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London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Liverpool will go in search of a rebound performance on Sunday when Brendan Rodgers men face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Reds have been exceptional this season, leaning heavily on the attacking prowess of Luis Suarez, who leads the Premiership with 19 goals scored, and Daniel Sturridge, who has nine tallies. But the holiday period of fixtures was always sure to test the clubs top four credentials as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day. The Reds outplayed City for large portions of Thursdays match and opened the scoring when Philippe Coutinho found the back of the net from a tight angle in the 24th minute. City responded with an equalizer seven minutes later when Vincent Kompany outmuscled Martin Skrtel on a corner kick and nodded the ball down into the bottom right corner, past the outstretched arm of Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. The winner came for City in first-half stoppage time when Alvaro Negredo slipped through on goal and hit one with the outside of his boot that Mignolet misplayed and it rolled into the net. Despite the loss, Rodgers praised his teams effort as they gave City their toughest test on home soil this season. "I was very proud of the players, I thought they were absolutely outstanding," Rodgers said. "They really took the game to a team that is a top, top side full of top European players. "Were disappointed not to have won the game, never mind losing the game. We showed great confidence and belief, scored a wonderful goal and could have had a few more. We have things to learn from the goals we conceded, which were disappointing. "I am very proud of the team. I was here at the Bayern Munich game when Bayern were outstanding, but apart from that every other team Manchester City have played here - really good sides as well - theyve scored a hatful of goals against. "Everybody walking away from the stadium would feel we at least deserved a point from tonight - and were disappointed we havent won." Chelsea is coming a 1-0 Boxing Day victory over Swansea City as an Eden Hazard goal in the 28th minute was enough to allow the Blues to extend their unbeaten streak in league play to three matches. Jose Mourinhos strike force of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba, Willian and Samuel Etoo have struggled to score consistently, something that is beginning to wear on the Portuguese manager. "They kill me," Mourinho said. "Every game Im tired in the end. "At halftime we all should be relaxed with a comfortable result and we werent and the first thing that happens in the second half was probably the biggest chance of the game. "You dont score, you finish feeling you are going to concede. But the boys, they worked hard defensively and in the last part they looked comfortable in their control of the game." Also in the Premiership on Sunday, Everton will shoot for a bounce-back effort against Southampton at Goodison Park after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Thursday, while Newcastle United hopes to build on their best performance of the season -- a 5-1 destruction of nine-man Stoke City -- when they host Arsenal at St. James Park. In Sundays final fixture, Tottenham goes for a second win under manager Tim Sherwood when the club hosts Stoke City at White Hart Lane. On Saturday, West Ham United welcomes West Bromwich Albion to Upton Park following a 3-1 loss to Arsenal, while Aston Villa battles Swansea City at Villa Park. Hull City hosts relegation-battling Fulham at the KC Stadium, Manchester City faces Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium, Norwich City welcomes defending champions Manchester United to Carrow Road and Saturdays lunchtime fixture sees Cardiff City host Sunderland at the Cardiff City Stadium. Adidas Ultra Boost Mujer . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Hombre/Mujer Running Zapatos Adidas Ultra Boost Ar...des/Grises .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. http://www.yeezy350baratas.es/adidas-ultra-boost-c...patos.h tml . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Hombre/Mujer Zapatos Air Max One All Negras . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Adidas Ultra Boost Comprar . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2.TORONTO - Blue Jays manager John Gibbons sat down with TSN.ca before Saturdays game against the Kansas City Royals to discuss his status, the degree to which leadership matters in baseball, and whether hell make significant adjustments to next Februarys spring training schedule. Listen to the interview here or read the transcript below. TSN.ca: Some heat around here, John, the hot seat is a little warm. Look, its been a tough year. Im giving you an opportunity to say your piece. Youre on the hot seat. Is it fair? Is it unfair? Does fairness matter? GIBBONS: Scott, fairness doesnt matter. Thats the business were in. Its the entertainment business but its serious sports. I dont get caught up in all of that to be honest with you. Yeah, it hurts, nobody likes to be ripped and things like that but on the flip side of that, Im responsible for what happens with this team on the field and it hasnt been a good year. You just grind it out. Ive said before, I show up every day and its a new day. You go out there, I love competing. You go out there and try to win that game and do the best job you can. At the end of the day, you know, all the decisions you make, do they all work? Of course not. Some of the best decisions you make backfire on you. Some of the worst ones you make, you come out smelling like a rose. Thats just the way the game is but you deal with it, you learn to deal with it, you expect it and if you cant handle it, youre in trouble. TSN.ca: You look at this team heading into the offseason, and Alex has said youre going to be back next year so you have that security, the support of your general manager, which we knew that you had. Can this team, as currently constituted, come back in spring training and head into next April and be a winning group? GIBBONS: Scott, we like the core group of this team. Theres no question, we liked it going into this year with all the big moves made and we still like it. But we have to make some additions to upgrade some areas, thats no secret. In saying that, thats not always easy. Alex, weve talked about it, I think everybody understands its pretty obvious what we need to do and hell attempt to do that. Its not easy because you go around to most teams in the game, theyre basically in a lot of ways. One thing about Alex, hes tireless, hes not afraid to make some things happen and hell put his best foot forward. Its still a good group out there but theres no question to be a better team we need to make a few changes. TSN.ca: When you assess this season, John, that 11-game win streak stands out obviously as the high point and there have been some down points both before that and after that. So lets talk about that 11-game win streak. Does that tell you that theres something in there that we just havent seen enough of or was that an outlier? Because a lot of teams dont win 11 in a row, not even the best. GIBBONS: No question about that. What really happened there is it all came together for that period of time. We pitched well during that stretch, you know we played good, solid defence and the bats, we were swinging the bats. It was one of those stretches when everything was clicking. You dont always get that over the season. Some stretches you pitch well and youre not hitting and the defence, the defence needs to be the constant. Youre going to have some bad games but thats one thing you can control a little bit of. That needs to be there every day. Pitching and offence can be hit or miss but for that stretch, it all came together for a length of time there. Everybody goes through those ups and downs but you know what those good teams do, they may not have the 11-game streak but theres more consistency throughout the year. The best teams in baseball go through their down stretches where theyll lose five, six, sometimes seven games in a row, something like that. Thats because maybe theyre not pitching good, their bats went silent or whatever it is. Over 162 games, thats the norm but the better teams, they do it better and they generally, their pitching day in and day out gives you a shot. When we talk about good pitching, it doesnt mean you have to go out and throw shutouts every night but its really, they keep you in the game and give you a shot and let your offence maybe take over. In fairness to our pitching also this year, we havent played good enough defence at times and theyve suffered for that. Im not just talking about errors and things like that. I mean, there are some balls we havent gotten to that you really need to at this level. Some double plays you need to turn at the big league level to bail you out of a tough inning that we havent always done. Lets face it, at the big league level, you have to take away hits, too. You neeed the routine play made but you know what, you still need to take away hits because thats what the better teams do.dddddddddddd TSN.ca: In hockey, theres a player on each team that wears a C and that denotes leadership. What value do you place on leadership in such an individual sport like baseball? GIBBONS: Thats a good question that will always be debated. First off, youre not going to win anything without talent, in any sport, thats just a given. But still there needs to be a couple of guys, they have to be guys with credentials, those are the guys they look to, and youve got to be able to snap somebody back in place, snap a team back in and say, Listen, were not doing this well, lets go guys, lets pick it up and things like that. If its always got to be the manager or the coach, I mean its not going to work. Sooner or later, if you talk too much, they tune you out. Its just like your own children or your teacher at school, whatever it might be, talk is cheap and if you have to do it too often, apparently somebodys not listening. It always helps to have a couple of guys on a team, they take that role whether they like it or not and its not always talking, its how they carry themselves and their actions. That can be very valuable. That point will probably always be debated because Ive been on some teams where you have a bunch of renegades, you know talented teams but it can be a mess but yet they play as a team, they show up to win and that usually overrides the day. TSN.ca: The kids that have come up have injected, I guess, some refreshing air into the environment here. What have you seen, I guess you take your pick on who you want to talk about but what have you seen from Goins, Gose, Pillar and Sierra? GIBBONS: Ive been really, pleasantly surprised. Theyve all helped one way or the other and theyre doing a nice job. Like Ive said before, some guys never get opportunities in this game so when you get it, you know you may only get one so take advantage of it. Theyre all showing us something right now. Goins has been in the spotlight lately with some great defensive plays and some big hits. Hes really doing everything right now. You know, Gosey, (Friday) night had the big triple to set up an inning in a tight ball game to plate a big run for us and hes playing great defence and throwing his hits in along the way. Pillar, its been kind of hit or miss for him, he hasnt really settled in offensively but you look, hes been a good base runner, hes been good in the outfielder and things like that. Sierra, hes starting to heat up a little bit. When he keeps his swing under control, theres a lot in that bat. Hes a good, solid outfielder with a great arm. He can be a difference maker with that arm. Theyve all, one way or another, done some things to benefit us and you get excited about that and youre happy for them because, like I said, there are only so many opportunities you get in this business so it always helps to make that good impression and theyre all doing that. TSN.ca: Next year cant be this year with the record. The expectations were high coming in and you havent lived up to them this season. Do you change your approach at all heading into spring training next year? Do you make some adjustments next season based on what youve seen out of the group this year to give yourself a better chance to have a better record? GIBBONS: What you always do, game-to-game, you reflect on the game and from a managers standpoint, what might have I done different that might have affected the outcome, this and that. Youre constantly doing that and of course, at the end of the year and were getting there, you always reflect and think you know what, maybe we need to do this, more of this, less of that, what have you. Going into spring training, there will be some adjustments that will be made. Well look at the personnel and well deal with that. We were ready coming out of spring training, no doubt in my mind, we just didnt play well. We just didnt handle expectations well, whether we were a little bit tight, what have you, thats just the way it went. But you need to make some adjustments and do some things to change some things because theres no question that, you know, you need a better year next year. A lot was put into this team and we were really hyped up, as we should have been, everybody liked all the moves and there were a number of them. We like the group that we have, of course there needs to be some additions, but you know were always optimistic. Like Ive said before, the fans have turned out this year. Theyve done their part of it and this place will explode with a winning team out there and we dont think were that far off and this city and this country deserve that. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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