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Match Focus: In-Form Firmino the Player to Exploit Lahm's Absence

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Match Focus: In-Form Firmino the Player to Exploit Lahm's Absence On Tuesday evening, Roberto Firmino opened his Brazil account in spectacular style, rifling past Ramazan Özcan from 25 yards as the Seleção secured a 2-1 win over Austria. Having been in fine form for club side Hoffenheim, Firmino made his mark on the international stage, finally ...

Player Focus: Blind's Absence Likely to Dent United's Top 4 Hopes

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Player Focus: Blind's Absence Likely to Dent United's Top 4 Hopes He (Daley Blind) plays far too many square passes and takes the easy option, Gary Neville said of Manchester United’s summer signing earlier this month. The former United right-back believes Blind needs to take more risks in midfield in order to provide better service for strikers Wayne Rooney...

Player Focus: Neymar Discovering His Goalscoring Touch in Spain

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Player Focus: Neymar Discovering His Goalscoring Touch in Spain On Wednesday night, Neymar bagged a brace in Brazil’s 4-0 win over Turkey. A friendly in Istanbul may not have set the world alight, but it was a game that saw the Brazil star continue his impressive pursuit of the nation's all-time scoring record. Neymar’s second of the game brought his...

Player Focus: Hodgson Wrong to Ignore Austin's Powers

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Player Focus: Hodgson Wrong to Ignore Austin's Powers When the England squad was announced last week, the usual debate raged on social media channels. ‘Player X should be in instead of Player Y’ is always the crux of each argument, with questions asked of Roy Hodgson as to why a certain performer was not included. When the FA released the 2...

Team Focus: First Win a False Dawn For Beleaguered Burnley

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Team Focus: First Win a False Dawn For Beleaguered Burnley The gulf in class between the Premier League and the Championship continues to grow with each passing season and shows no signs of shortening, especially if the first 11 games of the campaign are anything to go by. Heading into the November international break, Leicester City, QPR and Burnley - last...

Match Report: City Rely on Unstoppable Agüero to Save Point at QPR

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Match Report: City Rely on Unstoppable Agüero to Save Point at QPR For just the second time this season, Manchester City started with a centre-back pairing of Martín Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala, with captain and key defender Vincent Kompany missing the trip to QPR through injur. The lack of leadership and composure at the back was telling. After a disapp...

Player Focus: Karim Benzema's Coming of Age

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Player Focus: Karim Benzema's Coming of Age On Tuesday night, Real Madrid were expected to trounce Liverpool. The Premier League side fielded a weakened team for their trip to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, but, to their credit, held their free-scoring opponents to just 1-0. The winner came courtesy of Frenchman Karim Benzema midway through t...

Match Report: Spirited Anderlecht Stun Mentally Weak Arsenal

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Match Report: Spirited Anderlecht Stun Mentally Weak Arsenal Arsenal's last home Champions League encounter proved to be something of a false dawn. The 4-1 victory over Galatasaray brought to an end a 3-game winless streak at the Emirates, only for them to falter when they hosted Hull City 17 days later. Last gasp goals from Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski in...

Player Focus: Dusan Tadic - The Jewel in Koeman's Summer Signings' Crown

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Player Focus: Dusan Tadic - The Jewel in Koeman's Summer Signings' Crown Back in August, pessimistic football fans would not have envisaged Southampton sitting in the top half of the table, let alone the top four. However, 10 games in and Saints are Chelsea’s nearest competitors in the hunt for the Premier League title. The south coast club are currently 4 points b...

Team Focus: The Trials and Tribulations of Returning to European Competition

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Team Focus: The Trials and Tribulations of Returning to European Competition As clichéd a phrase as it may be, a 'European hangover' is all too common in modern football. It’s an easy excuse for any team to use should they suffer defeat on the back of their Champions League or Europa League excursions, and one that is brought up time and time again. Tottenham wo...