NBA .Boston Celtics to continue Impressing against the Utah Jazz 04/01/17

With Isaiah Thomas playing beautifully and with four time all-star Al Horford in support Boston are worthy favourites.

There is potential for a tight affair if Gordon Hayward and Rudi Gobert are firing but the preference is for Boston with Thomas's  three throw power telling in the 4th quarter.

Opportunity for Big Sam to Assert his Authority at Selhurst Park 03/01/17

Big Sam clearly had one eye on this 6pointer after seemingly easing off in his intent at the Emirates.Swansea are in turmoil following the Bob Bradley debacle and even at this fairly early stage in the season look to be in the last chance saloon category.

Conor Wickham is out for a period but Palace have proven scoring pedigree and should be able to get the job done at home.Palace have had only one win from their last 5 at home but against stern opposition,only losing by 1 to Manchester United,Chelsea and Manchester City whilst outplaying Southampton in a 3 nil win.
Whatever the result goals are on the menu,the last match up resulted in a 9goal thriller and with 2 far from watertight defences on show that trend is likely to continue.

History sides with Arsenal against Bournemouth 03/01/17

The obvious choice could be the best one here when Bournemouth entertain Arsenal tonight.Arsenal have won the recent meetings between the two and the pressure is on Arsene Wenger to keep their title ambitions alive.

Bournemouth have a decent record at home and Eddie Howe has them playing some stylish football at times.On balance though with Giroud in form and with the talented Mesut Ozil likely to play,Arsenal have the edge here.

The Open 2014-The Contenders

The Open starts at Hoylake on Thursday.Let's take a look at who is in with a shout and could potentially be lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday.

No Major Championship contenders list goes without mentioning the great Tiger Woods.Yes it has been a while since he won a major,yes he has had his problems,yes he has not played in a tournament recently but there is a good reason he heads this list.Tiger won The Open the last time it was held at Hoylake in 2006 and he won it in some style,finishing 18 strokes under par over the 4 rounds. Tiger's power and precision make him dangerous on a course like Hoylake.The 2-iron stinger will come into play off many of the par 4 tees and the power he has will enable him to find fairways with a long iron while others will be looking to control a driver or a 3-wood,that gives him a great advantage.I have always insisted that Tiger will add to his major haul and I will stick to that claim,he is a winner and has an unrivalled mental toughness which when coupled with his experience on this course and the impressive pace he set 8 years ago makes for a compelling argument for the legendary American.

Of course there are other big hitters in the game besides Tiger Woods.Bubba Watson is not an obvious choice for an Open contender despite his 2 major wins but with his big hitting and short game creativity,could well go close if he optimises his power with conservative plays off the tee.Dustin Johnson is a name that is often thrown around in the Majors and I think he too could well be in with a shout come Sunday if he manages to retain a degree of control in his rhythm and tempo and plays within himself,there is no need for him to go flat out on this course with the power he has at his disposal. Rory Mcilroy is always a contender in the majors and he will fancy his chances,the course will suit his game and he will look at the past winning score and think this could be his week.The -18 total last time out suggests that this will be less of a Carnoustie style scrap for survival and more of a test of conversion of solid tee to green play and short game mastery.

I've looked at the big hitters but that's not to rule out the tidier,less powerful players such as Brandt Snedeker and Luke Donald who could contend if their short games fire and the putter works some magic.
The form players of the moment are Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer,Rose looked in control of his game at the Scottish Open and Kaymer's performance at the US Open was as impressive as it was clinical in it's execution. Phil Mickelson will not give up his title without a fight,he won over the crowds last time out and will enjoy great support this week too.Phil's masterful wedge play,classy putting and free flowing rhythm give him assets that make him a danger at Hoylake.

Outsiders to consider could be Lee Westwood who has proven pedigree in The Open,Jim Furyk a tidy proven major winner and Henrik Stenson who is a big power player.

The winner will reveal himself on Sunday and whoever it is, this will be a cracking Open.Roll on Thursday.

Mikkel Kessler v Carl Froch. Who has the edge?

The time has come for the Froch versus Kessler super-middleweight rematch. Kessler was given the victory the last time these 2 warriors stepped in the ring but who ill have the edge this time?I personally thought that the last fight was very close to call and there was very little between the 2 fighters.On this occasion Froch is the bookies' favourite having recently dispatched Lucien Bute and Yusuf Mack. Both fighters have an aggressive style and both will come to fight,Kessler recently took a discreet swipe at Andre Ward by suggesting his style is less than forthcoming,he will find no such problem with Froch who is not afraid to take a shot and is not one to shy away from a toe to toe scrap. I am going to go against the bookies and go for Kessler in this one,both fighters have a great work rate and have solid chins so it could well be a classic. Froch has home advantage and has reason to be the aggressor seeing as he is trying to avenge a defeat.Both fighters want another shot at Andre ward,the likelihood is only the winner of Saturday's contest will be considered as a future opponent of the 2004 Olympic gold medallist so a lot is at stake. I don't think it will be a short fight,a decision on points looks likely or at the very least a late stoppage as there is nothing to choose between these 2 and neither is likely to give up without a fight.

Is Tiger Woods Finally Back to his Best?

After Tiger woods' impressive win at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament last week many people are wondering if the Tiger is back to his best. Well the obvious answer is that he still has a long way to go to prove he is the unstoppable force he once was but he has certainly proved that there is life in the 'old' dog yet! The victory meant that the 36 year-old has now matched Nicklaus' record of 73 PGA titles,a good ten years earlier than Jack achieved the feat.

I would say that Tiger has proved that he may well have put his personal problems behind him and now has returned to a mindset where he can focus solely on golf and winning tournaments.I have said before that people who have written Woods off are misguided and I stand by the claim that when in good shape mentally,he is arguably the most driven,ruthless and clinical sportsmen of all time.How can you write of a man 4 years shy of 40 who has racked up Major titles at will over the last 15 or so years?

It is good to see Tiger back to something like his best and it will be interesting how he performs in the next few majors,if he finds the groove I dare anyone to count him out.

Vitali Klitschko vs Adamek-Fight Analysis

Vitali won this fight by dictating the fight with his jab,end of story.Adamek fought bravely but was simply too small to pose any serious threat to the 40 year old legend, who is looking unbeatable at this stage of his career.Adamek showed encouraging signs in the fifth round but Vitali was able to weather this brief storm and come back with some telling jabs which left Adamek with nowhere to run.Unlike David Haye vs Wladimir Klitschko,this was a proper fight.Both fighters brought their best punches to the table and eventually the tall ukranian came out on top in the tenth round.

By the end of the fight,Adamek was a bloody mess after three resounding shpts hit home leaving the challenger dazed,bewildered and ultimately besaten.A good fight,very entertaining,now we look forward to Ortiz vs Mayweather on the 17th!