Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bundesliga 07-12-2013

Borussia Dortmund have lost the contact to league leader Bayern München in the last weeks. At the moment they are seven points behind Bayern and so Dortmund will be pressurised in their remaining three matches till the winter break. Dortmund needs probably nine points to protect their chances in the title match. A heavy task based on their long injury list. Coach Jürgen Klopp will miss five key-players: Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Marcel Schmelzer, Ilkay Gündogan and Marco Reus. Doubtful are the appearances of Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender.

Probable lineups Borussia Dortmund (4-2-3-1): Weidenfeller – Groskreutz, M.Fridriech, Sokratis, Durm – Kehl, Sahin (S.Bender) – Blaszczykowski, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang – Lewandowski.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen plays a strong Bundesliga 2013/14 so far. The team of coach Sami Hyypiä have lost only two of their 14 league matches - 11 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. Leverkusen conceded both defeats in away matches (0:2 versus Schalke 04 and 0:1 versus Eintracht Braunschweig). After 14 matchdays they are second-placed and only four points behind league leader Bayern München. Not in the squad for the top match at Dortmund are Sidney Sam and Roberto Hilbert, while Sebastian Boenisch and Stefan Reinartz are doubtful.

Probable lineups Bayer Leverkusen (4-3-3): Leno – Donati, Toprak, Spahic, Can – Rolfes, L.Bender, Castro – Hegeler, Kiessling, Son.

Borussia Dortmund - Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Football: Bundesliga, 15th matchday
Date: Saturday 07 December 2013 - 18:30 CET - 7:30 PM SAST - 5:30 PM GMT
Stadium:Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

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Southampton vs Manchester City Premier League December 7, 2013

Southampton FC vs Manchester City
2013/2014 English Premier League, Round 15
 

On Saturday, 7 December 2013 at 10:00 (CET), Southampton FC will host Manchester City at St Marys Stadium, Southampton, United Kingdom for Round 15 of the 2013/2014 English Premier League.

 Southampton flirted with the top 4 but a 3 game losing streak to Arsenal, Chelsea, and Aston Villa has dropped them back down to 8th. So naturally, greeting Manchester City this Saturday isn't a tantalizing proposition. The Saints had a bit of a soft schedule early on which perhaps explains their 2nd place ranking a few weeks ago. They're in the midst of a brutal stretch now, though, and until a trip to Sunderland January 18th, every game looks like they could lose. We'll find out a lot about this team and its qualities by the middle of January. Steer clear of the hosts this weekend until they show us more. 

Manchester City team have been on an absolute tear, climbing the charts and back into the top 4, sitting 6 points adrift 1st place Arsenal. But away form, much like Chelsea, is the big question with the Citizens this campaign. Having lost to Cardiff City, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Sunderland on the road, one wonders at the team's ability to stay focused for 90 minutes. Nonetheless, an on-fire Aguero and a seemingly always in-form Toure should be enough to bag a couple of goals. This may be a trap game for Man City with Bayern Munich coming up on Tuesday, and I'd be far more comfortable if it was a home game, but I still can't reason taking Southampton here.

 

Saturday, 7 December 2013 - 16:00 CET - 15:00 UK (BST)
Stadium: St Marys Stadium, Southampton, United Kingdom
Referee: Anthony Taylor

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]
 

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England Face Italy and Uruguay Challenge in World Cup 2014 Group

World Cup 2014 group finals have been drawn this Friday and there were some interesting pairing which should provide nothing but entertainment for football lovers all over the globe with tough nations being placed in the same group. Group D can be considered as one of those interesting setup with three former champions, England, Italy along with Uruguay being paired up along with Concacaf side, Costa Rica. On paper those three nations would be competing hard for a place in the knock out stages, but Costa Rica can’t be taken for granted as surprise is not an uncommon thing in this type of event.

Meanwhile, home team, Brazil have a tricky test as they are being paired with Croatia, Mexico along with Cameroon, although based on recent form, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men should still be strong favorites in advancing from group A, but they must put a strong focus on all of their opponents. Another difficult group is being handed to United States as they will be facing Germany, Portugal along with African giant, Ghana in Group G.

Defending champions, Spain are set to battle with Holland, Australia and also Chile in Group B, this setup  should also provide some interesting matches and give some challenge for Vicente Del Bosque’s side. France national side can considered themselves being drawn in a relatively ‘light’ group as they are being paired with Switzerland, Ecuador along with Honduras.

While there is a number of close groups which appear too tight to call, much-fancied underdogs Belgium would face one of the easier groups having been pooled together in Group H with Algeria, Mexico and Bosnia. With Belgium currently experiencing its own ‘golden generation’ with the likes of Christian Benteke, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku shining in the Premier League among many of their international team-mates, they have been tipped for an unlikely appearance in the latter stages of the tournament.

Here is the complete Drawing for World Cup 2014 Finals:

GROUP A - Brazil, Italy, France, Australia.

GROUP B - Uruguay, Nigeria, USA, Croatia.

GROUP C - Argentina, Ghana, Costa Rica, Russia.

GROUP D - Switzerland, Chile, Japan, Greece.

GROUP E - Spain, Ivory Coast, South Korea, England.

GROUP F - Colombia, Cameroon, Honduras, Holland.

GROUP G - Germany, Ecuador, Iran, Portugal.

GROUP H - Belgium, Algeria, Mexico, Bosnia.

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Sunderland vs Chelsea 3-4 Premier League 2013 Highlights

2013.12.04 (15:31) - Sunderland 3-4 Chelsea

Sunderland 1-0: Jozy Altidore goal vs Chelsea (14').
Chelsea 1-1: Frank Lampard goal vs Sunderland (17').
Chelsea 1-2: Eden Hazard goal vs Sunderland (36').
Sunderland 2-2: John O'Shea goal vs Chelsea (50').
Chelsea 2-3: Eden Hazard second goal vs Sunderland (62').
Chelsea 2-4: Peter Bardsley (own goal) goal vs Sunderland (84').
Sunderland 3-4: Peter Bardsley goal vs Chelsea (86'). 

2013/2014 English Premier League, Round 14
Match date: Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Kick Off Time: 7:45 PM GMT - 20:45 CET

Sunderland themselves still can't seem to lift themselves from that bottom three seat as they can't seem to pick up positive run of results so far this season. However, there's still signs of improvement already in recent matches as they already grabbed two victories, which were unattainable early in the season. That positive sign might helped their morale when hosting the Blues this midweek as they are keen on snatching all three points from Mourinho's men.
The Blues eventually taking away all three points from that midweek clash after defeating Sunderland in a thrilling tie at Stadium of Light. Trailing through Jozy Altidore's effort on 14 minutes, Chelsea bounced back with Frank Lampard scoring on 17 minutes and Eden Hazard on 36 minutes.
Sunderland drew level with an effort from John O'Shea on 50 minutes, but Hazard regained his team's lead with his goal on 62 minutes. An own goal from Peter Bardsley six minutes from time distanced Chelsea further from their opponent, but Bardsley's did made up for his effort with a goal two minutes later, though is wasn't enough to stop Jose Mourinho's men from taking home all three points.

14′ Jozy Altidore 1-0 // 17′ 1-1 Frank Lampard // 36′ 1-2 Eden Hazard // 50′ John O´Shea 2-2 // 62′ 2-3 Eden Hazard // 84′ 2-4 (o.g.) Phillip Bardsley // 86′ Phillip Bardsley 3-4 

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Manchester United vs Everton Premier League - December 4, 2013

On Wednesday, 4th December at 7:45 PM GMT, Manchester United will host Everton FC at Old Trafford for Round 14 of the 2013/2014 English Premier League. 

When it comes to the team from Manchester, we all know what a disastrous start they had in this new season, which is closely related to the departure of their long-time coach Ferguson. But after they won only 11 points in the first eight rounds, with three defeats, it is obvious that the players have finally come to terms with their new coach Moyes, because after that they recorded three wins and two draws, which is why they are now only five points behind the second-ranked Chelsea. However, it will be very interesting to see how will Moyes stand up to his former players, especially since United is located behind Everton in the standings, and these points are indispensable in their fight to return to the very top of the Premiership.

We should also add that the “Red Devils” have recently secured their placement in the knockout phase of the Champions League, after they celebrated with 5-0 over Bayer Leverkusen, while they played 2-2 with Tottenham in a very interesting match last weekend. As for their composition in this duel with Everton, the recovered van Persie should return in the first team, while the injured midfielders Fletcher and Carrick are still not able to perform, as well as the suspended defender Jones.

Everton have lost just the one game all season, and they are unbeaten in their last six (W3 D3) in the league. After an impressive 4-0 win over Stoke on Saturday they are sitting pretty in 5th, on the same points as Merseyside rivals Liverpool.

The visitors will be without Baines (toe), while Arouna Kone and Gibson are months away from recovering from injury. Barkley will be hoping to Leon Osman after dropping to the bench against Stoke City but Martínez's big decision is whether to retain on-loan Barcelona youngster Deulofeu after his impressive display against the Potters or bring back the safer option of Mirallas.

The Toffees haven’t won at Old Trafford since 1992 and the Red Devils have not lost at home to Everton in their last 20 top-flight meetings. Anyway, United have just one clean sheet in their last nine Premier League matches, so Everton could snatch a goal.

Possible line-ups:

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): de Gea – Smalling, Evans, Vidic, Evra – Cleverley, Fellaini – Valencia, Rooney, Welbeck – van Persie
Everton (4-2-3-1): Howard – Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Oviedo – McCarthy, Barry – Deulofeu, Osman, Pienaar – Lukaku

Match Details and Timings:
Manchester United vs Everton FC
Football: 2013/2014 English Premier League, Round 14
Match date: Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Kick Off Time: 7:45 PM GMT - 20:45 CET
Stadium: Old Trafford, Manchester, United Kingdom
Referee: Martin Atkinson

You can watch the match here: Link 1 , Link 2 [Live Scores]

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Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona 1-0 Highlights La Liga 01/12/2013

Estadio San Mames, Bilbao - 1 December, 2013- 21.00 local - Sunday

Spanish giant, Barcelona starting to suffer some bad form as after their Champions League defeat in midweek, El Barca picked up a first La Liga defeat in the hands of Athletic Bilbao this Sunday. The Catalan side were looking for redemption after a disappointing performance against Ajax last midweek, but they were finding another tough opponent as Bilbao put on an excellent display on that match.

2013.12.01 (11:20) - Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona

Athletic Bilbao 1-0: Iker Munian goal vs Barcelona (70').

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Catania vs AC Milan 1-3 Highlights 01-12-2013 Italian Serie A

Match date: 1 December 2013

Venue: Stadio Angelo Massimino, Italy - 11.30 UK KO - Italian Serie A

Kaka, Montolivo and Balotelli are on target for Milan as they beat ten man Catania 3-1. AC Milan with high motivation after defeating Celtic in Glasgow, Scotland in the UEFA Champions League. Milan proving themselves that the ongoing crisis is slowly disappearing.  Stats still in favor of Milan because they have not lost against Catania since 25 games including today. 

Catania 1-3 AC Milan:
Catania vs Milan 1-0 ( Castro goal v Milan 1 3′)
Catania Milan 1-1 ( Montolivo goal v Catania 19′)
Catania Milan 1-2 ( Balotelli goal v Catania 63′)
Catania vs AC Milan 1-3 ( Kaka goal vs Catania 81′)

Catania (4-3-3): Andujar; Peruzzi, Rolin, Spolli, Biraghi; Castro, Tachtsidis, Plasil; Monzon; Lopez, Barrientos

AC Milan (4-3-2-1): Gabriel; Poli, Silvestre, Bonera, Emanuelson; Montolivo, De Jong, Nocerino; Birsa, Kakà; Balotelli.

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