Stories By Peter O'Rourke

• Sport

  THE FA CUP – DOES IT MATTER ANYMORE?

  The third round of the FA Cup was once the one of the biggest dates in the English sporting calendar, but does it really matter any more to the big clubs? The riches on offer from the Premier League and Champions League has meant that the oldest cup competition with such a glorious history has become a secondary prize for a lot of the country’s biggest clubs.

• Sport

  ORDER RESTORED

  As 2016 comes to a close it will forever be remembered as the year when the Premier League was turned upside down. Last season was the most unpredictable in English football history as Leicester City defied odds of 5,000-1 to pull off arguably the greatest ever sporting upset to win the Premier League title.

• Sport

  CHRISTMAS JEERS

  There has not been much Christmas cheer around Arsenal recently with Gunners fans fearing another season of glorious failure. Arsenal’s first back-to-back defeats in nine months to Everton and Manchester City have left the Gunners trailing league leaders Chelsea to nine points and in danger of slipping out of contention for the title yet again.

• Sport

  CRUCIAL CHRISTMAS

  The upcoming festive period can make or break a team’s season and the picture for the title race and the battle to stay up should become a lot clearer. Premier League clubs  face the prospect of four games between December 17 and January 4, offering the opportunity to boost their title hopes or fall by the wayside.

• Sport

  FALL FROM GRACE

  Leicester stunned the world of football of last season by winning the Premier League title, but is the fairytale turning into a nightmare for the club this season? The Foxes are staring at the stark prospect of suffering the ignominy of going from champions to chumps in just 12 months as they battle to avoid relegation in what so far has been the worst title defence in Premier League history.

• Sport

  TAKING SHAPE

  The season is just less than a third the way through now and it is shaping up to be one of the most competitive campaigns for a long time at the top and bottom of the table. Now the international games are over and the next international break is not until next March all the sides in the Premier League can put their focus on the race to win the league and the battle to stay up.

• Sport

  ROONEY IN LAST CHANCE SALOON

  It is not often you will find me feeling sorry for Premier League footballers, but I do have some sympathy for Wayne Rooney after the latest media storm, although he does find himself drinking in the last chance saloon for club and country.

• Sport

  INTERNATIONAL RESCUE

  England renew the oldest rivalry in football when they take on Scotland on Friday, but does anyone really care about international football anymore? The battle of the Auld Enemy might rekindle the passion of the fans for one game, but international football has gone stale with the Premier League and Champions League taking precedent for fans.

• Sport

  NO PEP PANIC YET

  As to anyone who has managed in the Premier League will testify England’s top flight has many different challenges and that is something Pep Guardiola is experiencing right now, but it is not the time to panic – just yet.

• Sport

  POINT TO PROVE

  They say a week is a long time in politics, but in football management it can be an age as Jose Mourinho continues the most important run of games in his short tenure at Manchester United. Mourinho began a pivotal week in his stewardship at Old Trafford with a battling goalless draw at arch-rivals Liverpool, but the next three encounters could prove defining for the Portuguese this season.

• Sport

  FROM PRETENDERS TO CONTENDERS

  Tottenham have somewhat gone under the radar on contenders for the Premier League title this season, but are they best equipped to go all the way this campaign? Tottenham pushed last season’s surprise title winners Leicester all the way last season before running out of steam in the final few weeks as they eventually finished third in the table.

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