We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Roma need a 3-0 win, the perfect game. Liverpool need just one goal. The prize? A spot in the Champions League final. Following epic quarter-final victories against Barcelona and Manchester City respectively, the two met in an epic first leg last week that really ought to have ended… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Roma v Liverpool (Semi-Final, 2nd Leg)
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich met in the Champions League semi-finals last year when it took extra time to separate the two after a 2-1 first leg win for Madrid, and it would be no surprise if this season’s tie ended up being just as close. Perennial European Champions Madrid once again are in… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Real Madrid v Bayern Munich (Semi-Final, 2nd Leg)
Whilst much of the attention last week was on Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid, Barcelona are quietly working their way towards a treble. Ernesto Valverde’s team have sealed La Liga with little fanfare, are 2/9 to take the Copa Del Rey, and are all but in the semi-finals of the Champions League following a… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Roma v Barcelona (Quarter-Final, 2nd Leg)
Football, bloody hell. Cast your mind back to 6:15 on Saturday evening. Manchester City looked set to seal one of the most dominant Premier League titles in years against rivals United but the next 45 minutes would be one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Premier League history. That ended a wretched week for… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Manchester City v Liverpool (Quarter-Final, 2nd Leg)
Jose Mourinho might have been trying to deflect when he hailed Sevilla’s European prowess but there was plenty of truth in his praise of the three-time Europa League winners. However, there are bigger beasts lurking at the quarter-final stages of the Champions League and they could find Bayern Munich too strong for them here. … Read More Champions League 2017/18: Sevilla v Bayern Munich (Quarter-Final, 1st Leg)
Today is Valentine’s day – the special spot on the calendar for love – and whilst Neymar and Real Madrid never were best of friends anyway, there will be no love lost as he returns with PSG for the first leg of what ought to be a blockbuster last 16 tie. PSG’s last trip… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Real Madrid v PSG (Last 16, 1st Leg)
Football is often a game of superstition so it will please fans of both Porto and Liverpool that the last time they met, they made it to the semi-finals. The betting market has Liverpool as the more likely contenders to make it through this tie to the last eight but whatever happens, goals look… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Porto v Liverpool (Last 16, 1st leg)
Talk to most people about Europe and you will be met with moans and groans that regard the never-ending Brexit debate, but thankfully on these pages we are talking about the glorious return of Champions League football. With the wheat separated from the chaff, we have some brilliant last 16 ties to look forward to… Read More Champions League 2017/18: Juventus v Tottenham (Last 16, 1st Leg)
Ah, the first week of January. Stacks of emails, Christmas bills, new rotas, resolutions, gym memberships, and of course, the dreaded ‘dry month’ Challenges. However, fear not, I promise you that there is something good about this month; The third round of the FA Cup. Yes, one of the oldest competitions in the history… Read More FA Cup 2017/18
All eyes, rightly, will be on Manchester City v Napoli at the Etihad in Group F but the two sides should have an eye on proceedings in Holland as both have already realised how useful Shakhtar Donetsk are after two games and the visitors can take another result from their clash with Feyenoord. Feyenoord have… Read More Champions League 2017/18 – Matchday 3 (Tuesday 17th October)
Many games don’t live upto the hype that they receive on paper but there’s good reason that Manchester City’s clash with Napoli can buck that trend. We all know about the form of Manchester City and their talent. In eight games they have won seven and drawn one of them and scored 29 goals,… Read More Champions League 2017/18 – Manchester City v Napoli
This season had been going better than anyone had expected for Barcelona. The departure and long-winded saga of Neymar along with feisty club politics and what had been viewed as an underwhelming transfer window had not made for an optimistic start. However, a few weeks into the campaign, and all is rosy for Ernesto Valverde’s… Read More Champions League 2017-18: Matchday 2, Wednesday 27th September
Real Madrid already look like retaining their title will be the focal point of their season, and they have a very difficult trip to Borussia Dortmund in what is a loaded second matchweek of the Champions League. New boss Peter Bosz has made a brilliant start to life in his new job, with Dortmund now… Read More Champions League 2017-18: Matchday 2, Tuesday 26th September
As the unloved sister to the FA Cup, the EFL Cup would seem ripe for an upset winner. With the importance of going as far in, and qualifying for, the Champions League as possible for the top 5 of 6 teams, and then the multitude of teams that are involved with relegation, Premier League clubs… Read More EFL Cup 2017-18
Moody stories that surrounded Chelsea at the beginning of the season seem to be a thing of the past after what has quickly become an impressive start to the season and they can keep the momentum by beating Arsenal at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. The summer and pre-season has been dominated by acrimony between Antonio… Read More Premier League 2017-18: 17th September
There haven’t been many football match previews posted on The Vic Page so far this season, with part of the reason for that absence being a whole host of other sporting events, including two major cycling stage races and also the start of the Champions League too, which required full coverage. But part of… Read More Premier League 2017-18: 16th September
Group E Liverpool are so often at their best before Christmas and they can go through top. Jurgen Klopp’s record against the top 6 domestically bodes very well for their challenge here and whilst their defence can be an Achilles heel in the competition, they look to have plenty of firepower to get through… Read More Champions League 2017-18: Groups E-H Verdict
Group A An ideal section for Manchester United, who will be annoyed to have dropped two points at Stoke but pleased with a start that’s seen just one defeat, that coming against Real Madrid. Romelu Lukau has slotted in very nicely into an attack that’s now got more pace to break down teams whilst… Read More Champions League 2017-18: Groups A-E Verdict
The last player to win the Champions League Golden Boot outside of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi was 2006/07 so they are the obvious places to go and Ronaldo makes appeal to get yet another Golden Boot. The Madrid marksman has now been saved for the coemption that matters by Zinedine Zidane and that strategy… Read More Champions League 2017-18: Top Scorer
Europe. It is the continent of culture, great food, some of the most incredible sights on the planet, the free movement of people, goods and services, and of course, it’s greatest product, the Champions League. The time has come for the word Europe to be associated with something other than Michel Barnier’s jibes, loud conversations… Read More Champions League 2017-18: The Winners
Carlo Ancelotti’s Palmares is already a glittering one and it would be a great surprise if he didn’t take the Bundesliga for the second straight season with Bayern Munich who once again look to be a class above their opposition. They finished 15 points clear of Red Bull Leipzig last season and do not… Read More Bundesliga 2017/18
Italian football has been very simple for the past few seasons. All the sides play 38 games and at the end of it, Juventus win. That’s been the case for the last six seasons and once again the Old Lady appear to be the team to beat in no uncertain terms, although there’s reason to… Read More Serie A 2017/18
Young Player of The Year The PFA Young Player of the Year Award has gone to multiple winners plenty of times and if Dele Alli has a season half as good as he did last year then the 4/1 on offer for him to make it a hat-trick will look very large come May.… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Player Awards and Sack Race
The gap between the title contenders in the Premier League and the rest of the division appears to be getting bigger with every single season and the gap between first and eighth last season was a huge 47 points. With the big six having funds the rest of the league can still generally only… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Handicaps
Match betting over a Premier League season is a peculiar business for many; Waiting nine months for just better than an odds on shot often doesn’t appeal to many, which is fair enough, but it’s very clear that some are going in different directions to the other. Bournemouth beat Stoke by just two points… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Match Bets
Kevin De Bruyne stamped himself as the most creative player in the Premier League last season according to the stats and the Belgian can lead the way in most assists once again. He set up teammates for a goal on 18 occasions last season and with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero starting this season fighting… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Most Assists
Harry Kane has proven to be unstoppable for Premier League defences over the last two seasons and it’s no surprise that he’s favourite to join Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer by making it a hat-trick of Golden Boot titles. Strong in the air and lightning quick in the box, Kane has developed into the league’s… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Golden Boot
Pre-season chat often focuses on the battle for the title and the competitive nature of the fight for glory, but just over half the league are no bigger than 10.1 to be playing their football in the Championship next season and many will be looking nervously over their shoulders towards the drop. Watford had… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Relegation
It says a great deal about how highly bookmakers Everton that bookmakers offer a market without the ‘Big Seven’ in the Premier League for ante post purposes. The Toffees were 15 points outside of the Champions League spots and also 15 clear of Southampton last year, and they look set to be a clear best… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Top Half Teams
As The Notorious B.I.G lamented to his legion of urban fans in that hot July of 1997, ‘Mo money mo problems’. And this year’s Premier League has more money than ever before. The 20 clubs are set to pass the record for spending in a single window, with a raft of eye-watering purchases and… Read More Premier League 2017/18 – Title Winners