Manchester United face their biggest game of the season so far when a revitalized Tottenham Hotspur arrive at Old Trafford this weekend for the pick of the fourth round ties in the FA Cup.
Refreshed by a mid-winter break in the heat of Saudi Arabia, Sir Alex Ferguson's team will seek to keep their bid to emulate the treble winners of 1999 alive against opponents riding a wave of confidence following their 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal in midweek.
That put Spurs into the League Cup final and the mood around White Hart Lane has been improved further by Dimitar Berbatov's subsequent revelation that he is happy to stay at a club whose fortunes have been turned around since new manager Juande Ramos took over earlier this season.
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Berbatov is a player Ferguson would love to have on his payroll and the Scot knows his defense, the cornerstone of United's success this season, will have to be vigilant about the threat posed by the Bulgarian and the rest of a Tottenham side who displayed real verve in their attacking play on Tuesday.
Arsenal will attempt to rebound from their midweek trauma -- which was compounded by an on-the-pitch confrontation between their strikers Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner -- when the newly reinstalled Kevin Keegan leads his Newcastle United side out at the Emirates Stadium today.
The third all-Premier League tie of the round sees Wigan Athletic entertain the other League Cup finalists, Chelsea, who have conceded just one goal in their last four games.
PHOTO: AP
Wigan's chances of pulling off an upset have not been helped by the loss of England striker Emile Heskey to injury.
Lovers of FA Cup tradition will relish the visit of non-league Havant and Waterlooville to Liverpool.
Anything but a comfortable win for the home side would be a major upset and there seems little danger of Liverpool taking the tie lightly in the current context of boardroom strife at Anfield.
With his side's league title ambitions virtually quashed, Reds manager Rafael Benitez knows he cannot afford any embarrassing slip-ups against the part-timers and is likely to field his strongest possible side for the visit of the side from the Conference South.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Australia yesterday won two of four races on the first day of the SailGP Sydney event on Sydney Harbour to finish the day atop the points table ahead of Britain and a French team who made an outstanding return after missing the first two events of the season. Australia also had a third and a second placing, finishing the day with 37 points, ahead of Britain with 32 points and France with 27. Britain won the second race of the day and Switzerland, who won the first race, were in fourth place overall. Australia’s prowess in the start box was again the