30-31st Jan : Round-up of English Premier League weekend

Manchester United moved to within a point of Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea as they beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Burnley 1-2 Chelsea

John Terry grabbed a late winner for Chelsea to deny battling Burnley a point at Turf Moor, heading home home a corner from Florent Malouda in the 83rd minute.

It was a cruel blow for the hosts, who had drawn level through Steven Fletcher after Nicolas Anelka had opened the scoring.

Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United

Nani opened the scoring on 33 minutes when his chip across goal was palmed in by Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia, before in-form England striker Wayne Rooney swept home a second following a quick counter attack.

A third on the break from Ji-Sung Park at the start of the second half effectively ended the contest, although defender Thomas Vermaelen netted a consolation for the Gunners.

Birmingham City 1-1 Tottenham

Liam Ridgewell's last-minute strike denied Tottenham a precious victory at Birmingham and left Harry Redknapp's men clinging onto fourth place.

Ridgewell finished off a header across goal by Cameron Jerome to snatch a 1-1 draw for the home side after Spurs looked set to claim victory through Jermain Defoe's 69th-minute effort.

Liverpool 2-0 Bolton

Liverpool coasted to a 2-0 win over Owen Coyle's Bolton at Anfield.

Dirk Kuyt stabbed home the opener in the 37th minute and Liverpoolmade the game safe in the 70th minute when a shot from Emiliano Insua took a huge deflection off Kevin Davies and squirted past Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal.

Fulham 0-2 Aston Villa

Villa also kept up the pace with a 2-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage thanks to two goals just before half-time from Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The striker opened the scoring when he headed home Stiliyan Petrov's 40th-minute cross, and four minutes later he turned Brede Hangeland in the box before firing the second past Mark Schwarzer.

Manchester City 2-0 Portsmouth

Manchester City closed to within a point of fourth-spot with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Portsmouth.

There was no joyous celebration as Adebayor rattled his 40th-minute goal past David James, instead he acknowledged the heavens in remembrance of his Togo team mates.

Vincent Kompany then powered home a header from Martin Petrov's corner to ensure the Blues moved to within a point of Tottenham.

English Premier League Top Ten Standings

Team      Pl  GD Pts 
 1 Chelsea     23 +38  54 
 2 Man Utd     24 +36  53 
 3 Arsenal     24 +32  49 
 4 Tottenham   24 +20  42 
 5 Liverpool   24 +16  41 
 6 Man City    22 +14  41 
 7 Aston Villa 23 +13  40 
 8 Birmingham  23  -1  34 
 9 Everton     23  -1  32 
10 Blackburn   24 -15  28

Stumble It!

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

Stumble It!

Chelsea and Man United win well, while Spurs, Man City and Liverpool stumble

Chelsea 7 Sunderland 2
Chelsea smashed seven goals past Sunderland to cement their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League table.

Stoke 1 Liverpool 1
Under-pressure Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was left to reflect upon what might have been as his side threw away a precious victory at Stoke.

The Reds were leading 1-0 with just seconds of normal time remaining when Germany international Robert Huth stabbed home an equaliser amid a late assault.

Man Utd 3 Burnley 0
Burnley held Manchester United at Old Trafford for 64 minutes before they finally succumbed to Dimitar Berbatov.

The Bulgaria international linked with Wayne Rooney before his shot was deflected past keeper Brian Jensen by defender Michael Duff, and further goals from Rooney and substitute Mame Biram Diouf - his first for the club - made sure of the points.

Everton 2 Man City 0
Everton were good value for their 2-0 victory over Manchester City and sealed the points in the first 45 minutes at Goodison Park.

Steven Pienaar made the breakthrough in the 36th minute and Louis Saha extended their lead with a disputed penalty in first half stoppage-time.

Tottenham 0 Hull 0
Fifth-placed Tottenham could not find a way past lowly Hull as Harry Redknapp's 500th Premier League game ended in stalemate with Tigers keeper Boaz Myhill turning in a fine individual display.

Wolves 0 Wigan 2
Wigan's James McCarthy scored on the hour, and doubled their lead through Charles N'Zogbia with 17 minutes remaining.

Stumble It!

Liverpool report major injury blows with Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun out

Liverpool's hopes for the rest of this season have suffered a serious setback with key trio Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun all being sidelined.

The club confirmed the three players were all injured in the FA Cup loss to Reading, will be out for varying lengths of time up to six weeks.

Star striker Torres is the worst affected, ruled out until the end of February with a torn knee cartilage that will require surgery.

Inspirational captain Gerrard is out for a fortnight with a torn hamstring while Benayoun has fractured a rib and will not play again for around four weeks.

A club spokesman said: "Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres both underwent scans earlier today after coming off in the FA Cup tie against Reading.

"Steven has a hamstring strain and will be out for a fortnight, while Fernando has torn a cartilage in his right knee. The injury will require surgery and he is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

"Yossi Benayoun also suffered a fractured rib in the game and will be unavailable for between three and four weeks."

Stumble It!

Reading dump Liverpool out of FA Cup - winning 2-1 at Anfield

An extra-time goal from Shane Long capped a stunning comeback for Championship strugglers Reading as they knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup.

Liverpool 1-2 Reading

Liverpool fortuitously took the lead when Ryan Bertrand deflected Steven Gerrard's cross into his own net on the stroke of halftime.

Reading pushed for an equaliser throughout the second half and were finally rewarded in injury time when Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled from the penalty spot after a foul on substitute Shane Long.

Long's extra-time header 10 minutes into extra-time proved the decisive blow to send Reading through.

Stumble It!

Midweek Cup fixtures for England - Birmingham City and Liverpool face replays

A look ahead at the midweek Cup fixtures scheduled for England, with "average" odds taken from a selection of bookmakers.

FA CUP

12 Jan 2010                     HOME  DRAW  AWAY
20:45 Birmingham - Nottingham   1.86  3.32  4.01  
20:45 Bristol City - Cardiff    2.50  3.22  2.65  
20:45 Coventry - Portsmouth     2.57  3.23  2.56  
20:45 Derby - Millwall          2.02  3.27  3.45  
20:45 Queens Park - Sheff Utd   2.25  3.25  3.05  
 
13 Jan 2010 
20:45 Liverpool - Reading       1.19  5.64  12.71   
20:45 Newcastle Utd - Plymouth  1.45  3.94  6.98

CARLING CUP

14 Jan 2010  
21:00 Blackburn - Aston Villa   2.76  3.23  2.44 

Stumble It!

FA Cup : Fourth Round Draw made

The ties for the 4th round of the FA Cup were drawn on Sunday afternoon with Leeds United getting another high-profile game at a Premier LEague club.

Leeds United will now make the trip to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur, while Arsenal wiill travel to the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke City.

FA Cup holders Chelsea will face more Championship opposition in the shape of Preston, who destroyed Colchester United 7-0 on Saturday.

If Liverpool can overcome Reading in a replay then they will take on Burnley in an all-Premier League tie.

Meanwhile, Manchester City will face Scunthorpe at Glanford Park - a team they beat 5-1 in the Carling Cup in October.

Ties to be played on weekend of January 23rd/24th
--------------------------------------------
Southampton v Ipswich Town
Reading or Liverpool v Burnley
Millwall or Derby County v Brentford or Doncaster Rovers
Bristol City or Cardiff City v Leicester City
Stoke City v Arsenal
Notts County or Forest Green Rovers v Wigan Athletic
Scunthorpe United v Manchester City
West Bromwich Albion v Plymouth Argyle or Newcastle United
Everton v Nottingham Forest or Birmingham City
Accrington Stanley or Gillingham v Fulham
Bolton Wanderers v Sheffield United or QPR
Portsmouth or Coventry City v Sunderland
Preston North End v Chelsea
Aston Villa v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolves v Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United

Stumble It!

Aston Villa 0-1 Liverpool - Torres strikes for Liverpool at the end

Fernando Torres scored a 93rd-minute winner as Liverpool claimed a dramatic late victory over Aston Villa.

The Reds' season of frustration looked set to continue as Villa produced a spirited display in snowy conditions. Steven Gerrard went close, Pepe Reina denied Stewart Downing and Gabriel Agbonlahor, and John Carew headed wide.

The game was very evenly contested with the sides splitting posession 51%-49% in Liverpool's favour, and Liverpool edging the shot count 12-11.

A draw beckoned but Torres raced on to a ricochet around the edge of the Villa penalty area, and slotted in to stun Villa Park.

The Spaniard's strike provided a pulsating end to a disappointing encounter and Liverpool's joy at snatching a morale-boosting three points was clear for all to see.

Stumble It!

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
------------------------
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.

Stumble It!

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)*

Stumble It!

Who's going to make the top four in England this season?

Manchester City are in the race for a top-four Premier League finish, according to bookmakers after a weekend of twists and turns in the chase for Champions League places.

Everton were the last team to dislodge the 'big four' of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, back in 2004/05

And while Chelsea (not backable), Man United (1.01) and Arsenal (1.17) are short prices for retaining their places the race is on for the fourth spot.

Liverpool are even-money, Manchester City are 6/5 shots after their thrilling 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Saturday, while Spurs, who currently occupy fourth place, are now out to 9/4 for one of those coveted top-four slots after drawing at Everton.

Current standings :

Chelsea --- Pl 15 Pts 36
Man Utd --- Pl 15 Pts 34
Arsenal --- Pl 14 Pts 28
Spurs ----- Pl 15 Pts 27
Villa ----- Pl 15 Pts 26
Man City -- Pl 14 Pts 25
Liverpool - Pl 15 Pts 24

Top Four Betting Odds at Paddy Power
--------------------------------------
Manchester United 1.01 @ Paddy Power
Arsenal 1.17 @ Paddy Power
Liverpool 2.00 @ Paddy Power
Manchester City 2.20 @ Paddy Power
Tottenham Hotspur 3.50 @ Paddy Power
Aston Villa 6.50 @ Paddy Power

Stumble It!

Liverpool win in Hungary but Fiorentina beat Lyon to eliminate the Reds.

Liverpool supplied the win they needed as a minimum requirement in Budapest, but their evening ended in misery as victory for ACF Fiorentina against Olympique Lyonnais knocked the Merseyside club out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stage.

Debrecen 0-1 Liverpool
Missing the injured Fernando Torres for this must-win occasion, Liverpool's travelling supporters were asked to place faith in lone forward Ngog, who delivered with the only goal of the game in the 4th minute.

Debreceni v Liverpool match report at UEFA.com

ACF Fiorentina 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais
But ACF Fiorentina are through to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in ten years after overcoming Olympique Lyonnais in Florence, with Juan Vargas ensuring the Serie A side qualified from Group E converting a first-half penalty.

Fiorentina v Olympique Lyon match report at UEFA.com

Standings

Group E   Pld Pts 
Fiorentina  5 12 
Lyon        5 10 
Liverpool   5  7 
Debrecen    5  0 

Check out the Gooners Guide to the Champions League for more betting advice

Stumble It!

Chelsea are now odds on to win English Premier League

Chelsea are odds-on to win the title for the first time this season - at a top price of 10/11 with Canbet - following their 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday.

Manchester Utd and Arsenal are locked together as 10/3 joint second favourites while Manchester City are now fourth favourites following Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Birmingham City.

Liverpool are 5th favourites at a staggering 40/1 at Betfred, while Tottenham are in 6th spot, and loyal Spurs fans can get a best price of 149/1 at Victor Chandler if they REALLY want a bet on Spurs to win the title.

Chelsea 1.91 @ Canbet
Manchester United 4.33 @ Victor Chandler
Arsenal 4.33 @ Eurobet
Manchester City 34.00 @ Ladbrokes
Liverpool 41.00 @ Betfred
Tottenham Hotspur 151.00 @ Victor Chandler

Stumble It!

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

Stumble It!

Arsenal set the Standard after 3-2 win in Liege

After Arsenal came back from two down to beat Standard Liege in Belgium, they were backed up into 5th favourite to win the Champions League.

The Gunners were 2-0 down inside five minutes but goals from Nicklas Bendtner, Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo turned the match on its head and sparked wild celebrations from the visiting fans.

Liverpool meanwhile slipped back after battling to an uninspiring 1-0 win over Hungarian side Debrecen, while Inter Milan and Barcelona held their positions after battling to a 0-0 draw in Milan.

Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are vying for favouritism at a best of 4/1 and 5/1.

But English teams occupy the four of the next places in the betting, with Chelsea shortest at 6/1, Manchester United 15/2, Arsenal 11/1, and both Inter Milan and Liverpool on offer at 12s.

BEST OUTRIGHT ODDS FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE :
5.00 FC Barcelona @ Eurobet
6.00 Real Madrid @ Betfred
7.00 Chelsea @ Bet365
8.50 Manchester United FC @ Victor Chandler
12.00 Arsenal @ Betfred
13.00 Internazionale Milano @ Paddy Power
13.00 Liverpool @ BetFred
26.00 AC Milan @ Victor Chandler
29.00 Bayern Munich @ Ladbrokes

Stumble It!

Chelsea still favourites to win English Premier League

Chelsea are the bookmakers title favourites after a late Florent Malouda winner pipped Stoke 2-1 to give the Blues five straight wins to start the season.

Manchester United are second favourites to win the Premier League title following their 3-1 come-from-behind win over Spurs. The Red Devils trailed to an early Jermain Defoe strike but eventually ran out comfortable winners thanks to goals from Ryan Giggs, Anderson and Wayne Rooney.

Liverpool, who saw off Burnley 4-0 at Anfield are third.

It is then Arsenal, Manchester City, and Spurs at a huge 50/1 rounding out the top six.

BEST PRICES TO WIN THE PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea 2.50 @ PinnacleSports
Manchester United 4.50 @ PinnacleSports
Liverpool 8.00 @ Eurobet
Arsenal 13.00 @ Ladbrokes
Manchester City 14.00 @ PinnacleSports
Tottenham Hotspur 51.00 @ Eurobet

Stumble It!

Champions League draw kind to English clubs

The four English clubs in the Champions League were handed favourable draws for the group stage of the competition.

Arsenal have been drawn against AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos and Standard Liege in Group H.

Last season's finalists Manchester United take on CSKA Moscow, Besiktas and Wolfsburg in Group B.

Liverpool are top seeds in Group E and face Olympic Lyon, Fiorentina and Debrecen.

Chelsea are the ranked club in group D and will play Porto, Atletico Madrid and APOEL Nicosia.

Remaining Groups :

Group A
Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa

Group C
AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich

Group F
Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dinamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan

Group G
Sevilla, Glasgow Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni

Stumble It!

2009/10 English Premier League outright betting after round 1

Liverpool are out to 5/1 (6.00) for the Premier League title after their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.

Liverpool only lost twice in Premier League last season but got off to a losing start to this term, Steven Gerrard's penalty not enough to take anything from White Hart Lane after goals from Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Sebastien Bassong.

Manchester United were not at their best but still recorded a 1-0 win over Birmingham earlier in the day and continue to fight for favouritism with Chelsea, who saw off Hull 2-1 thanks to Didier Drogba's injury-time fluke on Saturday.

Manchester City set down an early marker with a 2-0 success at Blackburn.

Arsenal also made a tremendous start with a 6-1 hammering of Everton and they are into 7/1 from 8/1 - Hills were even more impressed and they go 11/2 from 9/1.

BEST ODDS FOR YOUR TEAM TO WIN THE 2009/10 LEAGUE :
Chelsea 3.00 @ Ladbrokes
Manchester United 3.50 @ Pinnacle
Liverpool 5.50 @ Ladbrokes
Arsenal 9.50 @ Pinnacle
Manchester City 15.00 @ Ladbrokes
Tottenham Hotspur 101.00 @ Pinnacle
Everton 301.00 @ VCBet
Aston Villa 501.00 @ VCBet
West Ham United 751.00 @ Bet365

Stumble It!

Anelka injury re-opens Premier League golden boot race

The race for the English Premier League golden boot tightened on the weekend as Steven Gerrard grabbed a hat-trick and leading scorer Nicolas Anelka was ruled out for three weeks with injury.

Anelka (15 goals) leads by two from Cristiano Ronaldo (13) and Steven Gerrard (13) with Peter Crouch (11) and Robinho (11) further back in joint 4th spot.

The Frenchman continues to head the Golden Boot betting, but only just as Anelka looks likely to miss Chelsea's next game at Newcastle on April 4th.

LEADING TOP SCORER ODDS :
Anelka - 15 goals - 3.00 at Bet365
Ronaldo - 13 goals - 3.00 at Eurobet
Gerrard - 13 goals - 5.00 at Victor Chandler
Robinho - 11 goals - 21.00 at Betfred
Crouch - 11 goals - 50.00 at BetFair

Stumble It!

Liverpool now second favourites for title after beating Chelsea

Liverpool have been cut from 8/1 to 9/2 second favourites for the Premier League title with William Hill after defeating Chelsea 2-0.

Liverpool dumped ten-man Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday to cut Manchester United's lead at the top of the table to two points - and in the process moved them three clear of Chelsea.

The bookmakers makes Chelsea 8/1 following the defeat, with Aston Villa at 33/1 and Arsenal 66/1 after they were both held to goalless draws by Wigan and West Ham respectively on Saturday.

Stumble It!

Liverpool stumble and see odds lengthen on title

Liverpool are as big as 11/4 (3.75) to win the Barclays Premier League title after being held to a goalless draw by Stoke on Saturday.

Rafa Benitez's side are now four points clear at the top of the table but the two points dropped have negatively affected title chances the title. The Reds are 11/4 chances at BoyleSports.

Arsenal needed a late Nicklas Bendtner goal beat Bolton at the Emirates and were trimmed for the title after the 1-0 win. The Gunners are now 25/1 (26.00) at PaddyPower.

Stumble It!

Manchester United to face Tottenham in FA Cup 4th Round

The fourth round draw for the FA Cup has thrown up a couple of high profile games and also a couple of "classic ties" invoking memories of previous years.

In the "Big Games" Liverpool will face Merseyside rivals Everton and
Manchester United will host Tottenham Hotspur in the pick of the ties.

For the giant killers there is the prospect of hosting Premier League opposition as non-league Kettering Town will meet Fulham and giant-killers Hartlepool entertain West Ham.

There is also an east Midlands derby with Nottingham Forest being rewarded for their emphatic 3-0 win over Manchester City with a trip to Derby County.

Last season's finalists Cardiff City will host Arsenal at Ninian Park, a replay of the 1927 final between the pair which the Welsh club won 1-0.

Full FA Cup fourth round draw :
Liverpool v Everton
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur
Hull or Newcastle v Millwall or Crewe
Sunderland v Blyth or Blackburn
Hartlepool v West Ham
Leyton Orient or Sheffield United v Charlton or Norwich
Cardiff v Arsenal
Portsmouth or Bristol City v Histon or Swansea City
Chelsea or Southend v Ipswich Town
Cheltenham or Doncaster v Aston Villa
West Brom or Peterborough v QPR or Burnley
Torquay v Coventry City
Kettering Town v Fulham
Watford v Leicester or Crystal Palace
Derby County v Nottingham Forest
Birmingham City or Wolves v Middlesbrough

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!

Manchester United are title favourites with bookmakers

Manchester United have been shortened from 6/4 to 11/8 favourites (PaddyPower) to win the Premier League title following their hard-fought 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at Old Trafford on Monday night.

United dominated for most of the game and missed a host of chances before Dimitar Berbatov blasted home the winner in the 69th minute. The result means Sir Alex Ferguson's men now trail Liverpool by seven points and Chelsea by four in the race for the title but have two games in hand.

Chelsea are 2/1 second favourites (VCBet)with Liverpool available at 9/4 (BetFred) despite being top. Arsenal are 33/1 (Bet365) shots with Aston Villa 66/1. (Bet365)

RELATED LINK :
Get the latest Premier League Live Odds Quotes at Bookie Lab Rat.

Stumble It!

Champions League Knockout Draw : Italy vs England x 3

The champions league draw for the last 16 was made in Nyon on Friday and it has thrown up some mouthwatering clashes as English clubs face three Italian opponents ...and Real Madrid as well.

Manchester United will face Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos will return to England with Real Madrid as they take on Liverpool, with the second leg to be played at Anfield.

Arsenal will have the first leg at home as they play AS Roma, while Chelsea will clash against Juventus who are managed by former boss Claudio Ranieri for their .

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT DRAW
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

The ties will be played on 24/25 February and 10/11 March as the Champions League knockout phase begins.

Stumble It!

Liverpool move into top spot after held to 0-0 by West Ham

Liverpool drew 0-0 with West Ham at Anfield on Monday night and it was enough to take the Reds into top spot in the Premier League.

But this was the second time in 10 days that Liverpool had been held to a goalless draw at home by a London club, seriously handicapping their chances in the title race.

West Ham claimed their first point at Anfield for nine years it it might have been more as West Ham's former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy came closest to a goal when his 30-yard strike hit a post.

But that would have been tough on Liverpool who dominated the match with 25 shots to 7 and 67% ball possession.

Stumble It!

Chelsea favourites to win Premier League

Chelsea are the clear favourites to win the Premier League after they reclaimed top spot with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn on Sunday.


Chelsea's superior goal difference sees them ahead of Liverpool, who had a comfortable 3-0 triumph over West Brom.

Chelsea are available at a best priced 4/5 (1.80) at VCBet, while Liverpool are 3rd favourites at 5.00 at Betfred.

Manchester United are eight points behind Liverpool, but are still second favourites and can be backed at 10/3 (4.33) also at Betfred

Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1 on Saturday, and that's had the bookmakers cut the price on the Gunners from 20s down to 13.00 - again at Betfred.

RELATED LINKS :
Live betting odds for English Premier League at Bookielabrat.com.
Bet365 Bookmakers
Betfred Bookmakers
VCBet
Ladbrokes

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Chelsea Favourites Again after Liverpool Lose

Chelsea are odds-on favourites for the Barclays Premier League title following Liverpool's 2-1 loss at Spurs on the weekend.

The Blues beat Sunderland 5-0 earlier, but it took Liverpool's 1-2 defeat to Spurs at White Hart Lane to send Chelsea under even money for the title.

Rafa Benitez's side went 1-0 up inside three minutes through Dirk Kuyt and controlled the majority of the game for the next 70 minutes, hitting the bar three times but couldn't find the killer second goal.

And Harry "houdini" Redknapp's charmed life as Spurs new boss continued as a late Jamie Carragher own goal was followed by an injury-time winner from Roman Pavlyuchenko to leave Benitez's side second in the table on goal difference.

Liverpool are now 9/2 for the title, with Manchester United 15/8 second favourites following their narrow 4-3 win over Hull City.

Arsenal are out to 20/1 for the league title after they lost 2-1 at Stoke City.

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Injury problems for Premier League clubs?

Manchester City will be anxious to check on Robinho's fitness after the star forward was substituted with an injury during Brazil's World Cup qualifier against Colombia.

Robinho was replaced by AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato in the 63rd minute as his country were held to a goalless draw at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

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Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has suffered a suspected broken nose while playing for Spain.

The 21-year-old managed to finish his country's 2-1 victory in Belgium, but medical staff confirmed the injury after the game. Fabregas will now report back to Arsenal for further treatment, though it will be hoped he can play on regardless.

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Liverpool have injury worries up front ahead of Saturday's match at home to Wigan after both Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel limped off while on international duty.

Torres, the Barclays Premier League joint-top scorer with five goals, lasted less than 16 minutes of Spain's World Cup qualifier against Belgium on Wednesday before being replaced by Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The former Atletico striker reportedly felt a tweak in the muscle in the back of his left leg and was taken off as a precaution.

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Carling Cup : Arsenal beat Sheffield United and other results

Arsenal's kids gave a display of wonderful talent in a 6-0 home win over Sheffield United, with Carlos Vela the star of the show.

Established first-teamer Nicklas Bendtner (31, 42) finished off clever assists from Vela and Aaron Ramsey to put the Gunners two up before Vela made it three (44) with a lovely curling effort.

The Mexican then grabbed his second by leaving Paddy Kenny on his backside before calmly slotting in his second (50) and 16-year-old Jack Wilshere got in on the act with the fifth (57).

Fittingly, Vela had the last word by completing his hat-trick three minutes from time.

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Manchester United and progressed safely - Sir Alex Ferguson's side beating Middlesbrough 3-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo marked his first start of the season with the opener at Old Trafford when he headed in Ryan Giggs' corner (25).

Brad Jones kept Boro in contention with some fine saves before Adam Johnson shocked the home crowd by drawing the visitors level with a shot from the edge of the box (56).

But they found themselves a man down when Emanuel Pogatetz was shown a straight red card for a bad foul on Rodrigo Possebon, who was carried off the pitch with what looked a bad injury.

Chris Riggott's mistake then let in Giggs to put United back in front (79) and Nani made sure of victory in injury time.

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Liverpool also progressed after beating Crewe 2-1 at Anfield.

Daniel Agger opened the scoring at Anfield when he fired in a free-kick after 15 minutes.

But Crewe showed they would be no pushovers by equalising through Michael O'Connor (25) after debutant keeper Diego Cavalieri had parried Calvin Zola's header.

There was to be no fairytale victory for the League One side, however, as Lucas headed in Jermaine Pennant's cross (58) for what proved the winner.

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UPSETS :

West Ham were knocked out of the cup by Watford at Vicarage Road as goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka missed a cross and the ball went in off Hayden Mullins for an own goal (70) as the Hornets triumphed 1-0.

It was the same scoreline at Turf Moor as a goal from substitute Jay Rodriguez two minutes from the end of the game handed Burnley victory over Fulham.

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Steven Gerrard out for 10-15 days with groin injury

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is set to miss four matches, including the first two World Cup qualifiers, because he needs a groin operation.

Gerrard, 28, will undergo the operation on Thursday and will be out for "10-15 days", according to boss Rafa Benitez. Gerrard played through the pain barrier on Wednesday to help Liverpool into the Champions League group stage.

This means that he is set to miss the Premier League matches involving Aston Villa on Sunday and Manchester United on 13th September.

"I'm disappointed because Gerrard will have an operation on Thursday," added Benitez. "He has a groin problem, we knew it could be like this. He had a problem and now he will have an operation and will be out for 10-15 days.

"He needs to have it because he is having pain with it. When he went with the national team we knew he had a problem and in the first leg too. I was talking with the doctor on Tuesday and on Wednesday we talked with him. He said he would play with pain and after it he would have an operation."

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Europes best clubs ready for UEFA Champions League Draw

Sixteen teams gained automatic entry to the competition proper and the same number came through the third qualifying round on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Making their debut in the group stage are UEFA Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg, CFR 1907 Cluj of Romania, the first Belarussian qualifiers, FC BATE Borisov, and the inaugural Cypriot entrants Anorthosis Famagusta FC.

In all, 17 nations are represented in the draw, the ceremony for which will include the UEFA Club Football Awards.

English sides dominate the seedings for the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage draw which will take place from 18.00CET on Thursday at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum.

POT ONE
Manchester United FC (ENG, holders) 107.996
Chelsea FC (ENG) 124.996
Liverpool FC (ENG) 118.996
FC Barcelona (ESP) 117.837
Arsenal FC (ENG) 110.996
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 99.380
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) 96.934
Real Madrid CF (ESP) 93.837

POT TWO 92-66 points
FC Bayern Munchen (GER), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Villarreal CF (ESP), AS Roma (ITA), FC Porto (POR), Werder Bremen (GER), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), Juventus (ITA)

POT THREE 63-51 points
Olympique de Marseille (FRA), FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS), FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU), Panathinaikos FC (GRE), FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA), Celtic FC (SCO), FC Basel 1893 (SUI), Fenerbahce SK (TUR)

POT FOUR 49-1 point
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), ACF Fiorentina (ITA), Club Atletico de Madrid (ESP), FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU), Aalborg BK (DEN), Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP), FC BATE Borisov (BLR)

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Desperate Transfer Gossip

In a desperate attempt to try and keep my football blog current I submit to you a selection of bollocky football rumours that will almost certainly NEVER come to pass.

So let's lead off with the Daily Mirror who say :

Wigan have warned Liverpool off a move for midfielder Wilson Palacios by insisting he is worth as much as £18m-rated Gareth Barry.

Everton will make a £7m bid for Switzerland midfield man Goekhan Inler in an attempt to finally clinch their first signing of the summer.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has refused to rule out a move for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.

But The Guardian win the worst rumour of the day award for speculating :

Manchester City are investigating the possibility of making Barcelona's Thierry Henry a "box office" signing in January.

It all seems a slice of bullsh!t to me - but I read it - and now you've heard about it too.
;-)

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Saturday's Premier League Results Round-up

Hull celebrated a Premier League victory at the first time of asking with a 2-1 win over Fulham at the KC Stadium.

It was an inauspicious start for the new boys as Seol Ki-hyeon put the visitors ahead in the eighth minute from Jimmy Bullard's cross.

But Geovanni had already forced Mark Schwarzer into a good save and he beat the Australian with a fizzing left-footer (22) to level matters.

The former Manchester City man turned villain at the start of the second half, however, missing an open goal, but Caleb Folan ensured it would be Hull's day after Craig Fagan robbed Paul Konchesky (81).

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Arsenal kicked off the season with a 1-0 victory over promoted West Brom at the Emirates Stadium.

Gunners new boy Samir Nasri opened his account after only four minutes, finding the bottom corner following a lay-off from Denilson.

The home side could easily have extended their lead with Emmanuel Adebayor missing a one-on-one and having a goal disallowed for offside midway through the second half.

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Fernando Torres fired Liverpool to a scarcely deserved 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The striker was anonymous for much of the evening as his partnership with £20m new boy Robbie Keane continued to stutter, but he produced a vicious drive eight minutes from time to claim the points.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for a Sunderland side who had enjoyed the best of the play and all but negated the return of the Reds' fit-again skipper Steven Gerrard.

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Dean Ashton did his chances of being included in Fabio Capello's England squad to face the Czech Republic on Wednesday no harm with two goals for West Ham in a 2-1 victory against Wigan.

He opened the scoring after only three minutes at Upton Park, latching onto Julien Faubert's cross before turning and smashing a shot into the top corner.

He had a much easier task seven minutes later after Calum Davenport's hook towards goal left the former Norwich man with a tap-in.

Two minutes into the second half, Latics debutant Amr Zaki smashed in Emile Heskey's flick-on to give the visitors hope, but they could not find the equaliser.

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Andre Ooijer piled the pressure on Everton boss David Moyes with a last-gasp winner for Blackburn in a 3-2 victory at Goodison Park.

David Dunn turned away from Phil Jagielka before curling a brilliant shot into the corner (22) to put Blackburn ahead.

But Moyes, who has been unable to bolster his squad this summer, was smiling on the stroke of half-time as Mikel Arteta beat Paul Robinson with a 20-yard free-kick.

The home fans were celebrating again when Ayegbeni Yakubu headed home Arteta's cross to put them ahead (64), only for Blackburn to draw level through Roque Santa Cruz two minutes later. And Ooijer stabbed home the winner after Ryan Nelsen hit the post

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Newly-promoted Stoke were brought down to earth with a bump at the Reebok Stadium.

They found themselves behind thanks to a stroke of fortune for Bolton defender Gretar Steinsson, whose cross flew over Thomas Sorensen and into the top corner (34).

The Trotters' second goal was a lot more conventional, Kevin Davies outmuscling two defenders and heading in a long ball (41), and the Potters' Premier League bow was certain to end in defeat when Johan Elmander grabbed a debut goal (45) to make it 3-0.

Ricardo Fuller gave the Potters something to smile about with an injury-time goal.

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Tottenham will be hoping for a better start than last season but their opening match ended in defeat as Middlesbrough recorded a 2-1 win at the Riverside.

David Wheater had a header harshly disallowed in the first half so it was fitting the defender should open the scoring from close range after Afonso Alves' effort came off the bar. Mido then sealed matters four minutes from time.

However, there was still time for Robert Huth to halve the deficit by heading a David Bentley free-kick into his own net (90).

Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov, who is rumoured to be closing in on a move to Manchester United, came on as a substitute.

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Champions League 3rd Round Draw

Arsenal were handed an tie against former England boss Steve McClaren's new side FC Twente in the Champions League third qualifying round.

McClaren was appointed by the Dutch side in June this year, taking his first job since he was sacked by England in November 2007.

Liverpool have been drawn against Belgium's Standard Liege. Liverpool, who were beaten by Chelsea in the semi-finals last year, will fancy their chances of getting past Standard Liege.

The Reds will play their first leg away from home - as will Arsenal and Rangers, too, provided the Glasgow side make it through.

Elsewhere in the draw, highly-fancied Barcelona will play either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow and Italian giants Juventus face Tampere United or Artmedia Bratislava.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Full draw:
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Aalborg/Modrica v RANGERS/Kaunas
Standard Liege v LIVERPOOL
FC Twente v ARSENAL
JUVENTUS v Tampere/Artmedia
BARCELONA v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Budapest
SK Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Panathinaikos/Dinamo Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Prague

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BetFred backs down after Liverpool fans take him on.

Betfred have been forced to cut Liverpool's odds for next season's Premier League title back to 7/1 after the club's fans took full advantage of the 8/1 on offer with the Warrington firm.

Bookmaker Fred Done pushed out the Reds following their £20.3m signing of Robbie Keane in his belief that the Republic of Ireland striker is not the answer as Rafael Benitez aims to end Liverpool's 18 years without a league championship triumph.

(see our original blog post Fred says Liverpool have little chance )

And the Koppites certainly took up Fred’s offer to back their side with him, entering Betfred shops in their droves to build up liabilities of nearly £200,000 for the world's biggest independent bookie on a Liverpool title win.

That was enough for BetFred to cry enough and cut the price. Still - it's that willingness to make a headline that makes Fred an interesting bookmaker eh?

Click to visit BetFred - and take on the UK's largest independant bookmaker.

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Robbie Keane moves to Liverpool for £19m

Liverpool sign Robbie Keane from Spurs

English Premier League giant Liverpool have completed the signing of striker Robbie Keane from Tottenham for a fee that could rise to £20.3m.

Keane who is 28, underwent a medical on Monday after agreeing personal terms on a four-year contract worth around £80,000 a week.

The arrival of Keane takes Liverpool's spending to about £32m since the end of last season. Liverpool have already drafted in Degen, fellow full-back Andrea Dossena, goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri and teenagers David Ngog and Emmanuel Mendy.

About £20m has been raised by selling Crouch, John Arne Riise, Scott Carson and Danny Guthrie.

Spurs said they agreed an initial fee of £19m plus a potential further £1.3m. Tottenham have also agreed to drop their official complaint to the Premier League after Liverpool apologised for their conduct in pursuing the Irishman.

Liverpool will now become Keane's sixth club after spells at Wolves, Coventry, Inter Milan and Leeds, before his switch to Tottenham in 2002 for £7m.

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Pre-season results from Saturday.

Some interesting results from the first Saturday of pre-season action.

Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa all drew, while Everton, West Brom, Celtic and Rangers slid to defeats.

Wins for Arsenal, Fulham, Newcastle will put a smile on fans faces even though these matches mean nothing.

INTERTOTO
Odense 2 v Aston Villa 2 (match report)

FRIENDLIES.
Kaizer Chiefs 1 v Man Utd 1 (match report)
Barnet 1 v Arsenal 2 (match report)
Cambridge 4 v Everton 2 (match report)
Cologne 4 v West Brom 1 (match report)
Fulham 3 v Celtic 1
Hartlepool 1 v Newcastle 4 (match report)
Liverpool 1 v Wisla Krakow 1
Ostend 1 v Hull 1
Schalke 1 v Rangers 0

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Spurs report Liverpool & Man Utd for poaching

Tottenham have complained to the Premier League over Manchester United and Liverpool's pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

Sir Alex Ferguson's comments that he expects a deal to go through for Berbatov have infuriated Spurs as has Rafael Benitez's interest in Keane with the Spurs chairman Daniel Levy singled out United boss Ferguson for criticism.

"It is unbelievably hypocritical given his comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid," Levy said.

"The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.

I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either"

"Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of Premier League rules of conduct."

Ferguson announced on Friday that United had made Tottenham an offer for 27-year-old Berbatov and that he was confident that the deal would go through. Benitez admitted earlier this month that he was interested in bringing Keane, 28, to Anfield this summer.

But it was Ferguson's comments that prompted Levy to speak out about the attempts to unsettle his strikers.

"Today's public comments by Manchester United's manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players.

"It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date. As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Manchester United."

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Thursday's Transfer Rumours

It looks like being another month or so until "REAL" football kicks off - so I'm going to continue the football transfers rumours series.

ARSENAL lead off today with a whole lot of talk ..

Arsenal midfielder Alex Hleb has agreed a four-year-deal with Barcelona and is set to sign for £15m - or perhaps €15m. No-one seems quite sure.
(Source = The Sun)

Arsenal are also likely to waive goodbye to Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva to Greek side Panathinaikos.
(Source = Blog Arsenal Analysis - but now picked up by a lot of papers)

On the positive side Arsenal will complete a £11.5m deal for Marseille's Samir Nasri now that the new French tax year has begun.
(Source = The Sun)

Newspapers then start totally making it up when claiming that Arsenal have bid £19m for Andrei Arshavin but his club Zenit St Petersburg want £24m.
(Source = Star)

The Gooners are also rumoured interested in 22-year-old Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who is rated at £8m by his club River Plate - and this sounds more like Wenger to me.
(Source = The Sun)

Chelsea are also well covered in the rumour market ..

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has personally blocked Inter Milan's attempts to buy midfielder Frank Lampard.
(Source = half a dozen sites)

While on paper says that Lampard has told friends he is determined to leave Chelsea and says it is time for him to go.
(Source = Daily Express)

Didier Drogba still wants to leave Stamford Bridge, even though there hasn't been much interest - with Milan keeping very quiet ...
(Source = Daily Star)

And Chelsea were interested in Brazil forward Robinho but have been told by Real Madrid that it will cost £30m to sign .
(Source = Daily Star)

Liverpool fans are also kept informed - although the news is not so positive ..

Liverpool were interested in signing Valencia's David Villa but have been put off by the massive £32m price tag and instead are looking at Spanish international winger David Silva.
(Source = The Sun)

Benitez's transfer funds are also in doubt after Juventus said that they will not pay £15m for midfielder Xabi Alonso. That could affect Liverpool's chances of raising the cash to sign Aston Villa's Gareth Barry.
(Source = The Sun again)

Finally two snippets from mighty ManYoo ..

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has pontificated again about "player slavery" and said Manchester United they should let winger Cristiano Ronaldo join Real Madrid.
(Source = FIFA website)

Manchester United look to have lost another Portuguese employee in the form of assistant boss Carlos Queiroz, who took over as Portugal manager on Wednesday evening.
(Source = Daily Star)

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Premier League Transfer gossip

Warning most of this is pure bollocks!

As the summer grinds on - and very little major transfer action actually is happening - I thought that I would start a daily thread of the various rumours - with their sources.

The cynical webmasters amongst you might think that i'm just trying to up the hits on this blog ... and you might be right !!
:-)

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has boasted to Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal that Cristiano Ronaldo has already signed for the Spanish club.
(Source = just about every newspaper)

Frank Lampard looks to be on his way out of Chelsea as owner Roman Abramovich has refused to sanction the new five-year deal the midfielder is demanding.
(Source = The Sun)

AC Milan claim Arsenal have written a letter to them offering to sell Emmanuel Adebayor, but don't want to pay the £35m fee that the Gunners want for the striker.
(Source = The Sun again !)

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has set Gareth Barry's price at £17m plus defender Steve Finnan. Wow!
(Source = Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is trying to do a cut-price £6m deal for Real Zaragoza's Argentine forward Pablo Aimar.
(Source = Daily Mirror)

Everton are tracking Real Zaragoza striker Diego Milito as David Moyes considers potential replacements for unsettled striker Andy Johnson who might move to Wigan. (Source = several)

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Liverpool ready to sell Peter Crouch to Portsmouth

Peter Crouch looks likely to make a switch from Liverpool to Portsmouth in a deal that could be worth up to £11m.

The two clubs reached an agreement over the weekend and Liverpool confirmed on Monday they had given the 27-year-old permission to talk.

"We have reached a verbal agreement with Portsmouth and have given them permission to speak with Peter," a Liverpool statement said.

Liverpool are expected to initially receive in the region of £9m for Crouch, who joined the club from Southampton in July 2005 but only started nine Premier League games last term.

Anfield boss Rafael Benitez initially said he would consider offers for Crouch in the region of £15m but has been forced to scale back his demands for a player with only a year left on his current contract.

Crouch has scored 40 goals in 135 appearances for Liverpool but has struggled to hold down a regular first-team place in recent times.

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Gareth Barry moves to Liverpool - once Reds pay up

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill says Gareth Barry's transfer to Liverpool will remain deadlocked unless the Reds meet the Midlands club's asking price.

Aston Villa have rejected a bid of around £15m for the 27-year-old midfielder and their asking price is thought to be between £18m to £20m

O'Neill told the club website: "We put a valuation on him and Liverpool value him differently at the moment. That's what the stalemate is, nothing else. When somebody says they want to leave there's not much you can do. If they meet our valuation he will go."

He added: "Gareth has pointed out he wants to go and has made his position clear, that has been the case since the beginning of June, when he said he wanted to join Liverpool."

Earlier this week Villa captain Barry was disciplined and ordered not to report for pre-season training for giving an unauthorised interview to a newspaper in which he criticised O'Neill.

In the interview Barry said "There's no going back, it's time for me to move on," and "I'm desperate to play Champions League football and that's why I have to leave Villa."

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Premier League Wages and Profits

The Premier League is generating more money than ever but only eight clubs are actually turning a profit says a Deloitte study of the 2006-07 season.

In 2006-07 Premier League clubs' salaries rose 13% - slightly ahead of a median 11% rise in revenue - and the situation is worse in the Championship as average wage increases of 14% outstripped median revenue growth of 3%.

There are startling disparities between the important wages-to-turnover ratios at clubs in England's top two divisions.

The average Premier League figure stood at 63% and the Championship level at 79% but there was a lot of variance. Tottenham had the lowest wages/turnover ratio or just 42%, followed by ManYoo (44%), Arsenal (50%) and then the two Sheffield clubs.

Liverpool stood at 58% and Chelsea was a high 70% - but then with a Russian sugar-daddy normal financial metrics mean little to the Blues at present.


There were high figures figures of 80% and 85% at Middlesbrough and Blackburn respectively. Alarmingly, Sunderland's ratio was 90% and Derby's 125%. But the latter two probably reflect the payment of performance-related bonuses to players for winning promotion.

Overall, only eight Premier League clubs showed operating profits, namely Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield United and Watford.

If your club isn't on this list then they're spending beyond their earnings - and any downturn in fotoball revenues could hit home hard ...

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EPL : Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool

Andriy Voronin opened the scoring at White Hart Lane as Liverpool ended their season on a high, while Spurs season fizzled to the disappointing conclusion as it has done since winning the Carling Cup.

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres wrapped up victory at Tottenham with his 24th goal of the season better Ruud van Nistelrooy's first season total when he arrived at Manchester United.

Both managers will want to improve their respective teams league performances with Ramos wanting to gatecrash the top four with Spurs, while Benitez wants a title challenge rather than playing in end-of-season sideshows when the main events of the day are elsewhere.

Liverpool side finish the season on the 4th place while the Spurs can be found in mid-table in 11th place.

VIDEO LINK :
Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 2 Liverpool
69 [0 - 1] A. Voronin
74 [0 - 2] F. Torres

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ManYoo and Chelsea both getting action on title odds

It seems that it's a bit of a fan-fest this week as the top prices on both Manchester United and Chelsea are being snapped up by loyal fans.

Chelsea's win over Newcastle on Monday means that it will all go down to the final day of the season, and the title equation is quite simple ... Chelsea need to get more points on the final day than United.

Chelsea are priced at 4/1 (5.00) to win the title - and that price is being hit quite mard by some punters as they do the maths and work out the real chances of a Chelsea win.

Meanwhile Manchester United were priced at 1/4 (1.25), but bookmakers have been swamped and now the best price you can get is a 1/5 (1.20) quote.

So which price do I think is best? In order to answer that we need to make some basic assumptions about the two games - and come up with some match estimates.

Wigan Athletic v Manchester United
Wigan have actually been quite strong at the JJB recently. They have a 8-5-5 home record and are unbeaten in their last SEVEN home games.

United are hardly all-conquering when travelling - at just 9-5-4 in their 18 away games this season. But United have won their fxitures here at the JJB in the last two seasons 2-1, and 3-1.

Away games are hard to win - even Manchester United have won just half of their road fixtures so far and the 1.25 price on an away win speak volumes for bookmaker hype and spin - trying to sell awful odds to legions of fans with red-tinted glasses.

If this were a game with nothing on it then I'd have this game at 21%-24%-55% estimate, but United will be absolutely desperate - so I'll push it out to 13%-17%-70% - but no more.

Chelsea vs Bolton Wanderers
Chelsea don't lose league games at home, but they do draw a lot going 12-7-0 last season and 12-6-0 this season, and Bolton have avoided defeat in 3 of their last 4 trips to Stamford Bridge too.

Still Bolton are just 2-4-12 this season, and are safe from relegation now, so you must expect the home side to have far more motivation.

I'd make this game a 80%-13%-7% chance, with a Chelsea victory the mostly likely result by a long chalk.

The Betting Verdict
From here it's simple - just calculate the percentage likelihood of Chelsea getting moe points than ManYoo in the final game - and we should have our "fair odds".

The chances are :
Chelsea win (80%) * Man United draw or loss (30%) = 24%
Chelsea draw (13%) * Man United loss (13%) = 1.7%

So I think that Chelsea have a total 25.7% chance of the title (fair odds 3.89) while Manchester United have a 74.3% chance of winning the league (fair odds 1.34).

So Manchester United are strong favourites to win the league, but given the current prices - I'd put my tenner on Chelsea @ 5.00

RELATED LINKS :
Manchester United @ 1.20 at Centrebet
Chelsea @ 5.00 at Betsson
See all the Live Premier League Betting Odds at BookieLabrat.

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Liverpool get approval for new stadium - to open in 2011

Liverpool have been given the go-ahead for their new 60,000-seater stadium by the planning committe of the local council.

The new stadium to be built in Stanley Park is scheduled to open in August 2011 and will feature an 18,500-seat single tier stand for the Kop, which holds Liverpool's most vocal supporters. The current Kop seats 13,500.

The design is the third version of the plan. The original plans were discarded when Tom Hicks and his now-estranged business partner George Gillett were unimpressed by the design they inherited when they bought the club last year, and the second, more ambitious, scheme had to be scaled down due to rising costs.

In January the American sports tycoons completed a £350m refinancing package on the loan used to purchase the club and £60m was earmarked for the stadium. But Hicks, whose feud with Gillett has plunged the club into turmoil, said last month that he was still working with investment bank Merrill Lynch on raising the finances.

In recent years Liverpool have been left behind financially as rivals Manchester United expanded Old Trafford to seat 76,000 and Arsenal moved from 38,000-seat Highbury into 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in July 2006.

Builing work on the new stadium will not begin on the project before September 2008.

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Liverpool make early bid for Gareth Barry

Liverpool's Rafa Benitez has launched a bid to sign Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry.

There has been plenty of speculation linking Liverpool with a move for Barry recently, and the Reds have now formally contacted Villa with an opening bid for the England midfielder.

Villa manager Martin O'Neill will probably not accept the offer for his club captain, who has two years to run of his current contract and has been an instrumental figure in his side's impressive Premier League campaign, but O'Neill has confirmed the offer, with Liverpool presenting "a mish-mash of players" in exchange for Barry.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez is determined to pair Barry in midfield with his England team-mate Steven Gerrard and is expected to make significant squad changes ahead of next season. Barry, who celebrates the 10th anniversary of his Villa debut next week, has made no secret of his desire to play Champions League football and would come close to doubling his weekly wages of £40,000 with a move to Anfield.

O'Neill is thought to have already made plans for Barry's departure with Chelsea's Steven Sidwell lined up as his replacement while Liverpool striker Peter Crouch would most likely represent part of any swap deal with Barry.

A bid of £10m had been mentioned, but O'Neill values Barry higher than that price and is understood to be looking for a package involving £8m plus former Villa striker Crouch.

Barry recently said that he has to adopt a "selfish" approach in his desire to make the most his footballing career and now may make his final home appearance for Villa against Wigan tomorrow clocking up almost almost 400 appearances over 10 years.

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UEFA CL : Chelsea beat Liverpool to advance on Moscow

Didier Drogba bagged a brace as Chelsea swept into their first Champions League final at the expense of Liverpool on a night of high drama at Stamford Bridge.

The Ivorian opened the scoring with a 12-yard strike, but Fernando Torres's drive made the score 1-1 and sent the tie into extra-time.

Frank Lampard restored Chelsea's lead from the spot after Michael Ballack had been felled by Sammy Hyypia, before Drogba prodded a third after good work by Nicolas Anelka.

Late on a 35-yard strike from Ryan Babel somehow squirmed past Petr Cech which prompted a tense final 4 minutes, but Chelsea held on to seal a match up with Manchester United in Moscow on May 21st.

BONUS LINK -> See all five goals at this Video site

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Red shirts dominate PFA team of the year.

The PFA team of the year at a star-studded ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Sunday April 27th.

Five clubs were represented in the side, with 9 of the 10 outfield players normally wearing red shirts.

Manchester United had three representatives in Cristiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic while Arsenal had four players with Cesc Fabregas, Adebayor, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy featured in the side.

Liverpool duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were included, as was Portsmouth goalkeeper David James and Aston Villa midfielder Ashley Young.

Interestingly, Chelsea's strong attempts to win titles in the Premier League and Champions League were not regcognised at an individual level with no Blues players featuring.

Perhaps that reflects the dour controlled style at the Bridge, or a team that is based more on hardwork and flair? Chelsea may yet get much more tangible team rewards for their efforts - so was the team picked too soon?

PFA Premier League team of the year:
G : David James (Portsmouth),
D : Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd), Gael Clichy (Arsenal),
M : Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd), Ashley Young (Aston Villa),
A : Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

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Chelsea Favoured After 1-1 Draw at Anfield

Chelsea are now heavy favourites after a last second own goal from John Arne Riise gave Chelsea a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final at Anfield.

Dirk Kuyt put Liverpool ahead by firing under Petr Cech just before half-time but in the fifth and final minute of added time at the end of the match Riise headed into his own net.

That had a drastic effect on the betting, with Chelsea now strongly favoured to reach a first Champions League final - the Blues on offer at 1.48, while Liverpool are out to 2.90.

(both prices available at internet bookmaker Pinnacle Sports)

Both sides had been at 1.95 before the first leg.

RELATED LINK :
Live Champions League Odds at BookieLabrat.com

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Will it take penalties to seperate Liverpool & Chelsea?

Top UK bookmaker Bet365 are offering odds on whether either team will need a penalty shootout to progress to the Champions League final.

Liverpool are 20/1 with bet365 to repeat last season's heroics and defeat Chelsea in a Champions League semi-final on penalties.

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Liverpool have failed again in the Premiership, but Rafa Benitez takes some shifting in the Champions League. We're shorter on a Liverpool victory if it does go to spot-kicks as Pepe Reina is one of the best in the business at keeping them out from 12 yards."

Chelsea are at 29.00 (28/1) to go through on penalties themselves.

Meanwhile punters have latched onto a Liverpool win in the first leg on Tuesday after it was confirmed Reds skipper Steven Gerrard was fit to play.

The Gerrard news has acted like a catalyst for punters who are piling on Liverpool.

RELATED LINKS :
GoonersGuide.com preview on Liverpool v Chelsea first leg.
BookieLabRat.com Live Odds page for the UEFA Champions League.

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UEFA CL - Liverpool too good but it was close !!

Liverpool scored four goals - two in the last five minutes - to beat Arsenal and move through to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Liverpool are now a top price of 10/3 (4.33) with both VC Bet and bet365 for the Champions League after beating Arsenal 4-2 on Tuesday night.

On a rollercoaster night at Anfield, Abou Diaby put the Gunners ahead on 13 minutes, before Sami Hyypia equalised with a bullet header on the half hour mark.

Fernando Torres put Liverpool in front for the first time in the tie with 20 minutes to go but Emmanuel Adebayor looked to have won it in the 84th minute for the Gunners following a brilliant length of the field run from Theo Walcott.

Facing elimination on away goals, substitute Ryan Babel won a penalty a minute later which Steven Gerrard hammered into the top corner before the Dutchman sealed the win himself with a breakaway goal in injury time.

Congratulations to Liverpool ...

(he says going off to find another beer to drown his sorrows ...)

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Arsene Wenger talks about Arsenal's chances

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger talks about upcoming games against Liverpool.

BBC Interview with Arsene Wenger

Interesting stuff (probably only for Gooners), and although the BBC reporter is a bit of a negative pratt, Wenger deflects it positively talking about how Arsenal are still in with a shout at the business end of the season.

He talks about Arsenal winning a trophy this season - although he admits that's a tough ask - he's not giving up on the Premier League or the Champions League yet.

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FA Cup : Liverpool to face Havant at Anfield

Blue Square Conference South club Havant and Waterlooville beat Swansea 4-2 to make sure of a dream trip to Anfield on January 26 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Richard Paquette, Jamie Collins and Rocky Baptiste gave the Hampshire side a three-goal lead, before Guillem Bauza pulled a goal back for the League One leaders in the 39th minute.

Jason Scotland made it 3-2 - but Tom Jordan's 65th-minute goal made sure of victory for Havant and Waterlooville.

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New Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan watched the Magpies beat Stoke 4-1 at St James' Park to set up a fourth-round trip to Arsenal.

Michael Owen and Claudio Cacapa gave the hosts a two-goal lead, with James Milner and Damien Duff finishing off the Coca-Cola Championship side in the second half.

However, former Sunderland striker Liam Lawrence had the last word, denying Shay Given a clean sheet with a goal a minute from time.

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Manchester City will travel to Sheffield United in the fourth round after beating West Ham with a 73rd-minute goal from Brazilian midfielder Elano.

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And Hereford set up a fourth-round tie at home to Cardiff with a 1-0 victory over Tranmere at Edgar Street, with Simon Johnson scoring in the 72nd minute.

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FA Cup 3rd Round : Favourites fail to win - almost everywhere!

It was a tough weekend for favourites backers in the FA Cup this weekend with a mix of upset wins and draws meaning that only 7 of 22 teams that started as odds-on favourites actually managed to win.

You'd have been better off picking cup winners at random over the weekend!

Although there were no total shocks in the FA Cup on Sunday we still saw Liverpool, Newcastle, Derby and Fulham were all held by lower league opposition.

Liverpool are now 7.00 (6/1) (BetFred) for the trophy, while Newcastle are 29.00 (28/1) with Bet365 for Wembley glory.

At least my team Arsenal obliged with a good result as they beat Burnley 2-0 and covered the asian handicap bet too. The Gooners are now a 5.00 (4/1) chance at Ladbrokes to lift the cup.

On Saturday Manchester United beat Aston Villa 2-0 to book their place in the last 32. They are now 4.33 (10/3) favourites at BoyleSports to win the FA Cup.

Chelsea were also among the winners - they beat QPR 1-0 - and Avram Grant's side are now joint-second favourites to lift the trophy in May, as they are 4/1 with BoyleSports.

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Liverpool held while Newcastle dont even get a point.

Liverpool's Barclays Premier League title hopes were dealt another heavy blow as Wigan claimed an unlikely 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Rafael Benitez's side finally broke the deadlock four minutes into the second period as Fernando Torres slid home to finish Steve Finnan's inviting cross for his 16th goal of the season.

Liverpool were made to pay for their inability to kill off the game, though, as Titus Bramble fired home a loose ball from the edge of the penalty area after 79 minutes.

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The pressure on Sam Allardyce looks set to intensify after Newcastle slipped to a sorry 2-0 home defeat against Manchester City.

Elano added to his already burgeoning reputation with a goal of genuine class seven minutes before the break to put the visitors ahead.

The Brazilian started the move on the edge of Newcastle's penalty area with a deft backheel before latching onto Darius Vassell's lay-off to steer the ball past Shay Given into the bottom left corner.

Michael Owen made his long-awaited return from injury at the break and saw an effort diverted around the post by Joe Hart with his first touch.

City netted their second with 14 minutes remaining when Gelson Fernandes lashed home from just inside the area after Kelvin Etuhu's neat lay-off.

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Stelios Giannakopoulos scored the only goal of the game in stoppage time for Bolton at the Reebok Stadium to claim three vital points for the home side and ensure that Derby remain rooted to the bottom of the table and 10 points away from safety

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Other results :

Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Sunderland

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Arsenal and Spurs through to Carling Cup semis

North London neighbours Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur eached the semi-finals of the English League Cup following wins against Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City.

Arsenal kids prevail in Extra time.
Arsenal changed all 11 players from the side that had beaten Chelsea just 48 hours earlier as "the kids took paert in a dramatic encounter at Ewood Park.

Arsenal raced into a two-goal lead through strikes from Abou Diaby and Eduardo da Silva. However, despite the visitors looking dominant, Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz got one back just before half-time and then latched on to David Bentley's free-kick after an hour to level the tie.

Rovers were applying the late pressure, and Arsenal's Denilson was sent off for a wild challenge as the match went into extra time leaving the Gunners a man short. However, in the additional period Alexandre Song released Eduardo who finished calmly past home goalkeeper Brad Friedel to secure a 3-2 victory for the Gunners.

Spurs win with another Ten-man effort
Meanwhile, goals at the beginning and the end of the game from Jermain Defoe and Steed Malbranque gave Tottenham a 2-0 win and inflicted Manchester City's first home defeat of the season.

Not even having to play with ten men for 70 minutes after Didier Zokora's dismissal could hamper Spurs, who go into the last-four draw on Wednesday together with Arsenal, Everton and the winner of the Chelsea / Liverpool tie who meet on Wednesday.

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Big match Buildup.

Having recently lost the last two unbeaten Premier League records, Arsenal and Liverpool will be trying to bounce back with wins over their biggest rivals.

Alex Ferguson will take some time out from advising the FA not to pick Sam Allardyce for the England job to test the true quality of Rafa Benitez's perennial cup kings and see if their title challenge is for real.

While, Arsene Wenger could welcome back Cesc Fabregas, and Van Persie is almost certain to take part in a mouth-watering contest. One team plays some of the most attractive football in the world. The other is Chelsea.

The managers will say these Sunday games will decide nothing, we say it'll decide who gets to abuse who in offices and workplaces all over the planet for months to come.

Nothing could be more important!

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The Fiver Rumour Mill ...

As stolen from the high-profile (for a blog) and always funny Guardian Fiver blog ... their rumour mill always has a nice turn of phrase.

Milan have had enough of Ronaldo's injury problems, and would be happy to see the cuddly striker lending his weight to another team's attack.

Wayne Bridge has had enough of not being picked by Avram Grant, and is considering taking his unique brand of comedy to Newcastle or Spurs, where it will be properly appreciated.

And Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has had enough, and will sell his stake in the club as soon as Rafa Benitez stops whining about transfer targets long enough for him to get a word in edgeways.

Check out the Guardian Fiver Monday to Friday (around tea-time) for a regular laugh.

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Liverpool Footballer Riise Drops his Payslip.

Liverpool footballer John Arne Riise has been embarrased as a copy of his wage slip from the football club has been appearing on the internet.

Images of the pay packet, containing the player's address in Liverpool and his National Insurance number, have appeared on the internet revealing the 27-year-old earned £139,634.62 gross in August 2006.

We of course think that's totally irresponsible to show those details - ahem - so we've twinked them out in order to show the rest. (click to see fullsize)



Reading like something out of a computer game you find out that Riise has the following payments (with our guesses as to why) :
- a £120,000-a-month basic salary,
- a £250 point bonus (only 250?? Was it a bad month?),
- a £4000 appearance bonus (four games @ £1000 match?)
- and a £15,384.62 Champions League payment for making the group stage.

Of course it's not all beer and takeaway curries for Riise. He has expenses too.

On the downside, he pays £55,508.28 in tax EVERY month, and a sizable NIC payment of £1,611.67 too.

But perhaps the most surprising thing is that the club also charges him a £65 meal bill and £36 for a match ticket - perhaps for a game he wasn't playing in? No wonder players are upset to be left out.

All that left Riise with a net wage of £82,413.67 for the month. Not a bad way to make a living eh?

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Carling Cup Outright Betting

Chelsea remain favourites to win the Carling Cup after overcoming a mighty scare to beat Leicester 4-3 at Stamford Bridge this week.

Frank Lampard completed a hat-trick with an injury-time winner to put the holders into the quarter-finals and Chelsea are 11/4 favourites (3.75) with Ladbrokes to defend the trophy.

Arsenal's latest batch of young Gunners cruised into the last eight with a 3-0 win at Sheffield United. Last season's runners-up were comfortable victors at Bramall Lane thanks to Eduardo da Silva's brilliant double and a deflected third from Denilson.

Liverpool were made to work harder as they overcame Cardiff 2-1 at Anfield. But a Steven Gerrard winner soon after proved good enough for the Reds.

Spurs are fourth favourites after Juande Ramos' first game in charge ended in a 2-0 home win over Blackpool. Robbie Keane and Pascal Chimbonda got the goals.

Manchester City (1-0 winners at Bolton), Blackburn (2-1 winners at Portsmouth) and Everton (1-0 extra-time winners at Luton) are all 11/1 at bet365 while West Ham are the 14/1 outsiders of the all-Premier League quarter-final line-up.

The draw for the quarterfinals takes place on Saturday.

ODDS :
Chelsea 3.75 @ Ladbrokes
Arsenal 4.50 @ Bet365
Liverpool 5.50 @ BetFred
Tottenham 10.00 @ Ladbrokes
Manchester City 12.00 @ Bet365

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