Once Premier League was all about football; players now a day are having trouble keeping focus on the pitch after another sex scandal have emerged in England. 

Monday, Sunderland midfielder Adam Johnson was arrested and released on bail on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old girl, as well as suspended by the club. Another sex scandal haunts the Premier League.

It's far from the first time a Premier League player is in trouble for playing in the bedroom rather than on the pitch. Through time, we have seen John Terry taking well care of his teammate's wives, Ashley Cole and Olivier Giroud doing anyone else than their (well fit) wives. If we go back to the late 1990's, some will remember (or desperately try to forget) Mark Bosnich and Dwight York being spanked wearing women's clothing. Oh, the Premier League is more than 20 teams and a shit load of money!

And there are much more where that comes from, but do we as fans really need to know what the players are doing outside the pitch? The answer is both yes and no. 

Yes, because as a Premier League star, you are a role model for lots of children and young people around the world following and copying their favorite player. Being a role model means you have to maintain a strong ethic and moral and not put yourself in a spot where your acts can be questioned. That includes adultery and having sex with minors. 

No, because players have a life outside the pitch as well. They should be allowed to live a life outside the media eye, but when you are famous for what you do, you must expect that the press will be keeping a eye on you - constantly. 

The FA has a history of investigating and punishing racial abuse from players. The question is if they should start investigating players when they are involved in cases as harmful as Adam Johnsons. However, in Johnsons case the alleged crime has been committed during his time off, and it can be argued that the FA has nothing to say then. 

One thing is for sure; if the players either need to control their sex life or at least keep it under the media radar. 

Premier League

Villa Park

03-04-2015 @ 19.45 UK

How are the two sites current form?

Sacking Paul Lambert and hiring Tim Sherwood haven't changed anything for Aston Villa, hopelessly struggling at the bottom of the table. The Lions haven't won a Premier League match in 12 tries and need to change the statistic on Tuesday if they want to stay in the Premier League. 

Tony Pulis can do magic with the smaller Premier League teams; first Stoke and now West Bromwich Albion. The Baggies are unbeaten in four consecutive Premier League matches and are still taking part in the FA Cup after a 4-0 win against West Ham United. 

What are the probable line ups?

Nathan Baker, Aly Cissokho and Philipp Senderos are rated doubtful for the match against West Brom while Chris Herd, Libor Kozak and Kieran Richardson are out with injuries. Victor Anichebe, Saido Berahino and Brown Ideye are doubtful for The Baggies.

Guzan

Hutton - Vlaar - Clark - Richardson

Gil - Sánchez - Delph

Agbonlahor - Benteke - Sinclair

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Ideye

McManaman - Berahino - Gardner

Fletcher - Yacob

Brunt - Lescott - McAuley - Dawson

Foster

Worth keeping an eye on

Aston Villa - Ron Vlaar: The Dutch defender is the key player for the Lions' defend, and he will be crucial against the West Bromwich attack with Ideye and Berahino as the biggest threat.

West Bromwich Albion - Saido Berahino: The English U21 International shines for West Bromwich Albion this season and is currently 7th on the top scorer list in the Premier League. Great Dane Football Blog is not the only one keeping an eye on this talent.

What to expect from this match?

Things have to change for Aston Villa at some point; but not against West Bromwich. Tony Pulis' men are flying sky high at the moment, and it is hard to see the Lions taking them down from the clouds. Villa are playing without confidence while the Baggies are full of it; a safe victory to West Bromwich.

What are the odds?

Aston Villa: 7/4 (Spreadex)

Draw: 11/5 (Betfred)

West Bromwich Albion: 21/10 (Bet365)

Premier League

KC Stadium

10-02-2014 @ 19.45 UK

How are the two sides form?

What are the probable line-ups?

Hull City are without James Chester, Mohamed Diamé, Liam Rosenior and Robert Snodgrass for the Aston Villa match. Villas injury list have been shortened the last month with only Libor Kozak and Philippe Senderos left. 

McGregor

Dawson - Bruce - McShane

Elmohamady - Huddlestone - Livermore - Mayler

Ramirez - Brady

Aluko

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Weimann - Agbonlahor - Gill

Delph - Westwood - Cleverley

Cissokho - Clark - Okore - Hutton

Guzan

Worth keeping an eye on

Hull City - Ahmed Elmohamady: The Egyptian International have developed to become one of the most important players for Steve Bruces Hull. The midfielder currently plays as a wingback and has impressed the last couple of matches. His clever play and ability to read the game will be crucial against Villas pacy strikers. 

Aston Villa - Gabby Agbonlahor: The pacy striker is back for Aston Villa and will make an impact on a struggling team. In a time where Christian Benteke is playing way under his normal standards alot of pressure is resting on Agbonlahors shoulders. 

What to expect from this match?

Hull managed to get a point against Manchester City while Aston Villa scored their first goal, for a long time, against Chelsea lost 2-1 in the end. Paul Lamberts job is on the line and a loss against Hull could be the end of his reign. Steve Bruce will be hoping to build on his draw against Manchester City and take a win against Aston Villa to bring his side out of the relegation zone. Despite Hull home statistics we can expect them to be the dominating side and take all three points against Aston Villa.

What are the odds?

Hull City: 13/10 (BET365)

Draw: 9/4 (Betfred)

Aston Villa: 14/5 (BetVictor)

 

Premier League

White Hart Lane

Sergio Ramos wants it, no British-based player seems to be any near it, and a German goalkeeper almost had it; Ballon d'Or is only for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Since 2010, Ballon d'Or has had Messi and Ronaldo written all over it, and it seems no one can get near the trophy as long as the two players are active. But are Ronaldo and Messi really the best players in the world? The question is raised every year.

This year Manuel Neuer was in the run for the title, but the keeper lacks something the two other players are masters at - scoring goals. It seems that in order to win Ballon d'Or you have to be a goalscorer. The last non-attacking player, which won the price, was Fabio Cannavaro back in 2006, and before Cannavaro, we have to go back to 1996 to find the defensive midfielder Matthias Sammer. Sergio Ramos announced that the title is as a goal for his career, but the trophy is arguably only for attacking players. 

There is no doubt that Ronaldo and Messi are two important players for their respective teams, but are they really as decisive as Manuel Neuer is for Bayern Munich? Real Madrid has an overflow of talented wingers and attackers - with Ronaldo as the best - but still a team of strong individual players who can create and finish matches all by themselves. The same applies for Messi and Barcelona. However, in Neuer Munich has a world class goalkeeper who contributes to the play as a sweeper and creates the game from his part of the pitch. Is is a wonder to me why the best goalkeeper in the world could not win the title. 

It seems that when the captains of the worlds national teams vote for their favorite of the three nominated players, they look at how much the player contributes in the last third part of the pitch and not in the first. It is a shame, isn't it?

As long as Ronaldo and Messi are active, no defensive player will ever get the chance of winning the Ballon d'Or... Sorry for the bad news Sergio!

Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley FC

FA Cup 3rd Round, 2. leg

White Hart Lane

14-01-2014 @ 20.00 UK

How are the two sides form?

What are the probable line ups?

Nabil Bentaleb is away on African Nations Cup duty while Ryan Mason and Erik Lamela are doubtful for the match. Burnley goes into this match without Stephen Ward and Kevin Long while Michael Duff and Jason Shackell are doubtful.

Lloris

Walker - Fazio - Vertonghen - Rose

Dembele - Stambouli

Townsend - Eriksen - Chadli

Kane

___________________________

Ings

Barnes

Boyd - Marney - Jones - Arfield

Mee - Shackell - Keane - Trippier

Heaton

Worth keeping an eye on

Tottenham Hotspur - Harry Kane: The 21-year old striker is a true Spurs wonderkid. Not many had expected him to have a season like this, and he can be a decisive player for Tottenham against Burnley.

Burnley - Dean Marney: The former Spurs midfielder is an important part of Burnleys midfield. Marney is a typical box-to-box midfielder and his defensive work will be important against a strong Spurs attack.

What to expect from this match?

Tottenham was the best team on the pitch at Turf Moor but had to settle with a draw. Spurs' attack is deadly at the moment, and they will be a challenge for the Burnley defends; Chadli, Eriksen, and Townsend can win this match alone. However, the first match showed that Burnley is a team that keeps fighting and with the spirit they have shown the past week, they can surprise Spurs and move on to the 4th round.

What are the odds?

Tottenham Hotspur: 1/2 (WilliamHill)

Draw: 19/5 (BETVICTOR)

Burnley FC: 7 (Bet365)

Newcastle United are on the hunt for a new manager and Tottenham is looking to buy an Aston Villa legend. Here are the Thursday Transfer Rumours!

Liverpool have made an approach for Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri at a fee of £19m and a 3£m approach for Fiorentina keeper Neto (The Mirror) - Probability: High

Julian Draxler is a target for Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini (Daily Star) - Probability: Low

Chelsea and Manchester United face a £21m price tag for Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane (Daily Express) - Probability: Medium

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could leave the club for £25m (The Sun) - Probability: High

Glen Hoddle is thought to be one of the candidates for the Newcastle job (Newcastle Chronicle) - Probability: Medium

But Frank de Boer is the top target to take over as head coach (The Mirror) - Probability: Low

Fabian Delph is a target for Tottenham offering Villa £3m for the midfielder (The Mirror) - Probability: High

At the same time Paul Lambert is targeting a £2.5m swoop for Manchester City winger Scott Sinclair (Daily Express) - Probability: High

Arsenal target Winston Reid has already agreed to leave West Ham for a Premier League club, according to Sam Allardyce (The Mirror) - Probability: High

Sunderland are plotting an £8m swoop for Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk (Daily Mail) - Probability: High

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has hinted a shock move to Chelsea by following the club on Instagram (The Mirror) - Probability: Low

Chelsea are ready to offer former England defender Micah Richards a contract this summer (The Guardian) - Probability: Medium

West Ham are interested in Atletico Madrid midfielder Mario Suarez (The Daily Mail) - Probability: Low

Liverpool wants James Milner of Manchester City when his contract expires at the end of the season (The Times) - Probability: Medium

Arsenal have been lined with a move for Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech in the summer (The Telegraph) - Probability: Low

The Christmas and New Year have been hard to some of the Premier League managers; Alan Irvine

All football managers dreams of one day being in charge of a Premier League side, but coaching in the Premier League seems to be limited to a certain group of men. As a matter of fact, the clubs often hire managers with a background in other Premier League clubs. A look on the current 20 managers in the league only seven have not been managing another Premier League club, including Newcastle interim manager John Carver.

Tony Pulis has taken over from Alan Irvine in West Bromwich - that's his  seventh spell in a Premier League club, two of them in Stoke. Just after him are Harry Redknapp and Sam Allardyce - two other long time serving PL managers. 

When comparing the clubs, it is worth noticing that the top sides all have foreign managers with no more than two or three Premier League clubs on their resume. Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman have experience from some of the best leagues in the world before joining the Premier League while Arsene Wenger has been in Arsenal for a decade. But it is worth noticing that the clubs considered to be the best in the league all are managed by a foreign manager, while clubs as West Bromwich Albion, Stoke, West Ham and QPR all have managers with long experience from other Premier League clubs. 

Could it be a sign that the British managers are not following the evolution of football? It seems so as the foreign managers contribute to the development of the league and are in charge of the best clubs. However, the foreign managers are most in charge of clubs with money and success and perhaps not the best in the business when it comes to saving lives. Let's take a look at Tony Pulis again - last season he was brought in to save Crystal Palace and managed to do so. This season he is brought in to save West Bromwich Albion and might just do so. The British managers style might be old and out of date, but it works time and time again when needed.

But, by the end of the day the Premier League is a league of rotation between the managers. A closed club for a limited number of persons why it is so hard for new managers to come in. But, if the lower- and midtable teams wants to mingle with the top new faces is needed. 

English Premier League

Liberty Stadium

10-01-2014 @ 15.00 GMT

How are the two sides current form?