English FA Cup Semi-final Draw

FA Cup holders Chelsea will play Aston Villa in the semi-finals and Portsmouth will face either Tottenham or Fulham.

FA Cup Quarter-final Results :
Chelsea 2-0 Stoke
Reading 2-4 Aston Villa
Portsmouth 2-0 Birmingham
Fulham 0-0 Tottenham

FA Cup Semi-Final Draw :
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Fulham/Tottenham v Portsmouth

(Ties to be played at Wembley Stadium on 10 & 11 April).

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FA Cup 6th round draw complete after replays.

FA Cup holders Chelsea will play Stoke City in the Quarter-finals after the Potters beat Manchester City 3-1 after extra-time in Wednesday nights replay.

Replay results :
Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace
Stoke City 3-1 Manchester City (AET)
Tottenham 4-0 Bolton Wanderers
West Brom 2-3 Reading (AET)

The quarter-final ties will be played on the weekend of 6 and 7 March.

Chelsea v Stoke City
Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur
Reading v Aston Villa
Portsmouth v Birmingham City

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Fulham v Portsmouth Postponed

The big freeze is continuing to decimate this weekend's action in England and Scotland.

The Barclays Premier League game between Fulham and Portsmouth at Craven Cottage on Saturday has become the first to be postponed due to the adverse weather conditions.

The club felt that the conditions around Craven Cottage meant it was too dangerous for fans to get to the ground.

Sky Sports News is also reporting that Liverpool have informed the Premier League they believe Sunday's Anfield fixture with Tottenham should be postponed.

While the pitch at Anfield is believed to be playable, it is thought the surrounding area of the stadium is unsafe for supporters making their way into the ground.

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Liverpool get Romanian side Unirea Urziceni in Europa League Draw

Liverpool will play Romanian side Unirea Urziceni in the last 32 of the Europa League.

City rivals Everton have been handed a clash with Sporting Lisbon - a side who topped their Europa League group which also included Hertha Berlin, Heerenveen and FK Ventspils.

Fulham fared the worst of the English sides in Friday afternoon's draw - they must face Shakhtar Donetsk, who won last season's UEFA Cup.

Last 32 draw
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Rubin Kazan v Hapoel Tel Aviv
Athletic Bilbao v Anderlecht
FC Copenhagen v Marseille
Panathinaikos v Roma
Atletico Madrid v Galatasaray
Ajax v Juventus
Club Brugge v Valencia
Fulham v Shakhtar Donetsk
Liverpool v Unirea Urziceni
Hamburg v PSV Eindhoven
Villarreal v Wolfsburg
Standard Liege v FC Salzburg
FC Twente v Werder Bremen
Lille v Fenerbahce
Everton v Sporting Lisbon
Hertha Berlin v Benfica

First legs to be played on February 18 and second legs on February 25.

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Liverpool are not seeded for Europa League draw

Liverpool will not be seeded for the Europa League knockout stage draw which takes place in Switzerland on Friday.

The Reds enter at the round of 32 stage after being eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages.

Liverpool join fellow Premier League sides Fulham and Everton, who are also unseeded, in the draw.

A Uefa spokesman said: "The 12 group winners from the Europa League and the best four third-placed sides from the Champions League are the top-16 seeds."

Liverpool moved into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group, but their poor goal difference means they miss out on a seeding.

Fellow English clubs Everton and Fulham are also unseeded after finishing second in their groups.

Top 16 seeds :
A: RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
B: Valencia CF (ESP)
C: Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISR)
D: Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
E: AS Roma (ITA)
F: Galatasaray AS (TUR)
G: FC Salzburg (AUT)
H: Fenerbahce SK (TUR)
I: SL Benfica (POR)
J: FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
K: PSV Eindhoven (NED)
L: Werder Bremen (GER)
FC Unirea Urziceni (ROU) *
Juventus (ITA)*
VfL Wolfsburg (GER)*
Olympique de Marseille (FRA)*

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Sunday Football - Fulham beat Sunderland : Everton and Spurs share points

Fulham striker Bobby Zamora fired his club back into the top half of the table with a 1-0 win over Sunderland at Craven Cottage.

It means Fulham leapfrog over Sunderland into eighth, with their form reliant on home performances: they have not lost on their own turf since September.

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Tottenham lost a two-goal lead and then missed an injury-time penalty to draw 2-2 at Everton.

Jermain Defoe opened the scoring just after the break and the points appeared safe when Michael Dawson doubled the lead on the hour.

But goals from Louis Saha and Tim Cahill levelled the scores before Defoe's weak spot-kick was saved by Tim Howard after Tony Hibbert had brought down Wilson Palacios.

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Fulham 3-1 Liverpool - nine man Liverpool lose again

Under-pressure Rafael Benitez endured another day to forget as nine-man Liverpool crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Fulham.

Last week's win over Manchester United ended a run of five successive defeats but that became six from seven as goals from Bobby Zamora, Erik Nevland and Clint Dempsey earned Fulham the points.

Fernando Torres had equalised just before the break but he was substituted in the second half. Nevland restored Fulham's lead and Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher both saw red within three minutes before Dempsey rubbed salt in the wound with the final goal.

GOALS :
24' [1 - 0] B. Zamora
42' [1 - 1] F. Torres
73' [2 - 1] E. Nevland
87' [3 - 1] C. Dempsey

RED CARDS :
79' P. Degen
82' J. Carragher

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Can Zamora show West Ham what they lost?

Bobby Zamora looks to be on his way to Fulham and bet365 make him 11/8 to score against his old club next season.

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth says : "The goals dried up for Zamora towards the end of his West Ham career and he'll be out to prove he can more than fill the boots of the recently departed Brian McBride at Craven Cottage"

2008/9 Bobby Zamora Specials at Bet365

Total Zamora 2008/9 Premiership Goals
----------------------------------------
Under 6.5 goals = 5/6 (1.83)
Over 6.5 goals == 5/6 (1.83)

Zamora To Score Against West Ham (in either Premiership game during 2008/9)
(Bets void if Zamora doesn't move to Fulham)
----------------------------------------
Yes = 11/8 (2.38)
No == 8/15 (1.53)

2008/9 Premiership Match Bet - Who Will Finish Higher?
----------------------------------------
Fulham === 9/4 (3.25)
West Ham = 1/3 (1.33)

Place your bet at Bet365 now

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Aussie Keeper prefers Fulham over Bayern Munich or Juventus?

Australian Mark Schwarzer has rejected offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus ... to join Fulham ?

WTF? Are we in the twilight zone? I have nothing more to say on this ...

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Fulham's great escape from relegation

Fulham kept their Premier League status on goal difference after they claimed a 1-0 win over FA Cup finalists Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

A header from Danny Murphy from a Jimmy Bullard free-kick in the 76th minute was enough to give them victory over Harry Redknapp's side.

Reading finished their campaign with a 4-0 win over Derby at Pride Park but thanks to Murphy it was not enough and they will join the Rams in the Championship next season.

James Harper opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Dave Kitson, Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita also scored for the Royals but it wasn't enough with Reading finishing 3 goals short of safety.

Birmingham City were also relegated despite a 4-1 home win over Blackburn.

Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel fumbled David Murphy's 31st-minute strike from 30 yards out which gave Birmingham the lead.

Morten Gamst Pedersen equalised three minutes after the break before Cameron Jerome scored twice and thenan injury-time header from Fabrice Muamba earned a big win - on a sad day for the Blues.

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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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Fulham battling to avoid the drop

Fulham are battling hard to avoid the drop after their incredible escape act against Manchester City yesterday.

The Cottagers had looked down and out after a superb Stephen Ireland strike from the edge of the box and a goal from Benjani put City 2-0 in front at Eastlands and at that point a Fulham win was backed at a high of 699/1 on Betfair.

But Roy Hodgson's men hit back late on with Diomansy Kamara shooting through the legs of Joe Hart 20 minutes from time and Danny Murphy then fired in a penalty rebound after his spot-kick was saved.

There was still time for a winner and Kamara grabbed it in dramatic fashion just seconds from time after more good work from Murphy to snatch a 3-2 triumph.

And having been written off in the relegation betting, Fulham are now trading at as big as 1.14 for relegation with Paddy Power. The Londoners remain in the bottom three.

So do Birmingham, who squandered a 2-0 lead to draw against Liverpool to draw 2-2. The Blues are odds-on in places for the drop and Brimngham are a top-priced 2.05 with Centrebet.

Bolton and Reading remain on the fringes of the drop zone after also having to settle for draws at Tottenham and Wigan respectively.

Bolton are 2.75 at Centrebet, while Reading are 3.25 at BoyleSports.

Middlesbrough are priced at 34.00 and Wigan Athletic at 67.00 (both at BoyleSports) to complete the picture - but it's unlikely that either of these two will take the drop.

RELATED LINK :
Live English Premier League Betting Odds at BookieLabrat.com

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Relagation battle tightens - who will take the drop?

Fulham and Bolton have both been eased for the drop after boosting their Premier League survival hopes with wins on Saturday.

Goals from Brian McBride and Erik Nevland gave Fulham hopes of avoiding relegation as they claimed a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

McBride broke the deadlock for Roy Hodgson's side with a close-range finish in the 24th minute after latching on to Simon Davies' cross. Davies was again the supplier in the second minute of injury-time after he picked out Nevland who swept the ball home from inside the box.

It means that Fulham have gone from as short as 1/40 for the drop to 1/8 (1.12) with Paddy Power.

Meanwhile Bolton are 2/5 (1.40) at bet365 after a close-range strike from Kevin Davies helped them claim a 1-0 win over West Ham. The result means Gary Megson's side remain two points from safety after Birmingham were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Everton.

This means that Birmingham are into 3.30 for a swift return to the Championship with the best price found at Centrebet.

Reading are 5.50 with Canbet and it's 17.00 or more for anyone else being dragged into the bottom three

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Fulham v Newcastle - Kuqi Monster !!

A little note to all punters thinking of taking a bet on the Fulham v Newcastle late kickoff - Irish bookmaker BoyleSports are offering a cash-back on this game.


The Finnish striker has not scored yet this season - but he's started in the last two games ... the bad news is that Fulham lost them both without scoring.

L 0-2 at Manchester Utd
L 0-3 At Everton

Still - the promotion made me laugh - and playing at home to Newcastle might be an easier place to get a goal eh?

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