Football
Manchester United will face Chelsea in the last 16 of the Capital One Cup after seeing off Newcastle 2-1 at Old Trafford last night.
Wayne Rooney sporting a scarred knee made a surprise comeback for United after a month out while Darren Fletcher started his first competitive game in 10 months. United midfielders Tom Cleverley and a rotund Anderson got Utd’s goals while Papiss Cisse was on the score sheet for the Magpies.
Holders Liverpool will face Brendan Rodgers old side Swansea in the next round after beating West Brom 2-1. The Reds included five teenagers after making 11 changes from the side that lost to Manchester United in the Premier League. Jerome Sinclair became Liverpool’s youngest player at 16 years and six days when coming on as sub last night.
Spurs who face Utd in the Premier League on Saturday beat Carlisle 3-0 while north London rivals Arsenal who host Chelsea in Saturday’s early fixture thumped Coventry 6-1. Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for the club and missed a penalty. Both now face away ties at Reading and Norwich in the next round.
Capital One Cup fourth-round draw
Sunderland v Middlesbrough
Swindon v Aston Villa
Wigan v Bradford
Leeds v Southampton
Norwich v Tottenham
Liverpool v Swansea
Chelsea v Man Utd
Reading v Arsenal
Golf
The opening ceremony for the Ryder Cup takes place later today (9.30pm) ahead of tomorrow’s tee-off (12.30pm) between Britain and Europe.
US captain Davis Love III got a bit weepy at last night’s press conference as the magnitude of the event begins to sink in and hopefully there’ll be plenty more tears come Sunday night.
Ian Poulter says he’s ready to ‘kill’ the Americans while Lee Westwood and Luke Donald made a little ‘killing’ of their own – shooting a 59 in the first fourball practice round against Poulter and likely playing partner Justin Rose.
These look likely to be the opening-day pairings which will be revealed about 10.30pm tonight along with Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley will pair up for the States.
The Paddy Power Blog can keep you informed with everything you need to know ahead of the big clash.
- Ryder Cup 2012 TV guide: Don’t miss a shot!
- Size matters: How Europe and America rate from the tee
- Five areas that will decide the fate of the Ryder Cup
- Ryder Cup infographic: Sweet home Chicago
Racing
Newmarket’s three-day festival comes under orders today culminating in the one of the biggest betting heats of the season on Saturday, the Cambridgeshire handicap.
The Group Three Somerville Tattersall Stakes over 7f is the day’s feature with Richard Hannon’s Havana Gold setting the standard for champion jockey-elect Richard Hughes.
Hughes will partner Chil the Kite for Hughie Morrison’s in the Cambridgeshire and the colt has been supported into market leader at 8/1 in Paddy Power’s online betting.
