The Last Word - Sports Blog (Sean Simara)

Championship  1. Fulham 2. Cardiff City 3. Bristol City 4. Leeds 5. WBA 6. Blackburn Rovers 7. Nottingham Forest 8. Preston Relegated  Reading Birmingham  Charlton  League One 1. Peterborough  2. Ipswich 3. Sunderland 4. Portsmouth  5. Doncaster  6. Bristol Rovers 7. Burton 8. MK Dons Relegated Bury Bolton Tranmere Southend League Two 1. Mansfield 2. Northampton  3. Scunthorpe United 4. Newport 5. Salford 6. Colchester United 7. Bradford 8  Walsall Relegated Macclesfield Crawley

Super Bowl weekend is upon us once again as the New England Patriots face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. One team seem to always get there while the other is a breath of fresh air. For that reason the 'neutral' fans will be cheering on The Eagles probably because they just simple don't want to see a smug Tom Brady winning a 6th Lombardi Trophy. The Patriots with Bill and Tom pretty much done what was expected with a record of 13-3 in the regular season. They saw off the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars in the post season, which included an impressive 4th quarter come-back against the Jags. The dynasty between Bilichick and Brady didn't really have anything more to prove, but there's no doubt they would want to add another ring to the collection. The Philadelphia Eagle are slightly different and are searching for their first Super Bowl victory. They flew through the NFC East and had a regular season record of 13-3. Eagles the...

Here's my picks for the NFL Wild Card Weekend. Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs The first wild card match up of the weekend. I will roll with Alex Smith and the home team. Chiefs are just the better football team and should take this one. Tennessee Titans     21 Kansas City Chiefs   30 Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars If the Bills' Running Back LeSean McCoy pulls the Bills win. He is currently day to day off the back of a ankle injury. Jaguars do have a mean defence though and love to get at the Quarter-Back. A tight one but I'm going with Buffalo who are in their first play off for a very very long time. Buffalo Bills               21 Jacksonville Jaguars   20 Atlanta Falcons at LA Rams  Atlanta were the butt of all jokes for their Super Bowl collapse, the steps to redemption I feel will fall at the first play off hurdle. The LA Rams are young and exciting ad I expect them to p...

Only a few changes they have it pretty much right. There's a clear La Liga love in though so I also have a non La Liga side thrown in.   WINNING TEAM Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon (ITA/Juventus) Defenders: Dani Alves (BRA/Juventus/Paris Saint-Germain), Leonardo Bonucci (ITA/Juventus/AC Milan), Sergio Ramos (ESP/Real Madrid), Marcelo (BRA/Real Madrid) Midfielders: Andres Iniesta (ESP/Barcelona), Toni Kroos (GER/Real Madrid), Luka Modric (CRO/Real Madrid) Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona), Neymar (BRA/FC Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain) MY TEAM  Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon (ITA/Juventus) Defenders: Dani Alves (BRA/Juventus/Paris Saint-Germain), Leonardo Bonucci (ITA/Juventus/AC Milan), Sergio Ramos (ESP/Real Madrid), Marcelo (BRA/Real Madrid) Midfielders: N'Golo Kante (FRA / Chelsea) Isco (SPA/Real Madrid), Luka Modric (CRO/Real Madrid) Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (ARG/Barc...

The debate of he's a world class striker rumbles on across Europe. What makes a world class striker? Winning titles, doing it for your country? Dragging your team single handed through a tournament? There's many factors that all play a role. I have made a list of the top 4 strikers  /  forwards across the top 5 leagues in Europe. Some rouge wingers might slip in but picking just 4 is head enough. Ranking them World Class - WC. Knocking on the door of world class - KOD. Quality Player - QP. And last in Harry Redknapp style Top Top Player - TTP. England Harry Kane - KOD Sergio Aguero - KOD Romelu Lukaku - QP Alexis Sanchez - KOD Spain Lionel Messi - WC Cristiano Ronaldo - WC Antoine Griezmann - KOD Gareth Bale - KOD France Radamel Falcao - KOD Edinson Cavani - QP Kylian M'Bappe - QP Neymar - KOD Italy Paulo Dybala - KOD Dries Mertens - QP Mauro Icardi - TTP Gonzalo Higuain - QP Germany Robert Lewandowski - KOD...

Some NFL picks and a very early Super Bowl prediction: AFC EAST - New England Patriots AFC SOUTH - Houston Texans AFC NORTH - Pittsburgh Steelers AFC WEST - Oakland Raiders  NFC SOUTH - Atlanta Falcons  NFC EAST - NY Giants NFC WEST - Arizona Cardinals  NFC NORTH - Green Bay Packers SUPERBOWL WINNERS - Pittsburgh Steelers 

1. Manchester United Well if ever there was a manager who gets it right in the second season its Jose. Now he did land United 2 cups and Champions League football which was the aim last season. The league form was pretty dire and must improve should improve and I think will improve. I pick them just to pip City as they actually have some players who will defend. It’s looking like United will be very physical and most of the squad is around 6ft tall. They will bully their way to the league title it might be glamorous all the time, but they will. Key Man – Romelu Lukaku filling Zlatan’s big boots now, we know he can do it in the Premier League. However against the big teams does he go missing? We will see this season, the Belgian will also be tested in the Champions League.  2. Manchester City Pep went out and spent over £100m on full backs, yes just full backs. Going forward City are the best in the league Sterling, Sane, De Bruyne, Jesus. I mean Aguero might not even be h...