Manchester United takes on local rival Manchester City today, hoping the optimism generated by its new signings helps improve a shaky start to 2006.
Manchester United has drawn all three of its games since Jan. 1, one each in the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup. It now needs victory at Manchester City to cut Chelsea's lead atop the Premier League to 10 points, at least until Chelsea plays last-place Sunderland on Sunday.
Manager Alex Ferguson has shored up his defense by signing Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow and Patrice Evra from Monaco for a combined total of about 12 million pounds (18 million euros). While only Evra is likely to play Saturday, Ferguson said the backing of the club's American owners had helped lift the team.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Many fans had been angry at Malcolm Glazer's takeover last May.
"Without question, I have found the owners excellent," Ferguson said. "They have never failed in their promises and support in what we have done. They have demonstrated this by their commitment to signing Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic."
Ferguson's spending may not be over. Real Madrid 's Denmark midfielder Thomas Gravesen has been linked to United as a replacement for former captain Roy Keane, who left in November.
Manchester City is ninth after four games without a win, but can draw upon memories of Sept. 10's 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
City manager Stuart Pearce hasn't decided who he'll play up front. Andy Cole, Darius Vassell and Antoine Sibierski are all fit, but Pearce must also consider Robbie Fowler, who marked his first start of the season by scoring a hat trick in Saturday's 3-1 FA Cup win over Scunthorpe.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB