Tears for Black Stars in Afcon final as EPL derbies go to Arsenal, Liverpool

Jacobs O. Seaman SUNDAY I. Coast 2-2 Ghana 9pm Avram Grant will be hoping the ghosts of Moscow 2008 do not return to haunt him with fury in Malabo on Sunday night. In fact, it wasn’t just Moscow per se. As well as losing out on penalties, the John Terry slip and all, in Moscow, Chelsea finished runners-up in the Premier League and succumbed to Tottenham Hotspur FC in the League Cup final. Grant, who had replaced the Jose Mourinho, was sacked when the following season he struggled to win games. Appointed as the Black Stars tactician months to the finals, Grant said he would fashion the four-time champions from the ‘nearly-men’ they had become into champions So far so good. Ghana have a dream final against Ivory Coast, a repeat of the 1992 finals in which The Elephants triumphed on penalities. While Grant is another nearly man, Ivory Coast are themselves perennial losers, so when a loser meets a loser, what happens? A draw? Probably. I reckon Ivory Coast will win the tournament in post-match shootouts. Saturday SPURS 1 - 2 Arsenal 2.45pm Tottenham Hotspur will go in search of only a second win over Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in eight encounters. The hosts have lost only once in their last nine league games and Arsenal only once in their last eight. Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs, two points behind their local rivals in sixth place, will be hoping the absence of Arsenal top scorer Alexis Sanchez, who is nursing a hamstring injury, could play in their favour. The Chilean has been daring to defy team doctors and play in the derby, although one would not see the reason why. Wenger has Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott back from injury, both players having scored in the 5-0 thrashing of Aston Villa last week. Also, Danny Welbeck is back from injury and will be ready to step in when striker Olivier Giroud wears down. But the Gunners will be weary of the form of Harry Kane and Eriksen, two forwards currently scoring with such ease. Even then, Arsenal has always prevailed over their north-London rivals. It should not be any different today either. QPR 1-3 Southampton 5pm This surely has got to be an easy job. Southampton’s top-four bid was dented by a 1-0 loss to Swansea City last weekend and, today, they visit second-bottom Queens Park Rangers, who are without a manager following Harry Redknapp’s resignation. Redknapp stepped down on Tuesday, citing the need to undergo knee surgery, with back-room staff Chris Ramsey and Kevin Bond placed in charge of the first team on a temporary basis. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino claimed this week that Southampton’s impressive form has been due to the foundations he put down at St Mary’s last season before leaving for Tottenham. In response, Southampton coach Ronald Koeman quipped: “Thanks to Mauricio, I’ve got an easy job. It was the reason I came here, to have a little holiday.” Surely, it should be easy today against a side that has never won on the road and only waits to pick points at their Loftus Road ground. Everton 1-3 L’pool 7.30pm Daniel Sturridge made a scoring return to action after five months last weekend and could dive back straight into the starting linup at Goodison Park today. The last derby fixture at the Toffees ground ended 3-3 with Sturridge grabbing all the goals for the visitors, including a last-minute goal. His return to action is not something Everton are happy with at the moment. Liverpool have collected 16 points from a possible 18 since they hit the pedestal, a form only matched by League One leaders Olympique Lyon in Europe’s five major leagues. This is captain Steven Gerrard’s last derby match before his switch to MLS side LA Galaxy. It should be a perfect send-off for the 34-year-old. SUNDay West Ham 2-1 Man Utd 6pm Sorry Red Devils fans, but I have a hunch West Ham can make a big impact with their big game count against Manchester United. The Red Devils have been slow since the turn of the year, so slow to the point of even drawing against Cambridge United in FA Cup and having to face the humiliation of a replay. But having won their last two games, the side is feeling confident. Hoever, Boleyn Ground is not a place many top sides like travelling to as the Hammers play hard. Their philosophy is to load the ball upfront on the waiting chest of the gangly striker Andy Carroll. If they can turn this game into a battle, sure, the Hammers can make it two wins in seven league games. Bilbao 1 - 4 Barcelona 10pm Luis Suarez has virtually become a prop used in goal celebrations. The only thing last season’s European golden boot winner does nowadays is to join Neymar and Messi in goal celebrations after the two South American counterparts have found the back of the net. And things are getting to a head, to a point of frustration. Withdrawn against Villareal last week, Suarez stormed the dugout in frustration, looking like he would bite anything near him. He removed his boots and angrily threw them down. For a man who scored at free will last season, the change is tough and he will need a mettle of perseverance to stay on and find relevance in a star-studded Barca side. Tomorrow, Barca visit out of fashion Athletic Bilbao hoping to keep pace of league leaders Real Madrid. Will Suarez find his mojo? Barca will win easily though. Other fixtures SATURDAY Man City 5-0 Hull Villa 0-3 Chelsea Swansea 1-0 Sunderland Leicester 2-2 Palace Freiburg 1-2 Dortmund Wolfsburg 3-0 Hoffenheim Atletico 2-1 Madrid Juventus 4-1 Milan SUNDAY Burnley 2-1 West Brom Newcastle 3-1 Stoke Lyon 2-2 PSG Bremen 1-2 Leverkusen Napoli 2-0 Udinese Cagliari 1-3 Roma Sampdoria 2-0 Sassuolo TUESDAY Sunderland 4-1 QPR Hull 2-1 Villa Arsenal 2-2 Leicester Liverpool 2-0 Spurs Wednesday Stoke 2-1 Man City Chelsea 2-3 Everton Southampton 2-1 West Ham Man United 3-0 Burnley West Brom 1-1 Swansea Palace 1-3 Newcastle

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Tears for Black Stars in Afcon final as EPL derbies go to Arsenal, Liverpool