England

Tottenham recorded an important victory over their North London rivals, thanks to two identical goals towards the end of the first half. Andre Villas-Boas used Gylfi Sigurdsson rather than Lewis Holtby, while Jermain Defoe was fit enough for the bench. Arsene Wenger used Santi Cazorla on the flank rather than in the middle, which meant Aaron...
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Chelsea played negatively, and afforded City too many goalscoring opportunities. Roberto Mancini surprisingly played Yaya Toure behind Sergio Aguero, a combination he’s rarely used this season. Jack Rodwell started alongside Javi Garcia, while Vincent Kompany wasn’t fit, so Kolo Toure started at the back. Rafael Benitez used Demba Ba instead of Fernando Torres. John Terry was...
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Gareth Bale scored twice in a match that started slowly, but turned into an exciting contest. Andre Villas-Boas handed a first start to Lewis Holtby – Jermain Defoe was injured, so Clint Dempsey played upfront. Alan Pardew named an unchanged XI from the side that beat Chelsea 3-2 last weekend. This was a relatively unexciting game tactically,...
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Liverpool produced an impressive performance, but were denied a win by Sergio Aguero’s superb finish. Roberto Mancini was without both Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure. In defence, he chose left-footers Matija Nastasic and Joleon Lescott together, something he’s tried to avoid this season. Edin Dzeko partnered Sergio Aguero, while James Milner was selected over Samir...
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Tottenham finally managed a last-minute equaliser, after constant pressure throughout the majority of the game. Andre Villas-Boas used Scott Parker in the holding midfielder role, in place of the injured Sandro, who is expected to be out for the rest of the season. With Emmanuel Adebayor at the Africa Cup of Nations, Clint Dempsey played...
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