sachin and Anil should go to retirement

Once up on a time, in Indian cricket there was a golden time that has been passed when Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tecdulkar dominated the oppositions during the firs 15 overs. India was the top most team that will more runs during the restricted fielding time. By the time being it Sourv and Sachin is in aged and the in the last 10 matches they did not do well in ODI a Test.

Recently, there was news in Indian media that Sourav Ganguly has planned to take retirement for the international cricket when he has been kept his name from the next Home Test series alongside Australia. After getting some change in the selection board of Indian Cricket board, some of older players get opportunities to play the home Test series including Sourav. Beside, they all have got notice to go to retirement form the International cricket.

Cricket-mad India is fiercely debating whether it is time for their record-breaking batsmen Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman as well as spinner Anil Kumble, the test captain, all well into their 30s, to quit.

I think, India needs to take some change for future and should get opportunity for the young players.

20 Things About ‘Drona’ Bollywood Movie

After Imran Khan starrer Kidnap got released on 1 October, Abhishek Bachchan’s Drona comes on the big screen on 2 October. Goldie Behl directed, Drona stars Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra in the lead roles, alongside Kay Kay Menon in villanious role, and Jaya Bachchan in a small but significant role. The Bollywood movie Drona is a tale of a young man who meets his destiny and saves the world from evil power, turning from an ordinary young man to super natural hero.

The movie Drona is set on a fantasy world where evil magical power loses to heavenly power and the world is saved by a great hero who possesses royal power by inheritance. The story seems to be a fable churning out by a grandmother to her grandchildren. However, the fact is that Drona is said to be a coming-of-age fantasy film- meaning the fantasy fable it tells would attract audience of all age.

Abhishek Bachchan plays the super-hero protagonist Aditya/Drona in the movie Drona. Priyanka Chopra portrays the role of Sonia, a descendant of a royal warrior family and the bodyguard of Aditya/Drona, while versatile actor Kay Kay Menon is seen in a villainous role of an evil magician, Riz Raizada, who wants to capture the world and achieve immortality by gaining a precious thing that belongs to the royal family of the Kingdom of Pratapgarh. Only Aditya/Drona comes in his way to become immortal and destroys the world. In the end, Drona and the evil magician, Riz Raizada, confront each other and the fight between evil and good begins. The winner will be known once the movie gets released.

Well, here I am giving some important information about the movie Drona, which you may find useful:

· The movie Drona involves a number of fighting sequesces and it features different kinds of Indian martial arts including Kalaripayat, Chhau, Gatka, and sword fighting.

· Drona was shot in a number of locations including Prague, Bikaner, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Namibia.

· Lots of special effects are used in the movie Drona. Though the shooting of the movie was completed last year, special effects and post production works needed nine months to complete the whole project. A big part of the film’s budget was spent on special effects.

· Special effects were designed by David Bush, a special effect specialist who works in European movies. Director Goldie Behl along with the producers hired a number of Indian studios for the special effects used in the movie. The six Indian studios were involved in the making of special effects for the movie Drona. The studios are: Eros’s EyeQube, Prana, Future Works, Red Chillies, Tata Elxsi and Prime Focus Plus.

· The movie is produced by Shrishti Arya and Sunil Lulla, and Eros International will distribute the movie Drona.

· Recently, Abhishek Bachchan has said that Drona is his biggest and best film so far.

· Drona is director Goldie Behl’s second directorial project after his debut movie as a director, Baas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai. Interestingly, Abhishek Bachchan also played the lead role in Goldie Behl’s first movie.

· Abhishek Bachchan and Kay Kay Menon had to learn sword fighting for the movie Drona.

· The two actors learned sword fighting to Richard Ryan, a famous sword master, to whom Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had also learnt sowrd fighting for her English movie Last Legion.

· Abhishek Bachchan and Goldie Behl are the childhood friends and making a film involving sword fighting like Drona was their childhood dream. That means that the movie was planned about two decades ago!

· The movie Drona is inspired by the character of the same name in the epic Mahabharata, and graphic arts and comic books.

· For sporting the flowing air, as it was demanded by the director Goldie Behl, Abhishek Bachchan had to grow his hair and beard.

· Drona features perhaps the most expensive villain of Bollywood. For the Kay Kay Menon’s villanious role of the evil magician, Riz Rizawan, director Goldie Behl said, 22 crore rupees were spent for designing an entire palace to feature as the evil kingdom of Riz Rizawan.

· Director Goldie Behl has already started planning to make a sequel of the movie Drona.

· If Goldie Behl makes a sequel of the movie Drona and ropes in Abhishek Bachchan for the sequel, then Abhishek Bachchan will be one of the very few Bollywood actors to have the experience of working in three sequel movies after Dhoom, Dhoom 2 and Sarkar, Sarkar Raj.

· Priyanka Chopra rescues Abhishek Bachchan from Riz Rizawan in one scene of the movie Drona and this reminds me of a scene from the comedy film Welcome, where actress Katrina Kaif turns rescuer and saves Akshay Kumar from fire.

· Anaita Shroff Adajania designed the costumes of the movie Drona. Anaita Shroff Adajania earlier worked as a costume designer in the movies like Dhoom 2, Being Cyrus.

· Costume of Abhishek Bachchan was inspired by the dresses of typical Indian groom and the costume designer also gave a look of a warrior to Abhishek Bachchan’s outfit.

· Bollywood movie Drona could be Abhishek Bachchan’s first solo hit after the actor’s 2007 hit film Guru.

· For Goldie Behl too, it is an important movie. His debut film did average in the box office, and now his progress as a film director largely depends on the success of the big budget movie Drona. So, the movie is crucial for his career as well.

Related articles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drona_(film)

http://www.masala.com/7053-goldie-and-i-planned-drona-when-we-were-kids

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/drona-is-a-comingofage-fantasy-film/366759/

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/Previews/MoviePreview.aspx?movie=3842

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/How_Abhi_and_Ash_learned_to_fight/articleshow/3537050.cms

http://www.masala.com/6783-how-the-drona-stars-were-dressed

http://www.apunkachoice.com/dyn/movies/hindi/drona/drona-preview.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Priyanka_protects/articleshow/3526742.cms