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Paralympic Cycling: Timothy narrowly misses medal race

Team Ireland had their first cyclist in action at the Tokyo Games this morning with Richael Timothy taking part in the pursuit

Richael Timothy – C3 3000m Individual Pursuit

Timothy took to the Velodrome for the qualifying rounds of women’s individual pursuit just after 02:15 in the morning. The Irish woman came onto the track for heat three and lined up against Austria’s Yvonne Marzinke.

This race would be made up of 12 laps of the track completing a 3000m race. Most athletes will be going at speeds nearing 40 kilometers per hour. The eight fastest riders would go into a medal race later today.

Timothy had a tough prospect ahead of her after she saw China’s cyclist break the Paralympic record in the C1 category on the first run of the day.

Timothy started strongly and established a good lead in the opening laps. She flew around the track and by 2000 meters she lapped her Austrian opponent.

She was unlucky that she had to overtake Marzinke on a bend, losing out on some time, making it a longer journey for her.

The Roscommon woman finished the three kilometers in a time of 4:11.699, the fastest at that time and a new personal best for herself. She cycled at an impressive average speed of 42.99 km/hr throughout the race.

Timothy remained in the medal places until the final three heats. These six athletes happened to be very fast with Australia’s Paige Greco setting a new world record with a 3:52.283 time.

The Irish woman finished in ninth place overall only a few seconds off the top eight. Timothy still has a busy Paralympics ahead of her and will next compete on Day Three in the C1-3 500m Time Trial.

 

 

Paralympic Swimming: Young Ní Ríaín qualifies for 100m final

Team Ireland had three swimmers in the pool in the early morning of Day One of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Starting just after 01:00 in the morning, Ireland’s swimmers began their Paralympic journey in the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

Barry McClements – S9 400m Freestyle Heat 2

McClements lined up in lane seven of a strong heat. The 19-year-old began fast, making the first turn in third. Australia’s Tuckfield quickly burst away from the pack as the Irishman battle for a top-three finish.

By the halfway mark, he had dropped into fourth by milliseconds from Italy’s competitor. McClements began to tire in the outside lane coming into the final 100m.

The Down man finished the race in fifth place in a time of 4:27.11 which was a personal best for him at his debut Paralympic Games. This ranked him as the first reserve for the final that is later today.

Nicole Turner – S6 50m Freestyle Heat

This is Turner’s second Paralympic Games as she lined up in a heat with strong competitors. She got off to a decent start settling in with the rest of the pack in the quick race.

By the end of the length of the pool, Turner finished in fifth place in 35.47 seconds. This time set a new personal best for the swimmer. The Laois woman now moves onto the next race later today.

Róisín Ní Ríaín – S13 100m Butterfly Heat

Ní Ríaín, although in a good first heat, came in with high hopes starting in lane six. She is Ireland’s youngest athlete at this Paralympics at 16 years old.

From the start, she was pushing for the top. After a fast first length, she found herself in third place as four swimmers pulled away up top.

Ní Ríaín only continued to speed up in the final length and was very close to taking second place in the heat. She finished in a time of 1:08.18.

After the remaining heats, she finished in eighth place overall qualifying for the final later today. She stands less than two seconds behind a medal place, now wanting to go one step further.

Andy Roberston Signs New Long-Term Deal With Liverpool

Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson has signed a new long-term deal with the club until 2026.

Robertson has played 177 times for the Reds, scoring 5 times and assisting 37 times in the four years he has spent at the club.

The Scotsman has won four trophies with Liverpool – the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Premier League.

The left-back finalised the deal at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday and spoke to Liverpoolfc.com of his delight in doing so.

“Obviously when the negotiations started and it looked as if my future was going to be here longer term than what it was, then I think it’s no secret that I’m happy at this club,” Robertson told Liverpoolfc.com.

“I want to stay at this club for as long as possible and to extend my stay, it’s always a happy time for me, for my family. We’re settled here, we love everything about this football club and I’m glad that the journey is continuing.”

Since joining the Reds from Hull City in the summer of 2017, Robertson has established himself as a core member of Jürgen Klopp’s side.

The 27-year-old becomes the fifth member of Klopp’s squad to commit his future to Liverpool in recent weeks, following Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.

Robertson continued: “When you sign for a massive club, I still remember the day as if it was yesterday when I signed here and obviously you have ambitions to become a regular player for Liverpool, to win trophies for this club, to do everything else but the way it’s gone has been excellent.

“But since the very start of my career I’ve always been one to look forward: that’s in the past, that’s something that I can sit down with the people who want to listen to me when I’ve hung up my boots and retired and I can tell them all the stories that we’ve already made.

“But I’m certainly one, and I know a lot of people in this training ground just now are people to look forward and people [who want] to create more history, more stories. Hopefully people get bored of me when I’ve retired and I can sit down for hours and hours and tell them about all the stories!

“They’re certainly building up but I want to make more and obviously hopefully starting with this season. We want to achieve more, we want to bring hopefully more trophies, more happiness to this club.

“The only way of doing that is by working hard and having the same application that we have done since day one.”

Ulster To Have 10,000 Fans At Kingspan For Saracens Friendly

Ulster Rugby will allow 10,000 fans to attend their pre-season friendly against RFU Championship winners Saracens on Friday, September 3.

The eagerly-anticipated clash against the five-time Premiership and three-time Heineken Champions Cup winners will be played in front of the largest crowd at the home of Ulster Rugby since the February 2020 win over Toyota Cheetahs.

All of those in attendance will have to have Ulster season tickets for the upcoming 2021/22 season – no individual tickets for the match will be on sale.

There will be no enforced social distancing for the fixture so season ticket holders will be able to sit in their own seat or stand on their allocated terrace for the match.

However, each terrace will operate to 30% of normal capacity to provide some social distancing in busy areas.

Furthermore, a socially distanced area will be available as an option for those who would like to socially distance themselves.

A section of the AbbeyAutoline Family Stand will be held for those who would prefer to sit in a socially distanced area.

The food village will be in operation for the game but no stadium bars will be open, except for table service in hospitality.

If you wish to become a season ticket holder ahead of the clash, there will be two priority windows in advance of this fixture for people to secure their season tickets.

2020/21 #TogetherUlster Members will have access to a Season Ticket priority window from 10 am on Tuesday 24 August until 10 am on Wednesday 25 August.

Those who have signed up to the Season Ticket waiting list before 5 pm on Tuesday 24 August will have access to a priority window from 10 am on Wednesday 25 August until 5 pm on Tuesday 31 August.

Both of these groups will be emailed their exclusive priority booking link at the time the respective windows open.

Ulster Rugby will have measures in place for the fixture in order to ensure a safe return of supporters.

Staggered entry and exit times will be utilised to avoid queueing and congestion.

Digital tickets will be accepted to provide contactless and secure entry through the turnstiles.

An alternative option to print your match tickets at home is also available.

There will be enhanced cleaning to disinfect busy areas pre and post-match and automated hand sanitising units have been fitted to turnstiles and stands.

Face coverings must be worn when moving around the stadium and in any indoor areas – the latter areas will have increased ventilation.

Numbers entering toilets will be controlled by stewards and one-way systems will be in operation where possible.

Ulster Rugby would also advise that anyone attending the fixture should test themselves using Rapid COVID-19 tests before they attend, and on days 2 and 8 after the event, in order to identify any positive cases and allow them to self-isolate.

Christensen on verge of signing new contract at Chelsea

Chelsea are trying to lock down a powerful, dominant defense for the next few years, now they are close to extending Christensen’s stay

According to the Telegraph, the Blues defender is ‘close’ to agreeing to a new long-term contract at the club. Christensen has been a part of the London team since 2012 and shows no signs of wanting to find a new home.

Although he is one of Chelsea’s longest-serving players, he is still only 25-years-old. Last season, after Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as manager, Christensen became a really important part of the squad.

The Danish defender played in Chelsea’s two opening victories in the league as well as their Super Cup triumph against Villareal.

This carries on from his good summer performances for his country. He started in six games of Denmark’s Euro 2020 run before being knocked out by England in the semi-final, he also scored a goal at the competition.

Christensen stays, Zouma goes

As it stands, Chelsea have eight players capable of starting in centreback in their squad. Although it is expected that Malang Sarr and Ethan Ampadu will go out on loan, there is not enough room left for all the remaining defenders.

Reports have emerged that French defender Kurt Zouma will soon be leaving for West Ham United. The rumors claim that the two clubs have come to an arrangement for around £30 million.

All that is left to do is for West Ham to agree on personal terms with the player.

With the shrewd business decisions made by the club this year, it stands that Chelsea will make a profit in this summer’s transfer window.

Along with the signing of Romelu Lukaku and the imminent arrival of Jules Kounde, the Blues have made themselves one of the favourites for the Premier League title this year.

Tyrone Set To Have Full Squad For Kerry Clash

The Tyrone senior footballers are set to have their full panel at their disposal for their All-Ireland semi-final clash with Kerry.

The news comes after the semi-final was rescheduled twice due to a Covid outbreak within the Tyrone camp.

Joint-manager Feargal Logan confirmed that the full squad has been training together in the past few days and that a final assessment will be made on the fitness of certain players on Thursday or Friday night.

“There was a good period there where we didn’t have everybody on the training field at the same time but we have got to that point now which is helpful and positive and where everybody is physically present and they are out of isolation,” Logan told the Irish Independent. “We’ve got everybody together,” he confirmed.

The fixture was initially pushed back to Saturday, August 21st but Tyrone made it clear that they could not fulfil the fixture on that date so it was pushed back a second time.

The Ulster champions wanted to be as best prepared for the semi-final as they could be and felt that playing the game on August 21st would not allow them to do that.

One player in the Tyrone camp was hospitalised after contracting coronavirus with many others showing symptoms.

Logan is anxious about the possibility that close contacts could further complicate the inter-county side’s plans.

“Any phone call can take you out as a close contact, you’re very anxious with every call so until we get through to Thursday even Friday night, it will be hard to say.

“On paper, nobody is in lockdown but we still have players coming back and we have to assess them for the next couple of days.

“I couldn’t say to you that some boys you would like to start would be playing in Croke Park. Hopefully, it will be reasonable. Some of the rules around isolation have been lessened again up here.

“It has been partly close contacts but the reality of it was infection against a serious number of players and that was the difficulty,” he added.

The winners of the fixture will play Mayo in the All-Ireland final on Sunday, September 11th.

The final was also rescheduled twice in order to accommodate the winner of this weekend’s tie.

Logan made clear that the postponements were necessary as the outbreak within the squad had threatened the county’s participation.

The former Tyrone under-21 All-Ireland-winning manager also said that he was grateful that Kerry were as understanding as they were.

“It’s for real. We’re doing our best to get this gathered up. We don’t want to be making excuses.

“I hope Kerry have got the message from us. We would apologise that anyone would be put out but that was just the way it all happened and it developed that way.

“We couldn’t see any other way out of it and we appreciate what Kerry have done. The GAA deserve great credit too for what they’ve done. This could visit any community, any house.

“I wouldn’t wish it on any football team.”

West Brom v Arsenal – Preview, Team News, Betting

Arsenal kick-off their Carabao Cup campaign with an away game to Championship side West Brom tomorrow evening

This match will start at 20:00 tomorrow, Wednesday 25th August in the Hawthorns.

West Brom are back on the up after a great start to their Championship season. The Boing-Boing Baggies are tied for the top spot after a four-game unbeaten start. They most recently beat Blackburn 2-1 away from home.

Their Irish stars Callum Robinson and Dara O’Shea have shone for the team making them definite starters on Valerian Ismael’s side.

Arsenal looks to be swapping places with West Brom at the end of the season. They started the campaign with two tough losses and face champions Manchester City next.

Manager Mikel Arteta is not helped out by the large injury list he has on the team. He needs to change his recent form to save his job and will be unable to rest his strong players tomorrow evening.

The Gunners won both fixtures handsomely when they faced either other in the league last season but this game is poised to be much closer.

Predicted Starting 11s

West Bromwich Albion

Formation

3-4-3

Starting Team

Button (GK), Ajayi, Kipre, O’Shea, Townsend, Mowatt, Livermore, Furlong, Grant, Robinson, Diangana.

Injuries

None

Arsenal

Formation

4-2-3-1

Starting Team

Ramsdale (GK), Tavares, Mari, Holding, Soares, Elneny, Xhaka, Pépé, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Aubameyang.

Injuries

Lacazette, White, Nketiah, Gabriel, Martinelli, Bellerin, Tierney, Runarsson, Partey.

Betting

West Brom are underdogs with odds of 11/4 to win in normal time.

A draw after 90 minutes has odds of 11/4.

Arsenal have odds of 9/10 to win the game outright.

 

Score Prediction

This will be the most interesting game of Wednesday’s EFL Cup fixtures; a high-flying Championship side against a ‘Big Six’ club in crisis. This game will be close and it seems that it will not be decided after 90 minutes.

In normal time, expect the game to end 1-1 but extra time could send this tie either way. West Brom will be the more confident of the sides so expect them to progress to the next round.

Leicester Thrashed In London As Antonio Breaks Record

Leicester City were thrashed 4-1 by West Ham United on Monday night after going down to 10-men in the first half.

Striker Michail Antonio broke the goalscoring record for West Ham with a brace on the night and added an assist in an incredible performance.

Before the game, Antonio sat on 47 goals and had shared the record with club legend Paolo Di Canio.

Leicester winger Ayoze Perez was sent off after a stamp on West Ham attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals in the fortieth minute.

Michael Oliver gave the Leicester player a straight red card after a VAR review on the studs-up challenge.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had already gone behind after Fornals’ strike in the 26th minute found the net.

The Spaniard opened the scoring after combining with Said Benrahma to punish a poor pass from Leicester striker Jamie Vardy.

West Ham started the second half strongly and Antonio capitalised on another poor pass – this time from Caglar Soyuncu – to assist Benrahma who added a second for their side.

Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans reduced the deficit 13 minutes later and gave his side some hope heading into the final twenty minutes.

However, West Ham pulled away with two goals in a matter of minutes near the end of the game courtesy of Antonio earning the side their second win on the bounce.

Antonio used his strength to hold off Soyuncu and score the record-breaking goal and celebrated with a cardboard cutout of himself.

Four minutes later, the 31-year-old nabbed his second of the game, taking himself one shy of a half-century for the Hammers.

Right-back Vladimir Coufal’s cross found Antonio who moved away from his marker and slotted home to put the icing on the cake.

Antonio’s performance throughout the game earned him a man of the match award and he now sits on 33 goals and assists in his last 43 Premier League starts.

The game leaves Leicester in disarray with only one senior recognised centre-back fit (Caglar Soyuncu) after their new signing Jannik Vestergaard was injured in training.

Leicester will travel to Norwich City for their next game on Saturday, August 28th at 3:00 pm.

Leeds v Crewe – Preview, Team News, Betting

The Carabao Cup returns again this season with Leeds United taking on Crewe Alexandra in the second round this evening

The match kicks off tonight, Tuesday 24th August, at 19:45 in Elland Road.

Leeds have now started to get their Premier League season back on track with a comeback draw against Everton at the weekend. Although the team are struggling to keep clean sheets of late, they are still unbeaten in seven home games.

This game will probably be a chance for Marcelo Bielsa to try out new players and spot new partnerships. The game will also be an opportunity to see signings like Kristoffer Klaesson and Junior Firpo getting full run-outs.

Crewe, on the other hand, are in the middle of a terrible run of form. After four games in League One, they find themselves in the relegation zone with a single point.

They have lost three games on the bounce including most recently a 1-0 loss to Accrington Stanley at home. David Artell will need to play a strong side to try to get a result against Leeds and give confidence to the side.

Crewe have nothing to lose against this Premier League side so this could prove to be an interesting, unpredictable game.

Predicted Starting 11

Leeds United

Formation

4-1-4-1

Starting Team

Klaesson (GK), Firpo, Cooper, Struijk, Shackleton, Phillips, Roberts, Rodrigo, Klich, Costa, Bamford.

Injuries

Llorente, Koch

Crewe Alexandra

Formation

4-3-3

Starting Team

Richards (GK), Ramsay, Thomas, Offord, McFadzean, Ainley, MacDonald, Finney, Knight, Porter Mandron.

Injuries

None

Betting

Leeds are the bookies’ favourites with odds of 2/11 to win in normal time.

A draw in 90 minutes has odds of 11/2.

Crewe are heavy underdogs with odds of 13/1 to win outright.

Score Prediction

There is no other way this tie is going, Leeds are 50 places ahead of this struggling Crewe side. The Whites will clearly dominate this game and look to make it a cricket score.

Crewe may not go down without a fight but expect this game to end 4-0 to Leeds.

Champions League Group Stage Draw 21/22 – Teams, Pots, Dates, Stream

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw will take place on Thursday at 5 pm Irish Standard Time in Istanbul.

The draw will sort the remaining 32 teams in the competition into eight groups of four – the first stage of the competition after the qualification rounds.

26 teams have already qualified for the group stages with six remaining teams still yet to qualify.

The last six sides will be decided after the final play-off fixtures on Wednesday 25 August, the day before the draw is due to take place.

Based on their UEFA coefficient, Liverpool will be in Pot 2 for the draw and know they will face one of Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Lille, Sporting CP or Villarreal from Pot 1.

Chelsea are in Pot 1 after they won the Champions League last season, with a 1-0 victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in May.

City are also in Pot 1 as they are the current English domestic title holders.

Manchester United are in Pot 2 alongside Liverpool and can face UEFA Europa League winners Villarreal, who beat United in an enthralling penalty shoot-out to win the competition.

All their options are identical to Liverpool’s as they are both English sides.

None of the English sides in the competition can face each other in the group stage as they are all from the same country.

All play-off winners will be placed in either Pots 3 or 4.

Confirmed Teams

Belgium: Club Brugge

England: Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United,

France: Lille, Paris Saint-Germain

Germany: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Wolfsburg

Italy: AC Milan, Atalanta, Inter Milan, Juventus

Netherlands: Ajax

Portugal: Porto, Sporting Lisbon

Russia: Zenit Saint Petersburg

Spain: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Villarreal

Turkey: Besiktas

Ukraine: Dynamo Kyiv

Pots

Pot 1 – Chelsea (ENG), UEFA Champions League holders, Bayern Munich (GER), Manchester City (ENG), Atlético de Madrid (ESP), Villarreal (ESP), UEFA Europa League holders, Inter Milan (ITA), Sporting CP (POR), LOSC Lille (FRA)

Pot 2 – Real Madrid (ESP), Barcelona (ESP), Liverpool (ENG), Juventus (ITA), Manchester United (ENG), PSG (FRA), Sevilla (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER)

Pot 3 (Confirmed) – Porto (POR), Ajax (NED), RB Leipzig (GER), Atalanta (ITA), Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)

Pot 4 (Confirmed) – Club Brugge (BEL), Milan (ITA), Wolfsburg (GER)

Play-off Ties

Ferencvaros v Young Boys (2-3 agg.) – Pot 4

Ludogorets v Malmo (0-2 agg.) – Pot 4

PSV v Benfica (1-2 agg.) – Pot 4/3

Shakhtar Donetsk v Monaco (1-0 agg.) – Pot 3/4

Brondby v RB Salzburg (1-2 agg.) – Pot 4/3

Dinamo Zagreb v Sheriff (0-3 agg.) – Pot 3/4

Matchday Dates

Matchday 1: 14/15 September 2021

Matchday 2: 28/29 September 2021

Matchday 3: 19/20 October 2021

Matchday 4: 2/3 November 2021

Matchday 5: 23/24 November 2021

Matchday 6: 7/8 December 2021

Where To Watch

UEFA’s official website will stream the draw live and it can be accessed here.

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