There are two huge games in the English premier League this weekend – beginning with Arsenal’s trip to Manchester to face the sky blue of Manchester City. The Gunners have been near unstoppable this season and find themselves sitting five points clear at the top of the EPL ladder, but there is no doubt this looms as their biggest test of the season to date. City’s home form has been remarkable with 29 goals scored in seven EPL matches and their confidence will be soaring after they downed Bayern Munich in the Champions League mid-week.
The other big clash sees Liverpool taking on Tottenham at White Hart Lane. The Reds sit second on the ladder following two huge wins at Anfield over the past week, but their away form has been patchy and they will need to improve on their performance against Hull a fortnight ago when they lost 3-1. Still, Tottenham has been very up and down. They have won their last two and drew with Manchester United 2-2 before that, but they were also embarrassed 6-0 against Manchester City and are under some pressure to stay in touch with the top four given they sit just outside in sixth spot.
The third Ashes Test gets underway in Perth on Friday with England facing the unthinkable – losing the Ashes! Down 2-0 in a series most expected them to win, they face a daunting task in this match given their struggles against Aussie fast bowler Mitchell Johnson and the fact that this is his favorite ground. In particular, it is England’s most experienced players – the likes of Alistair Cook and Kevin Pietersen – who have struggled most and they will need to turn that all around quick smart if they are any chance of salvaging the series.
Lee Chong Wei will start favorite in the BWF Super Series Masters Finals
And it’s a huge week for badminton with the BWF Super Series Masters Finals starting today in Kuala Lumpur. The Super Series Masters Finals is the prestigious season-ending event which sees the top eight players from the 12 Super Series events throughout the year coming together to fight it out for the top prize. Malaysia’s three-time winner Lee Chong Wei will start favorite, having won seven of the Super Series events in 2013, but faces a tough group that also includes Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen, Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana and China’s Wang Zhengming. China has won both the men’s and women’s Masters final the past two years.
Good luck and good punting.
