Games Time

 Chelsea take on Al-Hilal in the first Semifinals clash of the FIFA Club World Cup at 1930Hrs EastAfrican Time. Though Chelsea will be without their head coach, Thomas Tuchel, who tested positive for Covid, they are expected to win easily since Al-Hilal is levels below and there are no notable absentees from their squad with the only player whose participation is questionable being Mendy after arriving from AFCON triumph late. There will be four EPL fixtures tonight with league leaders, Man City, hosting 14th placed Brentford at 2245Hrs. Elsewhere, relegation threatened Norwich, welcomes Crystal Palace with the hosts missing Tim Krul, Omobamidele, and Sorensen through injury and Kabak and Sargent through illness. Palace on the other hand may miss the services of Tomkins, Ferguson, and AFCON 2021 winner, Kouyate who will require a late test to confirm their participation. In other fixtures, Tottenham host Southampton while Aston Villa welcomes Leeds Unted.  In Italy, AC Milan, fresh fro

image by iStock  The EPL is back tonight for game week 24 with three fixtures scheduled for tonight, four for tomorrow night, and the remaining two for Thursday night. Chelsea and Brighton will not be involved this game week so my advice to FPL Managers is to avoid players from those teams. Being the first matchday since the transfer window was shut, it will be interesting to see how the new signings perform for their respective clubs if given chance to feature. Game week 24 fixtures are ticky looking hence hard to predict which player will score a lot of points. This looks like it will be a low-scoring week as most of the teams participated in FA Cup fixtures over the weekend and will go for 4-3-3 formation to earn many points off defenders. G.K I will go with Ramsdale considering the performances he has put in this season and that Wolves are generally a low-scoring team. In defense, I will root for Maguire, Ben White, Cancelo, and Coufal. on the bench will be Reguilon of Spurs.  Th

image by istock  January transfer was relatively quiet. With the transfer window shut, we take a look at EPL Clubs transfer activity and grade each team. 1.       1 .    Man City – With a squad littered with top talent across all positions one wouldn’t expect City to be involved in the winter transfer but I tend to think they have two positions that needed to be addressed to propel them to another level, goalkeeper and striker. Though a striker was signed, he won’t link up with them until after the season. They have a squad good enough to go all the way and defend their status as EPL champions but to advance further in the Champions League, they would have done with a G.K and a Striker. Grade: C+ 2.       2.     Liverpool – Like City, Liverpool has a great squad with only shortcomings in the G.K position. The involvement of Salah and Mane would have weakened their attack a little bit but the addition of Luis Diaz amends for that. Overall a good transfer. G      Grade: B 3.

 Big matches coming up today: 1. Inter Milan  vs AC Milan (San Siro, Milan) - First placed Inter take on third-placed AC in what will have a major decision who wins the Serie A  at 8.00 PM East African Time. Four points behind having played a game more, AC Milan needs to win this to keep up with the title race and be in a strong position to gain Champions League  entry next season considering the congestion around them. 2. Monaco vs Lyon (Stade Louis II, Monaco) - Two of the biggest clubs in France clash at 11.00 PM tonight both with everything to play for. A point and a position behind Lyon, hosts need to overcome injury crisis to beat the visitors who have many absentees for various reasons. Expect a cracking match. 3. Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig (Allianz Arena, Munich) - At 8.30 PM runaway Bundesliga leaders host free-scoring Leipzig side battling to attain Champions League positions. This will be a fascinating match since a win for either side will be a statement maker. 4. The F

 Manchester United chose to be united with the majority of the teams that started the 2021/2022 edition of the FA Cup competition by bowing out in a dramatic way to a team ranked seventh in the Championship. They came out guns blazing with Sanch rattling the crossbar in the second minute. In what seemed like a premonition of what was to come later that night, Ronaldo missed a glorious to put them ahead, sending his penalty wide and out. Sancho scored in the 25th minute and United went to sleep, missing chances after chances you would be forgiven to assume they were at Trafford Training Center in Carrington. Middlesbrough's resilience paid off in the 65th minute, earning a vital equalizer via Duncan Watmore. Few chances followed, regular time ended in a 1:1 draw. Nothing worth noting in the extra time apart from a Sancho injury. You would expect the penalty merchants to win as the game went onto penalties, but the Ronaldo penalty miss seemed to have drained the team's confidence

  Another day in this carnival of souls, as we reminisce on the past we look forward to the future. The Pharaos yesterday had a lucky escape, nothing to argue there. Though they are on second gear they seem to be advancing towards the main target. Salah vs Mane it is, what a final to be.  In Spain, Real Madrid couldn't impress without their key man, Benzema, crashing out of the Copa Del Rey courtesy of an 89th-minute strike by Alex Berenguer of Athletic Bilbao . Earlier Real Betis saw off Real Sociedad 2: 0 to advance to the next stage of Copa Del Rey. Later today we will welcome back to our screens the Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga, and FA Cup after a short break. Curtain raising the game week 23 in Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille host Angers SCO in a match the host is expected to win easily. In Germany, I expect a close fight between Hertha Berlina and Vfl Bochum at Olympiastadion (Berlin). Getafe CF take on Levante UD at Coliseum Alfonso Perez (Getafe) in wha