Man City into Uefa Cup via "fair play".

Manchester City will play in next season's Uefa Cup after claiming a place via the Premier League's fair play table.

England were awarded an extra place in the tournament after the Premier League came top of Uefa's fair play rankings - which also includes a component for "positive play".

Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City side actually finished sixth in the Premier League fair play table, but all the sides above them had already qualified for Europe.

City will now be placed in the the Uefa Cup first qualifying round stage which starts in July.

Manager Sven Eriksson has been quoted on the clubs website as saying "It's like the dream came true - our dream to play in Europe has been strong all season. It's a confirmation that we are a good team, but also a team that behaves well on the pitch."

"It's a step in the right direction because the target for this club in the future is to play in the Champions League, and the Uefa Cup is a very good school to learn about European football."

City, who finished in ninth place in the league table, qualified for the Uefa Cup on the same basis in 2003.

The fair play system awards points based on criteria including respect for opponents and the referee, positive play as well as the number of yellow and red cards received.

City will not be able to host the first qualifying round tie at Eastlands as the pitch is due to be relaid once a Bon Jovi concert has taken place on 22 June.

Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium, which usually plays host to rugby league in the summer, has been mentioned as a possible alternative.

The draw for the first qualifying round will be made on 30 June, with City placed in the Northern section.

Stumble It!

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 : Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal

With little at stake for either side other than pride, both sets of fans arrived for a relaxed end of season afternoon, and that atmosphere was reflected on the pitch.

Theo Walcott handed Arsene Wenger a winning finish to the season with the only goal at Sunderland.

The England Under-21 international fired home from Gilberto's 24th-minute pass to claim the points as the Black Cats fought them all the way to the whistle.

In truth, had the Gunners been more clinical in front of goal, with Emmanuel Adebayor and Gilberto both passing up good opportunities, they might have won more comfortably.

However, they were not (as usual this season) and the Wearsiders kept them at full-stretch to the end with Roy O'Donovan going close and Michael Chopra seeing appeals for a late penalty waved away.

In the event, one goal was enough for Arsenal to cement their position in third place as Roy Keane's men ended a tough campaign with a home defeat, but a spirited display which was warmly applauded by a sell-out crowd of 47,802.

VIDEO LINK :
Sunderland 0 - 1 Arsenal
24 [0 - 1] T. Walcott

(Theo Walcott's goal only - sorry)

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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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EPL : Middlesbrough 8-1 Man City - so long Sven !

Sven-Goran Eriksson's anticipated final match in charge of Manchester City ended in humiliating fashion as his 10-man side lost 8-1 at Middlesbrough.

The former England boss has guided the club to ninth in the Barclays Premier League and a likely place in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play League but that does not appear enough to save his job.

Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra has expressed his disappointment with the final outcome of Eriksson's 10 months in charge and the former Thai Prime Minister is fully expected to dispense with the Swede's services sooner rather than later.

That is much to the disgust of City's supporters, who chanted their support for the Swede throughout the match.

The hosts took the lead in the 16th minute when Tuncay raced on to a long ball and, as he entered the penalty area, he accidentally caught Dunne's leg as the defender tried to get back. The City captain was harshly dismissed by referee Phil Dowd and Stewart Downing clinically dispatched the penalty.

Later on in the first half Rochemback went forward, and he picked out compatriot Afonso Alves who slotted home left-footed in the 37th minute.

Downing scored again in the 57th minute when, after Boateng's right-wing cross was knocked on, he smashed a superb volley with the outside of his left foot inside the far post to end the match as a contest.

Two minutes later, Afonso Alves made it 4-0 when he raced on to Arca's through-ball to stab past Isaksson. Chris Riggott then had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside as Boro threatened to run riot.

City's luck was obviously not in as, in the 70th minute, Boro grabbed a fifth when Johnson's long-range shot was deflected past Isaksson.

Rochemback made it 6-0 with a 30-yard free-kick 10 minutes from time and substitute Aliadiere fired home the seventh in the 85th minute.

Elano scored a consolation before Afonso Alves completed his hat-trick.

VIDEO LINK :
Middlesbrough 8 - 1 Manchester City

15 R. Dunne (red card Man City)
16 [1 - 0] S. Downing (penalty kick)
37 [2 - 0] A. Alves
58 [3 - 0] S. Downing
60 [4 - 0] A. Alves
70 [5 - 0] A. Johnson
80 [6 - 0] F. Rochemback
85 [7 - 0] J. Aliadiere
87 [7 - 1] E. Blumer
90 [8 - 1] A. Alves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VIDEO LINK :
Chelsea 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

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EPL : Manchester Utd win at Wigan to claim title

A Cristiano Ronaldo penalty and a late goal from Ryan Giggs gave Manchester United a 2-0 victory over Wigan at the JJB Stadium to claim the Premier League title.

The Portuguses winger scored his 31st league goal to help Sir Alex Ferguson's side lift their 17th league title which left them just one behind Liverpool's haul of 18.

United were handed an opportunity to break the deadlock after Emmerson Boyce brought down Wayne Rooney in the penalty area and referee Steve Bennett pointed to the spot.

Ronaldo stepped up to take the 33rd-minute spot-kick and calmly side footed the ball past goalkeeper Chris Kirkland who dived the wrong way.

Giggs, on as a substitute to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 appearances for the club, added a second for United in the 80th minute.

VIDEO LINK :
Wigan Athletic v Manchester United 0-2

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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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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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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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EPL : Derby 2-6 Arsenal (w. Video link)

Arsenal finally kicked to life in the second half of their game against Derby County to simply outscore their relegated opponents.

The Arsenal side had a distinctly young look about it early on - and Derby actually played well for the first 30-40 minutes pressing the Arsenal side into several mistakes.

Adebayor's presence after the break solidified the side, as did the switch of Brazilian midfielders with Gilberto on for Denilson giving the side a better balance.

Still six goals in the end - and of course a couple leaked at the other end - but you cannot grumble about the entertainment level that Arsenal offered ... and it was noticable that even the local Derby supporters stayed to watch right to the final whistle.

Here is all the video coverage - all eight goals !!
Derby 2-6 Arsenal - video.

Arsenal :
Fabianski, Toure (Djourou 78), Gallas, Song Billong, Clichy, Eboue, Fabregas, Denilson (Silva 64), Walcott, Van Persie (Adebayor 46), Bendtner.

Goals :
Bendtner 25, Van Persie 39, Adebayor 59, Walcott 78, Adebayor 81, 90.

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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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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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Will Bolton avoid the drop ?

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

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

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

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

Birmingham face fierce city rivals Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

RELATED LINK :
Live English Premier League Betting Odds

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EPL : Arsenal 2-0 Reading (w. video link)

Arsenal cruised to a 2-0 win over Reading at the Emirates with two goals before halftime.

Emmanuel Adebayor opened the score with a shot from inside of the box after some very good control to beat a defender while Gilberto Silva doubled it 8 minutes later with a deflected long range effort.

Arsenal couldn't increase the score in the second half although they hit the bar twice and dominated the proceedings.

Check out this football blog to see 4 short video highlights.

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Paddy Power pays out on ManYoo winning title already

Top Irish Bookmaker Paddy Power has paid out on the Premier League winners already.

A post in the BookieLabrat.com blog on Thursday said that the Irish bookie has paid out early on Man United to lift the title.

As well as this, PaddyPower also paid out on Ronaldo to be top Premier League Goalscorer.

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EPL : Manchester Utd 2-1 Arsenal

Once again Arsenal are good enougth to take the lead in a high profile game - but once again the makeshift defence is unable to keep a clean sheet.

It's happened against Chelsea, Liverpool and now ManYoo in the last month and let's be honest that's where the title challenges disappeared as the squad has got smaller and smaller.

But instead of recriminations - here's a short video of the Arsenal fan reaction after the game at Old Trafford - as the travelling fans wait to get moved on.



Nice to see - it might not have been a victorious season - but there has been some amazing football played - and it's good to acknowledge it.

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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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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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Are Derby the worst Premier League side ever?

Derby County confirmed their relegation from the Premier League on Saturday in a 2-2 home draw against Fulham ... and now UK bookmaker VC Bet has opened a market on whether the Rams will manage to equal or surpass Sunderland's infamous points tally of 15 points.

Victor Chandler go 2/7 (1.28) about the club failing to get 15 points and 5/2 (3.50) that they equal or surpass it.

"Sunderland hold the record for the worst points tally in Premier League history with a paltry 15, but we reckon that Derby will fare even worse," said VC spokesman Neal Wilkins. "They have been dire at times, and we just can’t see them picking up another win. Paul Jewell can't wait for it all to end."

Derby currently have 11 points with six games remaining, and they face away trips to Everton, West Ham and Blackburn as well as home games against Aston Villa, Arsenal and Reading at Pride Park.

Check it out at VCBet

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EPL : Arsenal win 3-2 at Bolton (video)

Ten-man Arsenal fought back from two goals down for a 3-2 win that lifted them back into second place in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

( link to 4 minute match highlights video )

Midfielder Matthew Taylor put Bolton two up in the first half but Arsenal, who had Abou Diaby sent off in the 31st minute for a high tackle on Gretar Steinsson, hit back with three goals in the last half hour.

Captain William Gallas put Arsenal back into the match when he turned in Cesc Fabregas' corner in the 63rd minute. Robin van Persie equalised with a penalty five minutes later after Gary Cahill brought down Alexander Hleb and Fabregas' 90th-minute shot was deflected in by J Lloyd Samuel as Arsenal ended a run of five league games without victory.

---

Arsene Wenger had this to say following the Arsenal second half comeback at Bolton...

"I can't remember a better comeback than that - to be 2-0 down, with 10 men and win 3-2 with just half an hour to go is a great credit to the team. I am very proud of our performance because we got a big blow last week (losing to Chelsea) but responded well.

"The first half we didn't play badly but everything went against us. Not only was their first shot on target a goal but we had a player sent off and just before we go to half-time they score a second one which was a big blow.

"The last 30 minutes we had chance after chance and in the end we were a bit lucky on the third goal but we did absolutely everything to win the game and we got a very important victory for us."

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Chelsea unhappy with TV scheduling

Chelsea are not happy to being asked to play two Premier League games in the space of 72 hours after their trip to Everton was rescheduled for TV.

The Blues will play Wigan on April 14th and then travel to Goodison PArk to face Everton on Thursday 17th (instead of originally scheduled Saturday 19th).

Chelsea say it gives their title rivals an unnecessary competitive advantage with more time both to recover and prepare. Everton have described the fixture change as an "uncomfortable precedent".

The Merseysiders, who like Chelsea also wanted the match played at the weekend, say in a statement that they fully support their broadcast partners, but hope common sense prevails in the future and sensible alternatives can be reached.

The Premier League have defended the switch, saying: "The compilation of the fixture list is a complex procedure.

"It faces enormous pressure from international match and European competition dates, as well as the need to balance the important requirements of the police and our broadcasters.

"We are also required by the European Commission to televise 138 matches per season, which brings its own inevitable pressures."

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So what's Wrong with Arsenal ?

I was asked a question in the forum today ... "What's wrong with Arsenal?"

What's wrong with Arsenal?
They're top of the table - by three points - and with 11 games to go have a good chance of winning their first title in four years ... will they take up the catch-cry of "winning it for Eduardo?"

What's wrong with Arsenal?
They're playing in a competitive league and they've scored in every Premier League game bar one .... a 0-0 draw with Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Is that really going wrong?

What's wrong with Arsenal?
After losing Thierry Henry in the summer to Barcelona - nearly every external pundit said that Arsenal were finished and would struggle to make the top four - picking Spurs to replace them. Is first place really a bad effort?

What's wrong with Arsenal?
After winning 4 league games in a row they drew 2-2 with Birmingham City despite dominating the game and conceding a last minute (non) penalty. It's a stumble but not fatal.

Ok ... so having made my point ...
Perhaps the only thing that I'd point to - and I point to it each season - is Arsene Wenger's tendancy to work with a smaller squad or players when compared to the other "big 4 clubs" in England and also a tendancy to favour youth over experience.

My gut feeling is that this means that Mr Wenger has to spend less time dealing with players moaning about not getting playing time. Younger players expect less time (compare the attitude of Jens Lehmann to Manual Almunia - or Gilberto to Flamini) and with a smaller squad then they will all get to play some part in a game during a week where there is mid-week and weeekend fixtures.

With Van Persie out for the last 5 months, and now Eduardo out for 6 months, Arsenal are lacking a core of striker - indeed until Adebayor struck amazing form I might have said had no recognized strikers.

A lack of experienced heads is also a key - and if William Gallas is our most responsible player - then we're always going to be likely to be in trouble when stress is applied. (again see Birmingham after the final whistle)

Arsenal has a small, young squad of extremely talented players, but (as I always complain on the blog) it is not a squad that is capable of challenging on four fronts for trophies.

Wenger has realised this this season and the Carling Cup and FA Cup sides were decidedly under-strength - but with 10 players out Arsenal do not now have enough quality options.

Of course, the problem for Wenger is that while that solves the too many games problem, it does not satisfy that fans who honestly would like to see Arsenal win every game that they play.

Remember that prior to Arsenal, Wenger's biggest previous club was Monaco, and with all respect to Monaco - their fans probably didn't care if they didn't bother to much about domestic cups.

Arsene Wenger is a great manager - but he needs to find a way to handle the man management issues (I'm available to lay down the law ) and overcome his aversion to building a big experienced squad.

If Arsenal want to be a true European power on a regular basis - then they need a squad that can handle an injury situation like this - because quite frankly given the nature of the domestic league - this situation is likely to occur EVERY season.

However, I think that Wenger knows that if he brings in experience ahead of youth - then he will undo a lot of the good work he's doing now.

So What's wrong with Arsenal?

Not much that 2-3 experienced players couldn't solve. But will Wenger ever go that way in the transfer market? I don't think so.

This year was not supposed to be Arsenal's year - it was too soon with all the young heads. But now after such a great opening 6 months I do wonder if Arsenal will somehow manage to do it - perhaps with Eduardo helping to concentrate thier efforts?

And as for next season ... just watch out.

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The Premier League must act - ban thugs

Arsenal's Croatian / Brazilian striker Eduardo suffered a potentially career threatening injury on Saturday and it's time this sort of thuggery is sorted out.

Birmingham City's Martin Taylor clattered into Eduardo divingi in studs up and missing the ball by over a foot, and fractured his left fibula and an open dislocation of his ankle joint leaving Eduardo with a foot pointing the wrong way.



The apologists for the "get stuck in brigade" are already saying that it wasn't malicious, and that Taylor "is a good lad" but have no doubt at all that this tackle was a deliberate attempt to stop Eduardo and prevent a chance at goal.

Taylor probably did not mean to break a leg, or end a career, but he also did not mean to pull out of the tackle once the ball had gone.

This tackle wasn't mistimed, it was not accidental, it was a calculated tackle delivered with full force and designed to give the Arsenal player "something to think about" early on in the game, and it something that is still prevalent in the English game.

As it stands Taylor will be banned for three games for his red card, while Eduardo will be out of football for at least 6 months ... if he plays at professional level again.

I've gone into the forum saying that my solution would be that players that are sent off for violent fouls should be suspended for a periord of time that matches the duration that the injured player is out plus three months.

Perhaps that's too harsh, especially bearing in mind that Eduardo may not play again, but I certainly think that there needs to be a review panel that sits after the game to make a decision on an extended ban period for violent fouls.

Whether, it's 5, 10 or even 20 games is something that can be determined rationally in the week following with the benefit of video evidence and witness depositions.

As it stands at the moment a player that gets sent off gets a 3-match ban, be it for talking out of turn to a referee, slapping (Jeremie Aliadiere yesterday), or for violent foul play.

That's unacceptable.

(NEWS UPDATE : Arsenal are predicting that Eduardo da Silva will make a full recovery in about nine months)

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Henry to return to England - for Newcastle?

This one made me laugh out loud - I had to read it twice to make sure it was genuine.

Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has stated that Thierry Henry is at the top of his wish-list and UK bookmaker bet365 make the price 11/2 (6.50) for Henry to join Newcastle by the time the transfer window closes at the end of August.

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth managed to keep a straight face when he said : "If Keegan manages to stay at Newcastle and keep them in the Premiership he could have a bottomless pit at his disposal in the summer – and Thierry Henry is hardly getting rave reviews at Barcelona."

He did add : "However, Newcastle are just 12/1 for relegation and they'd have more chance of signing Lenny Henry if they dropped into the Championship."

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GOONER SAYS : Bearing in mind Henry's legendary status at Arsenal, and the fact that he left on extremely good terms last summer, I think that if he was going to turn up anywhere in the Premier League in August - then the Emirates Stadium would be the place to see him.

Keep your money in your pockets on this one.

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Adebayor chasing Ronaldo for top scorer honours

Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has had his odds cut to finish as the Premier League's top scorer this season after closing the gap on Cristiano Ronaldo at the weekend.

Ronaldo remains favourite but has been eased out to 1.83 at Centrebet.

Adebayor scored twice in Arsenal's 3-1 win at Manchester City to take his tally to 18 while Ronaldo stayed on 19 after firing a rare blank against Tottenham. Adebayor is quoted at 2.65 at VCBet now.

Liverpool's Fernando Torres added to his tally with a goal against Sunderland but is a distant third favourite with 12 goals. You can get on Torres at 15.00 at Bet365.

While Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka also scored and has 11 goals now and he's priced at 17.00 at Bet365.

Elsewhere Carlos Tevez (26.00), Robbie Keane (34.00) and Dimitar Berbatov (51.00) are also offered - but it's pretty much a "fan" bet - and you'd probably feel better by donating your money to charity than simply handing it over to the bookmakers.

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Arsenal go top after beating Man City 3-1

Arsenal scored a 3-1 success at Manchester City thanks to two goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and a fine strike from Eduardo da Silva, have been cut to 6/4 (2.50) to win the title.

Manchester United equalised with the last kick of the game in a 1-1 draw with Spurs at White Hart Lane to pick up a point. United were eased to 4/5 (1.80) for the title by Stan James.

Betfair exchange customers backed under 1.5 goals down to 1.04 and Tottenham were matched at just 1.01 when a Carlos Tevez goal from a corner at the death sealed a dramatic point for the Reds.

(and showed just how unsafe it is to chase those "easy money" bets at the exchange)

Chelsea lost ground on Arsenal after being held to a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth where Nicolas Anelka's 55th minute strike was wiped out by new Pompey signing Jermain Defoe. The Blues are out to 11/2.

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Arsenal currently top the table on 60pts, two ahead of United and five clear of Chelsea. All three have played 25 games.

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Deja vu - Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle (goal video)

As I said last weekend against Newcastle - there's nothing like a 3-0 win for Arsenal to make the world feel a better place eh Gooners?

(oh wait I've done that to death)

All right then - how about that second goal by Mathieu Flamini then? A jet powered strike from at least 25 metres out, probably closer 30m on the angle, and it gave poor old Shay Given no chance at all in the Newcastle goal.

That was a rocket-powered shot with turbo-thrust and after-burners combined. It was ... ah sod it .. just watch the video I found of it until it gets banned from YouTube.



Now that was something - I have no idea what the commentator was saying - but I whole-heartedly agreed with the sentiment ... WOW !

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Punter wins 57K after wife changes his picks

Just a quick one today - as this blog entry at BookieLabRat caught my eye while looking for betting information.

A punter made a clean sweep of the weekend's English Premier League schedule and picked up £57,000 - at Paddy Power but only after his wife made four changes to his picks.

Now that's what I call female intuition - and I might have to run my slip past "the other half" for this weekend's FA Cup games.

RELATED LINKS :
The Bookie Labrat Betting Blog
Paddy Power - Top rated Irish Bookmaker

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EPL : Fulham 0-3 Arsenal

There's nothing like a 3-0 Arsenal win to make a Gooner feel better about life.

I particularly like the wins where we've effectively wrapped it up by halftime and even the opposing manager and fans have good things to say about the Arsenal performance.

And so it was at Craven Cottage yesterday when Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice before halftime for a comfortable lead and Tomas Rosicky sealed the win in the second half.

The Guardian even called Arsenal "elegant" while a Fulham fans admits Arsenal "were brilliant" - whach are both things we probably already thought but it's nice to hear other people saying this sort of stuff too.

(it's all a far cry from the Don Howe / George graham days eh?)

Over at the BEEB Sports section the reporting is far more functional but it's worth playing the video interview with Fulham manager Roy Hodgson who talks about Arsenal's skill on the ball and admits it was a comfortable win.

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Nothing much changed in the league standings with ManYoo and Chelsea both scoring away wins (albeit both of them a little less comfortable than expected) while Liverpool and Man City play on Sunday.

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King Kev's debut at St James's Park was a damp squib, a 0-0 draw against a very defensive Bolton in a horrible game - but the Geordie fans recognise that it's gonig to take time and were not booing at the final whistle.

I expect to see more improvement in Newcastle in future months - but as we play them soon in both the FA Cup and the Premier League I'm hoping that it imght take Mr Keegan a wee while to restructure his side.

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Juande Ramos fielded a weakened Spurs side for their game against Sunderland, but still won 2-0 although it was a game that was surprising for the Sunderland effort in the second half.

I read a comment (somewhere) from a Sunderland fan saying that his side had mastered the art of snatching a defeat from a good performance - which I thought was a clever piece of gallows humour.

Spurs now host Arsenal kids in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg - and should rightly consider themselves favourites to progress - as I think that they've got the measure of the young Gooner side.

But still - that favourtism tag can hang heavy around teams - and stranger upsets have happened - so there is plenty to play for on Tuesday night.

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OK let's see what Sunday brings - I'm surprised to see such big prices for both Aston Villa (6.25) and West Ham (4.00) to win on the road - and I reckon that we might see a surprise in either (or both) of these games.

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Sam Allardyce fired by Newcastle United

Sam Allardyce's managerial career at Newcastle United was terminated after just eight months.

The club, currently 11th in the Premier League, said the decision had been reached "by mutual agreement".

Allardyce, who was in charge for 24 games, said: "I'm disappointed but I wish them all the best for the future. It was a shock, I didn't expect it."

It didn't suprise the bookmakers though who had Allardyce as the short priced favourite to get the sack as reported last week.

Sam Allardyce is a red-hot 8/13 (1.61) favourite with VC Bet to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post after his side's third consecutive defeat at home to Manchester City on Wednesday night.

Neal Wilkins from VC Bet commented: "Allardyce was not Mike Ashley's appointment and Newcastle's current dire form must be huge pressure on his position."

Former captain Alan Shearer has ruled himself out of the running and chairman Chris Mort said: "A new manager has not yet been appointed."

First-team coach Nigel Pearson will take charge of the team for Saturday's Premier League meeting with Manchester United.

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Xmas In the Relegation Zone? Some hope exists !

Christmas has been and gone and we all know the oft-quoted statistic that being bottom of the Premier League on Dec 25th is a recipe for disaster ... but how likely is it - and what about the other two teams?

BOTTOM :
West Brom are the only team to escape relegation after being bottom of the Premiership at Christmas (in 2004-05). So 14 of 15 last placed teams have taken the drop.

It looks like almost certain relegation for Derby County then - but you probably didn't need these stats to decide that.

19TH PLACE :
But second-from-bottom sides have only been relegated seven times in 15 seasons (Leicester 1994-95, Watford 1999-00, Leicester 2001-02, Leeds 2003-04, Southampton 2004-05, Birmingham 2005-06 and Charlton 2006-07).

Unfortunately, that is also the last four seasons in a row.

18TH PLACE :
While third-from-bottom teams have gone down only six times out of 15 (Middlesbrough 1996-97, Blackburn 1998-99, Coventry 2000-01, Derby 2001-02, West Brom 2002-03, Crystal Palace 2004-05).

Of course West Ham were the most recent example of an 18th placed side coming good in the second half of the season - including a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

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Big Sam next manager for the sack ?

Sam Allardyce is a red-hot 8/13 (1.61) favourite with VC Bet to be the next Premier League manager to leave his post after his side's third consecutive defeat at home to Manchester City on Wednesday night.

Neal Wilkins from VC Bet commented: "Allardyce was not Mike Ashley's appointment and Newcastle's current dire form must be huge pressure on his position."

Liverpool's Rafa Benitez is next like to get the sack at 5/1 (6.00) with the firm after their 1-1 draw at Anfield while Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate is 3rd at an 8/1 (9.00) chance.

The firm then go 16/1 for anyone else beating them out - which is probably the value play given the much changing nature of football clubs.

Check out the market at VCBet now.

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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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Moyes needs convincing Arsenal were better?

Arsenal surprised as lot of people yesterday by battling back from a goal down to beat Everton 4-1 at Goodision Park.

The win moved Arsenal to the top of the Premier League - 2 points clear of Manchester United - to see in the New Year.

However, Everton manager David Moyes says that he thinks that Everton were the better footballing side during the game.

He said: "For all the stuff talked about the way they play, it was not their usual type of goals that beat us. We cannot hide that we made mistakes for the goals, but I will take some convincing that Arsenal were better than us.

Moyes continued "It was us who played the football and Arsenal who went direct. I'd find it hard to view it differently."

Of course what Mr Moyes is ignoring is the fact that on a cold, wet Merseyside night Arsenal scored four goals away from home to win by some margin.

Both sides had 10 shots, although Arsenal were more accurate with a 7-3 advantage on target - however the biggest difference was in the accurate finishing