Page 6 - Liverpool
- February 02, 2016
A year ago, by the time the fifth round of the 2014/15 FA Cup rolled around, only three heavyweight Premier League clubs had survived the eliminations. Those three teams-Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United-had managed to avoid an upset-ridden fourth round that had sent Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Southampton (among others) packing. Arsenal went on to win the tournament, beating Aston Villa in the finals for a second consecutive FA Cup trophy.
This year, things could hardly be more different. Most of the football clubs to qualify for the round of 16 in the 2015/16 FA Cup are big names from the Premier League. The fourth round of the tournament-played this past weekend, in place of regular league competition-saw Arsenal, both Manchester teams, Chelsea, Everton, and Crystal Palace all earning spots in the final 16. Furthermore, most of those soccer - February 02, 2016
Ever since Liverpool and Manchester City won decisive victories in their quarterfinal matches of the 2015/16 Football League Cup, soccer pundits have been predicting that the two Premier League clubs would end up head-to-head for the tournament's championship match. On February 28th, that battle will come to pass-though reaching the final wasn't as easy for either club as might have been expected.
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The Road to the Finals
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squad have been inconsistent and unpredictable all season, not just in the Premier League, but in other competitions as well. In the quarterfinals of the League Cup, the Reds smashed top-flight opponents Southampton 6-1, with Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi giving standout performances to collectively score - February 01, 2016
2015 was, in many ways, a banner year for women's football. The summer's Women's World Cup was both a viral sensation and a ratings juggernaut, garnering tons of attention on Twitter and scoring viewership figures typically unprecedented for the tournament. Particularly in the United States-whose women's national team won their third Women's World Cup title in 2015-the tournament was a hit. Airing on the Fox Network, the tournament garnered a little shy of 23 million American viewers-not only making it the most-watched soccer game ever for U.S. audiences, but also delivering numbers comparable to Game 7 of the Major League Baseball World Series. Considering that baseball is generally much bigger in the United States than soccer, that stat is a remarkable one.
Women's football also got more interest in Europe last year. The Women's FA Cup-played at Wembley Stadium between Notts County and FA WSL champions Chelsea-drew an attendance of over 30,000 fans. That figure shattered - January 29, 2016
The 2015/16 football campaign is barely half done at this point, and the English Premier League has already been a bloodbath in terms of management shakeups. Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers; Aston Villa fired Tim Sherwood; Sunderland dismissed Dick Advocaat; Meanwhile, other managers like Louis van Gaal (Manchester United) and Steve McClaren (Newcastle United) could very well not last until the end of the season in their current positions.
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A New Sacking Record
The Premier League's turnover rate has been modest compared to that of the Championship, too. Indeed, England's second professional football tier has sacked a combined total of 10 managers so far this season. In fact, according to the LMA - January 20, 2016
When Jurgen Klopp took over as manager at Liverpool FC, it felt like a godsend for Reds fans. Liverpool came so close to winning the Premier League in 2014, under the management of Brendan Rodgers. But things had turned sour for the football club during the 2014/15 season, with the loss of star forward Luis Suarez, the lack of a strong offensive line, and inconsistent play across the board dropping the team to a sixth place Premier League finish.
Following the added departures of Raheem Sterling and Steven Gerrard and a sloppy start to the 2015/16 season, Rodgers was sent packing, and Jurgen Klopp was brought in to turn things around. Finally, here was some good news. Klopp may have just experienced his worst season at Borussia Dortmund in 2014/15-followed by an understandable resignation and sabbatical-but he is still one of the best soccer coaches in the world. Fans in the Liverpool home jersey 2015/16 felt certain that he would save the day. - January 17, 2016
There were 11 draws in the third round of the 2015/16 FA Cup, which means that the majority of the match-ups for the fourth round of the tournament won't be completely decided until we get to the third-round replays scheduled for January 19th and 20th. Despite the lack of complete information, though, the Football Association announced the draw for the tournament's fourth round on Monday, January 11th, giving fans a general idea of who their favorite soccer clubs will be competing with at the end of the month.
All 16 fourth round matches are currently scheduled for the weekend of January 30th. Read on for a quick run-through of that weekend's biggest must-watch fixtures!
The Key Matchups
There may be 32 football clubs - January 15, 2016
Following the fifth round of the 2015/16 League Cup, the draw for the tournament's semi-finals seemed to set up a natural championship rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp's Anfield squad crushed Southampton 6-1 in the quarterfinals, earning an easy berth in the semis. Manchester City, meanwhile, beat Hull City 4-1 to earn their semi-final spot. At the time, the Sky Blues were also enjoying a position at the top of the Premier League: they seemed like clear frontrunners to win the entire League Cup.
A Surprising Loss
As the first legs of the League Cup semi-finals were played on January 5th and 6th, though, it became clear that the predicted Liverpool-Manchester City final might not be as set in stone as we might have thought. Man
- January 12, 2016
Most of the Premier League's top football clubs sailed through the third round of the 2015/16 FA Cup easily over the weekend, with Manchester City, Arsenal, Man United, Chelsea, West Ham United, and others all cruising through to the fourth round of the Football Association tournament. Read on for a recap of the winners and losers of the weekend!
The Winners
As usual, the Premier League's soccer teams got a bye into the third round, which means this is the first time in the 2015/16 FA Cup that we are seeing teams such as Man United, Arsenal, and others. Since so many of the league's top clubs were upset and eliminated in the fourth round of last year's FA Cup-including Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea-most of the Premier - January 09, 2016
Manchester City's Joe Hart may have picked up the Premier League Golden Glove award for the 2014/15 season, keeping 14 clean sheets throughout the season. Arsenal's Petr Cech might be the current frontrunner to win the award for the 2015/16 season, having kept nine clean sheets so far. In the calendar year of 2015, though, no Premier League goalkeeper had more clean sheets than Liverpool's Simon Mignolet, who helped his football club score shutouts in 16 league fixtures.
Mignolet is often underrated as a goalkeeper. Liverpool fans criticize him frequently, often focusing on his faults, errors, and allowed goals rather than his accomplishments. He's also failed to win the Golden Glove-at least, until now. This season, he has seven clean sheets so far, putting him in a four-way tie at fifth in the Golden Glove race. Last season, he finished with 13 clean sheets-just one away from Joe Hart's award-winning tally.
Still, despite Mignolet's vocal critics, the Belgian keeper was - January 07, 2016
A long, competitive, and exhaustingly busy Premier League festive period came to an end on Sunday, January 3rd, finally giving England's top football clubs a deserved break. The Premier League's teams will take the pitch again next week, on January 12th and 13th, but until then, we, at last, have a chance to let the dust settle and survey the current landscape of the league.
Arsenal's Chance
The big question in the wake of the busy festive period is whether or not 2016 might finally be Arsenal's year. The Gunners, of course, have been remarkably consistent throughout the entirety of Arsene Wenger's coaching tenure, finishing in the top five every year since 1996. However, not since 2004 have Arsenal