Anyone that follows La Liga will know who I’m on about when I mention the name Cristian Tello – a 20-year-old forward currently playing for the best football team on earth – FC Barcelona. By the time you have read this article, you’ll be a “Tello Expert”.

Tello celebrates his goal against Real Sociedad in Barcelona's 2-1 win at the Camp Nou last weekend.

The little playmaker, who is filled with confidence, skill, technique and pace, started playing the beautiful game at the age of just 11. Tello joined Espanyol from CF Can Rull in 2008, before making the switch to Barcelona B in June 2010. And what a way he has come as he now finds himself one of the star products of the La Rosia academy.

And it was only November last year when the Spain under-20 international made his debut for the club. Add this to the fact he has bagged 3 goals in 5 appearances for Barcelona this campaign and you understand what all the hype is about.

And the great attribute that Tello possesses, is his wonderful versatility. Not only is he extremely effective cutting in from the left and taking on players by drifting into the middle, but he can also feature up top as a striker. He’s a player that likes to play on the shoulder, using his pace to get onto long balls into the channels. And it was how he scored in Barca’s recent 2-1 win against Real Sociedad, cutting in from the left to make a great run and luckily the excellent Lionel Messi picked him up and he managed to thread the ball into the net.

Plus, he can only improve while he’s playing under the Pep Guardiola, one of the best coaches in the football world. Couple this with the fact he’s going to be playing with the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez regularly, then it’s quite breathtaking just thinking about the development the kid is able to make.

A number of Premier League sides showed interest in the recent transfer window but the Catalan club are determined to keep their star youngster and utilise him as much as possible.

Is he he new Lionel Messi? No. But he’s a very talented individual and is sure to go far in his footballing career.

Cristian’s goal against Sociedad:

Welcome to another WWE Raw result and recap post bringing you the biggest talking points from the latest episode of pro wrestling’s flagship show: WWE February 6 2012.

WWE Raw 2/6/2012

-The show starts with Triple H talking about Undertaker and how he feels sorry for him after what HHH did to him last year – uhh, you mean lose to him and keep his undefeated streak going? Anyways HHH turns down Undertaker’s challenge…for now at least. HHH says to Undertaker that he’s now past his limits and that it’s over.

-Some recorded Undertaker promo responding to Triple H saying ‘its over’ with…wait for it….’it’s not over’. I think it’s pretty lame that Undertaker can’t cut live promos.

-Apparently Laurinaitis is in WWE HQ making a last stand to keep his job at the WWE. I must be one of the few Laurinaitis fans because he’s the best Raw GM since Regal.

-Big Show beats Daniel Bryan by count out. Bryan walks out because Big Show nearly hit AJ by mistake again. Daniel Bryan is great in this position of semi-fake caring for his gf (who he refers to as ‘the woman that loves him’ haha).

-Otunga is seen Tebowing inside the ring in hopes that his boss’ job is saved. I love how ‘drinking coffee’ is the new Vicky’s: ‘Excuse me’ or Cole’s: ‘And I quote’. HHH sets up a match with Shameus and Otunga upon seeing this atrocity in the ring and Sheamus naturally wins rather comfortably.

-Chris Jericho time. The end of the world has arrived he says – because he has made every other performer in the locker room obsolete now that he’s back. He says everyone is a Chris Jericho wanabe, including all the fans in attendance. He blasts all the WWE stars for stealing his ideas with concrete examples and mentions ‘piracy’. He specifically calls out CM Punk for stealing his ‘best in the world’ gimmick. FINALLY.

-CM Punk comes out now to respond. Except he doesn’t, raises the belt in front of Jericho’s face and walks out. They’re playing it slow and calculated instead of full-on trashtalk, and that’s fine by me.

-Randy Orton teams up with…. The Great Khali to face Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes. Khali gives Orton a huge slap across the chest to tag him in, which Orton laughs at because frankly I think Khali overdid it. Khali then tags himself back in just as Orton was about to finish Rhodes. Khali ends up covering Rhodes though for the win. The two winners end up butting heads, and Orton delivers an RKO to the Khali.

-Commentators talking about the Cena/Rock social media feud. I guess when one of your stars isn’t there 99% of the time, that’s as good of a match hype-up as you can get. Almost seems like Twitter was built for the WWE.

-Some Divas tag match with the same bunch of girls as always. Beth Phoenix says she wants to remain the Divas champ forever.

-Laurinaitis is back and is as enthusiastic as ever. Triple H doesn’t seem to happy with him. HBK is coming back next week to make an appearance and probably plug his hunting show again.

-Main event is a six man battle (Punk, Ziggler, Jericho, Miz, R-Truth, Kofi), with first man to get a pinfall or submission having the advantage of going last in the Elimination Chamber match. Jericho spends most of the match pretending to be hurt and watching from close distance and avoiding being hurt. Chris Jericho in the end wins by pinning Ziggler who was GTS’ed by Punk!

-The show ends with Kane harassing Eve and saying that for the first time Kane actually scares…Kane himself.

That wraps up our WWE results and recap show. What did you think of the WWE Raw Feb 6 2012 show? Let us know in the comments.

Super Bowl 2012 takes place this Sunday between the New York Giants vs New England Patriots. You’ll need to tune in to NBC to watch Giants vs Patriots live starting at 6:30 PM ET. Rob Davies wraps up what has been an incredible season with his Patriots vs Giants pick for SuperBowl 2012.

NEW YORK GIANTS  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 

Vegas Line: Giants + 3

Rob’s Line: Giants + 1.5

There is one glaring reality about this rematch of the classic that was Super Bowl XLII in Arizona: the New York Giants are a better team than then and the New England Patriots are a worse team than then. Heck, there’s so many angles to this game that there’s no obvious starting point, suffice to say that the fervour building up to this is palpable and I, for one, cannot get enough of it.

Much has been written about Super Sunday four years ago and how these are now two very diiferent teams. That much is true, but it’s those in the New England corner who want to believe that the most. They’ll have been alarmed at just how tough the Giants have looked when winning on the road in the playoffs in Green Bay and San Francisco, but, that aside, as all sports fans know, they will also have been equally alarmed on the superstition front. This is the Super Bowl, I hear you cry. How can I belittle such an occasion with talk of what you may deem to be nonsense? I’ll tell you why: because this is exactly the type of occasion when the true sports fan clings on to the tiniest of hopes and the dark portents floating around Indianapolis won’t be fitting snugly into the pockets of Patriots fans right now. Let’s take a look at why and it really is quite simple. Almost too simple.

In Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots were deemed to be the home team. They chose to wear their blue ‘home’ uniform. They didn’t meet again until Week 9 of this season, when the Patriots, as the home team, again, naturally, wore blue. In the former game, New England were favoured by twelve. In the latter, they were favoured by nine. On both occasions, Eli Manning won the game for the Giants in the final minute. I wonder how close to temptation Bill Belichick actually came to asking his team to don their white ‘road’ jerseys for this one. If I were a Patriots fan, I’d have been wishing for precisely that. By the way, I should point out here that, as it’s an even numbered Super Bowl, the AFC representative has the choice of which colour to wear and the Patriots have chosen to wear blue again on Sunday.

So, with the ‘nonsense’ out of the way, how about some of the other storylines surrounding this? Quite incredibly, Manning will be playing in a Super Bowl in the home stadium of his older brother, a city that’s been in thrall to Peyton Manning since 1998. And just in case you thought the younger Manning would have the limelight all to himself these past two weeks, it’s coincided with a monumental, and very public, falling out between Peyton and Colts owner Jim Irsay. I shan’t dwell on that here, but it’s a story that refuses to go away and you honestly couldn’t have scripted it better.

Without dwelling on that story, Peyton will be sore at something. Regardless of who wins on Sunday, this is probably the one matchup he didn’t want. Firstly, with New England as the designated home team, they’ll get to use Indianapolis’ locker room on game day. The Colts and Patriots have developed a fantastically fierce playoff rivalry over the last decade and no Colt will be happy at New England gatecrashing Peyton’s place. Now, naturally, Peyton will be cheering on his kid brother all the way, but if the Giants do prevail, Eli will have two rings to Peyton’s one…plus Eli will have gone 2-0 in Super Bowls; Peyton’s 1-1.

Four years ago, the Giants rolled into Arizona with nothing to lose. The Patriots were 18-0 and one more win would have placed them in the company of the ’72 Dolphins as the only teams to have perfect seasons in the modern era. Barely anybody gave the Big Blue a chance, but they seized upon that and the collective proved to be greater than the sum of its parts that day. It was one of the classic Super Bowls and surely it’s too much to ask for something similar this time around. That they played out another classic this season (NY 24-20 after a scoreless first half) has the whole of the football watching universe literally salivating for kickoff. This is inescapably too close to call and the feeling it’s brought ever since Conference Championship weekend came and went is an emotion we’ll miss between next Monday and next September. We’ve never had it so good!

The reason I mention the game four years ago and the attitude of the then underdog is that, despite being underdogs again this year, the Giants are affording the Patriots one heck of an amount of deference. Sure, Justin Tuck is talking up his defensive line and the havoc they can wreak, but there’s a healthy dose of fear and respect on both sides and nobody is looking to tempt fate too much. This is the chess match before the chess match and I think now’s a good time to look at the spread in Vegas.

What is there not to like about New York plus a field goal? As I mentioned earlier, the Giants are a better team than four years ago, the Patriots are worse and the Big Blue have triumphed in their last two meetings as heavy underdogs. There will be both Giants fans and sharp punters alike who will look at this line as akin to buying money and, at first glance, being able to back arguably the better team plus three points looks ridiculous. However, buyer beware. Your can’t lose, won’t lose Giants are up against the double headed genius of Belichick and Tom Brady.

New England’s iconoclastic coach has been surprisingly candid this week and it’s difficult to escape the feeling that he’s enjoying this Super Bowl experience more than the previous four he’s been to as a head coach. Maybe it’s because he realises a couple of home truths and its truths that could play right into his hands. Firstly, despite his team being favoured in Vegas, more than half the money wagered so far has been on the Giants; it’s unlikely he knows this from his own research, but don’t you worry, he would’ve been passed on that particular nugget as a motivational tool. Secondly, he knows how unpopular his team is in this part of the world and when you tag on to that the fact that the entire city will be cheering on Peyton’s kid brother, it practically makes New England the underdog, not something either Belichick or Brady are used to.

Having been the centre of attention four years ago (and with that comes an extraordinary burden, particularly during Super Bowl week), is it any wonder that Belichick epitomises cool right now?

While it may feel as though we’ve never have had it so good, one player that that doesn’t apply to is Rob Gronkowski. He has what was originally termed a “classic” high ankle sprain. I love the description as I’d hate to see what an ordinary one looks like, but whatever the difference may be, it does look as though it’ll keep him from going through one single practice. There’s no danger of him missing the game, but he won’t be anywhere near 100% and that’s a big loss to the Patriots. He will have lost the ability to to turn and cut and you have to wonder how he’ll be used. New England have exuded calmness when it comes to Gronkowski’s status, but I’ll wager it’s been a different story behind closed doors.

OK, let’s take a closer look at the two teams and how they reached Indianapolis.

The Patriots have won their last 10 games in a row, their last loss being the 24-20 reversal to these very same Giants. Here’s a killer stat though: they hadn’t beaten a team with a winning record all season until dispensing with the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. That’s troubling if you’re thinking of asking New England to cover, but one thing in their favour is that, like New York, Baltimore is a tough nut to crack and crack it they did. However, that was on home turf and as I mentioned earlier, due to the unpopularity of New England in this city, this will probably feel akin to a road game for them.

Before beating the Jets on Christmas Eve, the Giants had lost four of their previous five, but, unlike New England, they faced a much tougher schedule, particularly during the middle of the season, succumbing as they did to the 49ers, Eagles, Saints and Packers, consecutive losses that had almost everybody writing them off and at the time it was difficult to disagree with that assessment. The 23-10 home embarrassment to the Redskins in Week 15, that brought the Giants back to 7-7, clearly lit a fire under this team and they knew that, essentially, their playoff run started the very next week with that aforementioned game against the hated Jets.

In hindsight, the Cowboys never stood a chance in the winner takes all, NFC East finale at MetLife Stadium in the last game of the regular season and, including that game and the playoff run, Manning has proved sensational, throwing 11 touchdowns against 1 interception and he faces a New England secondary there for the taking. This unit finished 31st in the league throughout the regular season and it’s almost impossible to gauge how the Patriots are going to stop Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Jake Ballard.

New England lined up receiver Julian Edelman at cornerback against the Ravens, specifically against the slot receiver and that translates to being Cruz on Sunday and if you’re looking for a memorable quote, try this for size. Bob Glauber, of Newsday, said that should that eventuality take place in Super Bowl XLVI, Cruz will “destroy” him.

Vince Wilfork is the heartbeat of New England’s defense and he’s never played better than he is right now. He figures to play a prominent role at defensive tackle stopping New York’s run game, a unit that ranked dead last during the regular season. However, Ahmad Bradshaw has been getting healthier by the week and, teamed with the power that Brandon Jacobs brings, it’s a good one two punch to have as the weaker part of your offense.

Wilfork made huge headlines after his performance against the Ravens, but his defense still gave up an average of 130 rushing yards per game during the playoffs. Wilfork’s play this Sunday is crucial as, should the Patriots be able to force Manning to throw, it allows New England to play more nickel packages…but they will include Edelman. Quite the conundrum for Belichick, but if any coach in the entire NFL is capable of scheming for that, it’s him. In fact, will Belichick even consider a scheme that actually allows the Giants some yards on the ground, thus keeping the ball out of Manning’s hands?

With Gronkowski’s status as it is, a heavier burden will be placed on fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez, but it’s not as though he’s not up to it. He’ll love scrapping for every yard he can and his tussles with Giants linebackers Michael Boley, Chase Blackburn and Mathias Kiwanuka will prove pivotal. In fact, it promises to be pretty crowded over the middle when the Patriots throw the ball as Brady’s favourite target, Wes Welker, will line up in the slot and do what he does best, namely running short slant patterns inside and using his speed to generate yards after the catch. Deion Branch, the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, almost seems to get forgotten in all the talk surrounding Welker, Gronkowski and Hernandez and that’ll suit Belichick, for sure. Branch has previous and shouldn’t be ignored.

The one area of the Giants’ defense receiving the most attention is their defensive line. Forgive me, that’s not quite correct…it’s their pass rush. Four years ago, Brady was terrorised by this group and they’ve only gotten stronger with the addition of second year defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. Sebastian Vollmer looks like returning at right tackle for the Patriots and that can only be good news as they’ll need all the healthy beef they can muster. That’s to take nothing away from rookie Nate Solder though, who’s done a sterling job in Vollmer’s absence, but Brady will have a little more faith in Seb.

How often in Super Bowl history has a team relied on a running game spearheaded by two undrafted backs and a rookie? BenJarvus Green-Ellis is New England’s primary ball carrier, backed up by Stevan Ridley and Danny Woodhead and it’s not a unit that’ll necessarily strike fear into Giant hearts. No, this looks to be a game that will be won and lost through the air and could simply boil down to which quarterback throws the most interceptions. Brady’s thrown three in his last two games, Manning just one in his last four.

Should Pierre-Paul, Tuck and Osi Umenyiora be able to exert enough pressure and get to Brady, we may see him have as patchy a game as he did in the AFC Championship two weeks ago. You would never have been allowed to get away with this as little as seven weeks ago, but I have more faith in Manning this Sunday than I do Brady. Yes, Gronkowski’s status does mitigate Brady, but Manning is simply on fire and playoff road victories in Green Bay and San Francisco have afforded him worship usually reserved for Peyton.

The one beautiful intangible surrounding Brady is his motivation to avenge that Super Bowl XLII loss. The pain of that one goes far deeper than the euphoria of winning his first three Super Bowls and that may see you disagree with my assessment about trusting Manning more. Brady will dig deeper than he ever has and he’ll need to against a team with the utmost belief in itself. I prefer the cold, hard facts being delivered by Manning right now, but I know never to discount what Brady’s capable of accomplishing.

As of Saturday morning, the Giants are still available plus three points, value that’s too good to miss. This promises to be unmissable and I sincerely hope it is.

We are back with the eighteenth week of our Premier League predictions challenge, where our panel of experts give their predictions for each match on the English Premier League calendar. If you need a refresher on who’s taking part in the competition and the rules behind it all, click on the link above to get caught up.

Last Week’s Results
Before we proceed to the Premier League week 24 predictions, let’s take a look at the results from the past matchday. Green highlight represents a correctly guessed match.

Current Standings
Here are the overall standings after week 23 ranked according to money ‘earned’. A three way race between Frisky, Oytun, and Oli continues at the top spot while the bottom half of the table is busy battling each other to avoid the relegation spot.

Week 24 EPL Predictions:
Here below you can find the Barclays Premier League predictions for week 24. The Premier League odds for week 24 have also been included for transparency’s sake.

We’ll be back next week with the Premier League Predictions Challenge week 24 fallout and records of each punter so make sure to stay tuned as we find out whose sporting opinion is REALLY worth listening to.

Super Bowl weekend has historically been a huge weekend for combat sports and it should be no different this year as UFC 143 presents an interim Welterweight fight between Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit.

UFC 143 Preview

The Welterweight division has seen all sorts of shakeup in the past several months with GSP first scheduled to fight Diaz and then Condit. When GSP was seriously hurt and rumored to be out for a long time, the interim title was set-up between these two dynamic fighters.

Diaz and Condit are two of the most exciting fighters in the UFC, and their fight on Saturday should be an absolute war. The two questions that will determine the outcome of the fight is whether Diaz can take the vicious hits handed out by Condit and if not whether THe Natural Born Killer has enough stamina to hang in there for 5 rounds with the master of the Stockton Slap, Nick Diaz.

Also on the card is Josh Koscheck against Mike Pierce in a fight that could potentially decide the next number 1 contender. Rounding out the juicy part of the card is Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum in a fight of two BJJ masters.

Tune in on Saturday to watch UFC 143 live starting at 9PM ET. What are your thoughts on the card, let us know

Despite all the buzz surroudning this year’s football transfer deadline, we didn’t see the usual amount of big movements that we have come to expect. The news that Carlos Tevez would be staying at Manchester City was among the most disappointing proceedings. Let’s have a look at some football transfers that DID go down.

Football Transfers 2012

QPR made a bold push to stay afloat in top flight football by acquiring the services of strikers Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora for 9 million pounds. Tottenham was quite active as they replaced Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko (on loan to Lokomotiv Moscow) for Everton’s French striker Louis Saha. Chelsea looked like they might be strengthening their attacking prowess with the addition of Kevin de Bruyne but he was loaned pack to his former club as soon as he was acquired. Man City didn’t stay entirely quiet during the transfer window, acquiring the services of David Pizzaro on loan from Roma. Liverpool were among the only clubs who did not make ANY chances to their side, despite rumors that Andy Carroll might be on his way out of the club.

No doubt the UEFA Financial Fairplay regulation had an impact on the reduced spending seen this year. What did you think about the football transfers that transpired over January?

Once regarded as one of the top strikers in the world, Carlos Tevez’s status has fast declined over the past few months during his tenure at Manchester City. The Argentinian’s relationship was always shaky at best with current manager Roberto Mancini and took a turn for the worse when he allegedly refused to come on as a substitute in the Champions League match against Bayern Munich. The transfer deadline has passed and Carlos Tevez still remains property of Man City.

Carlos Tevez Transfer Rumors

Tevez was in high demand from top clubs across the continent for a while, and it was expected that Man City would unload on their disgruntled employee. AC Milan were the favorites all along and strong bids were made by the cash-happy PSG as well. In the end none of these deals materialized and Carlos Tevez remains a Man City player.

The former Man United and West Ham striker is currently in his home country and not getting paid. He has admitted that he would like to play in South American but is not confident his parent club would loan him out for such a purpose.

For now the Carlos Tevez Dilemma continues and whether Man City just didn’t like the deals presented to them or just punishing their star player as much as possible remains a point of discussion.

In our on-going analysis of all the major 2012 Super Bowl ads, we continue our analysis today with the Honda CR-V “Matthew’s Day Off” commercial. This 2012 Super Bowl commercial plays homage to the classic movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and is personally one of our favorites.

Super Bowl 2012 Ad: Honda CR-V “Matthew’s Day Off”

The “Matthew’s Day Off” video ad we have provided below is the extended version that sheds more light into this entirely new look at a classic movie from the 80′s. Watch the Super Bowl ad below:

The interesting twist to this homage is that Matthew Broderick (the actor that plays Ferris Bueller) portrays himself in this commerical. Honda have managed to provide an extra easter egg game into this already entertaining ad in which they claim there are 24 different references to the movie. We’ve only managed to spot about one dozen of them, but we’re going to have to watch it over and over again to spot more – which ultimately is quite the accomplishment for an ad.

While fans of the movie would have naturally preferred a sequel to the original classic, they will have to contend with this Honda adaptation, which features among the best Super Bowl commercials of 2012.

We give this Honda CR-V “Matthew’s Day Off” ad 4 stars out of 5. Let us know your thoughts on this 2012 Honda Super Bowl ad in the comments below.

Believe or not, if recent form is anything to go by, it is the home side that should go in as favourites in tonight’s Bolton v Arsenal fixture. The Wanderers have won 3 straight and face an Arsenal side who have lost 3 straight league games – whether this will mean anything, we will have to wait and see.

Will Arsenal lose a fourth straight league match in a row tonight against Bolton?

Bolton v Arsenal

Bolton Team News & Stats

Owen Coyle’s job might not be the safest one in the Premier League, but for sure he’s making a push to not only save his job, but keep his team in top flight football. A recent win over Swansea ensured Bolton remained alive in the FA Cup, and a win against Liverpool last week boosted them out of the bottom 3. New signing Tim Rean is still working out a work permit issue while Ryo Miyachi is ineligible to play against his parent club. Tyrone Mears and Jussi Jaaskelainen are both scheduled to return however.

Arsenal Team News & Stats

Arsenal is currently caught in no man’s land in the Premier League after having lost three matches in a row and standing outside the European spots. They face a host of absentees with injuries to Diaby, Santos, Gibbs, and Wilshere. The positive news for Gunners is that Thierry Henry will be fit to play a part as well as Arteta. Arsenal have beaten Bolton 11 out of the 12 previous meetings so they should be confident to get back to winning ways.

Bolton v Arsenal Betting Odds / Tips and Prediction:

For those looking to bet on Bolton v Arsenal, odds are as follows: Bolton to beat Arsenal odds is priced at 9/2, the draw is given 3/1 while Arsenal to beat Bolton is valued at 8/13. Arsenal must absolutely win this one to have a chance to contend for a Champions League spot – bet on Arsenal to win at 8/13 on Bet365.

Tune in at 20:00 BST on Wednesday to watch Arsenal vs Bolton live. Let us know your Arsenal v Bolton score predictions in the comments below.

Every once in a while, something so spectacular happens in the NBA that everyone, whether NBA fan or not, stops and takes notice. One of those events transpired last night when Blake Griffin posterized Kendrick Perkins like it was NBA Jam and you were playing on easy mode. Some have called it the best dunk of the decade, while others have tried to downplay and went as far as stating it wasn’t even the top dunk of the week (see: LeBron James jumping over John Lucas).

Blake Griffin Dunk On Kendrick Perkins

Regardless of where you place this dunk among the all times greats, it’s definitely worth another look. Watch Blake Griffin’s dunk on Kendrick Perkins in the video below – we’ll wait.

Now we’ve already seen Blake Griffin do ridiculous things. Like the time when he jumped over a car and dunked at the same time. Or the time he made Mozgov wish we were still entrenched in the Cold War and that he had never stepped foot in the USA. But this was different.

First of all, he actually managed to, you know, dunk the ball. You need to make sure your hands touch the rim at some point or it’s just throwing the ball in the hoop – which is impressive as well, but technically not a dunk. Second, and perhaps most important, he dunked over Kendrick Perkins, the second best defensive big man in the NBA, and he did it while Perkins was clearly doing one of those Celtics-patented hard fouls to prevent a dunk. It happened ladies and gentleman, no doubt about it. One of the cleanest and most ruthless poster dunks you will ever see.

What do you all think folks? Is this the best dunk of the decade (presumably since Vince Carter’s dunk over Freddy Weis at the 2000 Olympics)? Sound off your thoughts on this Blake Griffin dunk over Perkins in the comments below.