to the stade de abbe deschamps
at the foot of the table bottom side grenoble host third bottom saint etienne
who parted company with coach alain perrin before christmas and who have not
tasted victory in the league since november
fixtures
saturday gmt
auxerre boulogne grenoble saint etienne le mans lorient lille paris
saint germain monaco sochaux montpellier nice nancy lyon rennes
lens valenciennes toulouse
sunday gmt
bordeaux marseille
football french league table
paris jan afp
french league table ahead of the weekend matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
bordeaux
lille
montpellier
marseille
auxerre
lyon
monaco
paris saint germain
lorient
rennes
valenciennes
nancy
sochaux
lens
toulouse
nice
le mans
saint etienne
boulogne
grenoble
football why have liverpool slumped this season
london jan afp
liverpool season went from bad to worse on thursday when club captain steven
gerrard star striker fernando alonso and playmaker yossi benayoun were all
ruled out through injury just day after the club fa cup defeat at home to
second tier reading
thus season liverpool had been tipped to win their first english title since
but now find themselves points behind leaders chelsea having already
exited the champions league at the group stage
so how has it come to this for the merseysiders below afp sport looks at few
factors that may have contributed to liverpool poor run
transfers
manager rafael benitez has spent some million pounds on signing players
since arriving at anfield in and while the likes of torres and benayoun
have been successes too many such as josemi and antonio nunez have failed to
make much of an impact
meanwhile striker robbie keane was sold back to tottenham just months after
arriving at anfield
and selling xabi alonso one of his best buys to real madrid in pre season
appears to have left hole in liverpool midfield that has yet to be filled
tactics
benitez has often been accused of excessive caution in the way he sets his teams
up for premier league matches with critics alleging this puts too much of
burden upon torres and gerrard to score goals they cite december defeat
away to bottom of the table portsmouth as case in point
boardroom rows
few clubs have managed to be successful on the field against backdrop of
boardroom strife the fractious relationship between american co owners george
gillett and tom hicks has destabilised club looking for finance and the duo
were unpopular with supporters before tom hicks junior foul mouthed mail
rant at supporter
football carragher tells sorry reds to stand up and be counted
stoke on trent england jan afp
liverpool defender jamie carragher has told the club under performing players
that it is time to stand up and be counted as the pressure mounts on manager
rafael benitez
with little chance of winning the premier league title and having already been
eliminated from the champions league liverpool season hit rock bottom on
wednesday when they were knocked out of the fa cup by struggling championship
side reading at anfield
the year old benitez remains popular among fans who will always treasure
memories of liverpool stirring comeback to beat ac milan in the champions
league final
but increasingly he looks like man living on borrowed time and it seems
reasonable to assume that some of the boos which rang out around anfield at the
end of extra time against reading were targeted at the manager
it is not only the supporters who are rebelling ronnie whelan who won six
titles and one european cup during year playing career at anfield has
called for benitez to be replaced and he is likely to find more support for his
view if an injury hit liverpool squad fail to beat stoke here on saturday
carragher one of the club longest serving players insists the players have
to take responsibility for disappointing season that started with so much
optimism after the club finished last season as runners up to manchester united
liverpool are currently seventh in the table five points adrift of top four
spot that would secure champions league qualification
we have got to do better and we have got to recover said carragher there
are still four months left of the season it been tough and the reading result
has made it little bit tougher for us but we are liverpool
we can be where we are and we have got to improve liverpool football club
demands certain standards
at the moment we are not reaching them and we know that but we have all got to
come as one and stick together
it was very bad night for liverpool against reading and we can disguise
that we had to do more against side from lower league we have to
apologise for the way we performed
carragher added we ve got massive game coming up against stoke on saturday
it will be very tough as we played extra time and we have got to show enormous
character to come back
but that what we have got to do we have got to move on but at the same
time we have to say sorry to the fans who came to anfield and all those
watching on tv
benitez is reeling from the news that he will be without leading scorer fernando
torres for up to nine games and captain steven gerrard for two weeks
in addition israel midfielder yossi benayoun is unlikely to be available for
the next six matches because of fractured rib
torres tore cartilage in his right knee in midweek and is set to miss the next
seven league games along with both legs against romanian side unirea in the
europa league next month
gerrard also limped off against reading scan revealing on thursday that the
england ace had suffered hamstring strain
given the circumstances benitez will not relish the trip to stoke who are
hoping they will have completed the loan signing of former liverpool keeper
david james from portsmouth in time for saturday lunchtime encounter
stoke manager tony pulis believes james can provide significant added value to
his squad as he seeks to ensure he is england number one for the world cup in
south africa
the big thing for me is that he has got lot to prove because he wants to be
on that plane to the world cup in south africa in the summer pulis said if
we can bring him here he would be fantastic signing
football mancini magic faces goodison test
liverpool jan afp
roberto mancini faces the first significant test of his ability to turn
manchester city into serious premier league title contendors when he takes his
new charges to goodison park on saturday
the former internazionale manager installed last month after the sacking of
mark hughes has enjoyed an encouraging start to life in manchester with city
winning all four of their matches under him
but sceptics have pointed out that league fixtures against stoke wolves and
blackburn and an fa cup tie against middlesbrough hardly constituted the most
taxing introduction to english football and an everton side beginning to find
form after shaky start to the season will provide more testing examination
of mancini credentials as footballing alchemist
mancini claimed in an interview in his homeland this week that he had succeeded
in giving the city players greater belief in their ability to compete with the
best than they had under hughes as well as putting pizza and the odd glass of
wine on their pre match meal menus
the potential is incredible but you need to draw it out mancini was quoted as
saying and it appears that in that area he has already enjoyed some success
with micah richards who has recovered the kind of form that made him full
england international as teenager
now richards admits mancini arrival has contributed to the increased
confidence manifested in the superb solo run that led to his goal against
blackburn last weekend
he told me that was good player but that if listened and learned he would
turn me into great player richards said those words were really
encouraging but know that it is down to me to work hard
keep saying it but am still young there are aspects of the game that only
come with experience and am gaining that all the time whether am in or out
of the side
know had dip in form last season but believe that have been better
this time around and in recent weeks have done okay
everton were unfortunate not to take all three points in draw at arsenal
last weekend that extended their unbeaten run in the league to six matches and
win over city could lift david moyes men into the top half of the table for
the first time this season
landon donovan impressed on his everton debut at arsenal and the on loan
american international admits he was touched by the travelling supporters
celebration of his minute contribution at the emirates with chants of usa
usa
it was awesome donovan recalled when you have that support it certainly
helps you on the field so looking forward to playing at goodison park
sitting in the stands at the cup tie against carlisle the week before made me
really want to play
hearing how the fans respond and seeing their passion loved that you want
to play for them and show them something
it is big game against city and they are team that are playing very well
but we are playing well too so it will be an exciting match
everton cause has been helped by the return of phil neville from three month
lay off and the club captain anticipates steady increase in confidence as the
likes of phil jagielka and sylvain distin return over the next few weeks
it is good to come back into team that is full of confidence now and team
that is fully focused on improving our league form and improving our results
neville said
we are looking to really attack the second half of the season and we must all
focus on that
to killed in haiti quake red cross
panama city jan afp
between and people were killed in the haiti quake the
international red cross told afp on thursday
the main figures have been given by the haiti government and they are talking
about to people having been killed said xavier castellanos head
of the americas zone of the international federation of red cross and red
crescent societies
the scale of this event means the toll will be high and the figure given by the
government is likely the right one he said
castellanos added that at least three million people had been directly
affected that to say third of the population
haitian officials had earlier warned that the overall death toll from the
magnitude earthquake that ripped across the poorest nation in the americas
on tuesday may top
football chelsea determined to tame black cats
london jan afp
john terry admission that chelsea haven been at the top of their game
recently underlines why carlo ancelotti side carry the tag of premier league
title favourites going into the second half of the campaign
terry insists the leaders cannot afford any more slip ups after winning just two
of their last six league games but with manchester united and arsenal seemingly
unable to take advantage ancelotti side still remain in control at the head
of the table despite their dip in form
last weekend wintry conditions forced the postponement of chelsea trip to
hull potentially handing the initiative to their main rivals
yet both faltered ensuring that ancelotti side will attempt to extend their
impressive home record against sunderland this weekend still one point clear of
united who have played game more and three points clear of arsenal
terry has singled out arsene wenger side as major threat following the
gunners efforts in reducing the eleven point gap that opened up between the two
teams following the blues comfortable victory at the emirates stadium in late
november
we cannot afford any more slip ups said the chelsea captain thankfully the
teams in and around us have been slipping up as well but arsenal are right back
in the frame again when we beat them thought they were out of it to be
honest
we need to concentrate on ourselves because apart from the watford fa cup
game when we were brilliant albeit against lesser side we haven been
playing as well
hopefully that game will give us boost and we can kick on now and pull away
when the other teams are slipping up
chelsea home record they have claimed points from possible at
stamford bridge so far this season and sunderland woeful return of just one
victory in away games suggests terry is likely to be proved right
particularly with striker nicolas anelka fit to return to the starting line up
sunderland have spent the week training in portugal in an effort to beat the big
freeze currently gripping britain with spirits lifted by the welcome break from
the arctic conditions bolo zenden is confident the wearside club can add
chelsea to their collection of major scalps this season
the premier league leaders are the only one of the big four to defeat the
black cats this term after their victory at the stadium of light in august
sunderland have beaten arsenal and liverpool in addition to drawing at
manchester united to take seven points from the top flight glamour clubs
only aston villa boast better record against the powerful quartet and ex
chelsea midfielder zenden is convinced steve bruce side can improve on their
poor away record they are without league win on the road since the opening
day victory at bolton five months ago to add his old club to their list of
high profile victims
the former dutch international has recovered from hamstring problem to
face the blues where he spent two years after joining from barcelona for
million pounds in
zenden said looking forward to going back chelsea are tough side but
hopefully we can cause an upset
we ve shown we can take points off the top four and chelsea are the only one of
that group to have beaten us so far this season people say the big four aren
as dominant this year because they ve dropped more points than normal but if
you look at the table you can see the same names in the top three places
manager bruce has trinidad and tobago forward kenwyne jones and former england
midfielder kieran richardson available after injury but is without defender
michael turner who serves the final game of four match suspension
football sting of criticism fires united
burnley england jan afp
darren fletcher believes manchester united will be inspired by the heavy
criticism they have faced this season
united are one point behind chelsea having played game more than the premier
league leaders going into saturday game with burnley at old trafford
they have already lost five games in the league including their away fixture
at burnley in august as well as being knocked out of the fa cup third round
by league one leeds
sir alex ferguson has been hit hard by defensive injuries and has been without
most of his first choice back four for most of the campaign
rio ferdinand and john hea have been absent for couple of months while
nemanja vidic has only recently returned to fitness after spell on the
sidelines and jonny evans rafael and gary neville have been absent
fletcher thinks that has been key to the problems but still feels that united
have the quality to put together strong run of form that can take them to
fourth straight league title
the scotland midfielder said it hasn been the easiest of times there has
been lot of disruption
the injuries in defence have seen players playing all over the place myself
included it is difficult to get run of form when things like that happen
we not had settled squad it has been an injury disrupted season we are
still in touch though and that is all we could ask for
we need to get everyone fit and for the manager to be able to choose settled
team we need everyone fit and fighting towards the end of the season that is
the most important thing then we can kick on
nothing has developed into real run yet but there is run in this team we
have been written off all season we need to use all that as fuel
fletcher insists that the club young players simply have to get used to the
heavy criticism that has marked the first half of their campaign
he feels the leadership of united old heads ryan giggs gary neville and
paul scholes is vital to keeping the spirit of the squad in tact
he added everyone wants to shoot you down when you are successful and you have
to have the character to take that on board and fight back that is the
challenge
you learn from it and it is what being part of this club is all about you get
used to and respond to it
when you are young and naive it can affect you but had very experienced
players around me when first broke through who pointed out the reality of it
the older ones have passed it down the likes of ryan giggs paul scholes and
gary neville told me not to worry about it because they experienced it and you
get through it
fletcher misses the game with the clarets through suspension as brian laws takes
charge of burnley for the first time
the former sheffield wednesday manager was the surprise replacement for owen
coyle and has signed two and half year deal at turf moor
burnley are th in the table but have not won in the premier league since
october
laws said owen coyle done fantastic job no question about that he
done terrific job to get burnley into the premier league
but at this moment in time he has dropped the baton and we want to pick it up
with the supporters and drive on over the finishing line which means we will
have stayed in the premier league
that is our drive and ambition and will do everything in my power to achieve
that because this great club is where it should be
football neill heaps praise on villa match winner milner
blackburn england jan afp
aston villa manager martin neill heaped praise on james milner after the
midfielder grabbed the only goal in the league cup semi final first leg win
over blackburn on thursday
the year old has now scored five goals in his last appearances and has
total of seven for the season
the return to fitness of stewart downing has meant that milner has shifted from
right midfield into the centre and neill thinks that switch has taken milner
game to another level
it was great goal by great player he playing splendidly at the moment
and he settled in so comfortably there in central midfield as if he played
there all his career said the villa coach
think he felt himself that there were goals in his game and he was capable of
doing that and sometimes it very difficult when you re trying to make goals
from wide areas to be in positions to score goals
but in field he got that licence to roam stiliyan petrov allows him to and
join up and james is really enjoying himself at the moment
meanwhile neill warned his team that they are far from certain of place in
the final despite the second leg of the semi final to come next week at villa
park
villa were comfortably the better team against blackburn side that has now
failed to win in minutes in matches since november
but neill remains cautious about his team prospects of reaching major
final for the first time since the fa cup final defeat to chelsea at wembley in
considering we were away from home we played splendidly it was very pleasing
indeed thought we were always threat and the tie is still very much in the
balance said the northern irishman
blackburn are capable of coming away from home and winning so we will have to
be very strong again and we will have to try to win the game
blackburn manager sam allardyce feels his team have to score first in the return
leg to have any chance of reaching wembley
croatian striker nikola kalinic hit the post twice in the second period of the
first leg to sum up rovers frustration
allardyce acknowledges that villa will now be over whelming favourites to reach
final against either manchester united or manchester city but is refusing to
give up
he said it huge task we wanted something out of this game and little
bit more than just
overall we deserved at least and we did enough in the second half to
create chances that we re looking for but it our achilles heel yet again
hopefully it ll start in the return leg and if that the case you always need
that little bit of fortune to get all the way to wembley
allardyce insists he will keep faith with kalinic who has managed just
three goals since joining in six million pound move from hadjuk split last
summer
it great that he getting there if he keeps getting in those positions and
we keep supplying that sort of service he will score said allardyce
football english premier league table
london jan afp
english premier league table ahead of this weekend matches played won
drawn lost goals for goals against points
chelsea
man utd
arsenal
man city
tottenham
aston villa
liverpool
birmingham
fulham
stoke
sunderland
everton
blackburn
burnley
wolverhampton
wigan
west ham
bolton
hull
portsmouth
afp sports schedule for friday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for friday january
football
in the africa cup of nations ghana play ivory coast in cabinda
coverage by nick reeves david legge and samm addu
see separate advisory
masterslug fbl afr
previews moved ahead of weekend league action in england france italy
scotland and spain
in germany the bundesliga resumes with bayern munich facing hoffenheim
slugs fbl eng pr fbl fra fbl ger fbl ita fbl sco pr fbl esp
rugby union
penultimate round of pool action in the european cup gets under way with glasgow
newport gwent dragons and ulster edinburgh
slug rugbyu eur cup
cricket
south africa resume on in reply to england first innings total of on
the second day on the fourth and final test at the wanderers in johannesburg
with the tourists holding lead in the series
coverage by colin bryden
slug cricket rsa eng
tennis
draw takes place for the australian open which begins in melbourne on monday
world number one serena williams plays russian elena dementieva in the final of
the sydney international
in the semi finals of the men draw richard gasquet plays french compatriot
julien benneteau while marcos baghdatis of cyprus will face american mardy fish
coverage by robert smith
also atp at auckland and wta at hobart
kooyong classic in melbourne
coverage by scott williams
slugs tennis open aus tennis atp wta aus tennis atp nzl tennis wta aus
tennis aus kooyong
alpine skiing
world cup men super combined sees racers skiing downhill and slalom in
wengen switzerland
slug ski world men
golf
epga at joburg open uspga at honolulu hawaii and asian tour qualifying school
at hua hin thailand
slugs golf epga rsa golf uspga golf asia
rallying
stage of the dakar rally is km special from san rafael to santa rosa
with carlos sainz leading fellow volkswagen man nasser al attiyah while cyril
despres leads the motorcycle section
coverage by joris fioriti
slug auto moto rally dakar
snooker
the masters continues at wembley
slug snooker gbr masters
figure skating
us national championships in spokane which is also qualifier for next month
winter olympics
slug fskate oly usa
football chelsea told to freeze rivals out of title race
london jan afp
john terry has told his chelsea team mates they must take their chance to put
the pressure back on to manchester united and arsenal in the most unpredictable
premier league title battle in years
carlo ancelotti side appeared to be well on their way to reclaiming the trophy
after they beat arsenal at the emirates at the end of november
but december blip allowed their rivals back into the race and with last
weekend trip to hull falling victim to the weather chelsea would have
surrendered top spot if united had managed to beat birmingham
as it turned out united were held to draw at st andrews while arsenal also
dropped points in stalemate with everton handing the initiative back to
chelsea as well as allowing manchester city to creep back into contention
ancelotti squad have not played since hitting five goals past watford in an fa
cup tie on january and terry underlined the significance of sunderland visit
to stamford bridge on saturday
we cannot afford any more slip ups the chelsea captain said thankfully the
teams in and around us have been slipping up as well but arsenal are right back
in the frame again when we beat them thought they were out of it to be
honest
we need to concentrate on ourselves because apart from the watford game when
we were brilliant albeit against lesser side we haven been playing as well
hopefully we can kick on now and pull away when the other teams are slipping
up
it has been frustrating start to the new year for champions united who will
seek revenge for shock defeat at burnley back in august when the premier
league newcomers visit old trafford
it will be burnley first match under new manager brian laws who was appointed
this week as the successor to owen coyle who will be busy preparing his new
charges at bolton for arsenal visit on sunday
united have yet to register victory in with the draw at birmingham having
been preceded by an fa cup exit at the hands of leeds
but darren fletcher who misses the burnley match through suspension is
confident one of the club trademark winning runs could come soon
it hasn been the easiest of times the scotland midfielder said after
united return from warm weather training break in qatar there has been
lot of disruption with injuries
but we are still in touch and that is all we could ask for we need to get
everyone fit and for the manager to be able to choose settled team
nothing has developed into real run yet but there is run in this team
with percent record since roberto mancini was installed in the manager
seat last month manchester city have moved back into the top four seven points
adrift of the leaders
saturday evening visit to everton who were unlucky not to win at arsenal last
weekend will however provide tougher test of the italian management ability
than stoke wolves or blackburn city opponents in his first three league
matches in charge
city form has increased the pressure on liverpool manager rafael benitez who
has faced calls for him to be sacked following the club fa cup exit at the
hands of managerless reading in midweek
liverpool owners have so far shown no sign that they are prepared to heed
those calls but with the reds languishing in seventh place five points adrift
of the top four reverse at stoke on saturday will do nothing for benitez
employment prospects
stoke will hope to have england goalkeeper david james who was expected to
sign on loan from portsmouth in goal against his former club while liverpool
must make do without steven gerrard fernando torres and yossi benayoun all of
whom suffered injuries in the defeat by reading
if manchester city fail to win at everton tottenham will expect to return to
the top four by beating struggling hull at white hart lane while aston villa
who host west ham on sunday are also still in the battle for coveted spot in
next season champions league
portsmouth four points adrift at the bottom and on the verge of financial
collapse have other concerns as they prepare for the visit of birmingham side
that is unbeaten in matches
saturday
chelsea sunderland everton manchester city gmt manchester utd
