Arsenal go top with win, Liverpool improve top four chances

Arsenal 4-2 Bolton
Arsenal stormed to the top of the Barclays Premier League as they came from behind to beat Bolton 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium.

Owen Coyle's men - beaten 2-0 by the Gunners on Sunday - took a shock lead after seven minutes through Gary Cahill and Matthew Taylor then doubled the advantage from the penalty spot.

However, Arsene Wenger's young side showed the character of champions to rally before half-time through Tomas Rosicky's strike.

And after Cesc Fabregas netted a controversial equaliser in the 52nd minute, goals from Thomas Vermaelen and Andrey Arshavin ensured the Gunners moved above Chelsea on goal difference.

Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham
Dirk Kuyt's double strike injected new life into Liverpool's stuttering Barclays Premier League campaign as it secured a 2-0 victory over Tottenham.

The Holland international fired home in the sixth minute from the edge of the area and then converted a twice-taken penalty in second-half injury time.

Victory lifted the Reds to within one point of fourth-placed Spurs and eased the pressure on manager Rafael Benitez after early exits from the Champions League and FA Cup.

TOP OF THE TABLE IN ENGLAND

Team        Pl GD  PTS 
1 Arsenal     22 +34  48 
2 Chelsea     21 +34  48 
3 Man Utd     22 +30  47 
4 Tottenham   22 +18  38 
5 Man City    21 +12  38 
6 Liverpool   22 +14  37 
7 Aston Villa 21 +11  36 
8 Birmingham  21  +2  33

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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 

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Mark Hughes initial favourite for vacant Bolton Wanderers managers job

Mark Hughes is the opening favourite with Paddy Power to be the next Bolton manager following Gary Megson’s sacking today.

Hughes is 11/4 for a quick return to management following his recent exit at Manchester City with Alan Curbishley the next name in the frame at 6/1.

Other out of work managers seen as possible contenders include Paul Jewell and Darren Ferguson both at 13/2 with Steve Coppell, Kevin Keegan and Gareth Southgate at 14s, 16s and 20s, respectively. Former Bolton players Gary Speed and Peter Reid are 28/1 and 40/1.

Paddy Power, said: "Hughes is the favourite for a quick return to the Premier League but is it a job that is going to attract him after the millions he had at his disposal at Man City?

It may be that the likes of Alan Curbishley and Gary Speed are picked up by punters as more fitting of the Bolton mould.

One thing is for sure, this market is going to see some ups and downs over the next few days as managers rule themselves in or out."

UPDATE :
Paul Jewell has stormed into favouritism at 11/4 (3.75), with Peter Reid now second at 13/2 (5.50). Mark Hughes is now 3rd favourite at 6/1 (7.00)

Next Permanent Bolton Manager Betting

11/4 Jewell (from 13/2)
13/2 Reid (from 40/1)
6/1 Hughes (from 11/4)
9/1 D Ferguson (from 13/2)
10/1 Curbishley (from 6/1)

(see all the latest Bolton Wanderers Next Manager Betting odds at Paddy Power)

Relegation Latest

2/5 Hull
5/13 Portsmouth
Evs Burnley
11/10 Wolves
13/5 West Ham
3/1 Bolton
9/2 Wigan
7/1 Bar

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Gary Megson sacked as manager of Bolton Wanderers

Gary Megson has finally been sacked as manager of Bolton Wanderers - as the club continues to struggle against relegation.

Bolton fans have disliked Megson from the moment he was chosen to replace Sammy Lee just over two years ago. Indeed, there were even anti-Megson demonstrations ahead of his first game in charge, a UEFA Cup tie against Sporting Braga.

It seems they preferred the negative but effective football of Sam Allardyce who had taken Bolton to a Carling Cup final and subsequent European football in the UEFA Cup.

That ill-feeling continued right though to his last game in charge, against Hull on Tuesday night, when a controversial decision to replace goalscorer Ivan Klasnic was followed by an equalising goal from the visitors that ultimately proved to be the last milestone of Megson's time in charge.

Chief executive Phil Gartside knew that situation was unsustainable over the long-term and, after tossing away a two-goal lead at the Reebok Stadium last night, has decided to act.

Megson becomes the third Premier League boss to lose his job this season, and the second in less than a fortnight following Mark Hughes' exit from Manchester City.

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Bolton 0-4 Chelsea - Blues stay top with comprehensive win

Chelsea remain two points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a second 4-0 win of the week over Bolton.

Carlo Ancelotti's side did not have things all their own way this afternoon but they took a decisive lead just before half-time through Frank Lampard's penalty after Jlloyd Samuel saw red for his challenge on Didier Drogba.

Deco netted the second on the hour mark and Zat Knight scored an own goal before Drogba completed the scoring in injury time.

GOALS
45' [0 - 1] F. Lampard (pen.)
61' [0 - 2] Deco
83' [0 - 3] Z. Knight (o.g.)
90' [0 - 4] D. Drogba

RED CARDS :
45' J. Samuel

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Brazilian World Cup winner trials with Bolton Wanderers

Bolton have given Brazilian World Cup winner Denilson a trial.

Bolton boss Gary Megson will take a look at the 31-year-old, who is a free agent after being released by Brazilian club Palmeiras. Denilson became the world's most expensive player when he moved to Real Betis from Sao Paulo in 1998 for £21.5m.

Denilson spent seven seasons in Spain before spells at Bordeaux, followed by Al-Nasr and then FC Dallas.

He has won 68 caps for his country and was part of the Brazil squad that won the 2002 World Cup beating Germany 2-0 in the final.

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EPL : Chelsea 1-1 Bolton - disappointment and injury gives Chelsea the blues

The afternoon began in hope for Chelsea but ended in disappointment for Chelsea as they failed to snatch the Premier league title.

Andriy Shevchenko's second-half strike was cancelled out by Kevin Davies' added-time leveller but the Blues were also left reeling from the loss of captain John Terry with shoulder injury in the first half.

The England defender was stretchered off after clashing with team-mate Petr Cech and Bolton striker Davies and could be out of next week's Champions League final against Manchester United in Moscow.

The Blues captain received lengthy treatment on the pitch before he was replaced by right-back Juliano Belletti and early reports suggested he had partially dislocated his shoulder.

But in the seventh minute, the title-chasers should have gone in front when Michael Ballack's low cross from the left found Didier Drogba at the far post - but he shot high and wide of the target.

Chelsea continued to push for an opening goal but found Bolton a tough test and Matthew Taylor underlined the threat the visitors posed at the other end when he fired a 30-yard drive just wide of Cech's left-hand upright.

The news of Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty at Wigan left the home fans subdued and Terry's loss had clearly unsettled Avram Grant's side. Chelsea's frustration was growing but Bolton's rearguard refused to buckle.

In an effort to re-ignite their title push, Grant replaced Claude Makelele with Shevchenko at the start of the second half.

The move was clearly designed to put more pressure on the Bolton defence and in the 46th minute Florent Malouda almost broke the deadlock. The French winger let fly with a volley from fully 25-yards which Al Habsi tipped against the crossbar.

Seconds later, Joe Cole got to the touchline and pulled the back for Malouda to try his luck again but this time his effort was deflected to safety.

The deadlock was finally broken moments when Lampard's shot was turned home by the alert substitute Shevchenko.

Bolton almost grabbed an equaliser when a Davies header came down off the crossbar and Ashley Cole cleared the ball off the line after it hit Stelios Giannakopoulos.

But the Chelsea fans realised it was not going to be their day when news of United's second goal from Ryan Giggs spread around the stadium.

And disaappintment was complete in the dying seconds when Taylor shot through a crowded area to level the scores and end Chelsea's hopes for good.

Chelsea 1-1 Bolton Wanderers
62 [1 - 0] A. Shevchenko
90 [1 - 1] K. Davies

VIDEO LINK :
Chelsea 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

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EPL Relegation battle will go to the final day.

Fulham have climbed out of the drop zone for the first time this year setting up a tense final day for three clubs hovering around the relegation zone.

Fulham who fought back from 2-0 behind to beat Manchester City 3-2 last week, made it three wins out of four by beating fellow relegation strugglers Birmingham 2-0 at Craven Cottage.

That result, helped by goals from strikers Brian McBride and Erik Nevland, left Birmingham second bottom and saw Reading slip into the bottom three after they lost 1-0 at home to Spurs.

Bolton virtually assured themselves of Premier League football again next season by beating Roy Keane's men 2-0 thanks to El-Hadji Diouf's first-half strike and an own goal from Daryl Murphy late on.

It means they have a +11 superior goal difference to third-bottom Reading, which should be enough to survive even though although Bolton travel to Chelsea on the final day of the season while Reading go to hapless Derby.

THE BETTING :
It would take a huge swing for Bolton to go down and Boylesports make them a massive 300/1 for final day relegation.

Birmingham are the hot 1.17 favourites (at Bet365) to return to the Championship as they host Blackburn on the final day even though they have the best goal difference.

Fulham travel to Portsmouth who will have one eye on the FA Cup final six days later and a win will almost certainly guarantee sruvival - they're priced at 1.62 at Paddy Power.

Reading are at Derby (as mentioned), but with a inferior goal difference of six goals they'll either need Fulham to slip up - or a huge win over the Rams in order to survive. Reading are 1.62 for the drop at Bet365.

RELATED LINK :
Live Premier League betting Odds

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Will Bolton avoid the drop ?

Bolton are out to 3/2 (2.50) to be relegated after they gave themselves a Premier League lifeline with a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.

A close-range finish from Gavin McCann gave the Trotters a priceless three points which lifted them out of the relegation places and up into 16th place ahead of Reading on goal difference.

It's looking bleak for Fulham though who are now no better than 1/40 (1.03) at BoyleSports to be playing Championship football next season following their 2-0 defeat at home to a weakened Liverpool.

Bolton's win drags Birmingham (2.75 @ Bet365) and Reading (3.00 at Centrebet) right back into the relegation fight.

Birmingham face fierce city rivals Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

RELATED LINK :
Live English Premier League Betting Odds

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