Fabregas is back to help Arsenal beat Bolton 2-0

Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas produced an impressive display on his return from injury as the Gunners won 2-0 at Bolton.

The Spain midfielder, who missed three matches with a hamstring injury, scored his 10th league goal of the season in the 28th minute after a neat one-two with Eduardo.

His surging run then led to substitute Fran Merida scoring the second 12 minutes from time as former Wanderers' player Coyle's reign got off to a losing start

Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham
Aston Villa failed to cash in on slip-ups by the group challenging for the 4th Champions League spot drawing 0-0 with West Ham.

Manchester City - beaten at Everton - and Tottenham, held at home by Hull, both dropped points on Saturday.

But a combination of a below-par performance and some fine saves by Robert Green meant Aston Villa had to settle for their first goalless draw of the campaign in the top flight.

Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Fulham
Blackburn grabbed their first Premier League win since November as they beat Fulham 2-0 at Ewood Park.

Chris Samba's was in the right place to deflect home an attempted clearance by former Rover Damien Duff after Benni McCarthy's corner caused havoc in the visitors' box in the 24th minute.

Captain Ryan Nelsen headed a 54th-minute second while Fulham had few moments to savour - the best coming from Clint Dempsey with an overhead kick which struck the bar.

Top 10 Standings in the English Premier League

Pl  GD Pts 
 1 Chelsea     21 +34  48 
 2 Man Utd     22 +30  47 
 3 Arsenal     21 +32  45 
 4 Tottenham   21 +20  38 
 5 Man City    21 +12  38 
 6 Aston Villa 21 +11  36 
 7 Liverpool   21 +12  34 
 8 Birmingham  21  +2  33 
 9 Fulham      21  +2  27 
10 Everton     21  -4  26 

Stumble It!

Manchester City beat Blackburn 4-1 to move into fourth spot

Carlos Tevez grabbed a hat-trick to move Manchester City into fourth place in the Premier League following a commanding 4-1 victory over Blackburn.

Tevez put City in front from close range in the seventh minute before Micah Richards doubled the lead after a powerful 50-yard surge on 39 minutes.

Tevez extended the lead after the break with a stunning 20-yard finish.

Blackburn pulled a goal back through Morten Gamst Pedersen before Tevez added his third with a superb finish.

Premier League Top Six

Team          Pl  GD PTS 
1 Chelsea     20 +29  45 
2 Man Utd     21 +27  44 
3 Arsenal     20 +30  42 
4 Man City    20 +14  38 
5 Tottenham   20 +20  37 
6 Aston Villa 20 +11  35

Stumble It!

Manchester Utd 2-0 Blackburn - United stay second with workman-like win

Goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney saw Manchester United overcome Blackburn 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Berbatov made the breakthrough with a neat volley in the 55th minute and Rooney sewed the points up two minutes from time.

United should have extended the scoreline but substitute Gabriel Obertan missed two sitters on his league debut.

GOALS :
55' [1 - 0] D. Berbatov
87' [2 - 0] W. Rooney

Stumble It!

West Brom, Stoke and Middlesbrough all odds-on to be relegated

While the Premier League title looks done and dusted (despite Liverpool's stunning 4-1 win at Old Trafford on the weekend) the battle at the other end is attracting plenty of betting attention.

Stoke lost 3-1 at Everton and are in 18th spot, Middlesbrough needed a late Marlon King goal to earn a 1-1 home draw against Portsmouth but sit 19th, while the Baggies are away at West Ham on Monday and are rooted at the foot of the table.

As a result Middlesbrough are now 3rd favourites at evens (2.00) at Paddy Power for the drop while Stoke are second favourites for relegation at 10/11 (1.91) at Bet365.

West Brom seem doomed, and the best price is just 1/10 (1.10) at PaddyPower ahead of the Monday night game.

If you are looking at teams outside the bottom three to become entangled in the battle then there are some good prices available.


Newcastle are only clear of relegation by goal difference and are at 15/8 (2.88) at PaddyPower while Portsmouth are in the same situation and are priced at 10/3 (4.33) at VCBet.

Blackburn lost 4-0 at Arsenal on Saturday and have significant injury woes, and are just one point clear, making the 6/1 (7.00) at VCBet quite appealing.

Sunderland are only three points clear of the drop zone after losing to Wigan at the Stadium of Light and are priced at 15/2 (8.50) at PaddyPower

Stumble It!

Transfer window opens - what do the Premier League managers say?

The January transfer window opens on New Year's Day, giving clubs their first opportunity to buy or sell players since the end of August.

Most Premier League managers have already had their say over how they see the next month going:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:
"Although we are not close to signing anyone at the moment, if we do buy I think what we need is maybe someone with a bit of experience. I need a creative midfielder and eventually another midfielder, because we are short.

"We already have many young players so, if we buy, it will be somebody who is ready to play straight away. A loan deal could also be a possibility. What we might need is someone who can create a little spark."

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill:
"We are definitely looking at trying to do something if it is at all possible."

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:
"I'm also more focused on getting players in rather than players out. Certainly my focus over the last two days has been speaking to the chairman about that. We're both going to go out and try and improve our squad as quickly as possible."

Chelsea manager Luiz Filipe Scolari :
"I knew that it's a different time for Chelsea but, if we suffer more injuries, the board understand that I'll need one or two players to replace some [injured] players. They understand this. "

"If, on the other hand, the players are in good condition and there are no more injuries, I think it's maximum one player they'll replace because we need one more. Only one. A striker."

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez :
"It will be difficult to bring anyone in January because we have a good squad. To bring in anyone better than what we've got isn't easy and could be expensive."

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes:
"I think everyone understands there are certain areas of the squad which need strengthening and we will look to address those in the window."

"We are looking to bring good quality players to the club to help our situation and make sure that the club is moving forward in the future. There is no guarantee how many of those players we will be able to bring to the club. It is clear from everyone's point of view that we do need help."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson :
"I do not think there will be any January transfers, I am happy with what I have got.
"We are probably going to bring back a couple of young players who have been on loan. That may just give us extra protection. "

"We took 23 players to Japan (for the Club World Cup) and they are substantial players. I would be happy to play any one of them."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp :
"If could find a wide-left player I would like to get one. That and a frontman would be the priority."

"I think Portsmouth have had a massive offer from somebody for Jermain Defoe, so good luck to them - I paid about £9m when I signed him. He is a good player but we're not going to pay over the top for anyone."

"I like Stewart Downing but I don't know whether Middlesbrough want to sell him."

Stumble It!

Pre-season results : Crouch scores in Pompey win - Blackburn lose in Austria

New signing Peter Crouch scored his first goals for Portsmouth in Monday night's 4-1 friendly victory over manager Harry Redknapp's former club Bournemouth.

Sulley Muntari grabbed the only goal of the first half in the 23rd minute before Crouch scored twice, tucking in his first following a free-kick before heading in his second and Pompey's third.

Jermaine Defoe also got on the scoresheet with the visitors' fourth while Brett Pitman grabbed an 80th-minute consolation for the Cherries.

The only negative for Redknapp was a thigh injury sustained by another new signing, Glen Little.

---------------------

Blackburn Rovers crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Bundesliga newcomers TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in a friendly in Austria.

After a goalless first half, which saw Morten Gamst Pedersen pick up an injury, Rovers boss Paul Ince made a host of substitutions with Robbie Fowler coming on for his Rovers debut.

And it was Hoffenheim who took the lead six minutes into the second half when Christoph Janker followed up after Jason Brown saved a header.

Benni McCarthy's 63rd-minute volley drew Rovers level but two minutes later Matthias Jaissle's header just squeezed beyond Brown to give the Germans the lead again.

And in the final minute Janker grabbed his second to ensure victory for Hoffenheim.

Stumble It!