Odion Ighalo hopeful of doing the double over Liverpool

Nigeria and Watford top marksman Odion Ighalo is being optimistic of his team doing a double over Liverpool when both teams meet at the Merseyside on Sunday in the English Premier League.

Ighalo was on target scoring two of the goals in a 3-nil win over the Reds at the Vicarage Road in the first leg encounter in December with Chelsea's loanee Nathan Ake the other scorer.

Liverpool has been in imperious form lately, and just on Thursday defeated Spanish team Villareal 3-0 (3-1 on aggregate) to confirmed their place in the Europa League final in Basel - their first European final since 2007.

But the former Udinese and Granada striker says he is aware of the expectations for the game. Speaking to the club's website, he said:

“It’s going to be a tough game. When we played them last time they had a new coach, they weren’t doing well, but now they are a better team.

“The whole team fought from the first minute for each other, we chased down every ball, we didn’t give them time to play.

“We have to fight the same way, probably even more than we did in the last game. It’s possible for us to win there, but we have to be determined and work hard to get the result,” he continued.



The 26-year old has been on a goal drought for a while, he has scored only 3 goals since the turn of the year and 14 goals overall in the Premier League this season with most of them coming in the first half of the season.

The Premier League Player of the month for December has remained positive and he is hopeful of ending the campaign with more goals.

“I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved,” he continued. “I’m happy, but I need to end the season on a good note. I’m still fighting and working hard every day.

“I know the goals will come though, and the most important thing is that the team is winning.

“We have got to the 40-point mark, which was our main target, and everything that we get now is a bonus. We want to keep winning and see how high we can finish,” he concluded.

The Super Eagles striker scoring abilities have also earned him a place in Nigeria’s squad for the friendlies against Luxemburg and Mali later this month.

LEICESTER CITY'S TITLE TRIUMPH-- A complete transformation!

On 2nd May, 2015, Leicester City F.C. fans were celebrating a 3-nil win over Newcastle, which pushed them further away from the drop to the second division as their relegation battle began to seem realistic but none could have imagined that exactly a year later, they would be celebrating the EPL title.

If the Pre-Season Friendlies in 2014 had raised hopes in some quarters that they wouldn't battle relegation in the new season, after going unbeaten in 7 matches, a run that saw them come out tops against Everton which they had not won in 5 encounters dating back to Feb 10, 2001. Winning 6 out of 7, one of which was a 6-1 thumping of Likeston in preparation for a celebration laden season with the then Leicester coach, Nigel Pearson stating he was happy with the team performance. None would have dared to hope more that at the end of the 2015/16 season, they would still be in the top tier.

They had not only remained in the top tier but also did that in magnificent style; winning the league with 2 matches left after Chelsea held Tottenham to a 2-2 draw in a match Spurs which had gone 2-0 ahead in. With pictures later surfacing online showing Leicester players watching the match with rapt attention in the home of striker Jamie Vardy to watch the Tottenham match, evidently, tensions were on the higher end all over England as all sought to see if the day would be the one inwhich the unlikeliest of teams would win the EPL title.

Leicester coach, Claudio Ranieri has at several points in the season played down their title hopes, content instead to take a match at a time, secure qualification for Europe before daring to dream of the prestigious title. Perhaps that has been the key to the final triumph, with the experienced coach bringing stability to the team and ensuring players do not go overboard or ahead of themselves as the title run drew nearer to completion. A wise approach by the coach considering any further slip ups toward the tail end of the season would have only driven 2nd placed Spurs towards fighting more for the title.

Now, there are no more deliberations or speculations, no more mathematics and stated statistics as to why Leicester would or would not win the league... Only a celebration of the obvious and a widespread belief that anything is possible. Although it has looked to be inevitable over the last few weeks with Tottenham dropping points, several pundits and former players still see it as unbelievable. Former Leicester, Everton and England striker Gary Lineker describing the hometown team's achievement as "the biggest sporting shock of his lifetime".

To cap the complete turn around that the team experienced in less than a year, 29 year-old club top scorer, Jamie Vardy said, "It's an unbelievable feeling. I've never known anything like it. We were scrapping to stay in the league last season and on Saturday we'll be lifting the trophy... It's the biggest achievement in the history of a great club and we all feel privileged to be part of it".

From relegation battlers to EPL winners, it is truly a tale of a complete transformation!

Written by: Bravedave Abisoye Osifeko (@bravedave01)

Is it Nico Rosberg season in Formula One

German and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the Russian Grand Prix in Socchi over the weekend, and thereby became the first man to win the first 4 races of the season since Michael Schumacher did it in 2004.

The 30-year Rosberg started in the pole position since he clocked the fastest time in the Test practice 1 and 2, and led every lap of the race afterwards.

Nico's victory at Socchi is his seventh consecutive win dating back to last October at the Mexican Grand Prix, the race after Hamilton had clinched his third world title. Only three other drivers in F1 history have achieved that feat - Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel - and all went on to win the championship that year.

Defending champion and team-mate Lewis Halmiton came second in the race with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen coming third to stand on the podium alongside the Mercedes duo.

Rosberg said: "I am well aware Lewis is going to bounce back when he has a clean weekend and it will be the usual tough battle against him."

"Sport is all about ups and downs. I just need to mentally prepare.""The other people did not have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate.

"Yes, I have a good points lead but there are 425 points to go and I have only a 43-point lead. It is completely not worth talking about.

"Lewis is driving as strong as ever. For sure he will bounce back massively. He doesn't have an issue with fighting back either with his head.

"I am sure we will see a lot more of the battle between us and it is always going to be a tough battle."

As it stands Rosberg is leading the championship by 43 points over Lewis Hamilton with 17 races left in the season and next will be the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in mid-May.

Mahrez becomes first African to win PFA Player of the Year

Algeria and Leicester City mercurial attacker Riyad Mahrez has won the Professional Football Association (PFA) Footballer of the year award for the 2015/16 season in the Premier League.

He is the first African man to win this award after he held off competition from teammates & England striker Jamie Vardy and France combative midfielder N'golo Kante, Tottenham & England top marksman Harry Kane, Arsenal & German midfielder Mesut Ozil, West Ham & France midfielder Dimitri Payet.

The 25-years old who joined the Foxes in January 2014 from Le Havre in France Ligue 2 is the only player in double figures for both goals and assists in the premier league having scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists this season for the table-topper.

The award was handed to him at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on Sunday, few hours after opening the scoring for his team in their 4-nil whitewash over Swansea City as Leicester restored their 8-points lead on the log.

He said "without my teammates I wouldn't get this award, and for my manager and the staff - without them I wouldn't receive this award and I wouldn't score."

"It's the team spirit, and I want to dedicate it to them."

"It's extra special because if the players vote for me it's because they've seen I've been great this year, so I'm happy."

Leicester next game is away to Manchester United on May 1st, as the Foxes continue their chase for their first-ever Premier League title.

Kobe; Respect to a Legend!

In the swansong of a stunning, glittering and inspirational career in the NBA that lasted 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant scored an amazing 60 points in the 42 minutes he spent on court in his last game against the Utah Jazz right there at the home of the Lakers (Staple Centre). The legends of the game like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O'Neal among others were right there at the court side to pay a glowing respect to a legend himself as he draws the curtain on a career on the game he loves.

The Black Mamba is a 5-times NBA Champion, 1-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 2-times NBA Finals MVP, 4-times NBA All-Star Game MVP and 18-times NBA All-Star player among others. He is also third on the log in the National Basketball Association (NBA) all-time regular season points scored with a total of 33,643 points scored, a figure better by only Naismith Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

So many past and present players in the NBA and even in Hollywood join the whole world to celebrate him on the night. Top stars like Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Steph Curry and several others also gave their thoughts on a career that was distinctly engraved with so many records like the second-highest point in an NBA game in history (his 81points against Toronto Raptors in January 2006 that is second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points in 1962), most season with a single team(20 seasons with L.A Lakers), the all-time leading scorer in L.A Lakers history and so many other records that made him the legend that he has become.

Even as the gold and purple colour faithfuls won't forget the no-8 and no-24 jersey, the whole world of sports also will never take you off their hearts. So much RESPECT to you the BLACK MAMBA! Legend of the game.

Lionel Messi is Injured???

Barcelona lost out to Athletico Madrid on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final stage for the second time in four years. Antoine Griezmann scored the two goals that gave the Rojiblancos the victory at Vicente Calderon, and with that win they qualified 3-2 on aggregate after losing 2-1 in the first leg at Camp Nou a week ago.

But reports emanating from Spain claims that Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi is carrying an injury, a report the club has denied on all fronts. Messi has gone 452 minutes without a goal - his longest drought since 2011 - thereby causing an uproar among his fans and Barcelona faithfuls. This personal drought in front of goals for La Pulga also coincide with the club poorest run in two years - 1 win and 3 losses in the last 5 matches - for the European and World Club Champion.

Whether Lionel Messi is truly injured is left for all to see as the 5-time Ballon d'or winner is still in search for his 500th career goal as a professional.

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