Recent content by Holding Midfield

As the season reaches its climax, Liverpool participation in the Champions League still looks uncertain. With Arsenal floundering and Manchester United navigating a tough run-in on top of a Europa League campaign, the Reds should be confident of fourth place with a fixture list made up of...

There’s a clear link between Atletico Madrid and Leicester City, but also a distinction that came to the fore as they clashed in the Champions League. Diego Simeone’s men toppled the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona in 2014 to emerge as La Liga champions playing a battling style based on a...

Despite the FA Cup victories in recent years, Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal has grown increasingly stale if only due to the uncanny feeling of deja vu that accompanies them. At first this was justified as limited finances in the wake of building the Emirates Stadium saw them slip behind those...

A lot has happened since the Valentine’s day massacre in Paris. Barcelona obviously endured heavy criticism; the players and Luis Enrique were booed after winning against Leganes; it’s announced Enrique is leaving at the end of the season; the fans sing asking Enrique to stay; somewhere amongst...

Unlike popular belief, football betting is so much more than just luck and a few good guesses. The main thing that influences your profit is the odds assigned to each team in a certain match. Generally speaking, odds simply represent the probability of that particular team finishing the game...

There was little romance in the air as Barcelona visited Paris for the return of the Champions League on Valentine’s day. Neither side are setting the world alight domestically – Barcelona falling behind Real Madrid and scrapping with Sevilla for second while PSG, who finished 31 points clear...

Manchester United must be sick of the sight of Hull City after playing them three times since Christmas. Despite a slow start to the season, United seemed to be picking up some momentum with their unbeaten record of 17 games coming to an end in the return leg of the League Cup semi-final last...

After extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 40 games by moving past Sevilla in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, Real Madrid had every right to be confident of putting some distance between themselves and the chasing pack at the top of La Liga. Nevertheless the hard work had been done...

“Studying Football” is something of a misnomer, because the sport itself has very little to do with the book. Having a flick through the index, it’s surprising quite how few footballers are listed and very few of them are in there for anything they do out on the turf. The book instead focuses on...

Failing to muster a decent run of form as title rivals pull out in front and a Champions League place up for grabs meant the Europa League had a sudden importance for Jose Mourinho. Although a Uefa cup winner with Porto, the competition became devalued due to the expansion of the Champions...

For years we have heard of a mythical wet and windy night in Stoke that would be the true test for Barcelona. European cups and league titles all meant nothing until the world’s best footballers had been kicked a lot on a plough-field. Many thought the fateful day would never come, and they were...

Wonderful story, but one you would never want to actually watch back. While Leicester’s rise is incredible, it’s worth noting that it simply wouldn’t be allowed to happen if the Premier League was any good and it is an embarrassment that the league has been this poor for so long yet has shown no...

Is French football in bad health or is it as good as health as its ever been? On one hand, Paris Saint-Germain are so far ahead in the league that they will probably wrap it up in the coming weeks and with Dmitry Rybolovlev’s expensive divorce all but ending his interest in Monaco, no one has...

Although in very different situations and neither in any peril, both Manchester City and Everton aren’t particularly happy with how their seasons have gone. City once again looked to improve their squad with heavy investment in the summer, spending over a hundred million on Kevin De Bruyne...

With Chelsea finally pulling the trigger on Jose Mourinho, the vultures have now started circling Louis van Gaal at Manchester United after eight games without a win. It’s a bit of an oddity that Mourinho’s sacking adds extra pressure to Van Gaal beyond shifting attentions onto him – just...