English Premiership roundup

Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the premier league to 15 points on Saturday evening. The Red Devils defeated Queens Park Rangers by 2-0 at the Loftus Road in London. Rafael and Ryan Giggs scored the goals for Sir Alex Ferguson's men. The win has further boosted the chance of United from dethroning City as the league champions in May.

At the Emirates stadium in London, Arsenal defeated Aston Villa by 2-1 to put an end to two successive defeats at the same venue. The Gunners were beaten at home 1-0 in the FA Cup before they were crushed 3-1 at home by Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. Santi Cazorla scored a brace against Paul Lambert's men.

Everton suffered a shock defeat at Carrow Road despite taking the lead through Leon Osman. A late strike from Grant Holt ensured that Norwich grabbed all the three points at stake. American goal keeper, Tim Howard failed to prevent his team from losing their third game in 10 matches. Everton are now 6th on the league standings.

English premier league

Romelu Lukaku scored a brace to help West Brom overcome Sunderland by 2-1 at The Hawthorns. The Belgian striker has lifted his team to the seventh place on the league table.

At the Madjeski stadium, Reading were beaten by three goals too nil. Aroune Kone scored a brace for the visitors. The win has lifted Wigan Athletic to the 17th position on the premier league table.

West Ham United will face Tottenham Hotspur in a London derby on Monday night. A win for Spurs will extend the gap between them and Arsenal to four points. The Gunners are currently on 47 points, just a point behind Andrea Villas Boas' men.

Chelsea vs QPR preview

Chelsea seems to have put their World Club championship disappointment behind them. The Blues have scored a lot of goals after the tournament in Japan.

POSSIBLE LINE UPS
Chelsea
Turnbull- Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole-Ramires, Mikel - Moses, Oscar, Marin - Torres

QPR
Cesar- Onuoha, Ferdinand, Nelsen, Traore - Mbia, Derry - Mackie, Taarabt, Wright-Phillips - Cisse

John Obi Mikel and Oscar may start Chelsea's first premier league match of the year at Stamford Bridge. The duo were not part of the first eleven that managed a 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday. Mikel might play his last game for Chelsea until the end of Nigeria's participation at the African Cup of Nations in south Africa.

Chelsea have won their last four games and they will face a bottom side that is tinkered by Harry Redknapp.

The Hosts
Petr Cech is a major doubt for the London derby against Rangers. The Czech international keeper was substituted at half time at the Goodison Park on Sunday.
John Terry and Oriol Romeu are still on the treatment table.
Fernando Torres has become quiet in the last two games. The Spaniard has improved since the arrival of Rafael Benitez, but his performance in the match against Everton wasn't a sign of a player that is back to the peak.

The visitors
Bobby Zamora, Andy Johnson,J.S. Park and Jose Bosingwa will not be available for selection due to injuries.
Rangers were pummelled 3-0 by Liverpool in their last EPL match on Sunday.
Adel Taarabt and Cisse will surely test the strength of Turnbull in the absence of Petr Cech. Chelsea defenders must be wary of the threat posed by the Moroccan striker.

Quick Facts

• If Frank Lampard can repeat what he did in his last match, the Englishman will become Chelsea's all-time top scorer with 193 goals.
• Juan Mata has contributed to 14 goals in the 16 matches he had played this season.
• Ferdinand and Terry were involved in a racism issue the last time these two sides met.
• With 10 points from 20 matches, QPR are likely to face relegation in four months time.

Kick off: 7.45 PM GMT

Venue: Stamford Bridge,London

 

Our prediction: Chelsea 5-1 QPR

Suarez sinks QPR in London

Luis Suarez ended the year 2012 with a brace at the Loftus Road. The Uruguayan forward scored his 13th league goal to give Liverpool a 3-0 away win on Sunday. Brendan Rodgers missed the match due to a viral infection.

Colin Pascoe took charge of the Reds in London. Suarez was the first player to test Julio Cesar who was named as a replacement for Robert Green. Joe Allen couldn't guide his effort into the net off a rebound. The Latino scored his 12th goal of the EPL season in the 10th minute. The ex-Ajax striker picked the ball from 30 yards and raced through the QPR defence. Clint Hill couldn't stop him from scoring the goal. The strike was a cool finish.

Stewart Downing released Suarez from the right flank while the Uruguayan played in Raheem Sterling. The Jamaican's effort was blocked by Nedum Onuoha but Suarez fired the ball into the net to make it 2-0 to the reigning League cup champions. Martin Skrtel's long thrust opened up QPR's defence. Glen Johnson tried to find Suarez after beating Cesar with his effort, but Ryan Nelsen rescued his team from going down 3-0.

In the 28th minute, Stewart Downing's corner kick fell to Gerrard and the English play-maker delivered a perfect cross that was nodded home by Daniel Agger.

Suarez cut the ball back for Steven Gerrard, but his effort was deflected by Armand Traore before Hill cleared the ball off the line.

QPR bombarded the Liverpool defence with a flurry of attacks towards the end of the first half, but Pepe Reina was only called into action on a single occasion.

SECOND HALF
The second half was a bit quiet as Liverpool took their foot off the gas. Shaun Derry replaced the ineffective Djibril Cisse, but it was Luis Suarez that threatened to grab a hat trick. Stephan Mbia and Adel Taarabt had their efforts saved by Reina later in the match.
Lucas picked up a yellow card in the 86th minute before the game came to an end at the Loftus Road.

The Reds are now placed ninth on the premier league table.

QPR VS Liverpool preview

Brendan Rodgers will hope to end the year 2012 on a winning note. Liverpool are currently 10th on the log standings.
POSSIBLE LINE UPS
QPR
Green-Fabio,Ferdinand,Hill,Traore-Wright Phiilps,Faurlin,Mbia,Taarabt-Cisse,Mackie

LIVERPOOL
Reina-Johnson,Skrtel,Agger,Enrique-Lucas,Gerrard,Allen-Downing,Suarez,Sterling

Julio Cesar,Jose Bosingwa, Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora and  J.S. Park are unavailable for the hosts due to different  kinds of injuries. Harry Redknapp has a very good record against Liverpool right from his days at Portsmouth and Tottenham.

Fabio Borini and Martin Kelly are Liverpool's long-term injured players that will be unavailable for today's clash at the Loftus Road.

The last meeting between these two sides ended in a 3-2 win for QPR in March. The Reds were 2-0 up after 75 minutes, but the Londoners stunned Kenny Dalglish and his boys with three late goals.

Djibril Cisse will face his former side in this encounter. The Frenchman was part of the Champions League winning squad in 2005.

Steven Gerrard-Liverpool captain

Meanwhile, Liverpool will need to win by 4-0 if they want to finish the calendar year in the 9th position. The 'Reds; are currently three points behind Swansea City that is occupying that position and also has a +5 goal difference while Liverpool can boast of 2 goals advantage.

KICK OFF: 16: 00 GMT
VENUE: Loftus Road,London
Our prediction: QPR 2-1 Liverpool

QPR appoints Redknapp

Queens Park Rangers have appointed Harry Redknapp as their new manager. The West London club fired Mark Hughes on Friday after a disastrous start to the season. Tony Fernandes(club owner) believes that they have made a good decision by this latest development.

The 65 year old ex-Portsmouth manager expressed his delight for joining QPR, though he stated that he was ready to take over the managerial role of the Ukraine at the beginning of the week.

Harry was a successful manager at Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur. He won the FA cup in 2008 and also turned Spurs to a Champions League squad. QPR are 19th on the EPL table.

He will be in charge of the club for the next two and a half years.

Mark Hughes axed by QPR

Former England and Manchester City manager,Mark Hughes has been fired by Queens Park Rangers. The premier league club made an official announcement on Friday morning.

QPR are still looking forward to their first league win after 13 matches. The Londoners have lost eight of those games.

Tony Fernandez has been patient with Hughes, but the team's home loss against Southampton was enough to fast track the decision of the board.

A total of 12 new players were bought last summer. Some of the notable signings were Julio Cesar,Djibril Cisse,Esteban Granero and Bobby Zamora

REPLACEMENT
Harry Redknapp is the favourite manager for the vacant position. The ex-Tottenham and Portsmouth manager was fired by David Levy at the end of last season.

Harry took Portsmouth from the lower division to a FA cup glory in 2008. He also transformed Spurs to a Champions League club.

QPR's next match will be against Manchester United on Saturday.

Stalemate at Loftus Road

Queens Park Rangers played a goalless draw against Chelsea FC in an English Premiership match that was played at the Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon.

Handshake saga
The pre-match handshake session was retained by the FA despite some people's objection to the usual formality. Anthony Ferdinand and John Terry were involved in a racial issue last season. Terry was eventually charged to court in July, but he was cleared of the charge.

The two players refused to shake each other's hand before the match.

The game itself.
QPR were able to contend the reigning FA Cup champions at the Loftus Road. Mark Hughes was able to put up a team that prevented the 'Blues' from leaving with three points. Chelsea's 100% record to the start of the season came to an end after the goalless draw.

The West Londoners are still on top of the league table with 10 points from four matches. The 'Red Devils' are placed second with nine points.

EPL review

West Ham United continued their fairytale at the Upton Park by beating Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. Andy Carroll was involved in Kevin Nolan's first minute goal. The Liverpool loanee squared up a pass for Nolan to score. The Hammers went ahead to add two more goals before the England international sustained a 68th minute injury. He clashed with Brede Hangeland in abid to get the ball.
Meanwhile, Dimitar Berbatoz made his debut for Fulham in the second half. The former Man United striker looked short of match fitness, as he struggled to make any impact throughout the second half.

West Bromwich Albion ended Everton's 100% record to the season. Steve Clarke's men won the game by two goals to nil.

At the White Hart Lane, Spurs played a 1-1 draw against Norwich City. The Londoners are yet to win a game this season. They have two points from three matches. Moussa Dembele scored a goal on his debut while Tom Huddlestone was sent off in the 85th minute. The visitors scored an equaliser a minute later.

In other games, Swansea City remained unbeaten as they held Sunderland to a 2-2 draw. Stoke City played a 2-2 draw aginst Wigan Athletic while Man City moved to third spot on the table with a 3-1 win over QPR at the Etihad. Carlos Tevez scored his third goal in three games. He is now one goal behind Michu of Swansea who has scored four goals in the EPL scorers' chart.

City or United?

Manchester City have not won a league title since their last triumph in the 1967-68 season. The Citizens have the best chance of ending this long wait when they host QPR on Sunday afternoon at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City started this current English Premier League season by scoring a harvest of goals against teams like Tottenham, Swansea,Manchester United and so on. Their 2-0 defeat in the hands of Bayern Munich put a clog in the ir wheel when Carlos Tevez was banned from the team for a long time. His return to form has energized his team mates. Manchester United were 8 points ahead of Roberto Mancini's men at the end of March 2012, but defeats to Wigan and City opened the gap for the Arab-owned club to bounce back to reckoning. Manchester City players just have to put in their best and win their game on Sunday. Each of the players will get £250,000 if they can deliver the EPL title at the end of the day.
Mark Hughes was sacked before the appointment of Roberto Mancini and the Englishman has declared that he is not thinking of vengeance ahead of Sunday's league cracker. Sergio Aguero, Tevez, David Silva and Yaya Toure must be at their best when they host relegation bound Queens Park Rangers that are ready to create one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Roberto Mancini

Our prediction: Man City 4-1 QPR