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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 AUGUST 2014 Sport 23 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Mainly Sunny VISIBILITY: Good WIND: Partly cloudy becoming locally partly to rather cloudy at first and overnight, and with variable amounts of high clouds. SEA: Moderate becoming slight to moderate SWELL: Negligible becoming low Southerly SEA TEMP: 27 °C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 31 º C / 24 º C UV INDEX: 8 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits OPINION Across 1. Tries hard (7) 5. Extinguished (7) 9. Comrade (3) 10. Big (5) 11. Academy award (5) 12. Move from side to side (3) 13. Make an accusation (6) 16. Lethal (6) 19. Floating ice (4) 21. Member of Indian sect (4) 23. Journey (4) 24. Capital (5-4) 25. Old Indian coin (4) 26. Island in central Hawaii (4) 27. Snug (4) 28. Robbery at sea (6) 31. Names (6) 35. Water closet (3) 37. Italian composer (5) 38. Watery fruit (5) 39. Sum charged (3) 40. Recover (7) 41. A person nominated (7) D OWN 1. Brazilian ballroom dance (5) 2. Souvenir (5) 3. Infectious agent (5) 4. Vomit (4) 5. Long, laborious work (4) 6. Aunt's husband (5) 7. Uncovered (5) 8. Pet term for dog (5) 14. Dry red table wine of Italy (7) 15. City in S Argentina (7) 16. Postpone (5) 17. Try (7) 18. Unhurried ease (7) 20. Songbirds (5) 22. Piquant (5) 28. Stage items (5) 29. Make merry (5) 30. About (5) 32. Religion of the Muslims (5) 33. Russian revolutionary leader (5) 34. Hog (5) 35. Animate existence (4) 36. Augury (4) THE very first league table might well resemble the one that counts in May. Favourites Chelsea lead Manchester City, with Liverpool and Arsenal fol- lowing. A win for last season's top four, another mundane defeat for Manches- ter United. Those ten games last weekend gave us plenty to ponder, particularly if we shift our focus across to Old Trafford where a limp United were undone by Swansea, with manager Garry Monk proving his own doubters wrong. It was the first opening defeat at home for Man United since 1972 and that is a record new manager Louis van Gaal did not want. The defeat had frighten- ing similarities to last season. Even us- ing Juan Mata in the right role did not suffice and sadly for Fellaini, the per- formance nose dived as soon as he was introduced for new boy Ander Herre- ra. Caught ball watching. The Belgian simply does not have the speed and reactions to work at this level. Things will get better for the Reds particularly as talk of new signings is rife. A defeat might just blast open the cheque book and the news yes- terday was that Argentine defender Rojo secured his dream move to Old Trafford. One defender in, plenty to go. The squad is still unbalanced but at last van Gaal can start to make his mark. This season might just be an- other period of transition at United, but one thing is for certain: they can- not afford to miss out on the top four. Gary Neville summed up United's transfer activity over the last two seasons wonderfully: they were the highest spenders in Europe, bar PSG, bringing in the likes of Zaha, Mata, Herrera, Fellaini and Shaw when that £132.5 million could have used to bring in better likes of Ronaldo, Bale, Fabregas and Felipe Luis. It is those types of players that United need, not panic buying other clubs' leftovers and hoping it clicks into place. Chelsea's spending on the other hand has been wise with Cesc himself playing a wonderful pass for their sec- ond goal on Monday night. His com- posure throughout the game is exactly what the club needs and truth be told I can see them run away with the league title already. In my eyes Arsenal too looked like a new squad. Their new signings have brought a buzz around the side and can prove vital for a title charge. Typi- cally, however, Arsenal started well with a win, however you always get the sense that they might just run out of steam once more. They beat Crystal Palace through a late Aaron Ramsey winner, a team in their own mess after Tony Pulis' preseason dash for the ex- its. If they are to stay up, Palace must keep his template and try their best to replicate it as he was not voted man- ager of the Year last season for noth- ing. Pulis in my eyes is a tactical gen- ius, particularly when working with smaller clubs looking to punch above their weight. If history does repeat itself, Liverpool might also be in its firing line. A testing challenge against Southampton, a brand new squad fol- lowing the summer exodus to Anfield itself should not have been hard work. Three points were bagged and it was entertaining. The usual problem of be- ing excellent upfront, but very fragile at the back, with Southampton weigh- ing in well with a few heavy punches. Brendan Rodgers has asked for a new striker, however I feel it is wing backs the club needs with Glen Johnson still a regular for some reason or another. Shifting our focus my weekend war- rior award has to go to Aston Villa, who despite my early concerns looked like good value. Their free summer signings have brought more balance to a youthful squad and what grabbed my attention was the fans chanting Roy Keane's name. His influence can be key and in this way Martin O'Neill's two masterminds are now in control at Villa. Needless to state O'Neill's in- fluence on Lambert as he was captain at Celtic under Martin O'Neill. Villa went on to beat Stoke 1-0 at the Brit- tannia to get those early points on the board, against a team that did the dou- ble over them last season. Things are certainly looking up for Aston Villa. Naturally for all clubs involved it is still day one, and as van Gaal said: you are not champions after just one game. The last two weeks of August will see plenty of changes due to the transfer window creeping to a close and more late business for United seems under- way. Not the ideal way to start a new season at all. Mark Strijbosch Opening day conclusions Rf1+ Kg6 Rf6+ Kh5 Qh7+ Kg4 h3# (Qg6#, Qf5#) Manchester United started the new season with a defeat