Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal (LVG) says the United vs Liverpool fixture is much like El Clasico, something LVG had the pleasure of experiencing in Spain. Under fire Brendan Rodgers Liverpool (LFC) visits Old Trafford tomorrow and some would say it is his most important fixture as boss. A loss at Old Trafford could edge him closer to the expected exit door. The Manchester United website reports: “It is like that, of course,” van Gaal told reporters at the Aon Training Complex, when asked about this fixture’s similarity to El Clasico. “Barcelona versus Real Madrid was [in front of] 102,000 in the first time I was working there. The stadium adapted to 102,000 and they were all sitting there. I won my first derby with Barcelona 3-0, so I was very pleased. I hope that I shall win this first derby also.” United would potentially extend their winning run to 6 in a row should they defeat their old foes and LVG is refusing to dismiss the possibility of catching the English Premier ...

Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Angel Di Maria, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, David De Gea, Radamel Falcao, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini, Antonio Valencia, Adnan Januzaj with names like these in your squad both Arsenal & Manchester United would be expected to be slugging it out at the summit but find themselves well off the pace already this season. You will not see a defender above and that speaks volumes. Together these two have conceded 36 goals thus far and if you consider that leaders Chelsea and  Southampton together haven only conceded 16 it explains why the Gunners and the Reds find themselves  sixth and seventh on the table. Going forward Wenger side have somewhat been riding the Sanchez wave, I mean the Chilean has now scored 8 in his last 6 for club and country and will definitely trouble any defence United paste together. Van Gaal wi...

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Date : 21-23 November Coverage: Live on BBC TV, Radio 5 live and online Race starts: Coverage begins at 12:10 GMT on 23 November. Race at 13:00 GMT. Qualifying starts: 13:00 GMT on 22 November Following Nico Rosberg's victory in Brazil just 17 points now separate him from championship leader Lewis Hamilton going into the final race of 2014. In any other Formula 1 season, sixth in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 23 November would be enough for Hamilton to clinch his second world title, even if Rosberg won the race. But with double points available in the last race this season, the situation is more precarious for the British driver: Title permutations for the final race Hamilton, 334 points Rosberg, 317 points How the Briton can win the title: How the German can win the title: Finish ahead of Rosberg Win the race with Hamilton third or lower Finish no lower than second if Rosberg wins Finish second with Hamil...

Phillip Neville revealed on BBC Radio 5 last week that Ruud van Nistelrooy once swapped his jersey at half time in a Manchester Derby so Fergie told him off saying: "if he did that again he'd be out of the club". Needless to say it never happened again. So if the importance of this Super Sunday Derby needed any reminding, that statement says it all. In essence the 3 points on offer is but a sub plot to the real matters at hand. The citizens come off back to back crushing if not surprising defeats and face an ever improving Red Devils outfit unbeaten in their last 4 matches (granted the last two were draws). Head to head though City have won five of their last six encounters with United, winning the last three in a row. They can also boast a 7-1 aggregate in the league last season not to mention scoring 18 goals in just the six fixtures between the two. So history sides with the blue half but history won't be on the field come Sunday. Talking about who won...

Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona remain two of the finest clubs in football today and “El Clasico” is thee  fixture between the two. Saturday will be the first instalment and you would be a fool to think that this rivalry is just a show for the trophies at stake or points that are up for grabs. This year as in every year we will be spoilt for choice in this fixture with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7), Pedro, Toni Kroos, Andrés Iniesta,  Lionel Messi, James Rodriguez, Neymar, Karim Benzema and Luis Suarez (though the latter might make his debut from the bench) all set to play . A notable omission will be the lightning fast Welshman Gareth Bale. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find as many star players sharing the pitch as we have seen during the Real Madrid v Barcelona showdowns, and without doubt, in the modern game, this is as good as it gets. La Liga leaders Barcelona travel to Carlo Ancelotti’s free-sc...

Manchester United host the unbeaten English Premier League (EPL) leaders this Super Sunday and  I don't know about you but I'm licking my lips at the prospect of seeing the multitude of talent that will be on display on the Old Trafford pitch. Coach Van Gaal (LvG) could be without possibly United's best player in Angel Di Maria against Mourinho's Chelsea. The Argentinian has been so good since his joining in the summer that, with him in the team, it's not hard to fathom that United at home could win this weekend. But without him and the suspended Wayne Rooney, it's difficult to see LvG's side scoring enough goals to make up for their deficiencies at the back. Don't get me wrong going forward they could give the best teams in the world the run around but if I'm honest at the back its much like a colander, leading to their own down fall. So LVG will be pleased to hear Chelsea have their own injury concerns over the fitness of ...

Dan Rafael on espn wrote Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs), who wore a hat to the weigh-in that read "Money: Just Make It," and Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) meet in a rematch with Mayweather's welterweight and junior middleweight world championships on the line on Saturday night (Showtime PPV, 8 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. They both weighed inside the 147-pound welterweight limit, Mayweather at 146½ and Maidana 146. Mayweather, nicknamed "Money," controls most of the revenue for the fight -- from the pay-per-view sales, the gate, foreign television sales, sponsorships, merchandise and closed circuit sales -- so when a full accounting is done he likely will earn far more than $32 million. Mayweather also earned a minimum $32 million for his majority decision victory against Maidana in their first fight in May. The fight with Maidana will be the fourth on the six-fight contract Mayweather signed with Showtime/CBS in 2013. Including Saturday night's fight...

RED RANTS  post on twitter by @mufc_dan87 Follow him here . As the dust finally begins to settle on the schizophrenic hyperbole that is transfer deadline day, Manchester United appear to be a complete different proposition to what they were 10 days ago, let alone when compared to the team Louis Van Gaal took charge of in July. If Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw were a promising first date back in June, Marcos Rojo the long overdue call for a second meeting and Angel Di Maria the – extremely expensive – first dinner out and Daley Blind the movie date that followed the meal, then the arrival of Radamel Falcao was undoubtedly the moment in which the girl United had not even dared to look at for fear of rejection invited the club back to her place. Whether the invite will lead to a glass of wine before a “thanks for tonight” dismissal or to a night of passionate love remains to be seen, but the revolution United fans had hoped to see it’s undeniably underway.  A dras...

Roger Federer is described as a Tennis Die Hard in the Afrikaans Newspaper “Die Burger” (in Afrikaans) a  Tennis-Kanniedood . 80 Singles Titles (Open Era only Connors 109 & Lendl 94 have won more); He played in 60 Grand Slam Tournaments (only Agassi played in more 61); reached the Quarter-Final in 36 consecutive Grand Slams (between Wimbledon 2004 till the French Open 2013) only Connors comes close with 27; reached the Semi-Final in 23 consecutive Grand Slams ( between Wimbledon 2004 till the Australian Open 2010) the previous record was 10 held by Lendl and of course has won an unprecedented 17 Grand Slams (behind him is Sampras and Nadal with 14). It’s astonishing that since 2000 he has never missed a Grand Slam; especially when you consider how physical the game has become in the last few decades not to mention how fit the players have to be just to compete. The last time Rafa Nadal played in all four Grand Slams in a year was in 2011. Craig O'Shannessy, chief ...

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid for an initial fee of £59.7m plus add-ons. The signing takes United’s summer spending to £130.7m with more additions expected before the transfer window closes next Monday. Di Maria, one of the standout performers in this summers World Cup AND Man of the Match in the Champions League Final for Madrid back in May, becomes the most expensive player in British football history. At the price, and with his obvious quality, there is no doubt Di Maria will walk into the side to face Burnley at on Saturday, but where? With Louis Van Gaal keen to exert his 3-5-2 system on United, where does one of the best attacking wingers fit into the plan? Wingback? Surely not but where else is there? Perhaps it denotes a huge shift in thinking for Van Gaal who has, in the past, found much success adopting the infamously Dutch way of playing, 4-3-3. If so however, where does Rooney and/or Van Persie fit into the team? Di M...

 Ángel Fabián Di María Hernández is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for English club Manchester United and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder. Born : February 14, 1988 (age 26), Rosario, Argentina Weight : 75 kg Height : 1.80 m Spouse : Jorgelina Cardoso (m. 2011) Current teams : Argentina national football team (#7 / Midfielder), Manchester United F.C. (#7 / Midfielder)

I found this by James Quintong ESPN Fantasy and thought I could use it as insight into ESPN's version of Fantasy Footy as I have my own group JCBA's Fantasy Footy15  (click on link). ESPN FC Premier Fantasy game is back for another season, ready to provide fans with a great way to enhance their enjoyment of the Premier League. The object is to build a roster of 15 players, with a budget of 100 million, that will score you points based on their performance on the field. (The full scoring system and How to play ( Fantasy Footy how to ) Of course, throughout the season, you'll want to improve your team, so you'll get 30 transfers per scoring segment - the ESPN Premier Fantasy game is split into two scoring segments, Segment One from Game week 1 on 16th August 2014  to Game Week 20 on 1st January 2015 , Segment Two from Game week 21 on 10th January 2014  to Game Week 38 on 24th May 2015. While your initial budget is 100 mi...