PREVIEW
Newcastle will visit Goodison Park this evening for a showdown with Everton.
After taking down Tottenham 2-1 in its league opener, Newcastle has struggled to regain form in a 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge and a frustrating 1-1 draw to Aston Villa. The reason for the Magpies’ struggles is easy to diagnose – a rash of injuries. The most painful loss has been that of talismanic midfielder Cheik Tioté, who has not played since the triumph over Spurs. Although he hasn’t yet been formally declared ‘out’, the Ivorian will likely be on the sidelines again today as he hasn’t been through first-team training all week. While Tioté’s status is still unclear, it is certain that Pardew’s squad will be without captain Fabricio Coloccini (hamstring), goalkeeper Tim Krul (elbow), defender Danny Simpson (hamstring) and Merseysider Ryan Taylor (ACL). Although the Toon is hampered defensively, they remain dangerous going forward. The Senegalese strike-partnership of Papiss Demba Cisse and Demba Ba will lead the line, with Yohan Cabaye spraying balls into the channels for Hatem Ben Arfa and Jonás Gutiérrez to latch onto and wreak havoc on the Everton full-backs. This is where the match will be won or lost. Leighton Baines against Ben Arfa is a dream match-up that will require the England international to be at the top of his game to prevent the Frenchman from unleashing screamers like he did against Villa. At right back, David Moyes will choose no-nonense Tony Hibbert or Phil Neville, both of whom will be tested against the clever Gutiérrez. In the center of the park, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin will be relishing the battle with Cisse and Ba. Everton’s only major injury is Darron Gibson, who will be out with a thigh strain. Expect Moyes to pair Marouane Fellaini with Leon Osmon in the pivot, with Steven Pienaar on the left and Nikica Jelavic up top. Moyes will likely give either Seamus Coleman or Steven Naismith a chance on the right. Everton fans will be excited to see dynamic Belgian Kevin Mirallas in the hole behind Jelavic. 
Mirallas has an added a creative attacking option for Moyes and Everton. Chris Brunskill / Getty Images.
MATCH ODDS Everton Money Line (Must Win In 90 Mins): -165 Everton -1 Spread Line (Win By 1 = Draw; Win By 2 = Win): EVEN Newcastle Money Line (Must Win In 90 Mins): +430 Newcastle +1 Spread Line (Lose By 1 = Draw; Draw or Win = Win): -130 Draw: +285 Over/Under 2.5 Goals: -120/-110 First Goalscorer: Nikica Jelavic 5/1, Marouane Fellaini 7/1, Steven Pienaar 12/1; Papiss Demba Cisse 15/2, Demba Ba 8/1, Hatem Ben Arfa 11/1 PREDICTION Heavily swayed by Newcastle’s injury woes, the oddsmakers have this match being all Everton. This provides Toffee supporters with few solid options to make money. The Everton money line (putting $165 down to win $100) carries immense risk while taking the -1 spread line to pay even money if Everton manages win by 2 goals is a low payout for extremely wishful thinking. If you support the blue side of Liverpool, I recommend avoiding putting down money in this match. If, despite Newcastle’s sparse defense, you think their world-class attack will win the game, you’re in luck with that +430 money line (put down $100 to win $430). I think this will be a highly-entertaining affair, where the safest bet may just be taking the over 2.5 goals at -120. With Danny Simpson out, I love Steven Pienaar at 12/1 to fire home the first goal of the match. 
Steven Pienaar has been on form to start the season. Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images.
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Posted: 17 Sep 2012 08:18 AM PDT
Indi Cowie is not your average college student.
Combining what looks like soccer and acrobatics—and at times seemingly magic—she does things with the ball that no other woman in the world can. Cowie is currently a student at The University of North Carolina, where she is majoring in Studio Art and will represent the storied college program in its quest for a 21st NCAA National Championship. She is recovering from ACL surgery and will redshirt this season. Her talents have already been featured on Good Morning America, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Nickelodeon and in the New York Times Magazine "Talented Youth of America" feature. She is a two-time Sony Playstation European Champion, Red Bull Street Style regional champion (2008) and was selected by Lionel Messi as EA Games FIFA Street World Freestyle Champion. She has performed at the Machester United vs. Chelsea halftime show (in front of 76,000 fans) and is in a Champions League TV commercial shown in 58 countries.  I met the world-class soccer freestyler and Guinness World Record Holder (she did 102 heel juggles in a minute). Before you do, too, you need to watch this: Indi Cowie 1. When was the first time you touched a soccer ball? What are your memories surrounding that? "I grew up walking with a soccer ball so all of my earliest memories include a soccer ball. I remember going out into the culdesac and practicing feint moves on my dad when I was around five years old." 2. How did you get involved in freestyle? "I was first exposed to freestyle with I was around 12 years old and I attended a Brazilian soccer school in England. John Farnworth, the world champion at the time, was there and he did a performance for me. I was blown away by the things he could do with a ball and I knew from that moment that I wanted to freestyle." 3. What's your favorite part about freestyle? "My favourite thing about freestyle is how there are absolutely no boundaries and there are constantly new tricks being created and records being broken. There is no right or wrong. It's all about self expression with a ball." 4. Who is your favorite freestyler? "My favorite freestyler is Michryc (Michal Rycaj) from Poland. He has amazing creativity." Watch Rycaj 5. How much do you typically practice? "Typically, I practice freestyle for about 1.5 hours a day." 6. How do you think your freestyle skills translate onto the field? What aspects have helped your play and are there any ways in which you feel your freestyle has been a drawback? "The biggest benefit is how it improves my first touch. I think it also helps immensely with my balance and my ability to adjust with the ball in the air very quickly in tight spaces. I'm not sure there is any disadvantage with the exception of occasionally trying to trap the ball with a chest stall during a game!" 7. What's the hardest freestyle skill you've mastered? "I can execute a Beck Lemmens Touzani trick consistently, which took a long time to master. I've been able to do a Palle Around the World, too, which is three revolutions around the ball." Watch Touzani trick 8. Are there many female freestylers? Are you the best female freestyler in the world? "The female freestyling population is growing quickly in Europe (Hungary, France, Italy and Russia in particular) and also in South America. I get a lot of emails via my website from girls in the USA now (typically the 10-14 age group) asking me for tips on how to do specific tricks, so I see that as very encouraging. I'm hoping to run my first freestyle camp soon based on the local interest I've received. On being the best, I think that since freestyle is so subjective, I'd prefer to say I'm the most advanced female freestyler. I've been the first female to master several skills and the only female that can do some of the more advanced skills." 9. What's next for you in terms of freestyle? "I've always enjoyed breaking barriers and the next advanced challenge. However, recently I've been also focusing on the creative side of freestyle. I've just received invites to perform in Europe and also Asia, so I'm trying to work that into my schedule. There are some interesting opportunities coming my way in the USA, too! I'm interested in breaking some more Guinness World Records, too.” 10. Do you think it will be hard for you to keep practicing as much with the added rigors of college schoolwork and team commitments? "Although it can be an intense workout, it's also very therapeutic for me. Since all it takes is a ball and a spare 30 minutes here and there, I will always find a way to keep doing it. I absolutely love freestyling." For more information on Indi, and videos of her freestyle routines, check out her personal website! |
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Posted: 16 Sep 2012 02:34 PM PDT
Bayern Munich forward Mario Gomez (Photo by Victor Fraile/Getty Images)
Many forget that Eintracht were major European players in the early 1960′s are they were mentioned this week by Stadium Experience columnist, Brian Sciaretta in his most recent piece on Scotland’s Hampden Park. The weekend began in lackluster fashion with Augsburg and Wolfsburg displaying a bore draw on Friday night. However Saturday's fixtures swiftly reversed the mood as side's found their scoring form, offering up a total of 19 goals from just six games. Borussia Dortmund hosted Bayer Leverkusen hoping to stay within touching distance of Die Bayern, and after last week's draw at Nuremberg, needed to snap out of their funk in order to do so. Die Werkself hold a reputation for grabbing results when playing at home, but this wasn't the BayArena, and Leverkusen were sent packing after a 3-0 loss to the current title-holders. Jakub Błaszczykowski continued his incredible start to the campaign by netting after Mats Hummels opened the scoring, while Robert Lewandowski added a sole contribution late on. To the north-east, there was another top four side, Hannover 96, looking to stick close to Bayern at the head of the pack, and managed to do so with a derby win over Werder Bremen. The hosts got off to near-enough a perfect start as Szabolcs Huszti and Leon Andreasen scored on the sixth and 10th minutes respectively. Aaron Hunt got Werder back in the game and it was another 50 minutes before Kevin de Bruyne—the winger on loan from Chelsea—equalized. However, Mirko Slomka's Hannover continued what has been a very good start to the campaign as Huszti doubled his tally, and played the role of hero on Saturday. Stuttgart claimed their first points of the season in a 0-0 draw at home with Fortuna Düsseldorf. Meanwhile, the visiting Bundesliga new boys affirmed their position in mid-table and don't look phased by their new top flight status. Currently sitting one place below F95 in eighth place lay Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Foles now have one of each result in their first three league matches of the 2012-13 campaign, but will have been disheartened to have suffered a 3-2 loss at home to Nuremberg this weekend. Nuremberg surprised all by claiming a point against Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago, but Dieter Hecking is proving that the Bavarian province isn't just about racing, and is establishing his side as a force to be reckoned with in this division. Timm Klose and Timmy Simons did the early damage for the visitors before summer signings, Granit Xhaka and Luuk de Jong, hit back for 'Gladbach. It wasn't to be the hosts' day though, as Hiroshi Kiyotake quickly hit back with a strike that they couldn't recover from. In Saturday's late meeting, Schalke 04 dealt Greuther Fürth their second loss of the campaign at the Trolli Arena. The midfielders had a field day as Julian Draxler and Lewis Holtby hit home with a two second-half strikes that see them stay two points off top spot. Sunday saw Freiburg hosts Hoffenheim in what was the definition of a see-saw affair, treating fans to an eight-goal thriller. Both sides exchanged goals early and often, trading the lead on several occasions. However, the visitors left empty-handed after Freiburg rallied to see off a 5-3 win. Mathieu Delpierre, Boris Vukcevic and Takashi Usami were on target for Markus Babbel's men and Borussia Mönchengladbach relied on just as varied a source of goals. Karim Guede, Max Kruse and Fallou Diagne were all on target before Cedric Makiadi and Sebastian Freis got in on the action in the last ten minutes. In the weekend's final meeting, the Hamburg misery continues and Thorsten Fink's outfit sit in dead last, level with Hoffenheim, after stumbling to a 3-2 loss at the Commerzbank Arena. Despite the morale his summer signing heralded, Rafael van der Vaart was helpless to prevent Die Adler's rising like the Phoenix and maintaining their second place spot. Takashi Inui and Olivier Occean put the Eagles 2-0 ahead before 20 minutes was up only for Heiko Westermann to pull one back before the break. However, it still wasn't all smiles at half-time for Hamburg as Petr Jiracek saw a straight red for a reckless tackle and, despite his protests, was sent for an early shower. The Eagles capitalized on this in the second half as Stefan Aigner netted in the 52nd minute and although Heung Min-Son scored a cool effort of his own, the Dinosaur are yet to pick up a point. |
Monday, September 17, 2012
Premier League Preview and Prediction: Everton v. Newcastle
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