32nd issue

6
Saturday, September 9, 2017
DT
European Football
Liverpool out to make title statement at Man City
• Reuters
Liverpool could hardly be in higher
spirits as they set out on the short trip
to Manchester City on Saturday hoping
to make a strong case for their Premier
League title prospects.
A 4-0 thrashing of a compliant
Arsenal side before the international
break means Juergen Klopp’s side
have seven points from nine during
an opening period in which they also
safely negotiated a Champions League
playoff against Hoffenheim.
Liverpool have a strong recent
record against City, winning four of the
last six league clashes between the
sides and last lost to them in the league
three years ago.
City, who also have seven points,
have match-winners everywhere
though, even if they will be without
former Liverpool forward Raheem
Sterling who was sent off for over-celebrating
a last-gasp winner.
While Sterling’s absence will be
a blow, Guardiola’s options are so
numerous that Sergio Aguero was only
a substitute against Bournemouth and
he is likely to return.
Defensive worries remain despite
a huge summer outlay and 50-million-pound
right back Kyle Walker
will return from suspension with the
unenviable task of trying to stop the
rampaging runs of Mane, a battle that
could determine which of the two title
rivals will be celebrating.
Leaders Manchester United, who
have a 100 percent record and are yet
to concede a goal while scoring 10,
travel to Stoke City for Saturday’s late
kickoff.
Promoted high-flyers Huddersfield
Town, who have also kept three clean
sheets and are level on points with
KEY FIXTURES
Man City v Liverpool
Saturday, 5:30pm
Star Sports Select HD 1
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Saturday, 8:00pm
Leicester v Chelsea
Saturday, 8:00pm
Star Sports Select HD 1
Everton v Tottenham
Saturday, 8:00pm
Liverpool and Manchester City, play
at bottom side West Ham United on
Monday.
Arsenal, who have lost their last
two games, should avoid slumping to
three defeats in a row when they host
Bournemouth on Saturday.
Champions Chelsea are at Leicester
City on the same day.
POINTS TABLE
Teams P W D L GD Pts
Man Utd 3 3 0 0 10 9
Liverpool 3 2 1 0 5 7
Huddersfield 3 2 1 0 4 7
Man City 3 2 1 0 3 7
West Brom 3 2 1 0 2 7
Chelsea 3 2 0 1 2 6
Watford 3 1 2 0 2 5
Southampton 3 1 2 0 1 5
Tottenham 3 1 1 1 1 4
Burnley 3 1 1 1 0 4
Stoke 3 1 1 1 0 4
Everton 3 1 1 1 -1 4
Swansea 3 1 1 1 -2 4
Newcastle 3 1 0 2 0 3
Leicester 3 1 0 2 -1 3
Arsenal 3 1 0 2 -4 3
TOP goal SCORERs
3 Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Romelu Lukaku (Man United)
2 Sam Vokes (Burnley)
Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)
Valverde banks on debutant Dembele to
make instant impact against Espanyol
• Reuters
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde
will be banking on new signing
Ousmane Dembele to fill the gap left
by Neymar’s departure as he looks to
overcome off-pitch difficulties when
the Catalans take on Espanyol on
Saturday.
Barcelona have enjoyed a winning
start in La Liga and despite all the
off-field drama, Valverde is determined
that they make it three wins out of
three when they face his former club.
Barca have won their last eight La
Liga derbies at the Nou Camp dating
back to 2009, including 4-0, 5-1 and
5-0 victories in their last three meetings,
although there is some hope in
Espanyol of ending that dismal run.
Barcelona had a frustrating transfer
window, failing to sign top target
Philippe Coutinho after losing Neymar
to Paris St Germain for a world record
fee of 222 million euros ($266 million),
and there have also been calls to hold
a vote of no confidence against president
Josep Maria Bartomeu.
There is also unease at Barca over
the future of talisman Lionel Messi and
captain Andres Iniesta, who are both
out of contract next summer and have
yet to sign new deals.
Barca are one of only three teams
in La Liga to win both their opening
games, beating Real Betis and Alaves
2-0 without hitting top gear but are set
to be boosted by the debut appearance
of striker Dembele on Saturday.
The France international, 20, joined
KEY FIXTURES
Real Madrid v Levante
Saturday, 5:00pm
Sony Ten 2
Valencia v Atletico
Saturday, 8:15pm
Sony Ten 2
Sevilla v Eibar
Saturday, 10:30pm
Sony Ten 2
Barcelona v Espanyol
Sunday, 12:45am
Sony Ten 2
TOP goal SCORERS
3 Maximiliano Gomez (Celta Vigo)
2 Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid)
from Borussia Dortmund as a direct
replacement for Neymar, becoming
the second most expensive player of
all time at 105 million euros, rising to
up to 147 million including incentives,
despite only playing professional
football for two seasons.
Valverde has his whole squad
available after the international break
aside from Ivan Rakitic, who sustained
a hamstring injury while on duty with
POINTS TABLE
Team P W D L GD Pts
Real Sociedad 2 2 0 0 4 6
Barcelona 2 2 0 0 4 6
Leganes 2 2 0 0 2 6
Atletico 2 1 1 0 4 4
Real Madrid 2 1 1 0 3 4
Levante 2 1 1 0 1 4
Girona 2 1 1 0 1 4
Valencia 2 1 1 0 1 4
Sevilla 2 1 1 0 1 4
Athletic Bilbao 2 1 1 0 1 4
Eibar 2 1 0 1 0 3
Real Betis 2 1 0 1 -1 3
Espanyol 2 0 1 1 -1 1
Getafe 2 0 1 1 -1 1
Deportivo 2 0 1 5 -3 1
Celta Vigo 2 0 0 2 -2 0
Malaga 2 0 0 2 -2 0
Alaves 2 0 0 2 -3 0
Villarreal 2 0 0 2 -4 0
Las Palmas 2 0 0 2 -5 0
Croatia.
Elsewhere, champions Real
Madrid host Levante hoping to get
back to winning ways after drawing
2-2 with Valencia in their last outing.
They can recall captain Sergio Ramos
from suspension but are still without
Cristiano Ronaldo, who is serving the
fourth of his five-game ban for pushing
a referee.
SPAL hit the big time with
Inter match
• Reuters
Unusual in many ways, unglamorously-named
SPAL will know that they
have definitely hit the big time when
they visit Inter Milan on Sunday for
their biggest game yet since returning
to Serie A after a 49-year absence.
The only team ever to have competed
in Serie A using an acronym as
their name, Sunday’s visit to one of
Europe’s most imposing stadiums will
cap a remarkable rise for SPAL who
only five seasons ago were playing in
the fourth tier.
The club, full name Societa Polisportiva
Ars et Labor, was founded by
Salesian priests in 1907 and is one of
the oldest in the country.
After being wound up and relaunched
twice, mostly recently in 2013,
to wipe out debts, SPAL won promotion
from Serie B with an all-Italian squad,
another rarity nowadays in the country.
Although little-known among the
younger generations of Italian fans,
SPAL were a regular fixture in Serie A
during the 1950s and 1960s but fell
on hard times after being relegated
in 1968.
The crisis years saw SPAL languishing
in the lower divisions until
the turning-point in 2013 when the
club was re-founded and merged with
neighbours Giacomense.
Under new leadership, they
quickly moved up to the third tier and
things got even better after Leonardo
Semplici took over as coach in December
2014, guiding them to successive
promotions in 2016 and 2017 to take
them back to the top flight.
Whether they can establish themselves
is a different matter. But their
start has been above.
KEY FIXTURES
Juventus v Chievo
Saturday, 10:00pm
Sony Ten 1
Sampdoria v Roma
Sunday, 12:45am
Sony Ten 1
Inter v SPAL
Sunday, 4:30pm
Sony Ten 1
Lazio v Milan
Sunday, 7:00pm
Sony Ten 1
POINTS TABLE
Teams P W D L GD Pts
Juventus 2 2 0 0 5 6
Inter Milan 2 2 0 0 5 6
Napoli 2 2 0 0 4 6
AC Milan 2 2 0 0 3 6
Sampdoria 2 2 0 0 2 6
TOP goal SCORERS
4 Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)